snow coding the roadways. ♪ ♪ bend me shape me, any way you want me ♪ ♪ as long as you love me, it's alright ♪ ♪ bend me shape me, any way you want me ♪ shape the best sleep of your life. sleep number beds with sleepia technology adjust any way you want it the bed that moves you. only at a sleep number store. weather alert. nightmare on the roads tonight, white out conditions have streets at a standstill, disabled cars, crashes because of the snow and ice building up. prince william county schools are closed tomorrow.

fairfax and spotsylvania county are being delayed tomorrow. we have other closings scrolling at the bonding and -- the bottom of the screen. alison: the snow is coming toan end, but there are other problems. it pales in comparison with what is ahead, a blizzard watch posted friday afternoon through late saturday night where we could see feet of snow, more white outs, and strong wind. leon: tonight is just a taste of what is to come. we have the biggest team of meteorologist in the region. let's start with meteorologist steve rudin. what are the latest model showing? steve: big changes on the way. this evening, we had about in inch of snow with huge problems. as we move friday into saturday, we are going to be measuring the .now not in inches but feet across the area, the belfort furniture weather center, 26 chevy chase, 25 falls church,

well below freezing. the untreated roadways come all the traffic, all the tires quickly melting the freshly fallen snow, that quickly froze and a layer of ice built on top of that, leading to very slick conditions. the edge of the light snow is moving off to the east. tysons corner, rockville, things are beginning to improve quickly area for the district, northeast d.c., college park, bowie, still looking at light snow. fornd that, we are looking clearing conditions overnight. nighttime lows, 16 to 24 degrees. and a quick update on the blizzard watch -- the green area on the screen includes the district, montgomery county, arlington, alexandria come all of southern maryland. the blizzard watch friday into saturday, and the likely will

convert into way warning by this time tomorrow night. in a lucie will join me few minutes with the track of the storm, how much snow to expect, when it will be over with. the seven day outlook and a lot more coming up from the belfort furniture weather center in a few minutes. tonight's snow created very serious traffic hazards with crashes, disabled cars along main roadways, creating nightmare commutes for people who are still stuck trying to get home from work. in virginia, the state police responded to 163 crashes within a matter of hours. tom roussey is live in northwest with a look at the conditions. tom, tell us what you were seeing? here asnty of problems well, leon. we are in georgetown, looking north on wisconsin avenue. cars have been having trouble all through the night. distance, we have seen emergency lights pretty much

nonstop. the national cathedral two miles north of year, it took two hours to get here to the heart of georgetown. evening,m earlier this the evening commute is still going on for some folks. it's not just dangerous for drivers, it is dangerous for pedestrians. this person is one of many we have seen fall tonight. basically, for a time if you were trying to get anywhere on the roads, a lot of them were untreated. ddot has increased their number but it has not0, been enough, they have been playing catch-up, some of the roadways completely iced. we spoke with a woman who fell over. she said she had been driving earlier. whether she was driving or walking, it was awful. e home from work, and i'm not used to driving in the snow, so we decided to walk.

it was pretty icy on the roadways. >> just trying to stay off the roads, stay warm, and put the de-icer down when i get home. the situation on wisconsin avenue has gotten better as the night has gone on. we have seen at least one truck treating the roadways, but a lot of the side streets are nothing but ice. it seems like d.c. was behind the curve trying to clear the roadways, a lot of them treacherous tonight. tom roussey, abc 7 news. tom, it isight, awful. we go to jay korff near dulles toll road and i-66. jay was on another assignment and got stuck on the roadways. it looks like there is no movement at all. where are you? jay: none, no movement. here.a joke out forgive my frustration, but i

think i share that sentiment with thousands of people who are literally stuck here. based on years of experience, i can tell you that vdot has not touched this roadway. there is barely any snow, but there is a sheet of ice. that is the problem. the vehicles that did not realize that, and just crashes all over the place. this is our news vehicle. we have been here about three and a half, four hours and had not not moved -- and have not moved one inch. it is just miles and miles of cars. the people are now starting to get out of their vehicles. maybe they want to stretch their legs. there is another person hanging out outside of their car. this is perfectly safe, dulles toll road, almost near i-66 is not moved four hours. i will say we are working on our fourth hour. what we have heard from various

traffic reports, there have been so many accidents, some serious ones, the state police have had to shut down some roads. i also took this picture -- bear with me, this is interesting -- of my google maps. as you look into this, you cannot count the number of crashes. it entire beltway looks like is almost shot down. we are right over here with nobody moving. who knows how long it is going to be until we do move. from here i could probably walk back to the station and get back, quite frankly, quarter. that is the situation here. i think we are also concerned that because the roads are so ews goingw are vdot cr to get here to treat the roads. that is the situation live on the dulles toll road near i-66. back to you guys. alison: that's unbelievable, and

