causing confusion tonight. why the new policy has students and staff on edge. >> and a baby otter recovering in rehab. how bay area officials won the race against time to save her. good evening i'm keith cate. >> and i'm jennifer leigh. thank you so much for joining us this evening. the east coast is preparing for a massive winder storm. massive -- winter storm. washington, d.c. is preparing for a record breaking snowfall. dc could see a record breaking 30 feet -- 30-inches of snow by sunday. and all this comes ahead of a serious snowstorm forecast for the mid-atlantic region in the next few days. >> as we said millions of east coast residents will be affected by this system.

americans and i mean millions. mostly in the mid-atlantic region are bracing for a winter storm blast that storm casters believe poses a really big threat. >> reporter: although already a -month-old, winter is now just arriving for much of the east making. with a storm called a monster. preps are under way in the mid- atlantic region where 2 feet of snow are expected. >> we're preparing for a blizzard. i've lived in the west coast for all my life and i don't think i've ever lived through a warning like this. >> the governor is closing schools and and businesses and people are starting to get ready. >> bye bye guys. >> reporter: we've all been

how warm a winter it's been. >> you can certainly stick with channel 8 for all your winter weather, back to you. >> thank you very much jen. tonight. and our team coverage continues right now and we'll go to our storm meteorologist steve jerve for the latest. how much snow are we expecting. we see the forecast as gloom and loom but paint a picture for us. >> a couple of feet in a few areaings. we'll -- a few years. this is the storm graphic. get into that cold air and you could get massive amounts. that's the area of high pressure. places like jackson, mississippi, new orleans. you see winter weather advisories in place before this storm all the way over to dc.

and eventually into the northeast places like new york and boston that entire area where it's such a great amount of population that will be dealing with vast amounts of snow in places like dc. you could be looking at at least a foot of snow. now this is a forecast here. six to 12-inches, more than that potentially farther up. you can see up around sections of roanoke salve -- roanoke virginia. if you're traveling to these areas especially into saturday. definitely check with your airline and be careful with these storms. >> we'll be checking with you in just a few moments. this is going to be a big snow maker for our neighbors to the north. >> tourism officials are really hoping to cash in. and candace mccowan is covering this story. this is one of those occasions where we're like, sorry for

down for a visit. >> reporter: they have options to hang out outside like we do. they could be buying milk and bread or watching public works crews prep the roads, instead, they're here. >> just got word that it was 8 degrees up there today. >> reporter: roger savina is from delaware. >> delaware what are they expecting? >> 3 feet. >> reporter: while in the north they see snow in the forecast, tourism officials see more money on our radar. >> it doesn't matter when snow happenless. what -- snow happens. what happens is, it's wintertime. when they get into wintertime, people start thinking, how do i get out. >> reporter: and the tourism officials have signs up that say sunshine or bust. less polar more solar. a method they tell us worked

>> the mild december proved beautiful for us. november is a record. we're going on 27 months of record tourism. >> reporter: leaving some asking why go home. >> maybe we stay here a couple more weeks. >> reporter: and as for our northern neighbors that i ran into out on the beach, while we think this is a bit chilly, they looked at me thinking i was quite silly dressing in long sleeves in this weather. >> i think you look great. standards. candace mccowan. if you or someone you know is heading up north, our the *f -- our team has put together all the cancellations and preps to make sure everybody is ready. more than a dozen people through a complex. you can see the flames there manor condominiums.

flames shooting 20 feet into the air. fortunately everybody escaped without injury. yet another city is starting to disconnect its red light camera program. this move comes after numerous complaints from people. some of whom believe the cameras are too big brother. peter bernard is working on this story right now. at 6:00. it's already january but ends of year exams are causing headaches in polk county. that's because the school district has changed its policy on end of year testing. josh thomas has the story. >> reporter: the ends of year tests has many parents and

questions of school administrators. there's some students that dread testing of all kinds. but now a change in testing is raising eyebrows and concerns. for high schoolers the testing could count toward 30% of a student's final grade but couldn't drop the final grade by more than one letter. >> if i work all year for an a and i take a test that i wasn't prepared for and it drops me down to a b it's not really fair. >> reporter: nearly 4,000 people have signed a petition and it's getting the attention of school board members. >> my concern is that students not be harmed but there's a balance. we also want rigor in our classes and we want our students to be held accountability but we want it to be fair. >> reporter: the school superintendent came up with the changeless. >> we need you to be able to carry that knowledge.

>> reporter: the fact students are leading the charge for change pleases one school board member. >> when they have questions or they perceive something as being unfair they certainly should be heard. i'm proud of our students. >> it's not like we wanted to start a problem. we're glad we spoke out, we are something great. we just wanted change because people are too afraid to say >> reporter: the school district is now planning to hold community meetings so that parents and students can voice their concerns about this new testing. the district also plans to create a review process so if students feel they're grades have been fairly affected they will have a venue with which to express their concerns. >> it's good to see students though. josh thomas, thank you josh. and the lightning are blackhawks.

stanley cup final. and how officials were able to save this baby otter and get her into rehab. >> a new tampa couple was caught in obama care red tape. find out how i was able to cut

in just a few hours the lightning will take on the blackhawks in a stanley cup rematch.

