Winter weather watch over; advisory issued for Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois

A winter storm watch issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service for Southeast Missouri is no longer in effect. Now a winter storm advisory has been issued from 6 a.m. Thursday to noon Friday.

Weather service forecasts are now saying the coming winter weather will be less severe than predicted Tuesday.

The wintry precipitation is expected to begin as sleet early Thursday over Southeast Missouri, then spread northeast throughout the day. A mixture of sleet and freezing rain should fall in most of the Southeast Missouri area, with a snow and sleet mix farther north.

Thursday night the Cape Girardeau area should see freezing rain or rain, with freezing rain and sleet to the north and rain to the south.

Snow accumulations are expected to be about 1 to 2 inches north of Cape Girardeau, down from the 2 to 4 inches forecast Tuesday, and less than a quarter-inch of freezing precipitation in the Cape Girardeau area, forecast yesterday as a quarter-inch or more.