was coming today. >> we have the timing, track, and new snow totals. we begin with glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> yes, this is going to end up being in the top ten biggest snowfalls in philadelphia history and maybe even in the top five. because we've raised some of those snow totals. it's already accumulating in cape may county and much of the state of delaware. sticks immediately, especially on untreated surfaces and gets heavy fairly quickly like it did in cape may, covering the roads in a fairly short period of time. you can see we're just loaded up on the radar. the darker blue indicating heavier snow, nothing like what is going to occur later tonight. it is covering cape may county, sussex county, delaware, kent county in delaware, all those places have been snowing for more than an hour. now it's reaching the ground in reading and parts of chester county. that will continue to spread across the philadelphia area within the next hour. the visibility is reduced in reading and pottstown, even a

little bit in quakertown and finally going down in wilmington, a sign the snow has started there. still hasn't started in central new jersey or philadelphia, but to the south it's still snowing well in georgetown, dover, and extreme southern new jersey, as well. this snow having a hard time moving up because of the low level dry air. that's why it's not all reaching the ground, but it will and once it starts it's going to stay. it's going to be a steady snow for hour after hour after hour. then the wind is going to increase. you notice it's all snow throughout the night at the shore. that's going to pile up the snow as the wind increases, too. you only see a changeover toward day break and by then the wind may be blowing close to hurricane force. there's noon on saturday. still areas of heavy snow, so we've got many, many hours of this, we also have the problems with the wind4n1k as you can s

cape may, potential gusts up close to 70 miles an hour and 40 or so in and around the philadelphia area. more on the snow totals coming up in just a minute. >> all right, glenn. as you mentioned the snow started to accumulate about two hours ago in cape may county. >> how much snow are we going to get when it's all said and done? let's go to sheena parveen with that. sheena? >> reporter: and we update snow totals, increase through much of the area and extend larger areas, too, with higher amounts. take a look at the map here, we expect most of the snowfall, the highest sections across the i-95 corridor from wilmington, trenton, including philadelphia, interior new jersey, but here's one spot we're watching, new castle county, salem county, gloucester, camden, philadelphia area, also parts of montgomery county, lower bucks county, chester county, 17 to 23 inches. isolated amounts, that could be higher than that. near the lehigh valley we're looking about 12 to 17 here. that's where you see the blue

coloring. that includes berks county, lancaster county, allentown, but farther north eight to 12 inches and near the poconos four to eight inches there. south jersey we see the higher amount there, 12 to 17 inches in the blue and eight to 12 closer to atlantic city, but along the immediate shore, that's where we expect to see possibly that changeover to rain or rain/snow line moving in, which would drop totals down to four to eight inches. either way for south jersey and delaware, these are the areas we expect the highest potential for heavy, wet snow, along with wind gusts near 60 miles an hour, so power outages are likely. that's going to be combined with the coastal flooding we expect, too, with high tide and full moon and strong onshore wind. blizzard conditions as we go overnight and into tomorrow. coming up, glenn will talk about that and specific snow totals, too, that's straight ahead. >> all right, sheena. the most snow is coming down right now at the jersey shore, sticking on the roads in cape

may. >> aundrea cline-thomas is join ing us live. what's changed in the past 30 minutes? looks windy and the snow is coming down. >> reporter: it is coming down. glenn said it was going to be steady, he was not kidding at all. it has been steady for more than two hours now. the wind is pretty heavy, so it's kind of just snowing sideways, i don't know if you can tell at home. i want to show you the road. cars have been coming up and down, but you really can't even tell that much. you can't even really see the road because it has a pretty good coating of snow. it is sticking around here, and i also want to show you some of the accumulation. it is not that much. again, it is sticking here, not even really an inch. not great snowball weather just yet. i'm sure that will change in just a few hours. let's show you some video we shot a little earlier today. i talked to city leaders a little bit ago and they told me that the snow is really not their biggest concern.

