Lawrence is expected to be dangerously hot over the next several days, according to the National Weather Service office in Topeka.
An excessive heat warning will be in effect for Douglas County and most of eastern Kansas from noon Saturday, Aug. 19 through 10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23.
Temperatures are expected to be between 100° and 110°, with head indices of 102° to 112°, according to NWS. Nighttime lows were forecasted in the upper 70s as of Friday evening.
The NWS warns that people should drink plenty of water and wear light, loose-fitting clothing if they must be outside. Temperatures inside cars can become lethal in minutes, and no one should be left unattended in a vehicle.
“An Excessive Heat Warning means that a prolonged period of dangerously hot weather is expected, during which heat illnesses are likely,” according to NWS. “Postpone any non-essential outdoor activities during the midday and afternoon. Stay in an air-conditioned building and check up on relatives and neighbors.”
The City of Lawrence recreation centers are available for those who need to get out of the heat. Cooling centers include the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.; East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St.; and Holcom Park Recreation Center, 2700 W. 27th St.
Centers are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, with the exception of Holcom Park rec center, which opens one hour later at 10 a.m. on Saturdays, according to the city’s website.
Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane, will be closed for maintenance Monday, Aug. 21 through Wednesday, Aug. 30, but it will still be available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, and from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20.
City buses are also air-conditioned, and anybody can ride fare-free this year. See bus routes and schedules at lawrencetransit.org.
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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.
Latest Lawrence news:
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
