After the heavy snowfall Sunday night and Monday morning, accumulations of about six or seven inches of snow were projected as well as a quarter inch of ice, said Walt Felver, a meteorologist National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.
Some areas saw as much as an inch of accumulation per hour, causing dangerous driving conditions and limited visibility, Felver said. Snow is expected to fall until this afternoon.
There were 19 reported automobile accidents as of 8 p.m. Sunday, East Lansing police Sgt. Mark VandeWouwer said.
VandeWouwer said because of the hazardous driving conditions, the East Lansing Police Department will shift most of its efforts today toward getting accidents cleared up and off the road.
“It’s just like any other snowstorm,” he said. “Our position with (the snow) is reactive — the Department of Public Works is more proactive, getting as much snow off the ground as possible.”
Todd Sneathen, director of the Department of Public Works, said Public Works vehicles have been salting the roads since the snow first began falling.
Generally, the department will stop salting once the accumulation reaches four or five inches, but in the case of ice accumulation, they will continue salting until all the ice has melted.
Because today is President’s Day, many schools and offices are closed, which is beneficial for the clearing process, Sneathen said.
“Fortunately, East Lansing public schools are closed,” he said. “The fewer people who are out on the roads, the easier it is for us to get everything cleared up.”
As soon as the snow began falling Sunday, some students, such as nursing seniors Corey Rayner and Theresa Rayner, retreated indoors and remained there for the majority of the day, avoiding the roads and potentially hazardous driving conditions.
But both Rayners ventured out on to the roads to attend a yoga class at Yoga State, 515 E. Grand River Ave.
“We went slow, but we have four-wheel drive,” Theresa Rayner said.
MSU landscape services coordinator Bill Ratliff said the MSU Landscape Services has been combating the weather on campus since 3 p.m. Sunday. But the snow is not as much of a concern as the ice.
Ratliff said anyone in the landscape services business would rather work with snow than ice.
“With ice, you start seeing some tree damage on campus (and) branches that are weak or weighed down by snowfall down,” he said. “The good news, with all our utilities underground, is we aren’t affected by those things like other (areas with power lines).”
Felver said the temperatures will remain in the 20s today and Tuesday, with a slight break Wednesday with temperatures in the 30s and much of the snow will start melting Thursday, which looks to have a high around 40.
But the melting will stop Friday when temperatures dip back below freezing, Felver said.
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