“The weather service recommends that nobody drives so we thought it would be best to keep people off the roads,” he said. “What I would suggest is that people stay in their homes.”

East Lansing police Sgt. Mark VandeWouwer echoed Sneathen’s suggestion of avoiding the roads and said emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks and ambulances, will be available. Service vehicles will plow the roads ahead of the first responders if necessary.

The East Lansing Police Department will have four-wheel-drive vehicles to respond to emergencies but suggests moving cars involved in accidents off the roads to avoid further incidents, VandeWouwer said.

“If they can get their car moving, I would suggest moving it to a parking lot or something off the road if they need an accident report,” he said. “Just so the roads are clear for public works vehicles to plow the roads.”

Sneathen said based on the reports from the National Weather Service, East Lansing could see between 10 and 16 inches of snow tonight through Wednesday.

Sneathen also said that because of the reports from surrounding areas, officials decided to close the city beforehand to avoid potential problems on Wednesday.

“We’ve had two conversations with National Weather Service and they have predictions of 12 inches of snow,” he said. “Based on that, we decided it would be better to close city hall now rather than wait until six in the morning.”

Despite the severe weather the city is facing, Sneathen said he is confident the Department of Public Works will be ready to deal with whatever happens.

“All of our employees are on standby to come in case they need to plow the streets,” he said. “All the trucks are fueled up and ready to go. We feel pretty well prepared.”