c -- www.vitac.com >> severe weather is moving into our area, storm scan3 shows major storm headed east, most of the region is under a winter storm warning or even a blizzard warning. >> and take a look, this is a live look at center city philadelphia from our studios at spring garden, snow has been falling for the last several hours, as you can see, it is already coating everything. >> today is tuesday, march 14th, good morning, i'm jim donovan. >> i'm rahel solomon, complete coverage of the winter wet they are morning, trang do watching the snowfall in allentown, pat gallen is in port richmond. >> first we turn to meteorologist, katie fehlinger, for detailed look at the forecast, good morning, kate. >> i good morning, guys, jim, nice vest, we'll be seeing much more that far throughout

the rest of the show. right on out to the graphics, gave you a sense of what's happening as we speak. winter storm alerts currently in effect, blizzard warnings have been extended if you went to sleep last night like the rest of us did, blizzard warnings issued throughout the lehigh valley, poconos, chester, montgomery and bucks, pretty good chunk of the delaware valley, in blizzard conditions, potentially, for portion of the day. folks, this is a very, very serious storm system. if you don't have to go out, i don't want you to. just make the excuse to take a personal day or work from home. take a look, the storm is huge at this point, merged creating very, very powerful storm system. and as we look here, in fact, i'll just stop the graphic, we will look at this most current snapshot of storm scan, we have some mixing along portions of i-95, sleet currently falling across new castle county, delco, parts every philly county -- county, snow off to the north, but heavy rain off to the south.

so some multifaceted forecast here. the wind is a running theme for everyone, how much, notice the winds direction, nor'easter, northeast wind flow. it is currently sustained as high as 23, 27 miles per hour in some spots. so that wind is whipping. it is vicious, and it is going to create pretty vicious windchills not it mention poor visibility. that is what makes this so darn treacherous. not only is the heavy snow falling and covering the roadways and accumulating quickly, especially this morning, but the winds makes it that much worse, because you won't be able to see very much once it gets going. by lunchtime still in the midst of. >> this the worse will be at least starting to winds down, and then you have to contends with blowing snow for the p.m. drive. so, again, it is the red light all day long, if you don't have to go out again i really don't want you to, meisha, hopefully you'll see some real quiet traffic patterns here today. but what do you have so far? >> not bad. katie i can tell you right now that already we're feeling the effect of this on the roadway, so like katie said, piggyback

on, that if you don't have to get into your vehicles and drive today, do not do it. do not be one of those people that says oh, i think i will ' take it slow and try to do it. i did that on my way in, even then what was it 2:30 in the morning it was very harsh conditions coming on 95 and the vine and we're seeing problems on the schuylkill, as well. so we already have an accident, the schuylkill eastbound, past the boulevard, car spun out here, very slick conditions here, again, that's the schuylkill eastbound past the boulevard, but that's just one of many issues we're seeing, plus, for my truck drivers with the heavier vehicles, and even a lot of my truck drivers that have just all wheel drive, four wheel drive, doesn't mean you'll be unscathed. sealing skeeing jackknife tractor-trailers, 295 before 561, two lanes blocked there, weaver disable tractor-trailer on 295 northbound off ramp, closed, another jackknife tractor-trailer, 195 westbound, hamilton square,

right lane block there. not only do we see a lot of that already, but we've got speed restrictions throughout jersey and delaware already, then on the bridges, as well, more speed restrictions for heavier truck drivers, we are talking a lot more about this coming up, plus another accident in delaware just popping up now, jim, over to you. >> thank you, meishament philadelphia public and parochial schools are closed today and classes at penn, drexel, temple are canceled, more than 600 other closings have been announced and scrolling across the bottom of your screen, also posted on cbsphilly.com and on the c boulevard s local app. forecasters as we said are expecting a blizzard in the lehigh valley. >> as katie just mentioned, not only the snow but also strong winds. our coverage continues this morning, plus "eyewitness news" reporter trang do, liver in allentown and trang i feel like every time it snows you're in allentown. >> me? needs to buy real estate up there. >> reporter: yes, surprise, surprise, i'm in allentown, becoming more and more like home, you guys plan to be here this morning, take a look as katie mentioned, lot of

falling snow here, these snowflakes are light and fine. very fluffy. this is the kind of snow that the kids are going to love. it is actually quite nice if you don't have to work in it. but at this point as you mentioned it is real difficult in terms of visibility. actually seeing cars driving out here. it is really bizarre. but people are really enjoying it, at this point, you can see that the roadway is completely covered. it is the middle of the night but they'll be coming here with snowplows. at this point completely snow covered loads. just seeing lots and lot of this really fine snow. surprisingly, ton of accumulation, not what we expected overnight, because the snowflakes really started out as a kind of wintery mix, started around 8:30, 9:00. really expect to see a whole lot more, hours upon hours, six hours of the snow falling, but at this point, this is pretty calm in terms of what we're expecting, ramp up as we get closer to the morning rush

