A frontal boundary tracked back into the region triggering scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours over east Tennessee. A few of the storms produced damaging thunderstorms wind and hail as large as a ping pong.
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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.
A frontal boundary tracked back into the region triggering scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours over east Tennessee. A few of the storms produced damaging thunderstorms wind and hail as large as a ping pong.
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 Apr 5, 8:55 AM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 955 AM EDT THU APR 5 2012 .DISCUSSION...MORNING CONVECTION IS EXITING NE CORNER OF FORECAST AREA...WHICH WILL LEAVE A FEW HOURS BEFORE MORE SHOWERS AND STORMS APPROACH FROM THE SW. GULF COAST CONVECTION COULD DELAY THE ONSET OF THIS NEW ACTIVITY. HOWEVER...THE UPPER LOW MADE A GOOD EASTWARD PUSH OVERNIGHT AND SHOULD BE TRACKINFG ESE ACROSS NRN MS THIS AFTERNOON. THUS...I WOULD EXPECT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS COVERAGE IN THE AFTERNOON. PLAN TO FRESHEN HOURLY GRIDS AND REMOVE MORNING WORDING FROM ZFP PRODUCT BY LATE MORNING. MAY ALSO NEED TO SLIGHTLY LOWER POPS FOR THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && TG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 509 AM EDT THU APR 5 2012 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-060900- 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- 509 AM EDT THU APR 5 2012 /409 AM CDT THU APR 5 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY ALONG AND AHEAD OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY AS IT MOVES SOUTH ACROSS TENNESSEE. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREATS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... PATCHY FROST IS POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNINGS ACROSS NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. TD
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:10 UTC.
6 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement personnel reported thunderstorms produced hail as large as a Kennedy half dollar in Lake City.
Law enforcement personnel reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail 2 miles south of La Follette.
Post office personnel reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail in Del Rio.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees downed by thunderstorm wind 3 miles northwest of Mohawk on Welcome Grove Road.
Law enforcement personnel reported powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds 3 miles northwest of Baileyton on Horton Highway.
Law enforcement personnel reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail 6 miles southeast of Dunlap.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees downed by thunderstorm wind on Conklin Road southeast of Limestone near Gladstone.
Law enforcement personnel reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail northwest of Unicoi near Dry Creek.
Flooding of roads reported in Johnson City, including Hwy 11.
Oakland Road and Carson Creek Road closed due to flooding.
The public reported thunderstorms produced ping pong size hail south of Farragut near Boyd.
Heavy rain produced significant flooding across Western Avenue. An evacuation had occurred.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, April 2012
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: 372919, 372927, 372931, 372943, 372953, 372936, 373184, 373196, 377482, 377514, 373199, 374131.