that crashed through a home in south tampa. all this weather causing a major mess. we have team coverage. we start with the damage in the bay area. josh thomas joins us live at that home. >> reporter: fortunately no one was home when that tree came crashing down, creating an unwelcomed skylight. crews are still here at this hour. the house. [ laughter ] >> reporter: when neighbors told them what happened, they couldn't believe it. >> it looks like a tree pierced through the roof, sticking through the living room.

of cleanup ahead of them. not to mention having their roof repaired. the strong storms uprooted trees and is the roof area. >> it would have been that much more damage. >> reporter: tony was working outside when the storm came passing over. >> i was lobe loading a truck, and within seconds it just blew. >> reporter: it probably wasn't a tornado but straight line winds that left the damage behind. the owners of this house will probably not have a relaxing weekend as they have to deal with repair crews and insurance adjustors, trying to put their house back together again. >> not what you want to come home today! thank you, josh thomas. more than twelve 00 miles of winter weather advisories have been issued from the south

and tennessee officials are warning people stay off the roads. not everyone in this area heeded the warning. a lot of pushing and shoving there. car after car slipping and sliding as they make their way down ice and snow-covered roads. that storm system made its mark in the carolinas. much of the focus especially in charlotte is on the weekend's nfc championship game. the panthers have not stopped practicing. and the nation's capitol is under a blizzard warning. washington dc is expected to be the bullseye for this storm. more than 2.5 feet may fall. the national mall and the monuments are closed along with the rest of the government. and residents are hunkering down as they should. steve jerve joining us now and here we are. >> a big storm for them, and

earlier today. the squall line that was associated with that has cleared the area. around 9:00 am, 10:00 am, it just rolled on through. per hour. very strong winds. all that has cleared the area. the cold front pushing through. now we'll see the chillier temperatures build in. you can see those back to the west. so what to expect? storms are gone, sprinkles are possible overnight. windy conditions very rough surf. abnormally high tide tides combined with the high winds. and temperatures in the 50s. there's the area of low pressure crawling up the east coast. additional snowfall totals from now up until sunday morning. this is really the meat of the storm. from where we are. you can see that especially for places like northern virginia. but this goes all the way into north carolina as you mentioned.

you can see for the dc area, western suburbs up to an estimatored 30 inches -- estimated 30 inches of snow. this is gonna shut places down as they deal with this system. this is a big storm system. not unusual this time of year. this could be historic in terms of snowfall amounts in some areas. the east coast snow storm is causing trouble in the bay area. airplanes are not making it to tampa international or they can't take off because their destinations are closed. >> reporter: many travellers are stuck here with their get out. many of them are going to be

in tampa. delays and cancellations are common. this traveller played it smart. >> we got warnings from everyone. if you don't get into new york by friday, don't even think about it until monday. >> so you made the changes. >> reporter: starbucks ended up being a popular stop. for others, reading or sleeping. >> we were supposed to leave in the morning, now we are leaving in the evening. late. [ laughter ] >> reporter: snow means no go for thousands. i'm watching the status boards and seeing that it's gotten slightly worse as the morning progresses into the afternoon. >> what cities are the most affected? >> reporter: charlotte by far. washington dc, boston, philly, all up and down the eastern

charlotte, pretty much nothing getting in or out of there. >> i guess we'll just keep nothing you can do. kingpin convicted. >> nbrc construction built nearly 100 homeowners and material suppliers, out of more than $600,000 in damage and storm insurance. now the kingpin is headed to prison. >> mark douglas first uncovered this fraud scheme three years ago. >> our stories alerted state fraud detectives and eventually the statewide prosecutor charged eight people with this 6-county rip off. mark douglas travelled to connecticut last year. you were there as he was sent

