nbc 10 news starts now. new this morning, winter blood shortage. the blizzard and snow-clogged streets have the local red cross pleading for help. also this -- that shaky feeling people all along the shore and south jersey felt the earth move but it wasn't anything caused by mother nature. and temperatures are heading above freezing this morning. there's a chance of a passing shower, snow shower before unseasonably warm air moves in for the weekend. 4:00 a.m. this friday morning. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today." i'm dreñdavidson. let's get to meteorologist bill henley with his first alert forecast. morning, bill. >> morning tracy. the temperatures have come down into the 20s and very low 30s. we do have clouds overhead, at

least for now it is dry. 29 degrees northeast philadelphia, in it the upper 20s for wilmington and middle 20s, allentown and pottstown. just below freezing for most of the area, you'll find some icy spots. there was melting during the day yesterday but they are slowly disappearing. 31 degrees at 6:00. by 9:00, just above freezing. look at the wind that's going to kick in during the day. a 6 mile-an-hour wind by 9:00. by lnch time, 16 miles an hour, near 40 degrees in the afternoon. those winds blow clouds in the area. there's even a chance of an isolated shower as we go into the afternoon. i'll are go through the forecast neighborhood by neighborhood when i'm back in ten minutes with a closer look at that shower threat. jessica boyington has first alert traffic. >> route 73 around the new jersey turnpike. no problems hear. no backups. yesterday we had electrical repairs going on on the roadways. no blockages because of that.

if you're heading northbound towards the tacony palmyra bridge, no problems or scheduled openings. the 42 freeway, new jersey no problems north or southbound. you are heading into the ftd area, it's a five-minute drive time from 55 to the walt whitman bridge. speeds average about the 50s. the tacony palmyra bridge, i showed you route 73 approaching that scene. the burlington bristol is clear. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration made the announcement yesterday. the storm was classified as a category 4 means it had a crippling impact. nearly 24 million people saw at least 20 inches of snow and some schools remain closed. there are still streets across the tri-state area choked with snow. the blizzard is creating serious concern about a winter blood shortage. nbc 10's deanna durante is looking into the reasons why and

what other resources were depleted during the storm. >> reporter: the red cross says from here in center city, to chester conte and into new jersey, the region is big and the need is big. they say that the blood shortage levels have reached emergency levels. and they say they were active during the blizzard of 2016. take a look at a picture from the american red cross of volunteers and workers trying to unload a vehicle there. you can see the snow is about as high as the doors on a car as they're in a philadelphia neighborhood. the red cross says they are in an emergency shortage of blood donations, that the storm affected donations not just in philadelphia but across the country. video supply by the american red cross shows a number of people at blood donation centers at previous blood çdonations. they say during the blizzard of 2016, donation centers were empty, not just here in the philadelphia region but in 20 different states. they also say community blood drives here locally about 30 of them were canceled because of

the storm. they also say that during the winter months of january, they saw blood donations drop just not here but across the country. >> the severe weather over the past several days and really since january 1st nationwide has caused a really major blood shortage. so we're trying to ensure that we have enough blood on shelves to be able to continue to support our hospitals. we have to collect nationwide about 14,000 pints of blood each day. >> reporter: and the american red cross says if doing it just to be a good person isn't enough, for the rest of the month if you come in and donate blood you can get a free pound of coffee. they're using whatever incentive with here to try and get people in to try and restock the hospitals and the blood centers across the country. again, not just here in philadelphia. i did some checking. if you go online, go ahead and see where the closest blood drive is to you, the times, the location. if not today but the rest of the weekend or into next week.

that is the very latest in logan circle, deanna durante, nbc 10 news. >> just about 4:05. 31 degrees in philadelphia. we have new information about this four-alarm fire at an apartment building. the commissioner has ruled out arson. derrick sawyer told concerned residents the fire started on the first floor of the building but one major obstacbstacle interrupted the investigation. >> thursday we began the investigation, friday snowstorm. >> many people thanked the fire department for keeping everyone safe but others say they're getting mixed messages about whether they'll be able to recover any of their property. meantime, engineers have to decide what's next for the building. today philadelphia will begin an outreach campaign to help qualified city residents applied for the earned income tax credit. mayor jim kenney will kick off the you earned it campaign later this morning. according to the irs, the earn

