good morning, getting ready for the first major storm of the season, we found these road crews brining the the the roads getting the region ready as we kick in snow mode. it is shaping up to be a monster storm as it moves towards our region. areas along the jersey shore are preparing for a different problem, without the snow and rather that possibility of major flooding.t the snow and we will call it the calm before the the storm. all eyes are on you, as the storm is forming in the plains, hi ladies. >> reads looking dry and good. lets go right over to you. >> yes. >> you know, to that storm

system did look very large we saw it on storm scan but not all that impressive just yet starting to gather moisture and strength and it will cut itself off from the main flow and become a prolong event for us. we will get in the mechanics that go into that but lets bring you back into what is happening right now. this is allman made flakes, things are quiet, as they make all that snow for the slopes, again, it is manmade but we will have the nature made stuff coming up here. storm scan actually showed a little bit of sign of life overnight. we talk about a weak disturbance that left a blanket of the light coating of snow over southern counties here. the that is now long gone and we are in for a quiet day. with high pressure at least briefly in place before the the storm actually arrived the in the meantime we will have winter storm watches take effect but they will in the go in effect until friday evening. in other word this storm has a way to go. we will get through the better part of tomorrow, without a

hitch. the timing could be so much worse, the storm time line is as such. after 9:00 p.m. give or take friday when snow begins, moving from south to north, lehigh valley, poconos last to see it. through saturday, heavy snow will fall for most of us. there is a little caveat for that as the show goes on. after 9:00 p.m. that snow is expect to taper. the that is a 24 hour window of time for to us end up with snow. we expect high snow totals which we will get to as the show goes on but back to now 29 degrees current temperature at the airport. certainly cold enough. that cold air will set stage for snow to fall eventually but for now you can bank on sun behind for yet another day. the as we said proverbial calm before the storm leading up to the big event this weekend, meisha. >> sunshine certainly helps, knowing that the the snowstorm is coming. katie, thank you so much for that. good morning. you heard me a couple moments ago i said roadways are nice and dry and they are. they are looking really nice and quiet. the just as they should.

here's i-95 headlight in the southbound direction at castor they are looking good here. plenty of headlights, to get the out there early this morning object i-95. where i'm looking we are looking good. when we look at schuylkill at spring garden you can see taillights out there. it the is early. people are staying in their homes. maybe thinking about that snowstorm saying i will wait it out toe what happens today and tomorrow. it looks like we are okay to day and tomorrow. still chilly out there. vine as i told you eastbound direction looking good there as well. we have some construction in new jersey. i will let you read this 295 southbound ramp at route 42 closed until 5:00 a.m. the route 42 at 681, left lane block. the route 30 and route 42, until 6:00 a.m., two lanes are block there. owe make note of that as well. a lot of construction but should be lifting between 5:00 s morning. i will have updates for you. as we have been talk about gearing up for that first major storm of the season

trucks out brining the roadways. "eyewitness news" reporter justin finch joins us at penndot salt yard in south philadelphia a with how they are getting ready for the the first storm of the year, justin, good morning. >> reporter: erika, good morning. with the city of philadelphia bracing for 10 inches or more of snow penndot officials are telling us that the time to start preparing is right now. they and city officials are telling us they are already working to brine major roadways, thoroughfares and bridges and higher elevations. they say once that snow begins to fall the the the salting will begin. as of right now, nj dot, penndot and dell dot crews are starting storm preps on their state road. we know as snow begins to fall in delaware some 450 salt trucks, are set to roll role tout clear 3,000 state roadways. and penndot officials say 48 hour windows for brining preferred ahead of big snow events which we are gearing up for.

