Upper level low pressure system with associated cold temperatures aloft resulted in the production of convection as an occluded front pressed east across the Southern Appalachian region during the afternoon. Pea to nickel sized hail was reported in a few spots across Southeast and Central East Tennessee as the storms formed in an environment with freezing levels as low as 6700 feet.
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.
Upper level low pressure system with associated cold temperatures aloft resulted in the production of convection as an occluded front pressed east across the Southern Appalachian region during the afternoon. Pea to nickel sized hail was reported in a few spots across Southeast and Central East Tennessee as the storms formed in an environment with freezing levels as low as 6700 feet.
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 Jan 11, 9:35 AM EST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 935 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CENTERED OVER NORTHWESTERN MIDDLE TN NEAR CLARKSVILLE...WITH ITS ASSOCIATED OCCLUDED FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHEAST ACROSS MIDDLE TN AND NORTHEAST AL. THIS OCCLUDED FRONT IS PROGGED TO SLOWLY MOVE NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY...WITH A MARGINALLY UNSTABLE AIR MASS DEVELOPING AHEAD OF IT AS AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW SWINGS ACROSS THE TN RIVER VALLEY. THIS INSTABILITY SHOULD RESULT IN SCATTERED TSTORMS TODAY...WITH SMALL HAIL POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS AS THE FREEZING LEVEL LOWERS WITH THE UPPER LOW TO AROUND 6700 FT MSL BY MID AFTERNOON. OVERALL...CURRENT FORECAST APPEARS TO BE ON TRACK...SO WILL PLAN TO UPDATE LATER THIS MORNING ONLY TO REMOVE ANY MORNING WORDING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 61 43 50 25 40 / 100 40 20 10 10 KNOXVILLE AIRPORT, TN 61 42 51 24 36 / 100 60 30 40 10 OAK RIDGE, TN 61 43 48 24 36 / 100 60 30 40 10 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 57 40 52 25 33 / 100 80 50 50 10 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && DMG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 344 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-120845- 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- 344 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 /244 AM CST WED JAN 11 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH SMALL HAIL POSSIBLE TODAY... AN UPPER STORM SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TODAY. ENOUGH INSTABILITY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40. DUE TO THE COLD AIR ALOFT....SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL UP TO DIME SIZE. ALSO...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH IS POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... ANOTHER STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL SHARPLY WITH RAIN SHOWERS CHANGING TO SNOW SHOWERS OR FLURRIES BY THURSDAY EVENING. SOME LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...GENERALLY 1 TO 4 INCHES...ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR OVER NORTHERN PARTS OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...THE NORTHERN AND SMOKY MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE...AND ALSO SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VALLEY AREAS COULD GET A DUSTING UP TO AN INCH OR SO OF SNOWFALL. LATER FORECASTS WILL BETTER DEFINE HOW MUCH SNOW...AND MOST ACCUMULATIONS WILL OCCUR THURSDAY EVENING INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. BRISK WEST WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL ALSO OCCUR INTO FRIDAY...MAKING TEMPERATURES FEEL EVEN COLDER. THIS SYSTEM COULD AFFECT TRAVEL THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY... SO STAY TUNED. TRANQUIL WEATHER RETURNS SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. SNOWFALL REPORTS MAY BE NEEDED LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. DH/TG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 731 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 TNZ013-036-037-068-069-071-086-111330- ANDERSON TN-CAMPBELL TN-KNOX TN-LOUDON TN-NORTHWEST MONROE TN-NW BLOUNT TN-UNION TN- 731 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOUNT...NORTHERN MONROE... KNOX...CAMPBELL...ANDERSON...LOUDON AND UNION COUNTIES UNTIL 830 AM EST... AT 730 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LENOIR CITY...MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH. HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...LENOIR CITY... KNOXVILLE...CLINTON...MAYNARDVILLE...LA FOLLETTE...FARRAGUT... FRIENDSVILLE...BEARDEN...KARNS...POWELL...HALLS...LAKE CITY... NORRIS...DISNEY...PAULETTE...NORRIS LAKE...ROSE HILL...FINCASTLE AND SHARPS CHAPEL. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH PER HOUR...MAY OCCUR WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...AND POSSIBLE MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN! DH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 1128 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 TNZ083>085-099-100-111730- BRADLEY TN-HAMILTON TN-MCMINN TN-MEIGS TN-RHEA TN- 1128 AM EST WED JAN 11 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MEIGS...MCMINN...HAMILTON... BRADLEY AND RHEA COUNTIES UNTIL 1230 PM... AT 1126 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HARRISON...OR 9 MILES EAST OF CHATTANOOGA...WHICH WAS MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH. SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION TO SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES PRIMARY KILLERS ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. DMG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm spotter reported pea to dime size hail one half mile south of Collegedale.
Spotters reported pea to dime size hail in downtown Cleveland.
Storm spotter reported nickle size hail in Cleveland.
Storm spotter reported pea to dime size hail in Farragut.
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, January 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: 357071, 357070, 357069, 357068.