As much as two of feet of snow is predicted to fall between today and sunday. And states of emergency are in place for washington, d. C. And five other states. Already airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights in the u. S. Today. Thats expected to grow as the day progresses. American airlines canceled all flights into and out of charlotte, north carolina. Lets get to meteorologist leigh spann to see how its going to affect us as well. No snow fall but we are going to see strong showers showers and thunderstorms later today. In fact, you can see the wide picture of this. And seeing a lot of snow in the midatlantic and then the trailing cold front right now causing tornadoes in the panhandle. Theres a tornado threat right through panama city. And you see that the line of storms associated with the cold mexico. A few light showers are coming onshore in pinellas and hillsborough right now. We do have the slight risk of Severe Weather, especially from tampa and i4 through polk county and points to the north like citrus, hernando and the farther south that you live, your chance of Severe Weather is lower. Let me time out the rain so you will know what to expect. Between now and 8 30, just these lighter showers, especially near the coast and along and west of i75. At 8 30, the line of powerful storms still out in the gulf of mexico and it gets closer to us, i expect it to start affecting citrus, hernando and pasco by 10 00 this morning. Between 11 30 and 12 30, thats when storms could hit the tampa area, down through sarasota. As the day goes on, this is 1 00 p. M. , east of 75 into polk and highlands county. And quickly exiting by 3 00, 4 00 and the gustier winds coming in. On weather and traffic on the 8s, i have the cold front and what it does for us the next several days. Its a good navigation. Not seeing anything thats going to slow you down. Just a little bit of overnight construction. Look at this, brooksville the up in the Hernando County and pasco, a great commute, 44 minutes on the drive time. Over in sarasota, wrapping up here is construction tying up the two right lanes northbound on i75 exiting to university parkway. You can still exit, just activity out there on the roadways. Lets go ahead and look at traffic. Looks wonderful, i4, right in the heart of lakeland. And a quick look now of video earlier that i had this morning. Now this is from a fatal accident where a pedestrian was killed. It happened just before midnight. And lanes were closed here southbound 301 just north of i 4 for several hours. And now they have reopened the lanes. Traffic is now moving very good on 301 but sad news just overnight. Thats a look at weather and traffic. Back to gene and gayle. Leslee, air traffic not looking too great. Right now, dangerous Winter Weather is causing stress at airports. According to the flight aware website, nearly 2300 flights are canceled in the u. S. Just for today. And thats changing by the news channel 8s Adrienne Pedersen is live at Tampa International airport tracking travel today. How are the boards looking this morning . Reporter good morning, gayle. Well, first i have the flight aware website open right now on my computer and it looks like were sitting at about more than 2,000 total delays today. And thats not even cancellations. And then down to the cancellations like you said, about 2300. Lets go ahead and pan up here so you can see what the board is looking like at Tampa International airport. All the flights into charlotte, those are canceled. There are about five other Flights Canceled at the this point but flight aware is predicting throughout day, we are looking at maybe 30 but its changing by the second. It could be even more. So between today and tomorrow, were talking more than 4,050 Flights Canceled across the country. And lets show you some video of the mess thats happening in now. Charlotte of course the big other flights as well. You do want to check with your airline because you might be able to get a waiver to fly at another time if possible. So we will be here at Tampa International checking the boarding for all morning long. And i am also trying to get in touch with someone this morning to get an update as to how they plan to handle this. Guys i guess folks are having to pack their patience if they even get on a flight. Thanks. Time now 5 05. Developing this morning, the search is on for the thief who stole from a bunch of Little League players. 800 worth of equipment and personal information was swiped from a concession stand. This all happening in town ask country. 8 on your sides ryan hughs is live at the northwest Little League ball field. The Little League vows that the season will go on though. Reporter theres no question that will happen. They plan to make this perhaps the best season yet, even after the building was broken into. Now the theft is a bit of a set back. On wednesday night, deputies tell 8 on your side that concession stand at the complex and swiped equipment like bats and balls. And the bandit got away with personal information on players and their parents. Deputies are investigating and tell us they have a few solid leads. The team is devastated but they wont let it deter them from the Upcoming Season which begins tomorrow. What do you tell your kid . Just tell them theres bad people out there. Reporter now i just put in an email and phone call to the Hillsborough County will have Sheriffs Office to see if there have been any arrests at this point. The team is hoping for donations. The season starts tomorrow so every little bit at this point will help. Donations would be great but theres a great lesson for the kids, just keep going when the times get tough. Reporter exactly. Thanks. We will check back later. Today senator bill nelson it comes a day after the report was released on the facility. Researchers identified seven of the remains through dna. 14 others were identified through school records. Happening today, we will find out the next member of the bucs ring of honor. Multiple sources indicate it will be john lynch. He would