the concern is the high tide and the high winds that are going to cause coastal flooding that will at least meet or exceed the levels of hurricane sandy. that is what folks in this area are the most concerned about. so they have everybody on alert, more fire and rescue crews are working 24 hours just in case. so right now it's a ghost town. most people now have gone home and are waiting to see what happens. live in cape may, aundrea cline-thomas, nbc 10 news. >> and philadelphia is under snow emergency, all vehicles along emergency routes must be moved by 9:00 tonight. that's three hours away. you can park for $5 in garages. nbc 10's lauren mayk joins us live from center city. lauren? >> reporter: good evening, jacqueline. we're on a snow morning route right now, this is market.

folks have done a good job of clearing things out here, as a matter of fact just within the last half hour we saw folks pulling their cars out. look down to the next block, there are still cars parked on this road and they are going to have to be out of here by 9:00 tonight or they could be towed. you certainly do not want that to happen. these roads, these emergency routes are big roads, first ones to be cleared when the snow does come, but the plows, they have to be able to get through here. folks who have lived here for a while, they know what to expect. >> the cops, they come down here with the tow trucks and got the sirens on so you know you got to get up, you know what you got to do. get up, my car's out there, i got to move it. they move it. anybody left behind, they'll put it somewhere, but it will be all clear, guaranteed. >> reporter: they are pretty used to this routine when the snow comes. as you mentioned, $5 lots, seven of them around the city. that rate will last through the

end of the snow emergency. also meters, you don't have to worry about that. you know what, you just cane park here. live in center city, lauren mayk, nbc 10 news. >> got it, lauren, thank you. septa is putting the brakes on buses and trains starting 4:00 a.m. tomorrow. only the broad street and market/frankford line will be up and running. as for amtrak, it's operating on a modified schedule with fewer trains throughout the northeast. delaware county also declared a state of emergency, wow, that was loud, also today nbc 10 spotted peco crews trimming trees in sharon hill. starting tonight 2400 employees are on standby for power outages. now to montgomery county where people are preparing for the worst there, as well. montgomery county commissioner josh shapiro declared a disaster emergency. that is done so the county can call in the national guard if needed needed. to delaware where they saw the

first snow around 3:00, the governor declared a state of emergency in the past hour. tim furlong started his day in kent county and is driving across the first state. >> joining us live in news force 10, how's it looking, tim? >> i got to tell you, pretty wild. at 4:00 you were with us and saw the snow piling up. take a look out the window of news force 10 right now. the roads not nearly as bad as they were. you can see the snow is starting to come down harder, but the roads are wet at this point. even at 5:40 we came from smyrna and the roads were treacherous. better in new castle county on this main road in delaware, but i assure you all the bad stuff we had earlier is chasing us up the state. if your snow blower isn't fixed by now, it's probably too late. the snow is officially now falling in parts of our area.

for most people it's time to get home and hunker down. >> i do like the snow. it's mixed emotions. i love the idea of it. i hate the work that's involved. >> reporter: in wilmington, the salvation army is laying out extra mats and blankets in the gym for homeless people who wouldn't survive out in the elements this weekend. >> that's absolutely correct, we can't have people outside, it's unsafe and unhealthy. we're happy we can be there and give them a nice warm meal and a warm place to stay. >> reporter: the delaware national guard is now mobilized, so, too, is deldot. the beaches expecting serious flooding problems. get your gas, get your supplies, and get home. be safe and make the best of the time. >> either way it's a blessing regardless. that doesn't sound too bad. back live again heading north in news force 10 heading towards the wilmington area. not too bad here yet, but you can see on the left side of the

screen a little accumulation there now in the grass between the north and southbound lanes, but again, not too bad yet. the key word, though, yet. delaware now under a state of emergency. i'm in contact all night with the governor's office. we'll let you know when a full driving ban kicks in. be safe where you are, we'll be safe where you are as we drive up and down the state of delaware. tim furlong, nbc 10 news. >> from news force 10 to storm force 10 we're giving you a look at road conditions. >> harry hairston is now on interstate 95. how is it there, harry? >> reporter: well, you know, the roads are good right now. there's no precipitation coming down. take a good look, some of the traffic has dwindled down. folks still trying to get home and get to where they need to be to make sure they've taken care of what they need to take care of before the storm comes in. right now we are having a decent traffic, seems to be flowing just right. couple moments ago we saw state

