Transcripts For WUSA Wusa 9 News At 5pm 20150217

Schools across the area were closed today, but with more snow and dangerously cold temperatures expected the rest of the week Stephanie Ramirez asked area School Officials if more cancellations could be on the horizon. Shes live at lemon Road Elementary School in falls church where kids are still enjoying their day off. Reporter its a closed but packed Elementary School and this is why. Lemon Road Elementary School has one of the best sledding hills in the area. A lot of parents and kids here wondering if kneel get a chance to do this theyll get a chance to do this again later this week. 11yearold Nathaniel Hughes didnt waste any time outside with schools closed today and even though the sun later came out he and his mother still say schools needed to be closed. Absolutely. Yes. They should have because half the roads are still have snow on them. Reporter nathaniel wasnt driving tuesday, but he would if he could. I wish. Id be cruising if i could. Reporter hear that, mom . Lovely. Reporter but in all seriousness the roads were so bad this morning not only did every School District in the region close for the day, so did the Montgomery County Public Schools administration offices. Thats something they do not normally do. This morning it was pretty rough. Reporter now theyre looking ahead not just for the snow but the below freezing temperatures were expecting to feel on thursday and friday. If theres heat in the classrooms and its freezing out, the cold wont be enough to shut down school, but icy roads will. We get people out on the road starting at 2 00 and 3 00 in the morning to try to a tess the quality of the roads, are to assess the quality of the roads, are they passable, a, for school buses and b, for staff that might be coming from not just Montgomery County but howard county, frederick county. Reporter thats not to say schools have been closed on dangerously cold days. A Fairfax County Public Schools spokesperson said that just happened last january and it could happen this week, but the bottom line is its the roadways that will determine another day off, which is why this parent who may or may not a county employee said what do you hope for . Snow and more snow. As a teacher, im really hoping we do have school because the kids need to be in the classroom, but as a parent its nice to have fun and enjoy the snow. Reporter now a Prince Georges County official spokesperson tells me today makes day three out of the four snow days built in in their calendar. They may have to tack on some extra days at the end of the school year if this continues. Most School Districts will try to let us know as soon as possible but say at the very latest 5 a. M. Theyll try to let us know if school will be closed. Stephanie ramirez, wusa9 news. Within the past 30 minutes several School Districts did announce plans to close tomorrow including culpeper, fauquier and king george counties, all closings and delays at the bottom of your screen. People in Southern Maryland are putting the final touches at this hour on a substantial storm cleanup. Charles county was in the bulls eye and saw a lot more snow than most areas. So the School Officials there are facing a bigger challenge to try and reopen the classrooms tomorrow. Scott broom is following up with them this afternoon in la plata. What are you hearing, scott . Reporter well, after 8 inches of snow down here in Charles County today you can see even side street like this one are mostly streets like this one are mostly down to blacktop which has School Officials here pretty optimistic. Our school will be ready to open tomorrow if were able to put our buses on the road tomorrow. Reporter thats the spokesperson standing in the parking lot of Summers Middle School which by midday was cleared, salted and ready for students as long as they can get here safely in the morning. In the neighborhoods of la plata the digout was helped along by bluebird skies. My guesses would be if anything, maybe a delay just to get guess is would be if anything, maybe a delay just to get the roads ready. It looks wet. So i think it will refreeze overnight. Reporter u. S. 301 scraped clean. The storm came hard overnight laying down 8 plus inches in many parts of Charles County. Few ventured out early. Theres still ice on these streets. I wouldnt advise nobody go out, but if you got to, drive safe. Is that it really wasnt that difficult. I think getting out of my neighborhood was the hardest thing. Its coming around, so were out here pushing putting down salt. State highway, they lad the pack and we just fall in lead the pack and we just fall in. Its like a tran from the left lane all the way to the train from the left lane all the way to the right lane the truck will just follow. Reporter the results of that plow train on the highway were impressive. So as we look forward to School Tomorrow, were looking forward to these roads remaining clear overnight. My colleague stephanie was just talking about the decisions that have to be made regarding another little pulse of snow and then this extreme cold weather the end of the week. Here in Charles County School Officials were telling me theyll understand up reminding parents sort of the obvious. Theyve got to be prepared to dress kids at the end of the week for near zero weather. They will make the calls on schools if they think childrens safety will be affected friday, for instance, getting frostbite waiting for buses. It will be a big challenge here in Southern Maryland as well. Do not envy the folks who have to make the call. Thank you. Winter weather is blamed for the death of a man this morning in howard county. 