district declared states of emergency. that means national guard troops are on standby. leon: in the district, snow effect takes place by 9:30 tomorrow morning so you have to get your car out of emergency places. we have storm team coverage. we check in throughout the d.m.v. but we'll begin with chief meteorologist doug hill and meteorologist steve rudin for the timing of the storm. doug? doug: we are 24 hours away from the snow falling around the nation's capital. the watch we had for the blizzard is now a warning. it goes into effect tomorrow afternoon in the metro area. all the county shaded including the district in red. under the blizzard warnings. the blizzard watches on the shore may be upgraded. to the west, the areas in pink are the winter storm warnings. as far as the time it begin, the winter storm warning begins at 1:00 p.m. spotsylvania, prince william, southern maryland. the warning goes into effect at 3 seven. in the metro county.

the metro area. later toward 6:00. but that will be the kickoff time along the county that border the pennsylvania line. this could extend east. the difference between the warning and the blizzard doesn't have to do with the snow that will fall. it has to do with the winds. the winds are stronger in metro points east than the west. there is the storm gathering a ton of moisture out of the gulf of mexico. severe thunderstorms, tornado possible. it will move east. as it does you will see the storm move in. look at the future cast to give you time step by late afternoon. the snow will be here and heavy at it times. a few areas of sleet. it could change back to snow before it ends sunday morning. snow is one part of the story but the winds are the next. steve: it's a big problem moving through on saturday with the busty winds in excess of 40, 50 miles per hour.

look at the wind gusts. this is by 10:30 tomorrow night. 40 miles per hour at the airport. winds could be at 40 to 50 miles per hour. those will increase out of the northeast. we move through the day on saturday. saturday morning look at the winds. ocean city. wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. it's windy through the day on sunday and then it will begin to ease through late sunday afternoon. look at the blizzard impact and the impossible travel on roads, rail, air for friday to the day on saturday. look for power outages and the school closings will likely last through early next week. look at the projection map for you. 12 to 22 inches around the capital beltway. it looks like the bullseye could be further off toward the west. winchester, leesburg, around charlottesville. 18 to 25 inches. keep in mind this is what we

are expecting right now but the map will likely change a little bit as we move through the actual storm. we will keep you updated. of course online at wjla.com. doug and i will be back shortly from the belfort furniture weather center. alison: we'll see you soon. the school closings are pouring in. some of the biggest districts include d.c., fairfax, montgomery, arlington, prince william county. they have all closed for tomorrow. now complete list is there at wjla.com. it's always going to be scrolling on your screen. leon: to give you an idea of the severity of the storm get this. metro announced within the hour it will be closed on both saturday and sunday. stephen tschida is live with the metro plans on this. this is pretty much unprecedented. i can't recall this ever happening. stephen: i have been covering storms in d.c. for two decades, leon. never anything like this. metro taking a bold step as a blizzard bears down on us. let me show you in detail. this is what we are talking

about. metro rail, tomorrow night at 11:00 p.m. shutting down all rail service. metrobuss shutting down at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. a major move from metro. as a massive blizzard bears down on us. >> metrorail will shut down tomorrow evening at 11:00 p.m. okay? it will be shut down saturday and sunday. stephen: metro will hold bus service at 5:00 p.m. friday and metro access at 1:00 p.m. underground rail service will stop out of concern over high winds cutting off power. and trapping passengers below. >> it's going to be hectic. stephen: as far as transportation above the nation capital, it's normal for now. >> happy to go home with a little snow. stephen: at reagan national airport the sidewalks are salted and the runways prepped. we spotted a deiceer at the ready. meanwhile the rush to get out of town ahead of the storm

picked up today. >> good to get out here before the storm. i didn't want to be trapped in the hotel room all weekend long. stephen: passengers took advantage of the free rescheduling option to take off early. >> a day and a half. stephen: american airlines announced it's canceling all flights saturday and about 50% of the flights will be operating after 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. getting back to metro, now, hundreds of metro rail cars will be stored in those underground tunnels over the weekend. to keep them out of harm's way. as far as when service will resume, no definitive timeline yet. stephen tschida, abc7 news. alison: thank you. much of the early decisions to close could be contributed to the disaster that unfolded on the area roads last night. it was a dusting of snow. it paralyzed the entire area. leading to hours and hours