june. sports anchor the paul ryan is live. >> reporter: i am reminded of a garfunkle song, after time and time we're the same. the blackhawks have won a franchise record 12 in a row. as if that wasn't enough of a story line. there's always the fact that the blackhawks beat the bolts in case you've forgotten. a lot of hockey has been played since then. at this point. john cooper say he doesn't want to forget that run despite how it ended. >> we have to look forward but still memories of last year to be honest, primarily all really, really good ones except for the final series at the end. but it was a heck of a battle with those guys and we're starting to find ourselves a

excited to play these guys. game. >> reporter: definitely a tonight. jonathan duran, the general manager spoke about him today. i'll have an update tonight. and keep it right here for arena. >> we look forward to that. >> that's correct. >> you're making me wait for it. paul ryan, thank you. new video tonight of a unique rescue in manati county. a wildlife rescue team spent hours trying to save a sea otter and its pups. unfortunately the mother died and it was a race against time

>> reporter: i want to show you this. look inside this incubator you will find one of the pups that was rescued. now this pup is under constant surveillance. hopefully the folks here told me she's going to be okay. as you're about to see her sibling was in danger and crews were not going to stop at anything to save her. a lonely otter was hiding some where under this house. this expert with wildlife inc. was determined to find it. >> his odds we knew of finding small. >> reporter: during sunday's tornadic storm, the mother otter left her safe enclosure because of the floodings.

and tried to run across the street. a vehicle hit it. but the crew was told that there was another otter under the house. >> you can hear him squealing. >> reporter: but unfortunately this pup died two days later. >> is it sad to think that you guys put so much effort to save this other otter from under the house and you still lost it. >> it's always sad when we lose the creatures but at least we tried to save it. >> smile for the camera. >> reporter: and this one survived. they're hoping to release it back into the wild in the next couple of months. taking a look again, it's here snug and trying to rest up.

and that doll, it's no ordinary doll. it has a battery operated heartbeat that mimics its otter. so we're still kind of in this cold but nothing like we were seeing up north with the snow and everybody is predicting the worse. >> it is. but these storm systems can dump a whole lot of snow and it's pretty dramatic numbers. it's going to be a travel nightmare across the country. for us we'll see a storm system pass across the area. that could bring thunderstorms. in northern spots potential for severe weather is small but it is there. 68degrees elsewhere too. you can see the sun toyota and new port richie. south winds at 2 miles per hour. look at the sky there is kind of milky looking overcast etc. not really associated with the area of low pressure headed our way but it is kind of an

and i think we'll stay mostly cloudy throughout this period. the possibility, the timing of these storms most likely around lunchtime. perhaps late morning. a line of showers and thunderstorms is what we're expecting. a slight chance for severe storm mainly pinellas county and northward. this is not the same intensity that we had sunday morning but still the possibility of seeing thunderstorms so remain weather aware. we talked all about the el nino phase. and the possibility of seeing thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes. 53degrees at 11:00 a.m. partly cloudy skies. morning sprinkles possible. this is for the children's extravaganza. windy too, as the winds will come west. probably quite a few clouds as well. lots of lower looking stratus looking clouds. the easterly winds have really helped us out to make it a bit more mild around the area. we've jumped back to 60 for a low temperature.

to creep back in around 10:00 a.m. and a 7 percent chance. of course mostly overcast. much milder feel to the atmosphere today. bartos 59. 69 sarasota, 68 weeki wachee. yes the storm system is here and yes the air is cold. it's not super frigid but it's cold enough to bring snow. and that's what the folks in the north are expecting. and earlier this week we were talking about this cold front going through texas. there's that milky looking sky here with the high pressure continuing to bring in more of a southeast to easterly flow for us. the prospects were pure clear skies before this high pressure passes through. here come the clouds again in the morning hours. showers and storms temperatures

and that's around 10:30. again we mentioned the best possibility of possible severe weather, pinellas county northward. that's around 1:30, but look how quickly everything starts to clear back to the west of us. that will set up the cooler and windier saturday i mentioned. for the evening commute, clearing skies. temperatures in the 60s and possible residual cold rain. but mostly overcast and keep in mind it will be fairly windy. 65degrees for the evening. again plenty of clouds around. maybe some clear patches overnight. 54degrees on saturday for a high temperature. yes that's the high. so we're kind of up and down and up and down. this is down as we head into saturday. and of course note the possibility of showers and storms late morning midday tomorrow. 67degrees for monday. not bad stretch, don't get extreme cold through this period but we do definitely cool down.

and we're getting excited for gasparilla 2016. the children's parade is this saturday. the next saturday january 30th the pirates invade. newschannel8 will carry the gasparilla parade. i will cohost along with josh benson. our coverage begins at 2:30 you can find all the information you need to know on wfla.com. well if you're a smoker, you like to buy the smokes. bad news for you. >> i thought you were waiting to see if i did. >> no no, i was not asking if you smoke but there are some smokers. >> and we're going to tell you who's raising the packs of

an 8 on your side consumer alert. quitting smoking comes with a price for smokers. the fda is adding a dollars a becomes to keep children from smoking. every 10% increase in cigarette prices results in fewer people smoking. the recalled seats were manufactured between october 4 of 2014 and july 1 of 2015. consumers can continue to use the car seat once secured but should stop carrying it by the handle. and most wal-mart workers

more than 200,000 employees will see a pay raise and will allow workers to accrue paid time off. the hourly wage of a full time an hour. wendy's is testing something new on the menu. a black bean burger. right now the burger is being tested in three markets, salt lake city, columbus ohio and columbus north carolina. this after customers expressed wanting a meatless burger. a bay area couple is no

>> imagine waking up and finding this in your backyard. we're going to show you where in the sunshine state this crocodile was just chilling.