Meteorologist Chris Knowles with the National Weather Service in Paducah says this is not a major ice event for most of the region.
"Amounts should be mostly less than a quarter inch of ice. Order on the say a tenth to at most a quarter inch. That could impact travel, certainly concerned with slick sidewalks, parking lots."
Knowles says the heaviest hit areas could include Perry, Jefferson and Wayne counties.
"We're particularly concerned with Du Quoin, Pinckneyville, Mt. Vernon, Fairfield, that area. As you head toward Route 13, there could still be some icing, but we think it will start to be less and less of it and when you get further south into the Shawnee, it should be mostly rain."
He says the freezing rain is expected to start moving in at around dawn on Friday.
"But, then the intensities pick up a little through the morning and continue into the afternoon. Again, it's not a heavy precip event. It's on the lighter side, but we could still see a tenth to a quarter inch of ice accumulation."
Knowles says the area south of the winter storm watch will likely be assigned a freezing rain advisory.