long commute for thousands of people. the city of arlington admitted it underestimated the storm. d.c. mayor muriel bowser echoed that sentiment. mayor bowser: we are very sorry for inadequate response. we believe that we did not provided a quite resources at a time where it could make a difference in last evening's commute. alison: so the signs of last night's debacle were visible well past this morning's commute. abandoned cars littered the shoulders of every major highway. that includes tractor-trailers. they were forced to pull off after the drivers hit the maximum number of hours driven. leon: of course, the challenge for area leaders is to learn from the commuter catastrophe that we saw last night preparing for a by saturday less than 24 hours a -- blizzard less than 24 hours away. kevin lewis, they can't afford to fall on their face like last night. that is for sure.

kevin: that is absolutely correct, leon. we are at 495 and connecticut avenue. the scene here akin to a parking lot. cars bumper to bumper. it was all because believe it or not less than one inch of snowfall. stuck in this nightmare of an afternoon commute was brian. >> it was a surprise. i will tell you that. stephen: her husband was also a victim of multi-hour gridlock. >> it was blinding snow and icy conditions. i was white knuckling it the whole way home. kevin: this screen shot of google maps captures the chaos. three dozen wrecks. many cars were hauled to anchor towing in gaithersburg. including this her sids benz coup, and the emergency lights still flashing this afternoon. >> spin-outs. mainly abandoned. people trying to navigate and they couldn't do it. kevin: just got fed up. >> and left.

>> keep in mind the original forecast was said to be a light dusting. reporter: today the montgomery county executive said his crews were thorough and proactive to street the roadways. when asked about the maryland state highway performance the agency that handles roads like ithe 270 and 490, he had this to say. >> while we work in cooperation with the state, we are trying to get them to maximize the effort to the level of montgomery county. i don't think they have gotten there. kevin: even though county executive patted himself and his crews on the back today, he did admit that there were only 12 of 500 trucks actually applying brine to roadways across the county prior to yesterday's snowfall. live along the capital beltway in chevy chase, kevin lewis, abc7 news. leon: abc7 wants your opinion. weigh in on the twitter poll

right now. we are asking you if you think the local governments are ready for the blizzard after what we saw last night? go to twitter and weigh in. alison: tonight thousands in the area are on a mission. find milk, find bread, toilet paper, of course, snow shovels, salt. the list goes on and on. suzanne kennedy is checking the store shelves for us and is live from a safeway in bethesda. i know a lot of people are sold-out. what are you finding? suzanne: very limited number of these. take a look at the shell evers to my right. you can see they are bare and down the aisle it's picked over as well. it will be hard for them to restock the shelves in order to keep up with the demand they are experiencing now. everybody is getting out and getting ready. the mad dash to be prepared for the blizzard of 2016. empty shelves. and long lines are what people are finding as they get ready for the weekend. 73-year-old ida lindsay is

having a hard time finding rock salt and a shovel. >> i will just have to go to another store to see if they have what i want for supplies. but i have to get something today. suzanne: hardware city in kensington sold 1,200 bags of snow melt and 200 shovels since tuesday. >> we sold out of everything. we are hoping to get ice and shuffles to tomorrow. suzanne: she came to get a scraper for the car. grocery stores were packed. the lines never died down today at the bethesda safeway. >> i'm wifing all things that are the comfort food and bad for me. >> i have a dog that is out of food. my daughter, her huss and grandson, 5-month-old. i want to have food in the house. suzanne: liquor stores seeing bump in sales. >> real necessity. i got wine, i got beer. got to be ready to have the neighbors over. whoever wants to and have a

great time. suzanne: i spent the day yesterday getting my family ready, get to the store and enduring the long lines. one thing i couldn't find is the kind of bread my children like. they are picky. i found it here. i am considering myself one of the lucky ones tonight. reporting live in bethesda, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. alison: there you go. meant to be. all right. coming up at 5:00 -- leon: doug hill will have a question and answer session on twitter and you can see what he said.

