A strong cold front triggered high non-thunderstorm winds across the mountains. Gusts as high as 89mph at Cover Mountain near Gatlinburg.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 strong cold front triggered high non-thunderstorm winds across the mountains. Gusts as high as 89mph at Cover Mountain near Gatlinburg. Also, a wind gust of 78mph was measured at the NOAA wind tower at the Camp Creek Elementary School at Camp Creek. Gusts up to 60mph were also reported at the at the UT Field Station in Greenbrier. In addition, a gust up to 55mph was recorded at Look Rock near Maryville. Also a gust up to 50mph was reported at Cades Cove near Townsend. Most of the wind damage was reported at Smoky National Park where multiple trees were downed on the roads and 2 vehicles in the park where damaged by the falling trees. The rest of the area had trees and powerline downed by the high wind.
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 Oct 31, 11:48 PM EST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1248 AM EDT FRI NOV 1 2013
.DISCUSSION...REPORTS OF MANY TREES DOWN IN THE GREAT SMOKY MTN
NATIONAL PARK JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT...WITH COVE MTN REPORTING GUSTS
OVER 80 MPH. OTHER GUSTS TO 60 MPH OR A BIT HIGHER ALSO NOTED IN
THE SMOKIES AND FOOTHILLS. OPTED TO UPGRADE THE EASTERN MTNS AND
FOOTHILLS TO A HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH 7AM EDT.
REST OF FORECAST GRIDS AND PRODUCTS UPDATED...DUE TO CURRENT TEMPS
RUNNING 5 TO 12 DEGREES ABOVE HOURLY GRID VALUES.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 70 46 65 40 62 / 30 10 10 0 0
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 71 44 61 38 57 / 30 10 30 10 0
OAK RIDGE, TN 71 44 61 38 58 / 30 10 30 0 0
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 69 41 58 35 53 / 40 10 50 20 0
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EDT THIS MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: CHEROKEE...CLAY.
TN...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 7 AM EDT THIS MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
JOHNSON...NW BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST CARTER...
NORTHWEST COCKE...NORTHWEST GREENE...NORTHWEST MONROE...
SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST
GREENE...SOUTHEAST MONROE...UNICOI...WASHINGTON TN.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EDT /6 AM CDT/ THIS MORNING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...BRADLEY...CAMPBELL...
CLAIBORNE...EAST POLK...GRAINGER...HAMBLEN...HAMILTON...
HANCOCK...HAWKINS...JEFFERSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...
MCMINN...MEIGS...MORGAN...RHEA...ROANE...SCOTT TN...
SEQUATCHIE...SULLIVAN...UNION...WEST POLK.
VA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EDT THIS MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
TGHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 634 AM EDT THU OCT 31 2013 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-011045- 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- 634 AM EDT THU OCT 31 2013 /534 AM CDT THU OCT 31 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... A COLD FRONT WITH A STRONG WINDS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. MOST OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COLD FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION AFTER SUNSET. SOME STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE...DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS EXPECTED ALONG THE COLD FRONT. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF EAST TN...SOUTHWEST VA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NC. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement personnel reported high wind caused power outages along Crackers Neck Road 6 miles south-southwest of Mountain City.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees by the high wind in Cosby.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees by the high wind across the county. Power outages were seen in both Tellico Plains and Madisonville.
Law enforcement personnel reported several trees by the high wind across the county.
Park service personnel reported multiple trees by the high wind in the park. Two vehicles were damaged by trees falling in the campground. Newfound Gap and Little Rivers Roads were closed. .
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, November 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: 476939, 476940, 476941, 476942, 476943.