getting closer to our door step to. the snow already moving into parts of central and western virginia. >> abc 7 and news cham 8 are your blizzard 2016 headquarters. we have the washington area's largest team here to get you through this. glad you are here with us. i am larry. >> i am autria. starting right now, we're wall to wall, 24-7 beginning now. let's get to it. let's start off our coverage with jacqui in the weather center. jacqui. jacqui: here it is go time! it is 12:00. this is the time we set in place. the first flakes are flying across the region. here is the "storm watch 7" radar showing you the snow showers be gupping to push in. we got confirmation now with snow coming down in places like fredericksburg, stretching to charlottesville. this is part of our massive storm system.

the big bomb of a storm that is going to be bringing epic amounts of snowfall the region, so you, if you are not in place just right now, you need to get there as quickly as you can because even the snow beginning now is relatively light. that is going to chng over to more be in tense snow fairly quickly. the snowfall reports we are get to the south are impressive. you can see the darker blue bands into central va are a, icy conditions in the peed mpt and the carolinas. there has been severe weather into parts of florida. and i want to show you. this is a time lapse from roanoke, virginia. i put it into motion for you. take a look at the poor visibility. the snowfall rate rates from 1 to 2 inches per hour at times. it is still am doing down as we speak. snowfall reports around roanoke, between 4 and 6.5 inches, so it going to accumulate quickly. here is our future cast showing you hour by hour. by 2:00, it will be all across the metro area. it will slowly spread though

north and east by dark tonight. heavy foe bands will luckily set up through the overnight and early morning hours for tomorrow and expecting all snow even in d.c. the snow rates combined with strong winds means the trouble will be impossible tonight and tomorrow. still an opportunity primarily tomorrow morning for a little bit of sleet or rain mixing in. everybody else, we're look all snow and even those that mix will likely turn back to snow before all is said and done. this will start to wind down by saturday evening. then when you winning a sunday morning, this will push out of the region and then where we going to be cleaning up for that. the blizzard warning going to go into effect. the snow developing between now and 3:00. the heaviest overnight through the day on saturday. a big impact storm that is going to keep you at home into next week very likely. we have team coverage and

talk more the totals coming up and those impacts, that is another few minutes. pk to you. >> all right, jacqui, right now, maryland, d. company of, va are a, all under a state of emergency. the d.c. mayor once again gave update on the city's preparation for the storm. >> yeah. more on what she said from northwest. sam? sam: mayor made it crystal clear, this is a deadly storm. emergency management officials want everybody off the streets by 3:00 this afternoon. so wherever you plan on riding out this storm, you need to be there in less than three hours. they want everybody to have 72 hours worth of food and water. with winds reaching up to 50 miles per hour. they say, it will be a good day if less than 25,000 people lose power. this is all hands on deck situation. this city is shutting down right now. the district of columbia is now under a state of emergency.

>> we see this as a major storm. it has life and death implications and all the residents of the district of columbia should treat that i way. the need the city's full cooperation. we head to the bleed's help, too. to send a clear messaging, that we want people to hunker down, shelter in place, and stay off the roads. >> this is a bad storm. folks need to understand, that this is a life-threatening type of storm. so if you do not need to be out, we are asking folks is, by 3:00 today, you need to be where you are going to be throughout this morning. sam. one of the biggest concerns is roof collapsing and wires being down. they want everybody to stay off the roads, so their emergency management trucks and emergency vehicles can get to those scenes as

quickly as possible. reporting live in southeast d.c., sam sweeney, abc 7 news. >> sam, thank you. as we mentioned, marry lan, d.c., virginia under states of emergency now. >> yeah. right now, we have what you need know. jummy? jummy: the states of emergency have started. as you mentioned. you cannot park along the snow emergency routes. vehicles that are parked will be towed and you will be paying for it. in fact, our reporter is in the district where she tweeted pictures of cars being towed at this hour. in maryland, the governor is authorizing the use of 2700 piece of snow equipment. you encouraged to coop the consider off the road if possible in maryland. in va are a, v-dot crews on 24 hour operations. you need move the cars off any major roadways so they can get to work. also in virginia, 500 national guard personnel have been authorized for possible assistance to bat this storm. now let's get a check around

