Minor flooding of the Mississippi River occurred. Several cold fronts moved across the region through mid-month.
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.
Minor flooding of the Mississippi River occurred. Several cold fronts moved across the region through mid-month. Each front brought scattered storms.
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 Apr 30, 1:59 PM CST, 10 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 259 PM CDT WED APR 30 2008 .DISCUSSION... MAIN CONCERNS ARE TEMPERATURES...CLOUDS AND WINDS THROUGH THURSDAY...AND THEN POPS THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. WARM FRONT CURRENTLY DRAPED WNW-ESE ACROSS THE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF OUR CWA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWARD TODAY AS A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. AS THIS SYSTEM APPROACHES OUR AREA THURSDAY...THE GFS SPITS OUT A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF QPF OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...BUT OTHER MODELS ARE DRY. WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS STILL SHOWING STRONG CAP AND THE LACK OF DEEP MOISTURE...DONT THINK ANY CONVECTION WILL GET GOING...SO WILL KEEP DRY. PRECIP CHANCES BEGIN THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE SYSTEM DRAWS CLOSER TO OUR CWA. BEST CHANCES FOR PRECIP WILL BE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT WITH 1-2 INCHES OF QPF POSSIBLE. LATEST MODEL RUNS SIMILAR WITH TIMING OF FRONT...AT LEAST THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY (7 PM FRIDAY). FRONT SHOULD BE JUST INSIDE THE FAR WESTERN BOUNDARIES OF OUR CWA AT THIS TIME. GFS BRINGS THE FRONT ACROSS THE CWA A BIT FASTER THAN OTHER MODELS AND HAS IT EXITING OUR EASTERN COUNTIES AROUND 06Z SATURDAY. NAM MODELS (80 & 12 KM) DONT HAVE THE FRONT CLEARING OUR EASTERN COUNTIES UNTIL AROUND 12Z SATURDAY. ECMWF APPEARS TOO SLOW WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THIS SYSTEM...SO THREW IT OUT FOR THIS TIME FRAME. ENTIRE AREA IS IN DAY THREE (12Z FRIDAY-12Z SATURDAY) SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER. AFTER A BRIEF LOOK AT THE DYNAMICS EXPECTED WITH THE APPROACHING SYSTEM...WOULDNT BE SURPRISED TO SEE THIS AREA UPGRADED TO A MODERATE RISK WHEN THE NEW DAY TWO OUTLOOK COMES OUT LATE TONIGHT. MODELS SHOWING DECENT CAPE...0-1KM HELICITY AND VORTICITY GENERATION PARAMETER...AND INCREASING MOISTURE. SPEED AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR WILL BE FAVORABLE AS WELL FOR ROTATING STORMS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN OUR CWA SHOULD BE FROM LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING WITH THE FROPA. A FEW DISCRETE SUPERCELLS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE WARM SECTOR. SATURDAY WE COULD SEE SOME WRAP AROUND MOISTURE/SHOWERS ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE EXITING SYSTEM. GLAD TO SEE THAT THE 12Z GFS RUN HAS STARTED TO LOOK ALOT LIKE THE ECMWF IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE FORECAST CYCLE BY KEEPING SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA AND PUMPING UP THE UPPER RIDGE...THEREFORE WILL KEEP THINGS DRY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. INTRODUCED SCHC-CHC POPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OFF TO THE EAST AND RIDGE FLATTENS A BIT. && .AVIATION... AS A SFC HIGH PRESSURE AREA MOVES OFF TO THE EAST TONIGHT...A WARM FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH SOUTHWEST INDIANA FROM SW TO NE. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN SOUTH WINDS THROUGH THE NIGHT. INCREASING MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN SOME CUMULUS CLOUDS BY MIDDAY THURSDAY. WINDS WILL BECOME RATHER GUSTY AGAIN BY 18Z THURSDAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && PUBLIC...JP AVIATION...MY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 452 AM CDT WED APR 30 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-011000- 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- 452 AM CDT WED APR 30 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. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS FOR LATE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES EAST THROUGH THE AREA. FORECAST INSTABILITY AND WIND FIELDS WILL SUPPORT SUPERCELLS...WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND EVEN A FEW TORNADOES POSSIBLE. IF THE STORMS FORM A LINE NEAR THE FRONT...DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE STORMS. LESSER CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. IF STORMS CAN DEVELOP IN THIS TIMEFRAME...A FEW SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...A LACK OF MOISTURE MAY PRECLUDE DEVELOPMENT. STRONG SOUTH WINDS WILL AVERAGE 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH AT TIMES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. DRS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Mississippi River occurred. At Thebes, the river crested at 36.63 feet on the 16th. Flood stage there is 33 feet. Minor flooding of low-lying areas around Thebes and Gale occurred.
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, May 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: 98545.