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 winds will be and the

distribution will be as well. let's talk about the timeline of the snow itself. 11:00 tomorrow we'll come in the areas through charlottesville and make a steady movement to the northeast. it's steady snow once it starts. by 5:00, washington and baltimore, to get heavier and heavier. there will be the areas and the times with sleet mix in. it will knock down snow accumulation to sleet areas. but more cold air generated to turn it back to snow. some areas the wind and the sleet is the story. colder air, metro area and west the snow is the big story. it may not taper off until sometime before sunrise on sunday morning. in the height of the storm. 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. start afternoon, travel is impossible at times. roads, rail, you name it, not going anywhere. power outages because of the high winds. school closings. some are closed tomorrow and some classes next week. this is the latest map of the projection of the snow totals.

18 to 25 to the west. 12 to 22 and the large swath. farther south and east for the eastern shore, six to 12. there may be rain and sleet. that will cut down on the totals. i am telling you what. the big story you know about the numbers here. the winds. we have the winds gusting to 45 miles per hour during the storm. 15 miles per hour along the chesapeake bay. 65 miles per hour not out of the question on the ocean beaches. blizzard is named after a reason. visibility is near zero at times. we have more coming up. maureen: thank you, doug. in an unusual move metro is shutting down for the weekend because of the storm. bus service will end 59:00 tomorrow night -- 5:00 tomorrow night and rail service will stop at 11:00 tomorrow night and those services will stay shut down all day saturday and sunday. stephen tschida is live at metro headquarters with the very latest on this decision. stephen: maureen, a big move from metro as the major storm approaches.

all service coming to a halt tomorrow. that includes buses and metrorail. even underground trains. metro taking a bold step in advance of a predicted blizzard. >> it's 11:00 p.m. friday, the metro system will be closed and remain closed all day saturday and sunday. stephen: metrorail shutting down tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. bus service at 5:00 and met role access at 1:00 p.m. concern over a storm of historic proportions prompted metro management to respond in kind. even holding underground service out of concern about high winds knocking out power. >> we can not risk putting the customers out there and leave them stranded in conditions that we are expecting. stephen: hundreds of rail cars will fill tunnels to avoid potential damage. >> d.c. is not ready for this kind of weather. stephen: airlines are following suit. they have already canceled some flights out of regional airports. this prompted passengers to

reschedule option and get out early. >> with the blizzard coming i don't want to be stuck here. stephen: now american airlines and united airlines both announced they are canceling flights in advance of this storm. united tomorrow afternoon will halt flights out tov area airports. american will begin cutting service tomorrow afternoon and stop all flights as of saturday. metro, nody fintive timeline to when -- definitive timeline when service will resume. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: thank you. officials in d.c. are taking steps now to prepare for the come storm. this is as mayor muriel bowser admits officials dropped the ball with last night's snow. d.c. bureau chief sam ford with the mayor's apology. sam? sam: leon, yes. the name didn't like to think as much about what happened last night as she did yesterday when she brought the press here to see the shovels

she had 2,000 volunteers she wants to help people recover the elderly and the disabled to recover after the storm. but a story she had to you can the about today, last night. >> we don't believe we prepared a quitely for a forecast that was -- prepared a quitely for a forecast that was more than we got at rush hour. he should have been out with more resources. sam: mayor muriel bowser today apologized for the gridlock and inch of snow turning the roadway to ice last night because so few of the roads were treated. >> i'm not used to driving in snow. it was rough. sam: today, bowser showed off the hundreds of trucks being filled with the 29,000 tons of salt the city has in the dome to deal with the blizzard. the mayor announced a list of actions she has declared for tomorrow. state of emergency, snow emergency, meaning no parking beginning at 9:30 a.m. on snow emergency routes.

