over the pacific northwest. now over land as it traverses the country. it is expected to develop in a major storm system and start to make a move to the east coast on friday, friday night and saturday and bring high likelihood of the heavy snow to the large portion of the midatlantic state and our area. quick look at the storm threat index now. calls for moderate to severe heavy snow impact from this, with the gusty winds. small chance of freezing rain, obviously cold temperatures. we're just the storm hasn't stormed yet but the computer models continue to make a strong case for a significant storm, friday, friday night and saturday. jonathan: all right. doug, thank you. the deep freeze meant ice on the road this morning. water main broke closing down root 123. it closed it for a while. is it back open now. water did freeze on the road. we have a look at how people are dealing with the cold. it's freezing out there. stephen: let me tell you.

it is cold out here, jonathan. we have a weather meter here. it has been heroing with the wind chill at 10 to 12 degrees. it's very cold. we caught up with people across the city. we have video of how they were preparing and how they were coping with the winter weather. the real biting factor here is a combination of the dipping temperatures and the wind. some of the people we spoke with said they did their best to prepare for the cold but they didn't do enough. >> it's bitter cold at this point. yeah. i'm not used to it yet. i am freezing. stephen: i know from cold. i'm from northern minnesota. this is cold even by minnesota standards. coming up at 5:00 and 6:00 we will tell you how other people are coping with the cold and

what you need to know to deal with the pets to help them deal with the cold. reporting live. stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: all right. thank you. metro riders had to deal with two cracked rails on the orange line this morning. one near boston. the other near east falls church. if the weather gets really bad, metro says it has nearly 600 pieces of equipment ready to tackle snow and ice. hundreds of contractors are standing by to help. when it snows metro operates normally until there is six inches of snow on the ground. but once we get more than eight inches, service may be suspended at above ground stations. jonathan: stay a step ahead of the weather with the facebook and the twitter feeds or download the storm watch app. it's easy and a great resource. put it on your smartphone or tablet. michelle: firefighters will go door to door this afternoon in the wake of a deadly fire this morning. two grandparents and their

twin grandchildren died when flames raced through the house on knoll brook drive just after 2:00 in the morning. kevin lewis is live on the scene with the latest on the tragic investigation. kevin: neighbors across the creek bed woke up to the sound of screams and the fire coming from the two-story home. they dialed 911. firefighters arrived in four minutes and they found all four victims in second story bedrooms. prince george's county fire said this is the deadly situation they have seen in years. flames shooting from every window of the two-story home when the firefighters arrived. three people escaped including elizabeth but the smoke and the fire killed her parents and her twin 2-year-old children anna and israel. >> she was saying, "my children are inside.

my children are inside." i called 911. kevin: they woke to the sound of elizabeth screaming in the street. >> i can't imagine. i can't imagine. kevin: bitter cold temps hampered the 2:00 a.m. firefight. by sunrise investigators began to sift through debris. examining objects like exposed electrical outlets and charred wood. they believe it started on the first floor. >> they belonged to the same social group as the family that lived here. the grandfather restoration work van is parked out front. >> i don't know. he was a nice individual. a nice individual. kevin: new at 5:00, how fire

crews say smoke detectors may have saved lives in this fire but how firefighters today try to ensure something like this would not happen again. live in chillum, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. michelle: heart-break for one family. jonathan: i can't imagine. michelle: well, that fire comes one year to the day of a fire that killed another set of grandparents and father of their grand children in annapolis. jonathan: alison starling with a look back at that story. alison: this was terrible as well. the fire along trial points road killed don and donna pile and the four grandchildren. started with corroded electrical outlet on the floor and the flames spread to the 15-foot tree that was still up more than three weeks after christmas. it looks like don pile tried to put out the fire while his wife tried to each the grand kids. but the fire just spread too quickly. there wasn't much left of the 1,000 square foot home. the next morning despite firefighters' best effort. the mansion we're told did not