how with the trucks get around to make any progress whatsoever. unbelievable. please keep us posted. we are sorry. keeping and i on all the roadways. some of them are parking lots. jamie sullivan has been intimate watching everything closely. jamie, it does not seem to be getting any better. jamie: it is not. i wish i had something different to say, but unfortunately, look at the traffic. you don't see this even during rush hour. we never see this much red on the maps. 66 eastbound, 234 to the beltway, 45 minutes. 95 heading northbound from the occoquan to the beltway takes about 45 minutes. over an hour getting from the beltway to the occoquan. maryland, the inner loop of the beltway, closer to college park, over an hour. it is almost two hours on the outer loop from college park

heading towards chevy chase. in maryland, between the beltway's on 95, just under an hour. this is unbearable. let's move to the camera's talk about silver spring. downtown silver spring, look how slow these cars are moving. that is a sheet of ice. i want to move further west and talk of stress between bethesda. look at all the flashing lights. there are flares up on east-west highway and connecticut. people are standing on the road. and jay korff is standing in the middle of the interstate. that is not the only place. one of the reasons i'm not mentioning all the crashes is there are too many. fenderhave a minor bender and you are in a crash and you can drive, just reported exchange information, and go.

this is not going to let up anytime soon. alison: we had a similar situation not too long ago, people waiting hours and hours. they were not prepared, no food. january 26, 2011, i looked it up. not, webelieve it or are still a day away from the big storm, but crews are getting ready for the possible impact. richer relieve -- richard reeve has that. crews arehese vdot scrambling, now dealing with tonight's conditions. they are still trying to find out, but behind me the garages, they are loading these trucks with salt and sand. the biggest concern was the andm in the days to come snowplow drivers and regular drivers are getting ready to deal with these major storms. snow crews are scrambling overnight preparing for the winter crunch.

>> slippery. was not expecting it. not happy. night's wednesday snowfall is giving drivers a taste of what is to come. >> i'm going to take the metro tomorrow. virginia,n northern 300 plow trucks are gearing up to pretreat additional roads after the morning commute. seen snow. richard: he just moved here from arizona. he likes the near dusting, but is ready. >> it's terrible, especially if you don't have the right tires. richard: do you have the right tires? >> no. richard: thursday nightb,y vdot will have 4000 trucks loaded up. >> it's still better than new york. i was living in new york, and it's already bad up there. richard: this is a good practice before the big one. >> yes, not hit anything or be

hit. richard: tonight is a rehearsal for drivers and plow crews prepping for a major storm. >> i don't think it will be too bad. richard: even as we speak, we have seen plow trucks are on 395. how they will get to the impacted areas where it is bumper-to-bumper, we will try to find out. meantime, this is just a dress rehearsal for what is to come. live in alexandria, richard reeve, abc 7 news. public transportation is making adjustments to prepare for the weekend storms. all major airlines have initiated waivers, meaning that you can change your flight time for free. at the airport today, workers were told to prepare for long hours to deal with the snow and ice and help stranded passengers. for snow, bracing mobilizing employees and

equipment. you should prepare for service changes. metro trains will not run above ground if the snow is as bad as predicted. leon: the university of maryland is shutting down because of the storm system, being closed friday, saturday, and sunday. students who have final exams will hear from their professors. the spring semester will start as scheduled monday. the7 has you covered for winter weather alert. sign up now for school closings , and we willext send you a message if your school is delayed or closed. and stay connected with our stormwatch team, following us on twitter and facebook, and download the stormwatch app. break, before we go to this is the story of the night. this is just to render us. this is the dulles toll road near i-66, live pictures where the cars have not moved in hours. their cars,ut of

walking around, completely stuck. we have no idea when these people will be moving again. and this is just one situation. there are many of these playing out all over the area.

