good morning. it is 5:00 on this friday morning. it is nice and calm out there right now but it won't stay that way. won't be long now before the big storm arrives. good morning. i'm grinned. >> i'm he steve chenevey. thank you for being with us this morning. >> we have a lot to get to

today. >> we'll start? virginia where alexandria city schools are closed today. arlington, clark, culpeper, fairfax, fauquier and frederick county schools are also closed today. >> also closed today, fredericksburg city schools, king joan, loudoun and manassas city and manassas park city schools. page county, prince william, rappahannock, shenandoah, spotsylvania, stafford and warren county schools and winchester city schools are closed n in maryland, allegheny and charles county schools are closed as well. >> we have a bunch of early dismissals including the federal government which plans to let out four hours early today. it already has been unscheduled leave policy in effect. d.c. public schools will dismiss at noon today. in maryland, anne arundel county schools will dismiss two hours early. carroll county schools, two hours and 45 minutes early, howard county schools, three hours early and montgomery county school will dismiss two and a half hours early. make sure you continue to watch

the top of your screen and go on-line to myfoxdc.com. we'll update all of the situations there. >> it ill will be a big one. i guess the schools taking the necessary precautions. >> i think they are being prudent. if you think you can get the kids in to get some teaching in, do that and then just be ware that you want to release them early. it is fine this morning. i think through the more than, we'll be fine even though some viewers will start to see light snow later on in the morning. it definitely intensifies later on in the day. there will be other traffic out there. >> you were talking about the snow beginning around noon today. are you talking about a lot of snow fall nation short period of time? >> i think today the snow will be like what you would normally see t will start snowing. it will snowt will gradually intensify. tonight is whether it really starts to get really heavy. tucker was saying the rate of snowfall will be pretty impressive. it could be two inches an hour or even a little bit more

during some points. so it will be pretty impressive tonight. during the day, snow. >> okay. >> let's take a look at what is going on out there. we'll show you what we know. there is a winter storm warning that goes into effect. remember yesterday i told you it was likely to become a warning. it is. it goes into effect at 10:00. the first viewers to see snow will be south and west of washington d.c. the storm will be making its way in from the southwest moving to the northeast during the course of the day. then that winter storm warning lasts until 10:00 saturday night. all right. here is a look at the true view. we can show you the radar, what is happening now. we have the cloud thickening. you can seat precipitation down to the south. a lot of precip with this system and there will be more. that precipitation will be enhanced as the coastal low forms. it look like it is very close to us now. that is the leading edge of it. stuff that is falling from the clouds but not hitting the ground so we are still a few hours away. airport temperatures, today,

we'll see our temperatures at 35. our highs will be early in the day and they will gradually start to drop. 5 at reagan national. dulles international is 31. that 35 just updated. 31degrees at bwi marshall. forecast for today, snow developing we believe generally speaking around the noon hour. daytime accumulations, three to six inches. >> that is not bad. >> it is tonight and tomorrow that we have to worry about when we have blizzard-like conditions and heavy snowfall. i will tell you about all of that coming up in just a little bit. >> let's check in with julie and look at traffic out there. >> good morning to you. i've had a lot of people ask me about the caps game and as far as i know, it is still on. >> that is what we heard too. >> so be careful. you may not have so much trouble getting there but getting home tonight could be interesting so proceed with caution. we are looking good. no incident to report if you are travelling along 270. nice an clear off of i-07 and 15 headed south.

no incidents to report out of the point of rocks. waking up to dry pavement. -- nice and clear off of i-70 and 15 headed south. keep in mind, the elevated passages freeze before anything else. do keep that in mind for your midday travels. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. crews have been working around the clock getting the roads ready ahead of what could be this record snowfall. in the droight, nearly 300 pieces of equipment and more than 700 workers will be out there on the roads. v-d.o.t. will launch 1800 trucks on northern virginia roads by noon today and in maryland, workers are going to be on 1-hour shifts trying to keep the roads open. drivers are urged to stay off throads if you can when the snow begins to fall and avoid parking on snow routes. >> if you are relying on metro, once more than eight inches of snow falls, metro shuts down the govern ground stations. so you will end be able to travel underground if we reach

