a powerful storm is bearing down on the d.c. region. good afternoon, everybody. thank you for joining us on this friday. i am alison starling. >> i am actually parker. virginia is under a state of emergency and the district has declared a snow emergency. some areas could get up to two feet. local schools and road crews are taking no chances. we have live tv coverage across

the region but first let's go to brian van de graaff. the storm's progress in northward and is light in nature and is not sticking just yet. temperatures right now well above freezing. it will fall and melt at first but as temperatures continued to drop, the snow will come down through the afternoon. southern areas have a little dusting on the ground. they say they have got about 1 inch of snow out in the shenandoah area. this is a whopper of a system. you can see the moisture all the way down to the lower gulf of mexico. it is coming in off the land again pulling tons of moisture along with the cold air and will bring us snow across the majority of the area.

the models have been quite consistent. we'll talk about those numbers a little more. it will snow off and on through the afternoon and there are some heavier bands as we head for the night time. on average, about 20-25 degrees with some areas up to 5 inches per snow. ok, impressive numbers. our team coverage is across the region this afternoon. we have scored robinson live at reagan national airport for the travel headaches. . pamela brown is checkinout the stores are handling the madness. let's go to northwest washington first. >> we heard that the d.c. government has declared a snow emergency which means that if you park along an emergency route in d.c., you want to more -- move your vehicle because you

can be ticketed or towed with a $250 fine. students are being released from school at ecps and the d.c. government will shut down at 2:00. vdot crews are treating roadways already. inside this no command center, crews that were around the clock all weekend long cord may plow drivers. they are urging residents to stay off the road and do not count on mass transit tonight or tomorrow. public transportation which many of us rely on a day-to-day basis has a hard time operating in a lot of snow. that will impact people this weekend. mayor adrian fenty has declared a snow emergency. >> we will plow a lot of snow but we will use a lot of snow and salt and everything else to keep the roads safe. >> washingtonians are in a race against time before the heavy snow flakes start falling. >> we are hunkered down and will get some firewood inside. >> mostly, they plan and

avoiding the storm altogether. >> of just be inside. >> some washingtonians are looking forward top to two feet of snow. >> i love cold weather. i cannot stand the heat. >> a good attitude to have a nw. we have seen some drizzle and light rain turned to snow flurries. before you go out to enjoy this know, district officials urge you to stay out of the street. that is a problem we saw in the december blizzard. sidewalks are hard to navigate so pedestrians walk into the streets. you talked to people with good attitude and that is what you need if you are traveling. airlines have already cancelled hundreds of flights out of the three area airports. southwest is suspending all of its flights out of dulles and bwi. that is starting at 2:00 p.m.

courtney robinson is live at reagan national airport. tell us what you are seeing. >> there are quite a few as we see the snow starts to pick up, we started to s a number of flights that are canceled. those are the afternoon flights mainly. at duls, we hear it is the same story. at bwi, they plan to operate with at least one runway. all of this is causing quite a bit of trouble for the metro region. it is not just at airports but travel around the area. long lines and lots of had a tear at reagan national airport. >> we are cold for 35 minutes with united. we got here and once we got to the airport, everything fell into place. >> many are changing flights or are hoping to get out of the region before this. >> i do not want to be stuck here for four more days. >> airlines have waived fees allowing people lucky eugh to

get on board. >> united helped us out to get us out early. >> others were not so fortunate newschopper7. church of the chs at reagan national airport. this will happen through sunday, the cancellations. it is not just taking off and landing that poses problems. it is getting around in general. eager to department of transportation has 1800 trucks on the road with more than 1 foot or two expected to black at the metro area. there were a 24-72 hope you will stay off the road. >> there is a good mix and everyone is starting to get home. we are treadi -- trying to do a good job on the roadways. you never know with these types of storms. >> this could be a shame for metro. once 8 inches covers the above ground rails, they will shut down.