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone,

your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios. weather alert. armageddon was five years exactly five years ago. alison: people were not prepared, they knew there was going to be a dusting. steve: all you need is a thin layer of ice and it causes huge problems. the hills and rosslyn come even smaller cars, and i saw three people fall, one guy flat on his face. unbelievable. alison: is the snow over? steve: it is tapering off, but we have a few more flakes. the temperatures will remain below freezing. korff,cerned with jay

gusts if the cars are not moving, how do you get the trucks out there? tomorrow's rush hour will probably be a mess. it is 26 degrees. if we are below freezing, that's cold, not a lot of melting. 31 was the high earlier today, 43 the average. remember last month when we had temperatures in the 70's, and now we are almost on the eve of the blizzard. andrews, pax 26 river at 27. the light snow moving out of here. the heaviest snow now moving across the bay towards the delmarva. the leading edge is exiting the eastern part of the capital beltway, fairfax county, montgomery county, the panhandle of west virginia, the skies clearing. end in theowers will next hour or so. may have some lingering showers, but will not amount to a lot more. nighttime lows from 16 to 24

degrees, the light snow ending with the wind out of the north and west at 10. tomorrow morning, just about 20 degrees. moving midday, clouds, lower 30's. by 4:00, just about 37 degrees. what happens after that, into the day friday, big changes on the way. devon lucie has more. devon: we are watching already, skipping ahead to friday afternoon. this storm system has the latest information. starting to snow the afternoon, evening time frame, strong south wind quickly puts heavy snow down in the afternoon. overnight, early morning, that is when the blizzard conditions are, with sustained wind over 30 miles per hour. snow,with the blowing reduced visibility, less than a quarter mile or more. this is when the storm is at its

worst, saturday morning. we could even have thunder snow -- that is a thunderstorm with snow. we could have 2, 3 inches per hour. the rain/snow mix line south and west of washington. it is still churning all the way saturday afternoon into the evening. we could be looking at nearly 30 hours of snow at the rate of a half-inch to an inch. feete talking one t2o two wide spread. this will be a monster storm, the blizzard conditions the majority of saturday. steve: the duration of the storm is amazing. we now have the blizzard watch remaining in effect friday and saturday for all the areas in green from baltimore to southern maryland, including the district, loudoun county. by this time tomorrow night, the areas in green will likely convert to a blizzard warning. the areas in blue that are now winter storm watches will convert to winter storm warning. weould not be surprised if

have extra counties like fauquier county in the blizzard warning because of the gusty wind and heavy snow that is likely to fall due to the amount of cold air that will be in place. brushs the first broad look at the snow totals. anywhere between one to two feet snow friday afternoon into early saturday morning. lesser amounts across the delmarva because we are expecting rain and sleet mixing in with the snow. heavy snow around the capital beltway. the problems with the ice. imagine sunday morning it will take a lot of time to clear things out. week, monday through wednesday we could be looking at significant school delays. the next seven days, once we get rid of the big blizzard friday into saturday come even early sunday, breezy condition sunday, 37. back into the 40's monday and tuesday.

>> this is a stormwatch 7 winter weather alert. leon: the story right now is what is happening on the roads and what is not happening, incredible scenes of roads not even moving. living it, korff is right in the middle of dulles toll road on i-66. bring us up to date, jay. well, quite frankly it has broken a record. we are still in the same spot, we have not moved at all, and we don't know when we are going to move, and that is the frustration for a lot of people. this expanse of cars has literally been here about four and half hours. a lot of these folks are so frustrated they don't want to talk to us. this nice gentleman, brian from arlington, who has been doing work in his car he has so much time coming he has pulled out some stuff, studying for some

kind of exam. tell me your level of frustration. >> i've been here about four hours. i work in reston. as soon as i got past tysons, about 8:00 am it is been a standstill. everybody has been hanging out on the road, talking, trying to figure out with going on. no one really knows what's going on. are we have heard there really serious accidents, the roads are treacherous, the state police have may shut roads around 66. vdot is trying to get trucks there, but who knows when we are going to start moving. >> yeah, i'm just playing it by ear. i'm just kind to stay calm. i have stuff to do in the carful do someh -- i have to stuff. just trying to stay calm. up 66 the roads are

legitimately very slick. we saw a lot of crashes, a fine sheen of ice on the roads. it is understandable there have been a lot of crashes. the confluence of when this occurred and how it has occurred has led to this disastrous situation. at the end of the day is, sure, they may open roads, but when will the salt trucks be out here to treat the roads? leon: alison: my goodness. alison:that is awful. leon: a long night ahead for everyone out there.

alison: what a mess. and a it is a big mess, little bit of ice and snow go a long way to cause problems. let's fast-forward, friday, a blizzard watch converting to a blizzard warning. a warning, that means the storm is a minute, it's going to happen. we are forecasting it will start in the afternoon hours friday. if you have errands to run early friday morning, the last-minute runs, that is the time to do it. we will see possibly one to two feet of snow. leon: jimmy kimmel live is next. alison: be careful.

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away. get out of the past. get fios.

and now abc's "jimmy kimmel live! >> announcer: from hollywood it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight - casey affleck, from "grease - live" vanessa hudgens, and music from savages with cleto and the cletones. and now, no kidding, here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