that point. amtrak has cannes he eled most of its service in the d.c area and the carolinas. -- amtrak has canceled most of its service in the d.c. area and the carolina. grocery and hardware stores packed once again with people stocking up on food and necessities. stacy cohappen is in bethesda. we learn that apparently a majority of people only keep about one day's worth of food in their house. >> apparently. >> reporter: i get it. people who were unprepared if december don't want to go through that again. we just got a shipment here in bethesda. these shelves were empty about a half hour ago. they are now being restocked. that is true of many of the the sexes here. certainly things we had in common missing were popular super bowl items, the chip aisle empty. sodas, empty. back there at the meat counter,

all the ground beef empty. they are getting shipments in. you want to see what it looks like yesterday. i bet we have some footage of that. not only in the grocery stores but the hardware stores, there was nothing. people were grabbing everything off the shelves, snow shovels, ice melt, essential items that people need during snowstorms, it just wasn't around. this disbrient here -- this giant here is open 4 hours. if you want to get what you need, it is worth getting out of bed and coming down to one of the 4-hour grocery stores because there are no lines. although we have seen quite a few people. most of them said no, i do not usually get out of bed at 4:00 in the morning but i did it today. so you may not find your brand of peanut butter. go for something else. he they do have some here on the shelves. the least stocked section here at the giant and i'm told around the region is definitely produce. they are waiting for the fresh shipments this morning. maybe you don't have the crudite platter for your super bowl party.

can you make do with something else and you will be happy if you get out of bed now. trust me. back to you. >> thank you very much. we'll take a quick brk and be back right after this. 

we do have stories other than the snow this morning. making head lines, also, reports from japan saying there is another major recall in the work by toyota. it is for the popular prius hybrid. toyota recalling more than a quarter mailian prius vehicles in the u.s. and japan over brake problems. there could be more bad news coming as the carmaker is launching an investigation into a problem with brakes on the lexu. hybrid. ten ameran people have been charged in haiti. the lawyer says the leader knew what she was doing and he believes nine of the missionies didn't know what they were doing. some of the children's parent say they gave them away willingly hoping they would have a better life somewhere else. you remember the d.c. police officer who pulled his

gun during a snowball fight. sources say kathy lanier is leaning towards firing the veteran detective. mike baylor was off duty and videotaped gun in hand after his hummer was hit by snowballs looking for the person who threw them. the approaching snowstorm means big problems for those trying to get out of town including the airports. that is where sherry is this morning. >> reporter: the mad dash is on this morning at the airport. the flights are at the gate. people trying to get out before they get snowed in. hundreds of flights across the region already canceled. we'll tell you which ones coming up. also coming up, we have the latest on the snowstorm that is on the way. we'll give you the latest numbers on how much we think we're going to see. julie wright will be along with an early morning look at traffic. do stay with us. fox 5 morning news will be right back. w

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welcome back. lots of closings out there and lots of early dismissals as well. we'll run those down for you. >> let's start with the federal government which plans to let out four hours early today. it has an unscheduled leave policy in effect. d.c. public schools will let out at noon today. in maryland and anne arundel county schools will dismiss two hours early. carol county, two hours and 45 minutes early. howard county schools are letting out three hours early and montgomery county schools will be dismissing two and a half hours early. >> let's check in with tony and find out more about what we can expect today. the count downis on. >> we'll get very specific here. i want to say two things. we don't want to be alarmist. our job as weather people is to tell you what we think is going to happen. that is what we are going to do without going crazy or anything like that. number two, tucker and i, our attitude coming to work the last couple of days and today is to look at this forecast and

think what could possibly keep these numbers down? we talked about the possibility of sleet which is possible south and east of here. anything else? we were just looking at thunderstorm activity with the system down to the south which tucker was pointing out robs it of some of that energy. so we'll monitor that. if theres a way for us to say okay, maybe wear for the going to get these crazy amounts, we'll say t right now, it is coming together to be a major storm, a top ten storm, probably a top seven storm for the washington area. so that is how it looks. i want to show you the specific numbers that we think at this point, we might tweak them a little bit. these are the accumulations that we are going to see during the course of this storm. the storm begins. first of all, it will move in from the southwest and move northeast across the region. those of you living south an west of the district will see snow before those you have in the district or north and east of the district. snow begins friday generally speaking around noon. some of you might see it at 10:00 to the south and west. you are up in baltimore.

