heavier snowfall that we are dealing with. that will move through later tonight. as as a result of that, we will pick up a little bit in the way of accumulation. a little bit. .32 or .6 of an inch. maybe some spot toward the bay, to pick up over an inch. but it's not the amount. it's that the temperatures are below freezing. it could make for dicey driving conditions late tonight and tomorrow. through today tomorrow, looks great. sunshine. nice day. upper 30's. then friday and friday night. and saturday. and saturday night. those are the hours that our whole area is under blizzard watch. the blizzard watch is surrounded by winter storm watches. sometime tomorrow the watches will be upgraded to the blizzard warnings, the winter storm warnings or a combination. not only the heavy snow but the strong winds develop with the powerful storm. time to finally end late saturday night and sunday morning. we are talking generally one to two feet of snow across the area. lesser amounts getting closer to the ocean. a lot of wind drifting, lower visibility. it's a big snowstorm right

now. the closer with get to the storm the more we will be able to refine the effects. the worst of them in between 3:00 saturday morning and 3:00 sunday afternoon. steve rudin will join me in a couple of minutes as we continue team coverage. back to you. maureen: thank you smutch, doug. our team coverage continues in northwest washington where preparations are underway ahead of a storm. what is it like on the street? stephen: well, i can tell you right now we have some snowflakes coming out here at dupont circle. behind me they are rushing to get on the buses and the metro trains. some people are racing to get out of town. a lot of people across the metro area are bracing for the looming storm. >> the scramble ahead of the snow is on. air reign passengers are trying to board flights out of

town to avoid getting stuck. today the airlines informed passengers booked for friday or saturday they could rebook without a penalty. the airport is stocking up to keep those stranded as comfortable as possible. >> food, and passengers and the employees will be here to support getting reopen as soon as possible when the storm finishes. stephen: gas stations saw drivers filling up or topping off the tank to avoid what may be a backup as the storm front approaches. >> be prepared. i have my supply. my salt, food and now getting gas. stephen: metro managers are preparing to work long hours and are mobilizing crews to keep the trains running as smoothly and as long as possible if we get hit hard. >> we have hundreds of pieces of equipment that are prestaged right now. they will be ready to go. we have snow-clearing equipment, jet-power snow blowers to clear rail yards.

stephen: some people are filled with dread, we found others who are confident that the preparations underway are adequate. >> i think the metro should -- i think they will be okay. stephen: metro management says the best advice they can give passengers come friday and saturday and the arrival of the storm is don't travel unless you have to. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: d.c. is pulling out all the stops for what could be historic blizzard conditions. d.c. mayor muriel bowser held a press conference today voicing concerns about the heavy snow and the possible power outages. she unveiled a program where 2,000 volunteers with the elderly and the disabled with a shovel. he is is providing loner shovels for those volunteers going out. >> my sons and i signed up if the shovel brigade. we will help seniors or disabled people. >> that is my biggest concern that we are able to get to people who are vulnerable.

leon: the mayor says the elderly and the disabled could call 311 for help during the storm. under d.c. law, by the way, it's required that property owners keep the sidewalks clear of snow within eight hours of daylight after the snow stops. maureen: meteorologist and the weather experts with the national weather service will use to monitor the storm is this thing. a weather balloon. the balloon will add data for the models meteorologists use to predict the storm. and you may be one of the many d.c. area residents going into high gear, getting ready for the storm. you are not alone. hundreds of you are going to the grocery stores, getting what you need for a weekend indoors. montgomery county bureau reporter kevin lewis is live with more on that. kevin: we are at the safeway store off the red line. the safeway opened up in december. there are ten checkout aisles. nine are staffed here. look at the amount of people

here. staff says this is way more than normal. clearly no one wants to get caught in a snowstorm with no food, especially with the risk of power going out. keisha has worked here for two months and works on aisle number eight today. what has today been like? a wednesday, compared any normal work day? >> it's busier today. of course, with the snow and everything. everybody is out grocery shopping. but it's been nice and steady for most part. kevin: what are the main staple items that you see people buy all day long ahead of the snow we expect to get? >> bread, milk, water, toilet paper, of course. snacks. no tv, no power. kevin: is there one customer that sticks out your in mind? >> yes. head lady a while ago, she said her husband sent her to buy water, batteries, flashlights because he was afraid it would turn into a

