maryland is preparing for its first measurable snowfall. hello again, winter weather is arriving for real. baltimore county and anne arundel county schools are closing. taking a a live look outside, we've had the colder temperatures for a -- while. the snowflakes are falling. we're live with first warning weather coverage. marty bass is in the out back. tim, take it. well, good afternoon, everyone, we're seeing the stage set for cold temperatures. we're at 25 degrees at television hill. anything coming down is sticking. it's all coming down in the

form of snow. the lighter blue is lighter intensity. we're seeing the snow showers around the region around the beltway and d.c.. we're seeing heavier amounts with hearty. row land park and northwest baltimore, we're seeing those opening up to the bigger picture. cumberland and will ray and annapolis and up the 95 corridor, everyone's seeing the snow coming down now. you'll see it moving across the state. we've watched it from the south and it's blanketing the states. what does that mean? for that, we'll send it to marty bass. first, we'll look at the watches, warnings and advisories graphic. two hours ago, a winter weather advisory went into affect for the area. that's going to last until 10:00 tonight. however, the thinking is that the snowfall should be pretty much on the wane by dinner

time. how much are we expecting? we'll have a sharp grow days -- grow days -- you'll get sows west of d.c. and you're throwing in ice and problems. this is not the mother of all storms, none the less, i can tell you here on the first warning weather center out back -- it's a little bit slick. take care, we have your back throughout the afternoon with updates on air and online at wjz.com. thank you, marty. the coverage continues and we're live in brooklynville with mike hellgren. >> reporter: good afternoon, don and everyone. the snow started coming down here 45 minutes ago.

it's starting to stick a little bit. have no fear! as you can see next to me, there are several salt trucks getting ready to hit the highways right now. >> reporter: preparations started early this morning as plows were filled with salt. they're hitting the roads and the state highway department says they didn't pretreat in the baltimore area, only to the south in the suburbs. it's a combination of a decision on pavement temperatures and how much precipitation. >> reporter: more is expected to the south. they want the drivers to know they'll be out tonight. >> we should be in good shape for rush hour. >> reporter: five died in car accidents to the west. highways were a miss and there are delays in hubs like atlanta. we're not expecting anything

like the storm that hit a year ago in the first of a rough winter. once this storm passes, the next one isn't far behind. there's another storm for sunday. we may pretreat for friday on that. >> i can't wait for that. you can see, they have all of the salt here. they're ready. we're hearing about accidents on the road. be careful. there were delays at reagan and washington. bwi, for now, it's running smoothly. wherever you're going tonight, make sure you leave a little bit ahead of time. as you mentioned, a large part of the country is dealing with bad weather. in kentucky, temperatures were around freezing and streets were covered in ice. a tractor trailer caused a huge backup there. stay with wjz-13 for first

warning weather coverage. wjz is always on, for updated forecasts and the look at the radar and clouding -- closings and delays, go to wjz.com. a man is charged with assaulting a student in a baltimore county school this morning. the man entered one of the restrooms at the middle school. he began assaulting the male student and the student dreamed. the man was a-- the screamed. we're learning more about the fire that swept through the block last week. >> reporter: the fire was set by someone, but it's not called arson yet. it destroyed a building and damaged others on baltimore street. the media partner is reporting that the fire started at a video peep show booth at the

gaiety bookstore. there's a $5000 reward on additional information on the does of the fire. there >> -- on the cause of the fire. a man broke into a home and shot a man last night. the the 28-year-old was shot several times. the founder of wikileaks is out on bail after a week in a london prison cell. here's the latest. >> reporter: wikileak's founder flashed a peace sign from the prison van house before a judge set him free on bail. >> as you can imagine, we're thrilled with the results here today. >> reporter: the 39-year-old who's been locked up for a week over a sex crime warrant in sweden -- a british judge

decided to release him. he'll have to wear an electronic tag and report to the police every evening. the court wand -- wanted to see the money up front. michael moore is one of several celebrities who pitched in to bail him out. the wikileaks leader is wanted in sweden in questions over rape allocations that he denies. >> reporter: supporters say it's politically motivated. his website has leaked hundreds of thousands of secret documents. the new york times reports that prosecutors in america are trying to build a conspiracy case against him. they're looking for evidence that he encouraged an officer to leak information. that could make him a

conspirator and not a messenger. he'll be in britain until january. he's now staying in a ten bedroom country mansion owned by another supporter. sentencing is going on at fort meade today. a man questioned president obama's eligibility for being able to be president. he has aligned himself in the birther movement that questions if he's a national born citizen. racing fans, listen up. if you missed out on the preceltics for the grand prix, today is your day. at 10:00, the tickets went on sale. the event will tape labor day weekend next year.

the festival includes two head line races from the izod indycar races. 3000 tickets are already sold. still to come at noon, a deal to extend tax cuts is in the hands of the house. what happens next. all that's left is debris. a huge ship wreck turns deadly in australia. taking another live look outside here this noon, stick around, your forecast is coming up. ♪golden morning family's smiling♪ ♪gonna be a special day anncr: for the perfect start to the perfect day, i always choose land o'lakes all-natural eggs.