hour. but for now, actually quite pretty, guys, i send it back to you in the studio. >> i love that point you made, trang. actually quite nice if you don't have to work in it. >> i'm telling you, you need some real estate up there, you spend so much time up there, it could be your summer home. >> in the winter. >> i'm looking up zillo houses as we speak. >> thanks, trang. >> you know what she will be doing after this? >> please, get me in the car. >> our coverage continues with a look on the roads northeast fill. >> i headed out take it easy, i would see patrick doing that right now, boy, he already has the snowballs going? >> reporter: yes, good morning, guys. not so much the snowball, as much as it is like a bowling ball. and because of this tree up pant of precipitation coming down, the snow, sleet, freezing rain, causing nice little glaze. normally i like a honey glaze

on my ham but not on my snow. that's causing treacherous commuting for drivers here on aramingo avenue. they're moving at a pretty good clip right now as we made our way have spring garden street up to delaware avenue, columbus boulevard, on our way up here to aramingo avenue, port richmond. the drive is slow as you can imagine it would be. the plows are out though. people are moving at a pretty decent pace. so that is true for this time of the morning, have seen couple every plows out. when i was on 95 on my way into work i was behind about six, seven plows, we know that they're out on the road. they did brine, salt over the weekends, but not too bad right now. as katie said it, will continue to come down over the next few hours, and if you like to reach out to me and tell me where to go, i'm always looking for some suggestions. you can hit me up on twitter at pat gallen cbs-3 or my facebook page pat gal inch tv. i would love to come hang out. i was thinking, guys, about maybe doing like a diner tour? i don't know, people? >> always food. >> you know i'm always down

for some scrapple, ya. >> we should -- >> i like to get fat during a snowstorm and eat up. >> careful what you wish for. >> people open their doors for pat gallen. >> thank you, patrick. >> i would love to hang out with you guys today, sure. >> all right, we'll see what we get. pat, thank you. >> meantime, if you haven't already done so, you may want to check on the status of your flight out of philadelphia international airport. southwest, frontier, jet blue, alaska airlines, air canada, british airways, cutter airways not operating at all today. american airlines has canceled departing flights today until 5:00 p.m. airport will have 475 employees on hand to help clear away the snow on the runways. if you are traveling by train, amtrak says be ready with a back up plan. amtrak will be operating on a modified schedule throughout the northeast today. amtrak officials say passengers holding reservations should monitor conditions to make any necessary changes before their scheduled departure.

>> penndot is urging drivers to stay off the roads today. but if you must head out, you can expect some reduced speed, the speed limits have been reduced to 45 miles per hour on several major roads, including interstate 76, 95, and 676, there is also a temporary ban on certain vehicles, including buses, rv's and motorcycles. drivers are being urged to stay at least six car lengths behind snow plows, when you see them operating. and with about 400 snow plows working around the clock, penndot hopes to keep load ways clear and passable during the storm. you're looking at footage from our brand new drone watch three hovering over penndot's salt yard in hunting park yesterday. penndot has more than 10,000 tons of salt, stockpiled, and plans to use as much of it as needed. >> meanwhile, over in delaware, del dot was busy loading up salt trucks at their salt yard in newark yesterday. officials say more than 100 plows will be in place for new castle county since that area is expected to be hit the hardest, by salting efforts, drivers are reminded to

exercise caution when traveling over bridges, overpasses, and ramps since the first. >> code blue has been declared for philadelphia, and city officials are working to make sure the homeless stay safe in this frigid weather. the office of homeless services say they've added 300 beds, the salvation army is ready to deliver homes. if you are concerned about a homeless person you are urged to call the outreach coordination center (215)232-1984. >> how you can stay safe during the storm. >> that leaky faucet actually may come in handing. leaving attributing elf water running helps prevent pipes from freezing. keep your garage doors closed if your water supply lines are in there. also, open your cabinets to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing, keep the thermostat set for the same temperature during the day and night. >> better to use flashlights if you loose power rather than

candles, it is heavy snow, so we may have power outages. should never use a stove or offer tone heat your homes. if your cents a fireplace, be sure have the screen in front for sparks and rolling logs. place all fuel burning equipment outside, turnoff space heed ers and be sure fire embers are out before taking a nap or going to bed. >> our coverage of this morning's winter weather continues. >> absolutely, we have reporters all over the area. than is a live look from bethlehem. where as we can see the snow really coming down, also, seen it in allentown, northeast philly, so stay with us. we're tracking it all for you. we'll be right back.

