>> perfect!it's here. the blizzard we've all been talking ababt and anticipating... --dreading-- for so many days now... it's here.. and it's dumping a lot of snow on siouxland. good afternoon and thanks for joining us. it's a "hunker down" and "stay where you are" kind of day. nearly t t entire region is under a blizzard warning until tomorrow m mning. travel is not recommenend and just aboututvery siouxland school is closed for the day.

this will be a groundhog day to remember in siouxland! snow is expected to fall throughout the day and deliver 8-12 inches across the area with some areas, including sioux city, standing the chance of seeing more than a foot of the white stuff by end of the day. the heaviest snow is likely to occur during the morning in which sioux city could have a solid 8 inches on llowed by steadier snow this afternoon. adding to it, winds will be very strong upwards of 40 at times, so whiteout so stay where you are and stay off the roads if at all possible! snow will begin to taper off later this evening and eventually exit by midnight or to be strong throughout the night, so blowing snow is still a decent possibility early wednesday morning. the rest of the 7 day forecast looks dry and quiet with highs in the 20s and 30s. meanwhile, enjoy the snow daynd be safe, everyone! see graphics. >>

has been closed from the iowa border to the tea exit. -- sioux city is among several communities that have declared snow emergencies. in sioux city, that means, parking is prohibited on on emergency snow route streets. violators will be towed. the city has also closed city hall and other non- essential services and facilities, including the libraries, the tyson events center, convention center, musem, art center and long lines family rec center. ktiv's michelle schoening has led our blizzard coverage today. she joins us with live link 4 from along floyd boulevard in sioux city.

you're right al. we've been out all morning long and have slowy seen the snow begin to pile up. and since this is a wet snow the roads are getting snow-packed with the snow sticking around for the remainder of the day the roads will continue to worsen. those who we saw out and about have been taking it slow with the white out conditions. as we've been saying all morning...travel is not advised. so don't venture out if you don't have to and if you do make sure to check the latest roadway conditions. and to talk with us about those road conditions is sgt. todd sassman. hi, sgt. talk a little bit about the current road conditions around siouxland. (answer)

accident reports or our people staying in? (answer) final advice for those who are maybe at work right now and are deciding how to make the trek home? (answer)

al, we wil send it back to you

there's a joke that if meterologist jim cantore comes to town, you know it's going to be a bad day. well, he came to our town and did live shots this morning for the weather channel and the today show from the tyson events center parking lot. he spoke with ktiv's michelle schoening between broadcasts. "i'm calling this a warm blizzard. the temperatures to me don't really suggest the old classic blizzard where it is so cold and so windy and so snowy that you couldn't really be outside. this is almost not bad to be out here. but tomorrow morning we are going to see temperatures drop pretty dramatically tomorrow morning, so that's the problem," said jim cantore / the weather channel it's the same story across all of siouxland. ktiv us-92's mike flood has an update from norfolk, nebraska.

again from 13th and omaha ave. in norfolk, where law enforcement and emergency personel are recomending no travel on nebraska highways. nebraska state patrol captain paul hattan is here, and this has been quite a storm so far. what have you all seen on the highways. paul: well, we're reporting almost zero visibility in some areas. the highways are all snow packed. it's starting to drift. so, it is just trecherous. i just drove south bound 81 to madison and there's just places where it's zero visibility. so, again we highly recomend everyone just stay home. we're currently working on potential fatality accident south of macy on highway 75, we have units responding to that area. it's just going to take us a little while to get there to assess what's going on. but i would just like to re- emphasize there's just nothing worth your life right now to go out there on these roadways. it's just trecherous. let the snow stop and let the wind die down. let the plows get out there before you need to get out there and venture out. so, not a lot of traffic out there right now, so i think people are doing a

warning and just staying home and staying inside until we can get some of this cleaned up. mike: if you're in a village, community, , a city ke norfolk, it can be decieving because you think, oh, i can make it to the grocery store, i can make it here. if you have to leave town, you'rereeally putting your life at risis paul: yeah, you u ally don't realize ititnitl you get outside of townwnnd then all of a sudden it's just a a white-ouou there's points though, whenen was heading down to madison, i just couldn't see anytytng in front of me. s s that's the dangerous part, it's very decieiving. there's a lot of traffic around town, people are out and d out. i would just caution you, just don't plan any trips outse of town right now. and evein town, i think they would just prfer you stay home. again, there's just nothing worth your life to have to go out there and venture out into this weather. mike: captain paul hattan, he's in charge of troop b for the nebraska state patrol. thank you, very busy day for you. and we will continue to report live. the blizzard of 2016, a groundhogs dayblizzard. more coming up. for news channel nebraska, i'm mike flood. >> so.... it's happening. the blizzard continues on -unabated- at this hour. how much longer will it go? meterologist ben dorenbach is

here's theive view in spencer, iowa. also on the way: did the groundhog see his shadow? will it be an early spring?

meterologist ben dorenbach is back... ben, it's been a while since we've seen a storm like this!

