Scattered thunderstorms formed during the heat of the afternoon, aided by a weak surface trough that extended from northern Arkansas northeast across the Lower Ohio Valley. Tropical moisture combined with the slow movement of the storms resulted in locally very heavy rain.
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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.
Scattered thunderstorms formed during the heat of the afternoon, aided by a weak surface trough that extended from northern Arkansas northeast across the Lower Ohio Valley. Tropical moisture combined with the slow movement of the storms resulted in locally very heavy rain.
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 Jul 30, 2:22 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 322 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008 .DISCUSSION... THE MAIN FOCUS OF THIS FCST WILL BE THE CONVECTIVE EVENT FOR TONIGHT. CURRENT RADAR TRENDS SHOW SCT SHWRS/TSTMS HAVE WANED IN THE NRN HALF OF THE PAH FCST AREA THIS AFTN IN THE WAKE OF A BAND OF CONVECTION EARLIER. CLOUDINESS WAS MORE EXTENSIVE IN THE NRN THIRD OF THE REGION..HELPING TO STABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE SOME. ACROSS THE SOUTH...CONVECTIVE TEMP HAD BEEN REACHED AND SCT SHWRS/TSTMS WERE UNDERWAY IN THE SOUPY ATMOSPHERE. IN ADDITION TO RANDOM OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...IT APPEARED THAT THE BEST FORCING WAS ALONG A WARM FRONT THAT WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY NWD. THE FRONT CURRENTLY BISECTED THE REGION /FROM NRN SERN MO TO THE NRN PENNYRILE REGION OF KY/. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE FARTHER NORTH DURING THE EVE...EVENTUALLY GETTING OVERWHELMED BY A SYSTEM COMPRISED OF TROPICAL REMNANTS...A MID LEVEL SHRTWV...AND A COLD FRONT. THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD OF PCPN WILL BE TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE LATEST GUIDANCE SHOWED LESS POP AND QPF FOR THE MO OZARKS FOR OVERNIGHT DUE TO THAT AREA BEING FARTHER AWAY FROM THE MID LEVEL ENERGY. THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE LATEST FCST. WITH HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES...ANY CONVECTIVE RAINFALL IS BOUND TO BE HEAVY OVERNIGHT BUT NOT NECESSARILY LONG LIVED. ISOLATED HIGH WATER PROBLEMS OR FLOODING COULD OCCUR HOWEVER. WITH PRECEDING DRY CONDITIONS...A FFA WILL NOT BE ISSUED ATTM. COMPROMISED ON THE DIFFERENT MODEL/S TIMING OF THE PCPN DEPARTURE ON THU...BUT WE SHOULD BE BACK TO RAIN FREE CONDITIONS BY THU EVE. THE NAM GUIDANCE SHOWED VERY HIGH DEWPOINTS COMPARED TO THE GFS...AND THIS TENDED TO DAMP OUT HIGH/LOW FCST TEMPS. WE WENT WITH A GFS BIAS FOR DEWPOINTS/TEMPS. FOR THE REST OF THE FCST PACKAGE...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL EXPAND ACROSS MOST OF THE ERN CONUS...BRINGING MORE HOT HUMID WX TO OUR REGION. THE ECWMF WAS GIVEN MORE WEIGHT HERE...MEANING A WARMER TENDENCY THAN THE GFS. THERE WERE SOME HINTS AT PCPN POSSIBILITIES HERE AND THERE BUT NOT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN THE EXTENDED PART OF THE PACKAGE. HIGH HEAT INDICIES...ESPECIALLY AFTER FRI...WILL PROBABLY RESULT IN HEAT ADVISORIES AND MAYBE EVEN A HEAT WARNING. && .AVIATION... WITH TROPICAL REMNANTS AND A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY EXPECTED TO SLIDE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE QUAD STATE REGION OVERNIGHT...CHANCES FOR RW/TRW WILL INCREASE WITH TIME. VFR CIGS/VSBYS AT ALL SITES COULD BECOME MVFR FROM 00Z ON...ESPECIALLY IN RW/TRW. WINDS WILL REMAIN VARIABLE THROUGH THE NIGHT...THEN SHIFT TO THE WEST TO NORTHWEST BY MIDDAY THURSDAY. CIGS/VSBYS WILL INCREASE AND PRECIP CHANCES WILL DECREASE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ON THURSDAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JAP LONG TERM....DB AVIATION...JAP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 535 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-311045- 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- 535 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM OWENSBORO KENTUCKY...THROUGH PADUCAH...TO NEW MADRID MISSOURI. THE MAIN HAZARDS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. A BRIEF TORNADO OR TWO IS POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL. A RIVER FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER NORTH OF CAIRO ILLINOIS. REFERENCE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL WILL GRADUALLY COME TO AN END FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE DAY THURSDAY. SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING PROBLEMS MAY LINGER THROUGH THE DAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING AN EXTENDED STRETCH OF HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS TO THE QUAD STATE FRIDAY THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY. HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO 105 FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...AND WILL EXCEED 105 DEGREES SUNDAY AND MONDAY. MINOR FLOODING ALONG PARTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WILL CONTINUE. REFER TO THE LATEST WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILED INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION HAS BEEN REQUESTED IN PARTS OF THE TORNADO WATCH AREA. SPOTTERS THROUGHOUT THE REGION ARE ASKED TO MAINTAIN CLOSE WATCH ON THE WEATHER...AND REPORT FLOODING OR SEVERE WEATHER AS NECESSARY. MY/DRS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
354 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0250 PM TSTM WND DMG MADISONVILLE 37.34N 87.51W
07/30/2008 HOPKINS KY EMERGENCY MNGR
60 MPH WINDS MEASURED. LARGE LIMBS DOWN BLOCKING ROAD AND
DAMAGING FENCE. DAMAGE TO SMALL PORCH ON RESTAURANT.
DAMAGE TO GAZEBO.
&&
DPSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 407 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008 KYZ007>013-015>017-020>022-302215- CALDWELL KY-CALLOWAY KY-CHRISTIAN KY-CRITTENDEN KY-HOPKINS KY- LIVINGSTON KY-LYON KY-MARSHALL KY-MCLEAN KY-MUHLENBERG KY-TODD KY- TRIGG KY-WEBSTER KY- 407 PM CDT WED JUL 30 2008 SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE PENNYRILE REGION OF WEST KENTUCKY THROUGH 530 PM. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CONCENTRATED FROM NEAR PRINCETON TO GREENVILLE AND HOPKINSVILLE AND NEARBY COMMUNITIES. MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WILL BE EAST AT 20 MPH. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF GUSTY WINDS 40 TO 55 MPH... VERY HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT TIME...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THE GUSTY WINDS COULD BRING DOWN LIMBS OR A TREE OR TWO...AND MOVE AROUND UNSECURED OUTDOOR ITEMS. NOLES
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.
1 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Three inches of rain fell in 45 minutes at the Carbondale airport. A spotter reported very similar rainfall rates in the city of Carbondale, where street flooding was common.
Several trees and power lines were down around Carbondale, especially on the north side.
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, July 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: 113528, 113529.