police helping out with a couple of accidents but nothing more than a fender bender and that seems to be the case at this moment. all of that is about to change and change very shortly and very quickly. reporting live from storm force, harry hairston, nbc 10 news, back to you guys. >> thank you. next on nbc 10 news at 6:00, it's snowing down the shore as you can see, but with strong winds expected, beach erosion is possible. we'll go live to the jersey shore to see how people there are coping with the threat. plus, the mad dash at the supermarkets. some have to shop without a cart. glenn? >> plus i'm tracking when the snow is going to start to fall county by county. get ready, this snowstorm could deliver 20 inches or more in some spots. my first alert forecast is next.

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you're watching nbc 10 first alert winter weather coverage. >> grounded, all flights cancelled tomorrow at philadelphia international airport. crews will begin clearing the runways 24 hours a day to make sure flights can take off sunday morning. >> the four major bridges between philadelphia and south jersey will stay open. patco will operate on a weekend schedule, but at slower speeds.

>> shoppers flooded the aisles buying those essentials. always people getting the milk, eggs, bread ahead of a major snowstorm. one woman we spoke to said she was shopping for a crowd. >> neighbors get hungry and they run out, they are coming to my house. next step is firewood, so if we lose power, we can all huddle in one room and have a blazing fire. >> a lot of snow parties. this store will stay open until 11:00 tonight and will be back open tomorrow morning at 7:00. we talked a lot about the snow coming, but beach erosion remains a huge concern along the shore. >> it does. for the past few days crews have tried to get area beaches ready and today people used sand bags to prevent their properties from getting flooded. >> ted greenberg now taking the pulse at the shore. >> how are people preparing in a.c. tonight? >> reporter: well, jackie and jim, since we last saw you at

5:00 we've started seeing snow come down here in atlantic city and it's gotten quite a bit heavier in the last few minutes. people here are used to water from the back bay spilling into the streets during higher than normal tides, but this time they are really worried that water will make it into their houses, as well. sand bags going down, important items brought upstairs to spare them from flood waters. >> doesn't look good. >> reporter: sunny smith lives down the street from the bay in a low lying part of atlantic city that was hit hard by sandy. now concerns are running high again about what could be the worst flooding since the 2012 hurricane. >> it's terrible, half these people ain't even done yet. it's really going to be not good. >> i feel worried. >> reporter: in some flood prone sections of atlantic city, the traffic lights are on flash, that's because city crews have been taking away the traffic

light control boxes to keep them from coming in contact with salt water. >> can't afford to lose it. >> reporter: at mike's sea food, boards went up ahead of the storm and the owner hopes they'll help keep the water out. he lost a lot in sandy. >> i took the ropes off the floating dock. >> reporter: unlike the hurricane, the back bay is now filled with an added hazard, ice. >> the concern here is with the flood tides this ice getting up underneath the restaurant and pushing the dock up and doing damage to the pilings. >> reporter: atlantic county emergency management officials tell me they are trying to avoid having any evacuations from coastal areas because doing so would create another danger, people potentially getting stranded in heavy snow while trying to get to shelters on the mainland. live in atlantic city, i'm ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. >> we know the snow totals are up and coming in earlier than anticipated. >> yeah, and if the length of

this storm, it's a huge one, it's going to last a long time and that piles it up, plus not going to see the changeover to rain or sleet that a lot of winter storms do around here, so it's all a combination of things and at the shore you got a combination of problems, too. i'll get to that in a minute. you can see on the radar snow continues to spread in through the area. it's been snowing for a few hours now in delaware. the darker blue indicates a little bit heavier, nothing like the way it's going to snow later on tonight. we're seeing a little bit reaching the ground finally in berks county, lehigh valley, upper montgomery and bucks county and the visibility reduced, that proves it's snowing in reading, lancaster, wilmington, snowing hard in dover and cape may. the rest of the area visibilityinvisibilit visibilities are going down. tomorrow morning you won't be able to see 50 feet in front of you in most cases. at the shore, it's snow.

