>> we began the day with snow and could end it with freezing rain and a little bit of snow, if the weather will discorrupt your new year's eve plans in my forecast. >> everywhere, every turn i made. >> nature makes a final mark on the year 2009. how the storm cost some drivers off guard. happy new year! >> from times square to the inner harbor. what to expected if you're headed out >> for some it was a fun surprise. >> this is beautiful. to wakeup. pure joy. >> for others it was a big slippery mess. >> your car going one way, you're trying to turn the other way. >> what the away did to end thyear 2009. been how it could impact the beginning of 2010. >> the worst appears to be over tonight but early this morning it was a very different story. >> the small winter blast caught by surprise. >> i woke up when my alarm went off. i looked outside. it was sheets of snow. >> it's a beautiful holiday, snow flakes filling the early morning air. even serene. as long as you don't have to drive in it. >> a lot of people are afraid in the snow. >> early on t drivers are getting where they need to go, even if they have to budget in extra final. >> takes be about 30 minutes. left an hour early. >> good thing, too, the snow continued to fall, it became harder to see. cars found it more difficult to find the pavement or anything solid on top. >> i slid everywhere i went. every turn i'd slide. i slid at least 5 times to bring myself together. >> chelsea says it usually takes her 10 lines to get this far. today, 45. >> your car going one, trying to turn the steering wheel the other way. don't run into the curb. you go the ways the tires go. >> things were still snow packed, you couldn't see the road. as the morning moved on things got better. they got treated. it went to slush. then finally, pavement. does that mean we're getting better in dealing with all this snow. i don't think so. >> we're in maryland. i don't think we'll of get used to snow. >> in righteous town, fox 45 news at 5:30. >> if you watch fox 45 you weren't surprised by today physical's storm. >> no, you were not. this was predicted nearly perly. you did it perfectly. he joins us now with more on what we expect tonight. congratulations. >> well, trying to watch these storms and we're watching this ever since last saturday, sunday, keeping an eye on the storm track throwing the area. we're going to see something for today. it came true. we saw an inch to 2-inches across the city and areas south and west of the city getting as much as 2-3-inches, mostly activity now is freezing rain and sleet coming coming down. we will p we'll see that push to the north. how that effects us for tonight. looks like a little built of wrap around. if you want to do some celebrating downtown, you'll run into a little bit of sleet and snow. temperatures around 32-31. dress warm, take an umbriel i. youment to hit any bummers out there. if you're going to see the fireworks, 31-degrees. happy new year to you all. >> thousands of revelers won't threat the threat of bad weather stop them. >> live at the inner harbor with the preview of the night's festivities. >> happy new year to you. one thing i learned, this is the largeless new year's celebration. it is quiet now. this place tomorrow promises to be packed. the entertainment starts at 7:00 right here. there will be balance skyline lit up with taxpayers. the -- fireworks. you can see the show from all over. now, jeff, as you just said t weather is not expected to be the greatest, but unless we are hit with heavy winds or heavy rain, the show will go on. >> we're hoping that rain is not going to be an issue, but we do expect the crowds are going to be lower because of the rain and the snow this morning. we're expecting a large crowd. we want everybody to come out tonight. >> we'll the the latest coming up at 10:00. the fireworks is expected to last for at least 18 minutes and festivities will start at 7:00. reporting live here at the inner harbor, fox 25 news. >> unfortunately there is also a baltimore tradition that can have deadly consequences. everyone new year, the sound of gun fire echos through baltimore city. the police department plans to have more officers on the street than any other night of the year. hundreds will be patrolling city streets, at the stroke of midnight they won't be taking cover. they will be tracking down people with guns. >> whether you're out celebrating or hurting somebody, if you're finding an weapon we're out to get you. there will be more police officers out here tonight. >> in the past, balance city made it a priority to crack down on illegal gun fire. this year police say have ceased more than 2,000 illegal guns. >> the largeless new year's -- largest new year's party will be at the big apple. >> live at times square. >> good evening. it's the crossroads, this is the biggest party in the big apple. less than 7 hours away from the big downtown ringing in 2010. look, i've talked to people around the world. they're here to get a firsthand look at the famous crystal ball. >> get it ready for the count down. >> the crossroads of the world is packed. >> where with you from? >> guatemala. >> nevada. >> some