Updated at 11:40 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN – Police were phasing out their extra squads as Friday's daylong Unofficial St. Patrick's celebration continued toward the early morning hours of Saturday.

Many students had been drinking for more than half the day, but Champaign police Lt. Brad Yohnka said there were still lines of people waiting to get into some popular campus bars and plenty of foot traffic along the streets.

Campustown was painted green Friday as Unofficial St. Patrick's Day took hold once again, and local law enforcement agencies increased their presence on campus to try to keep control.

Police say that, last year, the participants — mostly University of Illinois students and their guests — seemed to run out of steam at midnight, and the campuswide party died out suddenly.

"That happened last year, but then again we didn't see this kind of crowds and this kind of lines," Yohnka said.

The final numbers have yet to be tallied, but Yohnka said it appears the number of tickets police have issued will be up from last year's 269.

"I think there might be more people that attended this year," Yohnka said. "The weather was pretty decent, so I think there were a lot of people running around with open alcohol."

Police also busted some sizable parties this year, he said. Most of the tickets issued Friday have been for minor in possession or public possession of alcohol.

But no serious injuries and few serious criminal charges had been reported as of Friday night.

Some Unofficial St. Patrick's Day celebrants were prepared with umbrellas when the rain started falling around 6 p.m. Friday — most were not, but that didn't stop them.

"Surprisingly enough, it has not deterred students much at this point," said Champaign Sgt. Scott Friedlein. "There's still a lot of pedestrian activity."

That increases the risk of vehicles striking pedestrians, he said.

The rain is nonetheless driving more students into the bars and private parties, and as daytime drinking turns into nighttime drunkenness, police are planning on spending more time responding to calls rather than initiating calls themselves.

"We're basically now in kind of a monitor and respond mode," Friedlein said.

Friedlein, a veteran of all the previous Unofficial St. Patrick's Days, said the party appears to be larger in its 16th year.

"The crowd is bigger this year," Friedlein said. "We're now starting to see the alcohol intoxication issues creep up more."

At about 6:30 p.m., Champaign police were at a "significantly large" party at 35 E. Chalmers St., Friedlein said. Across the street, there were two more of roughly the same size.

At the first, Friedlein said police were prepared to issue citations to at least 40 to 50 people, he said.

And police and fire agencies continue to get called.

As 7:49 p.m. Friday, police had issued 157 notices to appear in court, mostly to minors in possession alcohol or those in public possession of drinks. Of those, 78 have gone to University of Illinois students and the rest were spread among visitors from at least 25 other schools.

Police shut down an apartment party just before 11 a.m. and three students were ticketed for having multiple kegs. Seventeen people were issued ordinance violations for minors in possession of alcohol at the party, which was at 54 E. Chalmers St., C, said Friedlein.

“The officers discovered a party out of control,” Friedlein said. “We shut it down, issued the tickets and released them with good warning that the next time, we might not be so kind.”

Police are making stops of anyone seen carrying alcohol, open or packaged, on the streets, Friedlein said.

"It's amazing how brazen some of these kids are," he added.

Emergency agencies are watching for alcohol poisoning, too — as of 3:30 p.m., five participants had been sent to the hospital.

Two young men left the County Market at 331 E. Stoughton St., C, around noon, on skateboards. One was balancing a case of beer while the other had a heavy bag of ice in each hand.

Rodney Nelson of Taylorville, a loss prevention officer for Niemann Foods, said business had been brisk Friday morning at the campus grocery store. Festooned with beads around his neck to soften the look of his police-like uniform,  Nelson said there was plenty of beer being sold. Originally from Shreveport, La., Nelson said he's a Mardi Gras veteran but admitted he hadn't previously seen "so many young folks" gathering to drink.

Increasing winds were making the balmy temperatures feel a bit chilly, but that didn't seem to deter the revelers who were clad in green T-shirts. Porches around campus are packed with bodies.

Meanwhile, police surveillance is in full swing at the campus emergency operations center.

About 15 police, firefighters, paramedics and telecommunicators are in the basement of the Illinois Fire Service Institute on the south side of campus looking at images from 300 security cameras on the University of Illinois campus.

"They're busy," said Champaign Police Lt. Brad Yohnka. "A guy fell down stairs. Things are being thrown off balconies."

The latter is a major no-no for public safety officials. But police can now ticket the person who owns the apartment when that happens as opposed to having to locate and prove who threw the item.

There are seven screens that the public safety officials are monitoring at one time in the center. Officers seated in cushy chairs in the new building, dedicated last month, were hunched over laptops. Their day began about 8 a.m.

"I've got the Twitter feed," Sheriff Lt. Allen Jones laughed.

"We're trending in Chicago," he said in reference to Twitter feeds that showed people at O'Hare Airport en route to the nonsanctioned drinking fest in Champaign-Urbana. "It's funny. Sad, actually," Jones added.

Members of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, 58 E. Gregory Drive, C, were awakened at 6 a.m. by one of their members playing bagpipes.

"I played 'Scotland the Brave,'" said Ron Dymerski. "I got up at 5:30. We had a whole parade in the halls."

Fellow fraternity member Drake Robards said although members were up at 6 this morning, the drinking didn't start until 8 a.m.

"We did have green pancakes," he said.

Mike Bagger, 22, a Northern Illinois University student from Naperville, was in town enjoying his seventh Unofficial St. Patrick's Day.

“I like how ... it's welcoming,” said Bagger, whose brother and grandfather attended the UI. “Unofficial is just something you have to do.”

Bagger said he came to Champaign with friends, one of whom had his car towed from a Champaign city street early Friday, costing him $165.

“They're making bank today,” Bagger said of the officials involved with the vehicle towing.

His girlfriend, Salina Thinakkal, also a 22-year-old NIU student from Naperville, said about 30 cars were in line when she went with the friend to ransom his Friday morning.

Between midnight Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, about 35 vehicles had been towed from campus, Friedlein said.

To see some photos from Unofficial, visit The News-Gazette's photo gallery.