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 Wabash 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, 3:06 AM CST, 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 306 AM CST TUE JAN 15 2008 .DISCUSSION... /NOTE...ADJUSTMENTS AND REFINEMENTS TO THIS FORECAST PACKAGE ARE LIMITED FROM TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT./ THE MAIN FOCUS AND EFFORT FOR THIS PACKAGE WAS TIED TO THE WINTRY PRECIPITATION EVENT BEGINNING IN THE WEST LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...EXTENDING EASTWARD THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WFO PAH FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...MOVING EAST OF THE AREA THURSDAY EVENING. THE 00Z TUESDAY RUN OF THE NAM HAS COME IN PHASE WITH THE GFS/ECMWF ON THE INITIAL ONSET OF PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OVER SERN MO. IT STILL APPEARS THAT THE TIME FRAME FROM 00-06Z THURSDAY /6 PM-MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY/ WILL BE THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD IN THE CHANGE-OVER FROM LIQUID TO FROZEN PRECIPITATION. ALTHOUGH MARGINAL...THERE WILL BE ENOUGH LIFT AND ICE CRYSTAL FORMATION DURING THE LATE EVENING ON THURSDAY TO SUPPORT THE CHANGE OVER IN PRECIPITATION TYPE TO ALL SNOW...ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE GREATER AGEOSTROPHIC RESPONSE TO THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT DURING THE EVENING MAY DELAY THE SHIFT FROM LIQUID TO FROZEN PRECIPITATION BY 1-3 HOURS EARLY ON...BUT ONCE THE SURFACE-925 MB LAYER BECOMES SATURATED AND COOLS...THERE SHOULD BE A CHANGE OVER TO MAINLY LARGER CRYSTAL...HIGH WATER EQUIVALENT SNOW FLAKES. THE GFS DOES SUGGEST THAT THERE WILL BE A MORE SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF MOISTURE/LIFT IN THE CLOUD BEARING LAYER BY 12Z THURSDAY...SO ANY SNOW PRODUCTION MAY BE LIMITED TO THE 06-09Z TIME FRAME THURSDAY. DURING THE DAY ON THURSDAY...THERE WILL BE A TOUGH BALANCING ACT BETWEEN THE WARMING OF THE SHALLOW NEAR FREEZING/SUBFREEZING BOUNDARY LAYER AND THE APPROACHING COLD AIR ADVECTION DURING THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON...WHICH WILL REINFORCE THE SUBFREEZING THERMAL PROFILE AND RETARD LIFT BY THURSDAY EVENING. THE DIFFICULTY IN MAINTAINING ANY CONSISTENT SNOW PRODUCTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY WILL BE THE S-SELY WIND FLOW...WHICH WILL ACT TO SHRINK THE SUB-FREEZING LAYER WITH TIME...SWITCHING THE PRECIPITATION TYPE TOWARD A RAIN/SLEET...SNOW/SLEET MIX. THIS...IN TURN...WILL SEVERELY DIMINISH ANY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION FOR THE AREA. IT IS NOT UNTIL LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WHEN MINOR SNOW PRODUCTION WILL BE POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...DECREASING LIFT/DRIER AIR AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL INHIBIT ANY COPIOUS PRODUCTION OF SNOW. FOR NOW...THE BEST ESTIMATE OF STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL APPEARS TO BE LIMITED TO 0.6 T0 0.9 INCHES /GENERALLY LESS THAN AN INCH/ FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY MELTING...WHICH MAY FURTHER DECREASE ANY ACCUMULATION ON EXPOSED SURFACES. BEYOND THURSDAY NIGHT...THERE WILL BE LINGERING CHANCES FOR LIGHT SNOW/SNOW FLURRIES...MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN 1/2 OF THE WFO PAH FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY. BEYOND FRIDAY...SIGNIFICANT DRY/COLD AIR ADVECTION MOVES IN...PRODUCING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR TO THE REGION FOR THE WEEKEND. FOR OPAQUE CLOUD COVER...BLENDED THE NAM/GFS NUMERICAL GUIDANCE THROUGH FRIDAY. FOR TEMPERATURE/DEWPOINT/SURFACE WIND...THE GFS/RUC GUIDANCE WAS USED TO MODIFY THE CURRENT FORECAST VALUES. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TODAY AND 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. && SHORT/LONG TERM....SMITH AVIATION...CN
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 Wabash River occurred. At New Harmony, where flood stage is 15 feet, the river crested at 15.96 feet on the 19th. This resulted in minor flooding of bottomland fields.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, 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: 72493.