An arctic air mass slipped into the Southern Appalachian region followed by a strong upper level system that pushed east from the Lower Mississippi Valley. Sufficient moisture was available for lifting over the dense and cold surface air resulting in an ice storm that produced accretions ranging from around one tenth to as much as one half inch.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
An arctic air mass slipped into the Southern Appalachian region followed by a strong upper level system that pushed east from the Lower Mississippi Valley. Sufficient moisture was available for lifting over the dense and cold surface air resulting in an ice storm that produced accretions ranging from around one tenth to as much as one half inch. The area affected extended from the Cumberland Plateau counties closer to the Kentucky border east northeast across Southwest Virginia.
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 Mar 3, 12:27 AM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1227 AM EST MON MAR 3 2014
.AVIATION...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA EARLY
IN THE PERIOD. LIGHT WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT
AND INCREASE THROUGH TODAY. A LARGE AREA OF RAIN...WITH EMBEDDED
SHOWERS WILL BE ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT. THE RAIN WILL CHANGE TO
SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN BEHIND THE FRONT. LIGHT SNOW IS ALSO
POSSIBLE AFTER 03/12Z. PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF TO FLURRIES OR
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE AROUND 03/18Z. OVERALL CIGS AND VSBY SHOULD
BE LOW END MVFR. BRIEF PERIODS OF IFR ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE
HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION BETWEEN 03/09Z-03/15Z. CONDITIONS WILL
BECOME VFR FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE PERIOD.
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...NONE.
TN...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM EST /3 AM CST/ EARLY THIS
MORNING TO 3 PM EST /2 PM CST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...BLOUNT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...GRAINGER...HAMBLEN...
HAWKINS...JEFFERSON...JOHNSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...NW
BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST CARTER...NORTHWEST
COCKE...NORTHWEST GREENE...RHEA...ROANE...SEQUATCHIE...
SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST
GREENE...SULLIVAN...UNICOI...UNION...WASHINGTON TN.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: CAMPBELL...CLAIBORNE...HANCOCK...MORGAN...
SCOTT TN.
VA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM EARLY THIS MORNING TO 3 PM EST
THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: WASHINGTON.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WISE.
&&
SONHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 1010 PM EST SUN MAR 2 2014 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-031200- 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- 1010 PM EST (910 PM CST) SUN MAR 2 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... MUCH COLDER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION TONIGHT...WITH RAIN CHANGING TO SLEET AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT...MAINLY ALONG THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU AND THE CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS BEFORE SUNRISE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU AND THE CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA INTO MONDAY...AND WILL SLOWLY SPREAD EASTWARD OVER THE REMAINDER OF EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. LIGHT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON MONDAY OVER MUCH OF EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED ON MONDAY FOR REPORTS OF ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Freezing rain accretion across Wise County ranged from one tenth to as much as one half inch.
Freezing rain accretion across Scott County ranged from one to three tenths of an inch.
Freezing rain accretion across Russell County ranged from one to three tenths of an inch.
Freezing rain accretion in Jonesville reached one tenth of an inch.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, March 2014
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: 497433, 497435, 497436, 497430.