Severe thunderstorms occurred across two Middle Tennessee counties during the late afternoon hours on Thursday, May 12th. This resulted in thunderstorm wind damage events.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Severe thunderstorms occurred across two Middle Tennessee counties during the late afternoon hours on Thursday, May 12th. This resulted in thunderstorm wind damage events. Lightning also struck a building in Davidson county.
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 May 12, 3:03 PM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 403 PM CDT THU MAY 12 2011 .SHORT TERM...WITH UPPER RIDGE NOW EAST OF OUR AREA, AND UPPER LOW OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS, WE ARE NOW SEEING INTERMITTENT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES EJECTING OUT OF THE ARK-LA-TX AREA TOWARD MIDDLE TENNESSEE. ONE OF THOSE DISTURBANCES PUSHED INTO WESTERN TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON, SPARKING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOP NEAR THE TENNESSEE RIVER. THIS ACTIVITY WILL SPREAD EASTWARD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. AS A RESULT, WILL INCLUDE A LATE AFTERNOON PERIOD IN THE UPCOMING ZFP PACKAGE. EXPECT THE CURRENT BATCH OF THUNDERSTORMS TO LOSE SOME STEAM AFTER SUNSET. HOWEVER, ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL PUSH INTO OUR AREA LATE TONIGHT AND INCREASE THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN OVER OUR WESTERN COUNTIES. THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL OVERSPREAD THE REMAINDER OF THE MID STATE ON FRIDAY. THE MOST NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND STORMS OVER WESTERN SECTIONS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR IN THE MORNING, WITH MAINLY JUST SCATTERED CONVECTION BEHIND THE SHORTWAVE DURING THE AFTERNOON. A SURFACE COLD FRONT PUSHES TO NEAR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BY 00Z/SATURDAY, AND TO THE TENNESSEE RIVER BY 12Z/SATURDAY. EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO ONCE AGAIN BECOME LIKELY IN ADVANCE OF THIS FRONT FRIDAY NIGHT. STARTING SATURDAY, WE MAKE A BIG SWING IN TEMPERATURES...FROM HAVING HIGH TEMPS RUNNING 10 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL, TO HIGH TEMPS RUNNING SOME 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. SATURDAY LOOKS LIKE LIKE A MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOL DAY, AS UPPER LOW IS FORECAST TO TRACK ACROSS OUR AREA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN LIKELY AS THIS UPPER PASSES BY. HIGHS ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO REACH THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S. AS UPPER LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY, BELIEVE THE BEST CHANCE FOR SHOWERS WILL BE ACROSS OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES AND ONLY SLIGHT CHANCES ACROSS THE SOUTH. PLAN TO KEEP DAYTIME TEMPS RELATIVELY COOL THROUGH SUNDAY, AND LITTLE DIURNAL VARIATION IN TEMPS DUE TO CLOUDS. .LONG TERM...MOSTLY CLOUDY AND COOL PERIOD CONTINUES SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AS ANOTHER UPPER LOW ROTATES IN FROM THE NORTHWEST, ALONG WITH A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS. SUNSHINE FINALLY STARTS TO BECOME MORE PLENTIFUL WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY NEXT WEEK, AS UPPER LOW LIFTS SLOWLY NORTH AND EAST. MAX TEMPERATURES WILL FINALLY START TO RECOVER TO AT LEAST THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 70S MOST AREAS BY NEXT THURSDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... NASHVILLE 67 83 59 69 / 40 70 70 60 CLARKSVILLE 65 83 57 67 / 40 70 70 60 CROSSVILLE 61 80 58 68 / 30 60 60 60 COLUMBIA 67 84 59 70 / 50 70 70 60 LAWRENCEBURG 65 84 59 71 / 50 70 70 60 WAVERLY 66 83 58 68 / 50 70 70 60 && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 19
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 251 PM CDT THU MAY 12 2011 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-131000- 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- 251 PM CDT THU MAY 12 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE WARM, UNSTABLE AIR MASS THIS AFTERNOON AS TEMPERATURES RISE THROUGH THE 80'S. MOST STORMS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE THRESHOLDS, ALTHOUGH A FEW MAY BECOME SEVERE, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WEST OF NASHVILLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... AN APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM COMBINED WITH GOOD VERTICAL WIND SHEAR AND INCREASING ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY WILL GENERATE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... REPORTS FROM TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED. SPOTTER THUNDERSTORM REPORTING CRITERIA... TORNADO FUNNEL CLOUD FLOODING HAIL >= 1/2 INCH WINDS > 50 MPH (MEASURED) STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TREES OR POWER LINES DOWN MAR
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 335 PM CDT THU MAY 12 2011 TNZ005>007-022>026-056>058-093-094-122200- STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-BENTON-HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON- CHEATHAM-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS-WAYNE-LAWRENCE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DOVER...CLARKSVILLE...SPRINGFIELD... CAMDEN...ERIN...WAVERLY...DICKSON...ASHLAND CITY...LOBELVILLE... CENTERVILLE...HOHENWALD...WAYNESBORO...LAWRENCEBURG 335 PM CDT THU MAY 12 2011 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE LATE THIS AFTERNOON... NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS A WEAK BOUNDARY PUSHES ACROSS THE AREA. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL BECOME STRONG, WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MILES AN HOUR, HAIL UP TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER, AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF FLOODING. THE CELLS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR. ROSE
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 147 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:59 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees were downed in and just east of Waynesboro.
A large tree limb fell onto a power line in West Nashville. Specific details concerning if any damage occurred to the power line and associated repair costs were unknown.
Several trees and power lines were downed, along with damage to a section of a roof of a building, near the intersection of Polk Avenue and Fesslers Lane. Specific details concerning what type of building received this roof damage and associated damage costs were unknown. Some trees were also downed in Hermitage.
Lightning struck a building at 328 East Old Hickory Blvd. The building caught on fire. Specific details concerning the type of building, amount of structural damage, and associated costs were unknown.
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, May 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: 308111, 308112, 308113, 306911.