Temperatures are heating up, and the City of Lawrence is offering cooling sites for anybody who needs respite from the heat.
Starting Thursday, the Lawrence area could see maximum head indices of around 107°, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. The high temperature for Thursday is expected to hit 96°.
Temperatures are expected to be in the 90s over the next several days as well, according to the NWS forecast.
People may also ride Lawrence Transit buses to get out of the heat, according to a news release from the city. Buses are free to ride for 2024.
“We ask riders to follow the Transit policy of riding no more than one full loop on a route, after which you are welcome to transfer to another bus route if you desire additional cooling time.”
The Union Pacific Depot is not scheduled to be open this summer, according to the release.
Where to cool off
The city is offering its recreational facilities as places to cool off during their open hours (and notes that all guests must follow facility rules). Folks can also take showers as needed during specific hours.
Details:
Lawrence Community Building
115 W. 11th St. (just west of 11th and Massachusetts streets)
Building hours:
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Shower hours:
1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
1 to 3 p.m. Sundays
East Lawrence Recreation Center
1245 E. 15th St. (just east of 15th Street and Haskell Avenue)
Building hours:
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Shower hours:
4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays
10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sundays
Holcom Park Recreation Center
2700 W. 27th St. (just east of 27th Street and Lawrence Avenue)
Building hours:
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Shower hours:
8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays
10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sundays
Sports Pavilion Lawrence
100 Rock Chalk Lane (~1 mile north of Sixth Street and George Williams Way on the far northwestern edge of town)
Building hours:
5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
1 to 9 p.m. Sundays
Shower hours:
5:30 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays
1 to 8 p.m. Sundays
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Severe weather resources
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call 911.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and snow plow locations. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
