. you can call it the t calm before the storm. a live look at the first alert radar showing the winter storm headed our way. blizzard conditions along with heavy snow, high winds and coastal flooding are all expected before the weekend is through. >> in pennsylvania, governor tom wolf has declared a state of emergency for the state. philadelphia mayor jim kenney will update the city's response to the winter storm in about an hour. we're waiting to hear when the city will declare a snow emergency. we'll bring you that live. >> reporter: coastal flooding is a big concern at the jersey shore. the winter storm expected to cause major beach erosion and it's going to be a test for

protections built up since superstorm sandy as we take a live look at cape may. people in the lehigh valley are expected to see the least amount after snow from this storm. here's camelback mountain resort. >> and we're getting an update from officials in delaware county. a live look mow from the emergency service operations center in middletown township. officials are telling us about resources available to its residents and businesses during the storm. amtrak is also giving us an update on its preparations. northeast corridor services will operate throughout the weekend but it will be running on a modified schedule. good morning, i'm vai sikahema. >> i'm tracy davidson. we're monitoring those briefings and authorities throughout our area advise you to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. we'll be with you through it all to keep you updated. here's what we know right now. septa will suspend all services hat 4:00 a.m. tomorrow except for the broad street and market/frankford lines. that suspension will last 24

hours. also philadelphia international airport has canceled all flights for tomorrow. that includes both arrivals and departures. >> and we have live team coverage as preparations are under way for this winter storm. let's begin in the studio with nbc 10 first alert chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> glenn, i know you just got new information. break down the timing and totals for us. >> the timing, of course, is going to vary depending on where you are in our area and in southern delaware it could very well start during the afternoon rush. here's the latest since, perhaps, last night when you went to bed. there's now a blizzard warning for parts of the area, the snow starting as early as 4:00 for southern delaware and as late as 11:00 for places like trenton, new jersey. and the forecast snow amounts have been raised. i'll get it to you in just a second. heavy snow expected in order to get a blizzard 35 miles an hour

winds sustained and low visibility for three hours or more in a row. blizzard warning goes through northern delaware, through the philadelphia area and surrounding count iies and the winter storm warning goes all the way down through southern delaware. so every part of our area is in at least the winter storm warning if not a blizzard warning. so the center of the storms in georg georgia, a huge area of snow and punk is ice in north carolina. moving faster than computer models suggested yesterday.

there's snow already in dover and sussex county, delaware. but it gets darker blue, that's heavier snow, so you could get just a few flurries and think it's just light but all of a sudden it comes down harder. so when the snow starts it may get heavy enough to start causing some problems and start to stick. by 11:00, snowing in trenton, snowing hard in central and southern delaware and snowing hardener the other parts of the area. as we go into saturday morning, that may be the peak of the storm for a lot of us and we also could be seeing a little bit of a change to rain down south but look at that snow spreading all the way up to the poconos so we've expanded the area northward of the heavy

snow. by noon that dark blue is heavy snow. it's not just a circular area, it's in bands. that's what we'll be seeing through saturday night and it moves out as we go into sunday morning. so 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. the snow spreads south to north. as we just showed you hour by hour the heaviest snow from 4:00 a.m. to noon with blizzard conditions most likely at that time. from noon to 8:00 p.m. we have mixing or a change to rain. we continue the gusty winds and the snow tapers off saturday night and into sunday morning. here's the other issue is the wind. by midnight we're gusting 30 plus miles an hour at the shore and by tomorrow morning gusts 50 to 60, sometimes this computer model exaggerates the wind a little bit, even exaggerate a little bit. that's a tremendous wind likely

to cause damage. as far as the snowfall totals, 20 inches or more. perhaps a part of newcastle county delaware and down toward washington. lower montgomery, lower bucks county and a little bit of camden/gloucester counties as well and much of salem county. 15 to 20 inches. that would put it probably in our top ten biggest snowstorm. we've also raised the amount as we head toward our town through the rest of bucks county and the montgomery county and part of the lehigh valley. then six to ten inches in northern portions of berks county and northern part of the lehigh valley with two to six inches toward the poconos and we also have a tremendous gradient

here from the 15 to 20 inches in salem county to perhaps a couple inches at the delaware beaches in cape may because of the changeover to rain. now we'll get more specific about who's going to get what and when with the seven day in a few minutes. >> glenn, thanks for that. we want to take you now to delaware county where they are briefing their emergency management plan for the storm so residents know a declaration was signed this morning. >> we're going to patch you in but we've had a little bit of trouble with our shot here so if it starts to freeze we'll jump out. >> what will i need for two or three days if my power goes out? things like batteries, things like water, make sure they have those things. they should use common sense and take a look around your yard and clear things out.

