Isolated thunderstorms developed on the Cumberland Plateau as low level moisture was abundantly supplied to the region on strengthening southerly winds. Instability resulted from a steady flow of cold air aloft in association with a strong upper level trough over the mid south.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 MRX wrote it up.
Isolated thunderstorms developed on the Cumberland Plateau as low level moisture was abundantly supplied to the region on strengthening southerly winds. Instability resulted from a steady flow of cold air aloft in association with a strong upper level trough over the mid south.
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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 30, 6:56 PM CST, 34 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
856 PM EDT THU JUL 30 2009
.DISCUSSION...
AN EARLY UPDATE APPEARS TO BE IN ORDER AS PRECIP IS MOVING INTO THE
AREA A BIT FASTER THAN EXPECTED. GIVEN THE SOLID COVERAGE OF PRECIP
SEEN UPSTREAM...THE HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE...AND
THE GOOD UPPER DYNAMICS THAT WILL BE COMING ACROSS LATER
TONIGHT...WILL RAISE POPS TO CAREGORICAL OVERNIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY
MORNING. WILL ALSO ADD SOME HEAVY RAIN WORDING TO BETTER MATCH THE
FLOOD WATCH.
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...NONE.
TN...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...BRADLEY...
CAMPBELL...CLAIBORNE...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...EAST POLK...
GRAINGER...HAMBLEN...HAMILTON...HANCOCK...HAWKINS...
JEFFERSON...JOHNSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...MCMINN...
MEIGS...MORGAN...NW BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST
CARTER...NORTHWEST COCKE...NORTHWEST GREENE...NORTHWEST
MONROE...RHEA...ROANE...SCOTT TN...SEQUATCHIE...SEVIER
SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST GREENE...
SOUTHEAST MONROE...SULLIVAN...UNICOI...UNION...WASHINGTON
TN...WEST POLK.
VA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
DGSHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 455 AM EDT THU JUL 30 2009 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-310900- CHEROKEE-CLAY-SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-HAWKINS- SULLIVAN-JOHNSON-MORGAN-ANDERSON-UNION-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN- NORTHWEST COCKE-COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTHWEST GREENE- SOUTHEAST GREENE-WASHINGTON TN-UNICOI-NORTHWEST CARTER- SOUTHEAST CARTER-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-JEFFERSON-NW BLOUNT- BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTH SEVIER-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS- SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-MCMINN-NORTHWEST MONROE- SOUTHEAST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-WEST POLK-EAST POLK-LEE- WISE-SCOTT-RUSSELL-WASHINGTON- 455 AM EDT THU JUL 30 2009 /355 AM CDT THU JUL 30 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES COMBINED WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE AHEAD OF A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS AND TENNESSEE VALLEY FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION FRIDAY. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED AHEAD OF THE FRONT FRIDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FRIDAY DUE TO HEAVY RAINFALL. TD
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 906 PM EDT THU JUL 30 2009 TNZ081-098>100-310200- BRADLEY-HAMILTON-MARION-SEQUATCHIE- 906 PM EDT THU JUL 30 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE AFFECTING BRADLEY...HAMILTON...MARION AND SEQUATCHIE COUNTIES... AT 803 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 14 MILES SOUTH OF RINGGOLD TO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHATTANOOGA VALLEY TO BRIDGEPORT... MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. SMALL HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION TO SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES PRIMARY KILLERS ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH PER HOUR...MAY OCCUR WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...AND POSSIBLE MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. TURN AROUND DONT DROWN MJB
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:29 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few large limbs and a power line was reported down on Kimball Cove Road in Kimball.
Several trees were reported down on East Valley Road two miles east of Dunlap.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 181128, 181130.