26yearold xu zangs car spun into a pickup truck going the opposite diiorectn. Police believe the timonium man was going too fast and lost control of his vehicle. A ban on parking on some of the main alters is no longer in effect. Trucks will treat artery is no longer in effect. Trucks will be treating secondary streets throughout the evening. Well see how mayor bowsers snow removal time performed in our biggest snowfall since our new mayor took office. When i was leaving from work last night, id have to give them a d. The roads were huer reynolds us in the district horrendous in the district. Reporter the mayor said the goal is for schools to be able to resume tomorrow. Were at 43rd and brandywine not far from the station and theyve done a pretty good job out here and this is a secondary road. This is a sidewalk where the homeowners are responsible. The people on this block have done a pretty good job. However, you do have this and you see this throughout the city where homeowners at work havent gotten to it. They need to get to these sidewalks so people dont get hurt. Look at what else we found throughout the district today. Plows had plenty of room to roam on d. C. Streets as the federal and city governments were closed today, same for the public and private schools. Restaurants, shops and private offices were also quiet today. By midday mayor Muriel Bowser appeared confident yet cautious the team had done well in getting the snow and ice off the streets. The snow team has been on residential streets, not all of them, but the expectation is all of them would have been hit by 9 p. M. Tonight. Reporter citywide snow emergency was lifted at 2 00 this afternoon but not before 132 vehicles were ticketed and towed from snow emergency routes. If your car was towed by the city before the snow emergency was lifted, theres a good chance it was brought here to the blue plains impoundment lot in southeast. That means you owe the city 200 for the parking ticket, another 100 for the tow. Then theres 20 per day you got to pay because your car has been impounded here. We should point out you cant pick your car up today because the d. C. Government is closed. We crisscrossed the city much of the day and found people digging their vehicles out and clearing their driveways. On danbury street southwest they compliment the citys snow removal performance. I believe theyve been out here late yesterday, early this morning. Reporter we saw sidewalks throughout the city covered ice, often forcing people into the streets. The sidewalks are its not clear. A lot of people probably didnt want to come out to clear their front. Reporter d. C. Homeowners are responsible for clearing snow from the sidewalks in front of their homes. What do you make of this sidewalk . Its not clear. I think it should be clear. Reporter be careful. I know it. You could go down. Reporter thanks. You walked right in our live shot. I appreciate that. Take care. Want to point out of right now its the honor system. Theres no law that says you got to have your sidewalk cleared. That takes effect next year. There will be a fine if you dont get the snow in front of your house within 24 hours after the last snowful theyre asking people to do this on the snow. Nearly asking people to do this on the honor theyre asking people to do this on the honor system. Huge progress on the roads. Across the region people are still wading their way across snow files on curbs and pushed out in intersections. Anything not cleared by tonight will freeze solid as this viewer just mentioned there potentially jamming traffic and sending walkers sliding tomorrow. Theres also big concerns about all the snow that melted and the refreezing overnight creating black ice in the morning. Bruce leshan will take a look coming up at 6 00 at all that. Metro says its bus service has transitioned to a moderate snow plan this afternoon that. Means more buses have been placed in operation, but the deep tours to keep the buses off the hill detours to keep the buses off the hillly terrain and side streets and other potential trouble spots are still in existence. Metro Access Service remains suspended today, but metro plans to get service back to normal starting tomorrow. The regions airports are proving tonight after the storm improving tonight after the storm canceled many flights. Reporter it feels like a heatwave at least up to 30 degrees. Its