road crews are out in full force this evening. this afternoon we're bracing for what's only the beginning of what's going to be the biggest storm we have seen in years and years, folks. here we go. good afternoon. i'm jim handley. >> i'm wendy rieger. our winter storm coverage begins live outside. let's head -- the snow started falling around 10:00 this morning across our region. we are expecting to get more than two feet of snow in some places. >> don't adjust your set. that's all you'll see for a couple of days now. our team of reporters and meteorologists are fanned out across the region, covering every angle of>ok this winter event. let's begin with veronica johnson tracking the storm. >> we've seen the light snow falling throughout area. it was really light at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. now we're seeing pockets of moderate snow in virginia. a tremendous amount of moisture over the area and a lot more to come. i'll show you a little bit of areas here where we'll see baing throughout the overnight hours, getting thunder snow coming through the area. all of this from that moisture that's been heading up through the south, spots through north carolina and south carolina are already getting over 2 1/2 inches of rain today. and the visibilities will be dropping, too, with this storm. blizzard warnings have been posted for the overnight period from 10:00 p.m. this evening until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow for the counties of anne arundel, st. mary's and calvert county. it's here that that wind will be howling out of the east and snowfall amounts could be in excess of 20 inches there. winter storm warning again covers the area. by the time we get to about, oh, about 11:00 p.m. this evening, we could have four, six inches easily on the ground. chuck bell is standing outside to talk more about the intensity of the snow that we're going to be getting during the overnight period. chuck? >> hey, veronica. yes, the snow intensity, about 20 minutes ago i was out here with the aaa folks and the flakes were much larger then. we've gone back to smaller flakes now on the lawn of news4. but the proof is always in the pudding. i'm no pat collins, but i've got a bigger yard stick. here we go. out here we've got ourñi fst inch of snow on the oval out here at news4. the smoenowfall rates have been moderate at time. everyone knows what heavy snow looks like or light snow, but moderate, it makes you think what are the definitions. we have the definitions for you. light snow, an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch per hour. quarter of an inch to half an hour, that's moderate snow. anytime you get over an inch of snow per hour, that's heavy snow. and two to four inches per hour is considered heavy, heavy snow across the area. that we do have the potential for a brief time to reach int the highest category of snowfall rates around the area. could see two to four inches of snow for a short period of time during the late overnight hours tonight into tomorrow. definitely going to be one for the record books. it will be our second top-ten finisher of all time in snowfall in the same winter. veronica, back to you. >> with that tremendous snow, with the wind really picking up at 10:00 p.m., we could be looking at power outages across the area. bob has more, too, on what you can expect. >> this is one of those storms, veronica, that will be going on for hours. probably we won't see the end of the snow until late tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening. most intense of it will be coming as we go through the overnight hours. there you see spots that have had a lot of rain. remember roughly a 10 to 1 ratio. that's the kind of moisture that's coming our way. three inches down there in north carolina. you can see that area of rain, which is trying to come into the richmond area now. about 2:00, 3:00 in the morning, there will be for you folks into southern maryland some pockets of sleet and some rain, too. there you can see that area that is really continuin to move through and overnight tonight, right here in washington and the colder areas, one to two, maybe as much as three inches of snow per hour, veronica. >> indeed. so our snowfall amounts, we're not changing these a bit. looking for 18 to 24 inches while this storm system winds up late tomorrow evening. as much as 20 to 30 inches just off the mountains and areas of western fauquier county, western loudoun. there could be other isolated spots, too, with 20 inches as well. >> all right. thanks, veronica and bob and chuck. let's turn to our team of reporters also out in it right now. we said that it's moving up from the south and southwest. the storm hit parts of northern virginia early today. >> julie carey begins our coverage out at tyson's corner. >> what a difference out here in the last hour. for a while today as we were driving around virginia, we wondered if anything was ever going to start to stick. it was more like a rain event than a snow event. look at 123 now. the slush is starting to build up. again, that's really