it might be 1:00, 2:00, something like that. by this evening at 2:00, we think generally speaking two to six inches on the ground. by tonight at 11:00, we think six to nine inches on the ground. and in some places, a little bit more because that snow starts to pick up. by saturday more than, 14 to 16 inches will be on the ground. bulk ofhe heavy snow occurs late friday night into early saturday morning. then by the time this is wrapping up saturday 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 16 to 24 inches plus. there are some areas that will get higher amounts. there will be snow drifting because of the strong winds so you will get measurements maybe 30, 32 inches because of drifting. down to the south and west, you could get maybe 27, 28 inches out of this storm. here are the current temperatures. cold start to the day. right n, we are at 35 degrees here in washington. 32-degree if gaithersburg. frederick is at 28. manassas at 28. check out annapolis, # #

degrees there so our temperatures right where we think they're going to be or thought they would be for this morning. they will ben to drop. here is a look at the satellite- radar. you see that band across the washington area. you can look out your window. you are not going to feel anything. that is not hitting the ground. it is hitting the ground in southwestern virginia and farther out to the south and west, let me pull it out. we'll show you the southern end of this storm. attorneys was talking about thunderstorm activity. there it is. thunderstorm activity now moving through portions of florida, alabama into join. that could rob the storm of some of its energy but by the time it moves off the coast, it will be reinforcing with some cold air and another upper level low. it will enhance that storm. forecast for today, this is what we're looking at. winter storm warning goes into effect at 10:00. snow develops. daytime accumulations as we said about three to six inches. 35degrees for your high today. that is where we are. we'll be consistent for a while

and then the temperatures start to drop. heavy snow accumulations. 10 to 15 inches. check out the wind. they pick up to 15 to 25 miles per hour. so blizzard-like conditions late tonight and during the day tomorrow. five-day forecast, snows all day tomorrow. we think it moves out of here around 5:00 to 7:00. sunday, dry, but the digout begins. tuesday, yes, a chance of snow accumulating snow. we'll have more details on that later. right now, let's find out what is happening with traffic unless she has bolted from the building. here is julie wright. >> i'm scared. i'm just going to put it out there. i'm scared. a 13-inch beagle and you're already callingor two feet of snow. bailey, where did you go? southbound 207 nice and clear right now. no incidents to report. headed out towards the lane divide. still looking good nutley street to the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >> thank you. st. mary's county schools

in maryland just added that they will be hosed today. you can add that to the list. everything is at the top of your screen and on myfoxdc.com. >> we have you covered with the snow. we'll have much more when we come back right after the break. my doctor told me i had to start doing things for my heart, but i wasn't ready to give up taste. sometimes, sacrifice is the name of the game.

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welcome back. we have a couple more school districts reporting in. prince george's county schools will be dismissing three hours early today. frederick county schools in maryland will be dismissing

three and a half hours early. >> a lot of folk trying to get out of town before the storm comes in. rush is on at local airports to try to either leave or change your flight plan. >> flight plans being canceled. travelers coming in and out of town are wondering what they will do. sherry ly joining us with the latest on. this i guess this is a repeat of what we saw right before christmas. >> reporter: it is. people are getting very creative trying to get out of town. we ran into pat mcgrath, our former colleague and he is flying to philadelphia so he can then make his way over to his cruise. everybody is trying to do everything they can to get out before thesnowstorm hits. we've checked the arrival and departure boards. as of now, everything says on time. later this afternoon, that will change to canceled and for a lot of passengers, it is now or never. there is no calm before the storm. this is the hectic scramble to

