A cold front tracked across the area during the afternoon hours triggering scattered severe thunderstorms over east Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours. Four EF0 tornadoes develop along the front along with numerous thunderstorm wind damage reports.
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.
A cold front tracked across the area during the afternoon hours triggering scattered severe thunderstorms over east Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours. Four EF0 tornadoes develop along the front along with numerous thunderstorm wind damage reports.
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 Oct 9, 1:51 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
251 PM EDT FRI OCT 9 2009
.SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...MOST ACTIVE PERIOD WILL BE
EARLY TONIGHT AS COLD FRONT APPROACHES...MOVING A BIT FASTER PER
THE LATEST MODEL RUN. WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION FINALLY POPPING
IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT AS DEWPOINT TEMPS HAVE RISEN INTO THE UPPER
60S TO LOWER 70S OVER SW HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THREAT FOR
SEVERE STORMS THIS EVENING WITH SUPERCELL STORMS LIKELY TO DEVELOP
...THEN LOOK FOR MAIN SQUALL LINE TO APPROACH AS WELL DURING THE
EVENING HOURS.
CONTINUED NEAR 100 PERCENT POPS FOR TONIGHT AND WILL ALSO CARRY THE
WIND ADVISORY THROUGH MIDNIGHT AS EARLIER ADVERTISED.
NAM-WRF AND GENERALLY THE GFS MODEL...BOTH SHOW SOME SHOWERS
LINGERING EARLY SATURDAY THEN LOOK DRIER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS FOR
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. I TRENDED THE FORECAST GRIDS TOWARD THIS
DRIER SOLUTION...WITH MAIN FOCUS ON FIRST PERIOD GRIDS AND PRODUCTS
FOR NOW.
OTHERWISE...STAYED CLOSE TO SIMILAR MOS TEMPS WITH TEMPS PROBABLY
RISING LITTLE IF ANY ON SATURDAY BEHIND THE FRONTAL PASSAGE.
.LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...THE LONG TERM PERIOD
FEATURES AN ACTIVE WEST SOUTHWEST UPPER LEVEL FLOW WITH WEAK SHORT
WAVES CREATING THE POSSIBILITY OF SCATTERED SHOWERS SUNDAY NIGHT
THROUGH TUESDAY. KEPT WEDNESDAY DRY AWAITING MORE AMPLIFIED UPPER
TROF AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WHICH WILL BUILD INTO THE FORECAST
AREA ON FRIDAY. PLACED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THURSDAY WHILE USING A
30 PERCENT POP FOR THE BIG EVENT ON FRIDAY. FOR TEMPERATURES STAYED
CLOSE TO HPC/MRF MOS BLEND.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 63 65 53 73 56 / 90 70 30 10 20
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 62 65 50 70 54 / 90 60 20 10 10
OAK RIDGE, TN 59 63 49 71 54 / 90 60 20 10 10
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 59 64 47 70 48 / 90 60 20 10 10
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: CHEROKEE...CLAY.
TN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT /11 PM CDT/ TONIGHT FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: BLEDSOE...BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
CAMPBELL...CLAIBORNE...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...EAST POLK...
JOHNSON...MARION...MORGAN...SCOTT TN...SEQUATCHIE...SEVIER
SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST GREENE...
SOUTHEAST MONROE...UNICOI.
VA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: LEE...RUSSELL...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
TGHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 500 AM EDT FRI OCT 9 2009 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-101000- 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- 500 AM EDT (400 AM CDT) FRI OCT 9 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BRINGING NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...WITH A WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. BECAUSE OF THIS STRONG WIND FLOW...SOME STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. IN ADDITION...AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DMG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 352 PM EDT FRI OCT 9 2009 TNZ084>086-099-100-092045- BRADLEY-HAMILTON-MCMINN-MEIGS-NORTHWEST MONROE- 352 PM EDT FRI OCT 9 2009 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE AFFECTING BRADLEY...HAMILTON... MCMINN...MEIGS AND MONROE COUNTIES... AT 351 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LAKEVIEW...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION TO SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. 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. DH
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:18 UTC.
19 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 4 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement officials reported two trees downed by thunderstorm winds in Cleveland.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds on Sawmill Creek Road northwest of Jasper.
Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds on Rose Circle in Kingston.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds near Whitwell.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds on Mahoney Road southeast of Oliver Springs.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds near Jacksboro.
An EF0 tornado touched down near Jasper and had a continuous two mile path before dissipating. The path width was 30 yards. The maximum wind speed was 80 miles. The tornado downed numerous trees.
Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
An EF0 touched down southeast of Jasper near Haletown with a tenth of a mile path length and a 20 yard path width. The maximum wind speed was 65 mph. A few trees were downed.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds in Clinton.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds across the western half of the county.
Amateur radio operators reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds southwest of Oliver Springs on Mahoney Road.
An EF0 tornado briefly touched down along Interstate 75 about 7 miles north of Niota. The maximum wind speed was 70 mph with a path length of one-half of a mile and a path length of 20 yards. A few trees were downed.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds in Shawanee.
Amateur radio operators reported a funnel cloud near the Nuclear Plant on Middle Valley Road northwest of Chattanooga.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds in Rutledge.
Law enforcement officials reported a possible funnel cloud sighting near Charleston.
Law enforcement officials reported a possible funnel cloud sighting near Riceville.
A trained spotter reported several trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds in Riceville.
Law enforcement officials reported several trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds countywide. Numerous power outages.
A trained spotter reported a wind gust to 50 kt (58 mph) in Riceville.
Law enforcement officials reported a possible funnel cloud sighting near Etowah.
An EF0 tornado touched down about 2 miles east of Englewood. The path length was two-tenths of a mile and path width was 30 yards. The maximum wind speed was 80 mph.
Law enforcement officials reported a few trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds on Cagle Road near Tellico Plains.
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, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 195374, 195375, 195376, 195377, 195383, 195378, 195384, 195385, 195380, 195381, 195382, 195386, 195387, 195388, 195389, 195535, 195390, 195391, 195392, 195525, 195526, 195527, 195528, 195529, 195530, 195532, 195533.