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the debate over the bush era tax cuts comes to a head today. it may not be an easy ride in the house. they could vote today or make changes that would destroy the deal and lead to tax hikes come january 1st. house democrats are already pushing to strike parts of it like the estate tax. think of what you could do with that $25 billion.

first of all, reduce the deficit. >> if they get the votes, that throws the deal into flux. the senate would have to vote again on the revised deal. the republicans threatened to walk away if there are changes made to it. >> >> the lawmakers take up the repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy. supporters of the bill in the senate say they have the vote, but may not have the time to push it through before the holiday recess. two dozen asylum seekers are dead after a ship wreck on christmas island. 100 refugees were killed. the police say the ship is indonesian and they were iraqis. here, take another live

look at the snow. your forecast is 2 1/2 minutes away. first, we'll take another look at the midday stocks followed by last night's powerball numbers. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

well, i don't mind seeing the traffic creeping along, that means people aren't being wreckless, last week, we had a little bit. it seemed to cause a lot of problems. this snow is cold enough, every snowflake will be accounted for. it's cold enough that everything that hits the ground is sticking. you've seen that's happening. across the area around the beltway and chestertown and over towards hairford, everyone's seeing snow. the lighter blue is the lighter intensity and the heavier snow showers coming down is here. you'll see more -- well, likely a 3-inch accumulation towards the northern portion of the viewing area. closer to three the further south you go. everyone's seeing these showers.

you get the whole idea. the panhandle and west virginia. everyone's going to see it into the evening we have a winter weather advisory in effect until 9:00 p.m. winter storm warning is in effect down south of the region. that's towards virginia and where the heavier snow is going to happen we're looking at 29 degrees now and 87% humidity and a south wind at 3 miles per hour. just around 26 in pax river and elkton. the winds are light. still coming from the south. that's going to be the case today. we'll not see a lot of wind, this is a snow event. you'll see the line here, following the path of the low moving through. this is going to pass to the south. we'll be on the top edge and breeze on through. this is going to move quickly. the lower edge of the viewing

area and into virginia and the carolinas. we'll watch this move out of here. we'll clear up tonight. we'll see the colder temperatures settling in and the snow showers will be gone around 9:00 or so. we'll see them clearing the area. the sunset is at 4:54. talking about no wind -- we have no advisories. 28degrees and cloudy, 18 degrees tonight and snow clearing and tomorrow, up to 34 degrees we'll have the five-day forecast coming up. the government takes on dietary supplements. and remember, wjz is always on for you. here are the stories we're following on the website. that's the first warninin,, you want some fiber one honey clusters? yeah. you must really care about him.

what? no, no. you gave him fiber. no she didn't. this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really. i care about your fiber too. i have for a while. ok, carl. why don't you care about her fiber? hey carl. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes.

in today's health watch, the government issues a warning to dietary supplement makers. they could face charges if they sell -- product. several products are the most common offenders. they could cause stroke and even death. >> if you have heart disease in your family, the risk of heart

problems could be highier than thought. this shall a report shows that women have a 70% increased chance if a parent had a heart problem in life. if your brother or sister has it, your risk of getting it doubles as well. check back in at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 for new information about a troubled gunman. >> please don't, please don't. please [shots fired] >> an update on the startling attack on the school board. plus, it's the largest challenge to president obama's health care law 20 states are in court now. can they winch >> join us for these stories and more at 4:00, after dr. phil, join us in a moment for the five day forecasas,,,,,,,,,,

[low audio] i can't wait for preakness. we've covered this day's snow. form, it will be -- tomorrow, it will be breezy. 38 saturday and cloudy, sunday, we're looking at a coastal weather event that the models are pushing out to sea. monday, sunshine, tuesday, clouds and temperatures in the 30s. it will be in the 30s, chilly

through christmas. now, back inside. thank you, very much, with bad weather on the way, you'll want to stay tuned tonight. tonight at 10:00, followed by eyewitness news at 11:00, of course. thank you for watching eyewitness news and wjz-13, maryland's news station. i'm tim testimony. -- i'm tim willll,,,,,,,,,,,,,,