get out. >> we were supposed to be in meeting until tomorrow evening. >> reporter: on the phone, on laptops and in line, passengers fear the snow and heed the warning. >> i am going to super bowl. go saint. >> reporter: ken bailey is in that number marching to miami missing the super bowl because of a super snow, not an option. >> i thought it would come in on saturday. didn't expect it to come in on friday. when i saw that it was, i did kind of hustle and scramble to get my flight rescheduled and reranged. i was able to get it accomplished so i'm miami bound. >> the night before the storm, security lines were unusually busy. these may be some of the last flights out as major storm moved up the east coast. all the major airlines have already canceled flights starting early friday afternoon and all day saturday. this woman rebooked three times already trying to keep her vacation from falling part. >> now, i'm okay. hopefully. i have to get to my cruise. i mean you know, there are some minor delays and we have to get

there two days early but it will be worth it. >> reporter: the last big storm was a nasty scene. passengers were left sleeping and stranded at the airports for days. no one wants to be in that number. pro active measures are keeping passengers happy. >> airlines are very cooperative, very easy to work with. gave them a call, no fees. seat was available and they were able to accommodate me. >> everybody has been so polite here at the airport and on the phone. u.s. airways has done a great job of trying to manage that. >> reporter: most of the major airline are waiving the usual change fees. can you also expect some flights to be caps eled on sunday morning. the air lined will take a look at the situation, re-evaluate on sunday morning and then hopefully get some flights out later that day. in fact, we met a family earlier this morning who was headed to hawaii and their flight was booked for sunday morning. they rebooked for this morning because they weren't sure that they were going to get out. i would kind of like to be on

that night with them to hawaii. >> either that or barbados with pat mcgrath. >> he wouldn't take me. i don't know why. >> always pat was a wise man. we're keeping a very close eye on the approaching storm. still have a few hours hours to go before we see the first snowflakes in the d.c. area. government is open this morning so morning rush should be as usual. you will see an early rush hour home as a lot of folks including the government will be going home early. more details on all of that coming up after the break.

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welcome back. the calm before the storm literally. we do have a lot to get to to help you get ready for the winter weather headed our way. first, the schools and the federal government. >> wel start in virginia where alexandria city schools are closed as are arlington, clark, culpeper, fairfax, fauquier and frederick county schools. >> also closed today, fredericksburg city schools, king george, loudoun and madison county schools. man as city and manassas park city schools. -- manassas city and manassas park city schools. >> in maryland, allegheny, charles an st. mary's county schools are closed. in west virginia, berkeley, hampshire, hardy, jefferson, mineral, morgan and grant county schools are closed. >> the federal overnment will let out four hours early today. it already has an unscheduled leave policy in effect.

d.c. public schools will dismiss at twelve noon. in maryland, anne arundel county schools will dismiss two hours early, carroll county schools, two hours 45 minutes early, howard county schools letting out three hours early. montgomery county schools dismigging two and a half hours early. prince george's county schools will dismiss three hours early and frederick county, maryland schools will let out three and a half hours early. >> you can watch the top of your screen throughout the morning. also check out our web site, myfoxdc.com. we'll continue to update the school closings for you as those begin to come in to us. >> i was just thinking about those schools. we've already had school closures quite a few times this winter and now this. they will be in schoolntil july. >> it will be tough and you have cancellations because of the amount of snow we will see, you are likely to have cancellations on monday as well and then on tuesday, we'll get more snow.

the way it looks right now, a few inches of snow. you will have problems next week too. >> it's in the going anywhere because i looked at your temperatures and they're cold. >> you're right. we're going to be getting updated information throughout the morning about the weather as well. we have an updated warnings map to show you. we showed you we are under a winter storm watch in parts of the area. it is all winter storm warning now. all the counties you see in the public-pink county. it does include queen anne and talbot counties. they are not filled in here. we apologize for that. it is a computer glitch in the software. the wind will pick up significantly during the -- particularly for us during the nighttime hours and through tomorrow. let's take a look at the satellite-radar. we'll keep our eyes on this all morning long. it will show us where the system is. it is well tthe south and

west but making its way here. some of our viewers south and west of the city will start to see snow i think around 9:00, 10:00 this morning but for the bulk of us it will be around 11:00 or 12:00. tonight, the snow gets intense an heavy. current temperatures around the region, 5 degrees in washington. 31 at dulles. baltimore is at 31. ocean city, 31 there. dover, delaware, i think they are under that blizzard warning. here is the forecast for today. daytime accumulations, three to six. we'd be talking about that anyway if it was just that. add 10 or 0 inches on top of that before this is all over. 35 for your daytime high. that is a look at the weather. more coming up in just a little bit. >> i hope the headlights on the tractor are working.