take loose objects away, anything underneath the tree, we could have falling limbs or falling trees. >> amtrak's news conference on the winter storm is under way already. >> amtrak says it anticipates a modified schedule of service to run through the storm. let'ser what they're saying. obviously having some problems but we're monitoring all briefings held by utilities, municipalities, septa, amtrak. we'll put the information on air and our nbc 10 app. >> amtrak is running on a modified schedule, as we mentioned. and flights are canceled tomorrow at philadelphia international airport both coming in and going. >> nbc 10's harry hairston is live at the airport with details. harry? >> reporter: right now we have a very busy airport. people are happy and in a hurry. take a look. you can see the security lines

down the road where people are coming through the regular security lines and to my left and your right there is the tsa pre-check line. that's supposed to move quicker. that one is slow because folks are trying to get out of here. we go to the boards and see that nearly every flight that is leaving today is on time. if it's not on time, it's already boarding and departed. that's good news for folks trying to beat this storm. what will happen come tomorrow? it will be closed at the airport with planes not taking off and planes not allowed to come into philadelphia. here's what airport officials are saying. >> airlines done a great job of getting out in front of the situation and many of them as early as yesterday canceled flights for saturday. so they've been very proactive with this and that's a good thing. >> but once again, for right now

passengers are trying to make their way through security so they can get on their flights and get to their destinations before that gigantic storm that's headed our way socks us. reporting live from philadelphia international airport, harry hairston, nbc 10 news. back to you in the studio. >> harry, thanks. from the airport we go to the jersey shore where the focus is on potentially major coastal flooding. >> matt delucia is live in sea aisle city where he's been down the shore most of the morning. matt, this will be the worst flooding they've seen since hurricane sandy. >> vai and tracy, this is the front page of the newspaper this morning "are you ready"? that is the big question. and folks i've been talking with here at the jersey shore tell me after sandy they don't like to take chances. right now we have calm seas and a lit breeze but likely that won't hold on for long. >> we're stocking up on salt in our supplies, that's all we can do. >> at ventnor coffee, their motto is to keep calm and drink

coffee. but with a nor'easter heading this way, it might take a little more to ease the nerves of this by a front business. >> it's scary because we could have what we had in sandy. >> that's exactly the kind of thing shore residents don't want. public works trucks are busy piling up the sand as residents spend their time taking down screen doors and raising pieces of furniture off the floor. >> i just want to get things lifted off more. >> at mike's seafood in sea aisle city, workers have put in 18 hour days tying everything down and boarding up the doors. >> i won't leave this property for the next 48 hours. i will be on this property. this is my life. mike's seafood is my life. this is how high the water was during hurricane sandy. >> but sandy, he says, might be peanuts compared to this storm because now there's ice involved that could do even more damage. up and down the shoreline it's all about preparing for the worst. >> i was already thinking, i know it's going to be flooding,

i'm thinking if i have to be getting things off the floor, i'll watch closely. >> you have to prepare yourself and people can't take it too lightly anymore. >> the big concern is the high tide starting tomorrow morning and sunday morning. folks keeping their fingers crossed this storm doesn't turn the streets into part of the sea once again. live in sea isle city, matt delucia, nbc 10 news. >> about an hour ago septa announced it will be suspending all service beginning at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. that's all regional rail lines, bus routes and trolleys. officials say that will last 24 hours. they'll keep us updated. however the broad street and market frankford lines will continue to run for essential personnel like hospital workers. >> this is no normal winter storm. strong winds will lead to near

zero visibility and cause trees to fall on overhead power lines along our railroads. >> the timing of when service might resume on sunday morning di pends on several factors like clearing the tracks and they're concerned about treesz kno knoc down overhead wires. we'll keep you updated on nbc 10 and our nbc 10 app. >> today is the day to get your house in order and let the nbc 10 app help you. it features hour by hour radar, we have blogs from our chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz, live cameras from nbc 10 sky cam network, you can see different places throughout the area. you can sign up for weather alerts and notifications of school closings and delays. >> live coverage for the preparations continue just ahead. glenn? >> get ready for blizzard conditions in some parts of the area. i'll let you know when the snow will arrive, when it will get out of here and how much you can expect where you live. that's just ahead.

