Temperatures to fall into 20s tonight

Temperatures are expected to fall into the 20s tonight as a major winter storm continues across the region. The storm warning has been extended to noon Wednesday.

By that time, expect to see "3 to 6 inches of snow, or more," said Jayson Wilson, meteorologist at the weather service's Paducah, Ky., office.

Since the storm started Monday evening, nearly 5 inches of sleet has fallen from Doniphan, Mo., to Jonesboro, Ill., including Cape Girardeau.

"Tomorrow is going to be worse than today," Wilson said.

"We are going to continue to receive freezing rain throughout the night. Another approaching system will create heavier precipitation. Once this cold front goes through, temperatures will drop and freezing rain will change to sleet then to snow," he said.

Wind speed, currently 5 miles an hour from the northeast, will shift overnight, coming from the northwest at speeds of 10 to 15 miles an hour with some gusts. That, Wilson said, could cause even more power losses, as trees drop limbs or move enough to short-circuit electric lines.

The Kentucky power outage has affected the nine National Weather Service broadcast towers for this region, Wilson said.

A trained weather spotter reported 5 inches of sleet and snow in Jackson, around 1 p.m., with roadways packed with sleet but passable.

Overnight, the winter storm will continue as freezing rain and sleet, changing to snow with up to 3 additional inches of sleet and snow. Total accumulations for the storm could be up to 8 inches, the weather service forecast.

Overnight temperatuers for Wednesday and Thursday are also expected to be in the low 20s, with the first chance for temperatures to climb above freezing predicted for Thursday. Wilson said Sunday will bring some relief, when the temperature is expected to rise to 40 degrees.

Even the National Weather Service suffered from the storm, which knocked out power to the Paducah office, along with the computer network connection.

Though the meteorologists were still able to work —using generators — they were unable to update the website. The nine regional broadcast towers used to broadcast weather warnings were also not working properly because of the power outage, Wilson said. The meteorologists' office is equipped with cots and other emergency supplies.

For updates, check back at semissourian.com or read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian.