the blizzard continues. it is not expected to stop anytime soon. people are urging you to stay home and we have road crews trying to stake up with a very quick it could be real -- more real and more urgent for it we were out this morning it was unbelievable. i do not recall a storm like this. >> we keep telling people and it seems obvious to stay home. people are out there anyway. one thing they have to do is they have to keep the streets clear as best they can so that emergency vehicles can get down the street and plow. if somebody goes out and gets them stuck somewhere, they will block the street or cause a problem. that is why they are saying that unless you really have to come and stay put. >> we are in emergency mode. you'll notice at the bottom of our screen instead of posting closings because the presumption is that everything is closed, we will be posting key emergency

operation numbers at the bottom of the screen. that will be at least for the duration of the morning. everything is closed. except amtrak which they insist something will be running. emergency numbers will be at the bottom of your screen. >> we talked to the mayor a little while ago and she said 311 is available but if it is a medical mergers a, dial 911. >> be judicious and was an emergency. >> shortness of breath, she said. she was very clear about that. >> let's talk about snow. how much have we gotten so far? we are in record territory. we are threatening or have broken records already. here is how much snow has fallen so far. 20 1 inches here at tv hill.

-- 21 inches here at the tv hill. in york county, 19 inches. it is going and there is the radar and satellite combination. there are breaks in the clouds over the atlantic ocean. there are a few breaks in the clouds down in virginia. the low pressure areas are over kentucky and out over the ocean. things are still cranking up. we'll talk about the forecast details coming up a minute. >> let's check on conditions in anne arundel county. joining us on the following is the county executive, john leopold. what is your plan of attack? >> we have 260 the snow removal vehicles that are out working on county road with grit our measurements are about 18 inches on the ground currently.

about 15 years ago, we had a record 62.5 inches for the year and we are on track now to supersede that record, to surpass that record, unfortunately. we have 2,500 tons of salt being loaded onto salt-spreading vehicles. with a blizzard conditions and we encourage residents to stay inside unless they absolutely have to get out we have a humvee provided by the national guard which is transporting nurses to the medical center. as people take care of themselves, they should remember to take care of their pets. do not let your pets outside unless absolutely necessary. we were talking about the danger of roofs caving in, be careful with flat roofs because there have been fatalities when roofs collapsed. people have lost their lives. it is a dangerous storm.

i came into the emergency operations center in glen burnie and lightning and thunder or along the trail. we are doing our best to clear the major roads. >> we are showing an adorable image of a dog out in the snow as you were talking about pets. these are budget-busting storms. as we are in the middle of thit there will be a time when you have to figure out how much this costs and how to pay for it. >> the last blizzard cost us $2.5 million. we spent about $3.5 million so far. we have $20 million in our reserve fund. we have money available. this is a top priority. people expect the roads to be clear. emergency situations have to be taken care of.

we will find the resources necessary to get the job done. yesterday, i was in annapolis at the annapolis high school where we have a shelter prepared if necessary. so far, we have a handful of homeowners without shelter. last year, we had 70,000 people without power. we're watching that very carefully. thanks to some stimulus money, we have a facility there for pets. for adults and pets and their families, if it is necessary, if there is a significant number of power outages, we are ready. >> that is good information to know. bank of joining us. -- thank you for joining us. good luck with everything in your county. >> we have sandra shaw in canton. what a cute dog you have there. >> this is the first dog of the dead. ay.

he is four-years old and is well trained. he is keeping my feet warm. he is so sweet. as a challenge to get around. -- it is a challenge to get around let me show you the surrounding area. i am getting this shovel and i will show you what we are dealing with. we have about 80 or 20 inches normally on the sidewalk. -- 18 or 20 inches normally on the sidewalk. this is how much has accumulated in the last hour or so and it is thick and it is a little bit i see underneath. take a look of these snowdrift behind us. this is what you're dealing with. we have a snowplow that is for getting ready to hit that draft. he just started a couple bad ago. there is a lot of work ahead this snow has not stopped so it

is ongoing. we will get a lot more. in canton, it is like a ghost town right now. the few cars that i saw walking in that were trying to make it on the roads were stuck. there were trying to shove their way out of the roads are not inevitable. i saw a couple of trucks that were stuck as well. i was talking to a policeman who very generously gave me a ride for last half of my walken said it is bad in the dunn dog area. he said it was so bad -- last of my walk and he said it is bad in the dundalk area. it is an epic story. it is crazy. we're outside the trying to make the most of it. >> 11 news reporter david collins is at the operations center in hanover. >> we are getting a big picture

of you courtesy of the highway administration. thank you for joining us this morning. a few moments ago, i started reading some of the speed sensor information. i was hoping you could clarify and put in perspective because the speech were all the plays. >> the speed centers are dependent upon have enough volume on the roadway to be able to get average speeds. we're in a situation where we have very low volume. we are neck-and-neck after reporting from some of the speed sensors as a result. >> as the criteria been met to close in interest states or roadways text we have beeys? >> the real dangers areas are the ramps. we have not yet closed a roadways.

we want to be urging people not to go out for a couple of reasons. it is dangerous for one and it interferes with their interruptions -- with our operations. if we can look at this now cleared, we cannot get the roads open. >> on my way over here, i ran into a number of disabled vehicles. well plows to win the run into a car that is stuck? >> we try to go around the car. we call in those disabled vehicles to telling companies that show off the road with as quickly as possible. whenever we have abandoned or disabled vehicle, it interferes with our operations which is one reason why we do not want people going out of the road pray . >> it is becoming daylight now you say that is the most dangerous time. >> in daylight, people can see what is going on outside. they become curious and start to go out and the roadway. we start to pick up traffic volumes that will increase the

number of crashes and a number of people who run off the road. that will interfere with our operations more. the message is, please don't go out unless it is absolutely necessary. >> but you very much we will back with more updates throughout the morning. >> stay with us, our live to uncover jobless storm continues. >> we are continuing to monitor the storm as it moves through the region. snowfall totals are piling up. we have had one report pushing toward 30 inches. .

