A warm front was positioned across central Kentucky during the early morning hours in association with a strong low pressure center over eastern Missouri. As the late evening hours progressed, a strong cold front moved into the mid state as the strong low pressure center moved northeastward into southern Indiana.
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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.
A warm front was positioned across central Kentucky during the early morning hours in association with a strong low pressure center over eastern Missouri. As the late evening hours progressed, a strong cold front moved into the mid state as the strong low pressure center moved northeastward into southern Indiana. This all resulted in a severe weather outbreak from the early morning hours through the late evening hours on May 8th.
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 May 8, 2:39 AM CST, 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 339 AM CDT FRI MAY 8 2009 .SHORT TERM (FRI-SUN)... MCS MOVG SE OF OH RVR ATTM. SYS SHOULD WEAKEN WITHIN 3-6 HR TIMEFRAME...A ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NORTH MID TN ASSOCIATED WITH IT. MEANWHILE SFC LOW PRES DEVELOPS IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH MORE UNSTABLE AIR ADVECTING INTO W MID TN. STORMS IN THIS REGION SHOULD REMAIN SCATTERED. SFC LOW PRES WL MOVE ENE WITH GFS LLJ MOVG ACR THE W OH VLY THIS AFTERNOON. SHOULD BE AN ORGANIZED AREA OF STORMS EXTENDING SOUTH INTO MID TN. SOME STORMS MAIN CONTAIN DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL IN NW MID TN. THREAT OF SEVERE STORM NE MID TN THIS EVENING. SFC HIGH PRES SHOULD PUSH COLD FRONT THROUGH MID TN SAT. OVERRUNNING MOISTURE WL KEEP CLOUDS AND PCPN CHANCE INTO SUN NIGHT. .LONG TERM (MON-THU)... CANADIAN HIGH PRES WITH DRY COOL WX MON-TUE. NEXT FRONTAL SYS APPROACHES MID WEEK...WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF RAIN LATER IN THE WEEK. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... NASHVILLE 83 65 70 55 / 70 70 60 30 CLARKSVILLE 83 64 70 52 / 70 70 60 30 CROSSVILLE 76 63 73 51 / 70 60 70 30 COLUMBIA 84 66 74 56 / 70 60 70 30 LAWRENCEBURG 85 67 75 57 / 50 50 70 40 WAVERLY 84 65 71 53 / 70 70 60 30 && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 04
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 459 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2009 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-081000- 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- 459 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A FRONTAL SYSTEM DROPS SOUTHWARD INTO THE MIDSTATE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. JLM
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:30 UTC.
5 hail, 2 funnel cloud, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Several early morning storms resulted in power outages across the Fairview Community. Many of those outages resulted from falling trees damaging individual residential electrical service lines.
Nickel size hail was reported in Numbia.
County's Emergency 911 center located at the Fentress County Jail sustained a direct lightning hit, temporarily knocking out telephone service and causing damage.
Penny size hail was reported in Clarksville.
A funnel cloud was reported on mile marker 16 on Interstate 24.
Several funnel cloud sightings were reported across the county.
Quarter size hail was reported near Jamestown.
Golf ball size hail was reported in Jamestown.
EF1 Tornado, with a maximum estimated wind speed of 100 mph, started in the Tom Price Road Area of Jamestown and resulted in the destruction of one mobile home and numerous trees down across houses. A couple of buildings had their roofs blown off just north northeast of Allardt. Newspaper also reported that trees were downed on Government Pond Road, Country Club Road, and Baseline Road, which appeared to be|the hardest hit area, with several large trees being uprooted and most of the siding on an outbuilding at the Joe Pennycuff residence being blown off. There was another|report of a funnel cloud near the White Oak and Hensley Road area. Power outages occurred across several areas of the county due to trees being blown down on power lines.
Penny size hail was reported in the Bumpus Mills Area.
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, 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: 174693, 174060, 174696, 174076, 174063, 174703, 174066, 174072, 174051, 174087.