completely opposite from the standstill experienced overnight and this morning at our regions airports. As dawn breaks, the lights go out and the day begins transformed. A plow train works to clear the way outside national airport. Inside. More than 1,400 u. S. Flights have been canceled today. Reporter it was a restless night of sleep for passengers on the cold hard floor. Reporter how was your night . Cold. It did get colder throughout the night. I didnt get much sleep needless to say. Its not very comfortable. Reporter the board spell out their fate, canceled flights up and down. The night has been a little rough, but weve got a whole day ahead of us of 12 more hours of this. My flight was canceled two days ago and then the flight for yesterday was canceled, so im praying today my flight isnt canceled again so i dont have to stay the night in the airport. They dont give you a blanket, no nothing. Reporter Delta Airlines did hand out blankets which was much appreciated by the students and chaperones visiting d. C. From Richmond Hill High School Just outside of savanna, georgia. Flight got delayed last night, kept getting delayed last night. Us southern earlies are not used to this inclimate weather, so we just want to go home. Reporter at least there was entertainment, front end loaders moving heaps of snow around the gates and a hollywood scene develops as the deice are and the plane its treating disappear into the fog and snow. No, im not a happy camper, but got to roll with the punches, i guess. Im praying i can get out of here at 3 20. Reporter we are hoping jeremy watts was out of here as well. I think he did get on a flight because checking the arrivals and departures it looks like most flights at least are on the way and scheduled, going as scheduled. Im peggy fox reporting live at dulles. Were just gettinnews at 5 00. It is a huge chunk of change, 41 million, but it ie least reported initiatives in president obamas proposed budget. Coming up at 5 30 Debra Alfarone explains why testing rape kits keeps us all safer. Plus topper is back with flights were canceled today and multi car crashes shut down interstates in ohio. In the carolinas utility crews are still working to restore power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses and in North Carolina a dog fell through the ice on a small pond. The owner, a 12yearold boy, ran to try and help. Two Fire Departments joined forces to try to rescue the dog. They did successfully, too. Snow removal efforts hit a big snag in Prince Georges County this morning. After 2 a. M. The road was shut down for several hours as crews tammied to salvage what attempted to salvage what they could of the streetlight. A little heavier than i thought. You can even do it with a broom. Back in greenbelt engineers did haul that streetlight back to the shop. Topper, you keep talking about this countdown to the cold later this week. People are counting down to spring, 31 days, in fact. Count away. Keep counting. It doesnt affect the weather patterns. People enjoy seeing a touch of spring on a day like this. Heres one of my beliefs. If you have a nice average winter, 23 inches of snow in the burbs, 16 downtown, you appreciate spring that much more. Okay. What we dont want is winter to linger into late march. Lets look first at snowfall totals, kind of in the low range of our range, but if you were in the 4 to 8 band, you got somewhere between 4 to 8 inches, zoo 5. 3 inches, 5. 8 in virginia. Huntington 6. 8 and 7 inches in bowie and spotsylvania 8. 3 inches. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam traffic moving nicely on the parkway there, just a gorgeous evening, just kind of cold again. 29 downtown, dew point in the Single Digits. I point that out because we are going to have clear to partly cloudy skies, winds calm and actually thats the bottom range of my low tonight. Im going 8 to 18 for lows. Very cold tonight, some slick spots. The roads are way better than last night, early this morning, but some refreezing will occur, especially on your driveway. Be careful walking to get the paper. Bus stop temperatures 8 to 26. Thats 6 a. M. To 9 a. M. Morning commute is fine, probably need your sunglasses. Evening commute if you travel between 6 00 and 8 00, snow showers are on the way. Well give the critical time 4 p. M. To 9 p. M. They start out west first and move eastward and like summertime they can be pretty intense for 10, 15 minutes and with their snow it can produce a trace to 2 inches. Thats why we have a yellow alert for tomorrow already. 