Lawrence Public Schools will be closed for the weather again Tuesday amid extreme cold that followed a blizzard.
Lawrence saw nearly a foot of snow Sunday. Cleanup is still underway citywide.
“This decision supports the ongoing, and much appreciated, community work to clear neighborhood streets and sidewalks and the work of members of our team to clear school walkways and parking areas of significant accumulations of snow to allow safe passage to school following this weekend’s blizzard,” district spokesperson Julie Boyle wrote in an email to families Monday afternoon.
Wind chills below zero are a major concern for safety. Lawrence is expected to see an overnight low of -4° going into Tuesday, a high of 20° Tuesday with wind chills between -4° and 6°, and a low of 0° with wind chills between -4° and -9° Tuesday night into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka.
“The safety of our students, staff, and families is always our top priority,” Boyle wrote. “These extreme weather conditions cause safety risks for travel to school and outdoor exposure.”
All district activities are canceled, and all buildings will be closed.
“We understand school closures cause hardships for some members of our community,” Boyle wrote. “It is our plan to return to school as soon as conditions enable us to do so safely.”
More closures for Tuesday, Jan. 7:
We’ll post additional closures here as we learn of them. Post last updated: 10:13 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7
• The University of Kansas’ Lawrence, Edwards and Leavenworth campuses will remain closed.
• The Senior Resource Center for Douglas County, including Senior Wheels, will be closed.
• Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health’s clinic and offices will be closed. LDCPH will offer some services remotely. Call 785-843-3060 for assistance.
• Eudora schools will be closed.
• Baldwin schools will be closed. Home basketball games versus Tonganoxie have been moved to Wednesday, Jan. 8.
• Classes on Baker University’s Baldwin City campus will be held virtually. Offices on campus are closed, and the Overland Park campus is closed.
• Perry-Lecompton schools will be closed.
• Solid waste services in Lawrence will be delayed by one day all week, and some services will be unavailable this week. (Read more at this link.)
• Social Service League will be closed.
• The Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka will be closed. (District courts will make individual announcements if they plan to close. As of the latest update to this post, Douglas County District Court had not announced any plans to remain closed Tuesday.)
• State offices in Shawnee County will remain closed Tuesday.
Reopening Tuesday, Jan. 7:
• City of Lawrence facilities, including recreational facilities, will be open Tuesday, though recreational programming will be canceled.
• Lawrence Transit will resume normal operations, but riders should expect reroutes and delays. Keep an eye on PassioGo for any updates.
• LMH Health Clinics will be open by 9 a.m. in Lawrence, Baldwin City, Eudora, Tonganoxie and McLouth. All outpatient services will also resume, except for cardiac rehab and palliative care. Patients can check lmh.org for more information.
• Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center will be open. Clients can call 785-843-9192 to adjust appointments.
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Severe weather resources
Get warm in Lawrence:
• See this page for locations to get warm during the day and overnight, where to get help for pets and more.
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.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and where snowplows have been. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
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 Evergy’s emergency line, 800-383-1183, if above-ground lines are arcing or making contact with trees or vegetation. Call 911 immediately if overhead power lines are on the ground or a fire starts.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
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August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
