As a strong surface pressure gradient occurred across the Cumberland Plateau Region of Middle Tennessee during the mid morning hours on Wednesday, March 9th, gusty surface winds resulted in damage across three counties within this region.
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 OHX wrote it up.
As a strong surface pressure gradient occurred across the Cumberland Plateau Region of Middle Tennessee during the mid morning hours on Wednesday, March 9th, gusty surface winds resulted in damage across three counties within this region.
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 Mar 9, 8:54 AM CST, 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 854 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011 .UPDATE... WESTERN EDGE OF THE WIDESPREAD RAINFALL IS NOW PUSHING THROUGH THE PLATEAU. SFC ANALYSIS PLACES THE COLD FRONT BACK TO THE WEST AND IS ROUGHLY PARALLEL TO THE MS RIVER. LOW CLOUDS EXTEND WELL WEST OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. MODELS IN AGREEMENT WITH JUST GENERALLY LIGHT PRECIP AMOUNTS THROUGH THE DAY. FOR THE UPDATE...WILL LOWER POPS DOWN TO THE CHANCE CATEGORY AND CONTINUE TO UTILIZE THE SCT WORDING FOR THE SHOWER COVERAGE. INSTABILITY PRIOR TO THE FROPA SILL LOOKS WEAK. THUS...WILL CONTINUE TO LEAVE THE MENTION OF TSTMS OUT OF THE FCST. UPDATE WILL BE SENT WITHIN THE HOUR...ONCE THE WIDESPREAD PRECIP CLEARS OUR EASTERN MOST AREAS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 545 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011/ UPDATE...AM DROPPING THE FLOOD WATCH. EXPECTED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVERNIGHT SIMPLY HAVE NOT MATERIALIZED, AND RAIN IS NOW ENDING ACROSS OUR WESTERN COUNTIES. SEE NO REASON TO CONTINUE THE WATCH. AM UPDATING THE PUBLIC FORECAST ACCORDINGLY, WITH LOWER POP'S AND REDUCED QPF IN THE GRIDS. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 443 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011/ UPDATE...ADDED AVIATION SECTION. AVIATION...BNA/CSV...EXPECT IFR WX A GOOD PART OF THE DAY AS A COLD FRONT MAKES ITS WAY TOWARD MIDDLE TENNESSEE. LOOK FOR A REPRIEVE FROM THE RAIN LATE MORNING THROUGH AFTERNOON, AS THE WINDS SHIFT TO THE NW AND DIMINISH WITH THE FROPA. OCCLUDED- FRONTAL MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO ADVECT IN DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT, W/ LOW CLOUDS AND LIGHT RAIN REDEVELOPING. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 211 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011/ DISCUSSION...SURFACE MAP AT 07Z SHOWS A 1007 MB LOW CENTERED JUST NW OF STL W/ COLD FRONT STRETCHING SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE ARKLATEX AND A WARM FRONT JUST NORTH OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS COLDEST CLOUD TOPS OVER CENTRAL MS/AL, ALTHOUGH PLENTY OF MOISTURE OVER MIDDLE TENNESSEE AS EVIDENCED BY THE STRONGER RADAR ECHOES MOVING ACROSS THE TENNESSEE RIVER. EVENING SOUNDING FROM OHX SHOWS NO INSTABILITY, WITH A STRONG SURFACE-BASED INVERSION IN PLACE. THE PROFILE HAS NO DOUBT CHANGED DRASTICALLY SINCE THE WARM FRONTAL PASSAGE EARLIER THIS EVENING, ALTHOUGH NOT SEEING ANY LIGHTNING ACTIVITY IN OUR AREA EVEN NOW. GFS SHOWS DEEPEST MOISTURE PULLING OUT OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z, WITH THE COLD FRONT SWEEPING THROUGH BETWEEN 18Z AND 00Z THIS AFTERNOON. SIGNIFICANT WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE WILL THEN FOLLOW, KEEPING LOW CHANCE POP'S IN FOR TONIGHT, THURSDAY, AND THURSDAY EVENING. EXPECT TEMPERATURES THURSDAY NIGHT TO DROP TO FREEZING MOST AREAS, ALTHOUGH MOISTURE SHOULD PULL OUT BEFORE PRECIPITATION HAS A CHANCE TO SWITCH OVER TO SNOW. SPC IS KEEPING THE SLIGHT RISK AREA FAR TO OUR SOUTH, ALTHOUGH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE WITH THIS AIR MASS, ESPECIALLY WITH WARMER LOW-LEVEL AIR ADVECTING INTO THE MID STATE. && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 21
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 554 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-101130- STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-SUMNER-MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-BENTON- HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON-CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON-WILSON-TROUSDALE- SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM-OVERTON-FENTRESS-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS- WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL-RUTHERFORD-CANNON-DE KALB-WHITE- CUMBERLAND-BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN-WAYNE-LAWRENCE- GILES- 554 AM CST WED MAR 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ROSE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Gas pump was blown over at the corner of U.S Highway 70 North and C C Camp Road in Cookeville.
Strong winds were lifting a roof off of a trailor. Specific details concerning the type of trailer, damage type, and cost associated with any damage amount to the trailer were unknown.
A large pine tree was blown down in a yard in Grimsley.
Power lines and shallow rooted trees were blown down just northeast of Spencer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, March 2011
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: 290026, 290027, 290028, 290029.