. >> christa: 7news is in storm force this friday morning. a winter blast arriving here in new england closing schools. some wet roads right now, but there is a changeover happening right now. >> sarah: plows out all night treating the roads, like route 128 in lexington. cities trying the stay ahead of this storm. >> christa: so many of you are in for a messy morning commute. timing is everything, right? look at the flakes starting to fall. that looks like that's on the mass pike. we have traffic tracker out and about for you today. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> christa: good morning, everybody. it's friday. that's the good news in this, right? 5:00 a.m. i'm christa delcamp. >> sarah: i'm sarah french. we're waking up to rain in some parts of new england.

parts already seeing this changeover to snow. a lot of that will happen during your morning commute. there are more than 1,000 crews out treating the roads at this hour, and highway officials are urging drivers the plan a longer commute than normal. we have reporters spread out all across the area. but let's start with our team of meteorologists tracking this storm. so we're beginning with j.r. we missed you, j.r. >> jeremy: missed you as well, sarah. good morning, everyone. we have a messy day shaping up in southern new england. a winter storm warning in effect worcester, fitchburg and up shore. because of this right here on the screen, this is the rain/snow line, and this is going to waffle back and forth across metro boston for the next hour. and then it will begin to march down the south shore. once you get that steadier snow to take over and give it about an hour or so, that's when road quickly through the morning commute. so if you are leaving within the next few minutes around the metro, roads are primarily wet,

the door until about 6:30, 7:30 a.m. or after, then at that time, yes, it's going to be a slow go. allow extra time. here is the storm system. again, you have seen the rain overspread the area. now change over to snow and where you have the snow, you stay snow for the remainder of the event. where you have the rain now, even out on the outer cape out toward chatham and down along the south coast, you will flip over to snow. but you've got some leftover mild air from yesterday. even in boston 37. plymouth 39. here's the cooler their will come into metro west and eventually the city of boston and find its way down the south shore, but it's a storm that's rather efficient. it's going to make its own cold air. it won't wait for the cold air to come in from canad it says, i'll take it from here. so the rain changes over to snow. that's the case for the remainder of the morning hours up to early to mid-afternoon. then it winds down in the city of boston between 2:00 and 4:00 the south shore. i don't think it winds down on

tonight. so how much snow? this will be a heavy, wet snow to shovel and plow with 5 to 8 inches around the melt row as well as the merrimack valley and north shore. cape ann and south of the route 2 corridor, 4 to 5. 6 to 8 until about plymouth over to the south. chris? >> chris: j.r., temperatures above freezing this morning that. will allow for good or fair travel. wet roadways for the next couple hours. once you get closer to 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 a.m., that's when conditions go down hill. even when you're 33, 34 degrees, if it's snowing hard enough you get a greasy slickness to the covered. i think that will happen by 9:00 a.m. for a lot of us and the push down toward the south shore afternoon. we'll be dealing with some slick travel, slippery travel here as we go through the late morning

and then we'll see improvements late afternoon into the evening as the precipitation does shut off. heavy wet snow on this end. seven-day forecast featuring more winter weather ahead. we'll take a look at that coming up. >> christa: so we have winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories that are up as we speak. >> sarah: within the past hour, reporters saying the rain is turning over the snow, especially west of the city. so let's head out to worcester. 7's john cuoco is there. john, how are things looking where you are? >> john: right now we have a light, wet snow in worcester, nothing really accumulating, but if you take a look over here down on the grass here, some of this snow is starting to stick, but the roads are a much different story. take a look over here. just kind of wet roads out here right now in worcester. we do know that the roads are being treated. there have been plows coming by all morning. they're kind of in this holding pattern waiting for the snow to really start accumulating. it was kind of the same way on

the roads were just kind of wet hen it transitioned from rain into a light snow and then those plows just kind of off to the side waiting for this snow to really start hitting the area. as of right now, in worcester, a light wet snow out here. for now we're live in worcester, general cuoco, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: okay. as the snow continues to fall, it's time to cue up the plows. >> sarah: kris anderson on route 128 in lexington with more on conditions there. hey there, kris. >> kris: sarah, christa, good morning. we're hugging the highway here, route 128 northbound/southbound in lexington. what a difference half hour makes. when we checked in with you last time, we were in the middle of the transition from rain into snow. no accumulation. you see it starting to form here in the grassy areas in lexington right by the travel plaza. nothing yet as far as shoveling or plowing or anything like that, but they are treating the roads. massdot has almost 1,200 crews out on the roadways now

to try to keep that snow under control as it starts to mount. they say as the snow increases they will increase the amount of equipment out on the roadway, the amount of trucks that are out there salting and chemically treating the roads to try to keep the snow at bay and keep the roads as sheer as possible. good news is if you have to get out today, another look at 128 northbound and southbound, traffic is light, traffic is clear. no problems, no back-up, no concerns. so things are looking good. live here in lexington at the travel plaza, kris anderson, 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: thanks, kris. 5:06 a.m. will rest get a look at the road conditions with seven's marshall hook who is in our traffic tracker on 495 southbound in hopkinton. hey, marshall. >> marshall: indeed we are all flakes out here, sarah, all flakes and visibility actually is severely reduced over where we were just a few minutes ago. that is going to be one of the concerns. visibility, as you are driving

because we had such a long layer of rain before this snow, you have very wet roads. that means that when you add this kind of slick snow on top of those wet roads, you're going to have very diminished kind of ability to stay on those roads. it's going to be very slick conditions. so for both visibility and road conditions, it's going to be a morning where you're going to keep it slow. and that really is the big problem with this storm. you do it in the middle of the day, it's going to be much less of an impactful sort of thing. you do it right in the height of the morning drive, that's going to be the problem and that's what we're going to be dealing. with just as predicted as we hit until 5:00 a.m., we're moving to full snow on 495 southbound. danielle gersh will tell you if it's having an impact anywhere else. >> danielle: thanks, marshall. good morning, everyone. so far no major accidents or incidents to tell you about this. is a look at the zakim bridge/leverett connector. be extra careful over the brings and overpasses. give yourself lots of time if you're heading out this morning. let's go to the maps. 93 southbound, route 1

delays yet. the expressway from braintree minutes. but keep in mind the hov lane will not open today because of the weather. south of town, route 3, 24, 95, this morning. the pike from framingham into boston is all green. drive times if you're getting morning. 10 minutes on the expressway into town on the pike from 128, 12 minutes. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, 11 minutes. but give yourself more time than this if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning, and if you're taking the "t," so far it's on time. back to you, guys. >> christa: danielle, thank you. as long as this storm is with us, we'll be on the air along with you today. so if you can't be in front of your tv, remember you can get the latest weather updates on the go with our 7news mobile and tablet apps or by logging on to whdh.com. >> sarah: breaking overnight, firefighters in weston are investigating the cause of a house fire. crews managed to extinguish the flames early this morning.

treated for smoke inhalation. her condition is not yet known this morning. >> christa: we can't forget politics this morning with all the candidates up in new hampshire. were two. hillary clinton and bernie sanders offering their final pitches before voters in the granite state head to the polls. >> sarah: chris christie set to get a major endorsement today up in new hampshire. >> christa: and 7 storm force, look. the snow has really picked up. this is out in worcester where 7's john cuoco is reporting. and look who made a comeback, it's j.r. with us. >> jeremy: yes, as well as old man winter, although one of us feels older than the other. rain will change over to snow if it hasn't already done so. heavy at times. tapers off by the afternoon. messy morning commute. something delicious is happening at dunkin'. come in today to get any sandwich for $2.99 after 12:00 p.m.