10 00 tonight walking scrappy, temperatures in the teens. By morning temperatures in the low teens and i think the computer is not quite taking into account the snow cover. I think well see a few scattered Single Digits tomorrow morning also in conjunction with the midteens. By 8 30, 9 00 still in the teens, lots of sunshine. By 1 00 clouds start to roll in from the west. You see some snow showers now entering our mountains. Thats arctic front no. 3 rolling through. By 4 00 snow showers may be in frederick and leesburg and by 5 30 a pretty solid line trying to develop, much like summertime when theres a solid line of thundershowers. That will put down an inch or 2 of snow quickly and put down a mess. By 10 00 theyre pretty much gone across the bay and then the arctic air comes pouring in again. So tonight partly cloudy, very cold, 8 to 18, at at least winds are in check. Teens to start, 27 at 11 00, 30 at 1 00 with fading sunshine. Yellow alert tomorrow evening, snow showers, yellow alert thursday bitterly cold, maybe a flurry or snow shower and still very cold friday. Thursday and friday we struggle to get out of the upper teens. Next seven days saturday looks more and more like a mess, start as snow, go to maybe freezing rain or sleet at night, possibly changing to rain and then cold again monday and tuesday next week. The reason behind the recent spike in gas prices plus a beloved toy from yesteryear makes a comeback. And what breed is this . More on todays amazing mutt in tonights consumer alert wall street had a mostly flat day as Political Uncertainty in europe continues. The dow added 28 points and the nasdaq climbed five. Aaa says gas prices shot up seven cents last week bringing the National Average for a gallon of regular to 2. 26. In our region in the d. C. Area the price at the pump for a gallon of regular is 2. 29 and aaa attributes the increase to refinery maintenance. Nestle is pledging to go all natural. The candymaker says 10 of its brands including butterfinger, baby ruth and nestle crunch bars will contain no more artificial flavors or colors by the end of 2016 and nestle will be the first u. S. Candy company committed to making all Natural Candy products. Its a blast from the past that google and mattel wants the Younger Generation to experience. So they teamed up to bring back the view master so kids can immerse themselves in a Virtual Reality world. The 75yearold classic will get a makeover with the help of a smartphone and some Virtual Reality technology. The updated view master will cost 30 will be in Stores Starting in the fall. The Westminster Dog Show continues tonight in new york city and sadly a local great dane named smooch did not win best in breed. Michael williamson of the Washington Post snapped this adorable picture of him, though. It is amazing dog week here at wusa9 and time to play guess our mutt in the morning. First we begin with turk. All day weve asked you to guess on our Facebook Page turks mixed pedigree and the answer is the rescue is part beagle, american staffordshire terrier and part weirmire. This is ollie, a little australian cattle dog mixed with Border Collie with a pinch of golden. Thats exactly what i was going to say. Well have another amazing mutt in the morning guessing game tomorrow at 5 a. M. And tonight at 11 00 we have the story of probably one of the most famous missing dog cases in our area. Havoc ran away 15 months ago while on a walk, but there have been sightings of him as recently as this week. Havoc, the amazing dog, tonight only on wusa9 at 11 00. You will not believe how much money his owner has spent looking for him. Also if you know an amazing dog or want your dog to be on our mutt in the morning game, send us an email, the address is amazingdogs wusa9. Com. Straight ahead president obamas immigration plan hits a snag. Also hundreds of people are still out of their homes after a Train Derailment in west virginia, what residents are saying about the fiery accident coming up. Its the least talked about promise from president obamas budgets and it affects you and thank you, cable for the slower internet upload speeds. For making me wait longer to share my photo albums. Thank you cable, because if we never had you. We wouldnt know the incredible difference verizon fios makes. In Customer Satisfaction studies, fios is rated 1 in Internet Speed and reliability 8 years running. Plus, fios has the fastest wifi available from any provider. For a limited time, get a fios triple play online at an amazing 79. 99 a month guaranteed for two years. Plus, a 400 bonus with a twoyear agreement hurry, deal ends february 21st. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v looking ahead snow showers tomorrow with another arctic front. This is futurecast at 7 00, pretty good line of snow showers at least according to the computer from leesburg to manassas, culpeper to orange. I believed this with temps in the 20s to low 30s. It moved through 8 30, 9 00. They can look intense 15 to 20 minutes and put down a trace of snow. We have issued a yellow alert. Look at these low temperatures tonight, 12 in rockville, 9 in leesburg for a low, 11 in sterling. 