Heavy rain in the upper part of the basin caused the Mississippi River to rise above flood stage.
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.
Heavy rain in the upper part of the basin caused the Mississippi River to rise 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 Jul 31, 1:15 PM CST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 215 PM CDT THU JUL 31 2008 .DISCUSSION... MAIN CONCERNS FOR THIS FORECAST ARE HEAT AND HUMIDITY...OTHERWISE SMALL POP CHANCES FRIDAY NIGHT AND THEN AGAIN NEXT THURSDAY. PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE SURFACE FRONT/TROF JUST SOUTHEAST OF OUR CWA HAS EXITED THE AREA AS WELL. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...HOWEVER ...IS TAKING A BIT LONGER TO MIX OUT/DISSIPATE...CONSEQUENTLY CLOUDS HAVE BEEN A LITTLE SLOWER CLEARING THAN EXPECTED. THE CLEARING SHOULD CONTINUE OVENIGHT AS A WEAK AREA OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVERSPREADS THE AREA. FRIDAY NIGHT MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT BRINGING A CLIPPER SYSTEM SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE MID-LOWER OHIO VALLEY. THIS SYSTEM MIGHT PRODUCE SCATTERED RW/TRW GENERALLY NORTHEAST OF A LINE FROM FAIRFIELD ILLINOIS TO CALHOUN KENTUCKY. IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM...HEIGHTS ALOFT WILL BEGIN SLOWLY RISING AS A 500MB RIDGE NOSES INTO THE REGION FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS COMBINED WITH SFC DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER 70S WILL PUSH HEAT INDICES INTO THE ADVISORY RANGE (NEAR 105) STARTING SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST TUESDAY AFTERNOON...AND MAYBE INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IF THE RIDGE DOESNT BREAK DOWN AS QUICKLY. IF EXPECTED CONDITIONS DONT CHANGE...WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS...MORE THAN LIKELY A HEAT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED...OR POSSIBLY AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING SINCE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST OVER SUCH A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. BY NEXT THURSDAY...THE UPPER RIDGE BREAKS DOWN ALLOWING A SYSTEM TO SLIDE SOUTHWARD INTO OUR CWA...THEREFORE PUT A 20 POP IN FOR THAT PERIOD. && .AVIATION... RIDGING ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO ERODE CLOUDINESS NORTH TO SOUTH ACROSS THE PAH FCST AREA THIS AFTN. CEILINGS...WHICH MAY COME AND GO AT TIMES...SHOULD BE MVFR OR GREATER BEFORE DISAPPEARING ALTOGETHER AROUND SUNSET. CLEAR SKIES...LINGERING GROUND MOISTURE AND CALM WINDS WILL BE CONDUCIVE CONDITIONS FOR FOG FORMATION OVERNIGHT... WITH SOME LOCATIONS IFR OR WORSE. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && PUBLIC.....JP AVIATION...DB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 310 PM CDT THU JUL 31 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-011015- 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- 310 PM CDT THU JUL 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOG DEVELOPMENT MAY OCCUR AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. LOCALLY DENSE FOG MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO UNDER A MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS. A RIVER FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER NORTH OF CAIRO. REFERENCE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST FOR FRIDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE INTERSTATE 64 CORRIDOR OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA...AS WELL AS THE EVANSVILLE TRI STATE AREA. SOME MARGINALLY SEVERE WIND GUSTS CANNOT BE RULED OUT...BUT THE PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY IS IN STORE FOR THE QUAD STATE FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL PEAK FROM 100 TO 105 MAINLY OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AND WILL SPREAD EAST OVER THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. VALUES OVER 105 ARE FORECAST THROUGHOUT THE AREA SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. FLOODING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER NORTH OF CAIRO WILL CONTINUE. REFER TO THE LATEST WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILED INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. DRS/JP
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 the Cape Girardeau gage, the river crested at 35.08 feet on the 4th. Flood stage there is 32 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 Missouri in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, August 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: 124275.