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here as the storm moves in. this is manchester, new hampshire, where you see the flakes starting to fall there. of course, it will be a snowy day our on the campaign trail. sounds like this is a morning thing. you know what they say, timing is everything. >> sarah: yeah. let's send it over the jeremy reiner who is back with more on all of this today. hey, j.r. >> jeremy: sarah and christa, good morning. 30s right now. boston 37. worcester 32. norwood 33. you notice martha's vineyard 40. hyannis at 41. there's still a little bit of leftover warm air from yesterday. that's preventing the rain from south shore. but in the city of boston, it's been going become and forth. in metro west it is snowing. even up into manchester, new hampshire. but at this time, with temps around 32, 34, those snowflakes meet their demise on that pavement for next couple hours. then the steadier snow will take over. temps will lower a little more, and once that happen, we start the see the snow accumulate on

it will be wet roads and snow covered mid to late morning. storm off the carolina coastline continues to head northeast. a couple of days ago, i tell you what, this thing gave me the heebie-jeebies for a new days now. it was well off shore. it started trekding further west. then i thought a little snow on the cape, maybe a coating in boston. it's really escalated. now we have a full-blown snowstorm in southern new england. so your storm time line again, 5:00 a.m., that's where we're at right now. it's going back and forth, rain and snow. snow does win out, though. this is not a situation where it's going to go over to rain. it will go the other direction where the snow wins out at the coastline because the wind itself is from the northwest, not coming in from the ocean. not a nor'easter, not a blizzard, but certainly, as christa said, the timing is the worst part of the snow during the morning commute. we haven't had a lot of these storms that affected the morning commute. last one we had was a saturday night, monday night, tuesday morning of christmas week. the kids were off school. then as we work through the afternoon, the steady snow will

and this evening, but you have some shoveling and plowing to be done, 5 to 8 inches of snow for a large area of the 95 corridor including the city of boston. north of town, up through the merrimack valley, 5 to 7, 8 inches of snow, cape ann itself 4 to 5. that's the same number as you head south of plymouth toward borne and wareham and mattapoisett. new bedford east of brewster and hyannis, 1 to 3 inches of snow. so travel conditions again now up until about 6:30, 7:00, fair. then it does go downhill through the afternoon, and it does improve as we work through late this afternoon and through this evening. for more on the storm, here's meteorologist chris lambert. >> chris: j.r. work temperatures so marginal, we're talking that heavy, wet snow. last winter almost every storm had the fluff factor to it. about one inch of liquid would equal 20 inches of snow. this storm here with temperatures around 33, 34 degrees, that same one inch of

inches of snow. we're actually getting about an inch to an inch and a half of water equivalent, basically lick we precipitation that's falling with this event. some is coming in the form of rain this morning. then you transition over the that high-density snow. we expect about half a foot to be widespread across the area. when you get about half a foot of that clinging wet, heavy snow, you may snap a few tree branches. wouldn't be surprised to see a couple power outages through the boston metro area, the south shore, metro west. perhaps less of an issue in worcester county because the snow not quite as dense. snow will be heavy at time, and through term afternoon snow tapering off around 2:00 in worcester, 3:00 boston, 4:00, 5:00 p.m. as you work your way out through the cape and the islands. partly cloudy skies tonight. here's the cold air. this is cold air back in place. teens in a lot of the suburbs. low 20s in the city of boston. and the forecast for tomorrow, kicking off the weekend, a nice

get the kiddos out on the sledding hills. should have fun with this one, temperatures running into the mid to upper 30s, light winds, a ski forecast coming up across northern new england, as well. the local hills doing well with this, blue hills, nashoba valley, wachusetts will do all right, all three areas. may even have some more snow late monday into tuesday. we'll have to watch that potential closely, as well. >> christa: all right, thanks. chris. >> sarah: four days before the new hampshire primary, hillary clinton and bernie sanders going their separate ways after their very first one on one debate. >> christa: let's head to manchester with 7's nancy chen. announcements. nancy? the day off. good morning to you. both big names expected out on the campaign trail for these candidates today as the attacks are getting more aggressive and this race is getting tighter. massachusetts of course coming

he's expected to endorse new jersey governor chris christie's bid for the republican presidential nom -- nomination today. christie stumped for baker during his run for governor back in 2014. baker will join christie at a rally in new hampshire tomorrow. he will also appear in television ads for him. and democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders will reportedly pick up a big endorsement today. according to cnn, ben jealous, the former head of the naacp, will endorse the vermont senator at an event in new hampshire. that endorsement is a potential boost to sanders, who has struggled to connect with african american voters in the race against hillary clinton. meantime, sanders went head to head with hillary yesterday, one on one for the very first time in that debate and things got heated. a fiery night for bernie sanders and hillary clinton as the jabs get more personal. >> i think it's time to end the very artful sneer that you and

>> one of the things we should do is not only talk the talk but walk the walk. i am very proud to be the only candidate up here who does not have a super pac, who is not raising huge sums of money from wall street. >> nancy: four days to go until the primary. donald trump talking to 7's dan hausle about the latest 7news/umass lowell that shows a slight tightening of the race. >> >> dan: our poll has you doing quite well, it shows an uptick you. >> i think i'd take 36 right now, to be honest. i think that's a great poll. thank you. >> nancy: meantime, a familiar face on the trail thursday. barbara bush campaigned for her son jeb in derry. >> he's not a bragger. [laughter] we don't allow that. >> mom, my crowd sizes normally

>> nancy: bush told the crowd as florida's former governor, he has a record, something marco rubio and ted cruz don't have. >> this campaign is about the future, not the past. >> nancy: rubio and cruz focus on each other after rubio bumped cruz out of second place in our poll. >> i recognize that if momentum were measured by the media, marco rubio would already be the republican nominee. >> nancy: new hampshire a key win for many, including john kasich. he's expected to hold his 100th town hall forum later on tonight in bedford. live in manchester, new hampshire, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: coming up at 6:00, andy hiller will be live with the latest tracking poll numbers in new hampshire heading into the primary where one of the races is really tightening up. his live reports coming your way at 6:45. >> sarah: up next on 7news, state lawmakers are considering a new way to keep you safe on the streets. police body cameras. why boston police commissioner isn't on board, though, just

>> christa: and let's take a live look at conditions outside. if you're in worcester, hey, this is what you're seeing, lots of snow coming down, falling pretty steadily right there. it's changed over officially. we'll be right back. you like being picture perfect. you should want your banking to be too. stop into td bank and we'll help set you up with picture perfect banking. new customers, open a checking and savings account and you can get a polaroid cube+

>> jeremy: good morning. welcome back. line down the south shore. it will make progress over next few hours. snow beginning to accumulate. where you have the heavier snow overwhelm the warm ground, foxborough, for example, a light coating on some of the roadways and back toward lexington as well as worcester. now the roads aren't so bad, but as we get into the latter half of the morning commute, probably 8:00, 9:00, that's when road conditions will deteriorate. at that time everyone's temps will drop. we have a snowy morning with us

enjoy the snow. >> christa: all right. admit it. you missed the snow. you wanted to go sledding with the kids. >> sarah: eh... >> christa: at any rate, today is a snow day in boston. >> sarah: boston mayor marty walsh says he's closing schools out of an abundance of caution. bri eggers is live in boston. i know bri missed the snow, right, bri? >> bri: absolutely. after last year we couldn't wait for those first flakes to fall. we have yet to see that happen in downtown boston. i'd say for every 20 or so raindrops you see one maybe snowflake come down, but obviously nothing accumulating on the roadways at this point, good. you can see close to government center at this point, as well. mayor marty walsh reminding everybody last night that this is not a snow emergency. so space savers do not apply for this storm system. temperatures right now in downtown boston, 38 degrees, but once that changeover happen, it will happen fast. we've seen those live shots just

snowflakes that are falling down and accumulation happening very quickly. so even though it doesn't look like sledding could be possible for this weekend at this point, we are seeing the return of winter and by the time we hit mid-day, we'll see some of those inches start the pile up. for now live in government center, bri eggers, today "today in new england." >> christa: and we have bri to thank to bringing our attention that today is national weather person's day, as well. >> sarah: thank everyone, all of our weather people. >> christa: who are working overtime. >> chris: did you bring me some brownies? >> sarah: no. i wish. >> christa: thanks for the snowstorm. we'll repay you later. 7 storm force coverage continues right after this break. where the snow is falling in worcester. day off for kids, there as well. >> sarah: and we have our traffic tracker. marshall hook is on 495 in

on the roads

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>> sarah: our storm force coverage continues at 5:30. our team of meteorologists are tracking the winner the blast. the snow is falling. it has picked up here. it's making the drive enter work and school difficult for some. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: thanks for waking up with us on this friday morning. i'm sarah french. `>> christa: maybe you're sleeping in if you're worried about your school district. i'm christa delcamp. yes, the winter weather is here. it is back in new england, and it started arriving while you slept, causing several school districts to cancel classes. of course, we have an updated list at the bottom of the screen and at whdh.com. you can see things are really starting to come down right now. by the way, back by popular demand, here's jeremy reiner. >> jeremy: and by popular, you mean unpopular with the snow, right? here you go, that rain/snow line working through metro boston.

