this. last night, heavy rain and in some places heavy snow falling during the day on wednesday. the heaviest snow, north and west of the philadelphia area. even south and east, rain should be changing over to snow at some point. the general time line, it could start early. 4:00 to 8:00 a.m., starting as rain in most of the area with the temperature well above freezing. the temperature starts dropping. 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the heavy rain could possibly change to snow very quickly. during the afternoon, the rain changing to snow south and east, tapering off during the evening. more on the specific amounts of what to expect where you live in a few minutes. right now, let's talk about travel on a real busy day with sheena. >> that's right, glenn. this is not coming ottat a good time, obviously. wednesday is not going to be a good day to be on the roads.

here's a look at your thanksgiving travel forecast. we're talking about much of the northeastern part of the country, it extends up into new england as well. starting tuesday night we'll be dry. if you want to travel tuesday night this would be a great time to do so. temperatures in the 40s. watch what happens as we go into wednesday morning. the forecast drastically changes. rain changing over to snow and through the day wednesday, temperatures start to drop off into the 30s through wednesday night. with still snow falling from washington all the way up to boston possibly. and it also continues through late wednesday night. the farther north and west you go. as far as thanksgiving day is concern, you could travel early thursday morning if you wanted to. thanksgiving day will be on the dry side, all the way through thanksgiving night, if you have to come back from where you're going, it still looks dry thanksgiving night. the one day you want to avoid is wednesday morning to wednesday evening, the day before thanksgiving. we'd rather you not be on the roadways. we expect accumulating snow and

deteriorating conditions. glenn will have a closer look at that for you as well as how much to expect in your area. >> we're not the only ones tracking this storm. penndot is keeping an eye onç e road. they're telling drivers to be flexible. >> that's the buzz word. >> doug shimell live in the lehigh valley with more on penndot's advice. doug? >> reporter: we know there's a lot of tradition in how people do thanksgiving and get to thanksgiving. all of that tradition in the world isn't going to mean anything if they don't get there. it figures a nor'easter would hit when the maximum number of drivers would be on the road the day before thanksgiving. in penndot's lehigh valley control room, they're watching it. >> pressure is on everyone when it comes to the thanksgiving holiday travel with or without a snowstorm. >>. >> reporter: ron young is imploring drivers not to be stubborn. >> if you don't have to travel, adjust your time, leave earlier

or later to miss the majority of the nor'easter. >> reporter: drivers ought to take a page from the airlines which will cancel or reschedule flights well before a storm hits so people won't be stranded when it does. >> i would say leave early wednesday. leave early wednesday. it's always better to be safe than sorry. >> reporter: but will leaving early wednesday get you ahead of the storm? watch the forecast. >> a lot of us tried to plan ahead, that's why we left early. we'll see how it goes. >> reporter: so if you have any questions about when to travel, watch the forecast. live in the lehigh valley, i'm doug shimell, nbc 10 news. big development, nbc 10 is following tonight. the city of philadelphia, one of three finalists for the democratic national convention in 2016. brooklyn, new york and columbus, ohio, are also in the running. city leaders show case

philadelphia as a viable candidate during the dnc's visit back in august. >> we have more work to do. we're certainly happy for about five minutes and then back to work, working on this bid and making sure we have all the pieces, all the elements, all the components that ultimately would point leaders at the democratic national committee to choose philadelphia. >> dnc is considering the weeks of july 18th, july 25th and august 22nd for the convention. the committee will announce a final city and date early next year. nbc 10 following breaking news in missouri in the case of officer darren wilson. just within the next few hours now, prosecutors are expected to announce whether wilson will be charged for killing an unarmed black teen. a grand jury today reached a decision on whether to indict

him. wilson shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown after a confrontation back in august. >> the shooting set off months of turmoil in the town of ferguson. >> nbc 10's george spencer live in center city with details on how philadelphia's bracing for the announcement from ferguson. george? >> ferguson is some 900 miles away from center city. but with the announcement of that grand jury decision expected tonight, leaders are expecting a powerful ripple effect. they say this michael brown case has so captured the attention of the nation that people here cannot help but respond. >> i think philadelphia is going to see what the rest of the country will, that you'll see a lot of young people pour into the streets. you'll see middle-class older people pour into the streets who are angry about this, calling for a federal indictment if there's no local indictment. >> not just in ferguson but around the country, people from all across the country, in

particular people of color are struggling at this moment, waiting and hoping for some level of justice to occur. and within the past hour and a half or soç we have witnesse philadelphia police staging in significant numbers in the area around city hall. they are clearly prepared for a large crowd in this area if it materializes tonight after the announcement. the mayor told under the circumstances such protests are certainly within the rights of anyone wishing to participate. he only urges that they remain calm and nonviolent. a number of church groups are preparing for that announcement, prepared to come down at 8:00 our time, 7:00 in missouri. live right now at city hall, george spencer, nbc 10 news. skyforce 10 captured the scene over a deadly house fire in hunting park this afternoon. take a look at the smoke and

