Minor flooding of the Big Muddy 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 Big Muddy 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 May 15, 1:40 AM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 240 AM CDT THU MAY 15 2008 .DISCUSSION... SINCE THIS TIME YESTERDAY...MODELS HAVE TRENDED A LITTLE FURTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST WITH THE TRACK OF THE SYSTEM. 21Z SREF/00Z GFS BOTH TAKE THE SURFACE LOW NORTHEAST ACROSS THE NASHVILLE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THE 850 LOW TRACK HAS SHIFTED SOUTHEAST AS WELL...WITH A TRACK ACROSS WESTERN KENTUCKY. 500 MB SHORTWAVE EJECTING NORTHEAST FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS APPEARS TO DAMPEN OUT A LITTLE FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS SHOWED. THESE MODEL TRENDS WILL NOT HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE FORECAST. BIGGEST CHANGE WILL BE TO LOWER QPF...WHICH WILL BE ONE THIRD TO ONE HALF INCH IN MOST AREAS. THIS IS A BLEND OF HPC AND 21Z SREF QPF. WIDESPREAD PRECIP IS STILL EXPECTED WITH THE SYSTEM. POPS WILL BE TWEAKED DOWNWARD BUT NOT BELOW CATEGORICAL /80 PERCENT/. RADAR MOSAIC OF THE CENTRAL STATES AT 07Z SHOWS LARGE PARTS OF ARKANSAS FREE OF ECHOES. THIS COULD BE IN RESPONSE TO A LARGE MCS OVER THE ARKLATEX REGION. THIS MCS COULD INTERCEPT SOME OF THE MOISTURE HEADED TOWARD THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY...RESULTING IN LOWER QPF AND LESS CONVECTION. A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE DETECTED OVER THE OZARK MOUNTAIN REGION SINCE 05Z. ISOLATED ELEVATED THUNDER IS POSSIBLE ANYWHERE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. DUE TO COOL NORTHEAST WIND FLOW...RAIN...AND CLOUDY SKIES...FORECAST HIGHS WILL BE ON THE LOW SIDE OF GUIDANCE. EXPECT ONLY 3 TO 5 DEGREES OF TEMP RISE AT MOST STATIONS TODAY. PRECIP WILL GRADUALLY END TONIGHT AS THE SYSTEM DEPARTS. CLEARING WILL BE MAINLY AFTER 12Z FRIDAY...BASED ON MODEL TIME HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS OF RH. DESPITE NORTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW...WARMER TEMPS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. PLENTY OF SUN WILL RAISE TEMPS TO NEAR SEASONAL NORMS IN THE MID 70S. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL...UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S. PRECIP CHANCES FROM SATURDAY AND BEYOND APPEAR LOW...BUT CANNOT BE RULED OUT. DEEP CYCLONIC FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH A QUASI STATIONARY 500 MB VORTEX OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION WILL CONTAIN SOME EMBEDDED IMPULSES. THE TIMING AND TRACK OF THESE IMPULSES VARIES AMONG THE MODELS. THE WORST CASE SCENARIO IS THAT CLOUDS AND SPRINKLES /OR LIGHT SHOWERS/ COULD AFFECT NORTHEASTERN COUNTIES FROM TIME TO TIME OVER THE WEEKEND. WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THOSE AREAS. LITTLE CHANGE IN THE PATTERN IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...AS THE GREAT LAKES VORTEX IS SLOW TO LOOSEN ITS GRIP. && .AVIATION... EXPECT MVFR CEILINGS TO DEVELOP EARLY THIS MORNING...AND THEN LOWER INTO THE 600 TO 1000 FT RANGE IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AFTER SUNRISE. VISIBILITIES GENERALLY IN THE 3 TO 5 MI RANGE WILL ALSO OCCASIONALLY FALL BELOW 3 MI IN PRECIP AND AREAS OF FOG TODAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE MUCH OF THE DAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && .PUBLIC...MY .AVIATION...GM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 410 AM CDT THU MAY 15 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-161115- 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- 410 AM CDT THU MAY 15 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TODAY. THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. MINOR TO MODERATE RIVER FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ON PARTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI...WABASH...LITTLE WABASH...AND OHIO RIVERS. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY OTHER THAN A CONTINUATION OF THE AFOREMENTIONED RIVER FLOODING...NO HAZAROUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. MY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Big Muddy River occurred. At the Murphysboro gage, the river crested at 23.57 feet on the 19th. Flood stage there is 22 feet. Bottomland fields and some city park land were flooded.
Minor flooding of the Big Muddy River occurred. At the Plumfield gage, the river crested at 21.0 feet on the 19th. Flood stage there is 20 feet. Minor flooding of low-lying fields and woodlands 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: 98575, 98576.