>> now, insta-weather +. >> welcome back to our south covers. it looks like it will push to records across the season. we are still under a blizzard

warning across the region. let's show you the blizzard warning which continues along the coastal areas and along the western portion of the day. bay. that means that not only do you have this note but throughout the day, the winds will be strong and that will cause blowing and drifting of snow reducing visibility. these are some representative reports from around the region so far. elkridge in eastern howard county had a number of reports of thunder snow, heavy downpours of snow coming out of thunder. that has pushed their total to 30 inches. it makes sense because they're getting a lot of thunder in that area. 23.5 inches in calvert county. 21 degrees at mount eritrea we

are threatening some records. we have had 23 inches of snow in december and eight in january and this -- they have at least 9 inches at the airport and the seasonal total is up to 53.6 per in the winter of 95-1996, there was 62 inches, that was the record. there is no still falling. there are two areas of low pressure, one in kentucky and one east of a virginia beach. they are making their way through. until that western storm can clear our region, the snow will keep coming down and we could still have funder snow throughout the afternoon until the western storm can clear the area. we have several more hours of snow to go and this is looking like a record-setting snow for many areas. >> will take a look at temperatures that we have. -- we will take a look at temperatures that we have.

salisbury is 37 degrees. parkton is 28 degrees. 30 degrees at elton. -- elkton. officially at the airport, it is 28 degrees. the barometer of the last hour has risen. it is showing a rising tendency. usually that means the storm is pulling out but it might be a fluke. the storm center is traveling from kentucky across to the ocean. the winds are coming from the northeast really strong. 43-mile per hour gusts in ocean city. when you get on the bay you have the long stretch over the water.

we have gale warnings out over the ocean. we have blizzard warnings and these winds are piling the water up along the western shore of the bay and the atlantic coast pretty high tides could produce some flooding. with those strong winds, it feels colder than it is. most readings are in the upper 20's but it feels like 20 in annapolis. it feels raw and it looks what but it looks pretty. it is a dangerous storm. hunker down and take it easy. the storm center, the energy will concentrate more on the coast and try to polish. things are bottled up in the atmosphere so it will take awhile.

toward the end of the day, that will start to happen. here is the insta-weather future cast. we work our way through the morning and early afternoon and we seek still quite a bit of snow over the area. by 7:00 in the city and to our north and west, the snow will end. beyond frederick, it looks like the sky is clear. we events to 9:00 at night in the last of the snow will start to pull off shore up options city -- at ocean city. we are in the clear after that. as we get into sunday, the son will be out. -- the sun will be out you can sit back and enjoy the super bowl tomorrow. the saturday forecast, you see the heavy concentration of snow just west of the bay. we might be in the 20-30 degree

range. there are wind gusts to 35 in temperatures will be fairly steady in the 20's and fall off later in the afternoon. 29 degrees tomorrow and sunshine, 30 degrees monday and sunshine, the morning will be down the teens. snow will not melt any time soon. tuesday and wednesday, another storm will comment are it looks like several inches of snow as possible. and that will be fairly cold. on thursday, maybe a few snow flurries were snow showers and continuing cold. it is winter-like all week long. >> right now, there are more than 30,000 power outages in our area, mostly in baltimore city, anne arundel county, and our county. -- and howard county. howard county has more than 4000

residents without power bge workers have already loaded up supplies in case this note to extend electrical lines. hundreds of local employees are on standby. workers from kentucky and louisiana are travelling to our area. >> we believe that if we see power outages of 100,000 customers, it will be several days before we get power back. >> bge adds that you can assume that your -- bge eds that you cannot assume that they know your power is out. reporter power outage so they know. >> keep that on a refrigerator.

>> bge is urging customers to get other items on your checklist if your power fails. having a flashback -- flashlight with fresh batteries, a telephone, and nonperishable foods if you lose service. >> i hope people have done that already. >> stay with us. our live coverage of the winter storm continues. >> are you going to have fun taking your car out with all the snow? a live rep

>> let's go live out back in a parking lot in this city. >> do you see how deep it is? >> yes.

>> it is deep, up to my knees. we have about 80 or 20 inches here. -- 18 or 20 inches a year. don't even try it today for a look at this car. this is what you will have to deal with digging out. it will be difficult to do, to get the snow on top of the car, that would be easy. it will move back and forth. break out the shovels and be patient and take your time i would not even attempt to bother with it until it's stopped snowing tonight. also, be careful in this stuff. i am serious because it can cause major problems for you get extremely tired and we did very quickly just walking around in it. it is not an easy chore. enjoy watching it because it is beautiful. we are waiting for the wind is

to pick up. it is calm right now but every so often when you get a wind gust, it will already are facing you cannot see any thing. it is extremely cold. that is the next part of the storm. can't wait to see that, with all that snow and the winds, it will be quite a storm. >> i believe that was your car. you are going to go out there -- >> normally, when we use no we use a stick like this but now we need a bigger one. this goes to 36 inches and hopefully we will run out of room. i will venture out there and give you the official tv all measurement. >> you have an indiana jones thing going on there. >> i do. >> you will help to change to clean up the car. >> i will go out and measure and

we will know how much we have. >> thank you. >> we want to give out some really important phone numbers. these are the numbers to your local mema offices. if you need to get someone to a hospital for an emergency for dialysis or oncology or something, these are the numbers you call. they will connect with the maryland national guard to get people where they need to go. stay with us. we will be right back after this.

