photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Reece Wohlford, Lawrence, lets a snowball fly while gathering with a group of friends during a snow day on the University of Kansas campus on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

Story updated at 4:50 p.m. Thursday:

For nearly 12 hours on Thursday, a steady and sometimes heavy snowfall hit Lawrence and Douglas County, leaving about 8 inches of snow in its wake.

“It is looking like Lawrence is in a bullseye right now,” Nathan Griesemer, a meteorologist with the Topeka office of the National Weather Service, said at about 8 a.m. Thursday.

By that time it already had been snowing for about six hours in the Lawrence area, with the white stuff piling up to about 4 inches at that point.

The snow kept coming until about 1 p.m., although it lost some intensity near 11 a.m., Daniel Reese, a meteorologist with the Topeka office of the National Weather Service, said Thursday afternoon. In addition to the snow, the storm produced sustained winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour and gusts of about 35 to 40 miles per hour early Thursday.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A snow plow clears East 11th Street Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Dressed for the weather, Karma, an American Staffordshire Terrier, takes a stroll in downtown Lawrence Thursday morning with Brian Donohue.

Reese said most parts of Lawrence were reporting 7 to 8 inches of snow from the storm. The National Weather Service no longer keeps an official snowfall total for Lawrence, so it wasn’t possible for Reese to say when Lawrence last saw an 8-inch snowstorm.

But the event marked the second time this month that local school districts and the University of Kansas canceled classes due to a snowstorm.

More snow is not likely in the immediate future. Instead, a whole lot of snow melting is likely on tap.

Reese said Lawrence temperatures on Friday may struggle to get into the 40s due to the large amount of snow on the ground. But by Saturday, 40-degree temperatures should not be a problem. On Sunday, 50-degree temperatures are likely. And then … 60-degree temperatures are a possibility on Monday, Reese said.

Reese, though, said people shouldn’t let the temperatures fool them into believing that spring has arrived.

“It will just be a short warm-up,” he said.

Parts of next week once again will feature single-digit temperatures and below zero windchills overnight, according to the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service.

Temperatures overnight and into Friday morning are expected to be below freezing, which could cause some travel problems Friday morning.

“Refreezing will be a concern for tomorrow morning,” Griesemer said.

Local law enforcement officials had encouraged motorists to avoid traveling on Thursday, if possible, but it still ended up being a busy day for accidents and motorist assistance calls.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said that between 4 a.m. and approximately 4 p.m. Thursday, deputies had responded to 25 calls in the county that appeared to have been weather-related. Most were calls to assist motorists who slid off the roadway or needed assistance or a tow, sheriff’s office spokesman George Diepenbrock said.

The Lawrence Police Department said it had responded to 13 noninjury accidents between 4:30 a.m. and about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Melissa Parsons, who works at Yarn Barn in downtown Lawrence, clears snow from the store’s sidewalk on Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2022

photo by: Kim callahan/Journal-World

Crews clear the sidewalk in front of Weaver’s Thursday in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Plows of all sizes worked Thursday morning to clear the snow from Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A snowblower is called into service Thursday in the 600 block of Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Traffic made its way slowly through downtown Lawrence on Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2022.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Parker Cable, a KU freshman from Kansas City, Mo., gives Kate Rues, a KU senior from La Crosse, a push down the hill on a homemade sled. A large number of students and other community members gathered on the hill near Potter Lake and the Campanile on the KU campus on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Parker Cable, a KU freshman from Kansas City, Mo., is still wearing a bit of the hill on his nose after a sledding wipe out on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. Cable and Kate Rues, a KU senior from La Crosse, were among a large number of students and other community members gathered on the hill near Potter Lake and the Campanile on the KU campus on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Alex Reyes, a KU freshman from Wichita, and Reece Wohlford, Lawrence, take a break from sledding on the University of Kansas campus near Potter Lake. KU cancelled classes on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022 due to the snowstorm.