snowmageddon. kevin: we talked to customers earlier today and here is what they had to say. >> ice melt is important. this is the only store that has it. i have been to several. stocking up on food. >> blizzard warning triggered get to the grocery store fast. >> what did you purchase? >> water, bread, cereal, crackers. >> that is the common theme. safeway in rockville open 24/7 through the storm. live in rockville, kevin lewis, back to you. leon: all right. thanks, kevin. for up to the minute information about the snow system when you are not near a tv sign up for storm watch 7 text alerts. sign up on the website wjla.com. "7 on your side" will be with you and have you covered on the storm the second the flakes start falling online and on the air. so if your power goes out, we will stream the coverage on the smart phone app. you can watch it on your device. alison: new documents released

by the ntsb today indicates ice likely called a gaithersburg jet crash that killed six people. the december 2014 crash near machine machine county air park killed try on board and a mother and two children on the ground. ntsb says the plane stalled as it approached the harriet. the stalling was the authorities put it consistent with ice-contaminated plane. leon: we are monitoring developing news in northwest washington. police are searching now for two people who stabbed a juvenile. that happened late this afternoon across the street from the recreation center near wilson high school. if you have any information, d.c. police want to talk with you as soon as possible. coming up, a new lawsuit for chipotle. some claim they tried to cover up the norovirus outbreak. maureen: why the mayor of this price can't be right...

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is so wholesome... and it doesn't take the whole paycheck. gianant's exclusive nature's promise. eat well for less. my giant. maureen: our storm watch 7 weather team is keeping an eye on the storm. new information coming in every minute. we have a look at possible new snow totals in a few minutes. leon: in the meantime, trouble for chipotle. a class action lawsuit says the chain tried to cover up a noro virus outbreak.

leon: this lawsuit makes several claims and among them a kitchen manager had symptoms but continued to work. the suit also says the location threw away food and bleached surfaces before notifying health officials. maureen: developing in michigan tonight, governor rick snyder asked president obama to reconsider his denail of snyder request for federal disaster declaration in flint. snyder says flint's lead-contaminated water is a natural catastrophe. meanwhile, flint's mayor karen weaver says she won't call for the governor's resignation. in a meeting in washington this morning, she said snyder needed to stay in place to ensure flint residents get the services and the money they need. leon:m coming up, we are keeping a close eye on the developing weather situation. maureen: chief meteorologist doug hill has the latest information next. >> for motors of pub crawl have new emergency rules to

make planning the events more difficult. i'm mike carter-conneen. coming up i will detail the rulings and get reaction from nearby residents. robert: i'm robert burton. coming up in sports the wizards are home tonight but it might not be a good thing. hoyas get a huge win on the road.

maureen: emergency organizations put pub crawl on notice for the district. the rules resulted in the denial of event applications. tonight, mike carter-conneen looks at the restriction and why there are mixed reviews. >> group of high and mighty citizens. mike: emergency rooms from the alcohol beverage control board brought in definition of pub crawl to have bars in walking distance to have event featuring alcoholic drinks before it was limited to the

discounted drinks. the pub says emergency action is needed for pub crawls. it requires $500 annual pub crawl license to assign a contract with the liter removal company, clean-up in 12 hours of the event and the organizer present for the duration who cannot buy or consume alcohol. >> i have been here for different vents. it can get ugly. >> they are banned on st. patrick day, cinco demayo, halloween, new year's eve. we reached out to several promotion of the d.c. pub crawl events to get response to the new rules as well as the don't complaints. we did not hear back from any of them. >> quite often d.c. overregulates. it makes it difficult to do business here.

>> there are many residents that welcome pub crawl to the neighborhood. >> you still have litter, the same social problems that come with drinking. just outlaw drinking altogether if you don't want the litter, the noise, the people. mike: the emergency rules expire in may. unless d.c. council approves them. in northwest, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. leon: a huge gift on the way for the smithsonian museum. they donated $10 million. and they are loaning two documents. the 13th amendment and the emancipation proclamation. it will open up in september. now it is hard to think about heat when it's cold outside. but in 2015 was one for the record books. according to noaa and nasa, 2015 was the hottest year on record. more than 20% warmer than 2014. experts say that the record-breaking heat filed part by one of the strongest

