Weather service upgrades Evansville area to winter storm warning

Staff report

UPDATE: The National Weather Service added the Evansville and Henderson areas to the winter storm warning area as sleet, freezing rain and snow combined to cause hazardous road conditions in both cities.

The warning was issued at 7:35 p.m.

Road and highway conditions were already causing area school systems to cancel Tuesday classes. Among those who had closed schools on Tuesday were the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp., Evansville Catholic Schools, Henderson County, Warrick County, MSD of North Posey County, Union County and Webster County.

The National Weather Service, in issuing the warning, cited "major travel impacts" in the Evansville area, with more expected until 9 to 9:30 p.m. Central, "before letting up."

The weather service noted that a "remarkable cutoff to the north" of the freezing rain was in place, and most areas along and north of Interstate 64 "had stayed pretty much in the clear."

PREVIOUSLY: The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Evansville and Henderson areas through mid-morning Tuesday.

The agency expects the greatest road and travel impacts to occur in Southeastern Missouri and the Purchase and Pennyrile regions of Western Kentucky. There, two-tenths of an inch of ice accumulations are possible, along with a half-inch of sleet.

In the Evansville and Henderson areas, the weather service expects lighter amounts. They're forecasting less than an inch of sleet and snow accumulation, and less than one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation.

"Isolated to scattered power outages may occur, but (we are) not expecting widespread power issues," the National Weather Service said in an afternoon report.