An area of low pressure tracking through the area on the 15-16th produced freezing rain over southwest Virginia during the overnight hours of the 15th, into the morning hours of the 16th. 25 inches of ice.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 low pressure tracking through the area on the 15-16th produced freezing rain over southwest Virginia during the overnight hours of the 15th, into the morning hours of the 16th. Roads were glazed with 0.25 inches of ice. In addition, 2 to 4 inches of snow was reported making travel dangerous.
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 Dec 16, 1:00 AM EST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
100 AM EST THU DEC 16 2010
.AVIATION...WARM FRONT IS STRETCHED SOUTHEAST ACROSS WEST TN AND
NORTHERN AL. A STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN WILL CONTINUE
OVERNIGHT...WITH A FEW MORE HOURS OF FREEZING RAIN EXPECTED AT KCHA
AND KTYS. A PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED INITIALLY AT
KTRI...BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO FREEZING RAIN BEFORE SUNRISE. MODELS
INDICATE THAT PRECIP SHOULD GRADUALLY CHANGE TO RAIN BEFORE SUNRISE
AT KCHA...AROUND SUNRISE AT KTYS...AND AFTER SUNRISE AT KTRI. AS
THIS WARM FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION THIS MORNING... VISIBILITIES
AND CEILINGS SHOULD LOWER INTO THE IFR RANGES...AND WILL LIKELY
REMAIN LOW THROUGH THE DAY ON THURSDAY AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
MOVES OVER THE TAF SITES. A COLD FRONT WILL THEN MOVE THROUGH THE
REGION TOWARDS SUNSET ON THURSDAY...WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO THE WEST
AND CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES FINALLY RISING.
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST THURSDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: CHEROKEE...CLAY.
TN...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ THURSDAY FOR
THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BLEDSOE...BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
BRADLEY...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...EAST POLK...HAMBLEN...
HAMILTON...JEFFERSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...MCMINN...
MEIGS...NW BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST COCKE...
NORTHWEST MONROE...RHEA...ROANE...SEQUATCHIE...SEVIER SMOKY
MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST MONROE...WEST POLK.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON EST THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: ANDERSON...CAMPBELL...CLAIBORNE...GRAINGER...
HANCOCK...HAWKINS...JOHNSON...MORGAN...NORTHWEST CARTER...
NORTHWEST GREENE...SCOTT TN...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST
GREENE...SULLIVAN...UNICOI...UNION...WASHINGTON TN.
VA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON EST THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
MJBHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 825 PM EST WED DEC 15 2010 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-161000- 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- 825 PM EST (725 PM CST) WED DEC 15 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WARM FRONT WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION TONIGHT...PRODUCING A WINTRY MIX OF SNOW...FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. SOME ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER WEATHER WARNING/ADVISORY PRODUCT (MEMWSWMRX) FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHEAST FRIDAY NIGHT...AND THEN MOVE NORTHEAST OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST ON SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM MAY BRING SOME LIGHT WINTRY PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FOR SNOW AND ICE REPORTS.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
906 PM EST WED DEC 15 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
&&
FERRELLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
907 PM EST WED DEC 15 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM SNOW CLEVELAND 35.18N 84.87W
12/15/2010 E0.1 INCH BRADLEY TN PUBLIC
HEAVY SNOW BEGAN AT 750 PM AND CONTINUES.
0842 PM FREEZING RAIN KINGSTON 35.87N 84.51W
12/15/2010 E0.10 INCH ROANE TN AMATEUR RADIO
LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS ON
CARS.
0850 PM FREEZING RAIN DUNLAP 35.37N 85.39W
12/15/2010 E0.10 INCH SEQUATCHIE TN TRAINED SPOTTER
ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF GENERALLY A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS
ACROSS THE COUNTY AND ESPECIALLY ON TREES AND CARS.
&&
FERRELLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
946 PM EST WED DEC 15 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0925 PM FREEZING RAIN 2 S CHARLESTON 35.26N 84.76W
12/15/2010 E0.10 INCH BRADLEY TN TRAINED SPOTTER
ICE ACCUMULATING ON HIGHWAYS.
0925 PM FREEZING RAIN CLEVELAND 35.18N 84.87W
12/15/2010 E0.10 INCH BRADLEY TN TRAINED SPOTTER
ICE ACCUMULATING ON ROADS...TREES AND CARS COUNTYWIDE.
&&
FERRELLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement personnel reported freezing rain produced 0.25 inches of ice on roads in Lebanon, along with 3 to 4 inches of snow.
Law enforcement personnel reported freezing rain produced 0.25 inches of ice on roads in Jonesville.
Law enforcement personnel reported freezing rain produced 0.25 inches of ice on roads in Gate City.
Law enforcement personnel reported freezing rain produced 0.25 inches of ice on roads in Abingdon, along with 2 inches of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, December 2010
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: 271743, 271744, 271745, 271746.