leon: a private now is plow driver is likely to face charges after a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian. 51-year-old was killed and the driver was found a short time later. alison: severe weather, of course, puts a strain on emergency services and all services really. in fact, we have just learned

starting tomorrow friday at 4:00 p.m. united airlines is canceling all flights from dulles airport. so form at 4:00, united canceling all flights from dulles. leon: first airline we heard to do that. there may be more but that is the first. alison: we will let you know as we hear. as far as e.m.s., they have to rush people to the hospital. they still have to care for anyone injured or hospitalized. leon: so, how do they prepare to do all that? we send our diane cho to find out. she continues our storm watch team coverage now from medstar washington hospital center. diane? diane: well, leon, alison, at the hospital we went to today, they tell us they are already planning on trying to bring some of the staff members in a day early, that they are working on saturday to make sure that they don't have any issues out on the roads. here at the hospital center the planning for the storm has begun. >> we will prepare to shelter in place staff friday night

and saturday night. >> at virginia hospital center -- >> you do all the prep to ensure that you can maintain operations through the duration of the storm. diane: a similar scene testing out the backup generators in case the power goes out and doubling up on the supplies. >> the normal truck delivery for linens got stuck on the beltway due to the weather from yesterday. we don't want to be in a precarious situation as a result of it. diane: in order to get to the hospital, the fire and the e.m.s. department says it is calling for additional resources from the county. drive vehicles and snowplows that are assigned specifically to emergency responders. he says because the ambulances do not have four-wheel drive, it's possible you could see a fire truck or ambulance stop at a road while they go to plan "b." >> if you call for an ambulance, and a four-wheel drive jeep shows up with firefighters and medics on

board we had to do that out of necessity. we may transport you out of the community back to the main road where the fire or the paramedic is. diane: he says now that the governor has declared a state of emergency for tomorrow in maryland they plan to ask the national guard to use two or three of the humvees, which can get through anything. leon: thank you, diane. small taste of that last night. >> this storm will happen. blizzard warning. two components of the storm, incredible snow we think. heavy snowfall and high winds around the area. kick off the coverage.

>> this the is belle haven country club. the sunshine melted the snow. the temperature of 31 degrees. show you the area at freezing. leesburg. 30 in frederick. be careful of the roadways an the sidewalks this evening. forecast for the overnight, 16 to 25 degrees. clouds will arrive early tomorrow morning. the big news, we have a blizzard warning for the d.c. metro area. fairfax, arlington, alexandria.? this will start at 3:00 in the afternoon and continues through 6:00 on sunday. further west you go, you have

a winter storm warning. even though we are under a warning in the area you will see quite a bit of snow. when will you see first flakes in the neighborhood? noon to 3:00. the district, the surrounding county, southern maryland. winchester. first flakes. by 5:00, later than that, to b.w.i. marshall and philadelphia. there are the problems arriving quickly. doug: the cause of this is this area of the low pressure developing now. texarkana area that is creating tornado warnings around jackson, mississippi.

they pick up the moisture. the upper level winds will increase. these are all things you can't see. this is the real deal. the future cast shows the snow that is making inroads to the southwestern virginia tomorrow morning. in the mid-afternoon it will arrive in the metro. you notice through the progression, the yellow, green, sleet, mix. the sleet could move to the metro area. you could see a difference in the town. there san opportunity that we could get thunderstorm thrown

in. they could pick up additional areas. this is a friday, saturday, and early sunday event. winds are a big story. we are gusting 50 to 55 miles per hour along the by a. this is going to cause beach erosion. there is a combo of the rain, snow, high winds. saturday on the roads, air, rail. the power outages are a big deal. school closings. a lot of schools have decided

