How expansive this cold is. Its snowing just south of new orleans right now. The cold air all the way down to the gulf coast state, now for us in our region, you know its on the cold side. Today a little better than it was yesterday, but look at these numbers right now. These are the current wind chills across the midatlantic. 18 . D. C. , 13 in hagerstown, 2 in state college. Yesterday we had negative numbers. It is 3 below towards columbus, ohio. And we have colder air moving in. It wont be tomorrow, though. Right now temperatures 26 degrees in d. C. , 25 in reston, 22 the current temperature in gaithersburg. So, another day that is below freezing and thats why the potomac is frozen. And its going to get a lot more frozen over the next couple of days because we have colder air coming in. Frigid air continues. We might get freezing in spots but not a lot. Tracking storm for thursday, a chance for snow in parts of the area. Not everybody is going to see it but im going to break it down for you. The coldest air moves in. I said our wnd to 40 degrees colder than that. Thats insane. Think about that. Thats insane. My house is not going to be able to take this. I just know its not. Its hard to keep the chill from getting into the house and you probably need an extra layer while youre at work as well. Thats right. Its the same at some area schools. Check out this tweet from our scott macfarlane. It shows 48 degrees inside a Montgomery County classroom today. Thats a classroom, indoors. But for another School District, the trouble started before the bell rang. News4s Meagan Fitzgerald is live in Prince Georges County. What was the issue with the buses . Reporter guys, the short answer is the cold weather. Fairfax County School says buses like the ones here have been sitting outside while kids were on winter break. Over the last two days theyve been working to try and workout some of the mechanical issues here so they wouldnt have this issue. But despite their ets morning, upwards of 100 buses had either broken down or wouldnt even start, which meant hundreds of kids had to wait outside in the freezing temperature while those problems were fixed. It was a chilly and unexpected start to the new year. The cold weather, you know, really kind of gripped all of us this morning. Reporter buses are moving steadily now that school is over. But jeff with Fairfax CountyPublic School says that wasnt the case this morning. Mechanical issues from the freezing temperatures caused buses to break down. Some couldnt even start. Out of the 8700 bus routes in Fairfax County, the School District says 200 were impacted. That means hundreds of students were forced to wait in the cold for nearly an hour. Even with us doing the starts the past couple days, letting them run 30 minutes, sometimes the cold krafrcranking required little too much. Tomorrowe out early, having dds meet our buses as well to address any issues we have. Reporter now, Fairfax CountyPublic Schools says it is possible that students could see delays at the bus stop tomorrow morning, but they do post delays of 15 minutes or more on their website. You can find that website by going to our nbc washington app and searching school delays. Back to you. Im impressed meagan is in a stylish little coat. Id need a coat this big if i was out there. Youre very calm. Reporter true. Im layered, but its still freezing out here. I would feel like a hand grenade if i were out there. Thanks, meagan. Were working to find out if Cramer Middle School in washington is going to reopen tomorrow as scheduled after a pipe burst, flooded the basement there. Mayor Muriel Bowser toured the school this afternoon and crews are working to fix up the pipe to clean up that mess. Well let you know what we hear classes. Expect a longer evening commute thanks to a series of water breaks on oak view drive in Silver Spring allowing one lane of traffic to get by. There is another break nearby. It sent water into several basements. Look at that mess. In all, dozens of customers there would not have water. With this bitter cold sticking around for a while, now is the time to stay a step ahead of the Winter Weather. Open up the nbc washington app and get the latest of storm team4 any time, anywhere. In other news this afternoon, she was just trying to go to school, but an 11yearold girl from Prince Georges County is in Critical Condition this evening. She was hit by a car this morning. The driver did stay on the scene. News4s Prince Georges County bureau chief Tracee Wilkins is live along pennsylvania avenue where countless students crossed that street to get to and from school. Tracee . Reporter you know, weve been watching today. There was a crossing guard period of time and there were still students who were coming to class at pennsylvania avenue. Were talking about a state highway here. Burkes drive crosses in this direction, four lanes there. And multiple turning lanes. All of this stuff is what kids have to navigate. Right down this way where that child was struck. Now, Prince Georges County police are investigating this accident. They are trying to figure out exactly what happened. The driver is cooperating with police. The driver did stay on the scene as you mentioned. Were talking about an 11yearold girl who was struck here. She attends drew freeman middle school. We are told that her principal is with her family right now, all at the hospital because shes in Critical Condition. Again, this is a dangerous crosswalk here, a dangerous road to cross for children. We talked with one parent who said it bothers her every day. A lot of times, yes, you do have the crossing guards up there, but if theyre late or if theyre coming