Moderate flooding of the Skillet Fork River occurred. Several cold fronts moved across the region through mid-month.
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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.
Moderate flooding of the Skillet Fork 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 9, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 300 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 .DISCUSSION... ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NEXT WEEK. CURRENT SATELLITE SHOWING WIDESPREAD LOW CLOUDS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...OTHER LOW CLOUDS ARE CLOSER TO THE OZARK FOOTHILLS. A CONVECTIVE COMPLEX THAT FORMED IN ASSOCIATION WITH A MID LEVEL TROUGH OVER KANSAS IS MOVING STEADILY EAST. MODELS SHOW THIS COMPLEX CONTINUING TO WEAKEN AS IT PUSHES EAST. BUMPED UP POPS ESPECIALLY WEST THIS MORNING TO ACCOUNT FOR ANY LINGERING CONVECTION. LEFT CHANCE POPS IN THIS AFTERNOON FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS AS MID LEVEL TROUGH PASSES EAST. HIGH PRESSURE AND WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL KEEP SATURDAY DRY. HAVE LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE FAR WEST AS THE NEXT SYSTEM APPROACHES SATURDAY EVENING. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT DEVELOPING A STRONG AND NEARLY VERTICALLY STACKED SYSTEM OVER IOWA SATURDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY SATURDAY NIGHT WITH SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE. SPC KEEPS A MODERATE AREA WELL TO OUR SOUTH/SOUTHWEST AND ONLY BRINGS A SLIGHT RISK OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND THE FAR WEST TIP OF KENTUCKY. THE MAIN LIMITING FACTOR TO A MORE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER EVENT WILL BE MOISTURE AVAILABILITY AND INSTABILITY. MODELS KEEP MAIN AREAS OF INSTABILITY SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. MODELS SHOW MID LEVEL DRYING FOR SUNDAY BUT LOW LEVEL WRAP-AROUND WILL KEEP A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS DURING THE DAY BEFORE DRYING/CLEARING OUT SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. LEFT FORECAST BEYOND MONDAY THE SAME. TEMPERATURES CLOSELY FOLLOW MAV/MET GUIDANCE WITH ONLY MINOR TWEAKS...THIS MEANT LOWERING HIGHS ON SUNDAY A CAT OR TWO DUE TO LINGERING CLOUDS. && .AVIATION... && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && PUBLIC...ML AVIATION...RT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 417 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-101130- 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- 417 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER THIS MORNING ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAKENING CONVECTIVE COMPLEX MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...ALTHOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY NIGHT IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND THE EXTREME WEST TIP OF KENTUCKY. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...AS EARLY AS SATURDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS OF THE OZARKS...IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL PUSH EAST OF THE REGION BY SUNDAY MORNING. MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WITH THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL AFFECT THE REGION BEGINNING TUESDAY. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED SATURDAY NIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Moderate flooding of the Skillet Fork River occurred. At the Wayne City gage, the river crested at 19.12 feet on the 10th. Flood stage there is 15 feet. Considerable flooding of low-lying fields 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: 98581.