million questions in a million dollar question. this is as we see it right now. and i want to point out we have been watching this thing since last weekend. and we -- we expect to have this storm form christmas day for the most part dry. that's the only caskate we changed yesterday and we wake up without the white stuff. maybe some flurries or light snow late through the day. but atlanta get a white christmas. go figure. impact for us, beginning of the earliest on saturday night but sunday and monday, the main event, how much snow? this is at least three days away. and within 72 hours is when i fine-tune the precipitation and my snow cast will come out a little later on today. we are looking at light snow or streamers coming from pretty boy reservoir crossing 83 around parkton and towards gleam arm a few flakes. we are 31 in cockeysville. manchester 25. but winds in the 20s to 30-mile-per-hour range this morning and gusting to 35 with a high between 35 and 37. those north winds actually holding extra clouds in. so a few peeks of sun but clouds are trying to win out this morning. let's check out the traffic on 601 -- 6:301 with kim brown. >> reporter: so far so good around the metro. no accidents in baltimore city. 95 looking good through baltimore city as well. look live at 895, at the o'donnell street exit, traffic is light and no major problems. however, we have a couple incidents south of the beltway including a crash still lingering in howard county. 95 southbound at route 175. the left lane is blocked because of a crash involving a tractor trailer. traffic gets by to the right. also heading on the bw parkway, southbound at powder mill road, that off-ramp is closed because of a crash. you will see emergency vehicles on the scene there. megan, back to you. >> thanks. mark the weekend of may 19th on your calendar. after debates, arguments and threats, it looks like the preakness will happen. 24 hours ago, this -- twenty four hours ago this was a different story. what changed? cheryl conner is here to tell us. >> reporter: it was a big turn around. yesterday morning the news of no agreement put the preakness in jeopardy, but now we can mark may 21st on calendars. it's a band-aid fix but allows for 146 days of live racing at laurel park and pimlico and secures the the second leg of the triple crown. three no -- yesterday, the governor's office stepped in to find a compromise that comes with a little help from gamblers. >> riledy a short-term fix, and hopefully they can build on this and come up with a long-term solution. >> it's critically important to all of thousands those of jobs that depend on racing and horse related agriculture and it's also critically important for our traditions as a state. >> reporter: okay. here's how it shapes outch horse owners will pay the track 1.7 million dollars. the track will be allowed to use revenues from the state's new slots parlors for operating costs. even though that money had been earmarked for racetrack improvements. the deal is estimated to bring in another 3.5 million dollars. and it will say 10,000 jobs. all side says there needs to be a long-term solution so we don't find ourselves in the same situation a year from now. cheryl conner, abc2 news. >> thanks. the 74-year-old man is recovering from multiple stab wounds in harford county police say the attacker is a 45-year-old woman. denise mcgraw is accused of stabbing alan felipe numerous times in havre de grace. his son john says he suffered brain damage and has cerebral palsy since birth and believes he was the reason his father was attacked. john lives in his father's home paying him $450 a month for his disability check. and it appears mcgraw saw john as her meal ticket. >> she told me, john, how about just you and i living here together with my three kids or how many ever she got. and that is not the problem it's with my dad being upstairs. >> mcgraw face charges of attempted murder assault and reckless endangerment. five minutes after six right now. an overwhelming turnout yesterday for funeral of a family of six killed in fire last week in baltimore. the fire swept through the satterfield's home on homewood avenue last tuesday claiming the lives of two grandparents along with their granddaughter and her three children. inside empower molment temple, six caskets were lined end to end. family members and friends gathered to say bye to three children that lost their lives. three adults, grandparents, a daughter and three children. they didn't survive the fire that destroyed the home december 14th. it is a tragedy that left loved ones trying to make sense of what happened. >> very hurt. very, very, very hurt. i mean, just sad to see them go like that, so young. >> satterfields were an excellent family in our community from the great grandmother on down to the baby, we loveed all of them. >> as loved ones honored the memories of the family, they are looking for answers them want to know what happened. fire investigators still don't know what caused the fire saying it could take weeks or even months to figure it out. the man convict of killing maryland native and los angeles angels pitcher nick adenhart will spend a long time