become the ninth member to have his name added to the stadium. The safety played 11 seasons with the bucs before finishing his career in denver. The team will reveal choice at a News Conference at 3 00 a. M. We will stream it live on wfla. Com and tune in beginning at 4 00 for live reports. We will be watching. And were you watching last night . Lightning fanning celebrating after a big win at amalie arena. They enacted a little revenge against the chicago blackhawks. They won the stanley cup final goal scored late in the 27 period. It snap in the 2nd period. The lightnings winning streak is now a seasonlong seven games. It was fun to be in the building tonight. And obviously it brought back memories of last year. And you know, another 21 game. We beat a very good opponent. Its been red hot lately. And the defending champs. But other than that, it was game 47 and we have to look toward to the game 48. The lightning play two more games before the allstar break. And next, they take on the Florida Panthers just a couple hours down in sunrise. A first for publix. The grocery chain is opening a store on the campus of usf. It will sit at the southeast corner of fletcher avenue and north palm drive. Its the first oncampus supermarket for publix. Its part of a new student how convenient for the students. Lets turn things over to leigh spann for the weekend weather. And we we have a lot of changes for the 36 hours it felt threat for tornadoes around the panama city area. A trailing cold front. And for us, light rain in pasco, central and northern portions of Hillsborough County. This is ahead of the main line of showers and thunderstorms. Just that 30 chance between 8 00 and 9 00 today. By 10 00, we start ramping up that rain chance up to 70 right through your lunch break. You may want to take lunch to work so you dont have to get out and about. And after 2 00 p. M. , we bring the rain chances down significantly. And temperatures start dropping significantly as well. So if you do need to get out and do the gasparilla training run getting ready for the gasparilla distance classic, get it out of the way this morning because its going to be rainy at noon or very windy this evening. The strongest storms between 10 00 a. M. And 3 00 p. M. And with the storms, gusty winds possibly bringing some and we will track that closely and heavy downpours. Saturday is going to be cool, windy with light rain. And sunday is going to be sunny and cool. Checking in on traffic on the 8s. Just a few areas of light rain but most staying dry right now. Thats good news and i hope it stays that way for the rush hour. Can we have that . I dont know. Almost through rush hour. We will take it. Lets look at whats going on in lakeland, downtown looks fantastic. In fact, a wonderful drive. And a live looking for by the polk parkway. Fantastic between each entrance of the parkway, 11 minute commute. U. S. 19 looks great. Looking at nine minutes on the commute. Further to the north up in new port richey, looks great. And st. Pete, 19 is up to speed as well. Thats a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. Back to gene. Thank you. Its 5 10. Its your chance to win lion king tickets, almost. We are giving away a family all you have to do is watch from 6 00 to 7 00 a. M. Once you see the announcement, be the eighth caller to win tickets to the broadway show disneys the lion king. Great show for families. Good luck to you. Thousands of baby strollers are under recall. Important information for parents about the potential danger. And bill cosby wins in court. Coming up, the decision a judge made in connection to accusations the comedian drugged and assaulted women. And then love bugs are back. Still ahead, why these loving pests are returning earlier than normal. Its 5 11 on this friday morning and youre watching in this line of work only the freshest ingredients make the cut its important to me to know every dish i serve is the best it can be. Especially for this food critic. Publix bakery scratch made bread we bake it in store every day with pride so you can serve it with some a victory for troubledded comedian bill cosby. A judge is throwing out one defamation lawsuit. The judge dishissed the lawsuit filed by one of more than 50 women who accuse cosby of sexual assault. She plans to appeal. Developing this morning, a former Oklahoma CityPolice Officer will spend the rest of a judge sentenced him to 263 years behind bars. He was convicted of sexually victimizing women in a low income neighborhood. Prosecutors claim the 29year old targeted black women while on patrol. This morning, a former Airline Pilot is accused of flying under the influence of alcohol. The 60yearold was arrested, accused of piloting an Alaska Airlines plane with passengers after drinking. It stems from a random drug and alcohol test. The results show a blood. 142. He faces 15 years in prison if convicted. Road crews in san diego, california are working to fill a large sinkhole. Take a look at it. The hole is about 30 feet long and 20 feet deep. Interstate. Crews closed several lanes of up. With concrete. Repairs this afternoon. Its 5 15. Sparks fly in a Million Dollar pharmacy heist. All of this happening in the state of texas. Take a look at how far thieves went to get their hands on prescription drugs. Security cameras capturing one thief using a saw and other tools to break into a safe. Take a closer look here. This all happened at a super value pharmacy in the dallas area. A second crook is seen going through the aisle, dumping prescriptions. Investigators say the thieves were in the store for about two hours and in all, they made off with about a Million Dollars in drugs. In an 8 on your side consumer alert this morning, another important recall for parents. Stroller and car seat making britax is issuing recalls. One involves the be ready stroller and replacement top seats. Foam padding on the arm bar can come off in chunks posing a choking hazard. The company will provide a free a Blue Bell Ice Cream fans in the bay area will soon be able to get their hands on