north across virginia. we have had one wave of moderate to heavy rain that came through, that pushed off to the east. and generally, lighter rain in washington, and across advertently. this is advancing to the north. freezing rain. fredrick county, and up into western howard and northern montgomery. this is mostly accumulating on tree limbs and power lines. up to a 10th of an inch. salisbury, 43. reagan national, 36, and for today, by 9:00 this morning, cloudy, near 40. near 50 by noon, and during the afternoon, we will peak in the mid 50s, and gusting to around 30 to 35, it may bring down tree limbs and cause power outages. much colder. into the 20s tomorrow. what remains liquid tonight will freeze tomorrow. how is traffic? >> so far this morning, good news, we are dealing with just the wet roadways that is enough to potentially cause issues. we may have dodged the bullet as far as icing. 14th street bridge, watch out, as the snow continues to melt, it could start ponding and pooling. 14th street bridge, nothing out of the ordinary, college park to silver spring to the american legion bridge, doing fine. one more stop, the american legion bridge, here if is to tysons, smooth sails so far. >> 4:32 right now. a huge portion of this country is dealing with one of the largest winter storms in recent mfrmt it stretches 2000 miles from texas to new england. chicago is buried under two feet of snow with wind gusts. schools are closed for the first time in 12 years. storm is so bad, it forced tulsa's "tulsa world" to cancel today's publication. >> we have dodged a bullet from mother nature. got heavy rain, very little ice. trace oh, wilkins has conditions in germantown. >> reporter: we are dealing with wet roads. we drove 495, to 270, that is what we saw to germantown. the same story at 118 as well. wet roads. be careful, we are are hovering around the freezing mark. >> the shining substance you see on that tree, it is actually ice that we had form here in germantown, and montgomery county. this will be an issue, standing by, working for pepco, folks out of town, to deal with the possibility of fal limbs on power lines, when the wind picks up, we will see some wind this morning, it could cause th. preparing for the possibility of that happening. in terms of your commute, you will be dealing with wet roads. we have drizzle again it. is not freezing drizzle like yesterday. did it stop for a while. it is starting to get wet again. >> stay dry, as much as you can. >> 4:34, the weather won't stop the senate from getting back to work. the senate could vote on a propos proposal to amend healthcare reform. the congressional budget office expects it will extend coverage. republicans are upset at the mand ato mandatory coverage idea. it started out as a republican idea in the 1990. >>. protesters are flooding the streets of cairo, and said they won't leave until their president does. he told the protesters that he won't seek re-election, but will finish his term, for seven more months. they demand he leave now. the u.s. is putting problem pressure on the leader to resign now rather than later. he spoke with president obama and said a transition to new leadership must begin now. most students have been able to flee, all but two are staying with family in egypt. cairo ee -- only 600 americans were able to leave yesterday. >> americans are keeping an eye, many are worried about family members. and the orthodox church is praying. they say they are energized by what they see coming. >> to have an ally in the middle east, rather than having no friends in the middle east. the dow finished good earnings reports contributed to the big day. up 20% since august. >> you may want to avoid metro on president's day weekend. major delays on the blue, red lines because of platform work. the smithsonian stations will be closed and no service, and shady grove and new york avenue one rail. the new general manager said that the random bag searching policy is here to stay. his comments come one week after metro riders' advisory committee asked the board of directors stopped the searchs until a hearing could be held to have that reviewed. >> why the monster could impact a certain roden. >> stay in the hole, rodent. >> and beforeñq time for weather and traffic, good morning, early on this wednesday morning, i am meteorologist tom kierein. we have rain in advertently, the district and maryland. not freezing rain. light icing on the elevators surfaces. points north and west, on tree limbs and power lines, less than a tenth of an inch accumulated there. and temperatures, above freezing throughout the region in the mid 30s, 40s on the eastern shore. throughout the day, we will have the winds increase, 30 to 35 miles an hour later this afternoon. temperatures soar into the mid 50s. sunrise, 5:31. much colder, and below freezing after mid-night. mid 20s this time tomorrow morning, patchy ice could be around tomorrow morning, what does melt today, freezing up tomorrow morning. blustery. highs in the mid 30s, friday and saturday, changes to rain in the afternoon. how is traffic? >> traffic, into town, east capital street, off central avenue from the beltway, the southern avenue, again, careful. the roads can be slick. wet roads are enough to cause trouble. we will see how the beltway is doing, past i-66 toward springfield looks all right. down to nih, reports of traffic light problems, affecting 355 and the hill off the pike. we will be watching that. >> our time, 4:42. a new report, ripping the roads in maryland. >> virginia lawmakers take a stand on plastic bag the massive winter storm spared us, and just bringing us rain. this is a live look at the roads in germantown. they are wet, there could be flooding, the federal government is open, employees have the option of taking unscheduled leave or teleworking. there are no other delays or closings. we will bring them to you if we get them. >> there is a bitter battle between the arlington county public school system and one of their principals. kathleen francis is quitting in march and wants everyone to know why. it was printed in the "washington post." it is unavoidable for the work environment created by superintendent murphy. the arlington county school system said, aps will continue to respond with a high er level of professionalism. we deny there has been any discrimination. she has worked for arlington