An area of slow moving thunderstorms produced flash flooding across portions of east Tennessee on May 15th.
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.
An area of slow moving thunderstorms produced flash flooding across portions of east Tennessee on May 15th.
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 15, 1:49 PM EST, 4 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 249 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT AND SATURDAY)...SCATTERED CONVECTION OVER THE AREA AT THE MOMENT. COULD BE SOME PULSE SEVERE STORMS...AND HEAVY RAIN WITH THREAT OF FLOODING DUE TO SLOW MOVEMENT. WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS FOR EARLY TONIGHT BEFORE DROPPING TO SLIGHT CHANCE AFTER MIDNIGHT. COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA ON SATURDAY...SO SHOULD SEE INCREASE IN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WILL CARRY LIKELY TO LOW CAT POPS FOR THIS. WILL NOT STRAY FAR FROM MAV TEMPS. .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...MAIN ISSUE FOR LONG TERM REMAINS LATE SATURDAY/EARLY SUNDAY EVENT. STILL SOME SLIGHT TIMING DIFFERENCES ESPECIALLY WITH DEPARTURE OF SYSTEM. DID NOT MAKE ANY PROFOUND CHANGES TO PREVIOUS GRIDS/FORECAST OTHER THAN TO INCREASE POPS SOMEWHAT TO CATEGORICAL FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. ANTICIPATE MOST OF PRECIP SHOULD DEPART BY SUNDAY NIGHT WITH BALANCE OF LONG TERM LOOKING DRY AT THIS TIME. EUROPEAN MODEL DOES DEPICT WEAK FRONT DROPPING INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION BY LATE THURSDAY BUT THIS IS NOT DEPICTED BY GFS OR A MAJORITY OF THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS AND WILL BE DISCOUNTED FOR NOW. TEMPS WILL GENERALLY MODERATE FROM WELL BELOW CLIMO EARLY IN THE LONG TERM TO NEAR CLIMO BY LATE IN THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 65 81 60 65 46 / 40 80 80 50 10 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 64 81 58 62 43 / 40 80 80 50 10 OAK RIDGE, TN 64 82 57 64 43 / 40 80 80 50 10 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 61 80 55 61 41 / 40 70 80 60 10 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && LDW/LCM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 306 AM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-160715- 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- 306 AM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009 /206 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. SOME FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE POSSIBLE. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
526 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0510 PM TSTM WND DMG LOUDON 35.74N 84.36W
05/15/2009 LOUDON TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN LOUDON.
&&
GRCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
538 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0500 PM TSTM WND DMG DANDRIDGE 36.02N 83.42W
05/15/2009 JEFFERSON TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
FEW TREES DOWN.
&&
GRCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
607 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0555 PM HAIL HALLS 36.08N 83.93W
05/15/2009 E0.88 INCH KNOX TN TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
GRCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
616 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0559 PM HAIL HALLS 36.08N 83.93W
05/15/2009 E1.00 INCH KNOX TN PUBLIC
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
634 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0620 PM HAIL 1 N ATHENS 35.47N 84.60W
05/15/2009 E0.50 INCH MCMINN TN TRAINED SPOTTER
PEA TO DIME SIZE HAIL AT THE JUNCTION OF RT 305 AND RT
11.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
650 PM EDT FRI MAY 15 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0550 PM TSTM WND DMG LOUDON 35.74N 84.36W
05/15/2009 LOUDON TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
FEW TREES DOWN.
&&The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:00 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash flooding occurred with water several inches over area roads.
Flash flooding was occurring with four roads with several inches of water covering the roads.
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, May 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: 262539, 262541.