Isolated diurnal thunderstorms developed with an unstable atmosphere during the afternoon hours in southwest Virginia. One of the storms produced large hail.
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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.
Isolated diurnal thunderstorms developed with an unstable atmosphere during the afternoon hours in southwest Virginia. One of the storms produced 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 Apr 4, 12:48 PM EST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 148 PM EDT WED APR 4 2012 .AVIATION...COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTH INTO THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. IT SHOULD TRIGGER SCATTERED AFTERNOON CONVECTION AROUND THE TAF SITES...IT SHOULD BE VFR. MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS BY TONIGHT WITH SHOWERS AT TYS AND TRI. && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 505 AM EDT WED APR 4 2012 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-050900- 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- 505 AM EDT WED APR 4 2012 /405 AM CDT WED APR 4 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 AHEAD OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE AREA LATER TODAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY THREATS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA THROUGH THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE THURSDAY AND THROUGH THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS THURSDAY NIGHT. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA INTO FRIDAY MORNING. LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ACCOMPANY THE STORMS. SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. PATCHY FROST IS POSSIBLE MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS ACROSS NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TD
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1210 PM EDT WED APR 04 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0825 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 WNW ATHENS 35.48N 84.68W
04/03/2012 MCMINN TN EMERGENCY MNGR
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A HOME.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1213 PM EDT WED APR 04 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0413 PM HAIL RUTLEDGE 36.27N 83.52W
04/03/2012 E1.25 INCH GRAINGER TN PUBLIC
0416 PM HAIL 1 N GREENBACK 35.67N 84.18W
04/03/2012 E1.00 INCH LOUDON TN PUBLIC
0435 PM HAIL LA FOLLETTE 36.37N 84.13W
04/03/2012 E0.25 INCH CAMPBELL TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
0444 PM HAIL 4 WNW HAPPY VALLEY 35.63N 84.02W
04/03/2012 E1.00 INCH BLOUNT TN PUBLIC
0458 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 E DANDRIDGE 36.02N 83.33W
04/03/2012 JEFFERSON TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
ONE TREE DOWN ON SWANNSYLVANIA RD.
0550 PM TSTM WND DMG GREENEVILLE 36.17N 82.82W
04/03/2012 GREENE TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
ONE TREE DOWN ON WEST MAIN ST.
0700 PM FLASH FLOOD JONESVILLE 36.69N 83.12W
04/03/2012 LEE VA 911 CALL CENTER
CUNNINGHAM STREET CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER.
0820 PM HAIL 6 NW ATHENS 35.51N 84.68W
04/03/2012 E1.00 INCH MCMINN TN 911 CALL CENTER
0825 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 WNW ATHENS 35.48N 84.68W
04/03/2012 MCMINN TN EMERGENCY MNGR
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A HOME.
0852 PM HAIL 5 NW ATHENS 35.50N 84.66W
04/03/2012 E1.00 INCH MCMINN TN 911 CALL CENTER
&&The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:06 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail north of Appalachia near Andover.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, 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: 373209.