Severe weather possible tonight into tomorrow; heavy rainfall likely into Friday

[April 17, 2013]  The Lincoln office of the National Weather Service posted the weather graphic below for Wednesday:

Periods of showers and thunderstorms will continue through Thursday evening. As a frontal boundary lifts northward Wednesday, warmer and more unstable air will result in an increasing threat of severe weather by evening. The greatest risk of severe weather will be large hail and damaging winds; however, an isolated tornado is also possible. The severe weather risk will continue into Thursday, before a cold front pushes through the state Thursday night. Also, most of central and southeast Illinois is likely to see an additional of 3 to 4 inches of rain through early Friday, which is likely to cause areas of flooding on roadways and rivers. As a result, flash flood watches have been issued for much of the area.

For updates, check http://www.crh.noaa.gov/wxstory.php?site=ilx and http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/.

[From National Weather Service, Lincoln office]