school closed. d.c. government closed at noon. but as for the city's new line to fine $25 for residents who don't clear their walks -- >> we don't expect to issue tickets to residents during the snow event. this is a blizzard. sam: they urged people to stay off the street so people aren't hurt. >> there are people who can be put at risk if people don't stay home when we ask them to. >> organizers if the annual march for life set for tomorrow say they will march. the city management director -- >> we encourage them not to -- to do the right thing and take a look at the storm to make sure they are not putting people in harm's way. sand people who want help for the program should call 311. if you want to help and i'm sure if you asked them how to get in touch with the people to help they will do it as

women. reporting rivalling -- they will do that as well. reporting live, sam ford, abc7 news. alison: m.d. -- maureen: maryland and virginia are also preparing for the storm. maryland governor larry hogan held a news conference this afternoon and said the state emergency management agency is helping to coordinate the effort. he urges drivers to stay off the roads in the height of the storm. in virginia, more than 500 national guard members have been activated to assist with the storm. governor terry mcauliffe says crews began preparing for the storm yesterday and are pretreating roads. leon: folks, whatever you do, stay off the roads when you shouldn't be out there. stay connected with us as the storm approaches. download the storm watch app around the clock. er for coverage and up to the minute forecasts as well. maureen: still ahead on "abc7 news at 6:00" -- sentencing for charles severance. the fate of the man convicted in a spree of killings in

alexandria. leon: continuing coverage of the winter weather alert. shelves are bare as people get out and rush for the last-minute supplies. live report. doug: we are under a blizzard warning. heavy snow and high winds. that is a combination. details coming up.

maureen: two workers are in critical condition following a construction accident in northwest washington. it happened at the savoy suites hotel in 2500 block on wisconsin after near the naval observatory. third worker suffered non-life threatening injuries. the men were working on a lift at the time of the accident. >> three life stenses for the man convicted of killing three people in alexandria. charles severance was found guilty of murdering nancy dunning, ron kirby and ruthanne lodato. prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty. coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- >> shell evers are emptying -- shell evers are emptying out in advance of the weekend potential blizzard. i'm suzanne kennedy with the story coming up. maureen: right now the calm before the storm. but tomorrow we are looking at the historic snowfall with strong winds and treacherous

conditions. team coverage from storm watch meteorologist coming up.

leon: everybody knows the drill when the storms hit. you have to get the batteries and the toilet paper. time is running out to get supplies. the shelves are already looking bare. suzanne kennedy is in bethesda where the last-minute shoppers are stocking up. i see you still have a crowd behind you, suzanne. suzanne: it's been steady all day long, leon. if you plan to go out tonight and on in to tomorrow take a look at this. this is what you will run into. you will run into the lines of the people getting ready for the weekend predicted blizzard. a local hardware stores they are seeing a surge in business. many have system shelfs that are now bare. people are stocking up and and preparing to be snowed in. >> flashlights, batteries, propane, propane heaters and generators. snow blowers also. obviously salt and shovels. not even the regular snow shovels. they are getting garden

shovels, too. suzanne: i just checked the shelves here, the bread and the water. it's lean. so if you want to get something, perhaps come out this evening or at least very early tomorrow morning. reporting live in bethesda, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. leon: all right. maureen: we don't want to fight about your forecast. doug: it would be nice to forecast sunshine and 80-degree temperatures but it's not going to happen. we are going to have a blizzard across the major portion of the area. heavy snow and strong winds. steve rudin going to start the coverage. who is under the blizzard warning? steve: d.c. area. fairfax, everyone in red at this time. all the counties including all of southern maryland. head up to b.w.i. or baltimore, the winter storm warning. further west you go, the blizzard warning in the area shaded in red and the winter storm warning shaded in pink.

that is tomorrow afternoon and continues through saturday. saturday night to early sunday morning. this is where the storm is located. moisture moving in from the gulf of mexico. if you look closely, the marks here are tornado warnings right now. the area of low pressure moves across. we will look for the atmosphere to become more, well the clouds roll in and look for the snow to start. that will happen through late night hours tomorrow. look at the huge area under the winter storm watch at this time. nashville, charleston, charlotte, raleigh. all under the winter storm warning. the closer to our area we have a blizzard warning. so far our area looks to be the bullseye for the worst of the storm in washington. when can we expect the first flakes to fall? noon and 3:00 south and west of us. moving through the daytime hours tomorrow around 3:00 to 5:00, the district, montgomery county, prince george's county, all of southern maryland. further north and east you go from d.c., that is where we look at the snow to start the

latest. moves off toward the philadelphia area. doug, get an update as far as what we expect the timeline and what to expect of everything. doug: the area you showed for this to kick in is on the mark right now, even though the storm is well far away. we'll show you the future cast. give you a timeline. look at the date and time. 6:00, we have clear skies. nice day around the capital and the viewing area today. but quickly in the morning the clouds will increase and south and west ahead of the storm center. according to this model is 1:30 tomorrow there will be heavy snow. and farther south to the carolina and path greensboro. the storm will continue to develop. it will continue to draw in the colder air. the snow field will expand.

