the weather channel's mike seidel has more on the massive christmas storm. >> reporter: a major snowstorm has dumped over a foot of snow across parts of the midwest. indiana got hit hard. high winds adding to the misery there. >> it's a lot better with the four-wheel-drive, but it, yeah, it's definitely a doozy out there. >> reporter: and there's lots of snow in little rock, too. folks there had the snowiest christmas ever with nine inches. and it's making getting anywhere almost impossible. ice is coating windshields, branches and power lines. >> we're going to make the best of it. we're trying to find some place with power where we can get a cup of coffee and hot cocoa. >> reporter: all this is making for a post-christmas travel nightmare. they're deicing in dallas as temperatures failed to break freezing. about 1,000 passengers had to spend the night in the airport. >> i'm coming down with a little cold, and should have been at work today. >> reporter: this is home video of a twister near jackson, mississippi. [ sirens ] part of a band of storms that ripped through the south last night

natalie, back to you. >> all right, mike seidel in buffalo, new york. thanks, mike. >>> at the airport, as mike just reported, lots of cancellations and delays on the boards. nbc's katy tur is at new york's laguardia airport. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, natalie. as you know, the day after christmas is one of the busiest travel days of the year. and now it is one of the most grueling. here at laguardia airport, more than 100 flights have been cancelled, and across new york city area airports, delays can reach nearly three hours long. across the country, much of the same, as the storm is felt from coast to coast. nationwide, more than 1,400 flights cancelled today alone. and there are fears of a ripple effect into another busy holiday weekend. so far, american airlines is suffering the most. 500 flights cancelled, 200 for delta. it's rebooking for free and hopes to be back to normal by tomorrow afternoon. still, if you are headed to the airport tonight, you might want to consider packing a sandwich, or maybe even a pillow. naflt? >> and lots

there could be significant delays. >> mike seidel in oklahoma city for us tonight, thanks so much. >>> new details are emerging tonight about that christmas eve shooting of firefighters who responded to an emergency. it happened in western new york near rochester. police said today the convicted killer who drew them into his deadly trap left a note. here's nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: police say the christmas eve ambush of four firefighters battling a massive house fire in new york was spelled out by the suspected arsonist and shooter in chilling, typewritten detail. >> quote, i still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood i can burn down and do i like doing best, killing people. >> reporter: authority ts say 62 years william spengler, who served prison time for killing his grandmother more than 30 years ago, shot at first responders who arrived at his burning house, the fire spreading to six other homes. >> we are being shot at. multiple firemen down. i am shot. i think he's using an assault rifle. >> he was equipped to go to war to kill innocent people. >> reporter: t

weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is live near buffalo. it looks like the snow has subsided a wee bit? >> reporter: it has in upstate new york, richard. roads in great shape. they don't mess around up here. the new york state thruway will take it down toward the city and toward the mass pike. it's very wet, but the slush is gone. they treated, they plowed and they've been out with a full complement of trucks. buffalo had only had 6 inches of snow until yesterday, but now they have picked up 11 inches. right here on this cornest lath night, look at the wind and snow. man, it was good stuff. it was about 24 degrees, not to cold, a powdery snow, snowing at over an inch an hour. now we go to torington, connecticut. the suburbs had some snow, and this morning of all things, thunderstorms rolled through new york city. out there they had about 4, 5, 6 inches there in the hills of connecticut. you can see that white, that massive white in new england across the ski resorts, some of those spots would end up with a storm total of 12 to 18 inches, ri

mike seidel is in cheektowaga, new york. good morning to you. >> reporter: we had 11 inches of snow so it has ended for now. keep in mind this city averages 8 feet a season but only had 6 inches until late yesterday afternoo afternoon. >> snow, high winds e, dangerous driving conditions hitting the northeast this morning. in new york city where they're still struggling in the afternoon ma aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> it's becoming enough. >> reporter: and residents stock ing up hard hit for supplies and snow reduced visibility and blanket the roads. >> especially greg down hill. >> reporter: in massachusetts, drivers were taking it extra slow. the storm was causing headaches at the nation's airport, over 1700 flights cancelled windy, stranding passengers trying get home over the christmas holiday. before moving to the northeast, the weather system pounded parts of the northwest dumping over a foot of snow in some areas and spawning 26 tornadoes in the south catches this at a walgr n walgreens in mobile, alabama. and lawm

