our confidence again within an inch maybe an inch or two of snow and ice accumulation before that changes over to rain. we will show you future-cast and breakdown the timing a little bit more for the monday storm system and we will have all the details for you in a couple of minutes. >> thank you. now is the time to make sure you have downloaded the wbtv weather app it's free in your app store search wbtv. >> investigators in cabarrus county are concerned before a man they were investigating for possible involvement in sex crimes involving children has disappeared. deputies warrants to arrest gregory wayne powers, jr. they just cannot find him. david whisenant live in concorde. what are the charges here? >> the charges would be statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with children. the sheriff tells me wednesday of this week they believe that powers hit the road and he has not been seen since. traditional media and social media to spread the word. he became aware of the investigation and skipped town and he may be in charlotte or possibly in south carolina. they believe he is driving a 2011 chevrolet hhr, like the one in the picture that i have. now they are not giving out details in this case because it is a very sensitive nature. and because children are involved in this investigation. coming up, i will have more on this case including the reaction from local folks when i showed them a picture. that is coming up at 5:30. live in cabarrus county, david whisenant wbtv on your side. >> find this guy. thank you. >> police in texas are investigating the homicide of a deaf man from south carolina. 50-year-old william far was found shot to death in san antonio. he attended the south carolina school for the deaf and blind. 49-year-old michelle chase is charged with his murder. school student in south carolina brought a gun to school because he felt unsafe. 18-year-old johnson was arrested and taken to the detention center. according to the report johnson was pulled aside in school after they heard he had a gun. >> a charlotte charter school is fighting back after the state decides to close it. this month, the board of education voted unanimously to stop public funding for both crossroads and kennedy charter schools in the queen city. now leaders at crossroads are taking action. wbtv's education reporter dedrick russell joining us live now. how can crossroads get the funding back? >> well, brigida, the school has to prove it is right and the north carolina state board of education is wrong. crossroads has filed a petition and is suing. and i can tell you the school is not taking this lying down. we went by the school today and the sign outside reads the school charges the state acted wrong and did not use proper procedures when making decisions about the school and the lawsuit reads the state questioned a $21,000 purchase the school made and then the school was placed on probation. but the school argues it provided all the documentation needed to prove the purchase was legit but claims the state did not review the proof nor the receipts. in the lawsuit the state board claims financial issues and low student enrollment caused the recommendation for closure. if the crossroads wins the judgment it is requesting to be renewed for another three years and for some training for state officials when reviewing documentation. no word yet when this case will be heard. >> dedrick, what is the state saying about this? >> well, i did put in a call to the department of public instruction and i am still waiting for a call back. the school runs out in june. and officials tell me they hope that they will have their case heard in court by that time because, after all, we are talking about 163 students right now enrolled in crossroads. if the funding stops the students will have to find other places to get their education. live in north charlotte, dedrick russell wbtv on your side. >> i know you will stay on of this thank you. >> live to our alert center. alex giles is standing by. you got interesting information about cam newton? >> yes, this popped up on social media. first picture of cam newton's child. he posted this on instagram. there is baby chosen. my babies came in the mail referring to the nfl hardware that you see. but i'm missing the one i wanted the most and super bowl mvp. will have to do for now referring to the cute child he has there now. that is an awesome photo. cute to see. but i would like to see a photo of him in panthers pajamas. >> he will be running around before we know it. fun to hear from cam. >> right now we want to give you an update on that situation out of west charlotte this is a look where a truck took out a power pole on beech-nut road. it will take three hours to repair the pole. the pole is across the street there and it brought down the lines. obviously a great concern to the folks without power especially on a day as cold as today highs in the 30s. duke energy giving a repair time of three hours after a truck took out that power pole in west charlotte. >> let's get you updated on the commute. tonya rivens in the first alert >> and let's look in this area where beech-nut road is off of beringer drive around clanton and remount road. avoid the area at the moment. again it is a neighborhood street but we see volume building on wilkinson boulevard and i-77. that is not the reason for the delays on i-77. we have a problem with a stranded motorist at i-77 southbound at woodlawn. that left lane is blocked. south boulevard is a great alternate route. and that congestion goes from woodlawn all the way backup to trade street. so that is quite a bit