shore, steady snow beginning to overtake metro west, worcester hills as well as portions of... you move out of massachusetts, connecticut and rhode island. here's our storm system through the day. that rain/snow line pretty much east of interstate 95. from there it heads toward the canal. and lastly out on to the cape and the islands. first part of the storm for you folks in the cape, it's nothing but rain. you'll have that for several hours, and then it goes over to snow. metro boston, several hours of snow, and occasionally that will be heavy snow, which will overwhelm the roads. the roads have been relatively warm, but this is the kind of snow that will eventually win out. you'll have accumulating snow on those roadways and the morning commute, if you have one, it will be a she go, even through the middle part of the afternoon. then it winds down in the afternoon and your evening commute will be better than the morning commute. how much snow is on the way? a large shading of deep blue, 5

south boston up to about plymouth, 4 to 5 inches of snow. outer route 2 corridor 4 to 5 inches of snow, and out in chatham and truro and wellfleet, it's rain and it changes to snow before ending, 1 to 3 inches of snow in those locations. chris, good morning. >> chris: good morning, j.r. next time can you bring some sunshine and nice weather with you? we'd appreciate it. >> jeremy: you bring the doughnuts, though. >> chris: and i'll get the coffee, as well. travel conditions okay right now. mainly wet roads. but once you pick up in intensity with that snow, you start the grease the roadways over with that wet snow one the heavy snow breaks out. by 8:00, 9:00 a.m., you're dealing with a lot of slick travel. it's not like you're driving through four, five inches of snow, but a lot of slick conditions with the greasy, wet snow coating the roadways here. that will continue to be the case into the early afternoon. some of the side streets by the early afternoon could be driving through three, four inches of snow that are untreated there or not plowed yet. so we'll expect poor travel

into early afternoon and then improvements. temperatures close to freezing and about six inches of snow give or take an inch of snow in most town, this should be an easy clean-up later on this afternoon. so by this evening, dinner and a movie tonight, i think we're okay with travel conditions and road conditions improving. more on the forecast ahead. >> christa: so you don't need a warning to tell you conditions are dicey. >> sarah: we're here to help you out. this snow hitting during the morning commute, the most of it really when people are heading into work. so let's head out the worcester where it's been snowing for a while, a few hours. there john cuoco, how are things looking where you are? >> john: the snow has definitely started to pick up. it's stale light, wet snow, but take a look just over our light. it gives you a picture of how that snow is coming down here in worcester. as far as accumulation on the roads, nothing right now.

we've had some plows coming by. these roads have been treated, but the plows are still in a stand-by mode. i'll show you this over here. this is kind of the best picture of what accumulation, what little accumulation we've really had, just some light snow sticking to the grass here. as of right now, like i said, snow is coming down harder here in worcester, but nothing really sticking to the roads, just kind of sticking to the grass. for right now we're live in worcester, john cuoco, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: all right, john, thank you. let's go to 7's marshall hook. marshall, you made your way to 495 in foxborough. it looks like the snow has picked up in intensity there. >> marshall: yeah. to give you status report here, our temperature is hovering right around 32, so right around freezing. the snow has picked up a little bit in intensity, so visibility a little bit limited. we've only seen a little bit by way of actual accumulation anywhere. off to the side on the grass, it's there.

in the middle of the road, but for the most part the road is still just wet at this point with all of that earlier both warmth or relative warmth and road. so visibility more of a problem than the actual conditions on the roadway, but as the snow continues to fall, we know that eventually we will get accumulation on the roadways. that's when you're going to get really treacherous conditions given how wet the road is. out there. so that's going to be a primary concern in the morning commute. little bit. not too bad and danielle gersh here to tell you about the rest of the traffic picture. >> danielle: thanks, marshall. we already have a couple incidents out there. here's a look at the expressway. marshall was talking about poor visibility. we even have poor visibility out of our camera this morning. roads are slick. let's go to the maps. we have an accident blocking two right lanes in dorchester, northbound at columbia road. so already issues on the expressway. keep in mind, the hov lane on the expressway northbound will not be opening this morning.

slowing, no major incidents. in sharon on route 95 northbound at route 1, this is a vehicle that spun out. so something to be careful of this morning. the pike from framingham into boston, mostly green. a little bit of slowing indicated by that yellow, but no mange delays. 93 southbound, looking pretty good so far as is route 1. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning. 18 minutes on the expressway. that's your longest drive so far. 12 minutes enter town on the pike from 128. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, that drive 12 minutes, as well. give yourself more time if you're getting ready to head out the door. it's on time. back to you, guys. >> sarah: we're following more news today. people in roxbury coming tragedy. members of the community attended a vigil outside the home of a three-year-old boy who died in the hospital on tuesday. a memorial with candles and pictures was set up in

officers responded to a trauma call and when they got there he wasn't breathing. dcf checked in a couple days earlier and said there were no problems. the state is now investigating. >> christa: commissioner bill evans asking to hold off on a bill requiring police body cameras. they want to conduct a pilot camera before they use the cameras on a permanent basis. that program is set to begin in may. 100 patrol officers will wear the body cameras for six months. >> i support legislation that would lend much-needed support and incentives to the police department to implement body cameras. i ask that the police department be given time to implement this program and analyze it before an unfunded, statewide mandate is adopted. >> christa: the commissioner elaborated. he said he and the mayor really need to consider things like the

citizens and potential discovery issues, as well. >> sarah: still ahead on 7news, he won't be wearing a helmet, but will tom brady be attending the super bowl this weekend? >> christa: and we're live in lexington along 128 getting a check of your conditions as you head out on to the roads this morning. jeremy reiner is tracking the storm, as well, for us. >> jeremy: yes, we have that snow marching down the south shore, and the snow goes all the way down the 95 corridor, so you snow lovers, today is day just for you.

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>> chris: good morning, everyone. rain changing from west to east as we speak. we expect snow to continue through the morning into the early afternoon, 5 to 8 inches of snow widespread, wet, heavy snow as we work throughout the day. the snow will taper off about 2:00 worcester, 3:00 boston, about 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 down through the south shore, the cape and the islands. temperatures lower to middle 30s. we do deal with a mess through mid-day. we'll see improving conditions late this afternoon into this evening. more on that seven-day forecast coming up.

brady will attend super bowl 50 in santa clara this weekend. brady will be recognized during the nfl super bowl m.v.p. ?oan before kickoff sunday evening, and former pats' receiver deion branch who was the m.v.p. of super bowl xxxix will also be there at levi stadium. >> sarah: should be fun. can't wait the watch it this weekend. we have a lot to get to this morning. everything you need to know and go coming up next. just a few days after nearing record highs, we're waking up to winter this morning. we'll have a live report from our traffic tracker so you know what to expect before you head out on the roads. >> reporter: and four days to go now until the new hampshire primary. i'll have a live report coming up from manchester. the new caramel macchiato from dunkin' donuts. let hand-crafted layers of espresso, milk, and a caramel-flavored swirl uplift your mood. indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today.

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hearts are made for sharing. spread some sweetness with dunkin' donuts' cookie dough and brownie batter donuts. heart-shaped happiness too sweet not to share. america runs on dunkin'. >> christa: 5:45 and it's friday. let it snow. this is worcester. you can see the flakes, pretty big flakes falling there on that roadway. so at this time of our broadcast, we bring you our know and go segment. you need to know about the weather obviously today. >> sarah: yes. we have a friend back on the mornings with us. j.r., what's going on? >> jeremy: and you say he's just a friend all right. boston 36. beverly 37. enough of the shenanigans. there is some colder air back through the worcester hills. eventually that finds its way to the city of boston. once that happens, then we have accumulating snow.

