Flash Flood — Davidson, Tennessee

2010-05-01 · near Walnut Grove, Davidson, Tennessee

Event narrative

Dozens of cars and trucks were trapped by flash flooding along Mill Creek near the Bell Rd. exit on I-24. A portable classroom trailer from a school half a mile away floated to the Interstate and was destroyed as it was sucked into a culvert. A 21 year old man was killed attempting to cross water in the Bell Rd. area.

Wider weather episode

A frontal boundary setup across Western and Middle Tennessee late Friday night (April 30), and remained through the weekend. A persistent southerly flow fed moisture into the area and precipitable water values rose to almost 2 inches, based on data from KOHX upper air soundings. As a series of shortwaves moved through, a band of showers and thunderstorms developed and remained nearly stationary for much of the day on Saturday, May 1st and Sunday, May 2nd, resulting in widespread record flooding across much of Middle Tennessee. Some of these thunderstorms became severe also, resulting in thunderstorm wind damage and seven confirmed tornadoes across Middle Tennessee.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.0447, -86.6378)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 237774. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.