flames billowing from this roof. nine people were inside the home when the fire began. eight of them escaped. firefighters later found a young boy dead inside the house. a witness also took this video at the scene, showing flames on both the second and third floors. the philadelphia fire commissioner says the fire started on the second floor then spread through the stairwell. investigators are looking into exactly what caused the fire. comments made about women and sexual assault got him in hot water in september. >> tonight, the president of the lincoln university in chester county is out of a job. dr. robert jennings turned in his resignation today. >> don't put yourself in a situation that could cause you to be trying to explain something that really needs no explanation. >> some parents criticized jennings' comments as appearing to blame women for sexual assault. the school named valerie harrison interim president. authorities are now treating the disappearance of the lehigh

valley mother as a criminal case tonight. 33-year-old jessica padgett was last scene at the duck duck goose day-care center. investigators are searching for surveillance video or anyone who may have come into contact with padgett. >> the state police are treating this as a serious matter. we're treating it as a criminal investigation which means that a lot of work is being done. >> friends and family have posted flyers and conducted searches throughout the area. so far, police say there's no evidence she was abducted. nbc 10 keeping you up to date on preparations for the pope. philadelphia's archbishop returned home from rome today. last week we learned about the pope's plans to visit our area.

>> lu ann cahn spoke to the archbishop about his visit. >> reporter: he believes the pope will not only visit philadelphia but he will visit two other cities. it's not settled yet but the pope might be going to new york city and washington, d.c. what is settled is that the pope is coming here. >> it comes from the mouth of the pope himself. and so it was a great joy for hme to be with him when he made that announcement. >> reporter: he knew over six months ago the pope was coming to philadelphia. a delegation, including governor corbett had an audience with the pope. >> when the pope whispered in the ear of governor corbett that he intended to come to philadelphia. >> reporter: community leaders are trying to figure out how to accommodate and finance an event for 2 million people from 153 countries. the world meeting of families will lead up to the papal visit the weekend of september 26th.

the archdiocese has three goals. >> çreinvigorate, reenergize t archdiocese, strengthen and highlight families and show case philadelphia and our region. >> reporter: the archdiocese isn't sure exactly when the pope will arrive. >> his advance team will be coming in february. >> reporter: the archbishop said by january they should also have a better idea of how they're going to finance the $45 million event. live at the archdiocese, lu ann cahn, nbc 10 news. still ahead on nbc 10 news at 6:00, new information about the south jersey mother who shot her three kids before turning the gun on herself. what the investigation has revealed about her past. septa, safety concerns. why the agency is being accused of putting passengers at risk. glenn? >> i'm tracking rain and snow in the nbc 10 first alert forecast. is it going to impact your holiday travel plans?

what to expect and when to expect it, next.

this is nbc 10 news. sure feels more like april than late november. you'reç looking at a live picte

boat house road in philadelphia, courtesy of skycam network. this is what it looked like earlier in center city. warm enough for these women to stop and get ice cream. don't get too used to it, though. the nbc 10 first alert weather team is tracking some big changes. we'll have the latest forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. >> now to information tonight about the burlington county mother who shot her three children before turning the gun on herself. >> the only survivor, an 11-year-old boy. alex harriman remains in critical condition. his father is at his side. mother jeanine lepage was delinquent on her tax bill. records showed she owed $3500 and someone paid that today. weekend safety rules could put riders at risk but it's a

claim septa disputes. >> he takes the train every day to school. ali says he's not worried about his safety. >> never had any problems where i felt i should probably get off the train. >> reporter: steve bruno of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers in training says ali could be at risk from tire d operators. they say the fill-in workers become fatigued when they travel to far away locations that are not their usual assignment. on top of that, all engineers are working too much overtime. >> 100% of our members are working six days a week and some of them are working over 14 hours a day. it is coming to a significant point in our operation that these individuals are experiencing some unsafe conditions. >> i'm concerned about the safety issue. my god. i mean, because once you work longer hours, your mind goes. you're too tired. >> but septa's ron hopkins says

the company follows all federal regulation regarding rest periods. he's surprised by the union's complaint and says the company will change assignments if engineers feel the travel distance is unworkable and they are adding jobs to reduce overtime. >> we've been trying real hard to get our head count on with qualified engineers. just over the last two years we hi hired adecisional trainers to help us with some of the log jams. >> our nbc 10 first alert weather team tracking a winter storm that could have a big impact on your holiday plans. >> chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz tell us what to expect. >> speexpect all the problems te occurring wednesday and into wednesday night. that's why we had a first alert for that. heavy rain changing into heavy snow in some areas. eventually changing from rain to snow in many parts of the area. it's hard to believe, considering that the current temperature is in the upper 60s.