only happened in the last 60 minute no reason to put the plows down yet, but it's starting to get slippery. if we look over the other way, the only reason that's slushy is because of all the traffic in this gas station parking lot here. itçóñi is stacking up and start to get slick. anyplace you don't have regular traffic, the snow is starting to pile up. it's clear that plenty of people are still out there but many others in northern virginia, they've already headed home and taken refuge. on i-95, the rush hour started at the noon hour as hundreds of federal government workers put in their four hours and headed for home. judging from theñi emptyñiçó spt this prince william county park and ride, though, plenty of workers took the day off altogether. >> the roads are beginning to get pretty icy and covered over. so give us a head start and get home çóearly.çó get hunkered down"wju the snow. >> i'm readyçó to pretty muchç(k it in. as you can see, i've gotçó my b right here. i'm just going to go to a friend's house and just keep warm, you know? i'm not planning on going out at l this weekend. >> reporter: carpoolers who returned um their carñi atç?dmi and settle in for the weekeddíó at this nearby truck rest stop, drivers coming from the south took a break and braced for what they feared might be a challenging day on the road. this trucker had only a short trip from richmond. he's delivering oxygen to the fairfax hospital and hopes to get back to richmond before the snow starts to pile up. >> traffic has been pretty good. the roads, they're not -- they're doing pretty good also. i haven't seen any of the salt trucks yet. the temperature is staying above freezing. but i'm surprised there's as much traffic as there is out here. >> that was a littleñi bitñiñiñ) today. not so bad out !here on ñii-95. starting to get worse right nowi jz their minds tonight, but tyson'sñi corner center, stl open. some stores, though, will be closing early. so the mall advises anyone heading out this way to check ahead. now we'll head out to pat collins and his superiorñiñiçó r yardstick inñiñiñr gaithersburg >>ñr julie, remember this time this ñiday. 4:00 on this february 5th becauseçó that's when it began change. the snow's intensity has picked up here. the winds increased. the temperatures dropping. at 3:00, no gloves. 4:00, gloves. at 3:00, that wet sidewalk i showed you is now beginning to ice up. the visibility on 355 has diminished. so has the traffic out here as people seem to be making their way home to hunker down as this big storm now starts to move in. people have a plan. people need a plan. and today they talked about that and today they talked about that plan.ñiñiçóçóçóñiçóñ everybody, everybody, everybody has a snow plan. and the plan seems to be pretty much the same thing. what is your snow plan? >> the best thing i can say is to get home and stay in for the rest of the weekend and not worr about going anywhere. >> staying home. >> what are you doing out here now? >> getting ready. >> snow plan, stay home. stay safe. >> go home. >> stay home. >> if you don't need to come out, don't come out. >> you're on your way home now? >> yes. >> reporter: linda perez saysçó she's snow psi9ñ you see,ñiñr she just moved her from california for his isñiñr >>ñi we have food.erience.ñi4/ we have things in the car. we have chains in case we need to go, you know, farther. and we're pretty much -- >> reporter: are you ready? >> pretty much i think. i hope.çóñr >> she's going to have some stories to tell her friends back in california. and now i think we can have the first official measurement out here in gaithersburg. right here on the grass, we're showing something just about an inch and a half. an inch and a half here at 4:00 in gaithersburgçó asñi the snow starts toñi accumulate. now back to you guys. >> you're right, pat. the past half hour, the whole dynamic around you has changed. >> it's getting much colder out here. we're going to -- we're going to sort of step up with our jackets and layer up a little bit more. >> thanks, pat. well, few places have been busier than the grocery stores over the past 24 hours. folks have jammed the aisles, stocking up on milk, bread, water and otherñi items for the weekend. at this 24-hour giant in rockville, business has beenñi non-stop and brisk. there were long lines even at 1:30 this morning. with soñrçó many people buying many groceries, someñi shelves were picked clean.ñr >> there's no meat. i'll be going to another grocery store. gknding what you needed or no? >> i found what i needed. it's just a needed meat to cook for dinners. i found everything else. >> a lot of stuff is all gone. açó lot of the fruits and the meats. all the good stuff is gone. >> managersçó of this giantñr location tell us they're in for the long"u19ñ they plan to keep the store open no matter what mother nature brings. and they areñi just overstocked with people. they've got the whole army in the store. >> now they just need some ñr replenishment. >> yeah. >> the other big story is the snow event in the district. >> tom sherwood is covering that angle for us. what's happening in d.c., tom? >> well, i think it'sñi snowing jim. the best i can tell, there's something wetçó coming down. the streets are pretty empty.