have sprinklers likely because it was built before anne arundel county required them. but they might have helped. don pile's sister is on a crusade to educate people about the importance of those devices. she is meeting with legislators with annapolis tonight and we'll have more tonight at 11:00. jonathan: we look forward to that. thank you. local students are working to get right on the cutting edge of fire safety. in fact we'll take a look at the app they are developing to try to help save lives. that is coming up later in this hour. michelle: we are following a developing story where the search is on for a deadly hit-and-run crash this morning at pennsylvania avenue at the beltway. they are looking for a green or a blue garbage truck with red lettering. truck probably also has damage on the passenger side. we will have more at 5:00. jonathan: two paramedics recovering after a crash in

oxon hill. it happened last night at 8:30 on the inner loop. authorities say a car came along clipped them and caused both to lose control but the ambulance slammed into a light pole. minute later, watch this. the pole fell on top of another vehicle. not on top. went through it. all the way through to the ground. the man inside who the pole missed him by six inches described the incident first on abc7. >> i see it on the top. it come over all the way through. >> your car? >> on my car. yeah. >> how close did it come to hitting you? >> six inches. >> i can't imagine. he is okay, obviously, talking to us. the driver whose car hit the ambulance stopped 200 yards from the scene. michelle: two people are dead and 18 others are hurt after a greyhound brush crash in

california. it happened on highway 101. the san jose fire department reports that the bus flipped on the side to the center divider. no other vehicles were involved. the crash is under investigation. michelle: the supreme court announced it will take up a case to look at the executive action on immigration. jonathan: the court could decide whether the president decision to keep millions of immigrants to be deported violates the constitution. 26 states have already challenged it. this case will probably be argued in april and decided by sometime late june. michelle: newly released government report estimates this year's budget deficit will rise to $544 billion. it's an increase over the prior estimates that can be attributed to the tax cuts and spending increases past by congress last month. the congress budget office sees the economy growing at a slower pace this year than it predicted a few months ago. i projects the economic growth

will slow to 2.7%. jonathan: we need a comforting thought. glass half full. silver lining, here you go. 60 days away until spring begins. michelle: still ahead, new information that gives you something to look forward to other than the warmth. jonathan: later for us. >> we're all angry. this was purposefully done. jonathan: a city, a city in crisis with mayor of flint michigan is doing in d.c. to help with the water problems in the hometown. across america, people like basketball hall of famer

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side effects can lead to dehydration... ...which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you... ...the control you need... ...ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. jonathan: we invite you to join us for a town hall "guns in america." we look at gun violence, support for the second amendment and the president's directive to tighten gun control. michelle? michelle: virginia man accused of trying to travel to syria and join assistant man who set up the connection appeared in court. northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg was in the courtroom in alexandria and he joins us from the courthouse

with the latest. jeff? jeff: this was the first court appearance for both men after the arrest last week. this was an emotional court hearing. family members of the defendants were crying loudly in the courtroom. some of the family members had to be lift and help from the seats because they were overcome with tears and shock and emotion. these are the family members of one of the defendants leaving court this afternoon. that defendant after today's hearing. el hassan with 28-year-old joseph farouq of woodbridge were charged with supporting a foreign terrorist organization. in this case isis. according to the criminal complaint, they began their involvement with isis in november of last year. allegedly elhassan on friday drove farouq to a stop near the international airport where he was set to fly to chicago and then to syria to fight for isis.

farouq a native of pennsylvania arrested at the airport before boarding the flight to chicago. elhassan meanwhile is a legal resident from sudan and was arrested friday night in woodbridge after allegedly making a number of false statements to f.b.i. agents. >> they present it from happening and think go to the media and say we kept america safe. it's not true. it does detriment to the people involve. they deserve to hear the truth. >> the attorney there for mr. elhassan claiming that the charges are trumped up, a conspiracy saying his line is innocent. next up bond hearing this week. the early next weekend. preliminary hearings in february. if convicted both men could

face 20 years in prison. live in alexandria, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you. a lot of folks are heading back to work after a long weekend. time for a check of the traffic situation. jamie sullivan is here. if only the traffic from yesterday looks like today. jamie: that is laughable. that does not happen often. yesterday was light and nice around this time. today is a different story. let's start with the traffic lights flashing in d.c. independence avenue eastbound. at east title basin road. treat it as a four-way stop. they have techs on way to get it repaired. traffic is slowing in both direction at 15 miles per hour. traveling outbound past eastern avenue to get to the maryland/d.c. line we are seeing a crash closer to "r" street. no big problems on the beltway through prince george's county. we do have a normal volume that you would see on the northwest side. let's take a live look. i want to tell you what we

