leon: g.w. parkway is closed for more snow removal. this time is the southbound lane. alison: so crews could find themselves working in the rain. leon: doug hill has a check of that forecast. rain? >> a cold front coming through tonight. we should have showers at times. don't think it causes a lot of issues. it's cloudy now. in alexandria a lot of ice there. but the temperatures are comfortable. 49 at reagan nationalment southwest irly wind bringing in wind over snow and ice. we are still in the 50's. 55 in fredericksburg. 54 in manassas. a few showers that are developing ahead of the cold front coming through later tonight and in the overnight hours. the slight chance so somebody

might see wet snowflakes in the morning but most metro areas are above freezing. we have more coming up. in a few minutes. leon: glad you're back on your feet, man. less than an hour ago, metro said the orange line is back open tonight after a rough morning with the silver line. still closed. brad bell is live ahead of the issues. what is the word? brad: we just got the information. what metro intends to do is double the number of buses running in the city. they say they have gone from a severe weather plan to a moderate weather plan. that means more buses.

the orange line is reopen. they cannot guarantee the silver line will reopen. it's above ground. elevate and got more snow than the rest of the area. the problem with this, is the third rail. that is where the trains get electricity. this is the track and the third rail. when they plow it, it tends to drive snow in the third rail. that can be a problem. that is why they decided to shut down station and why they may be shut down tomorrow. >> trains can lose contact with the third rail. then they lose power and become disabled. our goal is to provide reliable service. if we reopen a rail line we don't strand passengers. >> many have similar news. they stop in the tracks.

>> the station manager opened up about plan "b." >> shuttle buses are closed for the orange, silver line stations. >> this the a bummer. it seems like they can fix it. >> the concern for metro is the third rail. the power source with the trains that damage in the places and snow cover remains an issue on the orange and the silver lines on the above ground rails. snow clearing and repair work is ongoing. the rest of the system is now fully operational. the trains running every 12 minutes. the good news for those turned away in falls church. >> that is fine. it's not operating yesterday. now at least they're operating. we are on the train. we're okay. >> so tomorrow morning if metro cannot solve the problem it's possible that the five silver line stations will not reopen with rail service but metro promises to have the

shuttle bus there to take people to east falls church to jump on the metro and get to work. metro says tomorrow they feel like they will be providing the service that the city needs to get back to business. at metro headquarters, brad bell, abc7 news. alison: thank you. so the virginia department of transportation says it is working to have at least one passible lane on every neighborhood street by 6:00 tomorrow morning. at 1:30 today arlington county tweeted the crews had plowed 50% of all residential streets after being out for 92 hours. jeff goldberg picks up the team coverage live in ashburn. he has more on the challenges of the clearing all of these streets. jeff? jeff: this is bell green drive in ashburn. look. three feet of snow. i'm not close to the bottom

there. all you can see is those untouched by the plaus. if it weren't for the street sign it'd be hard to tell the street. >> we can't do anything about it. >> the answers might be hard to find in ashburn, farther north in alexandria, this is the most. >> in the city the goal is to have all residential streets passible not perfect by tomorrow morning. >> streets like this are narrow and hilly.

>> we don't want to bury anybody's car in. >> on the fifth day of work this is his wedding anniversary. >> she understands. iz will take her to dinner this weekend. >> in ashburn hoping the snow is gone by then. vdot is asking residents of fairfax, prescription william and loudoun county if you have not had the street plowed by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow to give them a call. similar situation in arlington, alexandria. they hope to have the streets passible by tomorrow morning. coming up at 6:00, we were in manassas in prince william county when a frustrated resident made the call and it was answered. we'll show you what happened.

alison: we just heard from stafford county schools and they will be closed tomorrow. leon: as you know the front loaders are working around the area now to try to get the snow off the streets. d.c. bureau chief sam ford is live at r.f.k. stadium where the snow isn't going out. it's coming in. what is going on there? >> it's amazing the number of trucks coming here for the hour we are out here. there are streets in d.c. yet to see a plow. trucks arrived in convoy for one cargo. snow. they maid the plow and dumped it in the trucks there were still treats that were

unplowed. >> the snow relief policy is wait for summer. >> they have always played in a day or two but not this year. >> we are still recovering from a blizzard. everybody is working extra hard to get the job done. >> another neighbor so desperate -- >> the plan is to make two ruts. clear the paths so that the cars can get through hopefully. >> he is trying to commute half a block. >> i had to extend the rental car.

