Severe Thunderstorms Cause Wide Spread Power Outages

An early evening storm ripped through Jefferson County yesterday evening, leaving a portion of the County in the dark for several hours. At 6:30 pm the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tennessee noted a sever thunderstorm producing high winds and lightening in Jefferson County. Moving at a rate of around 15-20 miles per hour, the storm traveled into the County from Knoxville, bringing with it damaging wind speeds of 60 to 70 mph. According to the National Weather Center, the radar indicated that hail was associated with the storm, however there have been no local reports of sightings to confirm the radar information. The 911 Center reported numerous downed trees, mainly in the greater Dandridge area, due to the high winds and Appalachian Electric had seven crews out overnight addressing outages. At the height, around 4,000 outages were reported, according to Mitch Cain of Appalachian Electric. Most of those outages were located South of Jefferson City and impacted 6 substations. Cain stated that downed trees and some lightening were the main factors in the outages and Service Electric was called in to assist Appalachian Electric crews. As of this morning, around 200 are still awaiting restoration of power and those are spread sporadically throughout the Greater Dandridge area. Appalachian Electric expects to have all issues addressed by mid afternoon, in time for a second round of storms predicted to move into the area. Crews will be on hand to address any outages, should the predictions hold true.

Jefferson County residents should brace for more storms this afternoon, according to a representative from the Morristown branch of the National Weather Service. Sever thunderstorms are expected to be on the Plateau around lunch time, travel through the Knoxville area and arrive locally in mid to late afternoon. Residents are urged to use caution and be aware of changing weather conditions.