Early morning thunderstorms were caused by a cold front that extended from northeast Illinois to the southeast part of Oklahoma.
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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.
Early morning thunderstorms were caused by a cold front that extended from northeast Illinois to the southeast part of Oklahoma.
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 Dec 9, 1:46 AM CST, 4 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 146 AM CST TUE DEC 9 2008 .DISCUSSION... FEW CHANGES NEEDED TO GOING FORECAST. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS WERE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST 1/2 OF THE FORECAST AREA AT 07Z MOVING NORTHEAST. A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS WAS OVER SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THIS ACTIVITY WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AHEAD OF A MID LEVEL WAVE SEEN ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY OVER CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. CATEGORICAL POPS STILL LOOK IN ORDER TODAY FOR SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. DECENT QPF AS WELL...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WEST KENTUCKY AND A SMALL PORTION OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. AMOUNTS IN WEST KENTUCKY COULD RANGE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES...WITH 1/2 TO 1 1/2 INCHES ELSEWHERE. GUSTY WINDS WILL LIKELY PERSIST TODAY...BUT THERE IS SOME QUESTION AS TO WHETHER WE WILL REALIZE FULL MIXING POTENTIAL WITH THE COLUMN NEAR SATURATED. BELIEVE WE WILL STAY JUST BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA...SO WILL HOLD OFF ON THAT...BUT WINDY AT TIMES NONE THE LESS. MODELS MAINTAINED THEIR SLIGHTLY WARMER SHIFT FOR TONIGHT...AS FAR AS MIXED WINTRY PRECIPITATION IS CONCERNED. ALSO DEEPER MOISTURE IS MOSTLY EAST OF THE AREA BY 06Z RESULTING IN A LACK OF SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE ALOFT AND ICE CRYSTALS. THEREFORE WILL STICK WITH A TRANSITION TO JUST A CHANCE OF RAIN/DRIZZLE OR SLEET ON THE BACK END...AND CERTAINLY NOT PLAY IT UP TOO MUCH. A FEW COUNTIES IN OUR NORTHWEST MOST ZONES COULD FALL TO OR JUST BELOW FREEZING...SO WILL HAVE TO WATCH THAT AREA LATE TONIGHT. OTHER THAN THE LINGERING LIGHT RAIN/SLIM CHANCE OF SLEET IN THE SOUTHEAST 1/2 OF THE FA WEDNESDAY MORNING...IT SHOULD DRY OUT. IT WILL BE BREEZY AND COLDER WEDNESDAY AS THE MERCURY WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH 40 MOST AREAS...ALONG WITH GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS. NO CHANGES TO THE LONG TERM PORTION OF THE FORECAST. THE LATEST EXTENDED MODEL OUTPUT CONTINUES TO SUPPORT OUR LATE WEEKEND...EARLY NEXT WEEK CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. && .AVIATION... /ISSUED 1030 PM CST MON DEC 8 2008/ 00Z MODEL TRENDS PICK UP ON 18Z TRENDS...IE FASTER INFLUX OF MOISTURE AND SATURATION DOWN THE COLUMN IS ONGOING...WITH LOW VFR CIGS ALREADY TO CGI/PAH AND MVFR CIGS W/PCPN SOON TO FOLLOW BY TAF ISSUANCE TIME. 00Z MODELS LIKEWISE CONTINUE MARGINAL SUPPORT FOR ELEVATED CONVECTION SO WE RETAINED THE SHORT WINDOW FOR CB MAINLY EARLY PM HOURS TUE. OTHER PRIMARY WX FEATURE WILL BE STRONG SLYS W/SOME GUSTS NR 30 KTS POSSIBLE...TRANSLATING WEST TO EAST ACROSS TAF SITES TONIGHT BEFORE A WINDOW OF RELAXED GUSTS DURING EARLY PM HOURS AS SURFACE LOW MOVES IN...FOLLOWED BY STIFF NWLYS TOMORROW EVENING BEHIND SYSTEM PASSAGE AS GRADIENT RE-TIGHTENS QUICKLY. IFR CIGS/VSBYS IN HEAVIER SHOWERS REMAIN IN FORECAST LATE TONIGHT-EARLY TUE AS WELL. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 349 AM CST TUE DEC 9 2008 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-101100- 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- 349 AM CST TUE DEC 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 TODAY AND THIS EVENING. THE HAZARDS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING. MOVEMENT OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE NORTHEAST AROUND 50 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. WE DO REQUEST SPOTTERS REPORT IN IF HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:58 UTC.
1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding occurred in at least four areas of the city. Standing water was reported over parts of four streets. The public works department removed leaves from storm drains, which allowed the water to recede. At the Cape Girardeau airport, 0.91 inches of rainfall were observed in the 24 hours prior to the minor flooding.
Lightning struck a large tree at a farming complex. The lightning traveled down through the roots to a fence, which caught on fire. A propane line on the fence blew out part of an electrical box inside and outside the home on the property.
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, December 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: 142153, 142152.