near german town and red hook. big flakes earlier in the day coating the ground. right now it's windy and we've briefly cleared out. we're at 36 degrees. the wind is gusting over 20 miles an hour. we're closing in on freezing from the city on north and west, still above freezing but falling on long island. we have a little light rain. winds have gusted close to 40, now around 30 miles an hour. they'll be howling later on, and they'll be much colder winds as well as a wind advisory for the area that will go into effect for tomorrow through the middle of the day. here's the light rain showers over connecticut and long island, some snow showers as well. a big break there before that squall line, and those are heavy snow showers that reduce visibility from scranton to about allentown. that band of snow is about 60 miles away from franklin new jersey. it's already white there in terms of the ground. it's been whitened by a burst of snow earlier. that's where meteorologist jeff smith has been covering this first batch of snow, and maybe getting another one in about an hour or so. jeff. >> we cleared out for a time. you could actually see the

the moon starting to get covered with clouds. you've got to wonder if that's the clouds coming in from that line of snow squalls over pennsylvania. as you can see route 23 behind me moving along pretty well. no snow falling right now obviously but we did shoot some video earlier of when that snow was coming down at a good clip. you can see that roads have been in decent shape. the snow was accumulating quickly on grassy and untreated surfaces, also reducing visibility at times. luckily for drivers, though the new jersey d.o.t. has been staying on top of this event, and they offered some advice for tonight. as the temperatures drop when the sun goes down, you know, it could look like it's clear pavement, but it could freeze over quickly. also if you see crews that are working whether they're spreading brine or spreading salt, stay back. let them do their job, basically they're going to be out there getting that road treated and cleared for you so it's better just to be a little bit patient, plan a little bit

and don't pass the trucks. that makes it very difficult for them. and certainly any surface out here that looks a little bit shiny, that can definitely be icy. be careful out there tonight. we send it back over to you lee. right now we're looking at this crescent moon as we've cleared out briefly in new york city. going to cloud over quickly. check out this futurecast. as we look at that band of show jeff and i were talking about, it's going to be closing in on the delaware gap around 7:00. between the 8 and 9:00 hour if it's going to reach new york city it would be around that time. there's some indications that the band may split in two and there would be more coatings north of the city in the hudson valley and another band to the south. we have to see if that materializes. then it would move away by the time we see it on eyewitness news at 11:00. break from the flakes the next one to two hours, a burst of snow possible in any given spot from 7 to 10:00. that can produce coatings, best chance north and west and bitter ones for all of us by midnight. black ice a concern for the morning commute.

places as the cold stretch that follows because you're talking about windchills in the single digits by morning. we'll continue to track the snow and the cold in the accuweather forecast just a few minutes away. >> yes but i saw those pictures of snow. everyone i did. did. if you missed lee's forecast on tv and he is on four newscasts a day, you can always follow his forecasts on our accuweather alert app. we're going to turn to the other news tonight, and we are following breaking news. the white house right now is trying to avoid an international confrontation. iran is holding ten u.s. sailors and their two boats for navigating into iranian waters. we've just learned they are expected to be released in a few hours. dave evans is in the newsroom. >> reporter: after the iran nuclear deal we were supposed to be getting a kinder gentler iran. iran launched a rocket test and now today's incident. iran has taken possession of two small navy boats and their crew of ten.

tehran has promise that had both the vessels and crew will be returned safely and promptly. abc news is reporting that senior defense officials are claiming they have been told the vessels will be allowed to resume travel when it is morning in five hours. the two boats with the ten sailors aboard lost contact with the u.s. it happened as the boats were moving between kuwait and bahrain near farsi island in the middle of the persian gulf. apparently there was some type of mechanical trouble and that forced the boats to run aground and that's when the iranian revolutionary guard supposedly arrested the ten sailors and took control. now we're told that one iranian official is accusing the sailors of snooping. a news agency late this afternoon was saying that tehran is now reporting that iran actually rescued the american sailors. >> we've received assurances

sailors are safe, that they're being sort of afforded, you know, the proper courtesy that you would expect. we've also most importantly received assurances that they will be allowed to continue their journey promptly. now secretary of state john kerry of course immediately called tehran when told of the incident. u.s. officials in the obama administration are now trying to down play this incident, that it is not considered a hostile action. but a few minutes ago a top republican in the senate asked how can this takeover and arrest not be considered a hostile action. he went on. he expected this kind of action out of iran after the nuclear agreement was signed last year. it's going to be interesting to see how the president handles all of this in his state of the union address later tonight. we will keep you posted. bill and liz. >> i'm sure they are quickly rewriting that speech at the white house. thank you very much. you can watch the state of the union address here on channel 7 and the watch abc app.