you can see on the doppler radar, we have rain on the north shore. it's snowing now here in the city. our weather producer dave just stepped out in government center. there are snowflakes, although, again, the roads are chewing up those snowflakes because it is relatively mild. there is that rain/snow line. now we'll work down the south shore, and then eventually out on to the cape. this is a storm that does not have the snow change the rain. it actually has the rain change over to snow. it's a little efficient storm because it's going to have to make its own coal air. it's in the process of doing that right now. so your storm time line, we have the steady snow happening boston, weston to the metro west area of worcester hills, merrimack valley. nashoba river valley. that rain/snow line works down toward the canal. the south coast and out on to the cape. for a time it will snow quite heavily, later this morning and through first part of the afternoon across much of southern new england, even on the cape and the islands at that time, early this afternoon. then there's the back edge of

it winds down as we work through the latter half of the afternoon and your evening commute. so how much snow? shoveling and plowing, get 'em ready. 5 to 8 inches of snow for a large area, basically up and down the 95 corridor into the worcester hills. southern new hampshire 4 to 5 inches of snow, and then down through the south coast, we're talking 4 to 5 inches of snow. a closer look here. concord, everett, beverly, groveland and methuen and then you head the other direction, attleboro, fall river, westport, mattapoisett, wareham 4 to 5 inches of a heavy wet snow, and chatham about 1 to 3 inches of snow. it's all done but the snow will stick around for a while. >> chris: kids will love it. take them out sledding tomorrow. we will be dealing with a couple isolated, scattered power outages because you have that heavy, wet snow that clings to everything, including tree branches.

off, so keep an eye on that. i don't expect a widespread concern. take a look at what's going on in the country. we have the storm today, but out west of us, hardly anything going on out through the great lakes. so this will be a quiet weekend ahead of us once that snow does end later on this afternoon and really couching mid-afternoon the late afternoon as the timing of this storm shutting down. so we clear out tonight. it will be cold, and any of those big puddles and piles of slush going to refreeze overnight tonight. they will lock up with temperatures down into the teens in the suburbs, 24 in the city of boston. forecast for tomorrow, again, nice winter's day. kids want to have a snowball fight in the front yard, they can. temperatures running into the mid to upper 30s. we're not worried about frostbite or anything like that tomorrow afternoon. on 7 forecast, into the weekend, 43 on sunday. so actually melt a little bit of the snow over the weekend. could be adding to snow by the time we get into late monday into tuesday. you'll have to watch the possibility of a storm.

two in a row. but for right now, we've been on since 4:30 a.m. over the past hour or so we've been seeing conditions deteriorating in a lot of areas. >> sarah: 7's kris anderson along route 128 in lexington where it's snowing now. good morning, kris. >> kris: good morning, sarah, christa. we've seen a lot of changes since we first came on air at 4:30 this morning. when we first started, it was rainful driving in at 3:30 a.m., we saw the transition to snow, and now it's all snow. take a look at the grassy area at the travel plaza in lexington, you see the snow is starting to stick and starting to accumulate here. it's getting colder. so the temperature has dropped. rain has turned into snow. good news is traffic is still moving smoothly. this is route 128 northbound and southbound right behind me. no back-up, no delay, haven't seen any plows out, but mass.does have about 1,165 pieces of equipment our there, salting and treating chemically

walk with me for a second over this way, and we will show you the black top here. this is the asphalt. speak of the plows. there's one right now getting ready to head out on the roadways. it's not really sticking at this point. i'm guessing the ground surface is too warm for it to start sticking here. it's sticking on the grass, but on the asphalt and the roadway, so far it's looking pretty good. if you head out now, if you have to get out to work today, you want to be prepared, it's also sticking to the truck. so get your ice scraper out, get it ready to go, because when you go out this morning, you'll probably have some snow to wipe away off of your vehicle and your windshield. that's the very latest live in lexington, kris anderson, 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: so the storm is hitting just as commuters are hitting the roads. let's get a look at the conditions on 495 in easton with 7's marshall hook and our traffic tracker. >> marshall: we are, if you look at map, we're right on the rain/snow line, and it is

but as we head a little bit south of here, we did see it lighten a little bit and be a little more wet. still no accumulation on the roadway. 495, we've made it into norton now, as you said, so making our way northbound again. no accumulation on the roads. some on the grass off to the side. and the visibility actually a little bit improved over what we saw north of here earlier. that's the good news. the bad news is it's just going to get worse has the rain/snow line becomes a heavier snow and less rain, and the moisture on the roadway is going to make for a difficult commute in terms of being able to stick to the roadways that. remains our biggest concern, both the timing of the storm coming in right now, right in the middle of the morning drive, and the conditions that were here before with the snow coming down on top of those. you're going to want to be very careful this morning, and my good friend gersh dwur is here to tell you about what the rest of the traffic picture looks like. >> danielle: thanks, marshall.

let's head outside. here's a look at the expressway northbound. notice the hov lane on this highway not opening today. it is a slow drive, but our earlier accident in dorchester did clear. let's go to the maps. from braintree into boston on the expressway, that drive is already up to 30 minutes. so it's very slow, but it's probably better to drive slow than fast today. some slowing south of town. we have a vehicle that spun out in sharon on 95 northbound at route 1. the pike heading into town from framingham is mostly green with a little bit of slowing, but in major delays to tell you about there. 93 southbound from lawrence over 128 into boston is slow and go. route 1 looking pretty good is far this morning. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning. 26 minutes on the expressway from braintree into boston. into town on the pike from 128, that drive just 12 minutes right now. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, 19 minutes. if you're taking the "t" this morning, so far it's on time. back to you, guys. >> sarah: four days ahead of the new hampshire primary, and presidential hopefuls will be canvassing the granite state

>> christa: with our exclusive 7news poll showing movement for some of the candidates, it's all about getting out and talking personally with the voters. let's head out the 7's nancy chen live along the campaign trail in manchester this morning. nancy? >> nancy: good morning, christa. the race is tightening. it's not just about who is at the top of those polls but also momentum. both marco rubio and hillary clinton are gaining ground. here is who to watch out for today. clinton will be in manchester, new hampshire. she will be in a campaign event with every female democratic senator in the u.s. senate except for elizabeth warren. meantime, on the republican side of things, ben carson will be making a rare appearance in nashua this morning, his first in new hampshire since the iowa caucuses. car isn't also cut several staff members thursday in what his campaign is calling a reorganization. also fellow republican john kasich will reach his goal of holding 100 new hampshire town hall meetings, that's going to be in bedford tonight. kasich just one of the

win here in new hampshire with four days until the primary. donald trump continuing to hold on to his lead in new hampshire, and he's continuing his hard line on immigration, telling our dan hausle he's not worried about political correctness. >> we have to stop being politically correct. there's tremendous hatred out there. there's tremendous anxiety out there. and i tell the truth. >> nancy: trump was also anxious to talk about a phone call he had with tom brady yesterday. >> we talked a little bit about a lot of things. he thinks i'm doing really well. i think he's doing really well. not only is he a great athlete, but he's a special person, great guy. >> meanwhile, jeb bush struggling to gain ground in the granite state is calling for familiar face to help. >> i know jeb. i know his good heart. >> nancy: george w. bush will appear in new ads soon. and bernie sanders holds a lead

democratic side, but it's shrinking. at their first one-on-one debate, they argued over who can make real change happen. >> secretary clinton represents the establishment. i represent i hope ordinary americans. >> nancy:>> senator sanders is the only person who i think would characterize me, a woman running to be first woman president, as exemplifying the establishment. >> nancy: and while the focus is on new hampshire, these candidates are already thinking ahead. trump has an event in south carolina today, and hillary clinton will be visiting flint, michigan, for an event this weekend. live in manchester, new hampshire, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: coming up at 6:00 on just one station, andy hiller will be live with the latest tracking poll numbers leading up to the new hampshire primary where one race is really tightening up. look for his live reports coming your way in less than an hour at 6:45. ism if you're just weigh -- waking up on this friday morning, we have a lot to get

after several warm days this week, snow is falling in several cities, including worcester. we'll check in with all of our reporters coming up. >> christa: and breaking news from overnight, fire ripping through a home in weston, sending one person to the

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>> christa: a winter storm blowing through the bay state. by this afternoon some places could see more than a half foot of snow. >> sarah: the storm hitting during the morning rush. the heavy, wet snow making for slippery conditions on the roadways. >> christa: and plows and sanders out.