i'll be out at midnight plowing the driveway. >> it seems like an exercise in frustration. >> a lot of people like to stay on top of it. >> check in with julie wright. we'll have a couple of rush hours today. looks like a three-stage process. >> right you now, it is pretty good if you do have to make a trip out to work or get things done. now is the time to do all of that. you are on dry pavement. no incidents reported. 270 is nice and clear out of hyattstown head out towards the lane divide. a little bit of a slow downhere at truck scale as you work your way southbound. 395 is good shape headed northbound up to the 14th street bridge. we are not talking about volume and we are not talking about accidents. we are just giving you an overview of was happening right now. this is going to change as the morning continues on into the afternoon. whatever can you get done now, now is the time to do it. that's a check of your fox 5

on-time traffic. crews across the area spent the night prepping the roads ahead of today's snowstorm. in d.c. a convoy of trucks have been bringing in a bunch of salt. nearly 300 pieces of equipment and more than 700 workers will be out on the roads today as v- d.o.t. will launch 1800 trucks on northern virginia roads by noon today. in maryland, workers will be on 12-hour shifts around the clock trying to keep the roads open. drivers across the area are being warned to stay out of the way. >> we really appreciate it if people can stay off the roads tolt night. when people are out on the roads and they're dodging and weaving around our plows, it make it hard for us to plow. >> you will want to be ware of the snow emergency routes. drivers can face fines in the hundreds of dollars if you don't move your cars from dignated snow emergency streets. >> if you are relying on metro, once the snow gets to be more than eight inches deep, metro shuts down the above ground stations. amtrak has canceled most of the its service in the d.c. area

and the carolinas. can you get travel updates at myfoxdc.com. if you need to hit up the hardware store or grocery store, you better do it early. the coming storm set off a shopper's frenzy. >> i think parse shelves and long lines as many fol are not only stock up on necessities but also getting ready for the super bowl festivities on sunday. i have trying to shop in montgomery county yesterday and i got up to the entrance of the store and there were about 20 cars backed up on the highway to get in so i just kept going. >> you chickened out. >> no, i had better use of my time and i figure i'll eat what i have in the house. >> i have heard that from several people that i talked to that bailed on the store yesterday. i did a circle at a big warehouse store and went back out too. i did the same thing. what are you doing here this hour? >> just collecting some junk. got to get ready for the blizzard. >> reporter: you got good stuff. we were both like sort of

envying the cream pies. these are great. so you have to be flexible. the shelves are kind of surprisingly empty. what did you think when you looked in here? >> i was viced to see there is absolutely no vegetables at all, no -- not that much fruit left over. so i had to goat gogh for the next best thing. -- so i had to go for the next best thing. >> you tried. do you have other snow gear. >> i have the shovels and the snow gear and all that. but got to get some more junk. >> reporter: i'll let you continue your shopping. if there are any more oatmeal cream pies, save them for me and my photographer. they look good. the produce section is still empty but they do tell me there is a truck out back. hopefully, we'll see some bread aisled filling up. i haven't been back to the butcher's area recently. they were out of meats earlier

this morning. lunch meats totally gutted. chips totally gutted. there are several 24 hour grocery stores in our area. be flexible. there is nothing wrong with oatmeal pies and chocolate chip cookies. >> i was go about to give him a hard time but if he tried to get the vegetables and couldn't, i understand. >> right. >> thank you. tomorrow being we'll be live all day bringing you the latest on the roads and metro. can you start watching us at 6:00 and we are going to be on all day. keep it tuned and locked into fox 5. also, all the details on- line at myfoxdc.com. can you check the forecast 24/7. along with the snow, the other big story we're following are the troubles for toyota. coming up next, another recall and possible problems with two other toyota models. a big legal day ahead for michael jackson's doctor. you're watching fox 5 morning news. we'll update the stories coming up. rgvencer) school mornings are busy mornings.

