Westar Energy workers were working about 8:45 a.m. today to remove snow from power lines along Lake Street in North Lawrence, where power was knocked out temporarily. The Lawrence area received between 5 and 7 inches of snow by mid morning.

Lawrence residents got more than a taste of winter this morning.

A huge Thanksgiving-sized helping of snow was plopped down on the region, covering northeast Kansas with as much as six inches of the white stuff.

A 4- to 6-inch snowfall knocked out power to some Lawrence and Basehor neighborhoods and caused numerous traffic accidents on slick highways and rural roads.

But as quick as it came down this morning, it was melting off this afternoon with the help of sunny skies and temperatures in the high 30s.

“The good news is shoveling is kind of easy now,” said Matt Sayers, 6News meteorologist.

The bad news is that the weather is going to drop well below freezing tonight, making untreated streets and sidewalks slick for late-night travelers, Sayers said.

“That’s going to create some problems as far as ice,” he said.

The temperature will hit the freezing mark about 7 p.m. The overnight low will reach 22 degrees by early Thursday morning, he said.

Sayers said the official snowfall reading for the city was 4 inches. But many places, such as car tops, decks and patio furniture saw as much as 6 inches.

6News video: Snow blankets city Latest forecast

Power outages

As of this afternoon, power had been restored to all of the 1,300 Westar Energy customers in Lawrence who had lost power.

Westar Energy spokeswoman Gina Penzig had said the outages were scattered throughout the city and tree limbs falling on overhead power lines are the main cause of the loss of power.

Areas that lost power included neighborhoods in North Lawrence between Walnut and Lincoln streets and North Second and E 1600 Road, as well as south Lawrence in an area between Iowa Street and Ousdahl Road and 23rd and 27th streets.

Jacob Martin, foreground, and his sister, Brenda Scaman, both from Lawrence, shovel snow from the driveway of a central Lawrence home. The city and the Roger Hill Volunteer Center have started a new program to match volunteers with people who are physically unable to remove snow from their sidewalks. Both work for Low Maintenence Landscape and shoveled snow on Wednesday.

Another 1,700 customers in the Basehor area were without power early this morning. But power had been restored to most of them by early afternoon, Penzig said.

Slick roadways

Much of northeast Kansas was under a winter weather advisory this morning because of blowing snow and poor visibility and unexpected slick areas on the roadways.

There were 46 motorists who called in for help between 1 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Douglas County roadways, according to a county emergency dispatcher. There were 21 non-injury wrecks since 2:45 a.m. and six accidents in the county that caused non-life threatening injuries, the dispatcher said.

Many of the traffic problems have been on U.S. 59 and U.S. 56 highways south of Lawrence, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol dispatcher.

The biggest travel problems today were expected to be on Interstate 70 Highway between Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis.

More snow?

Temperatures will start warming up Thursday morning, making Thanksgiving travel not as difficult, Sayers said.

“It should be OK during the day. We’re going to warm up quickly to around 49 degrees by the afternoon,” Sayers said.

Thursday night will be partly cloudy, with winds southwesterly from 10 to 20 mph. The temperature will drop to a low of 33 by early Friday morning.

Friday will be mostly cloudy, with a high of 50, with southerly winds 10 to 15 mph.

Friday night will bring a slight chance of rain, possibly mixed with snow after midnight. The chance for precipitation is 20 percent. Conditions will be mostly cloudy and breezy, with a low about 32.