some of them working overnight the keep the highways passable. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: so there it is. the winter storm hanging over new england, bringing snow and sleet. scores of cities and towns, including boston, choosing to cancel classes just to be safe. >> christa: it's all about the timing with this storm. so the weather team is with us. they're tracking the storm. let's welcome back meteorologist jeremy rhiner who we have missed terribly. good morning. >> jeremy: hello. how is everyone doing? ready for some winter? winter storm warning in effect. the area shaded in pink is a large area. we have a snowy morning into this afternoon. we've seen that rain/snow line kind of waiver and waffle back and forth through the metro. now it's working down the south shore. in fact, if you look over here right on the 495 corridor, you see that deeper shade of blue right there, worcester and then up toward looks like westford and up into nashua, southern new hampshire, that's a plume of

so that's moving north and so once that moves over your neighborhood, again, that's going to really start to slicken up the roadways. further south, it is still going back and forth between the rain and snow. this will be a storm where the snow and the cold will win out over the rain. it's in the a storm where we start as snow and then the warm air comes off the ocean. it's going the other direction where we have the cold air dropping in from vermont to new hampshire. that's chewing away at the leftover mild air from yesterday. boston 35. it is snowing in the city, but again, with these temps in the middle 30s, that snow is having a hard time accumulating the roadways. it is accumulating to windshields and car tops and patio furniture, but that's about it at this time. that will change this morning because those numbers, those temps will start to drop a little bit more, and then the snow will come down in greater intensity, and once that happens, then it starts to stick on the roadways. it's a wet snow, too. a wet snow is much more difficult to drive on and contend with as opposed to a dry snow.

snow, and it creates a thin film of water between the tire and road surface, so it's almost like you're on a skating rink. so allow extra time out there this morning. this is the amount of snow on the way, a large area, 5 to 8 inches of snow by the time it winds down mid to late afternoon. and bracketed on either side of that will be about 4 to 5 inches of snow fitchburg, orange, nashua, raymond, further south again 4 to 5 inches of snow down to the south coast, 1 to 3 inches of snow in chatham. chris lambert, your turn. >> chris: j.r., thank you. once temperatures drop to 33, 34 degrees and you get the heavier burst of snow, you start getting that film on the roadways j.r. was talking about. we expect travel conditions to go downhill for several hours beginning mid-morning and continuing through about mid-day. you see improvements, though, 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. so if you have plans tonight, i think you're okay. this storm will wrap up between 2:00 and 5:00, worcester county first, down through the cape last, about 3:00 ballpark in the city of boston.

factor in a lot of the storms. we had a lot of cold air last year where you had one inch of water, which is essentially equivalent to rain, which equals about 20 inches of snow. this go-around, that same one inch is about seven or eight inches of snow. so you have a high water-content snow, tough to move, a sloppy mess for sure as we work through the late morning hours into the afternoon. if you get about six inches of that clingy, wet know onto the tree branch, it does add a lot of weight. we're not expecting a them does amount of wind, but any gusts, 10, 15, 20mph on top of that weighted tree branch may cause a few to snap. i won't be surprised to see a couple scattered power outages, don't think it will be a major issue. >> sarah: 6:03 right now. we'll take a look at the conditions outside. >> christa: we have a team of reporters out in the elements. we begin with john cuoco in worcester. kris anderson is in lexington. good morning, john. >> john: right now the snow

it's transitioned from that light, wet snow we had earlier. now we're seeing big, heavy flakes. i don't think you need the snow boots just yet, but keep them close. you'll probably need them later this morning. i do want to show you some of the accumulation we've had. nothing really on the roads. we got a little bit over here in the grass. this is what you're seeing, the snow sticking to the grass, sticking to some of the trees around here, but like i said, the roads not a whole lot of accumulation just yet. they're actually just still kind of wet, these roads here, moisture has been treated, we see some plows coming by, but they're kind of in this stand-by mode waiting for that snow to really start accumulating out here on the roads. it was kind of the same story, our trip from boston out here to worcester, the plows kind of hanging out on the side of the roads while this rain transitioned into the snow. like i said, i don't think you need the center boots quite yet. the snow is picking up, flakes are getting a little bit heavier out here. we're live in worcester where schools are closed, by the way, john cuoco, 7news "today in new

>> sarah: and our storm force coverage continues, moving on the lexington. 7's kris anderson is along route 128 with more on conditions there. looks like that snow is coming down, kris. >> kris: really starting to pick up, sarah. in fact, you look at route 128 north and southbound. the snow is picking up, so too is the traffic. it's steadily been increasing as the morning progresses as we inch closer to the rush hour. a lot of people still have to go to work today, granted a lot of schools are closed. there should be less traffic on the roadways. the good news, the snow isn't sticking to the surface yet. i am going to take you over to the travel plaza to the black stop here and the roadways are still pretty clear. road crews did come through and treat route 128 and all of the highways. they have almost 2,000 or 1,200 pieces of equip out right now, salting and chemically treating the roads. so it's doing a good job so far, but as the snow continues to fall, it's going to start accumulating like it is here on the grass.

heavy snow, and j.r. was talking about the water content of the snow. it's like slush. it's forming really rock hard snowballs, not the kind you want to throw at your friday. maybe the kind you want to throw at your enemy. you will need your snow scraper when you walk out this morning. my wife's one. she uses the nice one to keep her hand warm, so she's going to love me when she wakes up and realizes i took it. so you're going to need it because you can see the snow is forming on wind sheels. when you head out, give yourself some extra time to get the snow cleared off your vehicle and take your time getting to wherever you need to go. live here in lexington along route 128, kris anderson, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: i have got to get one of those scrapers myself. kris, thank you. let's go to marshall hook. you're along route 1 in foxborough. we can see the snow clearly covering the roadway. there it's getting worse. >> marshall: yeah, christa, we have a lot of snow on the roadway. one thing we talked about up to this point is snow falling but

roadways. that very clearly has changed at this point. we're on route 1 northbound. you can't see it, but gillette stadium is immediately to my right. nobody is playing there right now now apparently. it is snowy out here. visibility a little bit better, but the snow accumulation is now getting onto the roadway, the roadways that were wet before, and so that means that you're definitely going to want the keep the speeds down because it's going to be very slick when you put a heavy, wet snow on top of already wet roadway, particularly when the temperature is on the freezing line that. 31 degrees according to the car thermometer. so this is starting to become a little more treacherous, just as the morning drive gets going. and danielle gersh here to tell us more about the entire traffic picture. >> danielle: thanks, marshall. good morning, everyone. let's head outside. here's a look at the expressway. notice the hov lane on the expressway northbound not opening this morning because of the weather. let's go to the maps. it's a very slow drive from braintree into boston. already half an hour. but you know, this is good. take your time, drive slow this morning.

route 3, 24, 95. you can see as you approach 128, these exclamation marks you're seeing, most of them are just people driving really slow because of the snow. so they're just indicating heavy traffic for the most part. there's your look at the pike, mostly green and yellow. so no major delays to tell you about. there we do have an accident, this is in lowell, and this is on the ramp from 495 southbound to route 38. so that's causing some back-up there. the rest of your drive on 93 southbound into boston, not looking too bad. here's route 1, you're mostly green. take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning. 26 minutes into boston. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, 24 minutes. if you're taking "t" this morning, so far it's on time. back to you, guys. >> sarah: and, of course, we'll stay with you all morning lon as the storm moves through. if you can't be in front of the tv, remember, you can always get the latest weather updates and school closings on the go with

or by logging on the whdh.com. >> christa: we also have breaking news from overnight. man is fighting for his life after getting stabbed in dorchester. this was on vassar street early this morning. boston e.m.s. says the victim suffered life-threatening injuries. no word on any arrests so far. also breaking, firefighters in weston investigating the cause of a house fire. crews managed to put out the flames pretty quickly this morning. there are reports that a woman in her 80s had to be treated for smoke inhalation. right now her condition is unclear. >> sarah: coming up, sparks fly at the democratic debate. the candidates clash sharply in their first one-on-one. a live report from new hampshire on what was said. >> christa: and chris christie getting a high-profile eastbound dorm here in massachusetts today. >> sarah: and we have more storm force coverage straight ahead as you take a live look at our traffic tracker. we'll have the latest on your road conditions before you head out for your morning commute. >> jeremy: and those roads starting to collect snow,

another streak of steadier snow on 495.