have if you are traveling toward northbound pike. sun glare. but no crashes right now on the interstates. that is a look at traffic. back to you. michelle: thank you. any sign of spring would be welcome after the deep froze of the last few days and what could be coming. today the organizers of the national cherry blossom festival gave us something to look forward to. it will open saturday march 26. the kite festival is april 2. fireworks will be on april the 9th. the parade will be on april the 16th. it is way too soon to say when the blossoms will hit their peak. it's hard to time. jonathan: we have a lot of cold to go through to get to that. we have a lot of work ahead of you, doug. doug: it's interesting. that is what we hear for. this is the playoff game.

it is lacking like we will be hit with a storm in the midatlantic this weekend. we have cold. it's two bitterly cold days. steve: it's freezing. this morning, it was 15 degrees out there to make it coldest morning so far in reagan national airport. now the temperatures warmed fun you want to call it. 27 at reagan national. winchester is 25 degrees. 23 in cumberland. feels like is 10 to 13 degrees colder. we will keep breezy conditions. there are a few clouds to the west of us. don't be kwon fused heading in the -- don't be confused heading in the end of the workweek. 12 to 19 for overnight lows.

clear skies. winds from northwest at 5 to 10 miles per hour. we will see higher gusts in between. waking up tomorrow morning another cold start. fairfax around 14 degrees. in the teens. waldorf of and la plata. the winds won't be as strong. get update on the latest information for upcoming storm. doug hill? doug: we will give you first the headlines here involving the storm. we expect a major storm in the area. heavy snow. gusty winds. there is uncertainty in the track. it will determine the heaviest snow or a potential mix of snow. prepare now. nothing panicky. don't run to the grocery store and empty shell evers. nothing like that. think ahead. it's tuesday afternoon. but late friday and saturday the travel could be restricted because of the heavy snow. that is what we want to get out now. this is a storm cell we showed you out of the pacific. now high over the top of the pacific northwest. that is important. now the computer models, the

data that is released and gathered by the weather balloons, that specific data can be put in computer models to make it more accurate and more timely. that is key for the next couple of days. we expect the track to be a classic track to come across the southeastern side of the rockies across central texas. intensifying moving up the tennessee valley. the question is where does it go vis-a-vis our area? virginia beach or the outer banks? or the difference going off between coralla and flags head makes a -- nags head makes a big difference. the nuance will determine who gets the heaviest snow and who might have mixed rain and snow? this is where steve told you. similar coming through a cold front with a flurry or two. that is it. we briefly clear on thursday. friday we get in the main action here. radar wise this is what we are seeing here as we look ahead to friday afternoon. it looks like the snow is slower starting. we think the afternoon hours.

heavy rain along the outer banks. this is so key, the exact movement and the location. look at the computer models. this is g.f.s. by saturday, where they have the center of the storm on their model. off the coast. european model which does well is off the outer banks. whether it's one or the other is hugely important. that will determine where the cold air is and where the hev jest snow is. that is why we can't put the snow bands out yet. we see enough convergence from the models we are convinced we have a big storm. convinced most of it is snow for most of the area. we are not able to tell where it comes. at 4:30 we go inside computer models and we will show you where they place the heaviest snow. two models side-by-side to give you an idea of what we look like in the weather center as we help you make the plans for the upcoming storm.

we have a lot of work ahead. that's what we're here for. michelle: you can get it for the talent or the smart phone. jonathan: this is coming from persalville after a man crashed a car through a fence and flying down hill to a parking lot. michelle: coming up at 4:00 -- michelle: coming up, a look beyond the illustrations you know from dr. seuss. jonathan: first driving to protest. why someone is heading

michelle: a "7 on your side" consumer alert now and new details about the amazon drone delivery program. the company told yahoo! tech the delivery services will get package to you in 30 minutes of placing the order. they must weigh between 5-55 pounds and will deliver in a ten-mile radius.

