Strong upslope winds brought heavy snow to a few locations in the higher elevations. The lower elevations reported 1 to 3 inches of snow.
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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.
Strong upslope winds brought heavy snow to a few locations in the higher elevations. The lower elevations reported 1 to 3 inches of snow.
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 6, 2:55 AM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 255 AM EST MON DEC 6 2010 .SHORT TERM (TODAY AND TONIGHT)...CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A LARGE DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE PLAINS...BRINGING COLD AND DRY AIR OVER THE FORECAST AREA. AREA RADARS REVEAL SCATTERED FLURRIES OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING... RESULTING FROM A MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW FROM THE GREAT LAKES REGION. THIS HIGH WILL REMAIN CENTERED OVER THE PLAINS THROUGH TONIGHT... BRINGING A PERSISTENT NORTHWEST WIND FLOW OVER THE APPALACHIANS. WITH A SHALLOW LAYER OF MOISTURE REMAINING AROUND 850 MB...EXPECT SCATTERED FLURRIES AND/OR SNOW SHOWERS TO CONTINUE ACROSS MAINLY THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. AS FOR TEMPS... GFS AND NAM MOS GUIDANCE NUMBERS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT...BUT WILL PLAN TO COMPROMISE WHERE SOME DIFFERENCES ARE NOTED. .LONG TERM (TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)...UPPER TROUGH IN NORTHEAST PRODUCING NORTHWEST FLOW OVER AREA AND THIS PERSISTS THROUGH ABOUT THURSDAY...WHEN THE FLOW BEGINS TO STRAIGHTEN OUT AND TEND TOWARD ZONAL. H10-H5 THICKNESSES ARE FAIRLY LOW...LOW ENOUGH FOR SNOW EVERYWHERE...BUT AIRMASS IS PRETTY DRY TOO...SO HAVE LIMITED POPS TO CHANCE AT BEST...EVEN IN FAVORED UPSLOPE AREAS ALL WEEK. EVEN THEN EXPECT MAINLY FLURRIES WITH SPRINKLES IN WARMEST AREAS TO THE SOUTH. BY FRIDAY A FRONT APPROACHES WITH A QUITE IMPRESSIVE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT...AND SO WINDS WILL TURN SOUTHERLY AND THICKNESSES WILL BEGIN RISING AGAIN FOR A LITTLE WARM UP ON THE WEEKEND. SATURDAY SHOULD SEEM QUITE TROPICAL COMPARED TO THE ICEBOX WE WILL HAVE BEEN IN FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK. LOOKS ALSO LIKE A CHANCE FOR SOME MODERATE RAIN ON THE WEEKEND. WILL NOT GO OVERBOARD WITH THE POPS THIS FAR OUT. BUT STAY TUNED. ADJUSTED THE MAX TEMPS DOWN NEARLY EVERYWHERE IN THE FIRST PART OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD AS LATEST GFS IS COLDER THAN LAST FORECAST PACKAGE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 38 21 37 18 40 / 0 0 0 0 0 KNOXVILLE AIRPORT, TN 34 19 30 16 36 / 10 10 0 0 0 OAK RIDGE, TN 34 19 31 16 36 / 10 10 0 0 0 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 29 16 24 14 32 / 10 20 10 10 10 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && DMG/BB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 500 AM EST MON DEC 6 2010 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-071000- 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 EST (400 AM CST) MON DEC 6 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AN UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR MASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE REGION FOR MOST OF THE WEEK. BY THIS WEEKEND...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION BRINGING THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG WINDS AROUND THE MOUNTAINS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. DMG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement personnel reported 8 inches of snow fell across Wise.
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: 268042.