Old Man Winter to throw another punch at central Illinois tonight

Accumulating snow and drifting in weekend forecast

See graphic of anticipated hazardous weather areas in Illinois:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/

[February 24, 2011]  A hazardous weather outlook was issued by the National Weather Service in Lincoln at 5:55 a.m. Thursday for portions of central and east-central Illinois. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday for the counties of Cass, Champaign, DeWitt, Logan, Macon, Menard, Morgan, Piatt, Sangamon, Scott and Vermilion.

Thursday and Thursday night

Rain will develop this afternoon and change to snow during the evening and continue overnight. Present indications suggest that 3 to 6 inches of snow is likely along and north of Interstate 72. Northeast winds increasing to 15 to 25 mph and gusting to 30 mph by overnight will cause some blowing and drifting snow, especially from I-72 north.

Stay informed with the latest forecast information regarding the track of this storm and potential snow amounts tonight.

Spotter activation is not anticipated through tonight.

Friday through Wednesday

Area rivers and streams will continue to rise through early next week. Additional rainfall is expected to overspread the area Sunday night into Monday. The rain could be heavy, with thunderstorms possible Sunday night as another strong low pressure system moves into Illinois, which will further aggravate the situation.

[Text from National Weather Service, Lincoln office]