we hit a record high of 72 today. 67 degrees but the wind is calming down a little bit. it was gusting up close to 40 miles an hour. and we saw several record high temperatures, reading, allentown, trenton, also over 70 degrees and record highs. we're seeing few er and fewer wind gusts, too. it's still coming out of the south. look at the area covered by winter storm watches. it goes from western virginia to maine. all those areas will be significantly affected by the storm. the main cities in boston, new york, philadelphia, washington, will not get hit hardest, there are likely to be airline delays, cancellations, even if it's not that heavy. they might have flights canceled because they don't want to take a chance of putting aç plane i there and getting it stuck. accumulating snow. if you're headed north toward the poconos, headed west toward

pittsburgh, you'll run into snow. some place will get a lot of it. there's some of the moisture in the gulf of mexico. and this is the other little piece up in the pacific northwest. they are not going to come together perfectly. and there's no blocking pattern in the atmosphere. it's not going to last into thursday. but it may start early. when there are separate pieces, the first piece can just fly out of there. so keep that in mind. it could start pretty early. it will likely start as rain. changing to snow, late morning and then accumulating during the afternoon. north and west, it could still start as rain. it cowl change to snow like that. as some of the colder air comes down from aloft. 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the heaviest snow and it's tapering off in the evening. all this is telling you, the best time to travel is tuesday night or wait till thursday morning. some of it heavy in the south

and east. then changing in the afternoon. the things that we're watching for, especially, will it be rain or snow at the peak of the storm? that will be crucial. the temperatures, whether it's going to melt on the roads or not. how far south and east it changes over. 8 to 12 inches in the poconos, 5 to 8 inches in many areas north and west. 3 to 5 right down to parts of philadelphia and south and east, 1 to 3 inches with less than 1 toward the shore. it's mainly rain there. some of it heavy, partly cloudy and mild tonight. 54 for the low in philadelphia. 48 north and west. tomorrow a mix of sun and clouds. it's not going to be as warm. the high temperature near 60 degrees. that's still mild for this time of the year, at least considering what we've seen. look how cold it gets on wednesday. starts off at 39 and then drops to 32 as the storm goes on. so don't let the beginning of the day fool you.

and thanksgiving it's just cold but it really warms up by sunday. all right, thank you, glenn. >> a lot of people scrambling to decide what to do. >> big week for the eagles coming up, right, john clark? >> yes. how did mark sanchez help out chip kelly with the game plan? and the flyers lose one of their coaching greats. that is next. - ( helicopter whirring ) - ( roars ) ( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na... female announcer: it's a great big world

and it can all be yours. here and only here. ♪ come and get it.

this is the xfinity sportsdesk, brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. i'm john clark. huge week for the eagles. the division lead is on the line in dallas on thanksgiving.

it is a short week. the birds had a light practice today and late last night chip kelly and the coaches were putting together the game plan and mark sanchez, the quarterback, was there to help out. >> now that he's in, he understands. he's been really good in terms of how we prepare. he was here late last night just like we were here late last night. i like that about him, his professional approach is no one's going to fool him twice with the same thing. he does a good job of that. >> eagles/cowboys, division lead is on the line again. you heard brent celek say i don't like dallas. brandon graham feels the same way. he loves this rivalry. >> don't mat fehr you're in college, nfl or little league. it's one of them you've got to have the game. if you don't put in the time and extra effort to win the game, you don't belong here. >> the cowboys beat the giants

last night. it included arguably the best catch you will ever see. look at o'dell beckham jr. >> i mean, i wasn't surprised to be honest. i've known o'dell for a while now. we trained together. he practices that stuff all the time. he's big on doing it in and out of practice. >> sixers try for their first win hosting portland. the players have won seven in a row. it will be tough. flyers at the islanders. pat quinnç died today at the a of 71 after a lengthy illness. flyers legend bob clark said quinn is the second best coach in team history. he coached the flyers to their 35-game unbeaten streak in 1 the

79/1980. that's a pro sports record. i'm john clark. we're right back. a secure retirement. a new home. earning your diploma. providing for your family. real associates, using walmart's benefits to build better lives for their families. opportunity. that's the real walmart.

you've got your work cut out for you. >> this storm, it's one of those that you have to keep monitoring because the weather is going to change dramatically. here's tuesday night, nothing's going on. and then wednesday morning it's raining, 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., at least according to one model it's changing over to snow. once it does, it could possibly change over to heavy snow in parts of the area. and by wednesday afternoon, you're already sunk because there's so much snow that's fallen. things cowl change in theseç kinds of storms and you just need to pay attention because you can get caught by surprise. wednesday morning, we're starting off at 39 and the temperature will drop during the day. so it might be fine when you get up but keep your eyes on this. >> wednesday's the day. all right. thank you, glenn.

for all of us here at nbc 10, thanks for watching within i'm renee chenault-fattah. >> i'm jim rosenfeld. the news continues with "nbc nightly news." tonight, decision day in ferguson. have a good evening. on our broadcast tonight, breaking news, the grand jury's decision in ferguson, missouri about to be revealed as a community now waits on high alert. forced out, secretary of defense resigns under pressure we're told. tonight, the fallout and what it means for our future war plans. travel nightmare, a huge storm about to hit on the busiest travel day of the year. there are already predictions of transportation chaos for millions. and the highest honor this nation bestows on civilians today at the white house a slew of notables, kennedy, street, stevie and someone pretty well-known around here. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this