abc7ny. our coverage begins at 9:00 tonight. most disturbing story in queens. children kept as slaves in a home for six years. the woman who lives there now charged with forcing the brother and sister from south korea to work in her home, work at a grocery store, and then give her their earnings. eyewitness news reporter tim fleischer at the scene. he's in flushing. tim. >> reporter: and bill, neighbors to say the least tonight are left stunned by this news. this is the house here on 196th street where investigators say those children were held captive as slaves. >> shocking. i couldn't believe it. i neighbor was just telling me what happened, and i'm like, what? as a mother and parent, lillian is shocked by what she's hearing of the arrest of neighbors and startling charging that she kept two korean children, a 14-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl against their will and forcing them into long hours of labor, some of it here in this 196th street.

it's a quiet, nice neighborhood. >> park has been charged with labor trafficking, assault, and endangering the welfare of a child in a case investigators period. the children were brought here investigators say from korea when the girl was 10 years old, the boy 8 years old. their passports were taken from them and forced into long hours of labor cleaning this house where park lived with her husband and two children. >> always looked down. >> never said anything. >> nope, no, nothing at all. >> investigators also revealed that in a grocery store here on northern boulevard from april 2013 to 2016 the 16-year-old girl was forced to work long hours and not receive any pay. >> how would anybody know. that's the sad part about it. how would anybody know unless they didn't -- they didn't go to school. >> but investigators reveal an assistant principal here at francis lewis high school did notice bruises on the 16-year-

suk young park and get the children's passports. the children then told investigators about the alleged abuse. >> reporter: and park through a friend said she had no comment tonight. she is due back in court in early february. reporting live in flushing, tim fleischer channel 7 eyewitness news. from queens to brooklyn and tonight the fifth suspect in a gang rape in a park is in custody. this as we're hearing for the first time from the mother of one of the suspect who is took her son to the police after the assault. all five teenagers will be charged with rape, criminal sex acts and sexual abuse. they're accused of forcing a father at gunpoint to abandon his daughter thursday night at the park in the brownsville section. the 18-year-old girl was then gang raped. the mother of a 15-year-old suspect says after she saw surveillance video of her son she took him to the police station. >> that must have been a hard decision for you. >> it was a hard decision but we want them to give their story first.

true, and he said i was there, but i didn't do anything. >> meanwhile among the boys arrested a 14-year-old, two 15- year-olds and two 17-year-olds. the three younger suspects will be charged as juvenile offenders. >> as we continue with eyewitness news at 6 on this tuesday night, governor christie using his state of the state message to make a case for becoming president and also facing some protestors today. >> also new york city police looking for the man who approached young girls at a famous burger joint and then grabbed them. >> and a big night at the garden tonight as knicks face the ce for the girl scout meeting... okay. for the soccer team...

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it's supposed to be the state of the state address, but governor christie used his speech instead this afternoon to make his case for running for president. he took credit for the state's falling unemployment rate and policies he claims turned the state economy around. not everyone however sees the situation in such a glowing light. here is toni yates. >> reporter: governor chris christie acknowledging his absence during his run of the -- run for president. one of his big it -- biggest budget battles, meeting the

>> raise the income tax 23% on all 3.7 new jerseyans who pay that tax. how about that, new jersey. >> the governor says the budget includes $100 million for substance abuse and mental health services. >> drug addiction, just like cancer is an illness. a contract -- strike anyone from any station in life. we're talking about people who could be my son and daughter, or could be your kids. >> and he spoke of education with a quarter of the budget to fund schools. a small but vocal crowd protested outside the statehouse , asking for more attention and action to various causes. >> we have increased lead poisoning, increased poverty -- >> reporter: we asked this man. >> money situations could be better in the state. >> everywhere else they dropped but here they went up a little

>> only 14 states in america even have an estate tax. only six states have an inheritance tax. we have both. >> reporter: he took a swing at president obama. in union city toni yates eyewitness news. a man tried to assault two young girls at a popular spot in manhattan and tonight they are releasing video that suspect. the man grabs the 12-year-old girl by the wrist after she managed to get away, cops say he walked up to a 13-year-old girl outside, hugged and kissed her on the cheek, that teenager pulled away and the suspect then ran away. taking a quick check of wall street, stocks finished the day higher. the dow gained 117 and the debt -- nasdaq was up almost 48. the s&p picked up 15. still ahead, this is a really bizarre story -- a

snake stolen from a pet store. wait until you hear where he stuffed it.

