The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Douglas County and most of Kansas as multiple inches of snow are in the forecast for Monday.
Snow is expected to begin moving into the area Sunday night and continuing into Monday. Most of Douglas County is expected to get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to NWS.
More snow accumulations are expected north of Interstate 70 than south, but southern portions of the county are expected to see accumulations of 1 to 3 inches.
The winter weather advisory is in effect from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, according to NWS. Roads will likely be slippery, and the hazardous conditions could affect morning and evening commutes.
Cold temperatures are in the forecast for the whole week, particularly with the wind chill factor.
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The high temperature in the forecast for Monday is 27°, and Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to see highs in the upper 30s, but the wind chill — how it actually feels outside — could be significantly lower both days.
The wind chill could dip as low as 4° Thursday morning in Lawrence, according to NWS.
In case you missed it, here’s a refresher on the city’s snow protocols from an article last week:
City snow management
The city’s snow and ice control operations begin in residential areas only when 2 or more inches of snow have accumulated, or when icing occurs.
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Municipal Services and Operations is responsible for the city’s preparation and response. High-traffic routes, which involve school zones, bridges, hospitals, emergency facilities, buses, and commercial and industrial zones, are always pretreated and plowed first.
After MSO crews hit priority routes, they move onto residential streets when conditions allow. They do not clear alleyways in the city or windrows at the ends of driveways.
The city’s website has maps that show the priority and secondary routes, where snow plows have been when they’re active and more.
Resident responsibilities
Property owners are responsible for clearing public sidewalks adjacent to their properties within 48 hours after ice forms or snowfall ends.
If ice cannot be removed, it must be treated with sand or another traction material within the same timeframe, according to city ordinance.
The city asks that people move their vehicles off the street, if possible, to increase room for plows. Staying to one side of the street if parallel parking helps crews, too, as well as keeping trash and recycling bins at the edge of driveways instead of the street.
Visit the snow and ice page on the city’s website at lawrenceks.gov/snow and see the box of severe weather resources below for more information.
Seeking shelter
The only option for folks to seek shelter from the cold this winter will be the Lawrence Community Shelter, the City of Lawrence has announced.
The city is not planning to open overflow shelters at local churches this year. Read more about the plans at this link.
Nightly check-in at the shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., is between 7 and 10 p.m. People may enter LCS if they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs as long as they don’t pose a danger to themself or others, according to the website.
“Individuals who stay overnight at the Lawrence Community Shelter may also remain on-site during the day when no other safe indoor option is available or when weather conditions remain dangerous,” the city’s sheltering website states.
The shelter is accessible by Lawrence Transit Routes 1 and 5, which will operate as long as road conditions are safe. See lawrencetransit.org for more information and help planning a ride to LCS.
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Severe weather resources
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. Do not go near the line.
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.
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.
Highway conditions beyond Lawrence:
• KanDrive, an app and website from the Kansas Department of Transportation, has info on highway conditions statewide. KanDrive is available online at KanDrive.gov, and its app is available for download free on the App Store and Google Play.
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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