the trucks continue to work and take the snow to a parking lot where some is put in a snow melting machine that the city acquired from indiana. they dump it in by the front end loader and it melts. the mayor said the city has another machine on the way. >> we are looking at that, we are looking at the snow melting machine. i think this is more of a nolty than something that will do much. the trucks are bringing in the pile of snow. the machine they be overwhelmed. i think the sun will melt more snow. reporting live from northeast washington, i'm sam ford. back to you. leon: yeah. alison: we talked about that. that is interesting. we will see how much good it

does. thank you. we are getting calls about the developments that are waiting for the plows to arrive, chris papst is checking on the areas. what are you finding? >> it's closing in a few minutes ago at 8:00 tonight. then it is going in the early morning hours, three or four. now we take a look at what is going on here, you can see on the side of the road the piles of snow that are consistent going along the roads. more like the guardrails that are two or three feet tall. this is what they will take out. it's a lot safer to do that when the road is closed down. the national park service said they have more work to do. a lot of the parkways are shut down today and tomorrow,

including the rock creek, suitland, clara barton parkway. this is something they have more work they have to get done. something we want to i guess warn people, we are driving around because of the temperatures. because of the sun. there is melting and we are going through windshield wiper fluid. we are running out ourselves. we may have to get more. heading south, chris papst, abc7 news. alison: thank you. well, new information on the rescue of a woman trapped in her car. in the blizzard. after freeing the woman they learned she had been living therca since friday.

the woman was taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. leon: coming up, huge pile of snow like this shut down the state. this will keep the jefferson county schools closed until next week. we will update you on the effort to clear roads around the area. >> here is one of the streets that hasn't seen a plow since the snow stopped falling. up next, the promise to fix this mess by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. alison: then later in other news, dire warning about the spread of the zika virus and mosquitoes that carry it. leon: plus all eyes on iowa. mosquitoes that carry it. leon: plus all eyes on iowa. look at the p

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, d 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: news chopper 7 overhead this morning in bethesda. a big job.

leon: this morning ike leggett vowed one street in every neighborhood will be plowed by 7:00 in te morning. kevin lewis has more. there looks like there is work to be done behind you. kevin: despite having 800 plows on the roadway, montgomery county left residents stranded. take a look at the snow. the cabin fever is starting to set in. stranded for more than three days. they are freeing themselves from this. >> they haven't been touched.

>> on the website it says all the street have one pass. there is no passes in there here. >> this cul-de-sac are waiting for the snowplow. bob who lives in this home is less than pleaseed. nothing has happened. >> a plow later arrives but then got stuck in the snow.

>> this map shows which streets have and have not been plowed. >> we will have made a pass in every neighborhood by 7:00 a.m. how many jurisdictions can make that claim? kevin: call 311 tomorrow if you haven't had a street plowed. alison: it feels so warm outside. doug: with this air mass, if we weren't snow-covered we would have been in 60 degrees. that help us. we doesn't want it in 60's or 70's. it would make the snow melt

too fast. this is a time lapse from damascus elementary school. things looked better. can cars are moving better. a good sign. this is a nice picture sent in from the chesapeake bay. western shore, not sure the town it's from but a beautiful image with the snow piled up along the front. fun that is sent to us from angela. snow dessert just for you. i don't know what is there. it looks appetizing. not sure. thank you. creative ways to enjoy the blizzard of 2016. temperatures after 5:00, above freezing everywhere. 50 at andrews. 53 at the pax river. 54 in fredericksburg. colder north and west.

cold front coming through. with that there are showers in the area. a few spots could get down to 31 and 32. in far western maryland, they have clearing. some showers develop ahead of the cold front. i don't think this is heavy rain or pooling or puddling of the water. the car is outside and you can drive it around to wash the salt off, which is a good thing. we turn out, fair amount of rain moving up the front. the element of the rain move this way. the kit and kaboodle moving that way. we will get rain. best chance of anything heavier, in the overnight hours are south and east of

metro washington. we ro a touch cooler than today. the highs will reach 40 degrees in the afternoon. more milting here. 40 on wednesday. 40 on thursday. friday night another cold front will come through and a storm system is coming with it. the storm is going to say east of our area. it is going to give us a chillier day. friday, the weekend, looking good here. 46 on saturday. 56 on sunday. another system to bring the showers and the mid-50's on monday and cooling off.