jonathan: a colorado couple road trip wasn't just for fun. they are returning their volkswagen jetta to the headquarters in hern don. as suzanne kennedy reports it comes back to the scandal surrounding te missions testing. suzanne: there are few people who would drive the car across the country to send a message to manufacturer but that is what a couple did. they drove the 2011 sport wagon from boulderer volkswagen and the american headquarters in hern don and delivered 20,000 petitions from the other v.w. owners asking them to fully compensate consumers for the admissions scand that came to light. >> we feel the emissions for example that we recite are small compared to the

possibility of actually getting ourselves heard. suzanne: they are working to come up with a remedy for the owners. they left the car and the emissions system behind. michelle: coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- what is in the water? the showdown over the water quality in flint, michigan, spilling over to washington, d.c. kellye: i'm kellye lynn at mckinley tech high school where they won competition for creating a safety app. where they won competition for creating a safety app. i will tell you how it w

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announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. jonathan: people are feeling the chill across the washington area but they are talking about possibility of a major storm this weekend. i'm with the storm watch 7 weather center. people are saying why can't you give us snow totals. it's only tuesday. doug: it hasn't formed yet. we talk about the computer models but a lot of you are weather folks that are into this know we talk about the euro and the american model. point out that everybody this was, this shows the positions for 8:00 sunday morning.

in the european it takes the heaviest snow to shift south. michelle: 50 to 75 miles. doug: yes. g.f.s. does the same thing. last night's run had it over washington and now it's right over the area. so they wonder why we don't put the snow out already. it's one of the reason. the placement of this low pressure storm on one is a different place here. when it begins and how heavy it will be. this is a glimpse behind the curtain. jonathan: this is two feet of snow and that is six inches. doug: we have a couple of days to work on it. we will likely have a big storm. numbers of who will get what we have to hold off. thank you for visiting.

sorry to make you leave. we have a shot to a list here. number within on the list the new york storm. 28 inches. a lot of excitement whipped up about this. we will keep watching and we will keep you updated. michelle: we want to keep you updated if they force the local schools to change plans. sign up for school closing text alert at wjla.com. jonathan: new information about a mclean date for a married couple accused in bizarre crime. andrew and alesh sha schull are both lawyers and it is expected to last three weeks. they are charged with

torturing her former boss with knife and stun guns. both victims suffered serious injuries. michelle: every near there are more than 1.2 million fires reported in the u.s. thousands are deadly. in the spotlight on education, kellye lynn tells us about a home safety app created by students at mckinley high school. in d.c. it's designed to save lives. kellye: it's called g-fire. the students are the brains behind it. help find their way out safely. the app will tell you that. it will offer a family evacuation plan and tells you when it's time to change smoke detector batteries. this team of high school students designed it and entered it in the verizon app challenge.

>> i had a feeling we would win. kellye: they did. beating out high school entries from around the country. the prize $5,000 and new l.g. tablet for each team member. >> they won the state competition for washington, d.c. kila competition that will offer more money for programs at mckinley tech. $15,000. >> trying to get the word out to vote for us. telling my family and my friends. text gfire2 to 22333 by january 31. in northeast, kellye lynn, abc7 news. >> you can see the spotlight on the education stories at wjla.com. jonathan: a company in virginia needed fire education after the billboard prompted drivers to call 911 when they saw it.

they wanted a property restoration to stand out. they got all the attention they could handle. this worked out two well. drivers kept calling saying a billboard is on fire. they had to shut it down. >> due to phone call also they had in the call center they wanted it to be overwhelming. this is unique. jonathan: that is creative. they plan to move it to another location. build others in other locations as well. you saw it hear! hear! first and realize it's a billboard. michelle: it's too realistic. jonathan: you can see why they are calling 911. michelle: absolutely. coming up at 4:00 -- music. ♪ ♪ music to our ears. meet a piano prodigy and find out what inspires him to pla

michelle: the mexican volcano with ash in the sky. it reached more than a mile in the sky yesterday. maintaining a yellow alert and residents should prepare. jonathan: starting tomorrow, mercury, venus, saturn, mars, jupiter with will be visible for 45 minutes before dawn. the first time this has happened in ten years. the show will last through february 20. the u.s. naval observe story has an app to figure out where you can spot the line-up. michelle: a 12-year-old boy in virginia is turning heads and opening ears with his extraordinary talent. ♪ ♪ michelle: dante walker is considered a child prodigy. he was inspired by his sister to play but his biggest inspiration isn't a musician. walker says he plays the piano

