The new year started off as an active one, with numerous systems traversing the region. These systems brought rain, snow, and thunder.
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 PAH wrote it up.
The new year started off as an active one, with numerous systems traversing the region. These systems brought rain, snow, and thunder. The frequency of systems caused enough rainfall to push the Ohio River above flood stage.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 9:40 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 940 PM CST TUE JAN 15 2008 .UPDATE... SATELLITE TRENDS INDICATE A BANK OF CIRRUS CLOUDS APPROACHING THE OHIO RIVER AS OF 03Z. FORECAST UPDATED TO BETTER DEFINE THE LEADING EDGE OF CLOUDINESS TONIGHT. 03Z TEMPS ALREADY AT OR NEAR FORECAST LOWS. TEMPS ARE LIKELY TO FALL A FEW MORE DEGREES IN SW INDIANA AND KOWB/KMVN AREAS OVERNIGHT. ELSEWHERE...TEMPS SHOULD HOLD NEARLY STEADY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS AND SE LOW LEVEL WIND FLOW. FORECAST UPDATED FOR THESE TEMP TRENDS. && .DISCUSSION... THE MAIN STORY IS THE MINOR PCPN EVENT FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT EARLY THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE QUICKLY OFF THE EAST TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF A MERGING SET OF SYSTEMS IN THE WRN CONUS. AFTN TEMPS WILL BE IN THE MID 40S ON WEDNESDAY AFTN UNDER SERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW /GUIDANCE HAS INDICATED SOMEWHAT WARMER MOS TEMPS IN THE NEAR TERM THAN PREVIOUSLY FCST/. THIS SHOULD MAKE IT TOUGHER FOR THE LOWER TROP TO COOL ENOUGH FOR ANY SNOW THAT IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TO REACH THE GROUND IN ANY GREAT QUANTITY...ESPECIALLY IN THE SRN TWO THIRDS OF THE PAH FCST AREA...AND ESPECIALLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THE 06Z TO 09Z TIME FRAME WILL BE THE BEST TIME FOR SNOW PRODUCTION WHILE THE BEST ICE NUCLEATION IS STILL OCCURRING AT ABOUT 650 TO 500 MB...AND MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SRN SYSTEM IS PRESENT. AFTER THAT...SNOW WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE BUT GREATLY DIMINISHED IN QUANTITY ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST. TOTAL SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD BE AN INCH OR LESS. THE FOCUS WILL CHANGE TO THE NRN LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT BY THU AFTN. ACROSS ALL BUT WRN KY WHERE IT WILL BE RAIN...A RAIN/SNOW MIX IS POSSIBLE AS THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION. THROUGH MIDNIGHT THURSDAY NIGHT...LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE UNDER MODERATE COLD ADVECTION. HOLD THE PHONE THOUGH...AN ARCTIC AIR MASS IS PROGGED TO INVADE THE REGION ON FRIDAY NIGHT...POSSIBLY BRINGING SOME LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES MAINLY TO THE NRNMOST TIER OF COUNTIES. SATURDAY...EXPECT HIGHS WELL BELOW FREEZING...AND SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS FOR LOWS BY SATURDAY NIGHT. LOOKING AHEAD TO MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE RETREATING QUICKLY OFF TO THE EAST...ALLOWING SOUTHERLY FLOW TO RETURN AHEAD OF YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTHEAST FROM THE PLAINS. GFS...LIKE USUAL...IS QUICKER IN BRINGING THIS FRONT INTO THE REGION MON NIGHT...WHILE THE ECMWF IS ABOUT 6 HRS SLOWER. GIVEN THE MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT...THIS IS TAKING THE LOOK A LIGHT LIQUID TYPE EVENT AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH MON NIGHT AS PER ECMWF 1000-850 MB THICKNESS PROGS. GFS HAS ALSO BEEN NOTORIOUSLY TOO COLD WITH THIS TYPE OF SET UP (HIGH PRESSURE RETREATING QUICKLY EAST IN ADVANCE OF APPROACHING COLD FRONT)...SO ITS SUGGESTION OF FROZEN PRECIP AND COLDER LOW LVL TEMPS IS SUSPECT AT THIS TIME. WILL GO WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW FOR NOW...BUT IF LATER MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO MOVE THE HIGH QUICKLY EAST...WILL NEED TO GET RID OF SNOW MENTION ALL TOGETHER. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TONIGHT. SURFACE RIDGE WILL RESULT IN VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 5 KTS. ONLY SOME HIGH CLOUDS EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && UPDATE...MY PREVIOUS...DB AVIATION...GM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 351 AM CST TUE JAN 15 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-161100- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 351 AM CST TUE JAN 15 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE OHIO RIVER AT SHAWNEETOWN AND THE WABASH RIVER AT NEW HARMONY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR IMPACTS ON AFFECTED AREAS NEAR THESE RIVERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WINTRY WEATHER WILL BE EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...AND AGAIN ON MONDAY. A MIXTURE OF RAIN...FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY EVENING AND AGAIN MIDDAY THURSDAY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL BE LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...THEN AGAIN LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE POTENTIAL FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION REMAINS LOW ...WITH FORECAST STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IT IS STILL TO EARLY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE WILL BE ANY MEASURABLE SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION WITH THE WINTRY WEATHER EVENT NEXT MONDAY. OTHERWISE...FLOOD WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE OHIO RIVER AT SHAWNEETOWN AND THE WABASH RIVER AT NEW HARMONY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED AT THIS TIME. SMITH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Ohio River occurred. At the Shawneetown gage, where flood stage is 33 feet, the river crested at 33.33 feet on the 17th. Bottomland fields were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2008
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: 72492.