With southerly, rich in moisture, flow well established into the upper level of the atmosphere, and daytime heating influences providing instability and lift, thunderstorms developed across the mid state during the afternoon hours. One of these thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Putnam County.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OHX wrote it up.
With southerly, rich in moisture, flow well established into the upper level of the atmosphere, and daytime heating influences providing instability and lift, thunderstorms developed across the mid state during the afternoon hours. One of these thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Putnam County. Another thunderstorm spawned a brief small tornado 7 miles east of McMinnville in Warren County. Several outbuildings and a grain silo were destroyed.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 28, 1:51 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 251 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 .DISCUSSION... PERSISTENT BROAD H5 TROF CENTERED OVER SCNTRL CANADA WILL PROVIDE UNSTABLE W-SW FLOW OVER MID STATE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH INTERMITTENT S/WVS FOCUSING ROUNDS OF TSTMS. BEST CHANCES TONITE AND THU NITE. POSSIBLY 2-4 INCHES OF RAIN...NOT SURE THAT 3-5 INCHES PREVIOUSLY FORECAST WILL VERIFY. FRONT EXPECTED SOMETIME FRI WHEN H5 HEIGHTS BEGIN TO RISE AND WE GET SOMEWHAT WARMER AND DRIER. BUMPED UP POPS FOR PLATEAU FRI..AND LOWERED POPS CWA-WIDE FOR FRI NITE INTO SAT NITE. AIRMASS TSTMS EXPECTED SUN...WITH NEXT FRONT MON. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... NASHVILLE 69 83 70 83 / 70 50 40 50 CLARKSVILLE 68 83 68 82 / 60 40 30 50 CROSSVILLE 67 76 67 78 / 80 50 50 50 COLUMBIA 70 83 71 83 / 70 50 40 50 LAWRENCEBURG 70 82 71 83 / 80 50 40 50 WAVERLY 69 83 70 83 / 60 40 30 50 && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 17/MAG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 531 AM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-291045- STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-SUMNER-MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-BENTON- HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON-CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON-WILSON-TROUSDALE- SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM-OVERTON-FENTRESS-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS- WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL-RUTHERFORD-CANNON-DEKALB-WHITE- CUMBERLAND-BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN-WAYNE-LAWRENCE- GILES- 531 AM CDT TUE JUL 28 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS SMALL BUT POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN MAY CAUSE MINOR FLOODING...ESPECIALLY NEAR SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SEVERAL WAVES OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS AS WELL AS MINOR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... DUE TO THE BRIEF AND ISOLATED NATURE OF POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 07
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:22 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Some street flooding and ditches were overflowing throughout the city of Cookeville.
A barn, grain silo, and several buildings were destroyed. A residence suffered minor roof damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Tennessee, 2009Warnings in Tennessee, July 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 187096, 186952.