to skip classes tomorrow. 18 to 25 inches in the higher elevations to the west. 12 to 222 in the metro. is this the final say on the numbers? no. we may have to adjust them up or down. but make an adjustment for what i see now you would probably adjust up rather than down. okay. alison: still to come we are following other big stories not tied to the weather tonight. leon: workers are hurt after a collapse at a d.c. hotel. what went wrong up next. alison: we have the latest on the school closings ahead. remember to get alerts sent to your phone. sign up to wjla.com/text. number of people signed up for the alerts doubled overnight

by the way. join in. as a small business owner, you know things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you wn. so switch to the 100% fiber optic network of verizon fios. you'll get 99.9% network reliability, and the fastest wi-fi available. for a network that moves as fast as your business. right now, upgrade to fios 50 meg or higher internet and phone and get $250 back. call or go online today. small business is better on a better network.

leon: construction workers injured working at a d.c. in washington. a wall in front of a hotel

collapsed. two of the victims are now in critical condition. the other seriously hurt but expected to be okay. the cause of the collapse now under investigation. alison: the man convicted of killing three people at their homes in alexandria learns his fate. a judge sentenced charles severance to three consecutive life sentences. in november he was convicted of murdering three people and given 48 years in prison for other charges. the prosecutors opted against seeking the death penalty. leon: a big development following "7 on your side" investigation between cancer and crumb rubber. they called for comprehensive taxes. they said this issue can no longer be ignored.

the i-team told you last fall that experts are concerned about more than 100 athletes diagnosed with cancer. all of this on the synthetic turf with crumb rubber. alison: coming up next at 5:00 -- >> preparations are underway for those upcoming but questions about what went wrong last night. we have a response from terry mcauliffe in a live report. leon: coming up next, doug will give us a timeline for the blizzard headed this way. use

announcer: this is a storm watch 7 winter weather alert. alison: we have major developments ahead of an expected blizzard tomorrow. leon: metro announced it will shut down the bus service at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow. trains will be shut off at 11:00 p.m. and will remain closed all weekend long. the reason for that is the major storm in the area. chief meteorologist doug hill tracking the storm. when do we expect the conditions. ra doug: the snow will develop tomorrow afternoon. this is the area of the blizzard warning. the whole area and blue ridge as well. blizzard watches for the

blizzard warnings here before long. moisture comek to play. future cast getting close. the temperatures are at or below freezing in the day. rain across the coast. the areas with the sleet will get less snow but even areas of sleet will turn back to snow as the storm continues to crank up. this will show you another computer model and how much snow is accumulating. check this out. early saturday morning at 7:00, it's already culpeper, and close to a foot in the district. this gets better. getting through the day saturday the numbers climb. this is the model forecast.

30 inches in winchester. a foot in the district. big numbers. 18 to 25 inches. can the numbers change? yes. but the big story besides the heavy snow is the high winds. travel is impossible in the day on saturday. jonathan elias has more on what is upcoming. jonathan: that is a bonus snow day. it's a friday. they will finally get it. a long list of the closures. you can find this on the website at wjla.com. d.c. public schools, montgomery county, arlington county schools, fairfax county. prince william county. charles county public schools, stafford county public

schools. alexandria city schools, faquier county all announcing they are closed tomorrow. you can sign up for the text alert to let you know what is happening with the conditions and the closures. to get the app go to wjla.com/text. you can check out the bottom of the screen. it will be up and running. a lot of government employees out there, thousands of them are wanting to know what will happen with the schedule tomorrow. o.p.m. not yet heard back from them about the plans. when we get that we'll pass it on to you. that is the latest. back to you. leon: last night provaled it.

