College basketball fans, Wichita street crews bracing for Saturday’s snow and cold

It will be a cold, snowy day to crown a champion.

Snow and single-digit wind chills will besiege fans camping out next to Koch Arena for a seat at ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, forecasters say, and city officials are urging residents to postpone travel if possible.

Not that that will dissuade thousands of fans from heading to the showdown between Northern Iowa and Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.

Fans waiting outside for the arena to clear after College GameDay ends so they can get to their seats for the 1 p.m. game will need to prepare for biting wind chills and temperatures in the teens.

Forecasters expect 2 to 4 inches of snow in the Wichita area, with higher amounts farther north. The heaviest snow appears likely along the I-70 corridor in the eastern half of the state.

Joe Pajor, Wichita’s deputy director for public works and utilities, said Friday that street crews are preparing for a “significant storm event” with snow Saturday and a mixed bag of precipitation Sunday. Crews have already begun pretreating expressways and state routes that they are responsible for inside the city limits.

The regular work schedule is being adjusted to make “snowfighters” available, Pajor said. Fifty crews will be available to respond to the snow.

If Wichita receives 3 to 4 inches of snow, Pajor said, crews will have to plow, which will slow how fast they can work.

Residents should pay attention to forecasts and weather conditions over weekend, he said.

The Emergency Accident Reporting Plan, EARP, was in effect in Wichita and Derby on Friday.

If motorists get in a car crash and no injuries are reported, the vehicles are driveable and the drivers are not impaired, police advise exchanging driver information and filling out a report later. Reports can be picked up at area QuikTrips or online at http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/WPD/Pages/MVA.aspx.

Snow will continue through early Sunday in the Wichita area, forecasters say, before temperatures warm into the mid-30s and the precipitation transitions to rain. More snow is possible early next week.

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "College basketball fans, Wichita street crews bracing for Saturday’s snow and cold."