Douglas County residents will be reintroduced to winter weather Wednesday as a fast-moving cold front blows through the Midwest.

Emily Heller, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Topeka, said after the warmest November on record, Lawrence and northeast Kansas will experience the first winter blast of the season.

“We’re definitely are going to get a taste of winter as far as temperatures are concerned,” she said. “Wednesday’s high will be below freezing, with a high of 31 degrees in Lawrence.”

Wednesday night and Thursday morning will be even colder, Heller said, with the temperature bottoming out in the low teens and wind chills at or below zero. She said the winds accompanying the front will be relatively light, however, which will keep the wind chill from diving lower.

The front also could bring the season’s first measurable snowfall, Heller said. Although computer models differ, there is a possibility an inch of snow could fall Wednesday in Lawrence, she said.

Temperatures will remain cold on Thursday and Friday, with afternoon highs from the mid- to high 20s and zero to subzero wind chills returning Thursday night. Temperatures are forecast to bounce back to the low 40s Saturday, but the chance of snow will return Saturday night and early Sunday morning, Heller said.

The National Weather Service doesn’t issue wind chill advisories until the wind chill falls below minus 15 degrees, but Heller did advise that those out in the cold be aware of conditions, keep their skin covered and carry emergency kits in their cars.

Kimberly Qualls, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation, said KDOT, too, encourages Kansans to have winter weather kits in their homes and cars. A home kit should include a three-day water supply, a nonperishable high-energy food, extra blankets, a flashlight with extra batteries, some alternative heat source for the home and extra medications, Qualls said. A car kit should have a shovel, a windshield scraper and broom, a tow rope, road salt and sand, booster cables and extra hats, socks and mittens.

Motorists should plan extra time for trips and keep at least half a tank of fuel in vehicles in case they get stranded, Qualls said. They are also reminded to make sure their vehicles are winter-ready by replacing worn windshield wipers, filling windshield washer reservoirs and checking that tires have adequate tread, she said.

Kansas residents can get updated road and weather conditions by calling KDOT’s 511 information line or by visiting kandrive.org to view frequently updated snapshots of highways taken by 150 cameras across the state, including ones placed at the West Lawrence/Interstate 70 toll booth and the Kansas Highway 10 bridge over the Wakarusa River east of Lawrence.

The cameras that were placed at select Lawrence intersections to provide updated snapshots of weather and traffic conditions were taken down after last winter so that the city could perform maintenance tasks, said Todd Lohman, traffic operations supervisor for the city of Lawrence. They are now in possession of the city’s IT department, and should be re-installed in the next two weeks, he said. Once the cameras are operational, photos can be viewed at lawrenceks.org/traffic-cams.

Heller said the possibility of snowfall Wednesday and early Sunday would not do much to relieve dry conditions in the Lawrence area. As of Tuesday, 32 inches of precipitation had been recorded since the beginning of 2016 at Lawrence Municipal Airport, which is 5.06 inches below average, she said.

The National Weather Service isn’t providing much guidance on long-range forecasts. Heller said both the 30-day and winter forecast models were “inconsistent.”