>> stay with abc7 to find out if the local school systems decide if they are closing tomorrow. sign up for the school closing text alert at wjla.com. leon: up ahead at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- the digging out and the technical problem leaving the residents spinning their wheels. alison: a look at what is wheels. alison: a look at what is coming up tonight on

you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay intoy it. so our next president needs a real plan to kp it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates, answer the call already.

leon: we are back with an update of kids taking matt evidences in their own hands in silver springs. we showed you how they were digging out the cul-de-sac. late last night they sent us this picture. clear path right now. leon: neighbors saw it and a wall of snow is blocking them from getting out. alison: amy made the trek down the unplowed roads to see how they are coping.

reporter: enough is enough. >> no cars or trucks have come down the street. >> getting out is almost impossible. >> i have patience but even mine is running thin now. >> the calls are coming in, they cannot acome late all the people. luckily for me when i call 7, 7 was on my side this time. >> officials say major and primary roads are the top concern. when they are clear they move to the residential areas. the white-out conditions made it difficult to get the plows

through. they are asking for everyone's patience saying they worked 100% on the residential areas. they expect it to be posed wednesday. >> it's awful. i don't want to see it again. jad reminder we have links so you can track progress of the plows across the area to report if your street is still untouched. leon: coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- getting around. >> look at the making your way through d.c. alison: to save the space or not. closer look at the practice of laying claim to the packing spot you clear. that is next. leon: then later, another story here. a month in the armed siege at wildlife refuge. feigned out what group is asking of the presidential

alison: with mounds of snow in the area people are clearing themselves places to park. some of them are laying claims with the spaces, garbage can and basketball hoops. suzanne kennedy look at the tension over the spaces. >> they cut out every day. cuse capitol hill resident frank o'brien has been digging out the car for days. he is almost done but he is concerned about moving the

subaru. >> we shovel it off but we probably won't move it for a while. someone else will park in the space you shuffled out. suzanne: from hills, garbage can, stepladder and safety cone claim dibs on the dulge out spaces in a practice the d.c. police chief says is illegal. >> as tempting as it is once you dig your car out, when you pull out that space can be taken by someone else. nobody has a legal right to save their own space along public streets. >> there is my car, as you see. it's plowed in. >> her car may not be street ready for days. despite what the law says, she thinks if you shovel a spot you should have a claim to it. >> it takes a lot of effort to dig out. come back to find some maryland car parked in there. that is pretty annoying. suzanne: some are using signs to beg neighbors not to take the pristine places. other as shown in the instagram post using threats to hold the place.

>> that is rude. it's overstepping. suzanne: while it is illegal to save a parking space with something like this sawhorse or a traffic cone, there is really no way for this to be enforced by giving a parking ticket. for the most part by the time the police find a space that is being saved the person saving it is no longer here to receive the citation. in northwest washington, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. leon: the national park service is closing g.w. parkway again tonight. jamie sullivan has traffic watch. jamie: they are shutting down the road to block it off and not letting anyone get by. they are just going to town. this is a picture of everyone trying to merge on.

this is not the interstate. let's go to the map to focus in on what we have there. it's the traffic that looks good. if you are on the top of the beltway, so far, so good. there is a water main break. tomorrow restrictions were lifted. if they do this tomorrow, don't forget on 95 you do have to still pay in the hot lanes. >> people who wound up in accidents or had to abandon the cars, they were at the towing lot to pick up the vehicles. we talk to a driver hired to clear the road to find a victim of the snowstorm clean-up. >> many of the cars are the

casualties of the blizzard of 2015. >> we are slammed with the service call and the police work. getting people unstuck. getting the abandoned vehicles off the roadway. >> the warnings are clear. reminding that the vehicles abandoned are towed so they don't remove the snow removal effort. >> it has been a back roads and the cul-de-sac to do plowing now. >> i'm working to push the snow. it caught on fire. >> this is what is left of the snowplow driver after the dashboard file this morning. we caught up with him after it was towed. he was a driver in the storm working around the abandoned vehicles. >> it's just too much snow.