10 in laytonsville, 11 in olney. Well come back, talk about the coldest air of season in the wake of that next arctic front. It is one of th known yet incredibly important initiatives that president obama wants to give a chunk of money from his latest budget to ending the backlog of untested rape kits across the country. It didnt get the press some of his other proposals did, but the problem affects every one of us and here to explain how is Debra Alfarone. Reporter this affects every one of us because there are an estimated 400,000 rape kits sitting untested all around the country and experts say rapists usually rape more than once. They commit other violent crimes, too. In fact, when detroit tested just 14 of their 11,000 strong backlog, they ided 100 serial rapists who had committed crimes in 23 other states and right here in the district of columbia. The fact that its not being covered i think is really a good way of describing this issue as a whole. Reporter natasha alexanka was raped in 1993 in new york and immediately went through an invasive hours long examination so cops could gather dna to catch the rapist. Instead her kit sat untested gathering dust on a property room shelf for nine years until it was discovered right before the statute of limitation ran out. After he raped me and while my rape kit was sitting and collecting dust, he was on a nationwide crime spree. Reporter natasha is one of many advocates urging president obama who is now vowing to commit 41 million to help get rid of the estimated 400,000 strong backlog nationwide. Wusa9 previous uncovered a handful of untested kits in our area. Taking a look around the country in louisiana 1,100 untested kits were recently found. For 94 of them the victims were children. A child can never consent to sex. So i dont know how you close a child rape case without testing the actual kit. Reporter in seattle our sister station king 5 found since 2004 the Police Department there sent only 22 of their rape kits to labs to be tested, but after king 5s investigation an about face. Were looking at testing all Sexual Assault kits. Having Sexual Assault predators on the street affects us all. The big question is whether the entire spending bill will find support in the republican majority held senate. Right now hundreds of people are still out of their home in two small towns near charleston, west virginia. Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a Freight Train to derail possibly contaminating a river used for drinking water. Reporter the wreckage of a Freight Train still burns in west virginia. Thousands of gallons of crude oil are fueling the blaze that erupted when the train derailed in a snowstorm. When it blew up, the flames were higher than the top of the mountain. Reporter fires burned near the river and there is concern crude oil is seeping into the water. Two Water Treatment plants have been closed while testing is being conducted on the river water. Federal and local officials are investigating the accident, but it could take another day until the fire burns out completely. The train was traveling from north dakota to yorktown, virginia, carrying bakken crude oil. It is some of the most combustible crude oil on earth. Its been spilled in a series of derailment over the last two years. In december, 2013 a massive fireball erupted over castleton, north dakota, and in july, 2013 47 people died after a train carrying bakken crude derailed in a canadian town. The ntsb has investigated too many of these kinds of accidents, have made too many recommendations that have gone unheeded. Reporter the National Transportation safety board has made rail safety a priority. Less than two weeks ago the u. S. Department of transportation sent a package of new rail regulations to the white house for review. The white house is suspending its plan to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status. Homeland security secretary jeh johnson made the announcement today after a federal judge in texas ruled president obama exceeded his authority when he issued the executive order on immigration last year. The Obama Administration will appeal. In the meantime johnson says they must comply. At least 20 people were killed today during an accident at a Carnival Celebration in haiti. It happened when a man on top of a musical float was electrocuted by an overhead power line. People then panicked and dozens along the parade route were trampled. Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown portau prince. A home intruder led fresno, California Police on a wild chase yesterday. The suspect jumped roof to roof in just his underwear and socks. It all started with calls from residents about a man running through their yard. Then the man broke into their home. Homeowner said she hid in a closet, but the man found her, pulled her out and threatened to kill her. He threw me against the mirror that we had in the room and it broke and then he got behind me and he had me in a chokehold with a screwdriver pointed against my neck. How scary. The victim managed to break free. Police surrounded that home. The intruder tried to escape by breaking out through the attack and climbing onto the roof. The Police Tasered the man and took him into custody. Coming up a new way to undergo serious cardiac procedures without the dangers of high radiation. Trending now a snow covered city has some strange advice for