>> sarah caldwell joins us and she is on 95 but she is not driving. your a passenger in a vehicle but how was your drive? >> it has been pretty treacherous as everybody has been saying. normally, when i covered this kind of thing and i do traffic reports, i said that the major roadways are passable. the side roads are usually in terrible shape. in this case, the major roads are terrible, as well. we are on 95. it has been plowed and they are making progress but the problem is there is so much snow. it is getting piled up on the sides. people trying to exit are getting stuck in those huge piles of snow that amount to maybe 3 feet or more. almost every exit ramp we have passed, we see disabled vehicles and people trying to get off the ramp.

stay off the roads. it is not the time to travel. i am traveling in a four-wheel- drive vehicle and even we are having difficulty sometimes. we saw a fire engine that was stopped. that is terrible. disabled vehicles are blocking a lot of exit ramp this morning. >> go ahead. >> i would imagine that that is the strategy that they have to get 95 plowed and than they have to worry about the exits. >> that is the way it goes on and people have to be mindful of that. >> right, it takes time and with this amount of snow, for the road crews not to have been clear roads to be able to clear off the exit ramps and have to deal with these other vehicles that are out here trying to travel, it will take that much longer. in a more people who can wait to get out on the roads and not make that early morning trade

trip, the better. let the road crews do with a need to do. these ramps especially are terrible. >> hearing that to see a fire truck stop there, that is a disturbing image part o. we have 95 north of 195 and it illustrates exactly what you were saying. what else are you seeing in terms of people who are out there? you are trying to get to work but what else are you seeing? >> we are seeing a lot of four- wheel-drive vehicles but every now and then, we see a smaller sedan pass by. we are always struck by the fact that these people are even out there. obviously, there are people that have to work like us and others that work for hospitals or various emergency crews. there are some vehicles out there that should not even be on the road. we stopped by a couple of grocery stores to see if we

could see anybody. nobody is there. people at least to their shopping yesterday and that -- that's why it was so crazy and the local grocery stores. if you can stay inside and enjoy your gross risk, that is a much better bet today. >> be careful out there. the images that we have of the highway, they are all because you have these different colors. they're very dramatic images. >> we'll talk about how they are tackling these highways. >> stay with us as our live coverage of the winter storm continues.

>> meteorologist john collins is tracking the storm and he has more. >> it should stop sometime this afternoon or this evening. del marva will probably be the last to see this note. >> it is phenomenal. we felt protected and comfortable this morning. >> you should see the groups in the steering wheel. we had one rough spot trying to come in. we had to back up and headed a couple of times.

>> that is when we push. >> know, we did in the parade >> i was calm. it is a day you don't want to go out because you might get one block away from home and run into a situation where you will stay one block from home. tom just got in from outside. you see all the scenes of people trudging through the snow. he was not barefoot. he was wearing boots. 22 inches of snow is what we have here. elkridge takes the prize at 30 inches. that is a report that came from the national weather service so it has credibility. you folks in howard county, you win the prize so far. here is the storm that we say on doppler radar right now. we will go to the main computer

and a second. men and first, let's take a look at the storm and we are kind of in the middle of the snow right now. the storm is beginning to show signs of wanting to shift to the ocean but it will take awhile. the snow which is all the way back into west virginia, ohio, and eastern kentucky. for the rest of the day to day, we are involved in snow. heavy this morning and by 2:00 this afternoon, light to moderate snow trending toward ledger amounts and then by 6:00 in the evening, i don't have any snowflakes in there but the del marva peninsula may still have more. in the city, the snow should just about be over. elkridge is already at 30 inches so couple of places will be and 20 inches-30 inches. load 20 degrees by this afternoon and winds are up to around 20. it will feel more like the teens throughout the day to day.

sandra shaw is out in canton. she has a shovel in hand and a microphone. she is like a one-person " american gothic." . >> we have had issues with equipment getting wet because the snow has not let up. we have been watching the snowplow hard at work. that is the only action we have seen around here take a look at how big the snowdrift are. they pile up really high. there is no letup in the snow whatsoever. we saw a lead up with the thunder snow this morning that we saw from 3:30 until 5:00 this morning. the winds every so often will gust and it is the kind of wind that bites 3. here is another snowplow that is going into dress and this guy has been hard work for the last

hour or so. you wonder if it is futile as the snow starts to come down. you cannot get a round on the roadways. boston street was not a problem with a last snow but that is a different case today. there is a layer of snow even on the mainla lanes. there are a lot of stalled cars around. the people who were brave enough to get out, we have seen a few people with shovels trying to dig their car out. there is street parking in canton. people left their cars out overnight and they will find them very. it will be hard labor to even find their car and get it un buried. i am not sure if the safeway is open but it looks pretty vacant right now. it is kind of a ghost town and nothing but a lot of snow.

it is difficult to walk through this stuff. you lose your breath. it is a hard workout. there is also a lot of hanging snow on buildings. it is also on the canopy's above us. that's the will fall down. we cleared it off with our shovel. we did not want to fall on our flights. -- on our lights. in contrast, the trees are absolutely magical-looking. they are pretty and it is a snake -- scenic snowy landscape. i took some pictures that i will put on the computer later. it is not fun to be out here in it. it is bitterly cold and hard to walk around and you really don't know what you are walking on. no telling what i am standing on now. i don't know this is landscaping or the sidewalk. we'll try to dig some people

out and talk to some people. canton usually does at this hour and there is nothing going on now. people are carbonated and i take that as a good idea. -- people are hibernating and that is a good idea. >> let's go over to state highway administration. >> people get upset when they do not see any snowplows. they are out there and the state has every single piece of equipment and contractors doing the job. state officials say it takes one-two hours to plow a single lane and plow trains take even longer. we spoke in the last hour with the hs administratora and so far no interstates have been closed for in-state officials are issuing the following morning. this will give you another idea of how it is out there. the warning says "wrists are advised not to drive, only in the cases of extreme emergency." hsa crews are deployed with

every single piece of equipment. their goal is to keep at least one line on the interstate opened and so far, they have met that challenge. they further state not to attempt to travel and allow plowed drivers 2 -- the space to do their jobs. when the snow plow comes upon a disabled vehicle and there are plenty of them out there, but plows have to either stop or moss likely go around them are that gums up the works. to give you a sense of how many incidents there are out there, we will not read them but i have my computer screen a list of all the incidents state-wide prettify read them it would probably take all day to go through them. look at all that. these are all minor incidents, disabled vehicles, cars skidding stock, tractor-trailers' getting stuck, people not be able to navigate the highways. the off ramps have a lot of snow on them. if you don't have to go outside,

don't. >> maybe you can find out -- we spoke to sarah caldwell who is making her way in on 95. she said they are doing the work on 95 and you can see where they have gotten through. however, is the exit ramps that continue to have snow piled up. she saw a fire truck that stalled out there and people get stuck -- getting stuck on the exit ramps. will they go back to do the exits after they do the main interstate? >> that is a very good question. i will pose that to the fha administrator. he told us that the goal is to keep at least one lane of the interstate (until they feel confident that goal has been met, they will hit the on and off ramps. i did see snowplows going up and

down the on and off ramps but the snow is still coming down in a ferocious manner. it is tough to keep up with it. i will get further clarification and hopefully within the next hour, we will tell you. >> everybody has a different word for the storm. his was ferocious. >> what was the other word? >> i don't know. >> we had thunder snow in some point. stay with us, our live coverage of the winter storm continues.