ñió the government, the schools, this is all closed down early because of the impending snow. i just saw one guy walkñr by he. he had all of this shirts, he was taking them to the laundry and then he stoppedçó in the liquor store and bought a bottle of bouáb headed home. sounds like a good thing to do forñi people. lanes, it's fine if you park in th -- there's a fine if you park in them.ñiñi $250 plus towing. we'll be back later to talk about how people are adjusting as they wait for the big storm to come.ñi >> thank you, tom. >> judging from the lines at the grocery stores, a lot of people across our area are gettingb]tr% ready to hunker down for the long weekend. that's good because even metro around. metro is operating on a normal schedule right now. the transit system has hundreds of workers removing ice and snow from the roads, but there is a cut-off point.ñiçó >> we see snowfall of eight inches or more above ground, which is certainlyçó what we anticipate, we will suspend all of our above-ground rail operations and go to a limited underground rail service only. what that means is trains will operate about every 30 minuteçmó [ inaudible ] the best thing for people to do, find another alternative way to get to the underground station. above ground. >> we'll let you know as#bujjz s metro announces when the above-ground service will be suspended. as for amtrak, riders were already last night, amtrak announced it was canceling most of the trains they had headed south of d.c. that included northeast regional trains between washington, richmond and newport news. the trains between lynchburg and washington d.c. our continuing coverage of thisñci winter storm will be continuing after the be 9ñ we have reporters spread out across our region monitoring these conditions. we'líeo live to rgan national airport for a look at travel delays. heading to the airports now. some flights were delayed. others didn't make it out at all. >> let's go back to reagan national airport. john, you saw a lot of frustrated passengers. what is the frustration level right now, john? >> there aren't many frustrated many people here right now. a lot of the people did get a chance to get out on those flights. look at video from earlier today. ran into a groupçó of teachers o were here in a conferenceor the past week. they were trying to catch a domestic flight so they could get back home. they were very optimistic about their chances of gettingñr out. they knew theñi storm was comin. i asked them why even show up to the airport at all?çó >> if the flight is on time and they go, we will have to pay more money, don't we? so we better be here just in case. >> just in case. >> this is the third trip for me to the airport. i mean, we're hoping that the earlier flights do leave and we have a backup plan for the people who are leaving after 4:00 p.m. we've booked them hotels for the weekend. they're staying until sunday and then they'll get to their destinations. so we have a plan "b," but we're hoping for plan "a." >> theñi good news for them, pl "a" didork out. they got out. i want to bring in courtney. she is añr spokesperson for the airport authority. can you give us on update on how the weather is affectingxd fligs right now? >> we have a couple of flights getting out right now. a couple of the airlines canceled their flights going into the evening. we're probably wrapping up operations today in the next hour or two. >> what have you seen from passengers? are they frustrated, upset? >> this morning went really smoothly. a lot ofñi flights were able to come and go all day long. a lot of people got an opportunity to rebook. a lot of flights tomorrow are canceled. if you are bumped, if your flight is canceled, you can rebook with your airline on their website. >> a lot of flights aren't going out. are flights still coming in? >> our runways are still in pretty good çóshape. our snow crews have pretreated all of the runways. as the snow continues to fall, as the storm intensifies it will become more challenging for us. you just heard the update. planes are still coming in but they'll be shutting down the departures within the next half hour to hour or so. that's the latest live here from reagan airport. back to you. >> thank u, john. goingñi to be a ghost town down there this weekend. >> we know that the snow is gointo be heavy and wet. injuries, even heart attacksñi when you are outside shoveling. between the cold tempeíu)es, the weight of the snow, there's a lot of extra strain being put on the body. the cold is going to raise blood pressure so the heart is working harder. so do a lot of muscles in the body as a result of just that. experts estimate that 1,200 americans die every winter from heart attacks stemming from snow shoveling. one studyñi found that most attacks happen because of that shoveling can dislodge plaque in the coronary arteries and that blocks blood flood. most victims have no history