travelers looking for a vacation. And are your coworkers annoying habits bugging you . Well tell you the top five most aggravating behaviors coming up. As we head into break look at this water taxi cutting through the ice on the partially frozen hudson river in new york city. Heres what some of you are saying about todays snow. My boots are wet. I almost fall off. Its very, very bad. Theres still ice on these streets. My feet felt so heavy at the end of the day. They used to get really tired. Until i started gellin. I got dr. Scholls massaging gel insoles. When theyre in my shoes my feet and legs feel less tired. Its like walking on a wave dr. Scholls massaging gel insoles, im a believer taking a look at some stories trending right now, you have to love the honesty from the people in ithaca, new york. At least those in charge of the tourism board. When you log onto visitithaca. Com, you get this message. Due to the ridiculously stupid winter ithaca invites you to visit the florida keys this week. Please come back when things thaw out. Really, for the birds here now. Still want to visit ithaca, you sure . Okay, click here. Ps, send us a postcard. That literally is on the top of their page. I know you cant see it. Caught on camera a giant light fixture comes crashing down from the ceiling at a Movie Theater in manhattan. The cold water caused an overhead sprinkler to freeze and burst. That theater was evacuated for six hours while crews cleaned up the mess. Police in wisconsin say the drivers seen in this video gets to keep his license for now. Its like butcher cars. The 92 bumper cars there. The 92yearold man was spotted hitting nine cars in this Grocery Store parking lot last friday. This is what he was doing. Something happened with the foot and the accelerator and he just panicked and he lost control of his vehicle. The dmv may force the 92year old to undergo a series of tests if he wants to keep his license. Might be time to actually give up the license. How many cars does it take . How is the etiquette at your job or office . Heres the top five list of office faux pas according to a survey by kessler international. Inappropriate use of cell phones, wearing unacceptable clothing to work, failure to say please, thank you, youre welcome, inability to write a proper letter or email and finally visiting sex and dating websites on the company time. Those are all pretty annoying. This week of rough Winter Weather is not over yet. Topper is back with the next bout of snow and those temperatures going down, down, down. Reporter mardi gras festivities are in full swing in new orle we thought our cable internet was fast. But, our uploads are half the speed of our downloads so our internet is really halffast. So halffast. Someone did a halffast job posting our vacation pics. When i post my slow jams, im a little half fast totally half fast stop living with half fast intern only verizon fios comes with speedmatch uploads as fast as downloads. And the fastest wifi available from any provider. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v embattled new york yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez issued an apology to his fans today as he gets ready to return to baseball. In a handwritten note arod writes in part, i take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season. I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. Rods steroid use earned him a season long suspension from baseball. 100 people are possibly one step closer to winning a one way ticket to the red planet. The group mars one started off with 200,000 aspiring astronauts who wanted to take part in the project. The final crew of lucky winners will be made up of 24 people who will start to head to mars in 2024. February is american heart month and in Family Health we are focusing on cardiovascular wellness. Cardiac procedures may come with a danger of radiation. Andrea roane shows us a new cath lab that promises to cut radiation while improving cardio health. Reporter a new report slows 2 of all cancers may be shows 2 of all cancers may be linked to radiation exposure. To address these concerns new cardiac catheterization reduce the radiation dose by 20 . We have a new extra platform that significantly reduces the radiation dose. Reporter this is important to both the patients, doctors and lab technicians. The doctor and his staff wear protective metal vests to shield the radiation from the cardiac catheterization labs, but the patient has minimal protection. This is what makes the lower radiation dose so important. Youre watching a cardiac cartization where a stent is placed in an artery near the heart. During his last procedure like this in an older cath lab after 1. 2 minutes the patient had received fever hundred units of radiation 500 units of radiation. This time after 3. 