and so we started having these pizza parties on friday night. i learned how to make pizza dough. and we'd have friends come to our house. we know saving money is important. shop with your giant card and you can enjoy thousands of weekly specials and real deal savings, like clementines, now $4.88 per box, and starkist solid white tuna, 10 for $10. this week only. when i look at my receipt and it says, "you saved $26," that works for me. only with your giant card. >> double-team insta-weather +.

>> we take a look at the warnings and watches. we have a winter storm warning covering our entire area. that is the purple you see. in that area, you have a blizzard warning.

we headwind to the factor, blowing snow, winds gusting in the 30's and 40's and that covers the shore areas of new jersey and delaware and also the eastern shore. the western shore of the chesapeake bay, anne arundel county, montgomery county southport, even the district of columbia is involved. much know have we had so far? elkridge takes the prize at 30 inches. 20 inches at ellicott city. a lot of thunder and lightning early this morning was concentrating in eastern howard county. that may explain why the tolls are so high. 18 inches officially at the airport. 22 inches here on tv hill.

as starkly-speaking, february of 2003, 28.2 inches. 1922 and 1983 were the number two and three and back in december comes in at number 7 perry will bypass that. probably the number 3. we are vying for number 2 or number 1 here on digges nose. let's look at the radar. we're still in the middle of it. the indication is that there might be some already in and out around ocean city and toward virginia beach at this point. when you get up into central and northern maryland, it is just a lot of snow. it keeps falling. we have about 1.5 inches per hour here on tv hill. let's look at the current conditions outside now. there is our view of 695 at

harbor road. it is very like everything else 29 at the inner harbor. 95% showing a fall in tennessee and winds are from the northeast. -- 95% barometer showing a tendency to fall. generally, from the city northwestward into the 20's. you get into the 30's when you move things further south. we have gale warnings along the coast for the winds are coming off the ocean. we have gusts up to 33.

that makes the temperatures feel like the teens right now across much of the area. the storm itself, one storm's center off the atlantic and another one back in kentucky. this whole thing has to movies. it is being slowed up -- this whole thing has to move out of here. it will take awhile for this to move on through. watch the time line on our future cast and you can see that in to this afternoon, we still have an issue of snow until 6:00 or 7:00 when it finally ends in baltimore and around 9:00 or 10:00 when it pulls away from ocean city. on sunday, we are in the clear. we are getting up near 30 inches. our forecast for today gives as a storm total of 20 inches-30 inches per indications are that a few folks might get beyond 30. wind gusts are up to 35 and 28 in-34 the high temperatures

today and temperatures will fall off this afternoon. tomorrow and monday, sunshine, temperatures up near 30 but the morning lows will be down in the teens. by tuesday into wednesday, another storm. it will not be as big. it looks like it will be a snow maker with several inches of snow. there might be some snow flurries or snow showers by thursday. let's go live outside to rob roblion outside. >> this is the way to deal with the winter storm. you get a lawn chair and sat in the snow and watched the storm. you can see how deep it is pretty snow is up to the lawn chair and it is supposedly sitting on the ground, probably on a couple of inches of snow. just relax and lay back and watch it. the winds are starting to pick up. it is not windy now but these winds will gust of and it is

chilly out here. it is amazing to watch this stuff because it has been steady since last night, early this morning, all morning. the wind is picking up a little bit here. the snow steadily coming down and has not eased up one that whatsoever. it is beautiful to look at. everybody has their name for the started. i like to call it wonderfully wicked winter weather. >> i like that. that is hard to separate >> if i can say, anybody can say it. >> lisa was saying that the lawn chair you are on will soon evolve into a marker of territory for a >> that's right. >> let the chair folies begin. >> it will only be in baltimore, hon.

people are breaking out chairs and cones. when they start digging out the cars, that is a lot of digging. you do not want to lose your space. it will be a lot of work but the codes will be out. >> before you dig out, you have to find your car. >> the first thing to do is find it. >> more snow coverage is coming up next.

>> let's check in with baltimore county fire and rescue. >> how are you? >> we are good. thank you for joining us this morning. we want to ask you how your emergency vehicles are going to need to get where they are going. we had sarah caldwell tell us

earlier on i-295 that she saw a fire truck that was stopped. how are they getting ready to go? >> that has been perhaps the biggest problem we faced through the night. there are fire and police units that are having difficulty getting through the snow and getting to calls. we have asked from held for the tional guard. we have 13 humvees and another 10 on the way. those vehicles are better equipped to get through the snow. they are actually helping the police get to police calls with the emergency medical vehicles. sometimes the medical unit will get as far as it can and the humvee will help out and get the patient back to the medical unit. this is an area of concern that we're working on actively.