>> yes, and three victims were there sitting right next to me today. they may never get their money back. but today at least they have justice. >> it was a great feeling. >> very, very satisfying. >> i couldn't be happier other than to get a new roof. [ laughter ] >> reporter: justice has been a long time coming for victims of the nbrc. >> it's just good to know that he was caught. >> reporter: in a fraud scheme cooked up by carlton dunkel, they collected insurance money for storm damage and either failed to replace roofs or failed to pay contractors. sarah lived under a blue tarp while dunkel partied like a millionaire. the first time i saw carlton, he ran like the wind along with his partner in crime frank fesher. they had already been arrested in georgia for running another

operated in 11 states. we flew to connecticut for the arrest, running another scam. >> the same marketing documents they used in tampa bay. >> reporter: eight suspects landed in jail, including his wife. >> what do you have to say? >> reporter: today he pleaded guilty, and in a deal with the prosecutor, he agreed to pay back nearly 100 victims. $631,000 at the rate of $500 a month. >> anybody make you agree to that amount? >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: first he'll have to finish a 21-month prison term. >> did he even think about his victims? those that perhaps are on a fixed victim? widows of veterans? people who had cancer and is were going through chemo? >> reporter: the state of missouri wants to prosecute him

so he'll move from a florida prison to a missouri jail. then there's the ten years probation after that, and the $631,000 he owes all of those victims. along with a couple other codefendants. >> $500 a month. so on his 150th birthday, he should be about paid up. [ laughter ] >> what about all the other people involved in this case? >> frank ferber, he pled out earlier to the state. he's going to missouri. stacy, his wife, her case is still pending. but all the other ones have either pled guilty or plan to plead guilty. and basically roll over on the big guys. party's over. shipwrecks, pirates, and sunken treasure. >> the ancient artifacts that

>> and wheelchair athletes

tampa has played host to a number of sporting events. but this one is a little

the stadium will host its 24th annual international wheelchair rugby tournament. steven walker learned to play rugby after a rare bacteria forced doctors to remove both hands and is legs to save his life. this has helped him get back to being himself. >> i got my own apartment, it was such a great thing to distract mean as i was trying to figure everything out again. >> the tournament runs through sunday. if you're looking to watch world-class athletes compete, it's the place to be. pirate treasure going on

walmart set out on a mission to find you the best oranges. to do that, we first had to find the best orange growers. we logged the miles, put in the hours, tasted a lot of fruit, and shook a lot of hands. but we did it for a reason. so that here you'll find the

la ey're even backed by our 100 percent freshness guarantee. try them for yourself today at a walmart near you. a new exhibit of treasure and is artifacts in st. peters burgburg. >> the hunters have gone through a major reorganization. >> reporter: finding shipwrecks out there in the vast ocean is not easy. but today we were given a behind the scenes look at honesty marine exploration's latest exhibit of treasure. and is a chance to talk to the company president about the difficulties of being a treasure hunter.

a moving truck today, a 500 pound cannon is brought into the st. petersburg museum of history. >> it came from a barbary pirate ship. they were black pirates that took white european slaves. >> reporter: mark gordon is the president of odyssey museum exploration and proud to be opening a new exhibit. >> dozens of artifacts, the bell from the ss republic. >> reporter: gold, a bell never seen in public. and just in time for gasparilla, some pirate loot. >> it'll be need to show some of the pirate artifacts we recovered from wrecks in the western mediterranean. >> reporter: the exhibit will

marine's most notable discovery ies. >> reporter: selling off millions. >> it's a great deal for the investor and odyssey because we'll continue to dot shipwreck work without taking the financial risk we've taken in the past. >> reporter: the shipwreck treasures of the deep exhibit opens this sunday at the st. petersburg museum of history. go check it out. >> terrific artifacts. jeff patterson live in tampa. longer day is helping us out in the sunset category. not too bad in terms of

chillier overnight. 62 degrees here at frenchy's. skies clearing out. more clouds to roll off the gulf in the forecast for tomorrow. rough surf as well. this is in the forecast for saturday. keep that in mind. west winds at 20. 30 miles per hour with gusts of 40 miles per hour, at times gale force. and abnormally high tides and winds could equal minor coastal flooding with beach erosion. and the gasparilla going on. some winds, cool, jacket weather through this period. a dip after 71 degrees today. 55 tomorrow. combine that with winds, maybe a scarf.