are here to party, some to make a buck. since early this morning, piling into times square picking out the best spot. >> we thought we'd bring it in big. >> people behind the scenes are working overtime. nypd set up barricades and check points. >> it will be the safest location anywhere. we will have many, many uniformed police officers. >> in addition to security, everything else is a go. on tuesday, the confetti test. more than a ton will be dropped tonight. >> 3, 2, 1! happy new year! >> and, of course, they had to test the ball, nearly 12,000 pounds covered by water ford crystals costing $2 million. >> we're not far from that. live now at the crowd here in times square. police have pushed them into sections. each one of these sections, most of them about 1,000 people. some of them up to about 2500 people. about 30 minutes they'll raise the crystal ball, light it, then the permanences begin. then we move toward the condone. a million people here, about a billion are estimated to be watching around the world. >> thanks so much. >> thank you, craig boss well. hopefully the roads have recovered from this morning. >> well, indeed it's nothing out there like it was this morning. that's for sure. we do have a little bit of rain sleet mix coming down right but. there will be a few icy patches. as for the main lines, the speeds are up there, not bad for a friday evening. 58 miles an hour right now on 95 traveling in that northeast corner. 53 traveling through the forth mchenry tunnel. we have to talk about baltimore city. the festivity a lot of crowds will be coming down, so confident heavy volume in the area. now, as for 95 traveling into the downtown region at 395 we can show you what it looks like there. you can see traffic is flowing freely. there is northbound and southbound lines heading toward the belt way. that is a look at your new year travels. >> thanks so much. and happy new year. wrapping up the year 2009 -- >> still ahead, chief meteorologist tells what we'll get to kickoff 2010. >> area businesses hope to finish out a rough economic year on a high note. >> and a >> violent end to the year, a man shut and killed after 9:00 last night. no word of any suspects in the case. this marks the 237th homicide of the year. people are gathering tonight to remember all of this year's murder victims in baltimore city. keith is live with how friends and family are remembering those lost to violence. >> we're live at the corner of monument and lucertain. organizers are calling it the missing candle light vigil. this has been organized, was shot and killed january 1, 2009 [inaudible] are remembering williams as others killed in baltimore city year this, calling it more than a vigil. >> we're not going to eliminate murders. but you can begin to try to reduce it. appealing to the ones still out there. we got to come out on the corner. we can't stay back in the pulpit. we got to come out on the corner and embrace the people. >> now, we are back live where the vigil continues. the deputy wrapped up his first speech. according to police, there are 237 homicides so far this year. that's 3 more than last year. now, in the meantime, this vigil continues in memory of this year's victims. wrapping up here in about 30 minutes. live now in east baltimore, keith daniels. >> a missing man is home safe tonight. baltimore county police found james guy unharmed. he was missing wednesday when he drove away from the veteran's hospital downtown. guy suffers from dementia. a 9-year-old boy dies after a freak accident interest carol county. a branch fell on noah asid and a 10 years old. noa was rushed to the hospital. the girl was released from the hospital center. a murderer found dead behind bars. clarence myers was found. another inmate may have killed him. he was serving 2 life sentences for setting a house fire that killed 2 sisters in hancock. he was about to be arraign for plotting to kill the sister's mother. cloudy, misty, foggy, a little rain in spots. >> kind of a mess. things looked very different. >> can we put the shovels away? more of your forecast. >> i did some clearing and shovel. here is a look you had at some of the snow on the ground, an inch to 2-inches. the further outside of the city you went, you got to see a little more. maybe 2-3-inches, maybe about 3 1/2 inches in other spots. most of the activity pushing to the north. as far as snowfall, we're seeing a mix of snow and freezing rain, also some sleet. we'll continue to see this wrap through over the next several hours. back to the west there are a few breaks. if we time that maybe we'll get the break. going downtown drive carefully. you can see snow showers to the north of us. take an umbrella with you. temperatures in the mid 30s. we'll drop to the lower 30s. winds will be calm. there won't be problems with blowing. there should be a great night as far as that's concerned. 