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no one ever said shoplifters are brainiacs. excuse me, is that a snake in your pants? as a matter of fact, it is. he stuffed a 2 foot long python down his trousers. what could go wrong? the manager says the man is watching it was not the snake's feeding day. both the thief and reptile right now on the lam. liz wanted to read that story but i said no, i want to read it. [laughter] >> it's snowing outside. oh my goodness. >> yes, it is. of all the snow pictures i

over. we get to freak out over flurries today. a little bit to the northwest over the manhattan skyline. in the clouds increase between 7:00 and 10:00, we may see a burst of snow in a couple spots. and 36 right now, westwind at 5 mi./h. it gets turbulent again during the evening hours. the high 44, but now we drop below freezing for moorestown and over to milford were heavy snow is approaching. 35 in newark. as we go through the latter part of the evening there will be slippery small -- spots overnight. you look at the planner overnight and this is the window where we can get a burst of snow at 8:00. a close call and then partial clearing and wind gusts to 40 miles per hour with temperatures struggling to get to the 20s.

there's the squall line and if you look closely there's a lightning strike there. what happens, when you get close to a squall line like this, if it survives and moves over your area, visibility moves -- goes down briefly. it will go through northwest new jersey and and the question is, does it hold together all the way to new york city. even if it doesn't, look at the air behind it. these are not windchills, teens with gusty windchills feeling like about 0. by 7:00 -- there is the squall line, this particular futurecast is really suggesting that this line will split into with one batch going into the -- into two. if that happens you would see long island would be spared from this. there is still a window around 8:00 where it could go through

gusty winds coming in and temperatures are dropping into the 20s by morning and it feels like 0 to 15. bundle up tomorrow morning, be. as we get the burst of snow -- we've seen some inch amounts in sullivan county and pike county, evening rain or snow showers, blustery and cold at 25. 31 tomorrow, frigid despite sunshine it feels like teens and 23 tomorrow night. see you have 31 tomorrow with duplicate win, not as harsh on thursday, increasing clouds on friday and even though it approaches 50, watching the storm, from the gulf. saturday looks like rain, a little concerned it could end in what snow off to the north and west. after that back to cold weather sunday with the gusty wind, flurries on monday but still not seeing big snowfalls coupled with these -- with this call. probably just -- with this cold. thank you.

>> let's get to the garden, the knicks are playing well and playing tonight. straight ahead it's the nixon celtics at the garden. we look ahead to the game and she will tell us why this is such a biggie. this price can't be right... that's the right price! it's that low. what other things on this list can't be right?" looks like a list of can't be right's." seriously? at stop&shop, prices are down. savings are up.

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stop & shop's exclusive nature's promise. eat well for less. my stop & shop. another pivotal game or time of the season -- not a pivotal game or time of the season but sort of pitiful. -- pivotal. tonight at the garden, a chance to even the record at 20-20, they take on the celtics. laura behnke is courtside with a look at the big game. hi, laura. >> hello, the last times -- time they met the result was

streak of the season. since then though, the knicks are a different team. tonight they look to continue to prove it. don't look now but the knicks are on a roll. winning five of their last seven with a chance to move back to 500 with a win tonight. >> we know we can compete with anybody in the league. we've just got to continue to grow as a -- we move forward and continue to get >> with 19 wins so far they are already ahead of where they finished last season and the playoffs are a real possibility. >> we are playing better defense and we want to keep it that way. >> it's just growing as we get the momentum going. >> a win would move new york into a tie with boston for second in the atlantic division. >> we're doing some really good things, but we definitely don't need to be having any parties or celebrations for what we are doing. we just need to keep working

>> reporter: fisher says he doesn't want to over dramatize the game in january, but just based on the amount of media members at his pregame press conference, this game is a big deal. that is good news for the knicks who are proud -- finally starting to pay -- have good progress under derek fisher. don't dramatize that game, that's our job. the league holding meetings with houston with los angeles the main topic. they recommended a joint raid from the raiders and chargers to build a stadium in carson california. disney chief bob iger helped make that happen. votes could be cast soon. los angeles has been without nfl football since 1994. those meetings were expected to slow the giants coaching search but the 49ers search continued.

today -- tom compton. -- getting ready for a playoff game with the chiefs, no one was talking up high, especially the coach. >> are you all right? >>[indiscernible -- participant comment] -- >> i think i will live. >> alabama number one clemson number two followed by ohio state and oklahoma. alabama beat clemson last night in the championship game. 4th quarter onside kick with the score tied at 24,, recovered and went on -- alabama recovered and came out to score again. and a 95 cart -- yard kick return for a touchdown. they jumped on every big play they could and when it was over they won 45-40. for titles and seven season -- four titles in seven seasons. and their head coach has now

monte irvin died last night , the start of the giants in the 50s. willie mays and hank thompson comprised the first all-black outfield elected to the hall of fame. he was 96 years old here can willie mays saying earlier today, he's like a second father to me. let's see what's coming up on news at 11:00. coming up on eyewitness news, new details on a hit-and- run crash on the fdr drive. the nypd announcing an arrest just hours ago. the evidence that helped lead to the driver. and 1 billion dreams dashed in an instant who thought they won the powerball jackpot, only to realize they need to be mistake. that story and much more tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00. don't count your money when you are sitting at the table. [laughter] that's it for us for now.