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time 414:67:89 welcome back to "eyewitness news," continuing coverage as the winter weather continues. our photographer jim spearing headed out on the roads this morning from haddon fields, new jersey, thank you. snow has been falling for hours, so as you can expect, slick roads. if you can stay home and avoid them, emergency officials say that would be the best thing to do. meisha said it, as well. parking authority will not be writing tickets for expired meters during the storm. ppa says don't worry about feeding the meter while the snow warning is in effect, but don't park along the snow route. if you do your car may be towed away. so keep that in mind.

>> today's snowstorm expected to kick off the new season. >> use the hashtag no savesies, game of thrones, the philadelphia police department took to facebook to declare war on house saveies, it is illegal, to save a shoveled out car spiking, cones, toilets. >> are you canned g me? >> you got to do what you got to do in south philly, anything else you can think of. if you do see someone saving a parking spot call 911 and then run. >> listen. >> no, they didn't say and run, i just know, if the police come. >> oh, no savesies. >> so katie, let me ask you, is this going to be in waves? it looks like heavy now looks like it is raining? >> just depends where you are. if it is really is going to be a location dependent forecast for us. anywhere southeast of i-95, it can be completely different situation in a couple of

hours. let's get you through everything. the further north you go, this is strictly snow producer. like you said, jim, there may be varying bands of heavier snow, lighter snow, moderate snow. this storm has everything up its sleeve. it is turning into a monster. so as we had mentioned earlier in the broadcast, now blizzard warnings until 6:00 p.m. anywhere from chester to bucks county on north. that includes berks, includes lehigh valley, yes, blizzard warning. now, meanwhile, go little further off to the south here. portions every delco, new castle county, and over into salem, you start to see little sleet mixing in here. just heavy rain actually. for most of southern delaware, so you might have some minor flooding issues across those areas. but let's walk you through future weather, thousand will all shake out. now the initialization of this isn't ideal. i would rather see the pink line further north. but this is still a really good guide how things time out. notice the darker the shade of purple the more intense the snowfall rate. sort of like radar 101, right? so looks like we will have pretty decent bands coming in here over the next couple of

hours, may be period of sleet in philadelphia. that is going to limit our snowfall totals by comparison to this. the amounts that you'll find further off to the north. 10:00 or so, still pretty good swat of sleet out there and vicious winds also, then if you can throw it after lunchtime to 1:00 you may be done essentially with the worse of any of the precipitation across south jersey and delaware there. will still be residual snow showers that continue into the evening and overnight, maybe left over flurry, but the general trend is that it starts to clear out. now, we do have high wind warning that goes into effect actually at 6:00 a.m. so the winds already picking up, not as bad, so high wind warning posted for all of the counties in the golds shaded area. your gusts peak as high as 06 miles per hour, and that in turn with the almost full moon is going to coincide with the possibility of moderate coastal flooding. so, up and down the jersey shore, right down through the delaware beaches, especially for the first round every high tide, between 9:30, 10:45 or so here today see moderate round every coastal flooding we think, also the heavy rain

isn't helping matters. here is the most up-to-date snowfall forecast map for you, it should stay today. i'll switch it for you, inbetween shows here, but still checking for today in terms of totals. yes, upward of 2 feet of snow across the lehigh valley and the poconos, combine that with blizzard conditions, you have mess on your hands, that's why we want you to stay home if you can specially north of the city. six to 12, ain't no picnic here in philly either. six to 12 inches still the expected range every totals for i-95 and the vicinity, then drastically reduces because of the rain snow line over our area down through south jersey and the rest of delaware. bullet points: heavy wet snow the expectation for the next foreseeable future, multiple hours from now, up until lunchtime really. but the heaviest bands, crazy. two to 4 inches per hour in some of the heaviest year bands. going to greatly reduce your visibility, not to mention wind gusts, might even have thunder snow. take a look at the gorgeous

shot outside pleasant valley and middle high school. not so pleasant after valley today if you're trying to travel. quickly showing you the seven day, doesn't get much warmer, but it does brighten up, viciously cold with the winds tomorrow. meisha? >> all right, katie, yes. one of those things the snow coming down sure is beautiful, but you do in the want to get in those vehicles and drive in it. if you can stay at local and watch from the window that's what you want to see. so it will be -- no, don't go out there. new jersey, 42 at creek road. what we're seeing in a lot of these camera shots right now, a lot of wetness on the roadways. snow coming down. snow all over the place. but the more vehicles that drive over it, looking like a lot of sleek wetness on the roadway. what that translate to, however, is drivers, can go little wick err, then starting to see some accidents, especially the heavier the vehicle. by the way, just remember, when you break-in this stuff you want to pump those brakes. don't slam on the brakes or you'll just go right forwards. pump the breaks, stop the