behind bars. andrew gallo was sentenced to 51 years to life in prison earlier this year. he was found guilty in the drunk driving crash that killed the 23-year-old hours after pitching in a game for the angels. two other people were killed in that crash. another person seriously hurt. self-proclaimed super heros took to the streets in ham den to pro-- hamden to protest the hon trademark. marching up and down the avenue outside the restaurant, it protested saying the word "hon" is part of baltimore's culture and shouldn't be trade marked to anyone. >> it's the most friendly greeting we have in baltimore is "hon" and we can't use that on our t-shirts or anywhere we want without feeling the rathe of ownership or copyright? we want to say hon, how you doing. >> i hope he is warm in that crab suit. they wanted to speak to the owner but she was too basey to talk to them. in the past, she has said that the trademark was not about taking the word away from people, but protecting a business and branding not feeling a bolt -- stealing a broughtmore tradition. there was heavy police presence here in the studios last night. but everything was okay. actually, everything was great. yesterday, it was a day we looked forward to all year long. aid combination of hard work, dedication and generosity plus a lot of love. here's preston mitchum. >> reporter: a sea of lights takes over the parking lots of 6400 york road. police officers firefighters or should we call them santa's little helpers. >> a great cause. it's great to be able to giving back to the community in this way. >> reporter: for 12 years, kindertime toy drive spearhead by multimedia journalist pete o'neal honors the men and women who died in the line of duty. >> it's tough for them every year. i can only imagine what they go through, but to have you know, a community support throughout is the holiday season is just it's very touching. >> reporter: this is the fourth year for officers cynthia sprigs who understands the importance of giving back. >> the kids faces when you go to the different places and especially the kennedy krieger home and mcdonald house for those having a tough time and being able to bring joy. >> reporter: the ability to put a smile on a kid's face is what this is all about ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ and a happy new year ♪ >> reporter: for thousands of kids like teresa's brother dylan, this holiday season will be a special one. >> even being here and for them to take the time out to recognize the kids and what's going on and make them feel brighter and more happier. >> reporter: preston mitchum, abc2 news. >> we want to thank everyone who helped make the toy drive a success this year. all you have who donated of course area police departments, fire companies, government agencies, all of our sponsors and especially pete o'neal who worked hard to protect this all year-round. all right. the wild weather out west now claiming -- is calling today. it is starting to calm down. but the storm in its wake has devastated thousands of families. we will show you. and it's the most expensive production on broadway and apparently the most dangerous, too. spiderman will be flying high very soon. and your news year's resolution is to get in better shape but why wait until january 1st and you can start now. four tips to tone your booty and we have the details straight ahead. but first let's head up to new york and get a look at latest business news. >> reporter: good morning. we begin your money scope report with wall street heading back to the future. the dow and s&p 500 both closed yesterday at levels not seen since july 2008. it was nasdaq's highest close since 200. one big factor was a report showing more economic growth sales of existing homes were un5.6% last month. however, economists say the housing market improvement is not consistent and they expect slow growth next year. online retailers have reason to bring out eggnog. online sales rup 23% compared to this time last year. online retailers are going out. some are offering free shipping on orders placed today. and two airplane making giants say sales are much higher than expected. boeing and airbus credit higher airline traffic and more purchases by company that lease out airplanes. that's your money scope report. i am rob nelson. thanks for joining thus morning. you probably seen the video by now residents of southern california really trying to recover from all that heavy rain that hit the area causing everything from mud slides to flooding and widespread damage across the area. some parts experienced as many as five different storms. >> reporter: after a week of wintery madness, southern california is expecting clearer skies today. so much bad weather so much need for help. strand guests at this san diego inn had to be rescued. >> you don't know what to do in a situation like that. you just cooperate with the firefighters. >> reporter: qualm com stayed -- qualcomm stadium is a mess. a mudslide in highland california buried 20 homes and nearly everything else in its path. >> it's a mud in my living room all through the downstairs and i got nothing left. >> reporter: flooding has made