The National Weather Service in Paducah is out with its recap of the major winter storm that impacted the region on Sunday.
Forecasters say impacts ranged from heavy snow and sleet accumulations to locations along and north of Interstate 64 in southern Illinois and southwest Indiana, to a major ice storm across parts of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and northwest Kentucky.
Peak snow and sleet accumulations ranged from four to eight inches. In the hardest hit areas of the ice storm, widespread ice totals of a quarter to three-quarters of an inch were reported.
The heavy snow and ice, combined with persistent gusty winds, led to widespread power outages over much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, and northwest Kentucky. At its peak, over 100,000 residents were without power on Sunday night and Monday morning.
Crews with electric cooperatives in southern Illinois have been working around the clock to restore power to customers since Sunday's winter storm.
Egyptian Electric Co-op says it has made significant progress in restoring power to its customers. Its hopeful crews can restore power to everyone across its two-thousand mile system by Wednesday evening.
In a written release, Egyptian Electric says more than 25 power poles were broken and crews cleared hundreds of trees and limbs from power lines. The hardest hit areas in its territory were in southern Jackson and Williamson counties, primarily in the Makanda, Pomona and Marion areas.
State Senator Dale Fowler of Harrisburg paid tribute Tuesday on the Senate floor in Springfield to first responders, linemen, storm recovery crews and volunteers who are pitching in to help southern Illinois recover from the recent ice and snow storm.
Fowler said local and state officials are working together to get help for southern Illinoisans suffering the effects of the weekend’s severe winter storm.
He said those with home or property damage should start with private insurance coverage. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency is directing all parties to work through their local County Emergency Management Office. Paperwork, questions, and other requirements all start in these offices and flow up to I-EMA.
A state disaster proclamation, which is issued by the Governor, may cover one or more counties, or the entire state. The proclamation is in effect for up to 30 days, and the Governor may issue additional proclamations for as long as the disaster conditions persist.
Damage assessments are started at the outset of an event at the local level by local officials.
The National Weather Service in Paducah says prepare for snow on Friday.
Forecasters say it will probably be enough to impact travel, but it's still a little early to lock everything in.
They say precipitation amounts have trended upwards a little bit for the snowfall on Friday. There is a rough 1-3 inches along and north of a Poplar Bluff to Owensboro line. A rough 2-4 inches further south. There are some indications of a little more, a little less. But, enough that it will produce travel impacts most likely. The bit of good news is that ice and sleet accumulation is not anticipated with this event.
Bitter cold persists through Thursday morning. But even after a "warmup" we are not expected to get above 36 or so through next Tuesday.
Information about warming centers is available here:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/dff7a457041b48f6add366ce4dc418b4
