The National Weather Service in Lincoln this week released a summary of rain totals from December 26th thru the 28th, showing that the Regional Radio listening area got as much as 8 inches of rain.

The Weather Service says the powerful winter storm produced a variety of weather hazards across central and southeast Illinois, including heavy rain/flooding, significant ice accumulations, and strong winds.  
The system began to spread rain into the region from the southwest during the early morning hours on Saturday, December 26th, and steady rains continued across much of central and southeast Illinois into Saturday night.

The Weather Service says by Sunday morning, widespread 2 to 5 inch totals were reported southeast of a Jacksonville to Rantoul line. This amount of rain falling on saturated soil from recent wet conditions produced widespread flash flooding and fast rises on creeks and streams.  After a lull in the rainfall for much of Sunday, another round of moisture moved in from the south on Sunday night, and continued into Monday afternoon.  

Heavy rains of 1 to 3 inches were common across the entire area from this portion of the event, further aggravating existing flooding conditions. Many rivers across the area were expected to rise to major flood stage due to the heavy rainfall.

The St. Louis area and areas along Interstate 44 suffered the brunt of the heavy rain, receiving as much as 10 inches. The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested to a record flood level on Thursday morning.