many roads nearly impossible to navigate. and forced the closure of others. might. >> right now, i attached my bicycle to the back of my car in north laguna and i am going to try to drive as far as i can north and when i am stopped, i am going to get out ride my bike to my appointment in south laguna. >> reporter: but no matter how perilous the situation became, some residents in la canada the flintridge refused to leave. ignoring evacuation orders even. >> when the evacuation orders were given last night, it was not raining. and -- and i think ultimately, we felt that the debris basin was doing a good job. >> reporter: the storm is moving across the country with nevada, utah and arizona now bracing for the worst. abc news. now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most being a ret by weatherate. >> 6:1. 32 degrees in the thermometer. what a development this morning as we are watching the winds now increase and solid streamer of snow showing up from maryland's most powerful doppler radar. this is persistent over the last two hours. and suspect there may be flakes or a band of light know from pretty boy reservoir crossing between mountain road up in parkton and hereford and jacksonville four corners, the top side of the loch raven reservoir and glen arm and parkville. possibility of light snow this morning. the other issue is winds gusting over 30 miles per hour in baltimore over towards st. michaels on the eastern shore and even in annapolis where temperatures actually cooler than the airport reading. so upper 20s to around 30. but wind chills in the teens for the most part. here's the general setup for today. flurries this morning, and we will gave range of 31 to 35. up the wind speeds to 35 miles per hour because of what we have had already]1 and i will explainy think the winds will get stronger in a moment. 37, that's the low end of our two degree guarantee and it will not be a sunny day unless you are in southern maryland. we have the clouds this morning and we have to fight those off because of the winds and because of the storm to our north. we watch the clouds build in over the last couple hours. the regional radar as you can see not showing snow as opposed to our most powerful doppler radar in maryland. shifting the focus to watch the storm that is plaguing the north atlantic the one that did not hit us sunday, charging up across eastern canada throwing snow backwards. we call that a retrograde and because of that we increased the wind field and watching the snow advance to the south and west an indication of stronger winds impacting us. that's why i bumped it up to a 45-mile-per-hour wind gusts. yesterday and arizona doesn't look as impressive on the radar but there's a tremendous spin in the atmosphere. a lot of energy across the northern branch of the jet stream it will catch up with and we expect a colossal coastal storm. how will that impact us? it's going to be a big event and how this thing behaves impacts how it tracks will be the crucial part. and friday we are looking at north texas maybe getting light snow but a white christmas huntsville alabama. the storm is out of the north gulf and crosses florida and off the coast and we have to track this thing between sunday and monday with winds probably reaching 50 miles per hour around the coast. and we are looking at the possibility of a lot of snow or a moderate snow convenient depend on the track. we will watch that for you. our impact not christmas day dry, 35. maybe flurries but a sunday and monday event with falling temperatures. >> reporter: we are quiet this morning. on the air your roadways looking good. if you are heading out the door, getting here on the beltway, or getting on 95 at mountain road coming out of harford county, you won't find delays just minor congestion as you approach the fort mchenry toll plaza. but 695 is looking good on all directions. so yes for that. but as we look at the maps, we have an accident lingering southbound 95 at route 175 all the crash activity moved off into the median. emergency vehicles remain and traffic flows past the scene of the crash freely of the southbound on the bw parkway at powder mill road there is still crash activity on the powder mill road off-ramp and traffic begins to slow from about route 197 in laurel. back to you. >> thanks very much. this morning's health alert, how about knocking out two birds with one stone. christy paul shows us how to tone up your tour and -- tush and strengthen your body's most important muscle. >> how you feeling. >> reporter: strengthening the tush, the largest muscles starts with the heart. >> so i am going to watch your heart rate. >> reporter: desiree is lorning four new exercises to tint buns. why the jocking. >> throughout the workout i will keep the heart rate a little elevated so that you are burning more calories all right. we are officially done with warmup. >> reporter: at the same time -- >> at same time you will squeeze in your bottom and you are going to lift you be his off the ground. >> reporter: to get started with an exercise call the hip check. >> lift. 1, 2, 3. >> reporter: next trainer april shows desiree an exercises she calls the