photo by: Associated Press

Frost forms on a window in Lawrence, Kan., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Lawrence residents woke up Thursday to wintry temperatures that are likely to stick around, possibly bringing record lows to the area.

Sarah Teefey, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Topeka, said Lawrence was part of the area in Kansas that experienced an Arctic cold front Wednesday. The temperatures quickly dropped overnight, with Lawrence seeing a low of 25 degrees on Thursday morning.

Temperatures could drop even more early next week when a second Arctic front is expected to pass through, she said.

“That’s not advisory criteria by any means, but it sure will be a shock to the system because it’s the first (winterlike temperatures) we’re experiencing,” she said.

Temperatures are expected to remain low on Friday, with a morning low of 21 degrees and an afternoon high of 47. However, the weekend should feel like fall again, Teefey said. Lawrence residents can expect a high of 65 on Saturday and a high of 56 on Sunday.

But another Arctic cold front is expected to arrive in the Lawrence area on Sunday afternoon, bringing freezing temperatures.

“This is a system that looks to be of Arctic origin. This air mass is originating from way up north,” she said of the weather on Thursday. “The same thing is going to happen on Sunday into Monday.”

Teefey said Lawrence residents could expect temperatures in the 20s Monday morning and in the 30s Monday afternoon. Then temperatures will drop to the teens Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and rise to about the 30s those afternoons.

Additionally, she said the area could expect some wind and accompanying wind chill factor. She said the wind chill could be in the teens on Monday and in the single digits on Tuesday.

The frigid temperatures aren’t unheard of this time of year, but they are unusual, Teefey said. The record low max for Monday, meaning the lowest recorded high temperature for that calendar day, is 30 degrees. That record was set in 1935.

“We’re keeping an eye on record lows because we are going to be getting close,” she said.