the rest of the he region with john. hi, john. john: jummy, good afternoon. we don't have snowflakes here yet. i got to tell you the maryland highway crews have been busy all day long. this is one of the salt zones here in maryland. 98 unall. they opened up at 8:00 this morning. it has been a steady flow. they are letting trucks in about two or three at a time. while there is the barn, if you will, with close to 100,000-tons of salt, we understand where that there is, there is hundreds of thousands of tons throughout the state, and they are moving this, these trucks, they are loading about eight ton at a time, these drivers will have 30-mile routes, and they will keep coming back to be reloaded. they are telling us, they are going to be work three days straight. that means eating, sleeping, behind the wheel, 2700 pieces of equipment in all t. that of course includes the salt truck, the plow

truck and even street grader. these guys say they are look forward to the payday at the end, but going to be exhausting weekend. take a listen to what one driver had to say to us minutes ago. >> well, we go to our spot. my route will be 185 to 97, i believe, that is connecticut avenue, georgia avenue. we will just sit and wait, you know, for the call, you know, they will give us a hance up. we will hit the roads. >> blankets, quilts, food. it is home for the next 36 hours. >> oh, yeah. >> and you can see, there this is new batch of trucks that are getting ready to come in to the salt zone. again they opened at 8:00 this morning. it has been a steady fro flow of trucks here. another truck getting loaded up. a state of emergency since 7:00 this morning here in maryland. this is around the time when maryland officials and he is shaly the november gore is dead serious todrences to try to start get offing this he road, so these crews can

start doing the heavy lifting. reporting live, john gonzalez, abc 7 news. >> thanks for that. d.c. including rail and bus service will be closing earlier than usual later today. rail service will stop at 11:00. bus service will stop at 5:00 p.m. here is another look at the changes. again, metro rail service, bus service at 5:00. plan accord. it those services will remain closed saturday and sunday. they are folks resume monday, but no word yet on what time. >> well, this is about the time that many people will be heading home. if they had to go to work today at all. the federal government shutting down at noon today. julie is here with a look at how traffic is now. julie. julie. look that behind me. are you familiar. this is what it looks like coming out of ashland. this is how close it is. this is what is coming our way. right now, you can take a look and see three lanes travel. not the case here. we are following the track interests the person in

front of us. two good lanes, if you will, thighs wood good loosely able for you on 95 north and southbound. the far right lane snow covered now. visibility is low. be careful throughout if you are traveling between stafford and rickland this afternoon headed back home to hunker down for the storm. all right. closer to with a we have going on. let's move over. this happens to be 395 south of seminary road. temporary road closures up to 15 minutes. have dot is doing emergency road work repairs out here on 39 a. that is backing up this. this commute as you travel between landmark and king street. with once get another of this. the pace closes again. we have a stalled car at the case bridge. let's move over this next cram. there are he of go. you will find on the outer loop at the beltway. the crash at john hampton. the accident activity on the shoulder now. ataun, causing some rubbernecking delays. notice the difference. still dry pavement here on the east side of town as you work the way between lanever

and greenbelt and college park. again headed northbound. that's the mess coming northbound out of richmond and headed to the d.c. area. quickly we move the map. a fewp moments ago, metro closing down the night at 11:00 closed through sunday. metro says they will evaluate the situation on season die determine what kind of schedule they will provide for us monday. i know a lot of you are interested in going game tonight. the game moved from 7:00 to 5:00 but still get back on the met tre and want to get home and the snow coming down could impact the rails that are above ground. that trip home after the game tonight could be affected. if that's the case, thinking about taking a cab, there is a $15 snow emergency surcharge that will be tacked ton d.c. cab fares. so not only what the meter says, but add additional $15 to that. that is getting ready to shut down at 1:00. that us the traffic watch. back over to you. >> all right. you can get home, about it will cost you. thank you, julie. still ahead here on abc 7

news at noon: plenty of people trying to get out of dodge before the storm hits. the crowds and the problems we are already seeing at the local airport. >> also still ahead, the threat of several feet of snow not stopping one big's vent today in the district. we take you there live. >> plus, eye lean and jacqui are back the latest on the track and the snow totals. that blizzard inches closer. keep it here.

>> most flights are canceled because of the big snowstorm that is coming. we are at reagan national airport with more. reporter: the looming

blizzard coming sooner than ex petted is leading to thousands of canceled flight is a cross the country and even here locally. reagan national ca over 100 canceled flights. many in red. those are just times changed but a lot of them coming out of charlotte, just canceled and if you can take look that the lines they have been get longer by the hour. and it is no surprise, with d.c. bearing the brunt of it all. flight aware.com estimates about 5,000 flights will be canceled throughout the weekend. we are already halfway there with more han 2500 already canceled no it the country. dulles, dwi, reagan national canceling close to 400 flights combined. >> i own a 7-eleven in rhode island inch any time the lights go out, we're always open. i am the only store in rhode island on the island that stays open through the blizzard. >> it has worked out. >> you know, just trying to get to the phones because they are slammed.

