Tonight's Powerball jackpot drawing is for a whopping $400 million.

It's the sixth-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history and the largest so far this year, but lottery officials say 2014 could be a record-breaking year.

"We could easily hit that $1 billion mark," said Gary Grief, head of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. "And that would sure be exciting for everyone."

Michael Conroy/AP Photo

Since Powerball doubled the cost of its tickets to $2 in January 2012, massive jackpots have become the new normal. The largest Powerball bonanza - $590 million - was claimed by an elderly Florida woman in 2013.

Related: Mega Millions, Powerball jackpots continue to grow.

The lottery is played in 43 states in addition to Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of matching all six numbers and winning the jackpot is 1 in about 175 million, according to the game's website.

Tonight's jackpot took a bit longer to grow - since late 2013 - likely because of Mother Nature. In August, the jackpot reached $400 million on the 12th roll. This time, it took 16 rolls to get to that amount.

Because of the extreme weather in the weeks leading up to tonight's jackpot drawing, fewer people appeared to venture out to purchase tickets.

Related: Winning ticket for $400M Powerball jackpot sold in S.C.

ABC News' Linsey Davis contributed to this story.