Union, heaviest is along u. S. 52 around wadesboro toward rockingham, hamlet and 220 out of the viewing area. Concerned about residual cold air holding on, close to freezing around hickory, newton, taylorsville, wilkesboro, may be pockets of ice up there, at least for a couple more hours before all this pulls out. You can see the loop over the last few hours, indicate whats i was saying the heaviest is pushing east and drier air will come in once the sun comes up at 7 30 or so this morning. Still have rain falling in charlotte, lighter than what it was an hour or so ago, all total an inch of rain. 38 in charlotte, notice as close as monroe youre 50, so close to freezing north and west, everyone winds up warmer. Youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. Chris first alert traffic is sponsored by toyota of North Charlotte. If you are heading out the door early on this tuesday morning, out there, i77 southbound at West Boulevard, roads are wet here across the region. Most of our major highways are continuing to run in the green this morning. And we are showing a disabled vehicle on brookshire boulevard at beaties ford road as you make your way toward i77. As al mentioned here in the charlotte area, you are driving in the rain so 77, 485, 85, in to center city all wet at this hour but as al mentioned, it will be moving out here the next couple hours. Well keep an eye on things, 21 minutes from rock hill, concord to center city, 19 minute commute, lake norman southbound at 17 minutes. Guy, back over to you. John breaking news at 5 03, crews in charlotte fixing blocked roads and several Power Outages. Christine Ashton Pellom has been with crews all morning, live in charlotte with more, so where are you and what are you seeing . Reporter good morning, christine, currently on im sorry, hawthorne lane near Central Avenue. The road is currently blocked off there is construction site flooding right now. Ill step behind the camera and give you guys a better look at the moment. Ill zoom in a little bit hopefully you can see a little bit, you see the water just flooding in the streets, that is whats were dealing with right now. Police were out here blocking this a little bit earlier. We took video of when i first arrived on the scene. Cop cars blocking off has been blocked off since 3 00 this morning, officers were out here blocking this road off to make sure no one comes down here and gets trapped in. They tell me the road will be blocked off at least until it stops raining, that is when the flooding stops happening and have crews come out here take a look at it and get it reevaluate and cleaned up before the morning rush hour but all kind of just depending on the weather right now, whenever the rain will stop. I have been driving around the city, several Power Outages, one on clement avenue, more than 240 they did have Duke Energy Crews out there early working to get the problem straight, branches on a power line that affected the power out there, they moved those branches off the line and power was restored. There have been other hot spots around the city, also checking on that as well, duke crews are out making sure people have power obviously with the rain that brings down limbs and stuff on lines and then power goes out but Duke Energy Crews are out here working hard, back out here live on this scene, we have to wait right now, this is hawthorne lane at Central Avenue for it to top waiting. Then they will get it cleaned up. Reporting live in charlotte, Ashton Pellom, wbtv on your side. John several other counties are also seeing outages at this hour. Christine Kristen Miranda following those outages live in e alert center. I see you have a map up with all kind of icons, what do these mean . Kristen a couple of maps. Can see the little red dots that you see indicate there are some problems with power in those areas. Charlotte not too bad, a handful of outages. You heard ashton talk about those, but further to the north and west, seeing a few things that might pique some peoples interest. Problems in the newton area, conover area, hickory area and i did see some problems in the saw mills area, that is exactly where we saw the biggest number, 1400 customers affected there. Just taking a quick look at Blue Ridge Electric map in the foothills, up in the mountains where some of the power problems are right now. Just a handful either way, the assessed. Ill keep an eye on the Power Outages this morning and as we look to get a little update, im checking again to see what the restoration time on the saw mills things is, assessing the ill keep you posted. Christine 5 06, officials looking in the role icy roads played in dozens of accidents across the area. Wbtvs Mark Davenport is live now by telephone on i77, north of charlotte, so mark it was quite a mess throughout overnight, wasnt it . Reporter it was quite a mess overnight and still is pretty much a mess this morning. I was able to see a lot of the accidents on the side of the roads from last night. So i saw a car that was overturned on top of its hood, couple cars off the road in guardrails in ditches. That is what im seeing as i drive up 77 up north. That is an issue and you can actually tell that these cars went right off the road so there probably was a big time with ice overnight. That is what we saw overnight. I am heeding up north on 77 to 3421, that is421, a tractortrailer jack knifed overnight. Were hearing the lanes are clear but we want to get eyes on big traffic backups. I saw big traffic backup from some of the video youre seeing here right now, this is back a little bit north of troutman right around exit 50, there were two tractortrailers that got in an accident there overnight. And that has since been cleaned up but pushing the traffic back so i got caught in probably 25 minutes of traffic in one area. A lot of volume there. As for the roads, just all rain. Since i left charlotte was strong rain up until about exit 50, exit 52, now were getting light rain now but it was pretty strong, consistent the entire morning on 77, so once we get up to 421 well give you a look at what is going on up there im sure well get backup, i talk to Highway Patrol they are trying to move the traffic through you know there