that two daytime line, also sets up penndot road crews for an easier time once that snowfall is set to peak between friday and early at saturday morning. if you fine yourself sharing a road with those brine or salt trucks we are told to tell you to keep your distance. looking now live at the salt team that is set to begin here. we have crews and trucks in place here. the office of emergency management the is watching these storms models very closely. we have now mayor kenney is set to update the city on storm preps the at city hall this afternoon. we are live from south philadelphia, justin finch for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". crews are busy building barriers along the jersey shore especially northern towns. bellmawr and bradley beach hope sand will deeven if towns begins threat of the coastal flooding on saturday. bellmawr mayor mountain math doherty says the the boro is using lessons learned against sandy and equipment required after super storm to fend off

this latest threat from mother nature. >> we are better prepared then anyone before. >> bradley beach bulldozers are tag teaming to get the job done. maryland rate coastal flooding is possible and that means property damage is likely. when the the plows hit the road and highways you will be able to keep track of the ones in delaware. today dell dot activating snow plow tracking app it lets you track in real time where salt trucks are and which road are treated. dell dot hopes it will get drivers a help drivers get to their destinations safely. >> one of the features of the dell dot app is you can look at real time location office snowplows of delaware. if you are wondering how we are using resources orer with the you mr.s are you can click on the app and see where all of the plows are real time. >> great the idea. dell will dot has 30 live cameras and track snow removal process as it happens. philadelphia police are reminding you hey you cannot save parking spots along the streets during the storm. police aring asking if you see

someone saving spots to call them, call the officers and report the location. they are using the hashtag, no saving spot. you can't do it. stay with "eyewitness news" for continuing coverage of the "eyewitness news" weather winter storm. updated forecast available at cbs philly around the clock and maps of the project snow totals. 4:37 right now. fill will a police are on high alert after a new threat begins officers. the police department tells "eyewitness news" they received an anonymous call, saying that someone wanted to shoot an office are. thirty lease trace that had call to an address in upper manhattan according to our sister station w cbs new york. the calls are also directed the threat at new york officers. the nypd is questioning a man and philadelphia police are taking it seriously. >> we have put out a safety bulletin to our officers to be aware as a precaution and letting them know the the information that we received, just so they can be on their toes and aware of their

surroundings. we are doubled up, in two person vehicles, that happened as a result of the officer hartnett being shot last week. >> new york city police say that the person investigators are questioning is not suspected caller. the flames may be out but danger at center city apartment building remains. this that is why crews are working to demolish parts of it. the the department have of licenses and inspections, says that the building at 21st and locust is in danger of collapsing with major damage in the elevator shaft. the red cross is helping displaced residents; one of whom tells us he lost more than just a place to live. >> we came back this morning around 6:00 a.m. and look at the the building in the the daylight and it hit me then that we have nothing, no home, no clothes and not even a tooth brush. >> the the cause of the fire is under investigation. prosecutors pursuing sex assault charges against bill cosby say he is seeking special treatment by trying to

have the case thrown out even before the the first evidence hearing. the montgomery county district attorney sketch steele says he can prove cosby assault aid woman in his cheltenham home in 2004 this follows cosby's motion to dismiss the the case. a common pleas judge scheduled a hearing for february 2nd. well, count down is on, katie is back with the latest on the snow. we will show you how people across the region are stocking up for this weekend storm. a piece of paper april history, item that is going on the auction block. we are going back in two

welcome back, word of the up come storm is giving everyone time to hit the stores and grab what they need. at fairmount hardware the storm-related products were found quickly. similar story at rittenhouse hardware. people there were stocking up on shelves, and ice melters, also hot items. peco is also getting ready for the the snow.

the the utility says it is on full alert, after activating all of its resources. peco does not want a repeat of the 2014 winter mess where 600,000 customers lost power. >> we have all available service, personnel ready to respond both in the field and back office and we also secured additional personnel from our sister utility, chicago commonwealth edison. >> peco also advised customers to prepare by stocking up on bottled water and batteries. good idea, to have a nice calm weather day to go get these essentials so they can hang out inside the house this weekend. >> that is the hope. people do have to work on the weekend but if you have have the day off and can stay home and hunker home, enjoy it. grab a movie and just sit back and watch the snowfall. i would say that this timing could be so much worse. this is basically the best case scenario in terms of when this happens because you wille

this come in, after the p.m. rush on friday. lingering through saturday, granted but then good portion of the sunday to clean it all up. let's go outside. yeah, i know. what is this? there is snow on the boardwalk. this is a weak disturbance that pushed through last night pushing out to seee but left behind a nice little glaze of snow on the boardwalk, this is nothing compared to what we will see across the rest of the region through this weekend but here's that disturbance pulling away. the lets take a look at this storm though. it doesn't look all that impressive. it has a lot of size to it, so it is definitely gathering coverage and a real estate the here but you are starting to see precipitation break out, snow falling through nebraska, kansas, missouri even into eastern texas as that picks up as well. what will happen thinks gathers strength, blossoms as it moves basically east and moves up the east coast and we will be in the cross hairs. it looks like things are starting to come together in terms of when it gets here and how much we will end up w