[ muted ] and so this precipitation is going to last for quite a while. it's going to start as early as 4:00 this afternoon in southern delaware and last until as late as about 8:00 a.m. on sunday. that's a big storm.

more on who get what is coming up. >> thank you, glenn. naturally, drivers are already having trouble driving on the snow down south. here's a live look from nashville, tennessee. we're told cars are spinning out, trying to get by. you can see an official standing with that vest in the middle of the road. this storm is headed to washington, d.c. in just a few hours. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel tells us what's expected there this weekend. >> here in the washington baltimore area, the blizzard kicks in at 3:00 this afternoon, snow should start falling at the capital shortly after lunchtime then it will get heavier and the wind will ramp up later tonight on through saturday, that's the blizzard warning. winds could gust 40 to 45 miles an hour, even higher in the coast. the beaches of maryland, delaware and new jersey will have major issues including beach erosion and moderate to major coastal flooding. federal offices shut down at

noon, city employees go home early, most every school in the area is closed today ahead of the blizzard of 2016. the record snowfall in one storm in washington is 28 inches. probably won't get that officially at reagan national airport but we're looking at 18 to 24 inches. as far as flying out, forget about it, between bwi, reagan national and dulles, 75% to 85% of all flights in and out of those three airports have been canceled on saturday. and more impacts in philly and new york, those cities under blizzard warnings under less snow fall will accumulate in those two cities. i'm mike seidel at the capital in washington, back to you. >> the storm headed our way has dropped snow in north carolina as plows were out early in the city of boone, pushing away a couple of inches of snow that's accumulated on the ground.

well, this is the latest since you went to bed last night. a blizzard watch has been upgraded to a blizzard warning for at least parts of the area, the snow starting earlier at least in southern parts of our area that could affect parts of the afternoon rush. that's mostly the southern half of delaware and perhaps parts of cape may county. and the forecast snow totals raised in some cases significantly. the blizzard warning in this area, dark purple, it goes from new york city all the way down i-95 to baltimore and washington areas and our region it goes from northern delaware through philadelphia and the surrounding counties and up through trenton and the winter storm warning on both sides of that. here's the satellite and radar. you can see there's still snow in mississippi all the way up to

virginia. that's a lot. you can see it moving closer to washington, d.c. there's the leading edge, not quite to washington yes but it's not supposed to get to washington before noon. here's a closer look at what we can get from the timing. we're generally okay, by 4:00 we're starting to get snow in penn county and sussex county in delaware and the darker blue indicating heavier snow so it can get heavy enough to stick pretty quickly. untreated surfaces, it's going to stick. as soon as it started by 5:00 still not into philly but we're getting heavier snow in the southern half of delaware and parts of cumberland county and cape may counties. by 6:00, we're up toward newark, delaware, close to wilmington into vineland, into atlantic

city toward the end of the afternoon rush. by 7:00 we're getting close to philadelphia itself and then it spreads through the rest of the area by midnight it's getting fairly heavy. here's another view, wider view of the snow starting. by 11:00, that's heavy snow in dover and the dark blues indicating heavy snow. saturday morning, there's saturday noon. we could see thundersnow with that kind of intensity and don't be surprised and then it just kind of spins around as we go through saturday night and spins out sunday morning. so it's a long lasting storm. the other feature is unusually strong wind for a storm in this part of the country. saturday morning wind gusts of 41 miles an hour. so if we get that, that would put philadelphia into blizzard categories.