income tax credit can reduce tax credit for working people with low or moderate income but you have to ply for it to get it. the city estimates 40,000 philly residents who are eligible done the apply. to see if you qualify, tap the nbc 10 app. this morning, military officials say fighter jet tests caused the sonic booms that caused concern for people across the eastern shoreline. residents from new jersey to long island reported hearing loud booms and feeling the ground and buildings shake. people as far away as connecticut heard those booms. a navy spokesperson says it's the result of supersonic testing off the coast that involved two fighter jets. we tacked to a woman in atlantic city who was left guessing about the situation. >> oh, my god, what was çthat? we don't know if it was a bomb, a plane. people were running off the beach. it was like a pan. we were panicked, too. >> the jets can travel faster than the speed of sound which causes the thunder-like rumble that startled so many. 4:06.

investigators ruled the death of a man that fought with a septa police officer as accidental. omar lopez died of a drug overdose. before being tased, lopez wrestled and bit the officer. lopez died later at the hospital. the citizens crime commission is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the vandals who damaged it a catholic church in lindenwold earlier this month. this is what they did at the church. they broke several stained glass windows and damaged the crucifix on the altar. a new class of philadelphia police recruits join the ranks today. mayor jim kenny will join 30 recruits who will graduate. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> getting a chilly start this morning. the temperatures have dropped

into the cold zone, below freezing for most of the area. we could see some isolated showers during the day today. but the temperatures will be above freezing. those showers riding on winds, bringing in some clouds. over weekend we see more sunshine and record warmth coming into the area. 27 degrees right now in mt. pocono, northeast philadelphia 29 and 31 degrees in atlantic city. you can see some is of the clouds that were blowing through the area yesterday morning. sky force 10 was up and flying around. those clouds passed without any showers. that may change today. clouds blowing in from the west will give us a possibility of scattered snow showers or rain showers, depending on where you are and the timing as well. the snow showers are to the west this morning, rain is way offshore and won't be affecting us. it will be dry through the morni

morning. 10:00 this morning, more clouds. above freezing in philadelphia and allentown. look to the north, you soon see scattered snow showers. they will be riding in on the winds. isolated snow showers to the north. by the time they get to new jersey and delaware, isolated rain showers. either way, there's not going to be much and most areas will stay dry. during the day, we'll see the temperatures climb. clouds, some sunshine, 38 degrees, fleetwood and pennsburg, no the low 40s. bordentown, moorestown and new hope. at the shore, might see afternoon scattered rain showers for ventnor city, avalon and cape may. smyrna, 40 degrees this afternoon and low 40s for wilmington, woodstown and ç philadelphia. we do have a warmer weekend and record warmth next week. a weekend preview when i come back in ten minutes. >> this has been a crazy winter already, bill. let's check your ride to work on this friday. jessica boyington has a look at that. >> we're looking at the vine

street expressway, tracy, that's right, around 24th street, all open and no problems in through center city. westbound to the schuylkill expressway, we have no problems or delays there. if you get to 30th street station you'll be good to go. headed eastbound on 95, all lanes are open. if you are coming from the vine heading into this direction you'll be okay. the conshohocken curve, no problems. we have a 14-minute drive time headed eastbound. that's tacking on a few more minutes than normal. we're still in the green from the blue route to the vine street expressway. no problem westbound. if you're going towards the king of prussia area. mass transit, pretty much back to normal which is a good thing. we had a messy week so far for septa, amtrak, patco, new jersey transit and d.a.r.t. when i come back in ten minutes, we'll check more of your drive times. tracy? let's stay driving at the philadelphia auto show, kicking into gear at the pennsylvania convention center today. it runs through february 7th. more than 700 rides and dozens of differenten brads will be on

display. tickets are $14 for adults, seniors, kids and active military members get a discount. executive invitation. nbc 10 is the only local station asked to come to the white house. the reason? health care enrollment. next, learn why president obama says philadelphia is such a vital part of the process. hear one person's story about why you really do need to shop around. what's in the water? find out why philadelphia city council is concerned about the drinking water here.

we like coming to philly anyway. i'm looking for an excuse here. i'm counting on you guys coming through. >> after an exclusive invitation

to the white house, president obama tells nbc 10's jim rosenfield he wants to take us up on the offer. nbc 10's invitation to the president is part of a final push to get 100,000 philadelphians to sign up for the affordable care coverage. the deadline is sunday, january 31st, just two days away. city with the most signups wins a visit from the president but we found signing up is not as simple or as affordable as the administration makes it sound. nbc 10's jim rosenfield reports. >> reporter: for self-employed hairstylist starla smith of germantown, it's been more than six years since she's had health insurance. >> you sign on the dotted line. >> i signed on the dotted line. >> this week, that all changed. smith sign up for coverage under the affordable care act. she opted for coverage that will run her almost $150 a month in premiums with a $1,500 deductible. >> hey, jim. >> mr. president. >> good to see you.