31 degrees. we'll see the fireworks go off without a hitch, maybe a flake or 2 and maybe a few rain drops. i'll have your 2010 forecast weekend outlook coming up. >> thank you. despite the economic downturn, thousands of people in baltimore will be enjoying their new year. many restaurants say they are completely booked. after a slow year, restaurant operators are saying the expecting the business to rebound in 2010. >> we've seen a lot of growth the last 2 years. i think people will start to come out a little and start to live again and move around. everyone is lying and waiting right now. >> restaurants will participate in winter restaurant week extended to 2 weeks from late january to early february. that's when restaurants offer special low prices. that brings us to the question of the day. do you think the economy will turn around in 2010? go to fox baltimore.com, let us know what you think. you can sound off through facebook, tweet or text us. fox a for yes, b for no. your response will air on fox 45 news at 10:00. blame the tool. now get 0% apr for 72 months, or during the chevy red tag event, use $2,000 holiday cash to get $5,500 total cash back on select 09 silverado vehicles in stock. >> president barack obama is briefed on the attempted christmas airline attack. the brief included ways to prevent similar incidences from occurring. a 23-year-old engineer tried to bomb the plane headed toward detroit. >> the holidays are over. it's still a season of giving. healthcare reform legislation will be merged. louisiana senator mary got $300 million in medicaid funding for her state and senate ben nelson of nebraska pledged his vote when his state was promised free med indicate expansion. others are watching and want their deals. >> when you need 60 deals, everybody senator is a king. i would expect in this conference committee there will be a lot more sweetheart deals. >> the senate version cost almost $900 billion over 10 years. >> more trouble tonight for tiger woods. at&t just announced it will no longer sponsor the superstar golf much. their logo always appeared on his golf bag. others cult -- cut ties after rumors of extra marital affairs surfaced. >> tune into fox for new year's eve. >> live at the beach party, "american idol" winner chris alan will perform. >> and, of course, they're counting time this year's most memorable moments, the big show starts at 11:00 right here on fox 45. >> the ravens are treating sunday as a play off game. we're hear from ray lewis next in sports. >> the media has been heard from. we voted on 2 categories and the results are in. ray rice is the team mvp. jerad johnson gets the good guy award. good news, tackle gerald will be ready to go. the play off spot's on the line. they feel the post season really begins this sunday. >> it is a playoff game. we have been in playoff games for the last few weeks. circumstances much dickitateeded it didn't turn out to be that way. going into the game, we had to win every game the last 4 weeks. >> the importance of the game is very simple. bottom line, we win. we understand that. we also understand that you never look past nobody in the league. no matter what record they have. this team is very capable of beating a lot of people, as you've seen through the course of the season. >> and as the temperatures have dipped todd has come out of cold storage. he has 4 touchdowns in the last 2 games and helped kick start the offense out of those dull drums. he says he's trying to do his job. >> i'm just trying to make plays, however, we get the ball, trying to do something to help the offense run down the field and if we get down there, scoring touchdowns, that's what i'm trying to do. whatever opportunity i can get, i'm trying to make the most of it. >> more of these stories. navy playing missouri and texas bowl as we speak. ravens line baker joins me for the final core's light. >> thanks so much. shaping up to be a cold beginning. >> with the crazy weather out there. we're going to check back with our meteorologist to see what's going to be in store. >> what a great way to end. not a big winter blast. we are seeing a few rain drops come down. we could see a little sleet mixed in. looking at our beautiful inner harbor where it will be packed, folks will go down, ring in the new year, see the fireworks going off without winds being a problem. 34 degrees, a few showers in the neighborhood. winds will be minor. some of the rain drops may turn into a little bit of sleet. take an umbrella with you if you're going downtown. 35 at the airport, 32 in harrisburg. warmer back to the southeast. that's a good sign -- southwest. we're going to see temperatures increase a tad bit. we got to get through this batch of rain, then we'll see things break up. the temperatures will be in the lower mid 40s, but then we get the cold shot of air behind that. looking at the storm moving to the north, we'll see snow showers, getting up to a foot of snow south of pittsburgh. that won't effect us. looks like the 7 day forecast showing 2010, the rest of the week the whole week is cold. only in the lower 30s. everyone lows in the teens and -- overnight lows in the teens and low 20s. >> thanks so much. you can be in charge of your own personalized weather forecast. i-radar is now available. use the interactive tool to see track coming storms down to your own street. go to foxbaltimore.com/ i-radar. that does it for us tonight. thanks for joining us.