but it's going to be close on the wind. the wind in south jersey and delaware is clearly going to be strong enough for a blizzard and it's so strong it's going to be causing a lot of problems at the shore. here's one model just to give you an idea how much falls, by 11:00 not a whole lot but again it sticks and by 8:00 a.m., nine, ten inches of snow already. 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. 15 to 20 inches total in the philadelphia area. even more in parts of newcastle county toward baltimore we've expanded the area as well, expanded the 10 to 15 inch area as well up toward allentown and reading and toward the shore there will be a lot of mixing so that will limit the snowfall totals down toward the shore. for the rest of the day today, we're seeing snow starting

between 4:00 south and 11:00 north. temperatures getting up close to the freezing mark. there's your winter storm/blizzard on saturday. the first alert out for tonight into sunday morning and most of the day sundayy is windy and clearing and then very cold on monday, some of the snow will melt next week but if we're talking 15b9 to 20 inches of snow, it won't melt very quickly. >> i heard you say once the snow starts falling within the hour, the snow totals will accumulate quickly. >> on untreated surfaces you could be surprised. you could be on the road and just a few flakes and before you know it, maybe before you get home it sticks on the roads and on the driveway and side streets that haven't been treated yet so you want to get home before any of the snowfalls and not just count on the fact that in the

beginning it will be light because sometimes it can catch up to you. >> and it will start between 4:00 and 11:00 tonight depending on where you are. >> quite a difference across the area so amounts will be quite different. >> we're continuing to get new information from briefings going on right now. we'll have live team coverage continuing in just a minute.

the archdiocese of philadelphia issued a message about sunday mass. the office for divine worship says catholics of all ages but especially the elderly are advised to use extreme caution when making decisions about attending mass this weekend. that say an individual is "free to make a prudent decision to remain at home and not venture outside this sunday, especially for their safety and the safety of others." pastors will try to maintain a schedule for those who make it to church. our live coverage of the approaching winter storm continues. we have just been told by glenn that there are higher snow totals to talk about. gl glenn will be back with updated information, timing and totals of the storm ahead. >> and at the jersey shore they're preparing for coastal flooding and major beach erosion as we take a live look at cape may, new jersey, from our camera at the marquis de lafayette. you can see crews are already working to protect the coast

live team coverage continues ahead.

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it's still miles away but the winter storm we've been telling you about all week is headed right in our direction. here's a live look at our radar showing where the system is right now. blizzard conditions with heavy snow, high winds and coastal flooding are all expected before the weekend is through. >> and traffic is moving along fairly well on i-95 in south philadelphia as we take a live look at the girard point bridge but drivers are advised to stay off the roads while rasnow is falling so plows can do their jobs. >> let's begin with glenn "hurricane" schwartz who has been watching this storm closely and is tracking it for us.

glenn, what do you know? >> it's already a huge storm and moving in our direction there's no way it misses, this is not something that will go out to sea or not form at all. it's already there and it's pointed right at us so there is a blizzard warning now. the snow starting a little bit earlier in southern delaware especially before the afternoon rush is over with but it may take it to 11:00 to start in trenton and the forecast amounts raised over much of the area, but not the entire area. the blizzard warning, and the darker purple and that includes the wind and low visibility, blowing snow: that's pretty serious. you do not want to travel in a blizzard, even if you have traveled in heavy snowstorms before. when you add the wind and low visibility, it's really hard to drive. winter storm warning even affecting these southern counties and towards the poconos. there is the low pressure center

itself. when it gets to the coast that's when it will intensify more and start bringing in atlantic moisture. and it's already got plenty of moisture. it's already starting to get into the southern delmarva, and the futurecast shows that it will be getting into central and southern delaware by 4:00 and darker blue indicating some heavier snow. it's accumulating in delaware before 6:00 or 7:00. extreme southern new jersey before 6:00 or 7:00. don't let this sneak up on you. and by midnight it's snowing everywhere, heavier snow to the south. the rain/snow line doesn't get involved until we're talking about storm morning so it's snowing all night throughout the area and that's pretty much all the snow you're going to get in cape may. but there's heavy snow saturday 8:00 a.m. atlantic city with 50, 60 miles an hour winds, maybe

even some thundersnow. it's going to be brutal there, at least for a period of time and then we start getting lighter snow towards saturday night and into sunday morning when it clears quickly. the timeline 4:00 to 11:00 depending on where you are. the snow is starting, the heaviest snow occurs saturday morning and the most likely time for blizzard conditions, saturday morning. some of the mixture coming in the afternoon and then tapering off saturday night. the wind a big factor blowing on shore, it's a nor'easter and some of these predicted winds are just awful and this model tends to overdo the winds but even do do in a 70 mile an hour forecast, 50, 55, that's still pretty bad. 15 to 20 inches of snow predicted from philadelphia through northern delaware, southern chester county much of delaware county and also into