early, you know, its nobody there to secure them and make sure that theyre getti a really sad to hear that somebodys child was injured. Reporter Prince Georges County police have not released the name of the girl who was struck. Again, she is in the hospital right now in severe, Critical Condition. Reporting live in suitland, im Tracee Wilkins. Back to you in the studio. From the looks of the car, that was an awful, awful hit. Thank you, tracee. Later this month, maryland state leaders are going to be considering ordering a statewide review of all the safety and engineering of the School Crossings. Stateate delegate eric lutte kef Montgomery County will formally propose this review when the Legislature Reconvenes in annapolis. Earlier this week he said an engineering study of School Crossings could reveal vulnerabilities and hazards to these children. In 2012, a sophomore was hit, killed by a car. Just trying to Cross Germantown road to approach seneca valley high school. New information rle attempted abduction of a child in takoma park this morning. Police say two men in a gray mini van tried to take a girl near pine avenue. They said the van may be a Chrysler Pacifica with d. C. Tags and may have damage on the passengers side. The child says that the passenger opened up the door and told the girl to come to his house for candy. The child pushed the door closed and then ran into her house. Police now are hoping the neighborhood home Surveillance Video will show them more details of the van. We dont have a good description of the driver, but the man in the passenger seat had a nose ring and a flower tattoo on his left hand. So, if you have any information that sounds like that, call takoma park police. And the alleged isis supporter who was arrested at his Sterling Virginia home during a raid last week makes his first court appearance. Sean duncan is charged with attempting to obstruct justice, but more serious terrorism charges could follow. Chris gordon is covering duncans appearance at the chris . Reporter wendy, the fbi says that sean duncan is the target of an isisrelated terrorism investigation, but thats not why he was in federal court here in alexandria today. They say it was because of his behavior during the fbi search of his home last friday. They accuse him of attempting to destroy evidence. Chopper4 gives us a birds eye view as the fbi searches the sterling, Virginia Home of sean duncan on friday. They were not intending to arrest him at that time, but agents say duncan, the alleged isis supporter, tries to destroy evidence. Court papers say duncan tries to run and get rid of a thumb drive and memory chip. Duncan is now charged with obstruction of justice. The judge tells duncan he is charged with impeding a federal investigation by destroying evidence. Sentence and 250,000 fine. Duncan appears in court wearing a beard and a tshirt. On the back of the shirt there is a stars and stripes in black and white. Underneath the flag it reads, Herndon Police department supporter. But more serious charges could be filed against duncan. The fbi and sheriffs deputies searching his home removing boxes to be analyzed as evidence. Investigators say duncan expressed interest in joining isis and conducting an attack in the united states. Sean duncan will be brought back here to federal court in alexandria next monday afternoon for a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing to determine if the case against him is Strong Enough to keep him in jail pending trial. Thats the latest from the Federal Court House in alexandria. Back to you. All right, chris gordon. Thank you, chris. Despite high profile Mass Shootings like the Harvest Festival m Violent Crime was down in big cities last year. One of the biggest drops in crime happened right here in washington, d. C. Here in the district, crime fell at more than three times the national rate. Violent crime down more than 20 . Property crimes down nearly 10 . And overall crime down 11 . The murder rate also fell, d. C. Police chief says there were two big factors behind this drop. Trust and legitimacy with your police department. We need to have trust and legitimacy with the community that we serve. We also need a community who takes an active role in making our community safe. He also credits new technology, like free resident security cameras and improvements at the d. C. Crime lab. News4s Mark Segraves has a look at the areas of the city that havent been part of this improvement trend and that is coming up in our next hour. And we have some breaking news. The longest serving republican senator is retiring. Orrin hatch of utah made that announcement senator hatch, the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance committee, he was instrumental in pushing through tax reform last month. He says he will serve the rest of his term. Hell be retiring around this time next year. His exit leaves an opening in utah for mitt romney, a critic of the current administration. Our coverage of this painful cold just Getting Started. Keep it locked right here. Over the next three hours well track how its going to get worse before things get better. And well look at whats up with that storm that dumped snow along the coast. Also, how about some couple 100 million to make you feel warm and fuzzy . That will work. Those big lottery jackpots, they just got a little more enticing. And, hey, grandma, meet google. The adorable interaction between a grandma and a new gadget has you see that temperature there in your lower right portion of your screen . It says 26, but that doesnt tell the whole story. Wind chills make it feel like were in the teens. And im looking at 17 out there, 15. And