of heart disease. in some cases, up to a quarter of those afflicted are women. doctors say the best way to avoid triggering a heart attack is to shovel snow early when the load is a lot lighter. do it in short stints, not all at once so you can give your body a rest in between. also, the other big medical concern during these huge snow events, back injuries. in 2007, more than 21,000 people went to the emergency room after they hurt themselves trying to get rid of the snow. lifting heavy shovels of the snow is like weight lifting and for people w are not in top shape, this can be a shock to those muscles that haven't been used in a while. doctors say after a big storm, they often see people with pain between the shoulders, the upper and lower back and the legs. to prevent anyçó injury, doctor say do some warmup stretching before you go outside. when you getç'youtside, let the legs do the work. hovel with your back ñimuscles. bend your knees when you'reñr lifting. push the snow straight ahead. avoid twisti and turningi motions as you try to tossçó it from side to side. stayñi hydrated, slow down if y start to sweat. and one big thing to remember, if you're feeling pain, just stop what you're doing. the snow will eventually just melt away anyway. >> pace yourself.ñr it is going to be a long one. we've got days ahead. it's going to be a heavy snow and it's going to freeze for days after we get out of the woods here. we've got mh more of our team coverage of this winter storm when we come right back. >> we'll head to prince george's county with a live report of how the weather is impacting that part of maryland. all right. veronica joins us now in the studio. we've been talking for days about this storm. how does this one stack up in >> in the record books this one could squeeze into second or third place. inches of snow in the area. this one again could easily, easily, squeeze into second or third place. if we get over 18 prapor 20 inc. the last timexdçó we did that wn 1979.ñr that was way back in 1899 when we got over 20 inches of snow. why is that such a big deal? the fact that we've gotten two whoppers of a storm. one r the recordbooks all in the same season. hard to believe. >> that's a rarity. >> let's head outside and get you going here, folks. the storm system is just getting going. i know it's goingçó to be a big headache. absolutely throwing a wrench into your weekend plans. hopefully sunday, maybe some of us will be able to move around a bit. outside, you can see -- and you've heard our reports today, how the snow is picking up in intensity in some locations as we get these bandings or bursts that come through the area. temperatures around 32, 33 degrees throughout the area from areas ofñr quantico down throug 33 degrees. i think we're really going to stay around there until about 11:00 p.m. there may be a few locations just down to the south here where there might be freezing rain. not freezing rain, but just regular rain trying to mix in at times. for the most part, all snow on this system. it is affecting many areas up to the north. pittsburgh, philadelphia,ust shy of new york city, flight cancellations and delays in raleigh, north carolina. over into ohio as well as indiana. a tremendous amount of moisture has been riding up from the south. so this isn't going to shut off any time soon. there's our system. kind of reforming off the coast. this was the main low. now this one is turning into the main low off the coast of south carolina. as it moves up the coast and gets closer to us, we'll get an even stronger easterly wind. that's, again, just one of the reasons why the blizzard warnings have been posted for anne arundel county, for st. mary's county as well. that's where we could see the three and four-foot drifts. here's futurecast. there's the low. by early tomorrow morning, almost east of the area, all snow through the area -- again, as it makes its way up coming down really hard. some very intense snowfall rates. one to three inches per hour from midnight up until, oh, 7:00 a.m. or so in the morning. that's when our timeline continues to show. this one working out very well. that's the dark blue from winchester to culpepper, a n annapol annapolis, frederick. i think we'll see nine to ten inches on the ground by midnight and pick up more throughout the overnight period. this is a storm sõ!5 that you want to stay on top of, but it will be hard to do that with what's going to be falling from midnight to 7:00 a.m. baltimore, d.c., waldorf. those counties where the blizzard warnings in effect could have those locations to pick up the 24-inch rates. and then off the mountains, too. the deal here for the weekend is snow and more snow through the day saturday. and a lot of wind, too. sunday, the high 30. we'll stay really below freezing for the next couple of days. even tuesday as we get to maybe 33. 