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.

The recent winter blast that shut down most public activities in the area also broke several single-day record temperatures, according to meteorologists from the National Weather Service’s Topeka office.

Sub-zero temperatures observed at Lawrence Regional Airport from Jan. 13 to Jan. 16 were the coldest on record in Lawrence for that period of January, according to data that goes back to 1996.

The National Weather Service does not have official weather records prior to 1996 for Lawrence.

Tuesday’s low of minus 13 degrees was the fourth coldest day on record for the area. The record low for Lawrence was minus 19 degrees on Jan. 28, 1997, according to the National Weather Service.

The string of recent sub-zero temperatures includes lows of minus 8 degrees on Jan. 13, minus 12 degrees on Jan. 14, minus 10 degrees on Jan. 15 and minus 13 degrees on Jan. 16.