leon: there is more information to find your car if it was towed. alison: we have less than a week to the iowa caucuses. a new poll finds donald trump with a 16-point lead over ted cruz nationally. in iowa, trump and cruz are in a tie among the republicans and the republican leaning independents. >> he has a chance to win iowa and new hampshire. then the tom knows fall. >> the latest poll by fox news gives hillary clinton a six-point lead in iowa over

senator rick bernie sanders. they took part in a town hall last night. the republicans hold their final debate tomorrow. chief political correspondent will be there in iowa today and next week's caucuses. >> campaign 2016. >> the standoff with the government protest at the oregon wildlife refuge. one of the militia men asked that the new jersey governor and the presidential candidate chris christie get involved. >> i want to see you come here and disburse me, your older brother. whoo hoo little christie. remember we used to call you that? alison: what? leon: you thought we hit rock

bottom. this guy takes it to a new level. this member of the militia challenged chris christie to fen sue mow -- sumo matches of fighting. despite what he said on the video he is not related to him. alison: i don't know what to say about that. >> coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- >> americans are bogged down in student loan debt. we look at what congress is doing about that. >> new concerns about the spread of

steve: i'm steve rudin. the big meltdown continues.

looking forward to the upcoming weekend with more snow melting. 46 on saturday. look a bump in temperatures on sunday. we are talking the middle ''s for afternoon highs. the next seven days we look like this. backtrack a little bit. 40 tomorrow. 49 and breezy on friday. the weekend. we say mild on monday. middle 50's and

alison: "7 on your side" with health matters. health officials are trying to take drastic measures to stop the spread of the motorcycle-borne zika virus. it's linked to birth defect in babies and paralysis in adults could spread to almost all countries in the americas. with more than a million people infected, brazil has been hit hard. the government has posted a video showing workers spraying and fighting mosquitoes carrying the virus. >> take a look at the map. the mosquito is found in every country in western hemisphere except for canada and chile. we will see the outbreak from those coming back from countries infected. alison: a handful of cases have been reported in the u.s. no vaccine or drugs to prevent or trace the infection. if you think you have any symptoms for now.

all you can do is ask your doctor to be kept in. leon: to solve the water crisis residents turn to the private sector for help. coalition that includes wal-mart and coca-cola providing water to city schools. nearly 7 million bottles that they are supplying enough to last remainder of the school year. the michigan attorney general launched an vels in the water contamination system. >> i would not bathe a newborn child or a young infant in this bad water. leon: last year an attempt to save money, the source of the drinking water from detroit to flint river. it caused the pipes to corrode and the toxic lead seen from the pipes got in the drinking water. alison: hollywood is mourning the loss of a legend. abe vigoda died. his daughter said he is died in morning in new jersey of

natural causes. he was 94. his death had been falsely reported countless times before starting in 1982. he was most well-known for roles as detective fish in the 1970's tv series "barney miller" and his role in "godfather." leon: memorable character. i remember fish very well. alison: yes. leon: coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- going for a walk about as easy as it seems. we show you what it is like when we come back. alison: mobile track 7 on the road branch avenue. driving south in prince george's county. checking the conditions there. we check back in with chris checking the conditions there. we check back in with chris papst

having lots of devices in your home can really slow your internet down. way down. so keep things moving with 100% fiber optic os by verizon. with fios, you get the big capacity all your devices thrive on. it's the fastest internet and wi-fi available, with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. no wonder we're ranked highest in customer

satisfaction by jd power. and now, there's no better time to get fios by verizon. for $79.99 a month online, get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for your first year, with no annual contract. or with a 2 year agreement, get $300 back. and, starz and showtime for 6 months. go to getfios.com or call 888.get.fios. get out of the past. get fios.

leon: pounds of snow on the sidewalk forcing people to take to streets. while homeowners do what they can to clear the way, massive piles create blind spot for those behind the wheel and on foot. horace holmes took a walk to see how bad it is out there. >> here is this corner.

if you haven't been on metro, nothing changed. >> i can't walk straight across to the other side of the street. because there is snow there. >> then you got like this. you got slush. you got -- >> that is the problem. >> you are getting to another street. >> clear this out. >> that did this.