metro is still running right now. we cannot reiterate enough that vdot is asking you to stay off. the off they need to get their job done. which you out there, they cannot do what they need to. we will follow all of the airport delays and let you know the very latest. worried shoppers are still rushing to the stores this noon as the first snowflakes start to fall. we go live to the giant in district heights. >> they are running out of supplies. with the snow and a super bowl, is a mad house in the grocery store. even before the doors opened at this giant, more than 200 people were waiting outside, waiting to rush in and fill up their shopping carts. the parking lot is packed with people. shopping carts are in short supply. shoppers are having to use a little elbow to get around.

we spoke to one shopper who said that it normally takes an half an hour to grocery shop. it took him two hours today. shoppers say they learned their lesson from the blizzard of 1996 and the december blizzard. they are stocking up in case the power goes out. they're getting ready for the super bowl, as well on sunday. transportation officials in maryland are preparing as well. it is all hands on deck in maryland. they will be operating at the highest level possible, 2400 people will be out and about here in maryland helping to treat the roads this weekend. in prince george's county, they are borrowing 60 more trucks to help out with the effort. even with the extra manpower, officials say it is really up to the drivers to help speed up the process. they asked that if you can, stay at home and off the roads so that crews can do their jobs. they say try to park in your garage but if you have to park on the street, park "even

numbered side of the street. it is all about patients and have unrealistic expectations this weekend. thank you. metro rail is open and running on a regular schedule but that could change once the snow starts in earnest. when the snow which is 8 inches, all above ground service will shut down. metrobus and metro access will operate in a regular schedule today but will be modified depending on road conditions. be prepared for a possible service disruption throughout this weekend. due to the weather in virginia and the carolinas, most amtrak service south from washington is cancelled today. the service is subject to change so amtrak asks that to call ahead. as of federal workers will start their weakened early part of the federal government opened this morning, operating on an unscheduled leave policy. federal agencies are closing down four hours earlier.

will go live to an offer, maryland where martin o'malley is holding a news conference on the winter storm conditions. >> you can deal with it with a snowblower. because of the rate of the snow, we're concerned about a possible roof collapsing and buildings that may be weakened should that occur. there is probably 3 inches of water when you take the water out of the snow which is a lot of weight on the structure. we're looking at that very closely. if we start having tree limbs coming at downed power lines, will have power outages. we have a conference call scheduled with all the power providers throughout the state to make sure they are ready to go. we will have representation in our emergency operations center throughout the storm. we have been preparing the declaration that the governor mentioned one minute ago.

our role will be to coordinate the state's response to any news to come about. we will be their 24-7 until the storm is over. this is not martin o'malley. he apparently just spoke before the gentleman. everybody is updating the situation as we go as the snow starts to fall. maryland is doing their part and we want to turn to virginia. we have the virginia department of emergency man -- management on the phone. tellus the preparations you are doing in virginia. >> we coordinate the state response to emergencies such as this. we know that the part of transportation has got lots of truck drivers out and we are coordinating with virginia state police and the national guard and the department of social services, all state agencies are ready for whatever we might get this weekend. >> the national guard has

soldiers at the ready? what might they do? >> we have up to 500 national guardsmen that the governor has authorized to be ready. they can assist with helping t clear roads, help to remove debris, help to transport people if need be. the most important thing that people need to understand is that this is a significant, heavy snow. you really should get to where you were going and have the provisions you need and be prepared to be on your own for up to 72 hours. >> this morning, we were talking about being prepared to be sheltered in your home for about three days and part of that is because getting to the rose sometimes could be 48 hours after the snow actually stops. what do you suggest that people do specifically if they have a few minutes to go out and gets applause? definitely, you need to have three days' food and water on

hand person in your household. have a working battery-powered radio. with the rate of this snow, we could be looking at power outages. they do not always occur because of eyes. sometimes, it could be the wake of the snow. a battery-powered radio will help you get in touch with authorities who are giving out information. talk with her family. people are spread out. people might not be home more trying to get home. have a plan as to how you can get together. >> in cases where you have a severe storm, some officials recommend that you fill your bathtub with water. is this the kind of situation where people may want to consider that? >> people can certainly do that. that would be water that you would use perhaps for making sure that you could still watch your -- flush your toilet purdue would not use the water for cooking. we recommend that people keep on hand a three-day supply of