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>> sarah: welcome back. 6:13 a.m. we're in storm force mode as you take a live look outside. the snow really starting to come down. of course, this morning it was rain. now that's turning over to snow. people head out for the morning commute. >> christa: it's official. i just got the call from my kids' school district. no school for them today. i'm sure they're really excited. it's a good time to go sledding. we've missed that, j.r. >> jeremy: for a lot of kids it's their first snow day. the storms we had, christmas week and then one on saturday night. so the school districts are probably like, we have a few to use, let's use one on a friday. good call because road

downhill quickly this morning. already noticing that. marshall hook was driving around the foxborough area, i thought, that looks like it's really piling up. there's one little patch of heavier snow in southeastern mass. then there's another plume moving northeast up along 495 right. now this will move up into the merrimack and new hampshire seacoast. and so that will be the case this morning to have the... where it's raining, that will flip over to snow, and then we'll have these little batches of steadier to occasionally heavy snow. this is not a storm where you talk about one to two feet of snow. but it doesn't take much to follow up your travel plans, so just be mindful of that. the numbers right now, temps are in the lower 30s. the city at 34. the numbers have been slowly coming down, which will allow that snow to begin sticking to the roadways. not just the grassy surfaces or the car tops. plymouth and new bedford, numbers are still in the upper 30s as well as out on the cape. that's why it's got rain down there, but even down there on

that will finish as snow. here is the storm system right here. again, there's no arctic air with this storm to work with. that's what you need if you want a power house storm. or the storm itself can go make its own call there. that's what's happening right now in southern new england. it's changing the rain over to the snow. so we'll have that snow happening for the remainder of the morning and into the middle part of the afternoon. you notice by mid-day, a lot of purple on the map. that's barney doing his thing. so we'll have snow, occasionally heavy at times and it does wind down as we work toward later on this afternoon and this evening. the amount of snow on the way by later on today, when it's all said and done, a large area of 5 to 8 inches of snow. i think in downtown boston, i'd look at 6 inches of snow and bracket is on either side of well as southern new hampshire, 4 to 5 inches of snow. traveling right now is fair, fair to strong. and as you work through the morning hours, the travel

then they will improve late this afternoon as well as this evening. chris? >> chris: once we kick out this storm, we're doing fine over the weekend. travel weather into the midwest fairly quiet as we go through the afternoon. it's really the eastern seaboard here, especially in new england, that will deal with the heavy, wet snow throughout the day. tapering off around 2:00 out through worcester, about 3:00 or so in the city of boston. 5:00 down across the cape and those temperatures holding lower to middle 30s this afternoon. partly cloudy skies tonight. the pilings of slush freezing up tonight. so if you have a lot of that slushy snow in the driveway and want to get rid of it. it will be tough to move by tomorrow morning as it locks up. temperatures teens into the lower 20s in the city of boston. tomorrow nice winter's day. kids want to head out sledding. have fun with it. it's a good day for that with light breezes, a seasonable afternoon, mid to upper 30s. pretty good ski weather across the local resorts after many

heading north for the weekend, comfortable. not brutally cold by winter standards here. across much of the white and green mountains. temperatures generally running into the mid-20s, low 30s as we get into tomorrow afternoon and eventually into the mid-30s on sunday. saturday and sunday here in southern new england, quiet, colder on monday, could have a little bit of late day snow, and we'll watch the potential of a storm on tuesday right now just the potential. guys? >> sarah: okay. thanks, chris. let's talk to the man behind the wheel of the traffic tracker. marshal, it looks like the snow is sticking to the pavement there. >> marshall: it's pretty much sticking to everyone right now. every once in a while we get a chunk falling off our roof. it's the middle of the road, the sides of the road. you see the lovely evergreen trees on the sides of the road very picturesque out there. but all that beauty doesn't make for great driving conditions as this welt, kind of heavy snow mixes in with the water that was already on the road. it makes for slick conditions.

on route 1 northbound right now in walpole. just a little above 20mph is what we're doing. and that's about the safe level. particularly as these cars go by and they hit that muck of snow, it will shoot it up on to your windshield, so it's going to be a lot of wiper going this morning, as well. danielle here to tell you about the bigger, wider traffic picture. >> danielle: thanks, marshall. good morning, everyone. let's head outside. here's a look at the zakim bridge/leverett connector. over the bridges and overpass, you'll want to be extra careful. let's go to the maps. this is an accident in lowell from 495 southbound on the ramp to route 38. so causing some minor delays there, but nothing major. your drive into town on 93 southbound, you can see the red, it is slow. route 1 not looking too bad. the expressway already half an hour from braintree into boston, also keep in mind, the expressway northbound this morning, the hov lane is not opening because of the weather. south of town we have a disabled

apparently on. on the pike heading into town, mostly green and yellow. no red which means no major delays this morning. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning. the expressway is a she drive, 26 minutes. into town on the pike, 13 minutes. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, 24 minutes. if you're taking the "t" this morning, so far it's on time. back to you, guys. >> sarah: thanks, danielle. the new hampshire primary just four days away. the candidates are campaigning hard in the granite state. >> christa: last night the candidates faced off. this was a fiery debate. nancy chen is live in manchester. nancy there ises a an endorsement from the bay state for one governor candidate. >> nancy: absolutely. big names on the campaign trail as the attacks are getting more aggressive and this race continues to tighten. as you mentioned, governor charlie baker is going to be expected to endorse new jersey governor chris christie's bid

nomination. today christie stumped for baker during his run for governor back in 2014, and now baker will join christie at a rally in new hampshire tomorrow. he will also appear in television ads for him. and democratic presidential candidates bernie sanders will reportedly pick up a big endorsement today. according to cnn, ben jealous, the former head of the naacp, will endorse the vermont senator at an event in new hampshire. that endorsement, by the way, is a potential boost to sanders, who has struggled to connect with african american voters in the race against. meantime, sanders went head to head with clinton yesterday. for the first time just the two of them for that debate. and things got heated. a fiery night for jarron burguan and hillary clinton.

very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out. >> one of the things we should do is not only talk the talk but walk the walk. i am very proud to be the only candidate up here who does not have a super pac, who is not raising huge sums of money from wall street. >> nancy: four days to go until the primary. still much ground to be gained on both sides. donald trump talking to 7's dan hausle about the latest 7news/umass lowell poll that shows a slight tightening in the race. >> dan: our poll has you doing quite well, it shows an uptick of mr. rubio and a down tick of you. >> i think i'd take 36 right now, to be honest. i think that's a great poll. thank you. >> nancy: meantime, a familiar face on the trail thursday. barbara bush campaigned for her son jeb in derry. >> he's not a bragger. [laughter] we don't allow that. >> mom, my crowd sizes normally aren't this large. >> nancy: bush told the crowd as florida's former governor, he has a proven record, something senators marco rubio and ted cruz don't have.

future, not the past. >> nancy: as rubio and cruz focus their attacks on each other after rubio bumped cruz out of second place in our poll. >> i recognize that if momentum were measured by the media, marco rubio would already be the republican nominee. >> nancy: clearly new hampshire a key win for many of the candidates, including john kasich. he will be holding his 100th town hall in new hampshire later on today. that's going to be in bedford. live in manchester, new hampshire, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: coming up on just one station, our new exclusive tracking polls out of new hampshire. stay tuned. political editor andy hiller shows white house is gaining ground in a live report coming up at 6:45. >> christa: still ahead, the nfl making an announcement about tom brady ahead of sunday's super bowl. what they're saying about the pats' q.b. >> sarah: and more on the

we have live reports coming up. we cannot defeat a corrupt political system and fix a rigged economy. but i believe we need to lift our vision above the obstacles in place and look to the american horizon. to a nation where every child can not only dream of going to college, but attend one. where quality healthcare will be a birthright of every citizen. where a good job is not a wish, but a reality. where women receive equal pay and a living wage is paid to all. an america where after a lifetime of labor, there is time for rest and grandchildren. a nation that defends

but no longer carries so much of that burden alone. i know we can create that america if we listen to our conscience and our hearts and not to the pundits and the naysayers. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message,

>> sarah: welcome back. rain turning to snow. stay with us for the latest as you head in to work on your morning commute. >> christa: the boston police commissioner asking the state to hold off on passing a bill requiring police body cameras at the statehouse on turs. commissioner william evans

want the first conduct a pilot program before they completely decide to use these cameras on a permanent basis. starting in may 100 patrol officers will wear the body cameras for six months. >> i asked that the police department be given time to implement this program and analyze it before an unfunded statewide mandate is adopted. >> christa: the commissioner says he and the mayor need to consider the cost, personal privacy of citizens and potential discovery issues. >> sarah: it's a first for umass boston. they will start providing housing for students. the on-campus housing will serve freshman and transfer students. the 1,000-bed complex will be funded by a public-private partnership. >> christa: still ahead, she's made history around the world. now a belmont runner's hometown