>> i don't think the plows have been this way. >> this spot. we couldn't get farther. >> casualty of the blizzard? >> no. they did this after the blizzard was over. >> they got stuck. they gave up and walked away. >> left the car there? >> yeah. now the back window.

horace: i walked around with a go pro and talked to people. they are trying to make it through. but it's tough navigating. this is rough. this is starting to melt. so you think you are on the drive payment but no. huge puddles out there. >> what good does it do if the bus stop is there? >> it's everywhere. >> everybody had nice shoes on. >> yes. don't wear nice shoes. >> thank you.

>> a maryland couple didn't let the snow stop them. they stopped by "good morning washington" with the photographer to talk about how they came up with the idea for the beautiful engagement pictures. >> i have always wanted a snow photo shoot. when i heard there was going to be a blizzard, i called my wedding photographer and said there is going to be a blizzard. i know there will be some snow. are you up for it? ja herfyian -- alison: her fiancée thought she was idea because he was at work when she called to tell him the plan but he went along with it. leon: knew it was her idea. never be a dude's idea. alison: they look nice. he is starting the marriage off right. just say yes and smile. doug: "yes, dear," the most important words in the world. start off with the beautiful images. this is sent to us on twitter.

send pictures to picciotto. deon shares a lot of cool pictures. this is a beautiful image. a lot of pictures to share. we have rain moving in the area. light rain showers. moving toward the area cold front expecting to cross overnight. early tomorrow morning if there is enough moisture in the air the rain shower could turn to the shower. 43 in frederick. a colder spot. 49 in the capital. forecast through the overnight hours cloudy skies with showers.

maybe a flake somewhere. a few areas that are farthest to i-81 with the clearing before the sunrise could drop to the upper 20's. the front is moving to the ocean. tomorrow it will clear out quickly. we will be in fine shape with several days of sunshine. that is the latest. what is happening sports wise with erin hawksworth. erin: we have an update. according to the wizards, guard bradley beale did sustain a broken nose and concussion and will not play tonight at toronto. he was hit in the face. you see by the celtics forward marcus smart. he didn't travel with the team tonight. his status moving forward is listed as day-to-day. former dallas cowboys

quarterback cold troy aikman he expects griffin iii or johnny manziel to be romo's backup next year. griffin is owed $16 million next season but is expected to be released from the team. from a hall of famer to another, kareem abdul jabbar in arlington part of the conversations with the tyler series. he was asked why nobody is teaching young players about the famous sky hook shot. >> everybody is so enamored with the three-point shot. the kids don't want the two points. they don't want to work with the back to the basket. that is not cool.

they don't get the realize if you get close to the basket a lot more of your shots will go in. erin: great question.

alison: millions of americans are drowning debt in student loans. the crisis is reaching a crisis level. the federal agency tasked to handing out the loans is mired in controversy. when the housing bubble burst, so many said never again. the government accountability institute said it is happening again. but instead of the home buyers with the predatory loans it's the students. >> they are studying social work or school teacher and they are noble professionses but you can't pay $200,000 student loan back if you make $30,000 or $40,000, $50,000 a

year. >> the agency to dole out the loans are charged with mismanagement. department of education documents show the top bonus was $38,000 in 2011, in 2014 it was $75,000. 96% increase. >> you have brogs rewarding inefficiency. >> lawmakers call out the inefficiencies and are calling to simplify the system where the agency gets to set its own goals to define its own version of success. >> at a hearing at november they touted improvement to make the financial aid form easier and reducing waste.

>> the problem now could lead to bigger problems later. >> if they start out with huge debt they can't start a family or start a business and they can't get going in their lives. >> another bubble that some worry could be the next to burst. abc7 news. announcer: now "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. maureen: signs of life as we dig out from 2015. d.c. public schools will open on time tomorrow. leon: the only major decision. charles county are on a two-hour delay. the other districts will be closed tomorrow. we are waiting to hear from o.p.m. about the federal government plan. milwaukee roadways most governments have plowed 50% of the secondary and the

residential roads. leon: rain tonight. it could complicate things. doug, a lot of rain tonight? doug: warm air or the sunshine. even without the sunshine melt the snow. we will get rain. cloudy outside the weather center. i think it will be e -- i don't think it's heavy enough to cause problems so even a little rain is not good. there are more showers copalling tomorrow. the temperatures in the morning are at or above freezing. there will be spots farther west to get down to freezing or slightly below. in the early mornings the skies w