. >> allow me to introduce you to mike seidel of the weather channel. what's your reading? >> we're kind of protected here -- >> it's not just hurricanes that have sent mike seidel flying. he's also found snow and ice on the ground can turn a weather report into a major slipup. >> is what happens -- ow, geez. oh, gosh. >> and there's another hazard when reporting on extreme weather. the kids are out of school. >> the children seem to be having the most fun of all of us here. they're all load up, as you can see with snow. that probably wasn't the best idea i've had this weekend. >> no, it isn't. and the attack isn't over. >> they're having a great time, as you can see. >> and even when a reporter is expecting snow day fun -- >> it looks like rubin is in the lead and here comes ali -- >> he can still get taken for a spin. >> that was a bad idea. at riverside park, rob leff. >> clearly reporting on weather in the outside is no walk in the park, but surely a reporter is safe inside the studio. not always. as idaho falls anchors justine bouvier and tommy can tell you. they host

weather channel meteorologist mike seidel joins me from wisconsin, delles, wisconsin. >> reporter: eight inches and counting and the snow not blowing particularly hard. we are going to get whacked here through the afternoon with heavier snow and the key here is the wind picking up. we've had gusts 20 to 21 miles an hour. we've had white-out conditions and we have parts of six states under blizzard warnings continuing through at least midnight tonight and maybe after that and even once the snow ends we get the blowing and drifting snow. adar right now. you'll see that it's green. we've had rain in chicago and milwaukee. milwaukee will change over first and after 4:00, 5:00, by dinner time it will be your first measurable snow of the season and the latest on record and that will end your record snow streak of 290 days, but the damage has been done with the rain and the snow coming in. they've canceled over 150 flights in and out of o'hare. back here, we've got the plow scraping up another several inches and he pushes it across and he tries to get across here and he's spinning out, too, and

mike seidel in new cumberland, pennsylvania. we appreciate it. looks like we lucked out. >> we mentioned that it's a quick hitter. in so little time, it can cripple so much when we talk about transportation. there's going to be lives disrupted all over the place. >> you heard him say, though, if you're playing out or if you have relatives that have been visiting, heading north, make sure you check with your carrier. take a look. this is the scene in frederick, maryland, where the flakes are coming down. they're big, wet flakes. the old wet kind where if we were to get a lot, it would be hard to clean out. for a few short hours, we get the snowfall. >>> today, people in the area can get their first dose of skiing. liberty mountain report in southern pennsylvania opens its doors to skiers and snowboarders for the first time this season. this is a live look at the resort's web cam as they prepare for the ski season to get under way. round top resort is also opening this morning. white tail and wisp are already open. >> better than last year. my gosh

the weather channel's mike seidel was in harrisburg this afternoon. >> reporter: for many in pennsylvania this is the third time they had to shovel snow this week, some picking up another 4 to 6 inches. over in philadelphia everyone for the first time in the season got a coating of white. >> reporter: as the storm continues to move north, the heaviest snowfall about 6 to 12 inches is expected to reach boston, cape cod, and providence, rhode island later this evening. and, kate, this storm did cut a wide swath through the country dumping rain and snow as it worked its way here into the northeast. now on average, we did see about an inch of snow in oklahoma and arkansas, about 6 inches in southern illinois, much of indiana. the heavier amounts are expected to happen tonight into new england. that's about 6 to 10 inches. the storm is moving fast. it's on its way to southern new england tonight. so if you're living near boston or to its east, do want to get your shovels ready. it will reach its peek near boston and cape cod and then fizzle out tomorrow around noon. but there is another storm

bring in mike seidel in the dells, wisconsin. mike? >> reporter: good morning, melissa, here in the midwest, we have had eight inches of snow. west of here, des moines and omaha, a fwhoochlt we don't have here that they have had are wind gusts over 50 miles an hour. we have blizzard warnings up, now for later today and tonight in parts of seven states. we are going to have whiteout conditions. now, the roads out here aren't in bad shape, they have been plowed and plowed and plowed again. look across to the open air yaws here between these hotels and you get a sense of the wind right now, about 15 miles an hour. but imagine -- imagine a gust of 45 or 50 miles an hour. so, he is there a going to be treacherous travel across a wide area, including interstates 90, 94, coming out of chicago, toward minneapolis and across the plains later today and tonight. speaking of chicago, already at o'hare, melissa, 140 flights have been cancelled in and out of that airport it is raining there or has been raining, the low 40s. once the cold air goes in