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>> sarah: a winter storm warning for parts of massachusetts. snow and sleet moving through, creating concern for the morning commute. >> christa: by the time this storm is all said and done, some places will have significant snow totals. >> sarah: shovels and scrapers definitely in demand today. you want to grab them before you head out on the roads. massdot says the storm will create problems for your morning commute. >> christa: it's forcing a lot of schools to shut down. we'll be running them continuously for you at the bottom of your screen. you know what, that means the return of jeremy reiner. j.r., did you see the tweet from one of our viewers, snow in the morning -- or reiner in the morning, sailors take warning. >> jeremy: bostonians take warning. i breakthrough a storm -- i brought a storm with me. boston, worcester, the 95

mass, the merrimack valley, worcester hills. snow now in the city of boston. that rain/snow line a couple hours ago was coming in from the western suburbs and cruised right through metro boston. working down the south shore and this will be a storm where the rain/snow line is not working up the south shore. it's not that kind of storm. it's a storm that you start as rain and then go over to snow. and that will be a heavy, wet snow. noticing heavier bands of snow lining up through western new england as well as one right up along the 495 corridor. chris pointed this out, right there, right around metro new york city, newark, thunder snow. so that tells you the volatility that this storm system has. blizzard. we're not going to set records for the amount of snow, but we year. so it might be a slow go for you if you're on those roadways. temps in the lower 30s. once they get to 33 or 32 and the heavier snow shows up, as

becomes quite poor across much of southern new england with most cities and towns, including the city of boston, between 5 and 8 inches of snow. chris, over to you. >> chris: j.r., we expect that to be a heavy, wet snow wrapping up in the city of boston close to 3:00 p.m. lingering until about 4:00 or 5:00 down through the cape and the islands. here are those snow totals. widespread 5:00 until 8:00 eastern massachusetts of heavy, wet snow. now we have that rain/snow line pinned just south of route 44 at this point. so it may take a little while to get down through the cape cod canal and over to the cape. the totals there looking lower. in terms of travel, this morning we did okay. by 9:00 a.m. with the overspreading heavy, wet snow, we do expect roadways to become slick. it's not that you'll be driving through 4:00 -- 4, 5 inches of snow, but that greasy wet snow covering the roadways. i think we'll be widespread by 9:00, 10:00 a.m.

the early afternoon with locally heavy snow across eastern mass and down through the cape and the islands, which has switched over to heavier snow. we should see some improvements across western mass into the early afternoon. that improvement will spread eastbound. so this evening travel conditions should be better by dinnertime tonight. more on forecast ahead. >> christa: okay, but we live in the present. a lot of you do have to get on the roadways if you don't have the day off. take a look at conditions right now. ism we have a team of reporters across the region. let's start with kris anderson in lexington. hey, kris. >> kris: hey, good morning, sarah. good morning, christa. we are hugging the highway. 128 northbound and southbound right behind me here in lexington where the snow continues to fall. you look at the grassy areas here at the travel plaza here in lexington, and you can see the snow is starting to acouple late. i want to show youhe good part, though. that's black top. the roadways are still relatively clear. the snow has not really accumulated much on there. it is starting to gain some traction, though, so the road

been salting and chemically treating the roads, trying to get a grasp on it. i'll try a new technique now, something that i don't know if it's been done before, but i want the try this when the snow starts the pile up and it's a new way to try and shovel snow. you got some of the icy stuff right now, so it's mostly water and ice. but i'm going to start a new sport, maybe a new technique on how to shovel your driveway, and we'll do hover shoveling in a little bit later today. so i'll work on that, practice a little bit. but the good news is traffic is moving smoothly, 128 northbound and southbound in and out of boston. that's the latest live in lexington, kris anderson, 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: oh, my goodness, kris, you have us rolling in here. you are ridiculous. >> christa: literally rolling. i love it. we knew he was going to do it. we knew it was going to happen. >> sarah: all right. moving on, this storm has been in worcester for a while. now schools are canceled there, too.

for a check on conditions there. good morning, john. >> john: good morning. the snow continues to come down. it's lightened up a little bit. for the first time all morning the snow seems to be sticking to the roads just a little bit. you haven't really seen anything like this all morning. it's been wet out here. you can see some cars are driving through now, and they're taking it slow. like i said, for the first time all morning, the snow is sticking to the roads here, and that means plows have something to push around. we've started to see plows coming out like this, moving some of this snow around. all morning we've kind of seen the snow kind of changing from this light wet snow to a heavy snow with some big flakes and now it's kind of like i said, lightened up a little bit. we've seen this kind of accumulation all morning over here on the grass and some of the trees. but like i said, for the first time, we're starting to see some of this accumulation on the streets, something to look at when you're going out this morning, driving to work this morning. for now we're live in worcester, john cuoco, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: all right, john,

and marshall, i know a hover board in the snow is a tough act to follow, but what do you have from westwood in your traffic tracker today? >> sarah: well, we're actually getting right to come off route 1, getting on to route 128, and you can clearly see here on the ramp, the amount of snow that is accumulated off to the sides of the roadways. that means you can also see the amount of snow that has not accumulated on the roadways. so we're back now on 128, a little bit closer into boston, still snowing. the flakes not as big and not as prevalent as they were a little bit south of here, but the roads still wet and the volume is increasing, so if you are hitting the roadways and we're getting into the thick of morning drive at this point, you'll still want the keep the speeds down and danielle gersh will tell you more about the big traffic picture. >> danielle: thanks, marshall. good morning, everyone. let's head outside and take a look. this is 93 southbound heading into boston. let's go to the maps. we have an accident in medford

and this accident is blocking the shoulder. now, on the expressway from braintree into boston, that's 32 minutes. keep in mind, the hov lane not open this morning. this exclamation mark is actually a disabled plow. so that's causing some delays and not getting much done there. route 3 starting to slow down as you approach the braintree split, slowing on 24 and 95, as well. these little exclamation marks you're seeing on the map, a lot of them are just really slow traffic because of snow. so keep that in mind. framingham into boston, red. so very slow and then 93 southbound from 495 to 128 not looking too bad. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door this morning. 26 minutes on the expressway from the braintree split into boston. into town on the pike from 128, 22 minutes. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, that drive 24 minutes. and if you're taking "t" this morning, so far it's on time. back to you, guys. >> christa: all right. still ahead, we're polling voters in new hampshire for

leading up to tuesday's first in first-in-the-nation primary. the new results from overnight coming your way. >> sarah: tom brady has made his decision on whether to attend the super bowl. will you see him honored by nfl on sunday? >> christa: and we all get that we would see this at some point. i know you can't see it from the banner there, but that's kris anderson with a hover board and a shovel. oh, my. he's making us smile this morning. kris, thank you.

>> christa: :41678 we're with you on this friday. a long weekend for many of you. school is closed in a lot of other areas. here is worcester. you see the flakes are flying. we'll be with you all morning long. >> sarah: patriots q.b. tom brady will be in attendance for super bowl 50 in california. brady will be recognized during the nfl super bowl m.v.p. ceremony before kickoff on sunday evening. former paths receiver deion branch who was the m.v.p. of super bowl 39 will also be at the stadium. >> christa: after completing the world marathon challenge, becca pizzi is so happy to be back home with her daughter in belmont. last month she became first american woman to complete the world marathon challenge, and

7 marathons on 7 continents in seven days. so yesterday people lined the streets of belmont to welcome her back and congratulate her on a an amazing accomplish. she says this experience really changed her life. >> it was so awesome. it was everything i dreamt of and more. >> when i signed up, i thought this was a great opportunity to inspire as many people as i could and bring people on board with me and that was the goal. that was my number-one goal. >> christa: along with the parade, the town officially declared february 4th to be becca pizzi day in belmont. just reading more details about her, the fact she pulled a muscle during one of the races and when you eat when you're traveling to seven continents and doing several marathons. >> sarah: sleep deprivation, jet lag. she's an inspiration so to many people, that's for sure. we'll have much more on our weather coverage coming up. the results of an exclusive poll also out of new hampshire.

