Powerball jackpot climbs to $425 million

The Powerball jackpot took another jump Tuesday, climbing to $425 million, lottery officials said.

Better-than-expected ticket sales are the primary reason for the increases in announced jackpots, and Wednesday's drawing will be the fourth largest in the history of big-prize, multistate lottery games across the nation and the third largest Powerball jackpot.

In March 2012, three winning tickets split the largest jackpot, a Mega Millions prize of $656 million. In May, a Florida woman won the largest Powerball payout -- $590.5 million.

The third-largest jackpot is a $587.5-million Powerball prize from November 2012.

No one matched Saturday's numbers -- 21, 24, 36, 42, 45 with a Powerball of 15 -- when the jackpot was $300 million, lottery officials said.

After that drawing, officials initially announced a $400-million jackpot for Wednesday.

Ten tickets sold nationwide Saturday matched all five numbers but missed the Powerball; five of those tickets won $2 million, and five won $1 million.

The lump-sum payment for Wednesday's drawing is $244.7 million, according to lottery officials