With high pressure over the deep Southeast, a Gulf moisture plume with precipitable water near 2 inches was over east Tennessee. An outflow boundary was draped over the area, and convection was initiating over higher terrain of the Cumberland Plateau.
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.
With high pressure over the deep Southeast, a Gulf moisture plume with precipitable water near 2 inches was over east Tennessee. An outflow boundary was draped over the area, and convection was initiating over higher terrain of the Cumberland Plateau.
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 9, 1:01 PM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 301 PM EDT FRI AUG 9 2013 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...A FEW AREAS OF CONVECTION TRYING TO GET ORGANIZED THIS AFTERNOON...OVER SRN MIDDLE TN INTO NW AL THE CENTRAL AND NE PARTS OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...AND OVER SW NC EAST TO GSP. FIRST AREAS APPEAR TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH AN EARLIER OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...AND THE LAST AREA MOST LIKELY DUE TO OROGRAPHIC LIFT OR CONVERGENCE. WHAT EVOLVES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT IS STILL CHALLENGING...GIVEN THE WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY STILL WELL TO OUR N-NW. LIKELY SHOWERS AND SCATTERED STORMS STILL LOOKS LIKE A GOOD START...AND QUITE CLOSE TO OR JUST ABOVE GFS MOS POPS FOR TONIGHT. AIRMASS HAS BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA... ESPECIALLY WRN AREAS. HIGHLY MOIST AIRMASS AND WETTER THAN NORMAL GROUNDS FOR EARLY AUGUST SUGGEST A FLOOD CONCERN. HOWEVER...STORM MOTION IS MUCH FASTER THAN YESTERDAY (ENE AT 20 TO 25 MPH)...AND A SYNOPTIC FEATURE TO FOCUS CONVERGENCE IS STILL LACKING. NO DEFINITE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT OVERNIGHT...SO COVERAGE AND INTENSITY MAY DIMINISH AFTER 10/06Z. POCKETS OF HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 2 TO 3 DAYS HAVE BEEN RANDOM AND VERY LIMITED...SO CONSIDERING ALL OF THESE FACTORS...OPTED TO NOT ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR NOW. I DID HIGHLIGHTED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS TONIGHT AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...STAYED QUITE CLOSE TO PREVIOUS GRIDS FOR SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...WITH SLIGHT CHANGES TO LOWER POPS A BIT FOR SUNDAY. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO SAG SOUTH SATURDAY... BUT COULD LIFT NORTH OF THE REGION BY SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY. MOS POPS AND MIN TEMPS CLOSELY FOLLOWED...BUT STAYED BELOW THE GFS MOS FOR MAX TEMPS EACH DAY. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST IN THIS PERIOD OF THE FORECAST AS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO FORM IN THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN THE WARM SECTOR OUT AHEAD OF A COOL FRONT WHICH EDGES VERY SLOWLY INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. KEPT LOW THROUGH MEDIUM CHANCE POPS FOR THE PRECIPITATION EXCEPT ON TUESDAY WHEN A STRONGER SHORT WAVE TROUGH RIDES OVER THE BOUNDARY ENHANCING THE POSSIBILITY OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. GRADUALLY TAPERED POPS BACK WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS THE SYNOPTIC BOUNDARY PUSHES JUST A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH OF THE REGION. SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL MAX TEMPS WERE PREFERRED IN THIS SEEMINGLY NEVER ENDING ANOMALOUS PATTERN FEATURING AN AMPLIFIED EASTERN U.S. UPPER TROUGH. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 73 87 71 88 72 / 50 60 30 50 50 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 71 85 71 87 71 / 60 70 40 40 40 OAK RIDGE, TN 72 84 70 86 70 / 70 70 40 40 40 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 68 82 66 84 66 / 60 80 40 40 30 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && TG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 311 PM EDT FRI AUG 9 2013 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-101915- 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- 311 PM EDT FRI AUG 9 2013 /211 PM CDT FRI AUG 9 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND AT LEAST EARLY TONIGHT. GIVEN THE VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION...SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH...AS WELL AS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS OF 1 INCH PER HOUR OR GREATER. MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING OR FLOOD PRONE AREAS IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. MINOR RISES ON CREEKS AND SMALL STREAMS COULD OCCUR ...SO STAY WEATHER ALERT IF YOU LIVE NEAR AREA CREEKS OR STREAMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... A WARM...MOIST AIR MASS WILL KEEP A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND A FEW STRONG STORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY...ESPECIALLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... DUE TO THE ISOLATED NATURE OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WINDS... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. TG
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 123 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:09 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Six inches of water over the road at Highway 28 and Big Spring Gap Road.
Flooding reported on Hwy 28, Big Spring Gap Road, Beaver Hill, and Cove Hill Road, with road closures. Police officer reported the situation was bad.
Highway 28 remains closed due to flooding in two different locations.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, August 2013
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: 467493, 467508, 467514.