34 degrees. folks, hate to tell you but another weather system will be moving in. the snow will be staying on the ground. i know. let's just kind of take it one day -- i know. one storm at a time. believe me, we are -- we're all getting tired of this, right? >> you can't make any plans. gosh. >> pat collins noticed that there was a bigger clip, but that was just a band in ga gaithersbu gaithersburg. nothing like what we'll see tonight. >> no. the visibilities are going to be reduced at times down to zero. that with the wind blowing -- >> a whiteout? >> exactly. officials in prince george's county have already declared a state of emergency there. >> road conditions are starting to deteriorate there. derrick ward is live in college park with a lot of -- do we have a rush hour on this friday, derrick? >> well, if we do, it's nothing like the usual rush hour. again, nothing today is like it usually is. i'm going to step out of the way here. this is route 1. it's rare to see this little traffic on route 1 at this time of day on a friday. i want to show you video of the beltway. this is the beltway through college park. kind of the beginning of the snow event. traffic was moving. the roads have been treated so they didn't hav any trouble getting around. it wasn't as bad as it usually is. a state of emergency has been declared. a short rush hour, early rush hour, contributed to that to a certain extent. we're hoping that will last throughout the day. joining me now is mark brady with prince george's county fire and ems service. mark, we talked earlier. you said that something about this snow that will probably because adversity later on in this event. >> exactly. this is a wet, heavy snow. the wet, heavier snow is ing to ecumulate on power lines and tree branches that will come in contact with those power lines and then we'll have some power outages. unfortunately that creates a whole other set of problems for citizens, residents and the fire department. >> if you come in contact -- or if you encounter a power line, you should assume that it's energized. >> exactly. if you see a downed power line, limit access to the area. call 911 and inform the authorities. if you have an emergency, call 911. if you don't have an emergency, call pepco directly. >> excellent. mark, thank you for joining us today. take care out here on the roads. we'll come back to you later with more information and more about the road conditions here. we're live in college park. now back to you. >> thank you. let's get the picture on maryland right now. >> greg shipley is joining us on the phone. greg, we're talking about whiteout conditions around midnight tonight. are you preparing for this? >> wendy, our troopers are preparing for this. they are prepared, colonel sheridan has dispatched all of our four-wheel-drive vehicles to barracks across the state. we have 70 additional troopers working throughout the weekend. troopers will be in patrol vehicles. many of them four-wheel-drive, working at all of our 22 barracks across the state. we're prepared, we're ready, we're working in close contact with the state highway administration and with the maryland emergency management agency. we have troopers there ready to respond when calls come in for troopers or law enforcement response in the state. >> are you focusing on any area in particular? we've been hearing about blizzard warnings on the eastern shore and heavy winds that are due tomorrow there. >> our troopñi commander on the eastern shore is well aware of that. we have deployed four-wheel-drive vehicles down there. we're in touch with the maryland national guard. since the governor has declared -- made that emergency declaration, the guard can be involved and we'll be using their humvees throughout the weekend to assist us as well. but we're coordinated and ready to respond. >> all right. it's going to be a doozy. good luck out there. thank you, greg. greg shipley of maryland state police. >> right now the time is 4:30. we thank you for staying hibernated with us, everybody. i'm jim handley. >> i'm wendy rieger. we begin with our winter storm coverage. our team of reporters are out braving these elements, covering every angle of our storm. >> we begin with veronica johnson who has more on what's >> so far we've already seen some banding of moderate snow come through the area. let's switch over to radar before we talk about the amounts that we've already gotten into storm center4. here's a look at all the snow covering the area. harrisonburg, fredericksburg, salmons, up into aberdeen, hagerstown and cumberland. meanwhile when i take our winter mosaic off, you can see the banding of moderate snows that have been making their way through the area over the last hour to two hours here. so as far as amounts, what we've gotten from our weather watchers, haywood down south and west at 2 1/2 inches of snowfall now. waldorf has picked up an inch. right now, college park at a half inch. same thing around d.c. and dulles reporting 1.7, almost two inches up north and west. frostburg, maryland, three inches now. winchester, four inches of snowfall so far. again, we're working with a tremendous amount of moiure from down south. with that 10 to 1 ratio, this would translate to 30 inches. that moisture continues all the way down to florida, folks. over three