even a tiny amount of the snow in the area can wreak havoc. we are looking at how virginia is preparing for two feet of snow after last night. how is it looking out there, jeff? jeff: you can tell the energy starting to pick up here at the operations headquarters in fairfax for vdot. all hands on deck. everybody is working the storm. 4,000 pieces of equipment in virginia is on the road. the treat of the roads gets going. pretreatment of the roads is a major problem in the last 24 hours. they're ready to go. >> fairfax county is prepared. jeff: so, too, is the commonwealth of virginia according to governor terry mcauliffe who this morning declared state of emergency. >> we are mobilized and ready. jeff: frustration still stings

following wednesday night nightmare commute, some lasting six, seven, eight hours. many drivers abandoning their cars in the middle of 66 and the beltway or even the dulles toll road. >> sometimes when ice comes down quickly. even when the pretreatment. sometimes the ice comes as fast as it did. we were on yesterday with 500 trucks. just in northern virginia. jeff: according to vdot it was a combination of problems. the rush hour timing, trucks stuck in the same traffic as cars and not enough trucks mobilizing fast enough to pretreat roads. >> it was chaos. >> what happened last night was not okay. that can't be repeated during the following days. jeff: fairfax county officials today expressing confidence that vdot will rebound and perform well in upcoming tomorrow. county leaders have a big request for the residents. >> please stay home and stay off the roads. >> certainly good advice.

you look at this, vdot says it is ready for the big storm. not going to a rpeat of what happened last night. after the state of emergency, it allowed restrictions to be removed. restrictions where it needs to be in the commonwealth. 500 members of the virginia national guard will be called up to help where needed. governor mcauliffe said fighting this storm could cost $2 to $3 million an hour. to keep it safe and running smoothly it's worth every penny. live in fairfax, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. alison: jeff, thank you. still ahead at 5:00 -- the changes already being made to major events planned for this weekend in our area. cheryl: i'm cheryl conner in northwest washington. we asked what they are doing to keep electricity on in the blizzard. leon: make sure you stay connected with the storm watch weather team throughout the storm event. we'll stream all the coverage on wjla.com.

steve: the heavier snow will overspread the region through the late night hours tomorrow and heavy snow early saturday morning through saturday. then all of this will finally begin to lift out of here and it appears that will happen late saturday and early, early sunday. then the big clean-up continues or will begin after

that. how much snow are we talking about? anywhere between 12 to 22 inches around the immediate metro. we have more updates throughout the evening. stay with us. "abc7 news at 5:00" continues.

alison: well, along with law enforcement and hospital workers power crews are essential. high winds alone may put customers in the dark. leon: cheryl conner talks to

petco about what they are doing to get ready. cheryl: if your electric has ever gone out for days, you don't forget. >> not fun at all. cheryl: we caught up with latanya keys who paid the culpeper bill and bracing -- and pepco bill and bracing for what will happen this weekend. it could leave the family to find their own heat. >> extra blankets, you know. more thermals. long johns. cheryl: pepco spokesman said the crews cut back trees near powerlines throughout the year to prepare for storms. workers will be on standby for the customers in d.c. and part of montgomery and prince george's county. >> we have a full complement of crews available. linemen and contracted linemen. if the wind are up 30 miles per hour, they would l have to

suspend the work above ground. lines are underground in d.c. but other parts they hang among the street and homes to make some more comfortable. >> i had a child born with lung problems. alison: coming up next at 5:00 -- >> i'm mike carter-conneen at the auto show. a major event affected by the coming snowstorm. leon: we are at your fingertips around the clock. download the storm watch weather app for the conditions where you live. that is available in the itunes and the google play store.

leon: it's not just the cools, the blizzard has forced cancellation of major events in the region. garth brooks announced shows in baltimore friday and saturday are postponed. tickets will be honored on another date to be determined. meanwhile, mike carter-conneen reports the fate of other events remains unclear.