of volume. on the d.o.t. camera this is trade street and again, that is because of that stranded motorist on woodlawn. your first alert traffic is sponsored by people's bank. back to you guys. >> all right thank you. crystal clearwater and sandy beaches. >> that could not come to charlotte, right? so we are taking a look at the possibility. a closer look in eye on development coming up next. >> and our first-alert weather president's day winter weather that is headed our way. >> a live look here from our d.o.t. cameras we are monitoring the roads as crews get ready for a winter storm. the dot is working to treat the roads. >> eye on development it was a story in the "charlotte observer" that caught our attention. probably yours as well. the potential for beach front property in charlotte. say what? >> ely portillo wrote the article and joins us now. it was startling to see this in the paper this week. what are they talking about. >> that is one of the knocks against charlotte we do not have waterfront property but except for the lake but there is a company trying to create business called crystal lagoons and they are pushing the idea of artificial carribbean water bright blue, white sand beaches all the appearance of say, bar paid dose or bermuda but artificial. and they have been in town negotiating for a deal that they >> do we know where? >> we don't know where. they say within 30-60 days they hope to have it closed and announced. >> are we talking about hotels? or homes as well? resort? >> elsewhere they have built hotels, boardwalk properties. there is a hard rock in mexico built object one and a large project underway in dubai which the desert not a lot of carribbean waterfront property there. it has a lot of uses. >> and wild to think about. and they are going to recycle the water? >> right. the water is recycled and it's purified using technology they have that uses less energy than a traditional artificial water feature. >> and another article this weekend? >> well, it does not sound sexy but self storage is spreading and they are building self storage in new places near all those apartments that we are next to bank of america stadium. >> storage units in uptown. >> check it out this weekend on charlotteobserver.com or in sunday's paper. >> interesting stuff important stuff as well. ely appreciate you stopping by. >> dating apps like tinder and bumble have become popular but are they using them to find relationships? we'll tell you what a survey says and here is an app you will want to make sure you have. you breaking news alerts as they paul cameron live and 15 minutes away from wbtv news at 5:00. a blast of winter weather headed to the carolinas we have team coverage including a look at what officials are doing to keep the folks in charlotte safe on the streets. officer involved shooting in catawba county in two days. you will hear from a man inside the house when his friend was shot and killed in maiden. >> see you here in a few minutes. right now update you on a story we started following yesterday. a watermain break on >> alex giles has the latest details. >> you remember there was that watermain break yesterday and now all lanes back open on independence boulevard. crews have been tending to that problem and the signs out overnight. they were working on that today but we know that all lanes are open. good news heading into the 5:00 p.m. friday commute. >> amen to that. appreciate it. >> thank you. we are on your side right now with the top consumer headlines. good news is in the air. travelers are shelling out less money on airline tickets. the transportation department says domestic airfares dropped to a six-year low the average price $372. expansion of low cost airlines and plunging jet fuel costs are drivers of the change. >> we have been hearing for weeks that prices have not been saving us that much. college students are using dating apps like tinder for they use it to find friends. 27% say they use the app to find a significant other and tinder is their favorite followed by bumble and ok cupid. >> friends? >> i don't know what those are. >> swipe right, swipe left? no? >> that is not object my radar. better not be. let's update the traffic we have good news on independence boulevard lanes open and the rest of the commute here is tonya? >> surprisingly things are quiet for a friday commute on 485 and this is by wilkinson boulevard. on 485. and i-85. as we continue to check around the area not such good news towards gaston county. i-85 southbound exit 21 a lot of congestion. wilkinson boulevard is a great alternate route. look at the slow-moving traffic it's unfortunate we do not pick this up on the d.o.t. camera but stop-and-go traffic and volume on wilkinson boulevard. alternate route. and those that commute from gaston county to mecklenberg county or mecklenberg county to gaston county they are familiar with the slow-moving traffic at the county line. and look around the area, notice only a few incidents on the mapping system which is incredible for a friday evening commute. indiana vit you to join me sunday morning for soul inspiration. tune in from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at z101.9. >> thank you. snowfall today in the north carolina mountains. this is a live look. and banner elk snow in the high country now. but we are now looking ahead to a serious winter storm that looks to be on its way what the implications will be here. no problems now. >> yeah, and it's tricky when we talk about snow and ice and the timing of the forecast. it's keeping our team of meteorologists busy. here is lyndsay tapases with the latest. overland