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The North Carolina Education Lottery has reported that the Powerball jackpot continues its upward climb as it now stands at $348 million for the Wednesday, February 21 drawing.

“A winner tonight could claim the jackpot as a $348 million annuity or $164.3 million in cash,” stated the NCEL news release issued early Wednesday afternoon.

“The Powerball jackpot has been steadily climbing for weeks and, as it grows, so does the excitement among players,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “We would love to see that climb end tonight with a jackpot win in North Carolina. Good luck.”

Check out these numbers on how Powerball affects North Carolinians:

• 14,052: The total number of winning tickets in Monday’s drawing
• $7 million: The estimated amount raised for education on the current Powerball run

Another chance to win big this week occurs Friday when the Mega Millions drawing offers a $525 million jackpot as an annuity or $247.1 million in cash.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.

For details on how money raised by the lottery makes a difference for education programs in all 100 North Carolina counties, go to nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.

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