water. that translates to 1 gallon per person per day. >> thank you so much. great information. and that is from the virginia department of emergency management. >> i think i need to hit the store. >> it might be a little later. we can see from the live pictures that the snow is starting to fall. >> we are seeing this know quite light and it is melting on contact in some places. temperatures are above freezing but as the snow continues to fall, it will pick up in intensity and will start to stick. we encourage you to share the photos you take and you can send them to us by our wjla.com website. . cent and the snow measurements to us as well. -- send any snow measurements to us as well let's start off with

a doppler radar. we see some light snow in the district. out towards the dulles area and leesburg and along the reston parkway and along route 7, there is a little bit heavier band of snow. that is like an appetizer before the main event. you can see the breadth of this storm. we are on a like track and the storm system that is spinning through eaern parts of tennessee will head toward the coast and another system will develop and will dump snow on top of us. this storm could rank in the top storms in the history of washington, d.c. adam caskey has been looking at this and he is live outside in maryland and has a bit of about those records.

one were to stop this storm the way it is looking is epic. it looks like an epic snowstorm probably going down in the top five and possibly even the top post more storms of all time. we only need 16.7 inches of snow and this will be in the top five. we need 20.6 inches and it will be in the top two. the biggest snowstorm on record at reagan national airport is 28 inches and that was back i 1922. that will be difficult but 20 inches is pretty likely across most of our region. we are in district heights, maryland and is 33 degrees. is one degree above freezing. that does not mean it cannot snow. it is snowing right here. it is not sticking to the ground at this moment. it will begin to. the heavier the snow comes down and the more than snow keeps coming down, the more the roads will: the grant will cool and the snow will start to stick.

not much in terms of wind but the wind will pick up. take a look of the storm time line. this is the estimated accumulation for the district and the immediate metro area. up until about 3:00 p.m., only about two inches on the ground. by 7:00 p.m., about four inches but between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the heaviest snow will bleak falling. that is in the center of the storm and it will move off the cape hatteras coastline and that is when it will deepen and strengthen and get cranking. between 7:00 p.m. at 7:00 a.m., we will say a snowfall rate on the order of 12 inches per hour and maybe more in many locations. by 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, two-feet of snow is looking likely. we are totals a few minutes -- a few minutes ago to a total of 20 inches with some places having a potential of seeing up to 32 inches by the time this is said and done.

we are outside the giant and have pictures from yours and one interesting picture -- >> we encourage you to send your pictures in. send them into wjla.com. this is the giant down in glebe road in arlington. there are three rows of pumpernickel but the other bread is gone. is great for us to have your snow tallies endure pictures. go to our website, wjla.com. our best estimate is 20-25 inches of snow by the time it wraps up but 10:00 p.m. on saturday. 3 lows of stale bread and glebe road. >> that all the rest. >> thank you. we're live with complete storm watch coverage into the afternoon. if you want to go online, log on

to the storm section of our website at wjla.com. >> nothing but dust bunnies on those shelves. the storm continues and coming up, d.c. is not the only area bracing for a tough weekend. we will check preparations up and down the eastern seaboard, coming up. >> will talk about how the rows are shaping up this afternoon as we continue, next. switch to tempur-pedic. now it's your turn. call now for your free information kit including a tempur material sample, along with a dvd and catalog. traditional mattresses use metal springs that can cause pressure points causing you to toss and turn. only the tempur-pedic mattress automatally adjusts to your body while keeping your spine in perfect alignment. plus, because tempur-pedic doesn't transfer motion,

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we will get back for storm watch covers but an exclusive abc interview -- seven months after her husband told the world about his affair with an argentine mistress on live television, south carolina first lady is breaking her silence. we will hear about that, barbara walters special on 20/20. barbara walters sat down with an exclusive interview with the first lady.