public schools for 18 years. >> a breast feeding battle is brews, two city councils are trying to strike a law to keep women from nursing in public. some city leaders say the law does not represent what alexandria is as a community. tnchlths is common sense to get rid of it. it isn't we are are, it is family friendly. there are strollers everywhere. >> the opponents plan to introduce legislation to change it during the february 12th city council meeting. >> you won't have to play extra for blastic bags, strong opposition from retail and manufacturing lobbies. it would require stores to charge for blastic and dispossible bag: >> a powerful silone in australia, the strongest, 175 miles an hour. it could hit areas trying to recover from flooding. it includes the great barrier reeve. snow has fallen in the windy city, battered by 50 mile an hour gusts. white out conditions. the problems are causing a ripple effect in airports across the country. this is dull us airport, starting to cancel flights for a second day. the same is happening at reagan national and bwi marshall. it means that people are left with no where to go. meagan mcgrath is at reagan international where many spent the night. good morning to you. >> reporter: it is that trickle down effect, when you have major arts like chicago,they can't position the planes to support normal itilleraries. 40 cancellations here on the board at reagan international. when you look at three of our area airports together, there are about 300 flights cancelled here thfrmth a lot of people discovering that they do not have planes to get on to. they will have to juggle their itiniary and figure out another way to get where they are going. a lot of people are trying to re-book. there are limit number of seats. that makes it all the more difficult. we have seen a few people who spent the night in the terminal. not a very good night's sleep, you can bet on that one young man here from norway. he and his friends are trying to get to the dominican republic. they have been detoured, flights cancelled. they are finally hoping to get out later this morning. >> from norway, going to the dominican republic, norway to iceland to new york, washington, miami and then, down to the dominican republic. >> a lot of flights. >> five flights to get there. we are tired now. >> a lot of people getting to their final destinations through strange routes it. is the only way that they can do it. they are happy to be able to get where they are ultimately trying to g they didn't seem to mind they had to spend the night in the terminal. one family did say, in the middle of the night, airport staff provided blankets to make their stay more comfortable. we are still seeing cancellations on the board. that will continue to be the case. rule of thumb, call your airline if you are flying out. if you are okay, on schedule, don't miss that flight. give yourself extra time. if you were to miss it, it would be very difficult to rebook at this point. there are so many people trying to juggle and get on different plays. make sure you get your seat if you have got one. >> don't miss your flight. you shouldn't have problems taking amtrak. amtrak said their trains are expected to run on schedule. there may be kansalations from new york to boston. >> tech no customers may wonder their lights are going on and off. the number reached 11,000. p pepco brought in crews to deal with the ice storm that never really hit us this morning. >> it is now, 4:51. a look at our forecast. rain in the area, not freezing. we donled a bullet. >> came within a couple of degrees. they are getting that in pennsylvania and new york city. temperatures did remain above freezing. showing rain and near a storm gutter there. the drain is clogged with snow. the rain did come down hard for several hours, 11:00, now we have more returning. it will then exit the region in the next hour or so. >> look at all this snow. iowa to maine. this stretches across southern ontario, still into chicago, all the way to iowa. a it is icing from new york city, they are getting a serious ice storm there. lighter rains out of virginia into washington and maryland. it will be us with, it is just wet on roadways and sidewalks and streets. howard county. a light accumulation on tree limbs and power lines. norfolk later today. we had lingering showers, then we will be dry the rest of the day. down into the 20s tomorrow morning. wet snow, changing to rain, into the 40s, and partly cloudy, cold rain tuesday. maryland. inner loop and outer loop. river road interchange. looking good, watch out for ponding of water. >> no incidents -- no accidents, everything is moving along well. folks getting an early start, travel lanes are open through the capital beltway. things are progressing. switching the camera, for the most part, moving along well. a couple of issues reported. route 77, up near thurmont, those routes closed because of icing conditions. >> a new study might make you a bit uncomfortable. major roads are in bad condition, a nonprofit transportation research group called it. rip, a quarter of maryland's bridges are deteriorating. or obsolete. the trip said, financial help is the only way to stop that decline. that option is unlikely. >> right now, people in pennsylvania are up and waiting to see how long the crazy winter will last. in just a few hours, a ground hog betterknown. >> the blizzard left feet of snow. and impacts that could be pressured against history. even in dallas, thousands preparing for the big game, found themselves battling a big freeze. an estimated 100 million leave in the storm's path, and now, facing dangerous ice, driving snow and what could be debilitating power outages that could last for days. >> states would need assistance to be able to respond. >> the national guard, standing by in others. for many, making it through the snow and sleet is the first step. temperatures are expected to plunge behind the storm. so, in pennsylvania, the time-honored tradition of groundhog's day, what they say is the final word if the historic winter have possible more in store. >> no shadow. early spring! >> i am bribing that groundhog. please, please. >> 4:57, ahead, a reality star snubs a senator as a d.c. airport. >> when the lights go out. >> a live look, rain around the region. thick clouds overhead. we could have flooding throughout the region. stay with us.