A cold weather advisory and winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service will be in effect in Lawrence starting Friday evening.

The cold weather advisory will be in effect from 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 until noon Monday, Jan. 26. The winter storm warning runs from 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 through 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25.

Matt Wolters, a meteorologist with the NWS Topeka office, said that the coldest periods will have a wind chill that makes it feel like -15°.

“(In) those types of temperatures and those conditions, unprotected skin could suffer from frostbite in about 30 minutes, and so we have the cold weather advisory out for that,” Wolters said.

He said the Lawrence area is still projected to get 5 to 7 inches of snow throughout the storm. The city will see snow in two batches, the first spanning from Friday night to Saturday morning.

There may be a lull in the snowfall before it picks up again Saturday night through Sunday morning.

“We’re anticipating the more moderate to heavy snowfall to be overnight tonight into Saturday morning,” Wolters said. “Trends for Saturday into Sunday are shifting things a little bit to the south, and so the snow totals that we’re potentially going to see Saturday night could be a little bit lower than what earlier forecasts had.”

The forecast for Friday shows a low around 0° with wind chills between -6° and -14°. Wind gusts from the northeast could be between 10 and 20 mph by night.

The high for Saturday is near 7° with a low of 2°, although wind chill values are between -4° and -14° during the day and between -4° and -9° at night. A wind from the northeast could be 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday has a high of 14° and a low of -5° come night. By Monday during the day, the high will be 17° and it will be sunny, according to the forecast.

Lawrence Transit announced some service changes for the weekend, and the Lawrence Public Library, Watkins Museum of History and other local spots will be closed Saturday. See a full list of closures at this link.

In case you missed it, here’s some key winter weather info:

Sheltering options

The Lawrence Community Shelter is the city’s only winter shelter this year. Unhoused people can go to LCS and bring one pet with them.

LCS has a residency policy, meaning they only accept Douglas County residents. Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the city’s homeless solutions division, said via email that the shelter will accept individuals even if they cannot immediately confirm residency, but only during life-threatening weather events. She specified that emergency stays for nonresidents are short-term.

“Once conditions stabilize, the City returns to prioritizing Douglas County residents and works with individuals from other communities to help them reconnect with supports that are more appropriate for their place of origin,” she wrote.

Bosch-Hastings said the city’s Homeless Response Team has maintained overflow spaces since December and will continue until the weather ceases to be life-threatening in order to prevent loss of life.

She said the city is grateful for First United Methodist Church for partnering as an overflow space. However, operating the overflow shelter stretches the capacity of the Homeless Response Team in addition to their core responsibilities.

The city is asking community members to volunteer throughout the severe weather to support an overflow space.
Shifts run for four hours and volunteers must be 18 years or older. Learn more and sign up at this link to volunteer.

LCS is located at 3655 E. 25th St. You can call the shelter at 785-832-8864.

Read this article for more information about how to reach LCS, where to shelter more than one pet, and more.

The Homeless Resource Center, 944 Kentucky St., announced Thursday that it will open for emergency daytime hours “to provide a warm, safe place to be during the day for anyone who needs it” at the following times:
• 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24
• 9 a.m. to noon Sunday

There will be no laundry or showers during emergency hours.

The HRC will also be open for its regular hours of 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 and Monday, Jan. 26.

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.

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.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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