is a backup. Ill keep you updated on the roads and talk again soon here in the next hour. Back to you. Christine thank you, mark. John i85 in gasthonton backed up for miles when an ambulance from Stanly County overturned. No hoard led to that word what led to that accident. Christine expansions planned along park road. John a check of first alert weather at 5 08, christine you want to talk about it. Great. John 38 degrees in charlotte, well above freezing. But take a look at this, hickory has 32 as does shelby, and heres the power doppler radar, most of the worst has moved off to the east of charlotte we still have rain in our area well keep you posted. A live look at i77 at West Boulevard and the roadways are very wet out there this morning so do be careful as you head remember, youre never more introducing longhorns big, bold, steaks. The only way to make em better was to make em bigger. Our new center cut 10 ounce filet. Our perfectly seasoned 16 ounce tbone. Big, bold, steaks. Only at longhorn steakhouse. You cant fake steak. For lunch, try our steakhouse burger closed captioning on wbtvnews is sponsored by subarusouth boulevard and subaruconcord. Christine Charlotte CityCouncil Members approved a big expansion during park road. They unanimously approved a request to let Grub Properties rezone office space located a few blocks from the park road shopping center. According to our News Partners at the charlotte observer, it will bring 450 new apartments, and commercial space for shops, offices and restaurants. John in campaign 2016, republican president ial candidate donald trump says churches should be free to endorse or oppose candidates without losing tax exempt status. He made comments during a stop many ministers say their political activity is are limited by irs regulations. Heed ad if he would elected he would get congress to remove that restriction. The South Carolina primary is this saturday. Youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. It is 13 after 5 00, here is meteorologist al conklin. Al thanks, john, im showing you the big picture you can see the rain and where it is and some of you had that middle of the night wake up call with thunder and lightning and heavy downpours on the roof, an inch of rain in charlotte, we knew it would be a big soaker, the one spot we still have residual moisture hanging back is in the mountains out of east tennessee, still snow showers, in boone the temperatures are cold, in the 30s. This is king street from resortcams. Com, what is falling is rain and light drizzle. Windy and cold, more rain showers and snow showers why, as you look at futurecast going through time, you can see by 10 00 mostly it is gone but in the mountains it hangs on as the low is spinning north. Then our next system approaches from the west late this afternoon. This is 4 00, here comes more precipitation in the mountains. Rest of us get in a shower tonight but good thing is temperatures will be above freezing. The numbers then today, start off at 42, with lots of sunshine in the middle part of the day. Warm 52 and closing in on 60 this afternoon, not bad, a little above average, if you like that, stick around, i think youll like the seven day forecast t, ill have more in a few minutes. Right now check in with chris, first alert traffic. Chris first alert traffic sponsored by toyota of North Charlotte. New injury accident east 4th at mcdowell, off 277, in the heart of center city, seeing a few delays on the outside of mcdowell street. Live at i77, clanton road, the see the rain drops hitting the road and traffic is moving along smoothly there. Matthews to center city, 14 minutes, 46 miles an hour coming in from providence road in arboretum area, 17 minute commute, concord to center city, running 18 minutes at 64 miles an hour. Next at 5 00, a headache for any parent, figuring out what to do when your child misses the bus or when you have more than one child and have to be at different places at the same time. The company that is promising to be a safe way to help get your children around when you cant. Christine wbtv is always on your side, in your community. The current time is 5 16. Well be right back. Theres a big difference between making noise, tapping sound and making sense. elephant sound donkey sound when it comes to Social Security, we need more than lip service. Our next president needs a real plan to keep Social Security strong. elephant noise hey candidates. Enough talk. With wbtv news this morning. Christine it is 19 minutes after 5 00. John we want to go over to Kristen Miranda, great new video of tornado in florida. She is live in the alert center where this has come in. Kristen i got the video in and wanted to show it to you. This is the tornado that was captured on an officers dash cam, take a look in the distance you see the tornado moving across. This happened in florida, three minor injuries in century, florida. Authorities asking everyone to stay put until they figure out how many power lines are down and where power is out and what the damage is. About 1020 homes sustaining some damage. Ill show you some of those damage pictures in a little bit as soon as i get them turned around for you. Two homes destroyed, everyone has been accounted for, that is the good news. When you look at the size of that tornado, moving across the roadway there, unbelievable to think that driver, that officer kept heading in that direction, back to you. Distance it is okay to watch. In consumer headlines, a new app is promising to be a safe and convenient way to help parents get kids to school or appointments. An uber for kids. It allows parents to set up rides on demand or in advance. Drivers have to pass stringent background checks and cameras allow parents to see what is happening in the car. The app is available on and roid android and iphones. John target is hoping to make shopping easyier. The shopping carts have chairs big enough to hold older children and adults with mobilityrelated disabilities. You a how caregivers to shop without having to maneuver a cart and wheelchair at the same time. Will be in all Stores Next Month month. Christine onestop shopping. Bread and tattoos in one place. John oh, yes. Christine whole foods is