he low, here's what people are talking about today. a history making mission going off without a hitch. they were concerns all morning about the weather forcing a delays. it didn't happen. wjz is lye at cape -- is live at cape canaveral. >> reporter: well, the earth shook for miles around. here at the space center, there were tears and applause. all three engines, up and burning. >> two, one, zero and lift off! the final lift off of atlantis. >> reporter: shuttle atlantis blasted off for the last time. an end of an era. >> houston controlling the flight of atlantis. houston spreads its wings for the final time. >> reporter: atlantis disappeared into the clouds.

it was a remarkable achievement for nasa, the 135th and final mission. >> engines are revving up. >> reporter: the crew of four snapped photos before suiting up and getting on board. >> reporter: usually six or seven astronauts fly. there's no backup shuttle for the rescue. russia will end the mission if they run into trouble. >> reporter: a million gathered to watch and be a part of u.s. space history. this is so sad it's the last one. >> reporter: atlantis will deliver a years worth of supplies. >> reporter: for 50 years, the u.s. has been in the forefront. for now, the time has come to an end as nasa works on taking us deeper into space. >> reporter: any private manned

space flights are several years away. that's the latest from kennedy space center. thank you. from now, nasa will rely on the russians to carry astronauts to and from the international space station. also, private companies will take over. bad weather could be an issue around here today. taking a live look outside, the skies aren't too threatening. last night was a whole different story. wjz is live with the first warning weather coverage. tim williams has more on what we could see this afternoon. first, mike hellgren has the latest on the cleanup from last night's strong storms. good afternoon, mike. >> reporter: it's still underway. things are calm now. you can see the after math. this is a tree that toppled over on a fence. there are still downed wires and the red cross is assisting about two dozen families.

>> reporter: a powerful storm left 30,000 without power. downed trees scraped the pavement. >> it was windy. it got pretty loud. the next thing you know, there was a bunch of commotion. we heard this racket and ruckus. >> reporter: the wicked weather damaged vehicles. >> we came back to get the truck and there was a tree on top of it. >> reporter: you could see a clearer picture of the after math. more trees down and vivid eyewitness accounts of the storm. >> it was nice and sunny, then it was windy and dark. >> reporter: there was a water rescue and no lives were lost. it was small hail and then it went up to the size of a quarter. the streets flooded up and cars floated down the street. >> reporter: people are bracing for more severe weather to come

now. you're looking live at the damage leftover here in lands down. they hope it doesn't get worse tonight. bge has fewer than 200 outages. still, some are without power. the most are in howard county at last check. reporting live, i'm mackerel grin, wjz, eyewitness news -- i'm mike hellgren, wjz, eyewitness news. well, the storms started rolling through yesterday evening around rush hour. they continued throughout the night. take a look at the radar now. we're getting clipped in the far western edge of the state now. we have strong storms to the west. they, again, with the front around the front part of the state could clip us again and move into the region this afternoon. we're in a slight risk for severe weather. that shall could mean storms and flash floods.

as a result, we have flash flood warnings through late tonight. the temperatures are in the 80s. that's when the storms start to flair up. how does that play into the rest of the weekend. >> reporter: hello, tim and everyone. we have a few graphics telling the story. once we get the stalled front out of the region, this is an area sitting over the mid- atlantic and acting as a conduit for the moisture. once it's out of here, the high pressure builds in. it won't get, you know, south west desert bone dry, but the sun will come out and the humidity will drop slightly. we'll have temperatures back into the 90s for a beautiful july weekend. not only this weekend, but well into next week. it's all good. tim williams has the details,

coming up shortly. all right, thank you, marty. stay with us for the first warning weather coverage. police in macon, georgia are trying to solve the murder of a howard county woman there. investigators are looking for the rest of her body. the 27-year-old graduate of howard county high school disappeared on june 26th. part of her body has been found. new developments in the unsolved murder of phylicia barnes here. mike schuh is in the newsroom with an update. >> reporter: the agents are pursuing a child pornography investigation. it could be tied to her e-mail and facebook account. she went missing in december. her body was found later in the susquehanna river. the authorities are searching

for accounts and an aol account. they're looking at evidence and distribution and possession of child pornography. no word if the e-mail and facebook accounts provide any useful information. the police investigators labeled her death a murder and refused to say how she was killed. bad news for the economy on the job front today. june unemployment numbers showed that hiring took a dive. this lead to an unemployment rate rise. the economists were expected 150,000 new jobs would be added, but only 18,000 were added. the stock market plunged after the jobs report was released. all of the markets are down.

breaking news this noon about the nfl lockout. a key victory for owners in a courtroom today court of appeals lifted the lockout saying that the judge ignored federal law reaching her decision. meanwhile, they'll continue negotiations that would allow the 2011 season to start on time. those food trucks roaming around the city won't be hard to find tonight. baltimore's first food truck rally will hit the streets. they'll be in the inner harbor east from 5:00 to 10:00 to give people a chance to sample the food. >> all very healthy. still to come at noon, keep out the fallout for the jurors in the casey anthony case. and a welcome for the royal

welcome in california. >> californians are nice people. do cloudy skies mean more rain is on the way? your first warning weather forecast is coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,