rain is a story, too. because it a sose big and a strong circulation to bring in gulf moisture and from the atlantic ocean. if air over top the ocean so there is rain and sleet. the snow will melt and refreezes through another layer. so that is the story. forecast accumulation numbers are lower south and east and eastern on the eastern shore because of the phenomena. sometimes the storms go back and forth. now we are at 1:30 in the afternoon according to the future cast on saturday. heavy snow all over the place. there is a line that could suggest it will creep up through st. mary's county. this is blown around by the strong winds.

tomorrow night, close to 40 miles per hour. 50 miles per hour tomorrow saturday morning. we're under blizzard warning in the metro and not out west. that he have wind gust over 65 miles per hour in ocean city and the delaware beaches. big wind and big snow. what will it do to us? the power outages are a concern because of the heavy wet snow in the bay. especially the areas with the trees and the higher winds. school closing tomorrow before the first flake falls we could see it for several days next week in some jurisdictions. the numbers are 18 to 25 inches. 12 to 22 in a large area through the metro washington and baltimore. this is a major storm. whether it's the second biggest or third or fourth biggest who knows. the impact is the a tough day.

we will be here. to keep you covered. don't worry about that. robert: breaking news caps game is moved up to 5:00 against anaheim. the nats might have made a splash in free agent pool. we spent time with the nation's top scorer in college basketball. that story and a surprise. that is next.

announcer: now the toyota sports desk brought to you by your local toyota dealers. robert: we start with breaking news with the impending blizzard headed our way. capitals game rescheduled for friday. moved up to 5:00 p.m. if you are planning to watch the team this weekend, monument sports tells us the wizards will play as schedule. they will host the jazz saturday at 6:30. all right, meanwhile, reports say the nationals made offer to yoenis cespedes. team has not commented on confirmed the report. if i told you that there is a junior leading the country in scoring for college hoops you might ask where does he play? play for kansas? maybe oklahoma? or even maryland? well, i tell you none of those places. in fact, i say he is right here in our backyard and he is only 5'11". he is not even six feet tall.

he doesn't play for kentucky or duke. but he is the ncaa division i leading scorer. james daniel and he is at howard. >> if someone told you, you'd be averaging 30 a game leading the country in scoring, what would you have told them? >> i would have said wow! that sounds nice. bring it down a little bit. robert: despite trampling defenders averaging 28-1/2 points a game. out of offer only two offers, howard and holy cross. >> this is sort of like hey, you see what you missed out on? because you didn't pick me up. >> it was like that but almost like i'm happy i came here. this is where i was supposed to be. this is where god placed me. i'm here for a reason. robert: even though he is undersized the dream of playing in the nba has never died. >> since i have been a little kid, everybody dreams of

last-second shot for the lakers. coming down. three. two. one. but, of course. robert: final note, u.v.a. matchup with syracuse rescheduled to be played sunday at 2:00. see that on world war ii. there might be another challenge coming our way. not going to give it up but hit me up on twitter if you want to find out. leon: somebody has been running their mouth again. robert: there could be a challenge. maureen: face the challenge of the coming weekend. doug: blizzard warning in effect tomorrow afternoon. by the time it ends sunday morning this is the first run at the numbers. 18 to 25. higher amounts west of the metro area. lesser amount south and east with sleet. if you haven't subscribed to the text we suggest that you do that at wjla.com. you can download the apps. we have a lot of mobile devices. in the storm, share the picks with us. pics@wjla.com. steve will be here at 11:00. maureen: "world news tonight" with david

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we have breaking news tonight. bracing for imabout. states of emergency. blizzard warnings already in effect. more than two feet of snow possible. and the tornado watch, hundreds of flights already cancelled. >> our interview with ted cruz. and sarah palin now fund-raising for herself. and a police officer convicted of attacking several women. the grandmother that broke the case wide open. and the judge's decision just in. and