Winter storm watch issued for region Tuesday: 'Burst of moderate to heavy snow expected'

<p class="p1">Old Man Winter might be playing catch up in Union County.</p><p class="p1">After a bit of a delayed appearance in the area, Union County residents experienced bitter cold temperatures and wind chills during the past week.</p><p class="p1">And more wintry weather, including a chance for heavy snow, was in the forecast early this week.</p><p class="p1">The National Weather Service office in Paducah issued a winter storm watch for the region, including Union County, which was in effect from Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning.</p><p class="p1">"A burst of moderate to heavy snow is expected tonight and early Wednesday," the weather service advised in a statement posted early Tuesday morning on its website.</p><p class="p1">The winter storm watch covered a large part of Western Kentucky and portions of Southern Illinois from Marion south and east.</p><p class="p1">"There is the potential for around 4 inches of snow in the watch area. Some sleet may be mixed with the snow," the weather service stated in the winter storm watch statement.</p><p class="p1">The wintry precipitation was expected to start falling by around midnight on Tuesday. "Several hours of moderate to heavy snow" were possible, the weather service reported.</p><p class="p1">Snow was expected to "readily stick to paved surfaces...causing a rapid deterioration of travel conditions. The Wednesday morning commute will likely be very hazardous," the weather service cautioned.</p><p class="p1">The weather service forecast also called for a chance of snow (and, perhaps, freezing rain) on Thursday, today, and Friday.</p><p class="p1">On Monday, the weather service initially had reported on its website that a "winter weather event" was taking shape for Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.</p><p class="p1">During that time period, the weather service was anticipating that "a developing winter weather system" would "ultimately move into and across our area."</p><p class="p1">As of Monday afternoon, the weather service indicated that "some uncertainty" remained "as to the exact track and strength of the system."</p><p class="p1">The winter storm watch came on the heels of very cold weather early this week in Union County.</p><p class="p1">The weather service reported wind chills fell below zero throughout the region early Monday morning, Jan. 18.</p><p class="p1">Wind chill readings  early Monday in Southern Illinois included 6 degrees below zero in Jonesboro, 4 below zero in Cairo, 6 below in Goreville and 9 below in Marion.  </p><p class="p1">The low temperature in Jonesboro dropped to 11 degrees on Sunday and to 7 on Monday.</p><p class="p1">The only precipitation during the period of Jan. 12-18 came on Jan. 15, with .10 of an inch of rain.</p><p class="p1">Following are temperatures for the period as recorded by weather observer Dana Cross in Jonesboro:</p><p class="p2"><strong>                                   H  L</strong></p><p class="p2">Tuesday, Jan. 12        41 18</p><p class="p2">Wednesday, Jan. 13   40 14</p><p class="p2">Thursday, Jan. 14      59 31</p><p class="p2">Friday, Jan. 15           54 35</p><p class="p2">Saturday, Jan. 16        38 25</p><p class="p2">Sunday, Jan. 17          29 11</p><p class="p2">Monday, Jan. 18         20  7</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">      </p>


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