inches, ñitwo, in rockingham, north carolina. their temperatures are in the 40s. here, we'll be fluctuating around 32, 33 degrees over the next couple of hours. so there will be a whole lot more snow coming in. a lot more moisture coming in to real cold air. by later tonight, we'll have heavy snow falling throughout the area from midnight until about 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. and then very heavy snowfall, too. some pockets embedded, i thk, over into st. mary's, calvert, anne arundel county coming down at two to four inches per hour. that's why these blizzard warnings are in effect there from 10:00 tonight until 10 p.m. saturday. winter storm warnings cover the rest of the area. 20 to 30 inches, a lot of locations. generally 18 to 24 inches with all of this winding down about 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. the bulk of the snow will occur during still the overnight period through midmorning. if you've got photos, we want to see them and get them on the air. isee@nbcwashington.com. thanks. >> all right, veronica. our official snow stick, about 25 minutes ago showed about an inch and a half. >> that's pat collins, of course. he's attached to the other side of that stick. what is it looking like now? >> we're in gaithersburg where the winds are picking up, the temperatures are dropping, the snow is sticking and it's actually starting to sting a bit. let me show you this. it's formidable. now i want you to meet wally debord. he is the most popular man in gaithersburg right now. more popular than the mayor because he's the head of public works. this is one of his plows. can this thing -- can this baby handle two feet of snow? >> 12 inches at a time, i would say. >> you're just going to keep at it? >> yeah. crews will be plowing snow 24/7 until sunday morning i would guess. >> what does it look like for you out there now? >> roads are in good shapeñi ase speak. it's all going to change.çó temperatures are down. in the next couple of hours it's going to get nasty out. >> stay home. >> that's the best advice for everybody. stay home, let us take care of our work. >> wally, this snow is likely to stay around for a couple of days. you're going to do some snow removal and use heavy equipment to get it out of the street? >> yeah. it will be plowing operations through sunday morning and then we'll go into snow removal, get into all our residential areas, start hauling snow out. >> where do you put the snow? >> we had several sites open in our parks that we are able to store snow in. >> all right. wally debord, the head of public works in gaithersburg. if you need your street plowed, give wally a call. we'll be back at 5:00 for another measurement. back to you, wendy and jim. >> all right. we won't give out wally's cell phone number. thank you, pat. >> and, gosh, so many sales going on right now.ñr we can't get there, julie. buttyson's corner. >> i don't think there's too many people headed into the mall. those parking lots areçó really empty. 123, much more empty than it ì% day. a lot of people heeding the call to stay home.ñi that's what vdot is talking about this afternoon. they're worried about the visibility being so low. there's a shroud out here.çó some of these buildingsñi out here, you can't see the top of them. vdot is worried about their plows encountering cars. they wish everybody would just get off the road and let them do their jobs. we caught up with plow drivers earlier today and they talked to us about the challenge ahead over the next 48 hours. staging alongside back roads, these are just a few trucks in vdot's 1,800-vehicle armata. this plow driver has advice. a plea really. >> just get home safely and then our job will be a lot easier. we'll get it all done. >> reporter: farther south at this rest stop in prince william county, other vdot contract plows also wait for the snow to start to stack up. they worked 46 hours straight after the december 19th storm and expect to be at it even longer this time keeping the rest stops clear. >> we're here. we've got everything we need. we're ready to go. >> reporter: do you have a cooler and food? >> cooler, food, rock salt, chains, everything. shovels, everything you need. we're equipped. >> sounds like our crew vehicles out here, too. we've got everything inside those cars right now. it's been a treachero day, especially in southwest virginia where the i i . >> thank you, jewelry. crews areñi preparing for another long weekend. a snow emergency took effect this morning. all the cars have to be moved from any snow emergency routes. 