we have asked for more help from the national guard. we have had no serious problems as far as the affect on our patients and their citizens as a result of this. obviously, it is a priority to make sure that we can get to those people when they needed. >> are you seeing any differences in terms of what the needs are throughout the county? geographically, baltimore county goes very far north. what kind of different needs are you seeing throughout the county? >> this is such a big storm that this is one where i am not really aware of any major differences. sometimes, we do have storms were one area is relatively unaffected and others very affected. that is not really the case. our preliminary coverage shows preliminarydundalk had the most snow. whether that holds up or not

remains to be seen. we are not seeing the kind of geographical differences that you are alluding to that we have seen with other storms. we are concerned about coastal flooding issues but i have not heard anything about that yet. the other concerns we are seeing that are ubiquitous -- it has become clear that people have to get some place. the homeless shelters on the west and east sides of the county -- there is one franklin square road and there is another one over in catonsville and those are filled to overflowing. we have residents that have been looking for a place to go to get out of the storm. we are told that those shelters are not turning anyone away. if you do need a place to go, those shelters are available to you. we are not really seeing

widespread geographic differences. >> are you making plans to open other shelters? those wines are full but as more people may experience problems with power and other issues, other plans to open others? >> not at this time. if we do that, we will make you aware of that immediately. what we typically find in storms like this is that people want to stay home. people who do have a home of a place to stay, want to stay there. we have to give them the option to open these places and that is something we will discuss throughout the day if there are more widespread power outages. have been outages throughout the night but b g e has been able to get them back on. right now, we have about a thousand people without power but there has not been any thing in a specific area that will impact of for a long period

of time. >> we ask the mayor this as well -- people need serious health should call 911 and of people have questions about road clearing and general questions about how they are to get from a to b, who should they call in baltimore county? >>911 we like to keep open courtroom urgency's period for questions about road clearing, the department of public works in baltimore county does have a line that is open and staffed 24-7. 410-887-4560. you don't need to call to schedule your road to be plowed. we have a schedule for doing that. obviously, we are encouraging people to understand that this

is an enormous storm and it will take awhile to dig out of this. road crews have been plowing all night and they will continue to do that for the duration of the storm. it will take awhile for some people to get out of this once this snow stops. >> thank you so much. good luck. >> right now, baltimore city, no parking, a snow emergency situation. cars left there will be towed. the mayor ordered the suspension and the new bus service is not going through today. >> if you live on federal hill, you can park your car in city- and parking garages for free. you can part in any one of these

graaff applications on your screen on a first-come, first- served basis. >> people should have done that already, for sure. who knows? >> someone will wake up and need to do it keep it here. . [house] wow! i feel like a new house

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coming hard and fast as the blizzard battles -- batters maryland and the mid-atlantic region. >> hello and welcome to 11 this saturday morning. >> i am lisa robinson. the snow and lots of it is the big story this morning. we have a number of reporters braving the elements this

morning. right now, we go to tom tasselmyer. >> there are a lot of power outages. if it makes it tough. we sit here happy to see the snow. it is serious stuff. you have to remember that it is really straining some thought three we will get through agree that looks like this time tomorrow, it will be just digging out the sun will come out for super bowl sunday. it will take a while because the main part of it is now moving off the virginia coast and the second part still has to come through. a lot of snow is still on the map, covering the entire mid- atlantic region. it will take awhile for all that snow to work its way through our region. we are still dealing with a pretty extensive storm system

that is still capable of producing several more inches of snow. it is heavy in western virginia and eastern ohio and crosses the mountains and there has been some moisture mixed into the area. even the areas that had raged earlier have gone back over -- even the areas that had raid earlier have gone back over to snow. the wins will continue to gust and snowfall totals have pushed up to around 22 inches. elkridge is the exception at 30 but we did an analysis and they were under a lot of thunder overnight. there was a line of thunderstorms from eastern howard county up to baltimore city and elkridge was getting three or 4 inches of snow per hour. when you start to talk about snowfall totals going over 20, we start to trends and rackers.

what is the seasonal snowfall total. we have had 53.6 inches of snow so far at the airport and the all-time snowiest season was 62.5 inches back in 1995-1996. if we are not done yet and we may threaten that. the snow is still coming down and we will let centre take it away. >> we are watching the snow continued to fall and the winds continue to gusting canton. i made a run across the street and went down to the water and the water looks so ominous. all you see are these huge is no dress. -- huge snow drifts. ski goggles, snowboard pants is the right idea. i could take a lesson from you. i am freezing. why did you venture out this

morning? >> i went to get some money from the atm machine. >> i will probably hang out with my friends and take it easy at the bars. >> the super bowl is tomorrow. i guess they are enjoying this in miami. did you say you're going for wheeling? >> yes, it took me awhile to dig out today. i live across the street. >> i went over to where you live and all the cars are buried over there. describe this for people. >> i woke up this morning and my garage was piled up with a five- foot snow drifts. >> i was shocked when i walked across the street. we are continuing to monitor things.

back to you. >> thank you. >> people will gravitate toward cassandra. they will come out in a blizzard. >> we talked about the gravity of the storm and at this hour, the numbers keep piling up. there are more than 32,000 power outages mostly in baltimore and anne arundel county. >> baltimore city has more than 4000. pfas for howard county, they hae more than 4000 outages, as well. >>rob gold and d d is joining us. >> we are out there and this is exactly what i anticipated. i do not have my power either. we have restored some 27,000 what customers already. if you think about the type of storm we are up against, that is

pretty good that our guys have been out in this and have restore that many. we have 33,000 out now. we are trying to get to the areas that are impacted most for public safety. and then we will attack the areas that we could get the most customers back as quickly as possible. we will have very wet and heavy snow and it is laid on top of trees. as the winds kick up, the tree is actually come over and that is where we are losing customers. the most important thing i can say now is that if a customer loses power, they need to call us and let us know. 877-788-2222, we is the number to call. we may not know your power is out. >> what exactly do you mean by

areas of public safety? >> that is a good question. for example, the baltimore county 911 splash center last night lost power grid that is a place where we will go and restore power as quickly as possible because that has an impact on public safety. we're talking about water treatment stations, sewage, that type of thing. if we do not have those kind of outages, we worked the feesers where you have large blocks of customers for it is returned to -- is referred to as a feeder. we go after those of peter's to bring the maximum amount of customers back again as quickly as possible. if we have a situation where we have a feeder of 600 customers it makes sense that we will bring that one piece of equipment bacchants we can get those customers back. >> a little more detail on this 911 center.

