Wichita planning street treatments, homeless help during holiday weekend winter storm
The city of Wichita is making plans to combat a winter storm scheduled to move into south-central Kansas on New Year’s Eve.
Forecasters say the season’s first bout of winter weather will start with rain on Friday. Around midnight, freezing temperatures could turn that rain to freezing rain, sleet or snow, potentially causing headaches for anyone out in it.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service in Wichita was predicting some possible ice accumulation — a tenth of an inch or more — and a trace to two inches of snow for the Wichita area by Saturday morning. It will also be bitter cold.
New Year’s Eve party-goers are encouraged to bundle up and be careful navigating area roads, which could become slick as precipitation falls. The overnight low is expected to fall into the teens under mostly cloudy skies, with wind gusts up to around 20 miles per hour.
Ben Nelson, interim assistant director of Wichita Public Works and Utilities, said Thursday that the city’s fleet of 60 plow trucks will be ready for shifts starting at 6 p.m. Friday and work into Saturday morning to keep conditions on main thoroughfares optimal.
Nelson said right now the trucks aren’t planning to pre-treat streets with brine because the forecasted rain would wash it away before it could be effective.
But the trucks will drop a salt-sand mix to help melt any ice and give vehicles traction. They’ll treat around 1,500 lane miles of arterial streets but aren’t making secondary routes a priority since school won’t be in session when the brunt of the storm hits the city, Nelson said.
You can track the plow trucks’ progress on the city’s interactive map at www.wichita.gov/snowremoval.
In addition to ice and snow, the storm is expected to bring strong north winds and dangerously cold subzero wind chills to the area, the National Weather Service says.
In light of that, the city’s parks and recreation department announced Thursday on Twitter that it had canceled its New Year’s Day “Take A Hike” public outing at Pawnee Prairie Park.
Botanica also canceled its Saturday Illuminations event due to “dangerously low temperatures predicted,” according to a news release. Anyone with a ticket to see the light display on New Year’s Day can go Thursday or on New Year’s Eve instead, or request a refund 24 hours in advance of their ticket date at www.showclix.com/my-tickets.
And Wichita police said its officers would be working to ensure people who are homeless aren’t left out in the frigid weather as temperatures drop, including referring and transporting them to local shelters and handing out informational fliers with shelter locations, Officer Charley Davidson said in a news release.
Elsewhere in the south-central portion of the state, Kansas Department of Transportation crews will be pre-treating some highways with sticky beet juice and brine to “get ahead of” the storm, agency spokesman Tim Potter said by email. Exactly which roads will get the pretreatment will depend on the forecast since rain tends to wash away their efforts if crews start too soon, he said.
Local and state officials are asking motorists to be patient if they see snow-packed highways and main roads — crews will clear them but it takes time, they say — and give plows plenty of space to do their jobs.
Motorists are also encouraged to be diligent and follow basic safety practices: “buckle up, slow down, stay alert and don’t venture out if it’s not necessary,” KDOT says.
Motorists should also make sure their vehicle windshields are clear of ice and snow, increase following distances and be mindful of slick spots on curves, hills, bridges and elevated roadways, officials said.
To check Kansas road conditions, go to www.kandrive.org or dial 5-1-1 if you’re inside Kansas, or 1-866-511-5368 if you’re elsewhere. For a list of items you may want to include in an emergency road kit, go to www.ready.gov, but basic supplies like a phone charger, blankets, flares, an ice scraper and cat litter or sand for traction are a good place to start.
The Kansas Adjunct General’s Department also recommends building a home emergency kit that includes three days worth of basic essentials for every family member, nonperishable food, plenty of water, blankets, flashlights, batteries, medications, clothing, pet items and a weather radio.
The wintry weather is forecasted to continue throughout New Year’s Day, with snow and blustery conditions likely, the National Weather Service says. Saturday is expected to be mostly cloudy with a daytime high in the upper teens and wind gusts potentially exceeding 30 mph.
Sunday should be sunny and in the mid-30s, though — beginning a warming trend that is expected to continue into midweek, the weather service said.
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 12:55 PM.