>> reporter: during our white house visit yesterday, the president and administration officials touted a very different story about cost of coverage. >> about seven in ten individuals can get health care for less than their cell phone bill, about 75 bucks a month. that is, you know, a good deal to get the kind of security and comfort that you need. >> almost seven in ten folks in the marketplace can find a plan for a premium that's $75 or less. >> where's the peace of mind with the $74 plan? especially with the deductible being as high as it çis. >> what was the deductible? >> 6,000. >> $6,000? >> it didn't work for me, didn't offer me anything. >> starla took the time to shop around with help from a navigator with be putting in time and effort is one of the challenges threatening the future of obamacare says drexel university rob eld field who studies the health care marketplace. >> one of the premises of

obamacare is that we'll be active consumers. >> reporter: if you are active, you could find your premiums shot up year to year because you didn't revisit your coverage during open enrollment. one study in philly, for example, found the lowest cost silver plan jumped year-to-year from $267 a month to $276 a month for a 40-year-old. >> i think there will be people who don't follow through because of the challenge, because of the challenge of not understanding. >> reporter: is it a signal your invitation to us to come to washington, to come to the white house that this is a tough sell, affordable health care is a tough sell in philadelphia? >> actually it turns out we're doing better than we were last year. we've hit all of our marks or exceeded all of our marks. i want everybody who can take advantage of it to sign up. >> reporter: jim rosenfield, nbc 10 news. now, if you don't sign up, you face a penalty of at least $695 or potentially far more, because it's based on a percentage of your income. members of the administration

acknowledge the health care act is not perfect but they expect that even if a republican wins the white house, key parts of the coverage will not go away. for now they're relying on local leaders to get the word out about sunday's deadline. there are enrollment e have thes coming up, today, tomorrow and sunday, sign up at methodist hospital in south philadelphia. in montgomery county you'll find a mobile enrollment center at the bala cynwyd shopping center. bring your social security number, address and income information. watch more of ourener it view with president obama on the nbc 10 app and on nbc10.com. 17 minutes past 4:00 right now. 31 degrees in philadelphia. now to decision 2016. the final republican presidential debate before the iowa caucuses went on without gop front-runner. donald trump did not take the stage in des moines. he held a rally for veterans a few miles away. the top remaining republicans sparred on the issues that included immigration and surveillance. the candidates took their shots at the donald early but quickly moved on.

>> i'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly. and ben, you're a terrible surgeon. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way -- [ laughter ] >> the iowa caucuses are now just three days away. donald trump skipped the debate as we said. didn't exactly take the night off. hear from trump about how he spent the time away from fellow candidates. michigan lawmakers approved  funding to solve flint water contamination problems. officials will use the money to help children with high levels of lead in their blood. some of the cash will go toward unpaid water bill and a study of the water system. rick snyder said, quote, we will fix this crisis. meantime, philadelphia city council investigates how that city tests that drinking water. that's after reports suggested that it is worse than flnt,

michigan. the water sampling methods could hide the problems that flint is experiencing right now. 4:19. people are cleaning up tornado damage in southeast florida this morning. a tornado touched down in delray beach. it was yesterday, it happened to knock out trees and power lines, surveillance video shows wind lifting up patio furniture and nearly blowing away a delivery man. the winds also damaged a church roof. no one was hurt. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> clouds are moving into the area. the temperatures, well, they're above freezing in cape may and in philadelphia, just below freezing. clouds moving through and it is dry this morning. a live view of center city from the adventure aquarium. 32 degrees in philadelphia. and there's beach avenue. you can see it is damp but with temperatures above freezing it's not an issue there. the rest of area seeing those colder numbers this morning.