270 trucks will be out salting and plowing the streets during this storm. if your car is still parked in one of those emergency routes, it will be ticketed and towed. folks, that's a $400 bill by the you have to do with that. if you've got any court appointments in d.c. this week, they're probably postponed. only criminal arraignment are happening. juveniles, new referrals and detentions will be going forward. d.c. courts will beçó closed tomorrow. stafford county in virginia has opened two shelters for the storm. stafford high school and north stafford high. both will be managed by staff from the red cross. people who have experienced power outages inside their home during snowstorms, those who don't have backup heating sources or those with medical equipment that requires electricity should consider using añr shelter. the red cross says they'll remain open as long as needed. >> justñi ahead, our continued coverage of this major winter storm. >> we have much more when we come back. we'll go out live to d.c. and tom sure would. let's get the latest on our forecast now. veronica is live up in the storm nter. veronica, what is the word right now? >> this major storm continues to unfold, jim. especially points south, which you'll see in just a moment. across the ea, we're getting more and more covered with white. what a landscape this is going to be by tomorrow morning. now, some locations already hearing that you've got anywhere from one to three inches of snow already on the ground. again, we've got a long night ahead of us. a tremendous amount of moisture with this system. as i said earlier, down south. they have rain reported in petersburg, virginia beach, too, reporting rain in virginia. down south, anything from heavy rain where they've had flooding through the carolinas to thunderstorms through florida. yes, thereill be some rain moving into the miami, florida, area. should be dryñi by super bowl sunday. how far to the north does the storm go? all the way up into pennsylvania and over to ohio. now, it's not going to make much progress further north of new york. but for philadelphia, pittsburgh, it will be having an influence on travel. but sweet spot, right over us from maryland through d.c., northern and central virginia. again, amounts by late tomorrow when it all ends, 6:00, 7:00 p.m., we'll be between 20 and 25 inches of snowfall. we're going to be getting a lot of wind with the system as well. could see some gusts to 30 and 40 miles per hour. and visibility is reduced down to zero. so not the night to be out. certainly a storm to stay on top of. >> thank you, veronica. nice to know miami is getting rain at least. >> yeah. they're not down there like -- when we come back, we'll continue to cover our first major, major storm of 2010.çó ♪ many thousand people ♪ living all here together ♪ ♪ on my island in the sand ♪ ♪ where the beaches are ♪ ♪ just as white as snow ♪ ♪ and the people live...♪ is every song in aruba about friendship and happiness ? what about themes likebroken hearts" "losing your house" and "growing old alone" ? ♪ ...peace and harmony ♪ ♪ sha la-la, la-la-la ♪ ♪ la-la-la ♪ sha la-la, la-la-la... ♪ all right. it's winter weather question time. can you pour warm water on your windshield to defrost it quicker? and how can you unlock your car door when it's frozen shut? >> are there laws that require you to shovel your sidewalk? it is friday. liz is here for a special snow version of "ask liz." welcome, welcome. >>çó it's a snowy fri y friday. we'll do the best we can. can you throw warm water on your windshield to defrost it? >> no. we checked a lot of experts to get your answer. here is the quote. it's not just a bad idea, it's horrible. the shock of warm water on a cold windshield can cause it to crack. au auto windshields are not able to withstand sudden temperatures shifts. there have been cases with a defroster turned on high has damaged a windshield. so on super cold mornings, scrape and give your car time to warm up. also, by the way, never use a scraper on a side view mirror. the glass on the side view mirror is softer on the windshield. it scratches very easily. try a spray deicer or wait for it to defrost. >> next questioncars what happens when your car door lock freezes? how do you get into your car? this is frustrating. >> we went to aaa to get this answer. forget about the fancy deicers. simply dip your key into a bottle of rubbing alcohol then insert the key into the lock and turn it slowly. the evaporating of the alcohol causes the ice to melt. you won't break your key or your lock. >> wow. that's way too easy. the last question comes from patrick in washington, d.c. he wants to know if there's a law that requires a homeowner to shovel the sidewalk in front of their use. >> patrick, we did call the district government and a couple of other vurctijurisdictions. in d.c., you are required to shovel theñr sidewalks clear. the walkways must be shovelled within the first eight hours of daylight after the end of the snowfall. montgomery county, you have 24 hours after the snowfall ends to clear your sidewalk. alexandria city and arlington county, also 24 hours after the snow ends to get your sidewalks cleared. is shoveling law on the books. but homeowners and businesses are asked to shovel. you're expected to do so. the same goes for the other countiesiesu as well. the same goesñr for the other counties as well. we'll tell you what is the best way to melt ice off your sidewalk, what drivers can do to keep their cars running and it's also what you can do to prevent snow and water damage to your house when the melt starts. >> all