barbara joins us live with a preview. good afternoon and good to see you. >> i hear about the snowstorm and i hope that people are cozy at 10:00 at night and will watch this interview. we all heard about mark sanford and the argentinian mistress. this is the first time that jenny sanford talks about how she heard, what she felt, how it affected her children, and most important, why she is not a victim. she did not stand next to her man at the press conference but not next to him. >> you talk about warning signs and everybody says hindsight is 20/20 and there was something actually on their wedding day having to do with their vows that could of been a big warning sign? >> she thought was a good marriage for 20 years but when they got married, he refused to say in the boughs that he would be faithful.

this bothered her but they went through it and talked about it. now, looking back, he was giving a signal? maybe this marriage was not what she thought it should have been? he -- she was his campaign manager for the congressional election and election as governor and now, you can see what happened. >> you say she did not stand by her man and she has been a symbol for many women of independence and being direct and striking out on your own. what does she s about that day and actually watching the press conference as an observer? >> she had known before him that there was a woman. she did not know about the story about him hiking the appalachian trail and in really being in organs -- in argentina. she was horrified when she saw the press conference. she was watching at home and he

never mentioned her or his sons. he talked about how heartbroken he was with this woman and she was appalled and yet, when it was over, he called and asked her how he did. >> well, that had to been devastating. we are out of time but i know you talked to mrs. sanford about the future and her four sons. we look forward to your exclusive interview tonight. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you. >> you could watch that exclusive on "20/20"tonight. you're not going anywhere so tune in and stay with us for abc 7 news at eleven o'clock. >> let's get a check on our weather and traffic. the reason you will be home tonight is because of the latest storm totals. >> we are seeing a few reports and research appreciate you sending in your reports that weather@wjla.com.

there is light snow but it is truck -- just getting started. temperatures are above freezing right now but we are seeing some heavy band activity out to the west. there is light snow in gaithersburg but there is a lot of moisture down to our south and is headed this way. we will continue to see it pick up in intensity as we continue through the afternoon. it will get more intense and we will actually see the snow coming down heavier bands especially overnight. the temperatures across the area have some temperatures below freezing to the west. the roadways are warm because of the warm temperatures yesterday. we got a shot from a woman in gainesville. when you do your measure, brushed off the top of your deck or patio table.

the last storm is gone so you can start a new measurement and we will have a more accurate representation. the snow becomes heavy at times through the evening and the temperature falls into the 20's through the evening. 20-30 inches by the time to get to saturday night at 10:00 p.m. we go to the metro traffic center. >> we are looking at a couple of issues. the roads are mostly just what now and the snow has distorted and the pre-treating a helps. we look to the beltway on route 202. this is the outer loop going up toward route 450. there is a motorcade coming around the beltway which has brought in -- got off at route 50. all these rules should be open. once the motorcade passed, we have traffic moving again very quickly thereafter. it looks like they have made it out onto route 50. the people on the beltway should start moving again shortly.

we will go to silver spring and it looks like the traffic signals have not been moved into afternoon rush hour motive we're seeing a lot of delays getting out of downtown on the surface streets like colesville road in silver spring. let's go to springfield and you the express lanes were already pointed southbound. the snow seems to be obscured the camera. so far, no huge travel problems related to the weather. wet pavement means it will be slippery so give yourself extra time. our strong coverage moves out where this snow has been falling for some time. we go to lexington, virginia. how are you? >> i am doing just fine. >> you have several inches on the ground so far? >> you cannot really tell how many inches are on the ground because you cannot tell which was from last week in what has fallen today.

it is not like the of fluffy snow we had last weekend. this stuff is packing snow. the + makes driving difficult on 81. you compete see mostly trucks and commercialehicles heading out down the road. they're warning people to stay off the roads and the snowplows are keeping 81 opmn. drivers are having some of the slush along the way but they are making their drive just fine and some of the secondary roads that do not get as much attention as the primary road skirted the snowplows are concentrating on the primaries right now. emergency officials are urging people to stay off the roads. they have emergency shelters set up if people get stranded. what is your timing?

any idea when it will end for you? >> i am have yet hard time hearing you. >> we will let you go. thank you so much for joining us live from lexington, virginia. >> it is definitely coming down here in lexington. >> as our storm watch coverage continues, this note is starting to fall. let's see how things look where you are. take a picture or video and send it to us at eyewitness@wjla.com. we will be right back.