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toyota is considering another huge recall, this time because of the brakes on the popular prius hybrid. reports from japan say the carmaker is about to recall 270,000 prius cars in this country and japan. ited to twoit has already recalled millions of cars with gas pedal problems. the company is now investigating brakes on the lexus hybrid. michael jackson's doctor is expected to surrender today as dr. conrad murray will appear at an l.a.

courthouse where he could be charged with involuntary manslaughter in jackson's death. jackson died last june from an overdose of propofol administered by dr. murray. north korea says it will fee an american missionary who crossed the border on christmas day. this morning, north korea said it will release him after he said he was sorry for entering the country illegally and saying he was ashamed the of so- called biased view that he used to have of the communist nation. the big story we're following this morning is the snowstorm that is headed our way. that mean a lot of headaches at the airport. sherry ly is following that story for us this morning. >> reporter: when i have been looked at that forecast of up to two feet of snow, they know it is time to get out of town now, especially if they have flights out later this weekend. a bunch of flights already canceled. we'll have the details for you coming up. we're checking the latest on the forecast and all your morning commute.

pretty slow on 270 right now. we'll keep an eye on it. we'll be back after this.

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a lot of schools have closed today in anticipation of the storm. there are also a number of

schools that will start today but will leave early. some of the early advertise missals include not just the schools but -- swroot federal government, steve, which plans to let out four hours early today. d.c. public schools are going to dismiss at noon today. in maryland, anne arundel county schools will get out two hours early, carroll county schools, two hours and 45 minutes early. howard county schoolsetting out three hours early. montgomery county schools will dismiss two and a half hours early. prince george's county, three hours early and frederick county, maryland schools will be getting out three and a half hours early. >> all of this can change so keep an eye on the top of your screen. the easiest thing to do is go to myfoxdc.com. look for your school district and can you find it there. throughout the day today and tomorrow if you want to take pictures and even we have a video uploading feature now. we can share that with ou viewers as we will be on pretty much around the clock throughout the weekend. >> and in fact, also, if people want to go to the web site and

give us their totals that they're seeing in their communities, i know tomorrow during the day, we'll use that information as well. >> measure it on a flat surface. >> that's right. >> i hard a lot of people talking about sending the pictures in which were absolutely gorgeous but i heard somebody say -- what's tucker saying? >> they got to wipe off t snow that is already on the ground. >> because there is still accumulation in some areas. >> don't add that to the total. >> we get an accurate reading. >> clear off a pat wroa table. >> oh, attorneys. >> he is a perfectionist. that is why he has these degrees that we don't understand. you do. we don't. >> what i was going to say is people are sick it was. >> that is the bottom line. >> that is the bottom line. >> everybody keeps saying it is gorgeous. but people are like enough already. from our point of view, it is fascinating because it is rare that we get two big storms. let's take a look at was going

on. we'll start with the current temperatures around the region. 35degrees here in washington. let's see. salisbury, maryland, 29 degrees there. 28 in manassas. winchester, virginia is at 31 degrees. frederick, maryland is at 30 degrees at this hour. all right. let's take a look at the satellite-radar. this is not hitting the ground. it is show something moisture in the air, some verga maybe leaving the clouds. if you watched ask the weather guy, learned it takes a long time for the snow to hit the ground once it falls from a cloud. that is not hiding the ground. it is the leading edge. but we are seeing activity down to the south and west in southwestern virginia. here is our big storm system making its presence known in the southeast. a line of thunderstorms now, at least heavy rain, we were seeing lightning early, not seeing so much now. that is moving across the southeast. that will be pushing up. snow, when you get closer to

the points where temperatures are well below freezing and don't forget this transfers off coast and becomes a coastal storm. it moves up, brings us heavy snowfall. here is what we think we'll get in terms of totals. i will tell you that confidence is high in this forecast. we feel very good about this that this is what we're going to see. all the areas here in purple, after it is all done, 16 to 24 inches. might someone get 13 inches? yeah. could someone get 27, 28, 29 inches? that is possible as well particularly out to the west where the mountains are. the sweet spot for this spot is south and west of the district, 22 inches plus down there. to the south and east, sleet and a wintry mix will keep the totals down a little bit n portions of eastern maryland, southern maryland, eight to 16 inches for your snow totals there. the forecast for today looks like this. winter storm warning goes into effect at 10:00 this morning.

