Lawrence managed to avoid winter weather Saturday that hammered much of the rest of the state, causing numerous accidents including one that left five people dead.

The city won’t be so lucky today, when a major winter storm hunkers down on the region, causing a mix of snow and freezing rain. It’s expected to be one of the largest storms to hit northeast Kansas in several years.

Matt Jacobs, 6News meteorologist, said he expected a inch of snow to be on the ground by this morning. Snow will fall today, eventually shifting to freezing rain this afternoon before returning to snow again tonight.

In all, 5 to 9 inches of snow should be on the ground by midday Monday, Jacobs said.

“Traveling conditions will be very hazardous,” Jacobs said. “I’d recommend not traveling. We’re expecting a pretty good amount of ice and snow.”

The storm began causing accidents in southwest Kansas around 11 a.m. Saturday, according a Kansas Highway Patrol dispatch supervisor. By Saturday night, the patrol had received numerous reports of motorists sliding off roads, rolling their vehicles and hitting guardrails. Most of the accidents were minor.

The most serious accident happened around 6 p.m., when a vehicle slid on a patch of ice on U.S. Highway 54 west of Pratt and slid into the path of a tractor hauling an empty livestock trailer. The collision mangled the smaller vehicle, killing five people inside, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.

The victims weren’t immediately identified.

Another accident closed both lanes of traffic of Interstate 70 near Junction City for four hours Saturday.

The winter weather had already caused one cancellation by Saturday night. The Lawrence Community Theatre had canceled its matinee performance of “Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii.”

Kevin Ballington, left, and Maggie Gregory, both from Topeka, load up their groceries at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway. Grocery stores were swamped with customers Saturday in preparation for the weekend storm.

City preparing

News of the oncoming storm had Lawrence residents scrambling Saturday for groceries, shovels and sleds.

“It’s crazy in here,” Jessica Gatewood said as she and her husband, Jordan Gatewood, joined the mob that had descended on Hy-Vee Food Store, 4000 W. Sixth St. “We’re thinking in terms of warm foods.”

“Chili is definitely on the list,” Jordan Gatewood said.

The Gatewoods weren’t alone.

“This could be our busiest day since we opened four years ago,” said Steve Flueck, Hy-Vee general merchandise manager.

Outside the store, vehicles moved up and down the parking aisles waiting for spaces to open up. Once they had parked, shoppers often found themselves waiting for a shopping cart to be returned.

“At one point we had every cart in use — there were none in the parking lot,” Flueck said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

6News video: Heavy snow expected Heavy snowfall to start overnight (1-31-04) Weather report from 6NewsWeekend weather updatesSunflower Broadband’s channel 6 will carry live weather updates about the storm at :¢ 10 p.m. Saturday¢ 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sunday.Any school cancellations for Monday will be announced at those times.6News will also carry any school cancellations beginning at 5:26 a.m. Monday.Return to LJWorld.com throughout the weekend for any announced cancellations and more severe weather coverage. For the latest forecasts, go to weather.lawrence.com or call 856-SKY6.

Flueck noted people were buying groceries in preparation for two big events: the storm and parties planned for today’s Super Bowl.

At Westlake Ace Hardware, 711 W. 23rd St., snow shovels and Ice Melt were the most popular purchases, manager Paul Groundwater said. By 1 p.m. he estimated the store had sold about 200 snow shovels since opening.

Edwin Smith and his wife, Heidi Smith, drove from Linwood to the hardware store to buy rock salt, a large plastic sled for their three children and a bale of straw for their dog. They weren’t worried about the snowstorm.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Edwin Smith said. “I haven’t seen a big snow around here in a long time.”

Groundwater had mixed emotions about the approaching storm.

“I’m commuting back and forth from Kansas City, so that makes it tough, but the business is good,” he said.

Electricity concerns

Freezing rain was expected to move into the Lawrence area ahead of the snow, with heavier icing predicted for the counties south of Interstate 35. Icing increases chances of downed power lines and power outages.

If you lose power, Westar Energy officials urge you to call the company’s hot line to report it. The number is (800) LIGHT KS.

“They shouldn’t wait for a neighbor to call; they should call themselves,” said Mark Schreiber, Westar spokesman.

The hot line is hooked up to an answering machine that asks the customer the questions it needs answered to locate and restore power, Schreiber said.

Customers should prepare for a power outage just like they would for any type of winter survival, Schreiber said. That includes having flashlights and batteries or candles.

Lawrence city street workers, just rested from last weekend’s ice and snowstorm, were ready to go again, city officials said.

Saturday signs were posted banning parking along Jayhawk Boulevard on the Kansas University campus from 8 p.m. today to 7 a.m. Monday.

“What we’re going to do is keep cars off Jayhawk Boulevard to help with snow removal,” said Sgt. Bob Williams of the KU Public Safety Office.

Ticket sell-off

The storm threat convinced some people to sell their tickets for Monday night’s KU vs. Missouri men’s basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse.

Carson Brackney, manager of Ace Sports & Tickets, 847 Mass., said Saturday he had purchased KU-MU tickets from a few people who were worried about the weather.

Although Brackney said the number of tickets he had purchased wasn’t significantly more than usual, he also said he had become selective about which tickets he was buying.

“I expect a good turnout,” Brackney said of game. “Nine times out of 10 the weather is exaggerated.”