salem, gloucester, camden counties right near the philadelphia area. we'll get in more detail about who's going to get what with the snow with the seven-day in a few minutes. >> travelers may have to revise their plans, all flights at philadelphia international airport are canceled for tomorrow. >> nbc 10 harry harrirston has been talking to travelers trying to get information from them. >> reporter: it's been 25 minutes since i talked to you. look at the clouds now. travelers are packing the security lines. they're all trying to get out. i want to show you what's happening and what's making them hurry and happy at the same time. as we go through the boards here, you can see the philadelphia departures all the flights going through to at least 3:25 p.m. today, they are all scheduled on time, some have departed, others are porting at this moment so folks are trying to get through security and make sure they get this flight

knowing that there's not going to be there tomorrow. i talked to folks from our area and midwest trying to get out. >> not now, i'm going south. >> orlando will treat you right? >> yes, it is. >> i was heading to st. louis and now i wasn't. they canceled my flight and delta rebooked me so i'm heading to detroit and then st. louis but the flight is delayed so we'll see if we have a misconnect or not. >> reporter: what time are you hoping to get to st. louis? >> 7:00 or 8:00. >> reporter: long road ahead of you. >> you bet. i brought plenty of reading material and i can work on the plane. >> reporter: for some folks, a lot of different connections before they can get to their destination but for the most part you look at this crowd, everyone is optimistic, they they will they will get out of here right now at least going to 3:30, all flights are scheduled on time. but as we know, that will not be

the case tomorrow, reporting live from the philadelphia international airport, harry hairston, back to you in the studio. i'm hoping for the airline agents that everyone is that calm as that gentleman. >> guy going to st. louis. attitude makes a big difference in how we get through this. >> true. so gloucester township will have new measures in place for this snowstorm. >> they were implemented following a severe storm this past summer. cydney long is here to tell us about these measures, cydney, what can you tell us? >> reporter: gloucester township police together with emergency managers here say there were two very important lessons they learned during the summer storm on june 23 that will help everyone. the general public stay safe during this weekend's major snowfall. number one that numerous intersections will lose power over the summer. but this weekend especially if we find that heavy wet snow bringing down power lines and weighing heavy on those lines

people could not communicate via cell phone with the a loss of power so they are tackling both in an a unique way. the township has installed transfer switches at 250 busy intersections to get them operational right away. here's how. >> if there is an incident and the traffic light goes out, it allows public works to come to that intersection and to simply plug in a portable generator which will provide electricity for that traffic light. what does that do? >> well, it doesn't require us to man that intersection any long we are to two police officers. it makes for better public safety. it makes it safer for our officers. >> reporter: gloucester township is rolling its portable charging station into neighborhoods that lose power to help riz depths charge their cell phones. they will spread that message via social media as you know.

nbc 10 is also your partner in doing the same. you can check our web site, nbc 10dom com, to find those comcast xfinity locations where you can plug in and power up. the more you can stay in touch with your family, your relatives, the safer you will stay during the storm. live in gloucester township, cydney long, nbc 10 news. >> thank you, useful information. amtrak is making changes ahead of this weekend's snowstorm. here's a live look now at 30th street station. amtrak officials just updated us, acela express, northeast regional and other services will operate with modified schedules and fewer train this is weekend. the same goes for keystone service between harrisburg and new york. amtrak officials say their biggest concern is the high wind and how they will affect the power lines and their ability to recover if something were to happen. that's a concern. they will run extra trains as snowplows work to keep the

tracks clear. and we have the school alerts to send along. the camden city school district will have no schools today. stockton university will have no evening classes tonight and christina school district in newcastle towny will have no after school activities today and the damian o'shea center in salem county is closing at 1:30 this afternoon. also this afternoon st. john of god community services will close at 1:30 in the afternoon. and even though this winter storm will hit during the weekend, make sure you're signed up for nbc 10 school closing alerts. just head over to the web site at nbc10.com or the nbc 10 app, put in your school information and we will send you a text or e-mail as soon as your child's school is delayed or closed. heavy snow, strong winds and coastal flooding. ready or not, it's coming. you know what time the winter storm is going to arrive and what you're likely to see where you live just ahead.

