Tennessee, 2010

Winter Weather in Tennessee, December 10, 2010

December 10, 2010 · NWS OHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

With temperatures in the lower 30s during the early morning hours on Friday, December 10th, water on surfaces that had collected moisture over the previous day remained frozen across Dickson County. At a chemical plant in Dickson, ice that formed on an industrial structure broke off due to its weight, and struck a value that then opened, and released a toxic chemical called toluene.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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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 OHX wrote it up.

With temperatures in the lower 30s during the early morning hours on Friday, December 10th, water on surfaces that had collected moisture over the previous day remained frozen across Dickson County. At a chemical plant in Dickson, ice that formed on an industrial structure broke off due to its weight, and struck a value that then opened, and released a toxic chemical called toluene.

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 Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 9, 11:56 PM CST, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 9, 11:56 PM CST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Dickson

When
December 10, 3:00 AM CST
Where
Dickson forecast zone
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
36.149, -87.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Around four hundred gallons of a toluene, a volatile chemical that is a water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners and that is widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent, took place at the Quad/Graphics plant in Dickson, when a large chuck of ice fell and struck the handle, opening a valve of the facility's solvent recovery system. A company spokesperson said that the chemical drained across a concrete pad and into a grate, which lead to a drainage ditch where the spill collected. The ditch and grate were not connected to the public sewer system.

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, December 2010

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 274526.