it will be heading to the northeast, weather channel meteorologist mike seidel live in new cumberland, pennsylvania. what are you seeing? what do we expect the next couple of days? >> light snow on the pennsylvania turnpike outside of harrisburg. travel fine, not that cold and hasn't snowed that much. this will be the first measurable snowfall for philadelphia. may get an inch of snow. new york city, times square, a couple of inches or so on the grassy services. 5 to 7. a winter storm for boston and snow will fall from dinner time to early on sunday morning. the areas where you got dumped wednesday morning, buffalo, syracuse, look for 3 to 6 inches, not the 10 to 15 you had. the major impact at the airports, already the three new york city airports, newark, laguardia, and kennedy, canceled 180 flights. there will be additional cancelations when snow starts flying. a quick hitter. down by tomorrow morning. tomorrow, a sunny, chilly end to the final weekend of 2013. not the animal we had the past week, but tornadoes on christmas and big snowfalls and flooding and all kinds of wind on th

mike seidel for us this morning. thank you so much. >>> coming up in just a moment, the nation on the edge of the fiscal cliff. what kind of deal is going to satisfy americans? it's 13 past the hour. i'm t.j. and you're watching "weekends with alex witt." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. if by blessed you mean freaked out about money well we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive so we switched to the bargain detergent but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. thanks honey yeah you suck at folding [ laughs ] [ female announcer ] one cap of tide gives you more cleaning power than 6 caps of the bargain brand. [ woman ] that's my tide, what's yours? >>> 17 minutes past the hour now. president obama says he's optimistic senate leaders can avoid the fisca

mike seidel is in wisconsin dells, north of madison. that looks worse than when i saw her earlier. >> reporter: worse for you. better for me. this is what we live for at the weather channel. the cancelations, they have jumped about twofold or more at o'hare. 402 flights. at midway, 123. between the two, 525 flights canceled in and out of the airports, a third of all flights. not because it's snowing. not yet. that's coming in around this afternoon around dinner time, too. we are getting the blowing snow. drifting snow. looking down towards interstate 90 and 94, see another plow off in to the distance and then lose him and half a mile and that's how hard it's snowing. winds gusting about 25 miles per hour. but we have had gusts over 40, 50 today across parts of iowa, nebraska and in kansas city a gust of 57. we've had about 9 inches of snow. looking at another 4 or 5 inches of snow combined with the winds. whiteout conditions. blizzard warning across wisconsin and, tamron, in chicago, the bottom's going to fall out around say 5:00 to 7:0

and mike seidel is just outside buffalo, new york this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. in buffalo, they picked up 11 inches. this is a city that averages 8 feet of snow a season. until yesterday they were in a snow drought and until yesterday only had about 6 inches. that's ended now. >>, high winds, dangerous driving conditions, all part of the powerful winter storm hitting the northeast this morning. in the suburbs of new york city, where they're still struggling in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> enough is enough now. becoming a little bit too much. >> reporter: in the suburbs of new york city, where they're still struggling in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. by windy night, the heavy snow in connecticut reduced visibility and blanket the roads. >> frustrating, especially going down the hills. >> reporter: a similar scene in massachusetts, where drivers are taking it extra slow. the snow is causing headaches at the airports, over 7,000 flights stranded. and in the northeast, the weather system pounded parts of

the weather channel's mike seidel is in minneapolis. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this sunday's big snow dumped 10 1/2," biggest snowfall on record here in the twin cities. minneapolis-st. paul more snow than they had seen any single day last season, at one point coming down more than an inch an hour. for some a welcome start for winter fun. >> it's never too much. >> reporter: for drivers in the dakotas, minnesota and wisconsin, icy roads and blizzard conditions made for dangerous driving. >> be patient. that's the big thing. be patient. >> reporter: in minnesota alone, more than 600 accidents. >> there have been a lot of spinouts, a lot of people in the ditch. >> reporter: plows out in force to make sure commuters could make it to work this morning. >> it's great that it's a sunday. we don't have to deal with rush hour traffic. >> reporter: in rochester, minnesota, where temperatures reached record highs a week ago, parents and children don't seem to mind the change in the weather. >> we didn't get much sn

weather channel mike seidel has made his way from oklahoma to upstate new york. hey, mike. >> reporter: that's right. we've been following my travels on the air with you on msnbc. in buffalo we picked up 11 inches, ending the snow drought and going into the storm, they only had 6 inches, and that said, they ended in good shape. it fell from 1:00 yesterday afternoon to 1:00 this morning and free and clear in new york. they used a lot of salt and a lot of plowing. they don't mess around up here. we still have issues today. talking about the outsider rondex. northern new england gets slammed with 12-18 inches of snow. burlington, the western suburbs of boston and loganton all wind and bangor, where the winds condition. checking laguardia and newark delays, about an hour to hour and a half. we still have a lot of cancellations today, upwards of 600. yesterday, we had over 1700 cancellations. things are improving slowly at the airports as snow winds down in buffalo. next system due in saturday, looking like a much weaker event especially in the northeast. maybe 1-3 in