joining us. i'm broadcasting from our information center. we begin in douglas county. a family of three people and two dogs escaped after the home larkspur. the fire on wing foot court started before 5:30. when they arrived on the scene, there were flames shooting from the roof. the barking dogs woke up the homeowner and that is when they saw a fire in the dining room and got out. the location of the homemade things tricky for them. >> it's winter and it's icey in this area and -- [ indiscernible ] stuff on their shoes to try is and stay. it was a tricky environment. >> eventually, they had to bring in a fan truck. the cause of the fire is unknown now. the red cross has responded to help the family. and they have seen the start of the day with some fresh powder. this is taken as steamboat was opening up. looks great out there, although it was windy, though, too.

live look over boulder. we can expect cooler temperatures for us here. becky ditchfield is in the backyard. with all of that snow in the mountains, i am sure you're itching to get on the slope. >> absolutely. it's been a great year for those folks here. they're looking at more snow lasting into this afternoon and ending towards tonight. let's take a look at the system that is moving. it doesn't look that impressive, does it. at fort collins, what it's brings -- bringing for us is the wind and cooler temperatures that we're experiencing. 43-miles for collins; 41, greeley. downtown denver, closer to 49. at dia, 45. and parker is 43 and bailey is at a chilly 28. and there is your winter weather advisories out for our northern and central mountains. we're also still watching the potential for flash flooding near gunnison. the flash flood watch in place for parts of the gunnison river gauze of an ice jam. we'll talk more about that coming up and the system that

through. it's going to continue to push east and, after that system on the far right-hand corner of the scene, after that moves through and brings the east coast snow, the system moving through colorado will push through and it's going to bring the south and east coast more snow and more wind. so, what we're seeing here across colorado today has a big impact across the country. we're going to talk about that in a few minutes, tahronda. >> thank you. >> uh-huh. with 12 days to go until the iowa caucuses, donald trump today. he gets it from sarah palin and front runner. >> i am in it to win it! we're not going to chill. in fact, it's time to drill, baby, drill. are you ready for a commander in chief who will let our lawyers do their job and go kicksis -- . >> for ted cruz, the announcement capped off a bad day. earlier, a campaign

trying to dismiss palin's endorsement, insisting joining team trump would hurt her credibility with conservatives. cruz chose not to get in the middle of it and not bad mouth palin. >> i love sarah palin. she is fantastic. without her friendship and support, i wouldn't be in the senate today. >> and there you have it. when it comes to palin, say what you want. she holds a sway with a significant block of voters in iowa. and a spokesman for the main taliban group is calling a deadly attack on a pakistan universityup islamic. this is after -- unislamic. taliban leader claimed responsibility for the attack of revenge, he said. the gunmen stormed the university this morning, opening fire on students and teachers. about 60 people were hurt. americans released by iran as part of a prison swap are talking about their experiences. one of those prisoners is a reporter with "the washington post not everyone is

>> reporter: "the washington post" reporter jason -- appearing outside of the treated this morning. earlier, laughing with his wife newspaper. them. god bless you. >> reporter: another of the five released described the elation as they flew out of iran. >> as soon as we got out of iran, the champagne bottles were popped and -- amazing and quality. chocolates and -- . >> when do you hope to get home? what is the first thing you are going to do? >> that is a good question. i hope to get home soon. i really want to see my son. >> reporter: a bitter moment for the family of bob levinson who disappeared in iran almost 9 years ago. >> and going to make it difficult. >> reporter: his son was watching on msnbc. welcoming home. we're not celebrating with them and things like that.

>> reporter: his military training helped him survive. the end of an ordeal. a representative of another american from boise, idaho, saying that he is a different person today than when he went into prison. and the reporter said that in that statement today, that he never expected to be a part of the story and that he wants to get back to being a i reporter -- being a reporter. you can expect him to head back to the states in the next few days. he said in that statement that for now, i want to catch up with what is going on in the world. and watch the star wars movie. back to you. >> you find that piece, a marine is from flint, michigan, but his hometown is having its own problems. people there can't drink the water. the governor of michigan said he has a plan for this. governor rick snider said the state will commit $28 million in the short-term to pay for filters, bottled water, and

the tapwater became contaminated with too much lead after the city tried to save money by switching water sources in 2014. and snider's state-of-the-state address last night, he promised more transparency and that today, he would release his own e-mails regarding flynt's water. the next video is hard to see but the woman in the video wants us to see it. she hopes it will help police catch her attacker. this happened july 2nd in loveland. the woman was sitting on a bench when a man comes up to her and starts hitting and kicking her. he starts to walk away to turn around and start hitting her again. and this is near west 29th and taft street. two hours later, another woman said she was followed by a suspicious man. and this is a sketch that police came up with after the attack. take a good look. if you recognize this man at all, call police. and a night of drinking without a headache in the morning? one country claims the researchers have invented a new

s. it true? >> and a travel warning from the cdc for women pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

