Jackpots Building Back Up To Lukewarm Levels For Heatwave Weekend

Sweltering temperatures and accompanying heat advisories have made their way across the country all week and will continue to through the weekend. One way to beat the heat: Stay indoors, park yourself in front of the TV, and wait for the lottery drawings.

While temperatures are skyrocketing, the jackpots are at more moderate levels these days, thanks to recent grand prize wins in both Powerball and Mega Millions.

Powerball gave away $223 million to a player in New Jersey on June 10, and is sitting on a modest streak of four straight draws since without a winner.

Mega Millions awarded a far larger prize, $552 million, to an anonymous player in Illinois a few days earlier on June 4, and has also since seen four draws pass without a jackpot hitting.

Mega Millions boasts the slightly bigger of the two jackpots this weekend. For Friday’s draw, the annuity payout is estimated to be $80 million, with a cash option of $38.2 million.

Powerball isn’t far behind, though, on Saturday, with an estimated jackpot of $72 million, or $34.7 million for the cash option.

The winning numbers

Each of the major draw lotteries crowned one new millionaire in their mid-week contests.

The winning numbers for Mega Millions on Tuesday were 21, 22, 50, 55, and 67, with a gold Mega Ball of 20. One player, in Wisconsin, nailed the five white balls but missed the Mega Ball, scoring $1 million before taxes. Had the player also had the Mega Ball, they would have claimed a $61 million jackpot.

On Wednesday night, the winning Powerball numbers were 4, 27, 44, 50, and 64, with a red Powerball of 7. Again there was one ticket that connected with all five white balls, purchased in New York, and that customer opted for the Power Play, doubling their win to $2 million pre-tax. With the correct red Powerball, that ticket would have been worth $57 million.

Lottery Geeks estimates that 9.25 million tickets were bought for Powerball Wednesday, compared to 9.6 million tickets for Mega Millions Tuesday.

Tickets for either lottery cost $2, with an option in most states to play the multiplier for an additional $1. Both Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are available in every state except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, and can also be purchased in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands — plus Powerball is available in Puerto Rico.

All-Time Biggest Jackpots

Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
3. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
4. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
5. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
7. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California

And here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:

1. $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
3. $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
4. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
6. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
7. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
8. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California