Widespread moderate to heavy rain moved across Middle Tennessee from the late evening hours on February 28 and continued into the afternoon hours on March 1. Rainfall totals in many areas ranged from 2 to 5 inches, resulting in widespread flash flooding across the southern half of Middle Tennessee.
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 OHX wrote it up.
Widespread moderate to heavy rain moved across Middle Tennessee from the late evening hours on February 28 and continued into the afternoon hours on March 1. Rainfall totals in many areas ranged from 2 to 5 inches, resulting in widespread flash flooding across the southern half of Middle Tennessee. The heavy rainfall also resulted in widespread minor to moderate river flooding along several rivers in Middle Tennessee over the next several days.
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 Mar 1, 2:31 AM CST, 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Nashville TN 231 AM CST Thu Mar 1 2018 .DISCUSSION... Rain continues across the mid state ahead of the front that will pass through the area later today. An additional 1 to 2 inches of rain will fall before its all said and done, mainly for the I-40 corridor and south. Flooding concerns will remain, especially for rivers and streams across the area. As the front passes through the area, afternoon winds will be out of the northwest around 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph possible. Models do have some instability and decent shear through the morning and early afternoon, so kept in mention of isolated thunderstorms possible today as well. Rain chances will diminish through the day from west to east, and hopefully by this evening drier weather will take over at least through the weekend. As the upper trough and front continue off to the east, upper ridging will take its place. Temperatures will be a little cooler than we have seen, but still above normal through the weekend with highs in the mid 50s to low 60s. The drier weather will be welcomed relief from all of the rain the mid state has seen lately! Overnight temperatures Friday night and Saturday night will have most areas seeing lows in the upper 20s on the Plateau and around freezing elsewhere thanks to the clear skies and light winds. By Monday late morning/early afternoon. a Midwest trough will drag a cold front through the southeast, and rain chances will return. This looks to be a quick shot at precip with chances ending by late Tuesday morning. The GFS has a much more aggressive upper low, and thus, colder air behind the front. The ECMWF latest run comes in with a weaker low and is warmer than the GFS solution. The GFS has cold enough air late Monday night and early Tuesday morning to have some light snow potential on the northern Plateau. The ECMWF doesnt have any precip over the area by the time its cold enough for snow, so for now just have mention of rain through mid day Tuesday. Upper level solutions begin to differ a bit more after Tuesday, but there is some agreement on drier conditions returning. Therefore kept the rest of the forecast dry through early Friday morning. One thing models do agree on is temperatures slightly cooler with 850mb temps below zero over the mid state. This time of year, that will have high temperatures just below average which is in the low to mid 50s. So, on Wednesday and Thursday next week, put in some highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s to reflect the cooler solutions. && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF DISCUSSION. CKV/BNA/MQY/CSV...Although terminal impacts from predominate mdt shwrs are still anticipated, but per current regional radar trends, maybe delayed on average by an hour or so. Thus, progression of any remaining VFR ceilings to now anticipated IFR thresholds should occur by no later than 01/10Z. Will continue to mention tstms, but exact location impacts hard to determine, thus VCTS thru 01/14Z, expect CKV where overall more atm stability continuance is anticipated. Current VFR vsbys will become MVFR by around 01/08Z, and are expected to fall to IFR thresholds by 10/10Z. Sfc pressure gradient should be strong enough behind sfc frontal passage 01/16Z W-02/01 E to support sfc gusts 18-26 kts 01/20Z-02/06Z. && .CLIMATE... With February 2018 in the books, we can finally take a look at the official rainfall totals this month and how they stack up against the all-time records for the month of February at Nashville Airport: #1 1880 12.37 inches (leap year - 0.30 inch on 29th) #2 1890 10.95 inches (non-leap year) #3 2018 10.91 inches (so close) #4 1956 10.31 inches (leap year - no rain on the 29th) So, February 2018 slips into 3rd place with yesterday's rainfall (1.05 inches) at BNA, falling just short of second place. We noted leap years versus non-leap years here because we just barely averted a potential controversy. && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch until noon CST today for Bedford-Cannon-Cheatham- Clay-Coffee-Cumberland-Davidson-De Kalb-Dickson-Fentress-Giles- Grundy-Hickman-Houston-Humphreys-Jackson-Lawrence-Lewis-Macon- Marshall-Maury-Montgomery-Overton-Perry-Pickett-Putnam-Robertson- Rutherford-Smith-Stewart-Sumner-Trousdale-Van Buren-Warren-Wayne- White-Williamson-Wilson. && DISCUSSION......Barnwell AVIATION........31
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Nashville TN 523 AM CST Wed Feb 28 2018 TNZ005>011-023>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-011130- Stewart-Montgomery-Robertson-Sumner-Macon-Clay-Pickett-Houston- Humphreys-Dickson-Cheatham-Davidson-Wilson-Trousdale-Smith- Jackson-Putnam-Overton-Fentress-Perry-Hickman-Lewis-Williamson- Maury-Marshall-Rutherford-Cannon-De Kalb-White-Cumberland-Bedford- Coffee-Warren-Grundy-Van Buren-Wayne-Lawrence-Giles- 523 AM CST Wed Feb 28 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of Middle Tennessee. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Heavy rains will return to Middle TN today, bringing another 2 to 6 inches to already saturated grounds by Thursday morning. The best chance for the higher amounts will be areas south of I-40, closer to the Alabama state line. This amount of rain will lead to localized flash flooding and further rises on area rivers, streams and creeks that area already running high. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Heavy rains will continue into Thursday morning, coming to an end during the afternoon hours. Any river flooding that occurs may last into next weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may become necessary for flooding. 27
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:00 UTC.
