The first half of May saw just moderate to severe drought conditions across the northwest North Carolina area. However, a drier second half of the month brought an increase in severe drought conditions into the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 RNK wrote it up.
The first half of May saw just moderate to severe drought conditions across the northwest North Carolina area. However, a drier second half of the month brought an increase in severe drought conditions into the area.
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 8:42 PM EST, 3 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 942 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2008 .SYNOPSIS... LOW PRESSURE OFF THE VIRGINIA COAST WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT SLOWLY EAST OVERNIGHT. PERSISTENT LIGHT SHOWERS IN THE WRAP AROUND MOISTURE GRADUALLY TAPER OFF. STRONGER WIND GUSTS WILL ALSO GRADUALLY DIMINISH. HIGH PRESSURE AND DRIER WEATHER WILL RETURN TO THE AREA TUESDAY BEFORE ANOTHER SYSTEM BRINGS A RETURN OF SHOWERS AND STORMS TO THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... WATER VAPOR SHOWS THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO TRACK STEADILY EASTWARD...WHILE MSAS SHOWS THE ASSOCIATED SFC LOW DOING THE SAME. HOWEVER...RADAR SHOWS A PERSISTENT BAND OF LIGHT SHOWERS FROM THE GREENBRIER VALLEY...SOUTHEAST ACROSS ROANOKE...AND INTO THE DANVILLE AREA. THIS PRECIP IS LIGHT ENOUGH THAT IS WILL PROBABLY NOT MEASURE...SO I RAISED POPS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS...BUT ONLY TO LOW CHANCE. SATELLITE SHOWS LOW CLOUDS EXTENDING ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY. WHILE THE LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL BECOME MORE NORTH THAN NW OVERNIGHT...WHICH IS LESS OF AN UPSLOPE FLOW...IT STILL LOOKS LIKE THE NW CWA WILL BE CLOUDY MOST OF THE NIGHT SO I RAISED SKY COVER. FINALLY...WITH TEMPS IN THE 40S FOR MOST OF THE MTNS...IF ANY AREAS CLEAR BEFORE DAYBREAK THEIR TEMPS MAY DROP INTO THE MID 30S WHICH COULD BRING SOME FROST. HOWEVER...IT WILL BE A BRIEF WINDOW...SO I DO NOT THINK IT IS MUCH OF A THREAT. WILL PROBABLY NOT BE MUCH FOG EITHER IF THE CLEARING IS TOWARD MORNING. SFC HIGH WILL BE OVERHEAD TUESDAY BRINGING SUNSHINE AND WARMING TEMPS AS 5H S/W RIDGE SLIDES EAST. HOWEVER 85H TEMPS WILL REMAIN ON THE COOL SIDE WITH BEST WARM ADVECTION WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS AHEAD OF THE NEXT SYSTEM. GIVEN RATHER DECENT NORTH/NE FLOW CUT BACK ON GOING HIGHS WITH WARMER VALUES LIKELY SW AND COOLEST FAR NORTH. OTRW MAINLY 60S TO LOWER 70S OVERALL. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... TUESDAY NIGHT THE CENTER OF THE UPPER RIDGE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA...WHILE CLOSER TO THE SURFACE...WARM AIR ADVECTION ON THE WEST SIDE OF SFC-850MB RIDGE BEGINS AS IT STARTS TO SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA. THE RESULT SHOULD BE A NOTABLE INVERSION AT THE SURFACE ALLOWING FOR A NIGHT WITH COOLER LOWS IN THE VALLEYS AND MILDER LOWS AT THE RIDGE TOPS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE TREND OF THE VARIOUS MODEL GUIDANCE FOR OUR NEXT APPROACHING COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN ONE OF SLOWING. WILL FOLLOW SUIT WITH THIS AND HAVE A SLOWER ONSET OF SHOWERS ON WEDNESDAY AND CONFINE THEM TO ONLY WESTERN PARTS OF THE REGION. THEN WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY GRADUALLY INCREASE PRECIPITATION CHANCES AND SPREAD THE PRECIPITATION FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA WITH THE PROGRESSION OF THE COLD FRONT. WITH THIS SLOWER TIMING...THIS SHOULD ALLOW FOR MILDER HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY THAN WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY FORECAST AND ADJUSTMENTS UPWARD IN MOST PLACES HAVE BEEN MADE. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY THE FRONT WILL STALL OVER THE AREA AS A WAVE RIDES NORTHEAST ALONG IT FROM TEXAS. THIS WAVE WILL CROSS THE REGION ON FRIDAY...HELPING TO KEEP PRECIPITATION CHANCES IN THE FORECAST...WITH THE BEST CHANCES IN THE WEST. THERE MAY BE A SMALL BREAK IN THE ACTION ON SATURDAY AS THE FRONT FINALLY HEADS SOUTHEAST OF THE REGION AND A REINFORCING COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. BUT CONFIDENCE IN THE TIMING IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO HAVE NO MENTION OF SHOWERS ON SATURDAY SO WILL CONTINUE WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS SATURDAY. THE REINFORCING COLD FRONT EXITS THE AREA SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...SO EVENTUALLY EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO BECOME CONFINED TO UPSLOPE SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES FROM THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY WILL TREND SLIGHTLY COOLER EACH DAY. && .AVIATION /02Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... DRIER AIR MOVING EAST AS LOW DEPARTS OFF THE COAST WILL ALLOW IMPROVING CIGS THROUGH THE NIGHT. LIGHT WINDS AND SMALL DEWPOINT DEPRESSIONS MAY ALLOW FOR IFR FOG TO DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT AT KLWB. VFR CONDITIONS PREVAIL THROUGH TUESDAY. WED NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY WILL BE AN ACTIVE PERIOD WITH SEVERAL SYSTEMS MOVING THROUGH THE REGION...ONE ABOUT EVERY SECOND OR THIRD DAY. AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL CREATE SCATTERED MVFR/IFR SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS LATE WEDNESDAY...AND EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. VFR CONDITIONS RETURN BY WEEKS END AND LINGER INTO SATURDAY WITH ONLY ISOLD MVFR IN CLOUDS/SHRA POSSIBLE AT THIS TIME. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...DS/JH NEAR TERM...JH/JJ SHORT TERM...DS LONG TERM...DS AVIATION...JH/KM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 713 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2008 NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-132315- ASHE-ALLEGHANY NC-SURRY-STOKES-ROCKINGHAM-CASWELL-WATAUGA-WILKES- YADKIN-TAZEWELL-SMYTH-BLAND-GILES-WYTHE-PULASKI-MONTGOMERY-GRAYSON- CARROLL-FLOYD-CRAIG-ALLEGHANY VA-BATH-ROANOKE-BOTETOURT-ROCKBRIDGE- PATRICK-FRANKLIN-BEDFORD-AMHERST-HENRY-PITTSYLVANIA-CAMPBELL- APPOMATTOX-BUCKINGHAM-HALIFAX-CHARLOTTE-MERCER-SUMMERS-MONROE- GREENBRIER- 713 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 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.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions (D2) crept back into the extreme southeastern portion of the county by mid-May. With lack of widespread rainfall, the entire county dropped into severe drought conditions by the end of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, 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: 99653.