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we can create that america if we listen to our conscience and our hearts and not to the pundits and the naysayers. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message, and i ask for your vote. ism welcome back. 6:45 a.m. we're in storm force mode as you take a live look at worcester. i know it's going to be a messy morning commute, but when you're inside looking out, doesn't that look like a nice, beautiful picture there? >> christa: if you have that luxury. unfortunately a lot of you have

this is 128 in lexington. the good news, from this picture, it doesn't look like the snow is sticking too much on the highways. they've been pretreated and the crews have been out working hard overnight. jeremy, when is the worst of the snow going to be falling do you think? >> jeremy: we're starting to see steadier snow happening now. from this point forward temperatures will slide down into the low 30s. so accumulating snow on the roadways really starts the intensify i think mid-morning. 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00. you can see a plume of heavier snow just north of that vain/snow line down through southeast mass some plymouth and bristol county, north plymouth and bristol county, travel will go downhill fairly wick. around the metro you have steadier pockets of snow, boston out toward lexington, worcester, amesbury, westford, and then you have another plume of steadier snow western mass. this whole thing has to work up across southern new england over next several hours. here are the temps again. 34. that's not quite cold enough for the snow to really accumulate fast.

yes, it could, but it's not snowing that heavy in worcester. plymouth, you have rain. new bedford rain. norwood 33. it's right there through southeast mass where you'll have that heavier plume of snow. really have the road turn icy and ugly for the rest of the morning through the early part of the afternoon. here we are at lunchtime, snowing all over southern new england, even out on the cape and the islands. we have rain this morning but it will flip over to snow as we work toward lunchtime and this afternoon. and everything begins to shut down between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m., the evening commute will offer much better conditions as opposed to right now and through the morning hours. how much snow, a large area, including the city of boston, between 5 and 8 inches of snow. i would plan on 6 in downtown boston. north of there, 4 to 5 inches of snow, southern new hampshire. 4 to 5 inches of snow right on the water's edge of the south coast on to the cape and upper cape and east of hyannis. it's 1 to 3 inches. there chris, more on the travel.

roads go downhill, foxborough, worcester county, the city of worcester where we have seen the morning. that continues to overspread. right now it's still fair through a lot of the boston metro area, but i expect poor travel conditions to be more wide spread from mid-morning through the early afternoon and then beginning to see improvements again late afternoon and especially this evening as the storm does taper off. so this is not a storm that last into tonight. if you have dinner plans tonight, 7:00 reservation, keep it. i think we're dry at that point as the storm tapers off between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. you have heavy wet know to clean up after, good 5 to 8 inches across much of western mass. 3 1 to 36. temperatures flatlining. huge piles of slushy snow freezing up tonight. take care of hit the afternoon. 14 to 24 overnight tonight. colder air works in. nice winter day tomorrow. partly sunny skies. seasonable, temperatures running into the mid to upper 30s.

we'll watch the potential of some more snow late monday into tuesday. >> christa: okay. we have the big picture. we'll head outside with a check of the conditions. >> sarah: back out the worcester with john cuoco live with more. good morning, john. >> john: good morning. still snow coming down, sticking to my jacket and hat, but i figured it's about time i put these on right here, decided to throw the snow boots on. that's because snow is actually starting to stick to the ground over here. this is harvard street out here in worcester. you can see it actually is having some snow stick to the ground. it's a wet snow, but it is sticking. you can see this section here where it's kind of cleared, cars have been driving by here. but snow starting to actually stick to the streets. so that's what you have to look forward to with your commute. we have seen a few clouds coming by here trying the clear the little snow that is on the roads, but the plows are coming by and you see this kind of all morning. we've been showing you this all morning, some of the snow that's been sticking to the grass here. that's what you kind of see the

on some of the cars, their windshield, that kind of thing. so it's finally starting to stick. so look forward to that as you go out on to the roads this morning, people driving to work, that kind of thing. for now we're live out in worcester, john cuoco, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: weather like this often comes with warning to take it slowly on the roadway, be careful. with that we also need to warn kris anderson to maybe put away the hover board because we're all a little worried about you, buddy. we don't want to see you fall. >> sarah: you're on tv. surprise. >> christa: do you have it or is it gone? >> kris: my mother is actually in town visiting, and my wife called me and said, don't do that again. [inaudible]. >> christa: yeah, you know what, they always say, when you're next to a highway, you have to bring out the old-school flag mic. he's got...

>> christa: that's a little better. >> kris: you can hear me now? my fault. i was conserving battery because we've been out here for a while. i just said, it's the maternal instinct in you guys to worry about me out here because my mom is in town visiting. she and my wife called me as soon as they saw that and said, don't do that again. i'm not going to listen. things are getting a bit tricky out here. traffic is picking up, and the roads are starting to get icy and slushy, so you want the take your time. a little mic error, i didn't finish my full report, so we'll check back in a little bit. kris anderson, 7news "today in new england." ism everybody is wondering, where's the hover board, kris. >> christa: how about traffic tracker. marshall, tell us where you are? the roads look wet. that's good, not too white. >> marshall: 128 northbound not too far from where chris, is we have snow falling, but the temperature is late warmer, which means just welt roadways for the morning commute at this point. danielle gersh will give us an

>> danielle: thanks, marshall. good morning, evyone. let's head outside. take a look at the expressway. it's a slow drive. it is slick out there. most of the snow on the sides of the roads, though, not actually on the roads. that's the good news. let's go to the maps. we had a disabled plow on the expressway northbound blocking the center lane 24 minutes from braintree into boston. south of town, it's a slow drive, but no major incidents to tell you about. a lot of these exclamation marks you're seeing are really heavy traffic because of the snow. the pike into town from framingham, a slow drive. you can see thread indicating the slowing there. north of town from 495 to 128 on 93 southbound, not too bad. in medford we still have this accident. this is 93 southbound at fellsway blocking the shoulder. back to you, guys. >> christa: all right, danielle. thank you. on just one station this morning, results of our exclusive polling in the race for the white house. >> sarah: one candidate is seeing a significant rise in new hampshire, so let's get out to

breakdown on these new numbers. good morning, andy. >> andy: watch out, bernie sanders. here comes hillary. hillary clinton is surging and bernie sanders -- is flirting with free-fall. we could be watching a rerun of the comeback kid. sanders is number one but weakening. he gets 55% after losing 3%age points overnight. while clinton with 40% gained four points since yesterday. undecided now 4%, down one point. the tracking poll shows clinton's dramatic rise. she's now just 15 points behind sanders after trailing him by 31 when we started polling this week. sanders has lost 16 points of his lead, more than half of what he had. right now the republicans in new hampshire can't match the democrats' drama. there was very little change for the g.o.p. overnight.

always been, but he's lost another two points. no change for marco rubio, who still has 15%, keeping him in second place. and ted cruz in third seems frozen at 14%. john kasich gained a point, tying him with jeb bush at 8%. there were in changes for the bottom tier of the republican pack, chris christie, ben carson and carly fiorina all maintained the support they had. the change in the republican track seems slight but could be significant. for the second day in a row, donald trump lost two points, which brings marco rubio and ted cruz a little closer to him. here's the question now: can hillary win new hampshire and all but end the democratic race? is there enough time for her to catch sanders? even if the answer is no, at the rate she's going, she could make a sanders' victory empty. live in new hampshire, i'm andy

thank you. we'll have much more on those morning. let's send it out the nancy chen now with more. hey, nancy. >> nancy: good morning to you, sarah. as andy mentioned, the race is tightening. it's not just about who is at the top of those polls but also about momentum. both marco rubio and hillary clinton have the wind behind them. here's what to watch. clinton will attend a campaign event in manchester with every female democrat in the u.s. senate except for elizabeth warren. meantime, on the republican side of things, ben carson will make a rare appearance in nashua this morning, his first in new hampshire since the iowa caucus. carson also cut several staff members thursday in what his campaign is calling a reorganization. also fellow republican john kasich will reach his goal of holding 100 new hampshire town hall meetings, that's going to be in bedford tonight. and here's the latest. governor charlie baker is expected to endorse new jersey

for the republican presidential nomination today. christie stumped for baker during his run for governor back in 2014, and new baker will join christie at a rally in new hampshire tomorrow. he will also appear in television ads for him. and democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders will reportedly pick up a big endorsement today. according to cnn, ben jealous, the former head of the naacp, will endorse the vermont senator at an event in new hampshire. that endorsement is a potential boost to sanders, who has struggled to connect with african american voters in the race against hillary clinton. those democratic rivals, the two of them went head to head in a debate one last time before the primary. their debate reprized an argument between the two about whether clinton should be considered a progressive. meantime, the last g.o.p. debate will be held tomorrow. live in manchester, new hampshire, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: nancy, thank you so much. do be careful if you're headed out. we'll keep you updated all

i'm christa delcamp. >> sarah: i'm sarah french.