A couple of severe thunderstorms developed in a moderately unstable environment along an outflow boundary which moved into East Tennessee late in the afternoon and during the early evening hours.
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.
A couple of severe thunderstorms developed in a moderately unstable environment along an outflow boundary which moved into East Tennessee late in the afternoon and during the early evening hours.
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 19, 1:52 PM EST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 252 PM EDT WED AUG 19 2015 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT AND THURSDAY)... A MOIST AND WEAKLY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WILL PERSIST OVER THE AREA FOR THE NEXT 20 HOURS OR SO AS A TROUGH MOVES FROM THE PLAINS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND A RIDGE REMAINS STATIONARY NEAR FLORIDA. LIFT THIS EVENING WILL BE SUPPLIED BY UPPER DIVERGENCE AND VORTICITY ADVECTION...WITH LOCAL ENHANCEMENT NEAR SURFACE CONVERGENCE BOUNDARIES. WITH WEAK INSTABILITY AND LIFT...THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE SHOWER COVERAGE THAN TSTM COVERAGE...SO WILL HAVE NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED TSTMS THROUGH THE EVENING. THE NAM INDICATES THAT MOST OF THIS LIFT WILL BE EXITING AROUND 06Z...AND THE HRRR AGREES...SO WILL DROP POPS BACK TO A CHANCE AROUND THIS TIME. THE SURFACE COLD FRONT NOW OVER IL AND SE MO WILL BE AT OUR DOORSTEP NEAR 12Z THURSDAY. FORCING NEAR THE FRONT WILL BRING ANOTHER PERIOD OF LIKELY RAIN CHANCES AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING. DRIER AIR BEGINS TO BUILD INTO THE PLATEAU AROUND 18Z...SPREADING INTO THE VALLEY THROUGH THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON BEHIND THR FRONT. WILL TAPER POPS AND CLOUD COVER DOWN FROM WEST TO EAST IN THE AFTERNOON. TEMPS WILL BE TRICKY AND DEPEND ON HOW MUCH CLEARING OCCURS BEHIND THE FRONT. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE COOLER GFS MOS NUMBERS. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... REMNANTS OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE TO OUR SOUTH EARLY IN THE EXTENDED AND WILL BE THE MAIN FOCUS OF CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THIS WILL PROVIDE THE BEST CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN AREAS. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FOR THE WEEKEND LIMITING CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT...THOUGH DIURNAL CONVECTION WILL BE POSSIBLE. A WEAKENING FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH AROUND THE MONDAY TIME FRAME AND THIS WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION. SURFACE HIGH BUILDS BACK IN FOR MID WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR SEASONAL NORMS THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 72 81 67 86 / 70 60 30 30 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 71 80 64 83 / 60 70 30 20 OAK RIDGE, TN 72 81 63 83 / 60 70 20 20 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 69 80 61 80 / 60 70 20 20 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && DGS/MJB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 409 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2015 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-200815- 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- 409 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2015 /309 AM CDT WED AUG 19 2015/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD OVER THE COURSE OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE. DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS SOME OF THE STRONGEST STORMS COULD HAVE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ON THURSDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THIS ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE...WHICH MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLOODING ACROSS AREAS THAT RECEIVE MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF PRECIPITATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
700 PM EDT WED AUG 19 2015
TNZ067-068-083-084-192345-
RHEA TN-ROANE TN-MEIGS TN-LOUDON TN-
700 PM EDT WED AUG 19 2015
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR RHEA...ROANE...MEIGS...AND LOUDON
COUNTIES UNTIL 745 PM EDT...
AT 700 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7
MILES SOUTH OF MIDTOWN...OR 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ROCKWOOD...MOVING
EAST AT 20 MPH.
NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
OAK RIDGE...LENOIR CITY...KINGSTON...ROCKWOOD...LOUDON...MIDTOWN...
FAIRVIEW...HARRIMAN...PHILADELPHIA...PAINT ROCK...EAGLE FURNACE...
BRADBURY AND TEN MILE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
&&
LAT...LON 3583 8479 3583 8477 3586 8474 3598 8432
3589 8426 3569 8420 3565 8478
TIME...MOT...LOC 2300Z 256DEG 16KT 3578 8460
SRThe Knoxville radar (KMRX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:30 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were reported down in the vicinity of Kingston.
A few trees were reported down near Lenoir City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, August 2015
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: 592531, 592532.