what time did that happen and how long were they out? >> i am not sure of the specifics. we were able to get them back on. the most important thing to understand is that there is a very well orchestrated approach to these types of storms. we train regularly for the expanded role for these types of storms. we are working closely with mema. we are in constant contact perry when a situation occurs where there is an outage, where there is public safety involvement or if there is a situation where we need to know there is an area of critical importance, we attacked those areas it is a good system set up for that. we have about 850 employees that are either out of the storm or working on the administrative side and we have about 300 utility employees coming from as far west as ohio, tennessee, and kentucky today.

we expect them to have -- to be on our system sometime this afternoon. this will be a very extended situation. people need to be understanding of it. they need to make their plans accordingly if they have lost power. >> thank you. we'll check back with you later. >> even he lost power. governor o'malley has declared a state of emergency. that happened yesterday which gives the state flexibility to call in the national guard and its resources. >> david collins is that the highway operations center in hanover. >> let's continue with bge. it is amazing that 33,000 people are without power and 20,000 of those have been restored. this is a major at the start an bge is doing a pretty interesting job on staying on top of it. we asked the governor yesterday

if there is a contingency plan in case the power outages or prolonged. he said there is a contingency plan to coordinate efforts with local governments to open up schools, if necessary, to provide massive shelters. so far, that has not been the case. we will ask him today because he is having a press conference at 10:00 this morning. we may ask and for an update on that situation. let me get back to your homework assignment that you gave me. it is an important question especially for people who happen to be outside. the state power wants to emphasize that unless you have to go out, do not, unless it is an emergency. why are on and off ramps the problem? i talk -- i talked to sha about that. the priority is to keep at least one lane of the interstate open. to achieve that, snowplows are pushing this note to the right. in some cases, onto the ramps. sha administrator neil peterson

says that when the opportunity presents itself, but snowplows punched through. once they clear one lane of the interstate and the signal is given that they're on top of this, then they will go back to the on and off exit ramp spurtes. things may be different now but there were a lot of disabled vehicles earlier on the on and off regs -- exit ramps. they will get to them, says sha. >> you get an "a" on your homework. >> that is a good reason not to get on the road because you cannot get off. >> stay with us for live coverage.

>> let's check in with sarah caldwell live on the phone. >> we are still in harford county inbel air. we have found more disabled vehicles. that has been the theme this morning. we have likely not come across any accidents yet. there are not a lot of folks out along 24 him harford county and it is down to one lane. snowplows are starting to make a dent along 95 here. those exit ramps are still a major problem. >> so you are making your way around and the people you do encounter, who is out there? >> we encountered one guide who was doing maintenance work on his way to work resaw couple of people who were trying to get home from overnight that had been driving all night.

most of the people we see your are basically discouraging anyone, based on their experience, from getting out there. it is that bad. the snowplow operators we have talked to say it is the people out there that are making their job difficult because. of the amount of snow that is coming down, they cannot make a dent if people are out there driving and getting stuck. that is not helping them. they need to be able to have the freedom to take care of the road trip that will make everybody else's life easier down the road. >> david was reported earlier that potentially their plan is to work on making the highway one lane only and that the ramps are not at all i priority at this point. david describes that at some point they would transition to punching through to make those ramps more accessible.

how're you traversing this? how are you guys getting on and off the highway? >> that is a good question. we basically have to wait to the last minute where we see there might be one pathway may permit car. it looks like you cannot get off but then you come across a pathway that has been made. that is the only way we are getting off. they obviously have not been plowed, many of them, and that is what people are getting stuck the way they are. at least main roads, they are making a dent but it will take a long time to get to those exit ramps. >again, stay off the roads, people. it is not a good idea. also, i should never have worn makeup in the snow. that is another thing. >> stay home because as you were driving around, nothing is open, right? >> nothing is (gas stations are

open. here are plowing out maryland house in harford county but there were no patrons there. at around 7:30, they're starting to open things up there. maryland house a service center that people go to 24 hours. people are just starting to get started on the process of shelling in and plowing and the snow plows have been out throughout the night. with the amount of snow, i have not seen anything like this and a long time. >> it will really take a while to clear out. be careful and get rid of that make up. >> forget it. be careful out there, folks. >> stay with us, our live coverage of the winter storm continues. .

>> we are taking a look at a tractor-trailer that is stuck in montgomery county where they have a mere 24-inches of snow on the ground. he is trying to get out. i tried that rolling back and forth a thing. he or she feels they need to go somewhere. >> did you go anywhere when you did that? >> no, that is why i don't drive in this. stay off the road.

>> we have more snow covers coming up. let's go outside to rob robli n. >> guess what? it is still snowing. aren't you glad i am here to tell you that. it is still coming down. this is really an amazing snowstorm. i have never seen one like this. when you walk in an area that has been plowed, there is no major problem. you can see how deep the snow is. sometime ago, norris and i made a little hole here. look at how deep it is. you have lots of snow going on. you talked about the trees. look at the trees behind me. you can see the limbs are falling down. none of them here are broken but this is a major problem when you have situations like this in a snowfall, in many cases tree

limbs will fall and break and fallen power lines. one of the main reasons why a lot of power outages are occurring as we heard from bge earlier, that is basically the situation when it comes to the trees. they are covered. this snow will continue. it is a steady snow. it has been consistent with this way all morning. i don't know, it looks like it will snow forever. i don't think so but it is still coming down and getting colder as the day goes on. >> thank you. stay with us, we have more snow- covered when we come back.