>> right. right. right. >> trying to make these adjustments? >> ment now if you are on one of the many canceled flights today. the good news, i all major airlines have offered those waivers to change your flight whether you want to leave earlier or later. in fact we talked to plenty of travelers who had mo problems at all. your flight is not canceled, the best piece of advice i canp give is head out, early today, make sure you don't get caught in those lines. reporting at reagan national, jeanette reyes, abc 7 news. >> well, amtrak will continue running today, but is making some service changes because of the storm. if you have a reservation, you are asked to just keep checking that schedule. keep a close eye on it. most northeast corridor service will be in operation today. but several of those trains are canceled, so again, again, be aware. to help you out. we put a list on the web site at wjla.com. all right. >> all right. we have been talking about it for a week now. here it. we have. when is the last time. i mean we have been talking since what.

>> monday for sure. >> consist listenly that a big storm has been coming. here we're. today this is big day. it is go time. everybody is here. we have the largest team of mert ol lowists in house. we are trying to have pun with it. at the symptom, now we have to be serious. we can be fun once everybody is at home. if you are not at home, we start to get worried. remember two days ago? two nights ago we had an inch of snow. everybody on the roads at the same time making the mad dash, that is all it took to cause all kinds of problems. i hope you are mad dark as we speak. >> people have an hour. >> i would say stay home right now. stay home right now. this is live doppler radar. there you can see the know. everything is not hitting the trunked but about we have here. we had reports of a few flurries in fredericksburg, madison county we got you also orange county then hearing reports of a few there i haves in winchester. 1:00 what is coming down right now is very light flurries but moreen tense

snow is just a couple of miles away. cun see this on the broader view with the darker band and the central virginia and this system is going to move to southern maryland as well. you folks are getting in on the action. once the snow starts falling, conditions are going to deteriorate, fairly quick willing i. how quick ply well, between show the future cast snowfall totals. the main thing i want you to keep in mine is what is going to happen during the time periods. sol between now and about midnight, you have got good chance of getting six or seven or eight inches of snow already. this is before you go to bed tonight. by the time you winning a tomorrow morning. plan on at least a foot of snow and washington, d.c. areas to the west are likely going to be seeing higher number and we could have 20 inches of snow on the ground by then. so you want to try to keep up with this storm because if you have to shovel and try to get out, i think you want to do it in encrypt because the snow, when we are talking two feet phonesly, i is dangerous to try to lift that. you can get injured easily. if we start getting some of

these three-feet totals, that is a possibility. we need to be concerned about your rooftops and you will have to get the rakes or the sweep brooms lut to start to shove that off if that becomes something that you are concerned about but don't ever get on top of the roof. so these are final forecast totals. notice, that on average, we are talking about a foot across the region. i think just along west of i-95 is where we are going to be seeing some of those two-feet and maybe 3-feet numbers. closer to the 20ish inch around downtown. then areas to the suth and the east. those number ras little bit lower because they will lackly be a little bit of sleet and maybe a little bit of rain mixing in. this is a storm not to focus so much on the numbers but i know it get exciting because oh my gosh, he we're getting two feet of he snow. this the kids are rejoicing because they are out of school today. this is high impact storm. throws things we need focus on. we heard about amtrak. we heard about the airports. it is going to be impossible travel especially after dark

tonight considering all day long on saturday because of the strong wind. that is going to create some power outages and school closings a are going to be likely into next week. so the blizzard warning goes into effect at 3:00. and where we going to watch things continue to go downhill hat time. then we got ao, a new warning that was just issued by the national weather service and eileen has more detail on those wind and how they are going to be impacting. >> ok. we got new information coming in from the national weather service about a high wind warning. real quickly, though. our weather network in rossville, we're quiet. but man is it cold. 24 degrees and with the breeze, it feels like 16 so once the snow starts falling, it gough stick. but a here are the latest warnings just coming in. either high wind warning has will go into effect at 1:00 saturday morning and will last through 1:00 saturday afternoon. so for all of you along the coast of the chesapeake bay in calvert, st. mary's