this is nothing compared to whats coming our way later this week. Doug will be here in just a few minutes to tell you about that. But first we have some breaking news from our live desk. Scott macfarlane with an update on a story we brought you good afternoon. The husband of a young mother of three has been arrested in her murder. We first told you about that attack yesterday. Prince georges county police say irwin Lorenzo Sanchez stabbed his wife in their home. She died at the hospital. She was in years old. Officers say the couple had been arguing at the time. Sanchez is in jail with no bond, facing first and Second Degree murder charges and an assault charge. At the live desk, im scott macfarlane. Back to you. Thank you, scott. Getting back to the cold weather, we are not the only ones dealing with this extreme cold. A huge swath is stuck in the deep freeze. Temperatures at 20 to 30 glez below average in some areas, that is proving dangerous, even deadly. Nbcs sarah dalov is in chicago. Reporter just days into the new year, new Winter Weather records in communities across the u. S. Chicagos high on new years day, a bone chilling 1 degree. And conditions haveim morning commuters making their way to work tuesday in subzero temperatures. It is just frigid. Like its biting in the face, just cold. Its no way around it. Reporter classes at this Connecticut Middle School canceled after heating units on the roof froze. Elsewhere in the state, crews working overtime to thaw infrastructure. We fix one and it puts pressure on another area of the pipe. Reporter in dachl enpart, this car was frozen in place. I cant tell you how many inches of ice it has on it. Reporter the cold not just miserable, but lifethreatening. At least eight deaths in seven states attributed to the weather and the danger isnt over. 116 Million People now impacted. And winter storm watches have been issued for as far south as coastal georgia, and florida. Homeless shelters there scrambling to accommodate overflow. We dont want anyone to perish because of the weather. Reporter a wait for warmer days that se a across much of the country. Sarah dalov, nbc news. That does not look good. Niagara falls looks like its freezing. At what point is this going to move out and the jet stream readjust . There is indications, i think, by next week. By the middle of end of next week i think we start to get a bit of a break. End of next week . Its going to continue into the weekend, probably monday and tuesday. It gets a little warmer then another cold snap comes through. The whole pattern change comes mid month. We have a little ways to go here. The biggest factor in this thing is going to be the cold and we are watching a major storm. You just heard there, yeah, tallahassee, florida, right now, winter storm warning in effect. What does that mean . How does that express itself in tallahassee . They could get one to 3 inches of snow in florida and south georgia. Most of it is going to be sleet and freezing rain. I have been in tallahassee in january. Normally 50s. Out there right now, we are in the 20s. We should be about 20 degrees warmer. Thats the average high, 44 or 45 degrees, the average high. Winds out of the west at 8 miles per hour. It is cold again today but this is nothing like weve seen over the past week. Weve seen it all as a matter of fact. 2 gaithersburg, 28 in culpepper, some of you said without the wind it wasnt that bad. Compared to what weve seen over the past week, its not. 18 the wind chill right now. The wind chill yesterday was between 5 and 10. Last night the wind chill was below 0 in many areas. Now, winter storm watch where . Not in our area. Its off to the east including areas like ocean city, salisbury and cambridge, right on down towards the south. Does not include any part of our area. This is a huge thing here for the storm coming up on thursday. I do not want you to think about this event at all unless youre thinking about driving to ocean city. As far as the radar is concerned, nothing on there right now. Tracking a storm system, and its actually a systems. You see a little piece of energy right in here, and there is another piece of energy coming down right around minneapolis. These two pieces are going to come together right off the coast and create a monster storm. By thursday afternoon, there will be a really a megastorm right off the coast and i mean right off the coast. Its going to be so close. But notice here it is 11 00 on wednesday night. Weve got the cloud cover. Heres the snow. Down towards ocean city, down towards rehoboth. Heres 5 00 a. M. On thursday, the heaviest storm along the coast. It never makes its way into d. C. Now, could it come back farther to the west . Yes, it could. This is something im watching. Do i think were going to have any problem at all, is there anything that tells me were get egg more than an inch . No. Most of this will stay at the coast. Thats the issue. However, the cold air, i think, is the bigger issue here as the snow moves out, we see sunshine in the afternoon. But look at the wind chill. 7 00 a. M. , 11 degrees. Thats cold. You havent seen nothing yet. 7 00 monday night, 4 in d. C. , minus 4 in martinsburg, 13 below 0 gaithersburg, 16 below winchester, 7 below washington. Were talking wind chill level advisory friday. Heres friday around 11 00 in the morning. Still below 0 in most locations. Were talking some frigid numbers here on friday into saturday. I think we could actually see some records as far as temperatures go. 28 above well, this should be above freezing on wednesday. Chance of snow is coming up on thursday. Look at this. Dangerous cold here. Highs only in the teens and it does get a lit