let's walk you through that. friday morning, we will start with sunshine but here we go by eight or 9:00 p.m. lifting in from south to north, and because it comes at night we are off that snow. then what happens is a line shifts here. we will see this turn over and mix with some icing and then over to rain through southeastern, new jersey and southern delaware and that is why for one reason we are not calling for as much snow there but we will be dealing with coastal flood issues which we will get to. there may be a mixing at storms end that takes place along i-95 or south of it too. otherwise strictly snow. how much are we talking. we will get to. that coastal flood watches southeastern new jersey and portions of delaware through bay areas friday night to sunday morning. winter storm watches rest of the weekend. here's our snowfall map. a foot to 16 inches for i-95, immediate vicinity, maybe as far north depending on final track for southernly high valley. six to 12 for poconos, southern new jersey, and then

coastal communities, three to 6 inches because we expect to see that turn over to rain. back here to us, this is as calm as can be mostly sunny, chilly. high of 37. perfect time and perfect way to get those prep plans out of the way if you can hunker down later. we will drop down to 25. like i said we will get through most of the day tomorrow without any weather-related problems, although we will start to see a lot of track, and and major snowstorm expect to unfoal. by sunday it does start to clear on out. nice little warming trend for next week. >> perfect time to go to work and school. >> exactly. >> thank you. turning guns into garden tools to promote peace in philadelphia melting furnace heated up donated firearms at the the university of pennsylvania. a blacksmith with the violence prevention organization, brought tools and used his ham tore turn those firearms into garden tools. he sees them as a useful symbol of change.

>> this one is almost finish and garden tool to use to cultivate, a little whole here to stick a handle in it so handle tool you can use for weeding or planting. >> how about that. >> this demonstration was all part of the program to celebrate the life of doctor martin luther king, junior. still ahead on "eyewitness news" this morning what spark that massive market sell off yesterday. but first here's what is ahead tonight on cbs-3.

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if you you are in the the market for a slightly used car we may have a deal for you. low mileage, sleek look and only one previous owner: pope francis. the the famous fi at the 500l used during a pontiff's visit to philadelphia will be auctioned off during the philadelphia auto show black tie tailgate on the 29th.

another pope mobile used will be on display during the show, money raised will go to the philadelphia archdiocese. >> it the allows us to raise much needed fund to help care for our community's most vulnerable and marginalized members. >> the the auto show is at day, january 30th until sunday february 7th. 4:49. time to see what is going on in the business world. money watch's hena daniels joins us from the knock stock exchange. oil prices crashing. so much more happening around the world. henna good morning, what is happening. >> reporter: good morning,er contact stocks on wall street are off to the worst start of the year ever. the sell off continued as oil suffered worse one day drop since september. dow jones lost 249 points after a late recovery. it had been down over 560 points. the nasdaq slipped five points. not looking good on wall street, erika. >> also we're hearing one auto maker is making i a pledge no

one has heard of before. what is this pledge, which company. >> reporter: wal do is proving a deaf proof car by 2020. no one will be killed or seriously injured in the new volvo car or suv by creating a self driving car that will include technology like collision avoidance and pedestrian detection. >> big plan. we will see fit comes through. thanks so much. coming up after break we will check on traffic and weather and katie is still track ago this big winter storm. we will be right back.

if you think of kids having that fun in the know, check this out great video here, beautiful little french bull dog in england, as you can see, little guy just loves the the the snow. perfect for slip and sliding, right. um-hmm, a little speed and then, there you go. this is so cute. my goodness, katie. hoping our little fury friend get to enjoy the snow this much this weekend with the big storm coming.