thinking about a dding tattoo parlorsparlors. John honey get some bread, milk and a tattoo . Christine were not in the target demo. Al were just here for the bread and milk. Good news the heaviest of the rain is pushed off toward the east you can see it on five sweeps of power doppler radar, i put a tracker on this, this is where the back em is going to be in the next 2530 minutes, by 5 21, back edge is on top of newton now but by 5 43 coming in to charlotte, center city, mint hill, after 6 00, by 6 22, statesville. All this is pushing off quickly. If youre out and about youre going to run in the rain most of covered up with rain as is union county, up in anson, certainly up in cabarrus, stanly and taylorsville and statesville getting rain. Might be a pocket or two of ice but thankfully, that rain is moving out and the cold air will eventually get dislodged as all this pushes off toward the east. Snow showers in the mountains, temperatures hold in the 30s all day. The one spot probably wont warm up. In lincolnton getting rain here after a lot of ice yesterday, a mess up there. Currently in charlotte, we still have rain falling, we had twothirds of an inch overnight. Storm total is an inch. 38 degrees, not much of a breeze, the breeze picks up today. Going through time this is this morning by 8 00, the model has most of the rain out of the area. May be a couple showers around, plenty of sunshine for the midday before we watch another front, this one a fairly weak one coming in later this afternoon and in the evening, some showers but safely, we will be above freeze, this is going to be rain. Salisbury, 43 charlotte, 38 shelby, notice how we warm, getting well in the 50s and 40s by lunch time, outside of the mountains, mountains dont warm up around boone but everybody else well in the 50s with mostly sunny skies. So the system we have on top of us this morning that is now slowly pushing off toward the east. Here comes the next weather maker, not as robust as the one that came through and beyond this, there goes the rain ill stop this late this afternoon and evening, this is 7 00, a little bit of rain, perhaps mountain snow, everything moves out. Tomorrow lots of sunshine and a ton of sunshine for thursday and friday and temperatures will be going up very nicely. Big warm machine up after the storm exits here, 60s showing up for saturday and sunday, and be close to that on friday. Sunshine friday, closing in on 60, in the 60s over the weekend, very, very nice. Youre never more than seven minutes away from weather and here is chris, first alert traffic. Chris al, thank you, traffic son stored morningsponsored by toyota of North Charlotte. John belk and brookshire running in the green, no problems there. But off 77 or 277 i should say, we have an injury accident now, this is east 4th at south mcdowell, right there as 4th street turns into providence road youre going to find probably a few delays and emergency crews on the scene. Still lightly raining in charlotte and you can certainly see the roads are wet this morning, that is i77 at clanton road. Looking across the charlotte area, most of the major interstates are running in the green, we told you about this a bit earlier, flooding on Central Avenue at hawthorne lane, Ashton Pellom has been live on the scene there but if youre inbound on central this morning you may find slowdowns as well. Here is a look at the morning traffic in combination with the radar, so North Charlotte now up toward huntersville out in concord or kannapolis, drying out down toward pineville. Commute john, over to you. John thanks, chris. Jennifer roberts has concerns how drug arrests are handled in the city. Christine what she is at scal good day, mlady i am sircanalot, here to save you from another breakfast bore. Wake up those eggs with glorious spam reporter been raining all morning in charlotte in the metro area, im Ashton Pellom, coming up at 5 30 in a live report ill have latest on road conditions, what you need to know before you head out the door. John laying out a vision for the future of mecklenburg county, a preview of the state of the county address. Good morning, thanks for waking up with wbtv news this morning, now 5 30 im john carter. Christine im christine sperow. Charlottemecklenburg schools on a normal schedule for this tuesday morning. But a dozen other districts in the area are also closed or alleghany, ashe and Wilkes County schools are among the ones closed. We have a full list scrolling on the bottom of the screen, you can see it at wbtv. Com closings. Lets talk about the forecast and the rain, meteorologist al conklin has more details in the first alert weather center. Al heavy rain came through the area last night some of you hearing it on the roof, heard the thunder, saw the lightning, that was impressive. Big system pulling through now but again the back edge of the rain at least the concentrated rain is moving through the area. As i widen this out, getting in what we call a dry slot, as this pushes toward the east, we will dry out. Still raining in statesville, this is clover leaf elementary school. Point to the east you may have a shower, this afternoon, mostly sunny skies, High Temperature rebounding much milder, closing in on 60, how about that. Tonight, talk about that in the seven day forecast, the weather headlines are tracking the next front but weekend looks great, i will have the details in a few minutes. Youre never more than seven morning. Chris al, thank you, first alert traffic sponsored by yota of North Charlotte. Center city injury accident this morning, south caldwell at east 4th street, expect that you will see emergency crews there, that is right off 277, were looking live now at i77 rest area coming off the South Carolina state line, roads are still wet here across the charlotte area this morning, most of our major highways are running in the green, a few slow downs independence boulevard down toward providence road. Up in iredell county, if youre coming south on 77, different story, they had an accident overnight that shut down the interstate, were still seeing delays, wbtvs Mark Davenport is on the way to the scene there, well bring you more on that but slow, certainly. The rain again starting to slide