county, winds will gust upwards of 50 miles per hour. even here, in the d.c. metro, we will still have these gusts to 40 miles per hour, at 11:30 tonight with that heavy snow. that is why we have the blizzard conditions that are expected with the whiteout conditions as well. another thing, with heavy snow in the strong winds, power outages, lack at this power outage potential by early tomorrow morning. especially if you live along the coast, that is where we will probably have the highest power outages come early tomorrow morning, and then, by season kay morning, again, i won a even be surprised if a lot of us here hen immediate metro started to see those power out ago ins. what happen fuss lose how we're, you cannot watch us here on abc 7 and newschannel 8? have no fear? we are on all social media platforms. you can connect with us on-line at wjla p.m. com/weather.

also the "storm watch 7" app is fan taste ing. i actually do use it all the time. it is fantastic because you can track this storm, the radar, you have the live doppler right there at the fingertips. also if you are not on twitter shall you can follow the tweet and we're sending out information every couple of minutes. our text alert are great as well. say the national weather services is issues another warning ored a ares ry, it gets sent straight the phone wjla.com/text for those who have the text alerts, you will likely, if you have not already, received a text letting you knee high wind warning has beenshured for areas along the chesapeake coast. all right. also, this is going to be historic. you will be taking pictures, of course, especially whenever within is playing in this he snow come sunday or dig out monday. if you see a great photo. send it to us at pics at wjla.com. that is what we would to love be connected with you. that is what makes it all worthwhile so we look

forward to hearing from you and we'll continue to connect. all right. going back to head over to jackie to break down more info. guys, back to you. >> talk to you soon. coming up here at noon, is your car ready for the storm? aaa has tow trucks on standby. we have the tips you need to know so you don't end up actually needing one. >> live pictures now out of roanoke. this is the system already on the ground since daybreak. five inches or more there. this is what is heading our way. again, much more to come here as we are your winter weather alert station. stay

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xarelto® can cause serious and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is the number one prescribed blood thinner in its class. well that calls for a round of kevin nealons. make mine an arnold palmer. same here. with xarelto® there is no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for us. ask your doctor about xarelto®. >> well, it has been awhile since most of us had to deal with heavy know. roads will likely be

treacherous well to next week. aaa's john johns with us tips on how to stay safe. where on, always good to talk to you. rule number one, make sure gas up the car. what are other simple things we need to consider, not this weekend but though next several days as we begin to dig out of this mess? >> well, remember, stay of the roads. that is job one. safety is priority one. that means a full tank of gas, emergency kit in your trunk, extra warm slide ap clothing in your car. and make driving a top of the line matter, safety first. let road crews have plenty of room, and then, watch for ice and snow. it is going to take days for us to get through this. most important tip we have is to clear any snow, with this much know, 2 to 3 feet, clear any snow or ice away from your vehicle's exhaust

pipe. it could cause a deadly carbon monoxide gas. it could flock the car while your engine is running, and that leads to death. you fall asleep and you will winning a in eternity. >> yeah. >> watch out. watch out for close roads. avoid them. you have to venture out, the first thing to do is to clear the snow and fries the vehicle which is what you must do. >> let's say, where on, you get out there, again, the car breaks down. you don't have what you need keep going. what are some key things you need to remember to keep safe if we are stranded on the blood well, the most for thing to do is stay inside of the car if it is safe. if its not, then try to get to high ground. and have a fully-charged cell phone to call someone. stay inside of the car, if

it is possible, call for assistance. >> go ahead. >> if you are a frayed the car is going to get hit. then wait outside in a safe place. >> i got ten seconds? very quickly. one or two orders, they should have them plugged in case of a emergency. >> family, friends so they know about the whereabouts and the roadside assistance provider and 911. >> 911 the big thing there. john, thanks so much. you stay safe as well. >> thank you. you, too. >> appreciate it. >> all right. well, despite the impending blizzard, hundreds gathering on the national mall now. >> yeah. detail on the march live still happening today. that is coming up next, right here on abc 7 news at noon.

>> despite the serious and possibly historic storm expected to hit, the march for life is still on. demonstrate his are headed all over the nation. we are live at the national mall. mike: we are seeing a lot of clouds in the sky, and a lot of people here on the national mall. organizers expected tens of thousands, and they sure did show up. this got underway at noon. speakers -- carly fiorina, candidate from the republican side. also the march for life