24 degrees in pottstown, 23 in blue bell and collegeville is also at 23 degrees. these numbers were actually much colder yesterday. we're running 5 to 10 degrees warmer but we do have scattered clouds that are going to be increasing from the west and with those clouds, a chance of an isolated shower. won't see it first thing this morning. but as we go through the afternoon hours, those showers will be moving into the area. it will be warming up, too. it would be a rain/snow mix. those showers would be isolated, hard to find. breezy day, temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s today. this weekend we'll fix that. a warmer weekend after a cold morning saturday, 45 in the afternoon, lots of sunshine and a few scattered clouds. enough sunshine to warm us in the lower 50s on sunday. the temperatures will still be climbing next week. we will be flirting with record high temperatures early next week. we have the seven-day forecast coming up in just the next half hour. >> record high temperatures. all right, bill, thanks.

20 minutes past 4:00. let's check your ride to work, especially if it includes route 202. we begin there with traffic reporter jessica boyington. >> we have an accident on 202, tracy. not in any of our cameras at this moment but route 202 is close, a portion of it, northbound around route 1 and between 29. you can see -- our drive times are back to normal. i did check in with the drive times and we had ten minutes added to the northbound side because of this between route 30 and the schuylkill expressway but nowç we're back to normal. potentially getting that accident scene out of the way. i will check and have an update when i come back in the next ten. southbound and northbound, pretty much back to normal. here's 95 around woodhaven road. the southbound drive time from woodhaven road to the vine street expressway if you're heading into center city, still a 13-minute trip. you can see in problems even with the snow over into the shoulders. definitely watch out for that. use extra caution in case there are slippery spots. we are watching an accident scene out in montgomery county

in hatboro. septa will cut the ribbon on a $19 million improvement project at the 69th street transportation center in upper darby. the west terminal has been restored and modernized. the improvements will enhance bus and trolley service and passenger safety. 4:22. change is coming to one of philadelphia's more traditional neighborhoods. check out what is open along busy germantown avenue. next we'll take you inside this brand new grocery store. and escaping the scrapper again. the future of the "ss united states" may not include philadelphia. and don't just watch the news, be part of the conversation. we're constantly talking to our viewers. follow the "nbc 10 news today" team on twitter. our addresses are right on your screen. read our posts, tweet us directly while we're on the air. we'll tweet back.

25 minutes past 4:00. new this morning, a new kind of development is open for business in philadelphia's chestnut hill neighborhood. it's been five years in the making. this new shopping and development just opened this week. it brings fresh market grocery store. it offers fresh organic fruits, meats and seafood, free parking as well. not just popular with the customers, popular with job seekers. >> it's about 90 employees. a lot of them are local. employees can walk right to work. which is fantastic. >> construction on the condos continues. developers say they expect the store alone to raise property values in the neighborhood by 10%. now from a jersey shore

bureau, two of atlantic city's top casinos have announced tens of millions of dollars in renovations. the tropicana says it will roux do hotel rooms along with other projects. the cost, $25 million. this news comes two days after the borgata says it is spending $50 million on projects including a new nightclub and conference space. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> a few clouds overhead. another cold morning just below freezing in philadelphia. 31 degrees at 4:26. jessica boyington is in the first alert traffic center. morning. morning, bill. we're watching, approaching the tacony palmyra bridge this morning. route 73, no delays or backups right to the toll plaza. we do have an earlier opening just before 4:00 a.m. we'll keep you updated on more bridge openings for the rest of the morning. lost and found, this suv belonged to delaware senator chris coons. find out how it was stolen and then recovered.

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nbc 10 news starts now. delaware lawmakers vote to keep the state's death penalty. they voted down a bill to abolish capital punishment. schools snowed out again. classes are canceled in reading and some other communities again today as snow cleaning efforts continue into the sixth day. temperatures are warming up. we'll make it to about 40 today. wait until you hear the weather changes for the weekend and beyond. it's 4:30. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today." i'm tracy davidson.

let's talk with meteorologist bill henley, get his first alert forecast, talk about today and beyond. bill? >> we're getting a dry start this morning. there are clouds that have started to move in. it will be dry through the morning commute but then we could see scattered showers. just below freezing in philadelphia. the suburbs are in the 20s thisç morning. you may see some icy spots again this morning like we have the last few mornings. the wind, very light to start with. but it's go inge to kick in as we go through the day. that will blow some showers to the area. 32, right at the freezing mark for philadelphia. most of the area has dropped into the 20s this morning. we'll see some sunshine at 31 degrees at 6:00, then slight warmup by 9:00. look at the winds picking up at noontime. 39 degrees at lunch time. still dry for most of the area at lunch time. we'll likely be tracking some scattered showers.