Lawrence resident Randy McMechan picks up a bucket of Ice Melt on Monday at Cottin’s Hardware and Rental, 1832 Mass., in expectation of severe winter weather. The National Weather Service in Topeka has issued a winter storm warning for Douglas County until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Tom Orzulak, street division manager for the city of Lawrence, says crews are ready for winter storms.

The light dusting of snow that fell Monday evening was a harbinger of the inevitable.

Winter is on its way.

The National Weather Service placed Douglas County under a winter storm warning Monday evening that isn’t expected to be lifted until Wednesday morning.

6News Chief Meteorologist Matt Elwell said he expected the Lawrence area to get as much as 4 inches of snow during that time. Elwell described today’s precipitation as coming in bands, the first of which should blanket the ground with 1 or 2 inches just in time for the morning commute.

The city has been preparing for the possibility of winter weather since Friday, outfitting trucks with spreaders to help treat the roads when the snow begins to fall.

“Once it starts snowing, we’ll spread sand and salt on all of the streets first and then we’ll see how much snow accumulates,” said Tom Orzulak, the city’s street department manager.

Employees at Cottin’s Hardware have also been preparing for the impending winter weather. Linda Cottin, owner of the store, said people began coming in to purchase shovels, ice scrapers and ice melt this past weekend.

The snow is expected to taper off and change to rain or a wintry mix as the day progresses. Elwell said the weather system was fast-moving, and expected the wind to help move the second band of snowfall into the area this evening.

To keep up on winter weather updates including school closings, road condition information and a live weather blog, check out LJWorld.com.