snow developing, daytime accumulation three to six inches, just for the day. 35degrees for your high today. for tonight, more accumulations, heavy snow falling at one to two inches an hour or more. winter storm warning continues through saturday. 28degrees if your overnight low. note the winds pick up. we'll have white-out conditions. i think late tonight, blizzard conditions tomorrow during the day. 31 for your high. sunday, we get a chance to dig out. monday, cold. tuesday, a chance of more snow. possibly, i'll just throw it out there, possibly -- tucker is orphan frowning. three to six inches possible on tuesday but we don't know yet. we'll see. julie wright is here with is a look at traffic. >> not as much to talk about the roads right now. thank goodness for that. dry pavement around the area looking good as you travel through silver spring headed around towards the exits at 270.

lane are open in both the hovs and the main line heading up to springfield. it will be a tough time for a lot of people trying to get in and out of town because of the storm moving in. >> it's monster storm certainly on the way. it will be here soon. we expect to see it within the next five hours or so. >> let's check in with sherry ly joining us live from reagan national. >> reporter: good morning. normally in the mornings, they are busy with business travelers here at reagan national airport but it has been more than busy here this morning as a lot of people try to get out of town before they get snowed in. we have checked the boards here. all the flights on time right now. later this afternoon, that will be caeled and a lot of people trying to rebook flights making that mad dash but if you haven't done that already, well, it may be too late. the major airline have already canceled flights at all three washington area airports

staing early this afternoon and all day saturday. starting yesterday, people got on-line, on the phone, however they could to reschedule flights to get home or salvage their vacation plans. the good news, airlines are waiving the usual change fees. now, for a lot of passengers with flights scheduled later today or over the weekend, it was get out now or never and that is a risk one super bowl- bound passenger wasn't willing to take. >> i thought that it would come in on saturday. didn't expect i to come in on friday. when i saw that of his, i did kind of hustle and scramble to get my flight rescheduled and rearranged. i was able to get it accomplished so i'm miami- bound. >> now, i'm okay hopefully. i have toet to my cruise. i mean there are some minder delays and we have to get there two days early but it will be worth it. >> reporter: can you expect some flights on sunday morning to be canceled as well. we're told the airlines will reposition their flights and then on sunday morning, they will re-evaluate the situation and see if they can start getting flights out later that day.

remember back in december when we had a snowstorm as big as this one and this one may even be bigger. people spent days here at the airport. some people were leaping on the benches waiting for get new flights out. so it could be a very ugly situation here after they finally get flightstarted again here. >> thank you. we'll check back in with sherry in a little bit as conditions continue to change. in the meantime, checking a little sports action as the terps needed awin last night to keep pace in the acc. florida state didn't make it easy for them. coming up next, little a tight showdown but could the terps take charge. the caps look to extend their long winning streak. sports is up next. hey hi

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quick check of sports this morning. another win for your washington capitals. that makes 12 in a row. congrats to the caps. they beat the new york rangers 6-5 last night. close game being good game. alex ovechkin with two more goals and an assist. that gives him 500 career nhl points, not bad for a 4-year- old. the caps next take on the atlanta flashers, that game tonight at the verizon center. at this point, the game will get on despite the snow. terps at florida state. they play indoors so not so bad. pick this one up. tied at 64 in the final two minutes. terps up two. next possession for florida

state off the long miss. the terps gather the rebound. out of nowhere, chris singleton. we are going to pi it up in the final second. seminole with the ball. gregory steps in, drugs the charge. term with a great win on the road 71-67 and probably hoping they could stay in florida for a little bit longer. speaking of florida, we do have a programming note for you. for nascar fans, the bud shootout at daytona set to air tomorrow night on fox 5, this is the inaugural nascar event for the 2010 season supposed to air on fox 5 tomorrow night from #:00 to 10:00 p.m. because of the blizzard tomorrow, we will air it but it won't be on fox 5. we will move that program over to my 0 instead. can you watch the bud shoot outtomorrow night from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. but it will object my 20. straight ahead, we are coming back wh more on the snow coverage. we'll check out your commute as well as folk are heading in. a left schools are closed.

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