>> a pair of giant pandas born in the u.s. have started to settle into their new home in china. workers welcomed the two pandas after their flight from washington, d.c. the two pandas landed in china and millions of people fell in love with tai shan who was born in washington. they watched them grow up on my beon line. >> speaking of animals, how did you get in here? >> it is challenging. no one should be on the road. it is a disaster. >> where are you coming from? >> i came from baltimore county. i took the snow merge its

arrau's because i figured they would be the cleanest. -- i took the snow emergency routes because i figured they would be the cleanest. there is a snow plow the stock. >> what were you driving? you have a tank that to drive in this weather. >> i have an old toyota truck. i took a different tank that happened -- we work for a 24- hour shock trauma for animals. we have the right towers and shovels -- tires and shells in the corporate >> you brought some things you want to share. before we get to this, walk us through how we walked our animals and this weather? >> i took my dog out to go about from this morning and took one step and the dog turned around and beat in the house. -- and peed in the house.

you have to shovel a little area for these dogs. some of them will have fun but it is over their head spread at my house, we are giving them a snow report. fresh snow is tread -- fresh snow is shredding the powder. shreddingthe pow-pow. these are heated gloves. they have these things now and they are heated gloves. they will keep their hands warm for up to 24-hours. they have a tiny battery and they have used them and they work. they come in middens or gloves

and you have to go on line and look them up for it you will find them. . this is a hood that we use in cockpits that pilots use if you smell smoke. it will get you through 30- minutes of a smoke-filled environment. not only should you have a smoke detector, put this under your bed and you could get your kids and dogs out and everybody is sacred their $50 or $60 and the last seven years. you have to go online. this is a lifesaver and i have these in my house. >> you are passionate about this. >> shredding the pow-pow. people know about this.

>> i will say this every day now. >> that is when you have powder. it will be is tomorrow. >> we'll be right back. >> stay with us.

quacks' john collins and you have been adding up the totals, what do we have? >> the snow has been falling at roughly 1.5 inches per hour.

it has slacked off a little bit but they are still getting heavy snow reports from dulles airport and the national airport in d.c. we are not done by any stretch. elkridge has on officially measured 30 inches of snow. that comes from the national weather service. we are still sticking with their 20-30 inch forecast. a couple of places might go beyond that. you can dispute some of the tub -- snow totals, perhaps, but there is a lot of snow. we are not anywhere close to done with this for the stock -- part of the storm is beginning to pull out to sea. it stopped doing stuff in north carolina but in virginia, the snow gave up earlier this morning but is re-developing. all of that has to movies to and go out to sea before it is done.

>> when will it end? >> this evening. this afternoon, it will start to taper off. by 5:00-7:00, west of the bay should stop. east of the bay, that will probably take three or four more hours. in the process of pulling away, it will wind down. we still have several more inches to go before it is finished for it we're already up to our necks. >> to have gone to bed last night, and you wake up to this, just hold on. thank you. joining us now on the phone to speak about the green home initiative? >> we run a green and healthy home initiative in one thing that relates and we have been

reminding people about is we have a stock of older housing that depends on old gas heaters and water heaters that may event outside. we have to make sure that people clear those eventvents and do no clear them by 3 feet. the problem if you don't do it is that people can lose their he but more importantly, the gases can back up in the house and called carbon monoxide poisoning. that is not a story on a beautiful day that we want to cover. we want to remind people to keep the vents open and please don't use your gas stoves as heat. it can excess for asthma and can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. >> let's assume that everybody knows what you're talking about.

some of these homes are rental homes and people may not be familiar with what you're talking about. what do you advise? >> hopefully, they can of all -- they can get ahold of the rental property owner and they can instruct them where there is a water heater or a gas furnace. hopefully, in places where you have your gas stoves, you have vents that vents outside. if that is the case, you want to go in the rooms where those appliances are and look for vents that may go outside and if those vents are on ground level and maybe a little bit below ground level like basement windows and make sure you keep them clear. we want to keep people safe. if people get the urge to turn

on their gas stoves as heat, that can be especially dangerous to do. we're asking people to be very mindful. the snow will cause the gases to back up in the house. we want to keep people safe. >> that is a reality check when we have this much snow. >> it is a beautiful day and should be enjoyed fairly gray want to make sure that people remember to take care of themselves. >> thank you so much for that. she brought up something else -- the fire hydrants have got to be covered. if you know where they are, you should clear them out. there is so much to keep in mind stay with us, our live coverage continues.

>> the u.s. postal service, the delivery. they are reminding customers to clear a path to their mailboxes. >> what happened? >> i think they are leaning toward the no-saturday delivery. snail mail has been brought to a standstill. >> speaking of standing up, sandra in canton? >> hello again parted it is still snowing in canton and i think it has picked up a little bit. the big snowflakes are falling. i am trying to find people out and about a o. >> i came here to look for toilet

paper. >> that is a joke? >> absolutely. we're looking for coffee. there's not much open. >> it is bad when starbucks is not open and safe was open in the last storm but this has far surpassed that. >> we got at least 24 inches. i am hoping we would get another 10 or 50 grade that would be awesome. >> why not just make it more? let's talk about the snowdrops because you probably walked through a few of them. >> we are doing a combination of walking and driving. the main roads are horrible. the jets are very high especially where the plows are going. -- the drafts are very high especially where the plows are going. >> what are your impressions of this so far? >> it is also very we take a lot of pictures. we are enjoying it. we have a jeep. i don't think any other vehicle broke should probably be out. >> they are stalled out on

ballston street, for sure. i saw another group of guys walking down to jimmy's in fells point. other than that, things are closed. the winds are picking up. there is no sign of any easing. that is the situation from canton. some of the big the snow drifts are very impressive. they are lining the streets. even in the places they have plowed it in the parking lot, there is a layer of ice underneath. it is very slippery. the ice has had a good time to settle and become pawns -- become compact. we have already seen 36.5 inches of snow this year. normally, we get 18 inches of snow in baltimore. we are rocking and rolling this

year. that is the situation here. things are quiet and that is a good thing because this is not a day to be out and about. let's get more information from date. >> things are not quite here and they should not be. we are at the sha operations center and the phones are ringing off the hook. people are on top of whatever problems come up. none of the interstates have been closed yet. however, we're looking at i-95 south of maryland, route 100. you can see the traffic is that a crawl if not a standstill. it looks like the eastbound lane is moving a little better than the west bound for the southbound lane. i don't know what the problem is that the moment. it is pretty bad out there. the pictures speak for themselves. the priority for sha continued to be keeping at least one leg of the interstate opened.

