A front tracked into the area triggering thunderstorms during the afternoon hours on the 3rd. A few of the storms produced damaging thunderstorm wind and large hail.
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 MRX wrote it up.
A front tracked into the area triggering thunderstorms during the afternoon hours on the 3rd. A few of the storms produced damaging thunderstorm wind and large hail.
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 Aug 3, 12:53 PM EST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 153 PM EDT FRI AUG 3 2012 .AVIATION...MVFR CONDITIONS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EARLY IN THE PERIOD AS THE REMNANTS OF THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX TRACKS THROUGH THE TAF SITES. BUT MORE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON. BRIEF MVFR OR LOWER IS A POSSIBLE IF TSRA PASS DIRECTLY ACROSS A TAF SITE. PATCHY FOG POSSIBLE TONIGHT. && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && GH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 425 AM EDT FRI AUG 3 2012 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-040830- 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- 425 AM EDT FRI AUG 3 2012 /325 AM CDT FRI AUG 3 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... AN ORGANIZED AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE WILL TRACK SOUTHEAST TODAY...AND AFFECT EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA BY THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW STRONG STORMS AND ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE... WITH THE MAIN THREATS BEING GUSTY WINDS OF 50 MPH OR HIGHER... HAIL UP TO QUARTER SIZE AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH PER HOUR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... INCREASING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR WILL ONCE AGAIN PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ON SATURDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE STRONG AND PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAINS. FOR SUNDAY...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TOWARD THE AREA WITH CONTINUED MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR. AS THE FRONT APPROACHES THE TENNESSEE VALLEY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING EVENING...SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE MAIN THREAT BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 222 PM EDT FRI AUG 3 2012 TNZ040>043-031900- COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS TN-NORTHWEST COCKE TN-NORTHWEST GREENE TN-SOUTHEAST GREENE TN- 222 PM EDT FRI AUG 3 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR GREENE AND COCKE COUNTIES UNTIL 300 PM EDT... AT 215 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PARROTTSVILLE...OR 11 MILES EAST OF NEWPORT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...GREENEVILLE... TUSCULUM...CEDAR CREEK...CAMP CREEK AND CHUCKY. 17
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:52 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported a couple of trees and large limbs downed by thunderstorm wind in Greeneville.
Emergency management personnel reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail in Mosheim.
A trained spotter reported 2 barns were destroyed by thunderstorm wind 3 miles north of Greeneville.
Emergency manager personnel reported trees and powerline downed by thunderstorm wind near Baileyton.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees downed by thunderstorm wind in Chucky.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees downed by thunderstorm wind in Caney Branch.
A trained spotter reported a couple of large trees downed by thunderstorm wind in Blountville.
Nearby gauge reported 2.38 inches of rain in 30 to 45 minutes. High water was observed near Erwin Town Hall, where sandbagging occurred outside, while 6 to 8 inches of water came up into the basement from the sewer lines. Flooding also occurred in the Old Farm subdivision, in areas along 7th Street, on Rex Lewis Road, and on Zane Whitson Drive. City officials said water rushed through town as fast as it could. Water got inside two police cruisers. A few downtown businesses received flood damage.
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, August 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: 401802, 401803, 401804, 401805, 401806, 401807, 401808, 407979.