this same storm system coming our way has made a mess of roads in tennessee. gravity and snowy conditions combine to leave drivers standed on the hill in nashville. they're trying to shovel their way out. tow truck drivers had to come give people a hand.

in virginia, this dash cam video was shot in christiansburg, about four hours southwest of washington. the roads are coating with snow. a preview of things to come for us for sure. >> this winter storm has dropped inches of snow in the mid-atlantic states. >> nbc 10's jay gray reports from roanoke, virginia, where the snow keeps coming. >> reporter: the massive winter storm is barrelling down on the east coast and bringing with it heavy snow expected in some areas to top two pete. washington, d.c. is directly in the cross hairs, residents being told to stay inside and ride it out: two feet of snow is a big deal. we're making sure this morning through today residents are ready. >> reporter: more than 1200 miles of winter weather advisories have been issued through the south and new england impacting millions with blizzard warnings stretching from washington through new

york. >> we see this as a major major. it has life around death implications and all the residents of the district of columbia should street it that way. >> reporter: in north carolina and virginia the concern is thick ice bringing down power lines, traveling, treacherous for people driving. >> i trust my legs more than wheels and i only live a mile away so i was like, i'll just walk. >> reporter: thousands of flights have been canceled. the charlotte airport virtually a goat town with no flights in or out. more than 24 hu00 flights have n canceled, a number that, like the snow totals, is expected to grow. jay gray, nbc news, roanoke, virginia. >> nbc 10 will be on facebook and twitter throughout this winter storm. we'll keep you posted with any new information as soon as it comes in. we'll ride the storm out with you.

you can send us your questions. we'll try to get those answers and comments about the storm as well. >> and you can get updates anywhere by using the nbc 10 app. our entire coverage will stream live. you can track the storm. we'll find the latest snow totals for your specific neighborhood. it's a huge storm. it's also not moving real fast. so the combination means it's going to be snowing for a lotho. the snow all the way back to mississippi and the leading edge is getting closer and closer to washington into the southern delmarva as you can see here. moving faster than is expected in the washington area. as you can see, by 4:00 it's snowing in central and southern delaware. kent and sussex county and the darker blue indicates it can start light but only for a brief

period of time. it can accumulate quickly on untreated surfaces especially. as we head toward midnight it's snowing everywhere and some of it is accumulating heavily overnight. by the time you get up in the morning there could be eight or ten inches of snow in parts of the area, we're starting to see perhaps a changeover or a mix down towards the shore areas, that will, of course, determine how much snow you get in this area. that's where the real uncertainty is, i think, and then by tomorrow afternoon it's not quite as heavy, not quite as widespread and then by seasoned morning it's moving out. here's the general map, 15 to 20 inches in the philadelphia area. more in newcastle towny, still some pretty good snow both areas so let's get specific now.

take a look at the map from delaware. northern delaware 15 to 20 inches. central 10 to 15. southern 6-10. again all snow in the northern part. heaviest snow to 11:00 a.m., the strongest winds in southern delaware. in the philadelphia area, 15 to 20 inches. thundersnow, heavy snow 3:00 a.m. to noon, blowing snow, low visibility. here's south jersey. we may have mixture in the purple areas there near little egg harbor and down toward atlantic city. 15 to 20 inches closer to the delaware river. a little less as you get closer to new york city. at the shore, a big dropoff from 10 to 14 inches in hammonton to a couple inches at the shore but the wind will be the strongest there. the greatest uncertainty is there. in delaware county and chester

county isolated amounts of 20 inches in parts of chester. some places seem to get a lot because of the elevation there and the heaviest snow in southern and western chester county and all snow there. all snow, of course, well north and west, the lehigh valley, the fluffy type of snow. the heaviest snow 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and less snow near the puck knows. bucks, montgomery, mercer county all snow. heaviest snow closer to philadelphia and gusty winds. in general the snow starting 4:00 to 11:00 p.m. moving south to north and then tonight the wind increases. by tomorrow morning nobody's going anywhere -- not unless it's an emergency and you can sit home and enjoy the storm coverage all day and sunday