. a little cooler out here and definitely breezy, part of the system that is bringing snow up to the mountains. let's look live at what we're seeing here in denver. you can see the clouds, high clouds that are sitting over the city. the same cloud coverage over boulder and the flood irons and we're watching, of course, the snow in the mountains. the other thing, that flash flood watch.

weather service said until further notice. and that is because there is an ice jam along gunnison river near the ranch and the fear is that if that breaks through, moves down stream, the gunnison river levels will rise by 5 to eight feet in a short period of time. and we know it's cold out there, especially after the mountains. and the winter storm is taking shape. we have winter weather advisories in place through tomorrow morning. two to five inches of snow possible around craig and meeker, from 6 to 10 and into vail, snow mass and on the continental divide, we can see five to 10 inches if not more from the system pushing through. the temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s, and outside of 9news, we have sunshine and high clouds and a temperature of 43. and so it's not bad out here. we do and are watching all of that snow in the mountains. a lot of that is on the northern and central mountains coming in from a weak disturbance now and that is off

it will get stronger as it passes over colorado and moves through our area quickly and it will have a bigger impact on the east coast when it arrives there by the end of the week. for us, it's going to be snow for our northern and central mountains, a flurry or two this evening in the denver area. ize, we're looking at partly cloudy 62 is and more clouds into tomorrow morning. by tomorrow morning, the snow will be wrapping up across the northern and central mountain areas. i want to touch on wind. it will be increasing through the day. the strongest in the foothills. by 10:30 tonight, we could see 35 miles per hour gusts in gusts in golden. overnight is where they will be the strongest across the front range and into tomorrow morning as well. today and low 50s. 41 for greeley and fort collins, the 40s and 50s on the eastern plains; 30s for the mountains and into tonight, types and 20s out there with single digits and types and not in areas. winds today, they're going to

15 miles per hour with gustier conditions in the foothills. the wind gusts picking up in town, the lows drop to 22 and a high of 36 tomorrow with a couple of flurries possible in the morning and then that system is out of here. we're in the 50s friday and saturday and a new system that will move in sunday and that might bring light snow in time

. in your health news, the cdc issued a travel alert because of the zika virus, warning women who are pregnant or might be pregnant to not visit the country when there is a spike in the virus. it's mostly in the south american countries. dr. john is leer to talk about this. what is the virus? >> it's been around for awhile. they first discovered it in 1947, and it didn't start spreading until 2007 when they had 14 cases. 2008, it started cropping -- popping up and in 2013, over 28,000 cases. >> in brazil, over 1 1/2 million people in the country alone, that is where the olympics are and like you saw on the map there, spreading through different countries and heading into the united states. and my guess is by the summer, it will be the united states. the same mosquito carries the west nile virus and denghi,

well. >> we saw the cdc issue a warning. why are they specifying that? why is it dangerous for women? >> we're going to feel bad for a few days, you or me. we'll feel joint pains, fever, muscle aches, the eye will turn red and you might get a rash. that will go away quickly. for unborn children, while they're developing, if the fromminginant mom gets the virus, the unborn child could develop microsevly, meaning they have an underdeveloped brain. obviously, that is a -- a lot of times a condition where they can't live long like that and causes all sorts of issues. >> how dangerous. we have seen this crop up in four states in the u.s. three in florida and two in illinois and we have seen them in hawaii and texas. one case each. what is the difference in terms of people who have travel and whether or not the disease originated? >> all of the patients we have had here in the united states have zika virus and got it when they travelled somewhere else and brought it back here.