jump right back midweek, another rain chance, storms possible long-term. maybe a few sprinkles, clouds and clear sky. partly to mostly cloudy skies on sunday. lots of sunshine but still chilly to start the day. lows in the 30s. take that weather max app with you. you can get warnings and advisories on that swchlt 55 at 3:00 pm. ski degrees tampa international. 64 in downtown st. pete. the winds are pretty strong, from the west at 15 miles per hour. lake placid gusts over 20 miles per hour. sarasota, low pressure continues to ride up the east coast. the nor'easter, all snow here. wrapping into the colder air on the western side of this area.

canada and is sinking to the south. washington dc, south of williamsport, pennsylvania, and is south of new york. that's pittsburgh, the western part of pennsylvania, into huntsville, the western sections of kentucky and tennessee. there's our cold front. the rain is rapidly moving out. that line of showers and storms that moved through here, moving at 35 miles per hour. the forecast continues to call for this area of low pressure to move to the northeast bringing more snow eventually to new york. a little bit to boston. but the bulk of it being around the dc area. some of those western suburbs could get over 2 feet of snow. windy in the forecast overnight through the day for furthermore. rain chance of 28%. overnight, first half of the primarily sprinkles. by the afternoon we'll see breaks in the clouds and is more sunshine. into monday, fast warmup. 68 degrees.

shower and storm chance again for wednesday. the bucs announced the next former player going into the ring of honor.

yeah i ride. one thing i've come to realize: there's no easier way to save on motorcycle insurance than switching to geico. saving money, that's something every rider should do. what is that? it's called ceviche, gary. learned to make it when i lived in tonga. tastes like uh... chicken. you should get out more. chicken. geico motorcycle.

it's just an unbelievable honor to get up there and forever be up on that stadium. >> local television viewers of all ages, welcome john lynch to the buccaneers' ring of honor. the bucs contacted him a couple weeks ago about joining that ring that encircles the

his other ring, the 2002 super bowl ring, is missing! he says he mismaced it about three months ago. he was drafted by tampa bay and spent 11 seasons here. elected to nine pro bowls. and his stats are staggering. 1058 tackles. barry sanders said he didn't just play the position, he occupied a spot in your mind. and sanders autopsies a spot in lynch -- occupies a spot in lynch's mind too. >> do you have one particular slobberknocker that you look back on? >> the one hit i got on -- not the one but the best one i got on barry. he never got hit hard. and is for him to say those

favorite. he just never got hit. >> reporter: more of my interview with lynch on this week's super sports sunday. if last night's rematch was a measuring stick for the lightning, the bolts are standing taller than ever today. they snapped the blackhawks' franchise winning streak at 12. today they're off and they can relish some revenge. >> i would trade what happened tonight for what they took from us last year. >> you could just feel it on the ice. things are starting tow roll again. i don't know if we would have won a month ago. >> two more games before the break. and obviously want to win those

but we gotta focus on the first one saturday against florida. they're still ahead of us. so our goal is to catch them and we gotta win that game on saturday too. >> reporter: john lynch obviously excited about the honor today. but it may just be the beginning for him. he's one of 15 finalists for 2016's pro football hall of fame . >> we got to watch him play. this is an athlete who did great things on the field and this the community. and even when he left, we were so sad to see him g. he continued to perform. >> just a class act. his family. everything. >> reporter: he's got a rooting mentality. maybe not big enough or fast enough to get it done, it started that way in his career. he wasn't a starter. he had to earn that position and is became one of the best defensive players. >> something else. what a player.

nightly news is coming your way next.