right. >> we'll be right back. the last time we saw tom sherwood he had an umbrella. >> it was a lady's umbrella, too. now he's ditched it for the baseball cap. >> that's more like it. how is it out there, tom? >> first of all, you're wrong. i was closer to logan circle than dupont circle. now, one person who knows where he is in the district of columbia is fire chief dennis reuben. chief, there's a serious matter first. you told me there was a car fire at chinldren's hospital in theñ garage. >> we have seen an uptick in responses. as we're speaking, we just went on location with a truck on fire next to the parking garage at children's. they're starting to do some evacuation. but they're going to put the truck fire out rapidly, remove the smoke from the building and get everything back in order there. >> we've talked about how the snow crews -- the snow is not sticking to the streets yet, but as it does people need to stay out of the way for snow crews. but you've got emergency personnel out all night long also. >> yes. we've added six additional ambulances so that we can cover the city. some extra fire trucks were added. our fire operation center has opened up. we've gone into phase two of our preparedness. we'd ask everyone to be prepared to stay home, have enough food and water to get through the next couple of days as well as if they can stay off the roads. >> okay. that's a perfect thing. dennis reuben in the district. stay home and just watch us out here in all this mess. wendy and jim, back to you guys. >> thank you, tom. we'll be right back after this with our final forecast. back now with our continuing coverage of thishistoric storm hitting our region. >> what you can expect, it's going to snow even harder at a rate of a half inch per hour. temperatures around 32 to 34 degrees. we'll be around that mark during the overnight period. so here it is, your storm headlines. between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., could have thunder snow. still looking at 20 inches throughout the viewing area. maybe even some snow and sleet just south of the area. blizzard warnings remain up for st. mary's and anne arundel county until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow. moderate snow up until 4:00 a.m. then heavy snow from 4:00 a.m. all the way to noontime tomorrow with the storm system not ending until 8:00 p.m. again, picking up 20 inches throughout many of our neighborhoods and communities. >> veronica, thank you. the winter weather blast is having a major impact on the skies. air travelers could be in for some massive delays if they're able to get out of town at all. tracee wilkins has more from reagan national airport. >> reporter: there was a traffic ja jam this morning at reagan national airport. would-be passengers scrambled for flights out of town, all trying to beat the looming storm. >> i got here early enough, but apparently not. >> i did get a flight. it was hard to get a flight. i think i got one of the last seats out of here. >> reporter: for some trying to make last-minute flight changes, they showed up early, still unsure if they'd actually have a seat. did you have to rebook? >> no. i'm hoping to, but there's probably not much chance of that. my flight is delayed. there's one that goes out earlier and i'm hopingo snatch a seat on that. hopi hoping. >> i've got a 6:00 flight. i've been in three lines. i do not have the answer yet. so they told me i do have a seat, but i have to go to the counter. the kiosk is not working. >> reporter: just when it seemed many passengers were booked and in the clear, then there was this. yet another traffic jam. this time at the security checkpoint. >> i think this is crazy. i live in atlanta and our airport is so much busier and we're never quite like this for a storm. i'm just hoping i get on my flight. >> reporter: for some folks making last-minute changes, it was easy thanks to relaxed policies by the airlines. but for others -- did you have any issues getting your flight? >> no, not at all. they waived the rebooking fee, which was great. >> reporter: did you have the same experience? >> no. they charged me a rebooking fee. but i'm happy to be getting home. i was supposed to leave at 6:40 this evening. >> reporter: southwest airlines made the announcement yesterday that they were canceling most of their afternoon and evening flights today. all of their flights for saturday and some of their flights for sunday morning. that affected dulles and bwi. lots of folks came here to national looking for an early out. if you're still trying to get out of d.c., call the airline in advance and make sure they have a seat for you. >> the snow is just starting and so is our coverage. >> stay right there. "news4 at 5" is heading your way right now. here we go, folks. mother nature is not playing around this time. the flakes are falling out there. some people still out on the roads. crews are out getting ready to deal with the big stuff when it comes our way. inches are beginning to pile up slowly now. we haven't even begun to see the worst of this yet. >> we have