photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

About 6 inches of snow fell in Lawrence during a snowstorm that ended Jan. 9, 2024. Later in the day a small crowd of sledders gathered near the Campanile at the University of Kansas campus.

Story updated at 4:16 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9:

From streets to sidewalks, crews were pushing snow on Tuesday morning as the community was slowed by a snowstorm that dumped 5 to 6 inches around the Lawrence area.

By 7 a.m. many major streets in Lawrence had been fully plowed, but state highways leading into and out of Lawrence were only partially plowed. Kansas Highway 10 at 7 a.m. was largely one lane in each direction and travel was slow. Residential streets were still largely snow packed.

By about 8:30 a.m. the heavy snowfall had moved to the eastern edge of the Kansas City metro area, but it left large amounts of snow as it moved through the Lawrence area.

The weather service was still gathering snow totals from around the area, but early reports included 5.4 inches about 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Lawrence, and 6.5 inches about 1.3 miles northwest of Lawrence, said meteorologist John Woynick with the National Weather Service in Topeka. The weather service also had a report of 6 inches of snow in Baldwin City in southern Douglas County.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A motorist drives by the aptly named Climate Storage self-storage business on East 23rd Street at about 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday. Lawrence was storing about 6 inches of snow following the first snowstorm of the year.

The snowstorm did come with significant warning. City crews began preparing for the snowfall on Monday. Snow removal began with priority roadways, including 23rd Street, Iowa Street, 19th Street, North Second Street, Sixth Street and other major arterial roads.

The city’s policy for residential street clearing is to begin clearing once crews have opened primary streets, and once snow has accumulated to two inches or more. Michael Leos, a spokesperson with the city’s Municipal Services & Operations Department, told the Journal-World Tuesday afternoon that as of 1 p.m., city crews had begun transitioning from clearing and treating those priority routes to focusing on residential roadways. Leos said as of about two hours later, around 3 p.m., a majority of Lawrence’s residential streets had been cleared.

Sgt. Drew Fennelly of the Lawrence Police Department said that as of about 10 a.m. on Tuesday officers had worked eight noninjury crashes and 10 motorist assists since Monday morning.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reported 10 slide-offs or motorist assists overnight, including a box truck traveling east in the 300 block of North 300 Road that slid off the roadway and landed on its side, said George Diepenbrock, spokesperson with the office. The truck is marked to be towed and will be removed when weather allows, he said.

Diepenbrock told the Journal-World early Tuesday afternoon that the office had handled 37 motorist assist calls and eight total noninjury crashes since noon on Monday. Most of those responses were to help motorists whose vehicles slid off of county roads or highways due to the conditions, he said, and 21 of them had occurred since 7 a.m. Tuesday morning due to the heavy overnight snow and blowing snow during the day.

The Kansas Highway Patrol crash logs have not reported any injury accidents in Douglas County during the storm.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Crews were on both the streets and sidewalks in the early morning hours on Jan. 9, 2024. Pictured is a tractor on 23rd Street to the left and a utility vehicle with a snow blade on the sidewalk to the right at about 7:15 a.m.

While the winter weather warning ended at noon, Woynick said there still would be challenging conditions Tuesday afternoon and evening and into Wednesday morning. Winds are expected to be stiff. At about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday the weather service was measuring winds of about 30 miles per hour in the Lawrence area.

“The fortunate thing is that we had a lot of wet snow initially, so we didn’t get a lot of drifting with it,” Woynick said.

But that wet snow may become a problem as temperatures drop, which was expected to happen quickly. Lawrence was at 33 degrees at 8 a.m., and temperatures fell from there. By the afternoon, temperatures were in the mid-20s. The National Weather Service predicted a low of 13 degrees in Lawrence by Tuesday evening.

“Anything that is wet — and this is a really slushy snow at this point — all that is going to freeze,” Woynick said. “You are going to have to use caution while walking or driving. Take it slow.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A downtown merchant was busy shoveling snow in front of the Downtown Barber, 824 Massachusetts, at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Daytime temperatures on Wednesday are expected to top out at 36 degrees. Residents may want to soak that warmth up while they can. The area likely will need to prepare for a bitterly cold snowstorm at the end of the week. The National Weather Service forecast calls for snow to become likely on Thursday night, with a 70% chance of precipitation. That snowstorm may come with a much bigger dose of cold weather. Thursday night’s temperatures are expected to be in the low teens with winds up to 25 miles per hour.

Snow continues to be likely — a 60% chance — until noon on Friday, with a high of just 18 degrees. Friday night is expected to have a low of negative 1. Temperatures are then expected to be below freezing through at least Monday, with Sunday night hitting a low of negative 9.

“We are looking at the really colder weather to roll in later this week,” Woynick said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A mini-snowplow clears a pedestrian path along East 23rd Street in early January 2024.

Leos, with the city’s MSO Department, told the Journal-World that its main focus as of around 3 p.m. Tuesday was shifting to addressing the upcoming below-freezing temperatures now that there is no longer active snowfall in the area. To that end, Leos said the city systematically closed down certain blocks of downtown Tuesday in order to remove large piles of snow before they hardened and froze overnight, thus becoming more difficult to remove later on in the week.

“Our forecast shows more winter weather occurring around Thursday and Friday, with potential similarities to today’s conditions,” Leos said. “As we head into the weekend with temperature predictions in the single digits, we will continue to monitor weather conditions and treat priority roadways as needed.”

Leos encouraged residents to visit lawrenceks.org/snow to view active road conditions, see snow and ice removal information and more.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Elliot Batza, Van Meier, and MJ Kuhn, all 13 years old, engage in a snow fight atop a pile of snow on the University of Kansas campus on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

City officials are reminding property owners that city code requires them to remove snow from public sidewalks along their properties within 48 hours after the end of the snowstorm. For ice, property owners are required to place sand or ice melt on the sidewalk within 48 hours, if the ice can otherwise not be removed.

The city also was offering tips on how to prevent frozen pipes in homes and businesses. They include:

• Run cold water in a fast drip or steady stream about the size of a pencil lead through a household faucet.

• Expose pipes to warm air by opening cabinet doors under kitchen or bathroom sinks, specifically on an outside wall.

• Eliminate drafts and cold air into basements or crawlspaces.

• Protect exposed pipes in unheated areas with insulation or heating tape.

• Disconnect garden hoses from outdoor spigots and cover the fixture with an insulating bonnet.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A sledder is pictured on Jan. 9, 2024 walking up The Hill the University of Kansas. In the background construction work on a more than $400 million renovation project at KU’s football stadium continued during the snowy weather.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Jackson Norris, Lawrence, chills with some headphones while taking a break from sledding on the University of Kansas campus on Jan. 9, 2024. Norris is leaning against a row of snow covered hedges.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

By early afternoon on Jan. 9, 2024, crews with the City of Lawrence had begun removing large piles of snow from downtown Lawrence.