vehicle. now, dealing with a lot of jackknife tractor-trailers out there this morning, already an accident on the schuylkill clear, schuylkill very slick at this time. jackknife tractor-trailer, 295 southbound before route 561, two lanes blocked there. we also have a disable tractor-trailer on 295 northbound, the off ramp through 656. another jackknife tractor-trailer on 195, hamilton township, we will be talking about a ton of stuff. coming off in the next ten, 15 minute, jim, rahel, back to you. >> meisha mentioned watch for the braking. i went through two red lights this morning, and i mean you know i drive real slowly, but i just went flying. our coverage of this morning's winter weather continues. >> this is a live look from allentown, where we find reporter, trang do, of course, still, thank you. as trang mentioned, trang said the snow there is nice to play in, not quite nice to worm in or drive in. >> okay? got her on the records. >> absolutely. you're warning "eyewitness news" this morning. we will be right back.

>> we are seeing the worse of this nor'easter, and now we are in the thick every things. this is snapshot view. heavy rain across the southern portions of new jersey, and delaware, so this is good heavy snow that continues across southeastern p a and some sleet now beginning to mix in along portions at least

of i95. zooming it way out, show you the storm in its entirety, massive it, spans anything from even florida all the way up to the canadian border, so this has really turned into an impressive storm system, but quite a monster as, you know, certainly relates to any kind of problem that you may have scheduled. so, if you cannot or if you can manage to stay home, i really want you to do that. current visibilities, up in allentown, where it snow is coming down heavily, and the winds is whipping. you're at half mile visibility, you can barely see your hand if front of your face in mount pocono. only going to get worse, unfortunately, i think before it gets better. so talk about some of the threats involved with today's storm, very high risk, and hazards associated with the snowfall. the wind as well as your travel concerns. high impact from that. icing, it is more of a moderate concern across the southeast portion of our area. so, it is all snowfall all the time as go into montgomery county, and a blizzard warning

until 6:00 p.m.ment many more hours of blizzard conditions potentially yet to come in those areas. but winter storm warning for the vast majority for the rest of the region. looking forward, we are at least going to brighten up from saint patrick's day, however, normal high this time of the year, meisha, into the 50's, and we won't even come close to that until next week. >> almost like pay back in a way. >> exactly. >> that's how it feels. katie, thank you so much. so, walking out the door already this morning, i can tell you right now already seen disable tractor-trailers, jackknife tractor-trailers, seen accidents, seen cars spun out in the ditches. so just know basically anywhere that you are going out right now, it is very slippery. so, if you don't have to go out and get in those vehicles, you absolutely do not want to get throughout and drive. this is a schuylkill eastbound past the boulevard, 11 of the vehicles has spun out little earlier, give that you snapshot view. but talk about mass transit as well. take a look at this. septa running modified schedules, so subway 24 hour

service, no overnight night owl. regional rails running saturday schedules, wilmington, newark, enhanced saturday schedule, cynwyd line suspended. check out all of this on line as well. septa again running modified schedule. buses, several due tours, norristown high-speed line running every 20 minutes, trolleys expect obviously clearly blazing cans lakes cents, cct limited service. patco also running modified schedule. rush hour every ten minutes, daytime every 15, every 15, 24 minutes, evening. and there is so much more to cover this morning, we will be talking about it coming up in the next ten to 15 minute, rahel, over to you. >> busy busy, meisha, thank you. if you haven't already download the cbs philly weather app. there you'll find katie's daily and weekly forecast, inter-active radar available for apple and android devices search for cbs philly in your app marketplace. >> this morning's winter weather continues. >> live look outside, this is from mobile three, and this is

our jim spearing providing a shot from haddon township. jim, thank you very much it, looks like the roads for the most part are wet. if you look to the side see accumulation on those graphics. we're tracking it all for you and we'll be right back.

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>> the snow has been coming down just before midnight. not quitting any time soon. >> i see a little bit of visibility issues out there. >> little bit. good morning, i'm jim donovan. >> i'm rahel solomon. let's get right over to meteorologist, katie fehlinger. the storm really coming in as expected. >> it is, and we do have upgrades to tell but when it comes to some of the warnings that have been posted by the national weather service, even upgrades expectations for totals across some of the northern most counties. so here another look for you at the winter storm alerts. what you may notice is that down right now, southeastern burlington, atlantic counties, no long area winter storm warning. actually seen too much rain building in, so that's actually been since removed and turned into a winter weather advisory regardless though this is still very powerful storm. in oneay