the desert. The Company Expects to bring the brand back to store shelves monday. Blue bell removed the ice cream from stores following a listeria contamination. Since then, the company cleaned its factories. Love bugs are in the air. Thats right, were seeing them earlier than normal. Usually we dont have to deal with the mating pests until spring or summer but a few contacted us asking about the apparent up tick in insections. You guys . It was december and theyre not due until may. We reached out to debbie castle, an associate professor at usf. She tells us that the winter is just right for love bugs. They like the warm temperatures. With the back and forth cold naps now, we should start seeing them disappear at least until it warms up. I wonder, how do they decide where theyre going to go . Invasion of personal space . See, i do that. Theyre always just here. Im a close talker. And they dont fly, they hover. Like they want to get in on the fun or something. The love bug and i have a lot in common. The time right now is 5 18. Lets turn things over to leigh spann. Let me stick with the weather. The reason they came out obviously, it was such a warm december but now that its colder, hopefully back to normal conditions with the love bugs. We have big changes coming today. Rain just offshore at 8 00 this morning. There may be light sprinkles onshore but most of the downpours are still in the gulf of mexico the at 8 00. They come through at lunchtime. Possibility of seeing some stronger thunderstorms. And then clearing from west to east through the afternoon. And its warmer too. Basically the upper 50s to low 60s. I checked in with my weather watcher wendy in brooksville, she is at 55 degrees. Let me time this outing for. You may want to look at the tv and see when the rain is moving in. When we first start to see the line crashing onshore in citrus, hernando and pasco and along the coast in pinellas county. We could see some isolated stronger downpour, especially into the midday time frame, right through the i75 corridor, down to sarasota and manatee counties. And this continues into 3 00 because its a quick mover. Its already heading out of polk county and toward the east coast by 3 00 p. M. Behind it, extremely strong winds. Its going to bring in colder air yes, but during the day on saturday, the winds are coming off the gulf of mexico and you might get some quick sprinkles. Certainly going to be cold and windy for the childrens gasparilla parade. Saturday. And better for sunday. The 8s . Well, we are talking about the childrens gasparilla parade. I am going to mention some things about it. Rite now we have some closures on bay shore, basically just and albany. Parade is tomorrow but today they start laying down the no parking signs. And they start that today. So make sure you dont accidentally park where one of the signs is at and get towed. The route go from bay to bay on bay shore boulevard. And you will see some major closures starting at about 2 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning, all around this particular area. It starts and goes ahead and moves into watcher. So keep that in mind. Heavy closures all day long and the parade festivities last between 11 00 a. M. To 7 30 p. M. So keep that in mind. Its very busy in the area but the parade itself is at 3 30. And take a shut florida the fort brook garage and you can take that down. It will take you all the way to bay to bay and look at that, just 5 for adults. For a kid is with an adult, they get to ride for free. Back to gene and gayle. A baby animal in trouble during severe storms in manatee townty. The way manatee county. The way rescuers were alerted to a baby otter in need. Youre watching news news channel youre watching news channel 8 today. I up loaded amazing video of a toddler running down a busy our next item is a genuine name your price tool. This highly soughtafter device from progressive can be yours for. Twenty grand . No we are giving it away for just 3 easy payments of 4. 99 plus tax the lines are blowing up weve got deborah from poughkeepsie. Flo yeah, no, its flo. You guys realize anyone can use the name your price tool for free on progressive. Com, right . [ pickles whines ] i know, its like theyre always on television. The orphan otter pup is on the mend this morning. Part of the rescue was caught on camera. The mom left the house with one pup in her mouth to escape flood waters. The mom was killed crossing the street but the pup survived. We want to get it in the warmth as fast as we could. Neighbors told wildlife inc. There was one more pup under the house. Tiny squeals led them to the baby but the pup died two days later and now theyre focused on the one remaining orphan. And she is progressing nicely with medications and feedings. They hope to release here in a few months. Thats sweet. Im sorry the two other died. It has a happy ending though. Weather and traffic on the 8s is three minutes away. Plus, a laser light arrest. Lives in danger. Upon us. What is in store this weekend their families. Hour. Youre watching news channel 8 in this line of work only the freshest ingredients make the cut its important to me to know every dish i serve is the best it can be. Especially for this food critic. Publix bakery scratch made bread we bake it in store every day with pride so you can serve it with some publix. Where shopping it is 5 28. We have two rounds of rain, some light to moderate rain in next hour or so but the stronger storms back the west. As you get the kids ready to the head to the bus stop, stray shower this morning and the storms will be exiting later today. Citrus, hernando, coast of pinellas, 7 00 a. M. To 10 00 a. M. , thats when you storms. From tampa to lakeland, 9 00 a. M. To 1 00. And 11 00 a. M. To 4 00 farther in highlands county. Not raining yet in lakeland. A wonderful drive to i4. So if heading into tampa, no worries at this point. And lets look at brooksville for those who live in her Nancy Cordes Doe county, in Hernando County, looking good. In and out of pasco and Hernando County is a good