A small area of persistent thunderstorms produced isolated flash flooding.
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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 MRX wrote it up.
A small area of persistent thunderstorms produced isolated flash flooding.
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 Sep 18, 2:15 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 315 PM EDT FRI SEP 18 2009 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT)...WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES NORTH THROUGH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. SURFACE RIDGING BUILDS SLIGHTLY INTO THE AREA FROM THE NE. UPPER RIDGING BEGINS TO BUILD OVER THEN SHIFTS NE OF THE AREA BY END OF PERIOD. THIS PATTERN DOES LITTLE TO CHANGE THE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITABLE WATER. LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW INCREASES SLIGHTLY INTO THE WEEKEND. LAYER SHEAR ALSO INCREASES SOME BY SUNDAY. DIURNALLY DRIVEN TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE. WARM NIGHTS AND NEAR NORMAL AFTN TEMPS. .LONG TERM (MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)...A FRONTAL BOUNDARY LINGERING ACROSS THE AREA WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE ADVERTISED ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING FOR BOTH PERIODS. A COLD FRONT ENTERS THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY AND LINGERS INTO FRIDAY. WITH STILL PLENTY OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST. STAYED AT OR BELOW MEX GUIDANCE FOR TEMPERATURES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 68 81 69 80 68 / 50 70 60 70 50 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 67 80 67 78 66 / 40 60 50 60 50 OAK RIDGE, TN 67 80 67 77 65 / 40 60 50 60 50 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 63 80 64 76 64 / 30 40 40 60 50 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && SON/GH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 424 AM EDT FRI SEP 18 2009 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-190830- 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- 424 AM EDT FRI SEP 18 2009 /324 AM CDT FRI SEP 18 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE REGION TODAY...WITH GREATEST COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED...WHICH MAY LEAD TO URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. BE ALERT FOR THIS POTENTIAL FLOODING...AND REMEMBER TO NEVER DRIVE THROUGH FLOOD WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH A FEW SLOW-MOVING STORMS HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL EACH DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED DUE TO THE ISOLATED NATURE OF THE FLOODING THREAT. TG
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:42 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Isolated flash flooding occurred with a foot of water over area roads in the Clinton, Tennessee area. A mud slide occurred due to the flash flooding on Spring Street in Clinton, Tennessee and Johnson Gap and Granite roads were also closed due to flash flooding.
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, September 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: 198090.