mike: to beat the blizzard a george washington women's home game moved from saturday to friday at noon. at umd all athletic events this weekend have been postponed. games at the verizon center this weekend are still scheduled but the capitals and the wizards say they are tracking the forecast. >> no matter what the weather is we'll stand in solidarity. >> today, tens of thousands of antiabortion protesters began arriving in washington with a few extra supplies just in case. >> i have clothes and granola bars. i think i'll be all right. >> the reason we are here is a pilgrimage thing. we might have to go without. >> mayor bowser called on march organizers to make good decisions for the participants but they say they will go on even if there is a dip in attendance. >> many groups have had to cancel. the march will go on and there will be a few brave souls including myself. for those who can't come i hope they participate in tv and social media. mike: tonight the washington

auto show is hosting special events but tomorrow's event is impacted. they are fully endorsed and many of the workers are at the nearby hotels the convention center is owned by the district. organizers of the event says it is required to close in a state of emergency. >> we run through the 31st. there will be plenty of opportunities to come see the show. >> leave it to a car salesman to find a silver lining in white-out conditions. >> we have a number of vehicles across the line with great four-wheel drive capability to get you through where you need to go. >> in northwest, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. alison: let's check on the roads right now. jamie sullivan on traffic watch tonight. any improvements over last night? jamie: gosh, yes! we have seen so many improves from last night. i react that way because last night was unlike anything i have seen before. we had huge, huge backups.

you see red lights behind me and truly this is better. there are not ice under the tires. slowing on northbound 395. we had a crash blocking the left lane. if you have a lane taken out, everyone slows down. heavy from georgetown. bigger picture, 395 heavy, southbound from the 11th street bridge to the national harbor slowing. we have that as well on the inner and the outer loop. not terrible on 295. not many crashes now. what we had earlier cleared away. yellow line normal service resumed. reminder that the service has been suspended. metro -- metrorail, metrobus, access sunday and sunday. v.r.e. has not made a decision for tomorrow yesterday.

that is a look at traffic. back to you. leon: can't help but think of the irony. two days ago we head a story this is being the most educated city in america. not smart enough to handle one inch of snow. alison: it was bad. it was so bad, steve, on so many levels. steve: one inch of snow but a thin layer of ice and it made all the difference around here. we have a much different situation on the way as we move through the next several days. we already have a blizzard warning in effect for district, arlington, alexandria. everything that is shaded in red. further west you go, toward western maryland, that is a winter storm warning. it's in effect at 3:00 thunderstorm afternoon. continuing through tomorrow night. into the day on saturday. finally coming to an end at 6:00 on sunday. that is when things should wrap up and start to improve dramatically here with clearing skies. speaking of the clearing skies, no problems at this hour. live doppler radar. around the capital beltway. be on the lookout for the slick spots, especially now

that the sun is set and we have the icy spot through the cold temperatures. this is where a big storm is located across the deep south. it's going to track north and east and we move through the next 24 hours. by this time tomorrow night, we will see heavier snow beginning to overspread the area. our target time is 3:00 to 5:00 around the capital beltway. the further north and east you go, you have extra time. roadways should start to recover at 7:00 or 8:00 tomorrow night. the future cast, 11:00 you are fine around the d.c. metro area. you can see how heavy the snow will be or will become

saturday and in the day on saturday. it will improve thursday morning. how much are we talking about? 12 to 22 inches around the d.c. metro. parts of southern maryland. further you go, 18 to 25. it's not out of the question. let's send it on a brighter♪. the temperatures will warm to the lower 40's on monday. at least after the big, big storm this weekend. snow sizable storms in the near future. alison: that is a good note to end on. leon: good note to end on. talk about cancellations. robert: surprisingly. leon: sports wise. robert: we have to wait to see this weekend but so far looks good. we start with the scheduling news. we have been in contact with the monumental sports and they tell us the caps and the wizards will play as scheduled this weekend but they will continue to monitor the situation. wizards host the jazz and the caps host anaheim on friday. the caps teamed up last night

with a national non-profit organization to provide services to anyone grieving the death of someone who died while serving in the military. abc7's scott abraham says caps provided plenty of smiles from the ice. scott: 1 yearst ago, they had -- 11 years ago they had the world turned upside down. >> i opened the door and two men in uniform standed there. i backed up to wait for my mom and i ran to my room. i knew what happened. scott: staff sergeant was killed in iraq. >> taps was a place for me to find security. it was a place for me to be myself. >> at least for this night. >> i was crying but i couldn't stop. >> and her grief turned to joy with the help of the washington capitals. >> just to be able to put a smile on their face. enjoy the time with some of the teammates and i. scott: this family is one of several here at the capitals ice plex. at least for an hour.