because of dr. martin luther king and performed at the charlottesville annual m.l.k. celebration to honor the activist. >> if dr. king hadn't done what he did, i wouldn't be here. there mate still be segregation and i wouldn't be able to go to some schools and be with the friends i have today. come here to have a chance for all these people. michelle: walker says he hopes to be inspiration like him and play to make people happy. jonathan: i'm amazed when somebody that young is accomplished. dr. seuss' story of inspiration have thrilled kids and adults for decades and now some is on display. art of dr. seuss exhibit opened in palm beach garden, florida. pictures, sculptors and unorthodox taxidermy.

friends say he used to paint to relieve stress of creating children's books. >> i couldn't believe sophistication of the art work. jonathan: one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. it's all on loan from the gallery in atlanta and will be on display in florida until valentine's day. i don't think there is a kid on the planet that hasn't been put to bed at night reading a dr. seuss books. >> missed out on a huge part of your childhood if you have. michelle: we have breaking news so let's get to leon harris. leon: we're following a situation that many of the viewers many recall. federal jury convicted aptny payne for a car crash that killed a 19-year-old.

payne was convicted of involuntary manslaughter but was con victimmed of murder -- convicted of murder. prosecutors say the payne hit the car and crashed. the cars were going 115 miles per hour. payne will be sentenced in april to face maximum of eight years in prison. we will follow the story and bring you new developments. "abc7 news at 4:00"

jonathan: the mayor of flint, michigan, came to washington to get funding in the midst of a water crisis. alison starling is in the newsroom. alison: today angry residents filed more lawsuits against the governor and against state health officials. this is all about improperly treated drinking water. and an effort to save money. >> you made the mess, you clean it up. you fix the problem. alison: claiming they are taking emergency action. for relief. lawyers representing families from flint, michigan, concerned they have now filed three class action lawsuits.

seeking damages and injection to help families for water they could not use. >> we need financial aid. now. some want the governor arrested. thaw allegedly waited five months to warn the public. >> my baby and i are breaking out the issue from bathing in the water. i don't like that my baby can't drink. >> national guard troops are on the ground passing out water and filters. president obama declared state of emergency. e.p.a. is defending the handling of the crisis and the system has been switched back to lake heron but the pipe system is so badly damaged the

water is still not safe to drink. governor rick snyder maintains he did not know the severity of the situation and is expected to address the matter at his state of the state address tonight. jonathan: thank you. d.c. had its own problem with led in the water for years but where does the city stand now? sam ford looked into this today. sam: a dozen years ago some of you may recall the d.c. water authority had the britta filters that go inside the pitchers that are delivered to the homes and the area that were affected by the lead problem. the situation in flint reminds many of the elevated lead levels that hit the water supply of this city. in some neighborhood they ordered the led pipes replaced -- lead pipes replace ed. there were accusations they

didn't notify the public. there are pending lawsuits. now they regularly test for lead. jonathan: if we get wing over a certain level, we citizen the family home and test the water. >> the highest lead level today is 15 parts per billion. i will tell you how often d.c. test homes that are that high. reporting from northwest washington, sam ford. jonathan: if you're a twitter user perhaps you are feeling a sigh of relief after it came back up. it went down. twitter was offline. worldwide outage. the problem started at 3:00 this morning eastern time. yuters greeted with a message saying something was technically wrong with the site. it has a couple users. 300 million. the company has not said how many users were affected but it's back up and running. deep breath.

michelle: we can all breathe now. a list of 2015 most stolen computer passwords is out. the security application company says that 123456 is once again the top spot. folks keep taking that one. "password" remained in second place. sports theme passwords made the list with "football" in at number seven. "baseball" ranking tenth. anticipation for the new "star wars" movie led to "star wars" at 25. c'mon, folks. more creativity. jonathan: password is your password -- michelle: you are asking for trouble. jonathan: you are going to get hacked. a warning after a virus that can have a devastating effect on the pregnant women makes its first appearance in united states. what perspective parents need to know about the zika virus and how it is spread. michelle: plus a dire warning about the earth's ocean. what many fear could soon out number the fish in the sea. that is ahead.