pointer. >> so extend 1, 2, 3 nice and tight. can you feel this. >> reporter: they do 12 and then they hit the stairs to get the heart rate up again. >> how you feeling. >> feeling good so far. >> reporter: and while they are there, they do a squat jump. it's not easy. >> up and good. just like that. >> reporter: the last exercise is a forward lung with a twist making sure the knees don't go past the toes. >> we did it. >> reporter: toning the buns and strengthening the heart. i am christy paul. sang actress jennifer hudson is turning family tragedy no a positive thing. a special christmas tree for dozens of children who will now have presents underneath the tree. we will tell you about it. and it's a purse known around the world. remember this the school board member that tried to disarm a gunman using it. how the purse is helping people out this morning. [ groaning ] whoa, whoa! [ car alarm blaring ] we got this. holiday decorating runs on dunkin', with our delicious gingerbread lattes, gingerbread donuts and gingerbread muffins. hurry in. when the holidays go, they go. warm yourself up this holiday season with a gingerbread latte from dunkin' donuts. entertainment news this morning. the curtlin go up against tonight on spider man turn off the dark after the producers of the musical agreed new safety precautions. there will be a requirement that a second person make sure the harness used by the performers's high plying stunts has been properly put in place. show is the most expensive in broadway history has been plagued with technical glitches and injuries to three other people before this week's fall. a stopt double fell about 30 feet into a stage pit that happened monday night despite a safety harness that should have prevented the spill. sing erin actress jennifer hudson has helped put her personal tragedy into a good cause. we will tell you all about this right now. a generosity of the holiday season. hundreds of chicago kids turned out for a toy drive put on by jennifer hudson and her sister julia. it's in memory of her nephew julian murdered in 2008 along with jennifer's mother and her brother. >> it's good way to keep his memory alive by blessing other children through the holiday season. and for us, we never had a sad christmas. we want to make you know, other children's christmas be as enjoyable and fun as ours were growing newspaper jennifer hudson treated them to a performance of oh holy night. lee farrow dicaprio is the king of the box office. he is the highest grossing actor according to forbes. thanks to the movie "inception "and "shutter island" he raked in $1.1 billion at global box office. johnny depp tied for number two with the wonderland costar who played alice in wonderland. all right. the rain has not stopped for five days in areas not what they use to be. they look like rivers. incredible video of dozens of people leaving their hotel rooms in boats. when is this going to stop? plus... >> don't hang up your hat. the preakness is safe for 2011. i am cheryl conner with the details on the plan coming up. he's single, he's great looking and i'm going to introduce you in two weeks. he's a dentist so whiten your teeth. no coffee, no espresso. mm-hmm. ♪ [ female announcer ] crest 3d white toothpaste. the remarkable toothpaste that removes up to 80% of surface stains in just two weeks... hi. i'm paul. [ female announcer ] for a noticeably whiter smile in just two weeks crest 3d white toothpaste. also try crest 3d white rinse. ♪ now, "good morning, maryland." 136 years of tradition will stay after all. the preakness is going to stay in maryland. we will tell you what led to this turn around. parents the next story might make you cringe a howard county mom serves alcohol to underage drinkers for punishment. and they call it honocide. those stories ahead on this thursday morning, the thursday before christmas. thanks for joining us. i am megan pringle. charlie is off. justin is here with a check on the weather. justin, every where i went yesterday, everybody was asking if it was going to snow on christmas. >> and what did you tell them? >>i said talk to justin. >> you know what i did yesterday? i bought my son new snow boots. >> so you think it's going snow. >> it's going to snow. how much we going to get, that's the million dollar question. i want to remind you while we didn't get the storm last sunday, and we had seen that last-minute push off the coast, since then, and before then, we were watching this potential storm. so about 8 days away from it happening, with some fine tuning along the way. right now, it appears as if, we are on target for a post christmas storm. for us, christmas day will be mostly dry. we don't get the gift in the morning. but there may be a chance of some flakes in the afternoon or evening while we will be watching the deep south and places like atlanta getting a white christmas. and dallas had a white christmas last year. it was their first time in 83 years. the south getting it again. the impact for us, perhaps as early as saturday night. first flakes but looks like a sunday and monday impact. how much snow be patient. we have been talking about this a long time of the but it's three