now which is good we get a better handle on it. once it does move overland so the picture should become more clear for us as we get a grip on the storm over the upcoming weekend but that is where it is. ahead of that we have the arctic high that is building in in the short-term following the snow that came through this afternoon and that is why our temperatures will be going nowhere at all through the weekend. we are at 36 in charlotte. look at the air upstream. we've got 10 in minneapolis. subzero readings in winnipeg and that high is going to set itself weekend. lows tonight will drop down into the low 20s. 23 the low in charlotte for saturday you hold in the teens and the mountains early morning snow showers but for you the sky will clear out. and then the foothills will be low 30s probably around the freezing mark in morganton and outside of the mountains. so at least we will have the sunshine but it's not going to do much for the temperatures. 37 for saturday afternoon in charlotte. and then south carolina counties we will hold in the upper 30s for our saturday afternoon. now, saturday night, that is when we bottom out. 15 will be the low for saturday night and into sunday morning. so your wake up temperature on valentine's day is going to be 15 and we hold in the mid-30s for valentine's afternoon sunday. and we are going to have more clouds by sunday ahead of the storm that gets in here for monday. that brings us to monday now. we talked about how cold it was over the weekend that is why that cold air with that arctic high is in place by first thing monday morning and the storm in the pacific northwest getting closer and moving into our area by monday. it does look like this begins for almost everyone as snow outside of the mountains. of a mix to sleet and probably ends as a tiny bit of freezing rain before changing over to all rain. the timing again is critical how much snow and ice from monday afternoon to monday evening for the charlotte area we will end this as just rain by monday night and into tuesday morning. so right now, our confidence is largest that we see between a coating to up to two inches. equal confidence that we see less than an inch as an inch or two in the charlotte area and then we only have a small percentage 20% that we see more than two inches of snow and ice before it changes to all rain. in the mountains you will see more since it stays snow for you. eric will have much more detail straight ahead at 5:00 p.m. right now back to you. >> thank you. next at 4:00 the zika virus is spreading rapidly in latin america the number of cases here next how long it will be until a vaccine could be ready. >> before that hello to cindy day. facebook. lots of folks have done so and they get great information. chime in on the news events as well. wbtv.com/facebook is the place to begin. on wbtv news is sponsored by... no quick answers to the zika virus. vaccine trials are at least a year-and-a-half away. >> according to the world health organization. 15 companies or groups have been identified as possible participants in the hunt for vaccines and link between the mosquito-borne virus and birth defects is more probable and the zika virus outbreak is spreading. >> researchers in boston report genetic test something audiotape mung young women are breast cancer. patients get tested for mutations after diagnosis. more women may be aware of genetic risks following angelina jolie's double mastectomy. >> more snow and freezing rain headed for carolinas. our meteorologists breaking down what you can expect. coming up in 90 seconds. >> announcer: wbtv on your side. wbtv news starts right now. >> snow, ice, freezing rain and the potential for thunderstorms. a wild mix of winter weather moving across the carolinas and more is on the way. >> from the north carolina mountains to charlotte we are on coverage of what you can expect where you live. right now, the system that brought snow flurries to the charlotte metro area and heavy snow to the mountains is moving out and now more cold is moving in. nice to have you here i'm maureen o'boyle. >> i'm paul cameron. it's chilly outside but the arctic air is making a b line into the carolinas this weekend. thomas is in the first alert weather center to begin our team eric? >> i tell you what, exciting day here, maureen and perhaps a preview of coming attractions. so many people sending us pictures. here is what it looked like on the radar today. and yes, look at all the reports. not much in the way of accumulation but friday fun with the snow. rolling through and not causing dangerous conditions. i cannot say that for the mountains. al gain any, ash, watauga avery you have the wind-chill advisory tonight, tomorrow, saturday and wind-chills -5 to -15. down to 29 there. we are only getting colder over the weekend. bundle up this evening. 34 at 9:00 and 33 at 11:00. lyndsay tapases has a longer look at the potential president's day storm coming up. let's take it over to lyndsay. >> with all that cold air in place by first thing monday morning with the storm moving in it looks like it begins as a little bit of snow for everyone by first thing on monday morning. then we are going to see a transition to sleet and probably a little bit of freezing rain before this changes over to all rain. again, outside of the mountains by the later part of the day on monday. your time stamp through the mid-morning hours starting to see more pink outside of the mountains indicating more ice than snow and finally, as we keep this clock rolling for you by as early as the afternoon on monday could be as late as monday evening for charlotte, we