night you can go play in it. because the snow should be over sunday morning. it will be a very cold start. and it will be hard to clean everything up by monday morning and quite a while before all the snow is gone. if you talk about more than a foot of snow you get cold night closing in there. >> so when you said it starts it might look like but intensify quickly. what kind of snow are we talking about. heavy? wet? fluffy? >> at the start of the storm his will be relatively fluffy and in the northern western areas it will be the fluffy type but as you get closer to the shore i s e's the heavier wetter snow and you

get 60 miles an hour wind gusts, that's the area i'm most concerned about. >> bill henley was saying it's good snow for making snowballs and snowmen. >> in some parts of the area, in the lehigh valley, poconos, i don't think it will be good snow for that. >> our continuing coverage for this imminent storm of 2016 will be back after that. we'll get a final check on the forecast as well when we come back. homecoming? it's awesome. but with the citizens bank education refinance loan, it gets even better. you know those people who pay a little extra and get all the legroom in coach? that could be you, if you refinance your student loans. i can refinance, even with 4 loans from undergrad? yes, you could replace your student loans

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here's a live picture from philadelphia city hall where in just a few minutes philadelphia major jim kenney and other emergency management officials will tell us how the city is preparing for the storm. we'll have it live on nbc 10, also on nbc10.com and our nbc 10 app. >> the winter storm is on the way. let's turn back to our chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz with a final look at the weather. >> this is no doubt, obviously, that a major snow tomorrow will be hitting this area. it's just a matter of the details and here are some of the details. 15 to 20 inches now expected in and around the philadelphia area with even more as you get closer to baltimore and you can see that that does include some of

the areas on the new jersey side of delaware river and southern chester county and parts of delaware county. we've upped the snow totals in the rest of bucks and montgomery and parts of berks county and e lehigh valley so it will be a fairly widespread storm. the poconos getting the least along with right at the beaches in new jersey and delaware because they'll get a changeover, it will be raining at times and whatever snow falls tonight might end up melting tomorrow. there. not everywhere else. >> thank you, glenn. be sure to check the nbc 10 app all weekend long. it features the latest forecast hour by hour on live radar. there are blog there is from our chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. we'll have live cameras there, a bank of cameras from our sky cam networks that allow you to see where the snow is falling, where it's coming down the hardest or lightest. you can sign up for weather alerts and notifications about

school closings and delays. >> you can also find without there are charging stations near you. you should probably do that right now. also a programming note, "days of our lives" will be seen on cozi tv starting at noon today in a couple of minutes so we can bring you philadelphia mayor jim kenney's press conference here on nbc 10. you can find cozi tv on comcast channel 248, verizon 460 or over the air on channel 10.2. as soon as our coverage of the mayor's news conference ends, "days of our lives" will switch back to nbc 10. we want to give you that programming note but we want to be able to inform the residents of the city about what they're planning. >> there's -- this may be dangerous and this may hit hard, especially down in the southern parts of -- >> yeah, different parts of the area will get hit differently and we have a lot more things to work with today than we did even five years ago, twitter and facebook and all these other social media things that you're

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at longhorn steak like this doesn't need anything else. which is why we don't just add, anything else. longhorn steaks that sizzle for $12.99. the new smoky bacon sirloin. the new spicy grilled jalapeno sirloin. and the parmesan crusted sirloin. all with hand chopped salad & unlimited bread for $12.99. tonight only at longhorn steakhouse. you cant fake steak. and for lunch try our new steak and bacon cheddar melt. or any steakhouse lunch combo starting at $7.

this is nbc 10 news first alert weather. and right now at noon a live look at the first alert radar. the winter storm that's heading our way is what we're tracking. we're expecting blizzard conditions with heavy snow especially different parts of different places. it will be heavier in some than others. we're expecting high winds, also coastal flooding from the shore areas and all of this expected through the weekend. >> we have everything you need to know. we have you covered. traffic is moving along fine on i-95 in south philadelphia. but drivers are advised to stay off the roads while the snow is falling so the road crews can do their jobs plus could be treacherous. >> i mentioned coastal flooding. that's the big concern down the shore, the shore