that's a first issue. then it starts to change over to rain, but this is a really intense storm and the wind is going to be coming onshore for a lot of hours and really strong. 60 to 70 mile an hour wind gusts, so you also have a full moon. it would be high anyway. the water would be high, even without the wind. these are the high tides to be concerned about. two of them on saturday, definitely onshore winds that might be shifted on sunday. and that will help prevent it from getting even worse than it's going to be. these are high tides coming up at atlantic city and up toward long beach island. the amount of snow, 17 to 23 inches in and around philadelphia. we've only had five storms of 20 inches plus in recorded history at philadelphia, so this is a big one. 23 to 28 in some isolated spots in chester county, for example,

maybe parts of northern newcastle county. 12 to 17 inches across some of the northern suburbs. less than the maximum amount, that's a big storm, though, even a big storm in the lehigh valley with eight to 12 inches of snow. it's obviously a big storm toward the shore, eight to 12 inches there. atlantic city, plus all of those strong winds, plus the heavy wet snow. so there are going to be power outages, i think, across a lot of south jersey and delaware, partly because of the type of snow. it will be a fluffier type over the northern and western areas. here's delaware, 17 to 23 inches, all snow close to wilmington, strongest winds in southern delaware and philly, 17 to 23, some heavy sleet possible and thunder snow is possible. 17 to 23 in parts of south jersey. 12 to 17 in burlington county, and there are those isolated 23 to 28-inch amounts in parts of

chester county. again, i'm not surprised that there's going to be thunder snow in this. the blizzard by sunrise, temperatures way below freezing and, of course, nothing is going to melt. it's going to snow all day tomorrow with a little bit of rain and mix at the shore. the heaviest of that storm is going to be in the morning. look at the winds, gusting to 45. in philadelphia gusting to 60 to 70 at the shore. nbc 10's coverage of our first major winter storm continues. also tonight, we'll have a one-hour special tonight at 7:00 and hour-long edition of nbc 10 news at 11:00. tonight show starring jimmy fallon will air at midnight.

right now the jersey shore is getting hit hard. you can see the snow covered streets in cape may where there is a winter storm warning in cape may. the only area that does not have a blizzard warning, but they do have coastal concerns where they could see the most flooding since superstorm sandy. >> today's really the day to get ready and get the nbc 10 app. it can help you, it has the latest forecast, hour by hour live radar, blogs from glenn "hurricane" schwartz, live cameras from our nbc 10 sky cam network. you can also sign up for weather alerts and notifications about school closings and delays. we want to know what's happening in your neighborhood when the storm hits, send your pictures and videos to nbc 10. do it right from your smartphone. just open the nbc 10 app, look for see it. share it. be sure to include your name and where the photo is taken. we only want you to take pictures if you can remain safe

while doing it.

this is a live look from news force 10 on interstate 95 in new castle, delaware, with the potential of power outages with all the heavy snow. tonight comcast opened up its wifi network to anyone, even if you're not a customer. now that will last through the storm. there are hot spots across philadelphia, new jersey, and delds. comcast is the parent company of nbc 10. >> glenn, really just at the start of this, right? >> yeah, parts of delaware have one to two inches, same in cape may and other parts of the area, berks and lehigh, you're going to get a big storm, too. lehigh valley, eight to 12, 12 to 17 in southern parts of the area closer to philadelphia, same thing in bucks, montgomery county, and mercer. closer to philly, more you're going to get. abington, 17 to 23. >> big numbers. stay with nbc 10 as this major snowstorm bares down. the nbc 10 first alert winter storm team will be back at 7:00

tonight right after "nbc nightly news." and an hour long newscast at 11:00 tonight for full coverage, as well. thanks for joining us. developing news tonight. a major snow emergency. big cities and airports shutting down, bracing for a historic blizzard. now hours from bearing a huge part of the country. plus the ripple effect nationwide. al roker has the latest forecast. exploding air bags. breaking news as the biggest recall in history gets bigger. dangerous airbags linked to another death. millions on the recall. is your car on the list. trump. top conservatived get together to blast the front-runner and could anything change his path to the victory. and changing the oscars. sweeping new rules just announced. but will the moves be enough to tamp down