6 units the doctors patient only has 133 units of radiation, less than half the amount of radiation and triple the time. Every little bit of radiation you can save the patient, the patient goes on from here, next year they get a c. A. T. Scan, a couple xrays and the cumulative dose over time can be detrimental to a patient. Experts say if you get these procedures, you should keep track of your radiation intake. Tomorrow for american heart month we will talk to experts from inova throughout the day about ways to avoid heart and cardiovascular disease. Were now on our Winter Weather. Theres plenty of snow on the ground. Lots of people have the day off from work. So its the perfect recipe for a snowball fight. In case you havent noticed, the snow is not the packing variety. I tried to this morning with my daughter. However, that didnt stop dozens of people from taking part in a blustery battle in d. C. Today. Reporter this comes with the territory. You get a snow day. You have a snowball fight. Thats what we had here at Meridian Hill park, a line drawn in the snow, close to 300 people showing up for the first real snowball fight of the year. How you holding up . Hold on. Every once in a while we build up some snowballs and we rush the other side. Reporter what is this . Youre not jumping in there . Im going to go. Im just a little apprehensive. It looks pretty cold in there. Reporter whats it going to take to change your mind . What if we arm you with a snowball . That will do. Reporter the snow is it fluffy, so it was tough to make a real true snowball, but you can tell that did not stop the party here. Meridian hills park, back to you. Prince William County schools will be closed tomorrow joining a long list of other schools that declared their intentions for the day. Go back to the video, it was awesome like powdered sugar was flying around. Theyre not good snowballs, but nobody can get hurt. Nick was worried about the moneymaker. Were looking at perhaps some snow showers tomorrow, could be kind of intense. Weve issued a yellow alert because of that. Behind that fresh arctic air. Lets start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam doesnt d. C. Look beautiful with snow cover. You have co give me that, ladies. 29, dew points in the Single Digits and i think well see Single Digits tonight for lows and in part because of the dry air mass to support that, winds calm enough and we have snow cover. Snow cover gets you a few more degrees lower. Almost 5 inches at national officially, 4 inches at silver spring, martinsburg 4 1 2, front royal, virginia about 3 1 2. So very cold tonight. There will be slick spots primarily on your driveway that melted today. The roads got pretty nice by the time the afternoon came around, far cry from this morning. Bus stop temperatures 8 to 26, so those are not wind chills. Thats 6 a. M. To 9 a. M. Morning commute is fine. In fact, you probably need sunglasses in the morning and watch out in the evening. You get home by 6 00, you might be okay. Well take you through it on futurecast. 10 00 tonight teens and clearly skies. By 6 00 low teens, downtown 14, scattered single digit here and by 9 00 low 20s downtown, around 20 in the burbs. By 1 00 a few clouds roll in from the west. You can watch to lunch, bundle up. Bill 4 00 we see snow showers, blue, light snow, frederick down toward leesburg and out along the i81 corridor. This thing holds together as the frontal boundary rolls through. Watch this line of snow showers 5 00, 8 00, right across 95. You get home late tomorrow night, you could get caught in one of these snow showers and theyre kind of intense for a while. By 9 00 temperatures falling back into the teens and tomorrow night could see Single Digits. Tonight partly cloudy, very cold, winds northwesterly at 10. Day planner, teens to start, 22 at 9 00, 27 at 11 00, 30 at 1 00 with fading sunshine by 1 p. M. Next three days yellow alert tomorrow for afternoon and evening snow showers, bitterly cold flurries thursday, also yellow alert, 19. 5 for a low. Thats a downtown temp. We think tomorrow night could be 5 below in the burbs, only 19 friday, keep it green and a low of 10. Next seven days im looking and looking for you snow lovers. It appear snow will develop saturday afternoon or evening and turn to sleet and freezing rain and probably end in rain sunday and then behind that we get cold again, 32 monday and near 30 tuesday. The cold weather in this part of the country is the last thing partiers in new orleans are worried about. It is fat tuesday and mardi gras festivities are underway. Ed an yo roane brought in some king cake andrea roane brought in some king cake and its gone. Megan alexander has a great assignment today live in the heart of the action on bourbon street. Reporter i got to tell you this is my first mardi gras. I am having a blast. The sun finally came out. People are flooding French Quarter for the evening festivities of mardi gras. Its the Biggest Party of the year. [ music ] reporter marchers dress up in elaborate costumes as they made their way down st. Charles avenue for mardi gras. All hail the city of new orleans. Reporter bands played and paradegoers on floats threw beads into the crowd. Its cold and rainy here in new orleans, but thats