A slow moving low pressure system brought an extended period of moderate to heavy rain to southeast Indiana.
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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 ILN wrote it up.
A slow moving low pressure system brought an extended period of moderate to heavy rain to southeast Indiana.
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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 15, 7:27 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 827 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2008 .SYNOPSIS... SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES EAST ALONG A STALLED BOUNDARY NEAR THE OHIO RIVER. ANOTHER WEAK BOUNDARY WILL PUSH DOWN INTO THE AREA SATURDAY...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH 7 AM FRIDAY/... SINCE SHOWERS ARE OVERSPREADING THE ENTIRE AREA...UPDATED FORECAST TO 100 POP ALL ZONES. EXPECT BAND OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN TO GRADUALLY SHIFT NORTH AFFECTING THE DAYTON AND COLUMBUS AREAS. MONITORING CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS TO THE SOUTHWEST FOR LIGHTNING STRIKES BUT SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN NONE. GIVEN CLOUD COVER...WILL GO A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN GUIDANCE FOR LOWS TONIGHT. && .SHORT TERM /7AM FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... PCPN SHOULD TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS AS LOW MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. LOOKS LIKE FAIR AMOUNT OF CLOUDS WILL LINGER ACROSS THE EAST THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY THOUGH AND THIS WILL LIKELY KEEP TEMPS DOWN. HOWEVER...POSSIBILITY EXISTS FOR SOME SUN ACROSS THE WEST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...SO WILL GO WITH SOME WARMER TEMPS THERE. SKIES SHOULD THEN BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY FRIDAY NIGHT. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... DEEPENING UPPER WAVE WILL DROP SOUTH INTO THE REGION ON SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL NOT HAVE MUCH DEEP MOISTURE TO WORK WITH...AND FORCING WILL BE LIMITED PRIMARILY TO WEAK ISENTROPIC LIFT SATURDAY MORNING...FOLLOWED BY WEAK LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND PVA AS A COLD FRONT AND MID-LEVEL VORT SWING THROUGH LATER IN THE DAY. DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A FAVORABLE SET UP FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIP...SO CONTINUED TO LIMIT POPS TO CHANCE. CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST AFTER THIS POINT HAS INCREASED A BIT WITH 12Z GFS COMING MORE IN LINE WITH PAST SEVERAL RUNS OF THE ECMWF. THEREFORE WAS ABLE TO NARROW DOWN PRECIP CHANCES A BIT BETTER. FIRST CHANCE COMES SUNDAY WITH A DEEPER TROUGH DIGGING OVER THE GREAT LAKES. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE MOISTURE STARVED AND LIFT IS NOT FORECAST TO BE VERY DEEP...SO KEPT POPS LIMITED TO LOW CHANCE. MED RANGE MODELS COMING IN MORE PROGRESSIVE AND LESS AMPLIFIED WITH THE PATTERN INTO NEXT WEEK. THIS MEANS IT MAY NOT BE AS COOL AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT...BUT SHOULD STILL BE SLIGHTLY BELOW AVG WITH NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. NEXT CHANCE FOR PRECIP COMES TUES AND WEDS AS A WARM FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST. 12Z GUIDANCE IS MUCH WARMER THAN YESTERDAY FOR THIS PERIOD...WITH THE GFS NOW TAKING THE FRONT NORTH OF THE CWA. WILL NOT TOTALLY JUMP ON THIS SOLN JUST YET SO WHILE MAX TEMPS WERE BUMPED UP...DID NOT GO NEARLY AS WARM AS 12Z MEX. && .AVIATION /01Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... WITH THE AREA IN THE MIDST OF A RAIN EVENT...FLIGHT CONDITIONS ARE LESS THAN IDEAL WITH CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES AS LOW AS IFR. THESE CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST FOR SEVERAL HOURS AS RAIN CONTINUES TO STREAM UP FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS ENHANCED. SOME CONVECTION MAY OCCUR AS WELL SO ADDED CB TO CVG AND LUK IN TEMPO GROUPS 00-04Z. IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED AROUND 13Z AFTER RAIN ENDS. A RETURN TO VFR COULD OCCUR AROUND 18Z WHEN DRIER AIR FILTERS IN BEHIND DEPARTING LOW PRESSURE. NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 10 KNOTS WILL SHIFT TO NORTH AND THEN NORTHWEST BY THE END OF THE FORECAST. OUTLOOK...MVFR CEILINGS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. KY...NONE. IN...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...JGL NEAR TERM...CONIGLIO/JGL SHORT TERM...JGL LONG TERM...HAWBLITZEL AVIATION...CONIGLIO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 447 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2008 INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-162100- WAYNE-FAYETTE IN-UNION IN-FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO- SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-OWEN-GRANT- PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-HARDIN-MERCER-AUGLAIZE-DARKE- SHELBY-LOGAN-UNION OH-DELAWARE-MIAMI-CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-MADISON- FRANKLIN OH-LICKING-PREBLE-MONTGOMERY-GREENE-FAYETTE OH-PICKAWAY- FAIRFIELD-BUTLER-WARREN-CLINTON-ROSS-HOCKING-HAMILTON-CLERMONT-BROWN- HIGHLAND-ADAMS-PIKE-SCIOTO- 447 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...SOUTHEAST INDIANA...NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...NORTHERN KENTUCKY...CENTRAL OHIO...MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO...SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO...SOUTHWEST OHIO AND WEST CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several roads were flooded and closed.
Several roads were flooded throughout the county.
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, 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: 98082, 98081.