Name: Flash Flood in Tennessee, May 14, 2009
Start: 2009-05-14T20:30
End: 2009-05-14T22:45
Location: Tennessee

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MRX wrote it up.

An Isolated slow moving thunderstorm brought flash flooding in northeast Tennessee on the 14th.

What forecasters said that day

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 May 14, 7:12 PM EST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 7:12 PM EST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
812 PM EDT THU MAY 14 2009

.DISCUSSION...CONSIDERING COVERAGE OF CONVECTION OVER CENTRAL
VALLEY AND SE TN...OPTED TO DO A QUICK UPDATE OF ZFPMRX...GRIDS AND
WEB PRODUCTS. CARRIED A BRIEF WINDOW OF LIKELY POPS WHERE BEST
COVERAGE WILL OCCUR OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. STRONG STORMS LINGER
WITH AS OF YET NO REPORTS OF HAIL...AND JUST ONE TREE DOWN IN ROANE
COUNTY.

WILL UPDATE GRIDS AND ALL WEB PRODUCTS LATE THIS SHIFT...AFTER
ACTIVITY DIES DOWN.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN             64  83  64  83  59 /  30  30  40  70  70
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN  62  80  64  80  57 /  60  30  40  70  70
OAK RIDGE, TN                       62  82  64  81  56 /  40  40  30  70  70
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN              59  81  60  81  56 /  30  40  40  60  70

&&

.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...NONE.
TN...NONE.
VA...NONE.

&&

TG

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 14, 7:53 PM EST, 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
853 PM EDT THU MAY 14 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0806 PM     HAIL             4 W ATHENS              35.45N 84.67W
05/14/2009  E0.75 INCH       MCMINN             TN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            DIME TO PENNY SIZE HAIL, 4 W OF ATHENS. REPORTED BY
            DISPATCH.

&&

MEP

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Unicoi

When: May 14, 8:30 PM EST to 10:45 PM EST
Where: Unicoi County, 6 mi SW of Unicoi to 0.58 mi NW of Banner Hill
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 36.139, -82.426

Flash flooding resulted in several roads being closed as water was several inches deep and across the area roads.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Tennessee, May 2009

Sources

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: 262542.