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• The Storm Prediction Center issued Tornado Watch Number 8 during the morning of January 8 for parts of west Kentucky and southeast Missouri.
• The potential of severe weather increased during the early afternoon as strong southerly winds brought slightly greater instability. See Mesoscale Discussion 32 from the Storm Prediction Center.
• During the early afternoon, Tornado Watch Number 9 was issued for western Kentucky, southwest Indiana, and a small part of southeast Illinois.
• Shortly before the issuance of the second tornado watch, outbuildings were destroyed and two houses were moderately damaged in Stoddard County, Missouri. A National Weather Service damage survey team completed a survey of this damage and determined an EF-1 tornado occurred. 
• Around 4:15 P.M., a funnel cloud and golf-ball size hail was observed in Evansville, Indiana. Power poles were snapped off near Evansville. The National Weather Service determined this damage was not tornadic. 
• Locally heavy rain occurred in some areas, especially southeast Illinois and parts of southwest Indiana. A total of 1.5 inches of rain was reported in one hour at Harrisburg, Illinois. Water was reported over roads in Gallatin County, IL and Posey County, IN among others.

Preliminary Storm Reports for Jan. 8

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
829 PM CST TUE JAN 08 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1250 PM     TORNADO          2 NE ESSEX              36.83N 89.84W
01/08/2008                   STODDARD           MO   EMERGENCY MNGR

            OUTBUILDINGS BLOWN AWAY AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN.

0141 PM     HEAVY RAIN       E HARRISBURG            37.74N 88.55W
01/08/2008  E1.50 INCH       SALINE             IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            THIS RAINFALL FELL IN A ONE HOUR TIME PERIOD

0310 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     1 S CLINTON             36.65N 88.99W
01/08/2008                   HICKMAN            KY   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            FUNNEL CLOUD WAS ROTATING AT TIME THAT IT WAS OBSERVED.

0314 PM     FLOOD            POPLAR BLUFF            36.76N 90.41W
01/08/2008                   BUTLER             MO   BROADCAST MEDIA

            STREET FLOODING IN POPLAR BLUFF. ALSO, THE BLACK RIVER AT
            HWY 142 WAS OUT OF ITS BANKS SOUTH OF POPLAR BLUFF.

0340 PM     FLOOD            SHAWNEETOWN             37.71N 88.17W
01/08/2008                   GALLATIN           IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            STANDING WATER ON MAJOR HIGHWAYS AND NUMEROUS SECONDARY
            ROADS THROUGHOUT GALLATIN COUNTY.

0404 PM     TSTM WND GST     GRAND RIVERS            37.01N 88.24W
01/08/2008  E60.00 MPH       LIVINGSTON         KY   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            ALSO, 0.25 INCH DIAMETER HAIL REPORTED AT THE
            INTERSECTION OF I-24 AND KY HWY 453

0416 PM     HAIL             EVANSVILLE              37.98N 87.54W
01/08/2008  E1.75 INCH       VANDERBURGH        IN   BROADCAST MEDIA

            REPORTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA WHICH IS
            ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.

0417 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     EVANSVILLE              37.98N 87.54W
01/08/2008                   VANDERBURGH        IN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            REPORTED ALOFT OVER CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN THE NORTHERN
            PART OF THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.

0420 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 W INGLEFIELD          38.11N 87.58W
01/08/2008                   VANDERBURGH        IN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NUMEROUS POWER POLES SNAPPED OFF AT GROUND LEVEL IN A ONE
            QUARTER TO ONE HALF MILE PATH OF DAMAGE.

0427 PM     FLOOD            EVANSVILLE              37.98N 87.54W
01/08/2008                   VANDERBURGH        IN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WATER OVER LYNCH ROAD,BETWEEN HWY 41 AND OAK HILL ROAD.
            THE ROAD IS IMPASSIBLE.

0536 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     WEST LOUISVILLE         37.70N 87.29W
01/08/2008                   DAVIESS            KY   EMERGENCY MNGR

            THIS FUNNEL CLOUD WAS ROTATING AT THE TIME OF THE REPORT
            AND WAS LOCATED JUST TO THE EAST OF WEST LOUISVILLE.

Radar image of a line of thunderstorms crossing northwest Graves and southwest McCracken Counties at 3:21 P.M. on January 8. Rotation was occurring near the break in the line over west central Graves County. The location of the actual Paducah radar site is the small black hole near the top of the image.

Record Warmth and January Tornado Climatology 

• Record warmth was recorded on Monday, Jan. 7. The high temperature at Paducah was 70 degrees, breaking the old record of 68 degrees set in 1965. The warmest temperature recorded in the entire month of January is 77 degrees at Paducah. This monthly record was set on Jan. 25, 1943.
• A record high was established at Evansville on Monday, Jan. 7. The high temperature was 68 degrees, breaking the old record of 67 degrees set in 1989.
• The record warmth was a contributing factor for severe weather potential. Tornado climatology in our part of the country shows that tornadoes have occurred in January. Most recently, an F-3 tornado struck the city of Owensboro, KY on Jan. 3, 2000. Two major severe weather outbreaks occurred in mid-Janaury of 1999.
• On January 7, 1989, an F-4 tornado struck Wabash County, IL. This is the strongest January tornado in official records in the Paducah National Weather Service county warning area. These records go back to 1950.
• Going back to unofficial records prior to 1950, a tornado outbreak occurred on January 12, 1890 in the Mississippi River counties of western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. One of the tornadoes was suspected of causing F-4 damage.
• On January 29, 1947, a tornado suspected of causing F-4 damage occurred in Carter County, Missouri.