The first major winter storm of the season began its move through the Lawrence area and most of the rest of Kansas on Tuesday, bringing with it freezing rain and causing many area public schools, including in Lawrence, to cancel today’s classes.

If weather forecasters are right, there could be a half-inch of ice on tree limbs and power lines this morning, and by the time rain turns to a snow and sleet mix later today, the ice could be as much as an inch thick in this area.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for the Lawrence area until 6 p.m. Conditions were bad enough that not only were schools closing, but numerous community activities were canceled Tuesday night and today.

“Any kind of messy stuff you can imagine we are going to get,” 6News meteorologist Matt Sayers said.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius declared a state of emergency for eastern Kansas. The declaration, which covered 56 of the state’s 105 counties, including Douglas County, allows public agencies and power crews to work longer hours to restore electricity and deal with blocked roads.

Slick roads

Lawrence city and Douglas County street and road crews are working around the clock to keep traffic moving. They began treating the streets and roads with a sand and salt mixture even before the rain started Tuesday afternoon. They continued working two, 12-hours shifts.

Nevertheless, motorists going to work this morning can expect problems. Ice was a greater concern than snow.

“There is nothing like ice,” said Mike Perkins, operations manager and supervisor of the Douglas County road crews.

Tom Orzulak, Lawrence city street maintenance supervisor, agreed.

“To think that we’re going to have everything OK until it stops would be foolish,” Orzulak said. “There are going to be slick spots.”

Tuesday evening, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical crews were sent to check numerous reports of ice-covered power lines throughout the city that were sparking or falling. Tree limbs also were falling. But only scattered power outages were reported. About 2,000 electrical customers were without power Tuesday night, according to a Westar Energy spokeswoman.

Police also reported a tree had fallen at 24th Street and Naismith Drive. In the 1500 block of Kentucky a tree and power line fell onto a garage.

The ice storm in Lawrence could become the largest since the January 2002 ice storm, which hit east Lawrence especially hard.

Area closings, cancellations announced Latest forecast 6News video: Winter storm blasts area 6News video: Few accidents reported due to storm 6News video: People urged to stay home 6News video: Sebelius declares state of emergency 6News video: Storm brings reminders of 2002 Photo Gallery: Winter storm Weather systems poised to wallop U.S. Kansas road conditions

The low temperature overnight was to be about 26 degrees, and it wasn’t expected to rise today, Sayers said. The storm should be nearly out of Kansas by the evening traffic rush hour, Sayers said.

Officials with the Lawrence school district decided Tuesday afternoon to cancel Wednesday classes. Making the decision early allowed families plenty of time to make alternative plans for taking care of children, officials said. Most other schools in Lawrence also were closed today. Many area school districts were closed today as well.

Kansas University students are still on holiday vacation, but KU let nonessential employees go home at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Kansas State University’s campuses in Manhattan and Salina closed at 1 p.m.

No serious accidents

There were few traffic accidents Tuesday night in Lawrence and Douglas County, and none were serious. Dispatchers for surrounding law enforcement agencies, including the Kansas Highway Patrol, also said they had received few accident reports, and none were serious. Dispatchers with the Kansas Turnpike Authority said there were reports of some vehicles sliding off the highway, but no injuries. Those accidents were mainly occurring from Emporia north, they said.

Snow amounts throughout central and eastern Kansas will vary, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. By this afternoon snow amounts were expected to range from less than a half-inch in east central Kansas to 2 inches by the Nebraska border. By the end of the storm amounts near the border could be up to 5 inches. Two to 4 inches of accumulation was expected in Lawrence, Sayers said.