el ninos on record. not compared to what we are dealing with now. doug: the pattern has been around forever. only the past 150 years they put a name to the phenomena of the normal american temperatures in the wintertime. it's all related. this is unusual strong el nino year to have a big storm. maureen: not around here. doug: not at all. a little bit of snow falling outside the studios. talk to steve rudin to hear more about that snow and what is coming later. steve: winter weather advisory went into effect 20 minutes ago and will extend until midnight tonight. it includes the district, the surrounding counties in purple. we are likely to see a dusting or one inch or so the further you go toward the bay. it's cold out there now. so anything that does call may cause slick spots on the neighborhood sidewalks. be careful there. 28 degrees. 27 in frederick. b.w.i. marble at 28 degrees. live doppler radar and you can

see the slight show. inside the capital beltway. it moves toward the east, we are going to look for skies to gradually clear. you have to get thraw of this throughout the west and garrett and algany counties. the bigger story is the light snow falling to the evening in the early overnight hours. now for the big story. the area of low pressure made progress over the past couple of days. you remember just what, 48 hours ago way off in the middle of the atlantic. now it's over denver. the track will continue to move toward the east. take a slight dip to the south. more on that and what to expect around here in the coming days. doug? doug: the storm if it does make the trip to the southeast will pick up gulf moisture to go through evolution of its own. it will develop into a powerful east coast storm which will mean heavy snow to blizzard conditions over the wide area of the midatlantic.

damaging effects on the coastline because of the wind and wavers. blizzard watch in effect from late friday afternoon through saturday night. across the entire area. then everybody else surrounded by winter storm watches. the watches will change sometime later tomorrow. they will become warnings in some area and pass that information along. the only changes that s the storm gets closer and the more of a better handle we will have on it to fine-tune some of the details. i think we can tell you enough right now with confidence that we will get snow and strong winds and impact on the area. moving in the snow mid-to-the late afternoon on friday. getting heavier at night. heavy through the overnight, morning and the mid-day hours on saturday. the storm coming up off the coast. we are expecting the storm to move off. but every now an then some of the big push of storms will start intensifying quickly along the coast and move slowly. if that happens it will extend the period of strong wind and snow.

we are confident through saturday afternoon and everything we will see it diminish to a lighter snow. if you are just joining us, this is one to two feet of snow across the area. the major storm headed our way. high likelihood measured in feet more than individual inches. steve: doug hill is weather. we go one own one after the upset over xavier. the wizards are home tonight but it's not necessarily a good thing. spor

announcer: and now the toyota sports desk, brought to your by your local toyota dealer. robert: last week the hoyas had a chance to give sixth ranked villanova the first big east lost since last season but they lost that game 55-50. last night, the hoyas defeated xavier. trey campbell put up 21. we went one-on-one to talk about last night's victory.

what does a win like that do for team morale? >> we turned the corner and we have been close with games. and yesterday we were able to pull out a game against a tough opponent. >> a lot of basketball left in the season. how quickly do you forget about the win? >> very. we go up and we have a tough exconference foe, uconn. you can't enjoy xavier except for the plane ride home last night. robert: on the pro level wizards are hosting miami tonight. maybe they are a step ahead because they are at home. or maybe not. heat blew out the wizards by 22 earlier month at verizon. washington has been terrible at home this year. they are 9-13 at the phone booth. they have lost five of six at home. gortat gave his thoughts on what he thought the problem might be. >> at home, we relax. we do hustle and flexing and

we talk trash like people are listening like we are showing a move re or something sometimes. we are too relaxed. it is what it is. robert: v-tech on the road against notre dame and george mason. gortat. calling the boys out. maureen: catch up with doug on what is going on. doug: a light snow. doppler radar, light snow ahead of a cold front that is clearing out tomorrow. we look ahead to friday. steve rudin will join us for that and have new computer models. the latest on the blizzard watch and the timing and the storm in the area when he joins us at 11:00. sunshine tomorrow. but then -- yep. maureen: it will be fine. leon: straight downhill. maureen: "world news tonight" with david muir up next. ÷w

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we do it because we're family too. breaking news tonight. a state of emergency already declared. the blizzard watches in effect at this hour. the major system. it could be historic. two feet of snow in some places. one governor desperate to avoid a scene like this again. and the new track right now. also breaking, the wild ride on wall street. at one point, plummeting more than 500 points. tonight, oil prices. saving you money at the pump, but punishing your savings, and your 401k. sarah palin onstage for donald trump, and addressing her son's arrest on domestic violence charges. >> i guess it's kind of the elephant in the room.