>> it is looking like kind that could be so much worse. would i say as perfect as is possible to have the the most minimal impact on travel, you know, anybody's commute. so fact that it is coming over a week even obviously means kids will in the get any days off from school, sorry kids but hey parents you are probably rejoyce nothing this. lets start off by taking a peak at the nice wide zoom. things don't look all that well defined with this storm. here it is, it is just beginning to blossom and form gathering strength, gathering some cold air, gathering some moisture, so it hasn't completely formed just yet but you can see that counterclockwise circulation taking place and this will continue to unfold and look bigger and bigger with time. here's winter alerts that we're tracking right the now. would i say you're looking at a bull's eye formation for heaviest snowfall for portions of the the virginias, and out baltimore, d.c. where we have blizzard watches, winter storm warnings and watches. we here in the delaware valley

are stuck in winter storm watches that will likely change as things unfold and we will get closer and closer. let's talk future snow amounts looking at model data and good indication what we are facing here. we are expecting 12 to 16 inches here in philadelphia. but you see that bull's eye that sets up outside of d.c. that is where brunt will hit but we also sit the in the cross hairs of pretty impressive snow simply because this is such a prolong event. we would be facing this much snow if this were something that hit us for couple hours and move out to sea. it looks like this will start friday night, generally after the the p.m. rush hour. would i say give or take around 9:00 p.m. that may be fine tuned with time. it lingers all day at day before pulling away sunday morning. possibly, power outages out of this, coastal flood watches in effect down toward the shore points. we are at 25 degrees in ac, 29 at the airport in philadelphia. so cold air is setting the stage. we have it in place, and ample cold, to help produce that

snow, and allow it to stick. so saturday is the the day we're looking at here for the worst to take place, it gets out of here sunday so you have some clean up to do for sure but keep in mind that wind will stick around. >> katie, how lucky are our commuters that it is coming on the weekend and not on a monday, tuesday, or wednesday. it could be so much worse. we will be here all weekend long covering that storm. i will be here covering the roads. today, thursday things are looking good and we will have some sunshine. yes, still cold out there roadways nice and dry. traffic is slowing nicely. the this is the boulevard, headlights moving in the southbound direction approaching wissohickon avenue looking good, nice and quiet. that is exactly how we want to see it and it is new jersey heating up ever so slightly 42 freeway north bound a approaching 295, everyone still traveling at posted speeds here. we awe that build in the 5:00 o'clock hour, we will see fit does the same thing to do i. plymouth meeting, taillights moving in the southbound direction at ridge pike,

looking good but you can see plenty of taillights and headlights. construction northeast extension north bound between lansdale and quakertown right lane is still block. i will let you know when that lifts but right lane still block. more construction in new jersey this morning 295 southbound ramp to route 42. this is closed until 5:00 a.m. in a couple minutes this should lift. i will update you and let you know if it does. erika, back over to you. coming up next on "eyewitness news" we have live team coverage of the preparation for this weekend's major winter storm. also this is really hot holiday toy but now some new rules could crackdown on hoverboard riders to make the toys safe. and this girl is on a mission to collect hundreds of barbie dolls, but find out what she plans to do with those dolls. we are back at the top of the hour.

good morning, right now, crews are busy preparing for this weekend's major winter storm. trucks have been out all night long, brining those major road. we have live team coverage of that storm on storm scan three. it didn't take much to mow that crippled the nation capitol. did you see this cars are sliding slipping in short commutes turned into seemingly endless ones. my goodness that was a preview what is in store for this weekend. good morning it is thursday, january 21st i'm erika von tiehl and pretty quiet out, your day looking good but that will change tomorrow night. let's check with katie and meisha keeping an eye on things for us. >> yes, good morning we are bracing ourselves, katie. we have been talking bit all

week long. roadways are looking g they are nice and dry. we will have some sunshine today. >> yes. >> exactly. >> looking like we will start off on a quiet now. now is time to prepare, get those shopping plans out of the way, fill the tank up if you have to, all that stuff that you would normally get ready, do it now. you've got the opportunity. entire i would say day and a half to do it. let's explain. we will talk about history here, guys. the lets look at the top philadelphia snowstorms. now, the first and foremost would i say that we are not going to make the top five we don't think out of this storm. we have to get over 21 inches for that to take place, and i don't see that happening. but you will have to substantial snow for the the snow sledding and to shovel away. here's the system we were talking about for d.c. do you see it pulling away. it left a coating of snow, across portions of southern new jersey and delaware as well. we have talk about that yesterday. that is out to sea. you don't have to