snowplows are pushing snow to the right, as we have reported, and that causes pileups around the rams and occasionally crews punched through the ramps. some drivers tried to punch through as well. highway crews will get to them once they feel they are on top of the interstate. state crews will be getting to ramps and when a pile comes across a disabled vehicle, it has to slow down and go around it. that is why the sha keeps saying not to go out unless you have to. keep your space from the plough and let them get the job done. the state highway is traffic alert is alarming. it indicates that every piece of equipment is being used right now. that totals some 2300. a state highway advisory they put out earlier this morning says do not even attempt to travel and would only in an extreme emergency the state

budget fort snow at the beginning of this year, this fiscal year because it started in december with a big snowstorm, the state budget is $60 million for snow. the state has already spent $50 million of that. there is like $10 million left over. they expect this snowstorm to cause 20 -- to cost $27 million or more there might be some federal funds we could tap into and we will ask the governor about that for the federal government has changed its guidelines to qualify. as of december 1, states who want to qualify for snow disaster relief have to have at least 28 inches or more. i heard john collins of talk about some areas that are experiencing a 30 inches. we will have to ask the governor if one area would make the entire state qualify for this aid. stay tuned. >> i wonder how that works out.

is it all states have to have 28 inches? is it the mid-atlantic states? that is an interesting that the equation. >> our snow covers continues next. >> here's a look at last night's winning lottery numbers.

>> let's take a look of a couple of the snow totals out there. this map is about one hour old.

some snow has fallen since these numbers came out. the airport isn't8 inches. -- is 18 inches. 22 inches at tv hill and elkridge, 30 inches. seasonal snow totals so far this year for this season, december, 23.2 inches, 7.5 in january, february, 22.9. we had nine additional today at the airport, unofficially. we are roughly over 53 inches and counting. the seasonal record is just over 62 inches back in the 1995- 1996 season. we are beginning to push the record envelope on several different levels here. big storms, stormy weather over the atlantic and we put the barometric pressure, 28-26.

another blow is trailing behind the storm in kentucky and tennessee. that couplet of blows over the eastern seaboard, that is what we're waiting for to move through the area. take a look at the radar. around those two gloves, lots of snow and a little rain in southeast virginia and the virginia capes right now. most now is a cumulative with moderate to heavy snow around the baltimore area. we will tell you more about what we expect for the total. it is pushing 30 inches coming up in a few minutes. >> it is a -- exhilarating sport. ski jumping has been part of the

winter olympic games since 1924. experts say anyone can learn with time, energy, and courage. let's take a look. >> i am on top of the 30-meter jump. two local experts will teach me how to go from way up here all the way down there in one piece. first of, the gear. an eighth grader shows me the ropes. >> goggles, >> this is full body-spandex? >> how tight to do you make it? have you ever taken a nasty spill? >> a few times. it saved me a few times. >> all right. let's do this. i am ready to go. good weather conditions? >> yes. >> start and finish with the legs. >> a former olympian teaches me

the proper form. >> locked the ankle of into that. >> the scary thing is once you go, you cannot stop. ok. i'm just doing it. i am just doing it. ok, down, down, okay go. oh my gosh. talk about a rush. after a few tries on a smaller jump, i am going out. i headed up to the looming 30- meter jump. >> you bend over and get your hand on the rail and walk up. >> it is a little awkward. >> you lean forward and stand up. >> but stay in that position? >> yes and bring it down and go right in. >> set and i will do it. i'm talking forward.

i am talking for reported all my god, oh my god. that was a little scarier. as the sunset after three hours of training, i prepared to make my final attempt. >> you ready? half of the 30. >> un of the 30 meter the first dead. that is impressive. >> i did it. >> given my fear of an untimely death, that will never, ever happen. balding may. the vancouver 2010 olympics begins next friday, february 12. you can get a jumpstart, get it, on the freshie pow-pow on

our website. it is all of our website, wbaltv.com, click on sports. >> i have a fear of an untimely death. >> stay with us for more snow cover is.

i trust unisom. i fall asleep fast and have a full night of restful sleep. morning class. unisom. good night. good morning. >> is joining us now on the fun, the mother o'malley. >> how are things looking at

this hour? >> they are miserable. i am 97 right now. if it were not for the occasional roads and, you could not recognize it. things are really bad. mother nature has been coming on for the last few hours. road crews are working as hard as they can. we really need to encourage everyone to stay off the roads for the next 10 hours. in many cases, we only have one in open on major highways. it is open and passable but it is not as if you can see the lane markers, in most cases. we are encouraging people to stay home and look out for one another. look out for the senior citizens and give road crews time to clear the roads. we will be battling this for some time. we have 126,000 people out of electricity across the state. the have the nature of the snow means that there'll probably be more people out of electricity. the only thing that the roads are good for our emergency crews with chains and big tires.

people should stay off the roads. >> governor o'malley, you have to jump on this by declaring a state of emergency early on. has that helped and what are you planning to do for the rest of the day? what is your next assessment? >> one of the things that we or keeping an eye on is the blizzard conditions. that is highly unusual for our state. we have not reached the point that we have to close the road started we have been monitoring it throughout the night and early this morning. we will have a press conference shortly. the emergency declaration in essence allow us to deploy the national guard. we have 200 national guardsmen deployed throughout the state. they have humvees to support the

local county firefighters and paramedics and police so they can still do their emergency runs on the secondary streets which even in normal snowfalls become very impassible and remained so for a couple of days. that is what the emergency declaration does this allows us to apply for federal help in the event the snowfall requires federal assistance. >> quickly before we let you go, that emergency declaration allowed you to get the help of the national guard. is that enough? >> it is enough? no, we don't have enough to deal with 30 inches of snowfall. that is why we have to keep working together.the humvees are

important when they need transportation to the hospitals. our national guard has done very well. no, we don't have -- in a state like ours in the mid-atlantic, you can never have enough snowplows to deal with an historic snow of this magnitude and clear the roads within the hours that many of us might like. we will be digging out of this one for a few days. mother nature is not doing us any favre when you see the temperatures drop. we might have another 6 inches and a couple of days. >> we are looking at live pictures of 95 south of 100 where we are seeing trucks and vehicles just lined up. you have any information about that? >> we have 160 cameras aroun