18 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Two vehicles attempted to drive across low water crossings in different parts of Lawrence County during the night, and both vehicles were swept away. Occupants of both vehicles escaped safely and there were no injuries or water rescues.
SR Highway 438 was closed due to flooding at mile marker 21.
Maury County Emergency Management reported numerous roads were closed across the county especially the southern half. Roads that were flooded and closed including Stoneybrook Road, Luke Moser Road at Gilespee Lane, Rally Hill Road, Cleaborne Road, North Cross Bridges Road, South Cross Bridges Road, and Mt. Joy Road. In addition, flood waters entered an aluminum smelting facility in Mount Pleasant, causing an explosion that injured one person.
Cumberland County Emergency Management reported numerous roads were closed due to high water, mainly across the southern half of the county. Roads that were flooded and closed included the 2500 block of Pomona Road, South Winds Drive at O Camp Drive in the Cumberland Mountain Retreat, Clint Lowe Road near Vandever Road, Spruce Loop near Taylors Chapel, and Midway Road.
WOPC Radio reported a water rescue was conducted on Lower Cane Creek Road.
Numerous roads were flooded and closed across Giles County.
Several Twitter tSpotter reports indicated several roads were flooded and impassable across Coffee County. Roads that were flooded included Keasling Road in Hillsboro, Goosepond Road near Woodbury Highway, J.D. Neil Road near Rutledge Falls Road, Parker Road and Lumley Stand Road in Manchester, and several streets in Viola.
SR Highway 271 near mile marker 7 and SR Highway 272 at Verona Caney Road were closed due to high water.
Numerous roads across Rutherford County were closed due to high water, including Armstrong Valley Road at Thompson Road, Veterans Parkway at Armstrong Valley Road, Epps Mill Road between Miller Lane and Auldridge Drive, Lassiter Road at U.S. Highway 70 South (John Bragg Highway), 2400 block of Mt. Herman Road, Elam Mill Road, Stones River Parkway between Crescent Road and Walnut Grove Road, Christiana-Fosterville Road, County Farm Road at the low water crossing, Shoemaker Road near the bridge, Ghee Lane, Vaught Road at the low water crossing, Elam Road between County Farm Road and Joe B. Jackson Parkway, Veals Road near Double Springs Road, Sulphur Springs Road near Shacklett Road, Hedgeapple Lane, Florence Road at Rebel Road, Newtown Road at the Bedford County line, and Midland-Fosterville Road at Campground Road.
Numerous roads were closed due to high water across Bedford County, especially around Wartrace. Roads that were flooded and closed near Wartrace included Bugscuffle Road, Higgins Road, Bell Buckle Highway at Wartrace Road, Potts Road, Cannon Road, and Jernigan Lane. Other roads flooded and closed across the county included Mullins Mill at Highway 41A South, Zion Hill Road at Unionville Road, Shaw Road at Highway 41A North, Eddy Road at Highway 231 North, Peacock Lane at Midland Road, Old Center Church Road at Earnest Campbell Road, Pass Road, Sims Road at Highway 64 West, Old Nashville Dirt Road at El Bethel Road, Old Flat Creek Road at Hilltop Road, 552 Rattlesnake Lodge Road, Wheel Road at Card Road, Quarry Street at Lipscomb Street, Burns Road, and Haley Road at Three Forks Bridge.
Numerous roads were closed due to high water across Williamson County. Roads that were flooded and closed included Blazer Road near Boyd Mills Pike, Trinity Road between Murfreesboro Highway and Arno Road near Franklin, Old Natchez Trace between Moran Road and Temple Road, and Floyd Road near Mauldin Woods Trail in Leiper's Fork.
Hickman Springs Road was flooded and closed.
Twitter tSpotter reports and Facebook photos showed Little Mountain Road near Highway 127 was flooded and impassable, with a car partially submerged and flood water surrounding a mobile home.
Payne's Cove Road and Clouse Hill Road were flooded and closed east of Pelham between Highway 50 and Payne's Cove. A rock slide also fell onto part of Highway 56 near Beersheba Springs.
Wilkinson Pike and Old Nashville Highway at the CSX overpass in Murfreesboro were both flooded and closed. TDOT also reported that SR 99 between Ghee Rd and Wilson Overall Road was closed due to high water.
WOPC radio reported numerous roads were flooded across Perry County with some residents trapped in homes by flood waters. TDOT also reported that SR Highway 438 was closed due to flooding between mile markers 20 and 22.
A trained spotter reported flooding along Veto Road near the Elk River south of Prospect.
Numerous roads were flooded and closed across Marshall County. TDOT also reported that SR Highway 271 and SR Highway 272 at Verona Caney Road were closed due to high water.
TDOT reported that SR Highway 242 was closed due to flooding between mile markers 1 and 2 in Lawrenceburg.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, March 2018
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: 748452, 748437, 748441, 748454, 748438, 748442, 748448, 748443, 748446, 748447, 748450, 748451, 748456, 748457, 748458, 748459, 748455, 748460, 748655.