sioux city, standing the chance of seeing more tn a foot of the white stuff by end of the day. the heaviest snow is likely to occur during the morning in which sioux city could have a solid 8 inches on the ground by

snow this afternoon. adding to it, winds will be very strong at upwards of 40 at times, so whiteout so stay where you are and stay

possible! snow will begin to taper off later this evening and eventually exit by midnight or so tonight. winds will continue to be strong throughout the night, so blowing snow is still a decent possibility early wednesday morning. the rest of the 7 day forecastooks dry and quiet with highs in the 20s and 30s. meanwhile, enjoy the snow day and be safe, everyone! see graphics. >>

so, as you gaze out your window

going to be an early spring! so sayeth the rodent. pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, punxsutawney phil, did not see his shadow this morning, meaning he's "predicted" an early spring. at least, that's the word from members of the top hat-wearing inner circle. they announced the results at sunrise on gobbler's knob -- just outside the town for which phil is named. we do have farm markets.. and the wall street report, just ahead.

>>

energy companies are leading the stock market lower as prices for oil and natural gas take another tumble. what a night for the iowa caucuses. ted cruz sails to an unexpected win over donald trump... and hillary clinton has to wait until the early morning hours to claim victory over bernie sanders. a complete wrapup from des

here's a live lk at west lake okoboji from o okoboji skycam... bill cosby and his lawyers are in a pennsylvania court. they're trying to get the sexual assault case against him thrown out because of what they say was a binding commitment by a previous district attorney. the defense argues that the district attorney back in 2005 promised cosby that he would not be prosecuted if he testifi in a civil lawsuit filed by one of his accusers. the current district attorney has said he has no record of such an agreement. prosecutors reopened the case after cosby's testimony was released last year. in other news, it's on to new

presidential candidates.. after a caucus night to remember in iowa. hillary clinton is claiming victory over bernie sanders, but just barely... apparently eeking out a razor-thin victory by only a handful of delegates. a spokesman for sanders says the campaign is "still assessing" whether to ask iowa's democratic party for a recount. on the republican side, ted cruz pulls the upset over donald trump, beating him by four percent. and marco rubio finished a strong third and carries that momentum into new hampshire. nbc's tracie potts is analyzing the results in des moines.

an historically close race. (sanders nats, "iowa, thank you!' :16-:19) less than half a percentage point - just few delegates - separate hillary clinton and bernrn sanders. (sot: bernie sanders/ (d) presidential candidate :25- :31) "what iowa has begun tonight is a political revolution!" (cheers) ted cruz, quoting the bible, claiming the biggest victory evern iowa caucus history (sot: ted cruz/ (r) presidential candidate :38- :48) "tonight iowa has proclaimed to the world that morning is coming. morning is coming!" donald trump landed in second place. barely ahead of marco rubio (sot: donald tru/ (r) presidential cdidate :53- :58) "we' go on to easily bea hillary or bernie or whoever thehell they throw up there." rubio - a close number three - was the first to declare victory here (sot: marco rubio/ (r) presidential candidate 1:02-1:05) "so this is the moment they said would never happen!" all the candidates pledging to battle it out in new hampshire, and beyond. turnout was strong, especially here in des moines. there were so many first-timers signing up on the spot that one caucus site ran out of registration forms. i'm tracie potts in des moines, iowa - back to you. >>

with ktiv's michelle schoening, who's out covering the blizzard... -- we'll also hear again from meterologist ben dorenbach... -- and.... we'll tell you about

being here. thanks sarah, thanks for having me. you guys have done this for a couple years now, nine years you said, and it's for the st. peters church in jefferson. yes. it's a fundraiser we do to raise money. it was for the building we just built, parish hall, but now we have a lot of church repairs: new pews, carpet, painting and all that stuff needs to be done. it's a fun way to raise money to help us out. give us a little history of st. peters church for people who may not know. st. peters is the oldest catholic church east river in south dakota. this particular building was built in 1891. we've been a parish since 1862. we've done a lot of repairs rerently last year, it j jt continues. it turns 125 years old this year. saturday february 6th, tell us about the night of events you have planned. social hour starts at 5:30, we have a full bar. 6:30 we'll eat, it's a prime rib dinner or chicken if you like that. 8:00 we're going to start the entertainment with arthur, he's a great, funny, energetic comedian and magician. a night of fun to get out and beat the winter blues.

entertainment. exactly. you can't beat that. no. you really can't eat prime rib some places for $25 so this is a great night to get out and enjoy the night. people don't have to register for tickets but you're hoping people will call so you can get a head count beforehand. yes please do. $25 will do a will call, we'll hold them at the door for you. we'd just like to get a head count. joe thanks so much for being with us. thanks sarah. thanks for joining us for around siouxland. >> one more time we check in with ktiv's michelle schoening who's with live link 4 on floyd boulevard. michelle.. it is a mess out there! michelle ad lib about roads. that's right al. it is a mess. this wet snow has made the roads snow-packed making it

the wind continues to blast with gusts of 40 plus mph. so if you do have to go out be sure to check the latest roadways conditions and perhaps closings as this storm makes its way across siouxland. al.

forecast. thanks for joining us.