new at 5:00. jonathan: also at 5:00, have you heard of turgeonites? michelle: erin hawksworth is here with a preview of the group taking university of maryland by storm. erin: this is a fun story. the terps have loyal fans. they are not only cheering on the team but they are impersonating head coach mark turgeon. >> i don't mind making a fool of myself. >> they try to act like me. i think there is too much gray in their hair. erin: i had a blast doing this. see the full story tonight at 5:00. michelle: we are embracing the cold. and people in russia are doing

this. they celebrate the revelation of jesus christ as messiah. it is head to have healing powers. so maybe they feel better when they get out. it may be why they braved the negative 22 degree temperatures. just to drive in. jonathan: firm believers. good for them. michelle: there are some ladies there. all right. double blessing. jonathan: 22 degrees below zero. steve: i think they are warming up there. talk about the weather. cold out there. we had chat for potential for a big storm later this week in upcoming weekend. more in a moment. 27 in leesburg.

the clouds will increase a little bit as they move in the early morning hours. not a lot. this will arrive in our area late friday to saturday. this is what it looks like. tomorrow in d.c., 5:00 tomorrow. just about 24 hours away. we will have snow flurries and separate system along the action. by friday ill will stay dry. look at how it's colder from the north.

norfolk, 200 miles a away. rain and a lot of rain. it could make a difference in our area. a ton of snow or a lot of snow or rain. a lot could change between now an then. we will keep you updated. the forecast for the weekend. then a warming trend monday and tuesday. back to middle 40's. that will melt the snow or make a mess of the snow. >> it's not too messy. we have enough to deal with this weekend. jamie: northbound we have the left lane blocked.

there are two right lanes blocked off. an accident at south dakota southbound at road island with one lane blocked. no problems on the freeway. heavy traffic from 395 to the 11 street bridge. volume at 395 leaving the city. 66 we are okay and snow. sun glare for you. jonathan: thank you. coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- the political war of words. michelle: look at how it is shaping

michelle: vote 2016 is heating up a as this lasts one year of president obama in office. the war of words is heating up between the republican candidates. >> a battle of backhanded compliments. the insult simmering below the surface of the two g.o.p. front-runners remarks. >> i like donald. he's rattle and he is throwing the insults my way. >> trump is saying a major endorsement but being coy about who it will be.

>> i am a fan of sarah palin. >> and palin's daughter said ted flip-flopped. >> he had public praise saying he will always be a big fan. abc news, washington. >> new pole shows a close race for the u.s. representative van hollen and edwards in the democratic primary. van hollen represents the eighth district favored by 38% of the voters. edwards got 36%. 24% is undecided. so close. they are hoping to succeed barbara mikulski. who is retiring. primary is in april. leon: tonight taking no chances. >> if the storm hit and i would kick myself. leon: people are bracing for a storm that hasn't formed yet. >> screams pierced the night in a quiet neighborhood. a mother stand by helpless as the family tragedy unfolds.

>> plus a couple drives from colorado to the d.c. area. to send a message to the automotive giant. >> prepare now. that is the message tonight as it's more and more like we are in for a winter storm. alison: we will check in with stephen tschida to see how people are coping with the cold. leon: but first, check in with doug. doug: the computer model on track to bring snowstorm to the mid-atlantic. in the friday/saturday time frame. it's 26 in the nation's capital.

the winds are a factor. not as gusty as yesterday. tonight is clear. it's a little breeze so the wind chill in the upper single numbers overnight. a lot of sunshine starting the day tomorrow. traveling ahead in time snowshowers tomorrow. sunshine on thursday. friday is cloudy, cold, breezy with the potential of a major impact storm in the mid-atlantic. heavy snow. you mentioned that the storm hasn't formed but this is a good time to prepare. a look at the storm over the pacific northwest. the radar modeling is reliable in the next few days. one model outlook that shows the center over eastern tennessee at 2:00 p.m. friday. >> a arriving.