not stopping revelers who came from all over to celebrate. Im from chicago, so this weather is not that bad for us. Reporter paradegoers did what they could to keep warm. We are freezing. Reporter is this what you expected . I was hoping for at least double digits. Reporter getting into the action here the stars of ncis new orleans who helped lead a parade monday night. This is the most surreal thing ive ever experienced. Reporter not only do the actors get to experience mardi gras, so do their characters. Tonights episode of mcis new orleans takes place on fat tuesday. The amount of extras they had for our parade, 900 extras. Reporter its a case of art imitating life. Yeah, the cast tells us they think they pulled it off. They actually recreated mardi gras and if youre fans of the show, youll enjoy this little tidbit. Im standing on the balcony of arnots restaurant, but if you watch the show, you know its not possible im standing here because this restaurant was blown up in an earlier episode, but no, in real life everyone is just fine. The owner told me he actually got phone calls after that episode making sure everyone was okay. In real life everybody is just fine with their masks and costumes. Near ready to party tonight. Theyre ready to party tonight. By the way, megan, its 47 degrees there and 29 here. So if you want to trade spots, were willing to. Were not feeling for you. Reporter i understand. Coming up everyone knows youre not supposed to bring firearms onto a plane. Next why are tsa agents finding them in Record Numbers at check points . Reporter are your children screened nor Heart Defects . Probably not for Heart Defects . Probably not, but one local mother believes they should be mandatory because a free screening at her local high school saved its well known you cant take a gun on board an airplane, but last year the tsa caught a Record Number of firearms at Airport Security checkpoints. Authorities say theres a correct way to travel with a gun. Reporter from revolves to semi automatics these are just some of the guns found in carry on luggage at Airport Security checkpoints. Tsa says 2014 was a record year with more 2000 firearms discovered at Airport Security, a 22 increase from 2013. Authorities cant explain whats causing the increase. The most common excuse we hear is they forgot they had it with them. Reporter penalties can range from fines to arrest depending on the law in that airports city. Theres a right and wrong way to travel with firearms. Reporter this federal air marshal says the right way is to put your firearm in a locked case. Then you have to declare it at the airline checkin counter and fill out a form like this. Then the weapon can travel in your checked baggage. Do your homework at home. Reporter mike zerlanga does his homework online. He travels the country to hunt and says Airline Policies differ and so do state laws for gun travel. You have to be sure youre going to a place that allows the type of firearm youre bringing. Reporter Authorities Say being prepared can ensure a smooth trip. When the tsa discovers the gun at a checkpoint, its turned over to local police. Of the more than 2,000 firearms caught at checkpoints last year, 83 were loaded. Thanks for watching wusa9 news at 5 00. Wusa9 news at 6 00 starts right now. We issued a yellow alert again for wednesday afternoon. Why . Another arctic front comes barreling through, snow showers up and down 95 about 8 00, so that could impact your evening commute. Reporter the roads look great now, but experts say there could be trouble coming in the morning. Im bruce leshan. Ill have a look coming up. Reporter roads in Charles County, maryland, down to blacktop. What are the prospects for School Tomorrow . Im scott broom in la plata, the latest thinking from School Officials is coming up. How about a hefty dose of arctic air to go with our first major winter storm of the season. Thanks for being here. Im derek mcginty. Weve got it. Im lesli foster. Several School Districts have already made decisions about tomorrow. We just learned that prince William County schools are closed, also among those closed culpeper, fauquier, frederick city, spotsylvania, stafford county, prince William County. The full list will run at the bottom of your screen, but lets get right to topper shutt with more on when this arctic blast will march its way in again. We have an arctic front tomorrow afternoon that will generate some snow showers and behind that round 3 of arctic air. I think in the morning Single Digits and teens. By 9 00, 10 00, were still okay. By lunchtime temps in the 20s. By 3 00 look to the west. Here come some snow showers and much like summertime a solid line of snow showers, its pretty imminent. Martinsburg, winchester, maybe a snow shower by 3 00, 4 00 and theyll march across the metro area. By 6 30 if youre not home yet, leesburg, dranesville or great falls, youre driving through a snow shower. Also going out 66 and again they can look intense a while, a trace to 2 inches. Even though they only last 15