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the debt showdown is set for sunday. yesterday, president obama said that democrats and republicans who are far apart on the issue will give the talks another try. the two parties need to meet in the middle on the cuts of the tax hikes which are both needed to increase the borrowing about. a texas ranger's fan dies after falling from the stands trying to catch a ball. he was reaching for a baseball tossed into the stands by josh hamilton. he goes over the rail and down about 20 feet. landed on his head on the concrete below. his young son witnessed his fall. a florida restaurant owner is making sure his opinion about the casey anthony verdict is known. the restaurant in clear water

said, jurors, not welcome. hollywood, here they come! the royal couple is set to touch down today. they're promoting british film making. they'll mix with hollywood royalty. tom hanks and nicole kidman are going to be present. >> my ticket didn't come in the mail. take a live look outside this noon. stick around. your forecast is now just 2 1/2 minutes away. first, here's a look at last night's winning lottery numbers. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

my dog would go into cardiac arrest, but i want this dog to go home with me. she looks like a shih tzu. she doesn't have the underbite. she's got the body and the temperment of a shih tzu. that's a chilled out kind of dog. she's 1 year old. the family and owners moved and the new landlord wouldn't allow the pet. she's a great, lap dog. they're kind of like, you know,

are you going to feed me now, well, okay, after dinner, i'm going to sit on the couch and watch tv. she's at the maryland spca. we'll put the number up in a second. it's amazing, i can't remember the number. it's on the tv. check your local shelters out. we mean it, if you're looking for an animal and a good companion, dog and cat. and, of course, our yellow scarf, compliments of mr. basement. together, we can make a difference for pet that is need a home. this is a great dog. i'm a little partial though. tim williams, shower activity on the way? let's talk about it, bud. >> martin and company, we're looking at showers moving through and clipping the western edge of the state now. the dew points are high. we don't have much across the

state now. we're tending to fire up during the heat of the day. the dew point is high in the 72 range. that's the moisture and the fuel for the storms. 84 is the current temperature at bwi. we have 67% relative humidity. we have south winds up a little bit highier across the state. the temperatures are pretty cool from the highier elevations. 84 down in ocean city and 85 at pat tux sent river. everyone is in the low to mid- 80-degree range. we'll go up a few more degrees from there topping out in the mid-80s winds from the south are ushering in the warmer air. when the storms start to come through, they'll have a lot of energy to work with. what we'll deal with are widely scattered showers. some could produce one to two inches of rain. we have the flash flood watches

in effect. the front pushes away and the high pressure pushes into the region. that dictates the forecast for the rest of the weekend. we're looking at clearing after tonight. 8:35 is the sunset time and that's on the bay at 5 to 10 knots. we'll call this 85 and a few degrees to spare. 68 degrees tonight and tomorrow, look for clearing, 90 degrees and less humid. marty will have the five day. still to come at noon, a good news give and take from the university of maryland medical center. wjz-13 is always on, here are the top stories on wjz.com. are the top stories on wjz.com. at thi[ female announcer ] keurig brews more than just hot coffee.

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a triple play for the university of -- for the university of maryland medical center. the hospital says that the kidney recipients came to a doctor with a donor who were not the matches. they were then paired. surprising results from a new study. men who smoke have a lower risk of undergoing hip and knee surgery. researchers couldn't come up

with an explanation. they said that more research needs to be done. be sure to check back in tonight at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00. and it's popular at the hair salons. why is the fda investigating a brazilian blowout? >> we'll have more after dr. phil. the five-day forecast is coming up. [ mr. clopper ] i don't talk to them as much as cindy does... good morning chickens!

[ jim ] you know, that's our business so we want to be the experts in chicken. we're not the status quo. perdue is the first and the only chicken company to have usda-process-verified programs for fresh all-natural chickens. [ jim ] this is an all-vegetarian diet, no animal by-products, no animal fat. [ joe ] we never have used steroids or hormones of any type. it's not gonna happen. [ joe ] and always raised cage free. we set our goals higher than anyone. we're trying to make a better chicken. [ jim ] my dad did, my grandfather did and it's what we do today.

it's kind of hazy. it's a little bit steamy. >> how long until the showers get here? >> around 4:00. >> yeah, at 4:00. we'll see what bubbles up. we want to concentrate on tomorrow. 're living large for five days. tuesday and wednesday, it will be a little cool front jutting into the area. nothing that should ruin either day. 88 midweek, wednesday. make sure you stick around for the lineup. be sure to stick around for "blue bloods" and then eyewitness news at 11:00. the 8th and last "harry potter" film premiered last night in london. thousands of fans who watched harry grow up packed the square for one last go around with

them. the film will open next friday. this one's in 3-d. >> very cool. thank you for watching eyewitness news on wjz-13, maryland's news station. have a wonderful weekend, guys. >> oh, i'm jessica kartalija. >> oh, i'm don scott. >> oh, i'm marty bass. >> tim williams. >> we'll catch you online throughout the afternoon. ,,,,,,