it back here, if the mosquitoes bite down, that can spread. a lot of travelling going on in the spring and summer, the big concern. >> contagious via mosquito? >> yes, mostly and there is a lot we don't know about it. it's not been researched that well. the funding hasn't been there. >> and there will be more funding. >> more cases. >> and i love this story. >> before you go, i need your expertise. and literally unbelievable. north korea's latest boast of many. they have many. they claim they invented a hung over. that happened? >> uh-huh. >> what they're saying is according to the state-run paper, it's made from ginseng and uses a groutonnous rice instead of sugar. if you think of saki, you can . >> have you had a lot of it? >> that is good. i don't believe in it basically. -- i don't believe them

he drove when he was three and won a yacht race when he was eight or 9 and last year, they came out with a medicine that can cure aids, ebola and cancer. >> really? all of these in one. >> and that unbelievable and you can't substantiate the claims. >> no. >> and a lot of claims out of north korea. >> and -- . >> that is you true. >> i wouldn't believe it. >> and they would make a lot of money if it was true. >> for sure. >> and all right, dr. john. it you for your expertise. >> there you go. >> and don't go looking on store shelves for that. >> not yet. outer space. what does it look like it you?

. whether orange is the new black or house of cards, netflix is pretty awesome, many would agree. the number of subscribe orers prove how much they like it. netflix has over 75 million subscribers worldwide and they say it's going to get bigger.

million more people will sign up through march. what is behind this? it's something to do with the fact that they are expanding into every country but for china. it's a first-of-its-kind opportunity for uber. the ride-sharing service will pick up and drop off passengers for the super bowl. the first time a company will be able to get ticket holders rides to and from the super bowl. in fact, super bowl had previously banned companies like uber and lest from driving fans to the game. time to change. and well, the forecast is -- the members of the screen. meteorologist constantly study weather technology and they're doing that at this weather summit in steamboat. they're getting a glimpse of the next generation of forecasting and brigs us more from steamboat. >> reporter: hi, it says here four inches of -- four inches of snowfall overnight and four more on the way. this is where it's happening.

tornado technology that is in the works that will help you and help us get a whole lot sooner and the satellite that will be launched in october that will bring the better imagery of storms. the next few days, we'll hear from the nation's leading experts in climatology and hurricane activity. i will have to bring you that information. you can find me on facebook and on twitter. to get the updates. there is a reason i am wearing all of my ski gear right now. our next session is up there on the mountain. you want to see what is going on? follow me on twitter and facebook. for right now, from steamboat springs, belen de leon. 9news. and now to a new discovery from outer space. researchers believe they found evidence of a 9th planet in the solar system. they believe the so-called planet x is 10 times the size of earth.

orbiting billions of miles beyond neptune's path. they're taking 10 to 20,000 years just to circle the sun. astronomers knew something was up when they noticed strange movements from a small cluster of objects in the outer solar system and this this is what they discovered. wow. if you're up before the crack of dawn like you'res truly over the next few weeks, look at the sky toward the south. as of this morning, five of our solar system's planets have aligned. they're all visible at once. you will see it if you look to the southern sky before daylight. from left to right is mercury, venus, saturn, mars, and jupiter. they will stay in formation through february 20th. the last time they appeared together was in january of 2005. pretty amazing. and steven hawking is warning that new technologies will probably bring what he says are new ways thing can go wrong for human survival. as he recorded part of a bbc lecture series, he was asked about how the world will end. he said increasingly the

progress in science and technology. he said they include nuclear war, global warning and genetically engineered viruses. a disaster on earth is a quote near certainty in the next 1,000 to 10,000 years but thinks by that time, humans are likely to have spread out into outer space so we won't be here. and take a look. this is what 50,000 leggos look like. so glad this is not in my house.

. this is a display you might want to play with. the six foot tall sky scraper in detroit is made entirely of leggos. shiny leggos. more than 50,000 of them are snapped up and held together by gobs and gobs of glue. makes you think of the leggo movie. >> yes. >> the glue that kept them together. a model in downtown detroit renaissance center. the skyscraper will be showcased when the discovery

you don't want to walk around barefoot on that. step on 50,000 leggos is going to hurt. >> and since when did they make them shiny and full of glass? >> the action -- . >> probably. >> and we have a descent forecast coming our way. a couple today and tomorrow, getting windy as well with the temperatures in the 30s and 40s. once the system is out of here, we're in the 50s on friday and saturday and we'll cool off to 40 with a little bit of snow. >> whoa, look at saturday, too. >> yeah. >> and really nice. >> all right, thank you. and thank you for joining us for 9news at noon.