it's a chance for everybody to come together for a great cause. >> events like these are awesome. knowing that people, you know, as big as the capitals are there to support us. like letting us know they care about us. >> just enjoy the time out here together. try to make new friends. >> making new friends on the ice. scott abraham, abc7 sports. robert: scott, thank you for that. the fifth year the washington capitals and taps put on the event together. over 150 people participated last night. leon: capital love being on the ice with people not trying leon: capital love being on the ice with people not trying to hit them

as a small business owner, you know things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you wn. so switch to the 100% fiber optic network of verizon fios. you'll get 99.9% network reliability, and the fastest wi-fi available. for a network that moves as fast as your business. right now, upgrade to fios 50 meg or higher internet and phone and get $250 back. call or go online today. small business is better on a better network.

alison: was we get ready for the blizzard of 2016, let's take a look back at the storms burned in our memory. it's not hard to remember digging out from some of the doozies we have had in recent years but joce sterman did some digging. pulling out the video from storms, well, we'd rather

skip. joce: we start out with an odd fact. the thing, anyone who lived through the two snowiest days on record in the district of columbia, well, they are already probably already dead. we have to go way back for those. 1899, 1922. but on the up side, there are plenty of very fun and challenging storms that all of us remember. we have seen pictures from the viewers today. how adorable is that? you fondly remember the storms. so do we. let's take a look. when it comes to rewinding the clock, the memories are a little more painful for some than others. the postal workers trudging through the blizzard of 1996 are hopefully retired by now. but 20 years ago they were in the thick of more than 17 inches of snow dropped in the fifth biggest storm on record in d.c. we are reminding you things were no better in 2003. just ask the metrobus drivers who ended up stranded in the

president's day storm that didn't even crack d.c.'s top five. but it was still a big one. some suburbs piled up more than two feet of snow. >> it's like being a kid again. walking around in the snow. joce: walking way better than flying 13 years ago when flights canceled for days. those who hit the roads regretted it. >> i have been here 30 years. this is bores we have seen -- this is the worst i have seen. jocejoce: snowaggedon of 2011 st portion of some buildings to the ground collecting under the weight of snow. some saw the lighter side of digging out. turning dupont circumstance -- circle to a ski lane. send us your pictures and the video. e-mail them to pics@wjla.com. in the newsroom, joce sterman, abc7 news. announcer: it literally is the calm before the storm with

blizzard watches across our area. [siren ] >> i'm declaring a state of emergency for the district of columbia. >> what happened last night was not okay. >> there are abandoned cars everywhere. >> that can't be repeated. >> local authorities will almost certainly be overwhelmed. >> we will treat this as a homeland security event. >> we take this very seriously. >> be prepared and be patient. this is a storm watch 7 winter weather alert. leon: potentially historic blizzard is on its way to d.c. region. several school districts shutting down already in anticipation. we will have a list of all of them at the bottom of the screen. maureen: right now we have live team coverage at the abc7 team to help you prepare for up to two feet of snow. let's start with chief meteorologist doug hill who has the timeline of the storm. doug? doug: all right, maureen, leon. we have gone from the blizzard watch to a blizzard warning. give you a big look at it.

all the counties in red on the map. indicating that the start time is tomorrow afternoon. run through early the morning of sunday with a lot of snow and a lot of wind between now and then. as far as specifics go, get a couple of facts to look at. 1:00 p.m. is the start time in the southern areas. that is when it will begin tomorrow. 6:00 at the maryland-pennsylvania line. the snow will be advancing to the southwest. it will take longer to get the areas. this is the storm that will cause it all. it is causing problems with widespread heavy rain, thunderstorms and tornadoes as well. gulf moisture that is going to coalesce along the system. it will get stronger and trip toward our area. of course, the exact track it takes when it gets close to us will determine, that is the determining factor of the total accumulation, how high the w