A slow moving upper level low pressure system brought widespread rainfall to Middle Tennessee on May 4. Some localized flooding was reported.
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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 OHX wrote it up.
A slow moving upper level low pressure system brought widespread rainfall to Middle Tennessee on May 4. Some localized flooding was reported.
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 Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 5:21 AM CST, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 621 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2013 .AVIATION UPDATE...FOR 12Z TAF PACKAGE... RADAR ANALYSIS CURRENTLY SHOWS LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS IMPACTING ALL TERMINALS. WILL HAVE MULTIPLE AMENDMENTS THIS TAF PERIOD DUE TO VARYING MVFR/IFR CEILINGS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. HEAVIEST RAINFALL WITH THIS ACTIVITY WILL RESULT IN POSSIBLE BRIEF LIFR CEILINGS. KCKV COULD SEE A BREAK IN RAIN LATER TODAY BUT MODELS ARE FORECASTING REDEVELOPMENT AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES OVER. THUS REINTRODUCED RAIN AT 06Z FOR KCKV. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 345 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2013/ SHORT TERM...UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPERATURES ARE OVERSPREADING WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE MID STATE EARLY THIS MORNING, FOLLOWING PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 40S ARE NOW COMMON ALONG AND WEST OF THE I-65 CORRIDOR. INDEED, THE FORECAST HIGH TODAY OF 51 DEGREES AT NASHVILLE WOULD BE A RECORD LOW MAX TEMPERATURE FOR THIS DATE. THE OLD RECORD WAS 53 IN 1945. AS CLOSED UPPER LOW PLODS SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD FROM SOUTHWEST MISSOURI INTO EASTERN ARKANSAS BY EARLY TONIGHT, EXPECT BAND OF RAIN CURRENTLY OVER MIDDLE TENNESSEE TO PUSH GRADUALLY EASTWARD. RAINFALL WILL LIKELY DECREASE OVER WESTERN PARTS OF THE MID STATE BY THIS AFTERNOON AND WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO CANCEL THE FLOOD WATCH FOR SOME WESTERN AREAS LATER TODAY. HOWEVER, WILL LEAVE WATCH AS IT IS FOR NOW AND LET DAY SHIFT ANALYZE THINGS FURTHER WHEN WHEN THEY COME IN. AS THINGS STAND NOW, FLOOD WATCH BECOMES EFFECTIVE FOR ALL OF THE MID STATE AT 7 AM THIS MORNING AND EXTENDS THROUGH 7 AM SUNDAY MORNING. THE WATCH CONTINUES FORE EASTERN AREAS THROUGH 7 PM SUNDAY. GENERALLY SPEAKING, RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES ARE FORECAST IN THE WATCH AREA WITH SOME LOCAL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES. CLOSED UPPER LOW SLOGS ACROSS THE GULF COASTAL STATES ON SUNDAY AND BELIEVE FORECAST SOUNDINGS OVER SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE MID STATE SUGGEST THE POSSIBILITY FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. WITH FREEZING LEVEL AND WET BULB ZERO SO LOW WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL ON SUNDAY OVER THE SOUTH. MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LOW LINGERS IN THE MID STATE EVEN INTO MONDAY, BUT BY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FINALLY STARTS TO PULL EAST. LONG TERM...NEXT THURSDAY LOOKS LIKE OUR FIRST REALLY GOOD SHOT AT A COMPLETELY DRY DAY, AS UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA. HOWEVER, UPPER FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWEST BY NEXT WEEKEND, BRINGING AN INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE AND AT LEAST A GRADUAL INCREASE IN POPS. && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR TNZ008>011-028>034- 062>066-075-077>080. FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING FOR TNZ005>007-022>027- 056>061-093>095. && TB12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 502 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2013 TNZ005>007-022>027-056>061-093>095-051015- STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-BENTON-HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON- CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS-WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL- WAYNE-LAWRENCE-GILES- 502 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN AREA OF RAIN...SOME LOCALLY HEAVY...WILL COVER MUCH OF THE MID STATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE. TNZ008>011-028>034-062>066-075-077>080-051015- SUMNER-MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-WILSON-TROUSDALE-SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM- OVERTON-FENTRESS-RUTHERFORD-CANNON-DE KALB-WHITE-CUMBERLAND- BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN- 502 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN AREA OF RAIN...SOME LOCALLY HEAVY...IS EXPECTED TO COVER MUCH OF THE MID STATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... AN AREA OF RAIN...SOME LOCALLY HEAVY...IS FORECAST TO COVER EASTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE ON SUNDAY...ALONG WITH A CONTINUED THREAT FOR LOCALIZED FLOODING. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE. 19
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A water rescue of a family of four took place at a low water crossing on Mount Ararat Road. No injuries.
A bridge on Elam Mill Road was reportedly closed due to high water.
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, May 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: 443077, 443078.