>> tammy: news 13 at 5:30 starts now. >> jason: they're already out. winter storm watches and warnings. i'll tell you who is in line for the next winter weather in the next several days. >> reporter: winter has finally arrived. it's a lot of fun but there are also things to pay attention to when you're out on the roads. >> frank: a south carolina law maker calls for a registry for journalists. why the proposal is just for show. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 5:30. >> tammy: take a look at that. a blast of wintery weather covers parts of the mountains with a blanket of snow. >> frank: and this was the scene today in parts of haywood county where steady snowfall covered the roads. and this round of snow may be just a preview of the main event. >> tammy: the weather is expected to worsen as we approach the weekend.

off the weather coverage. what's next? >> jason: a lot of snow and a lot of ice. this is going to start thursday night and last through saturday. it's a prolonged winter event. winter storm watches begin tomorrow evening and go all the way through sunday morning for these areas in dark blue. the royal blue incueds all of the tennessee border and up through the piedmont. again, these begin tomorrow evening. the early onset of what's going to happen is going to be mostly light tomorrow night. but then it gets even more intense as we get in to friday. right now round one has come through and still some snow showers to contend with in higher elevations. we have to worry about black ice. it's going to be pretty slick up there, those highest elevations. here's our second system. it doesn't look like much but this is really going to dive south and come up in to the carolinas and blow up as a major storm for us.

i'll have the first call snowfall and ice accumulations map coming up in just a bit. temperatures holding in low 30s by 9 o'clock. upper 20s by 11. let's get over to meteorologist zack green. >> zack: people are already getting out and gearing up for the impending storm. and the grocery store seems to be the place where they are all heading. the first to come off the shelves is just the bread and milk. as jason said, this storm could pack a punch. special . >> i was born and raised in michigan so i can drive on it. so it never really bothered me that much. >> i just recently moved from florida. so when you have that bad weather you gotta get out and get things done. >> i need some more lollipops. >> zack: i think we could all

lollipops. >> tammy: yeah, i like it. >> frank: time to get ready. >> tammy: that's right. some are saying it's about time that snow has arrived. plenty came to our western county. >> frank: rex hodge continues live. >> tammy: rex, many people expect snow here in january but it's brought both smiles and frustration. >> rex: yes, you know some folks say it's time we had some snow and it brightens things up a little bit. but if you're driving out in this stuff, it's not any fun. it's taken 20 days in to january but finally snow starts piling up. especially high up in places like soco gap on the haywood-jackson county line. >> pretty cold. >> rex: by midday, navigating highway 19 became challenging. alicia buchanan made it from

mountain but needed a push for her maggie valley destination. >> i'm hoping to get on the other side of the mountain. >> rex: dot crews are on 12 hour shifts to keep up. eleanor and her husband stopped at the mountain top. >> we didn't know to follow him or try and take our chances of going down the hill. >> rex: in the end, they decided to skip the snowy curve to the reservation. roads could be slick anywhere. vehicles sliding off country club drive in waynesville. it's those unmarked and unpaved roads that can provide a fun way of travel. kids taking advantage of no school and sledding in the snow. >> slide in it, make snow angels. >> rex: seven-year-old emily is

>> did you beat him? >> no. he would outrun me. >> rex: her father says it's about time it's snow. >> it's been too long. we've been ready to sled for a while. >> rex: with more winter ahead, there's time for a rematch. >> oh no! >> rex: now of course it's no fun sledding if you're behind a wheel. back out here live, experts say there are several things you should have in your car including blankets, flares, shovel, spare batteries, a spare charged cell phone in case you need to call 911, extra winter clothes, food and drink with you as well. we'll continue to follow this story as it develops. rex hodge, news 13. >> frank: we have an update now on a greenville county sheriff's deputy who was shot in the head

deputy dempsey was injured while responding to a suspected robbery in an apartment complex. a man shot him after deputies entered the apartment. the gunman was shot and killed. three other suspects have been arrested in connection with this case. >> tammy: tonight an upstate law maker is waging war on the media. mike pitts is now calling for all journalists to register in the state of south carolina. under the proposal, journalists who failed to register would be fined and could face jail time. political experts tell us it would likely violate the first amendment. they say the proposal is just for show. >> it really does link to the populous string. we see many republicans running

they see as the liberal press. >> tammy: tonight on news 13 on my40 at 6:30, why representative pitts may have an ulterior motive in attacking the media. news 13 wants to know, do you think journalists should have to register? go to ask 13 to answer our we of the day. >> frank: some of the e-mails on hillary clinton's home server were beyond top secret. mrs. clinton has denied having classified information outside her government e-mail account and computer. but the ig had sent a letter to congress saying several dozen classified e-mails have been found. today, senator john mccain responded to the new findings. >> this is really, very, very serious. and obviously could impact secretary clinton's presidential ambition. but i'll leave that to the american people.

started looking at e-mails last year. the justice department is also conducting a separate investigation. >> tammy: there are multiple reports of slick roads reported across western north carolina. >> frank: jaclyn deaugustino is reporting on roads from our on time traffic center. >> jaclyn: thanks, frank. if you are heading out the door, remember to take it slow. now let's talk about some specific areas. drivers in madison county, look out for this wreck. it's an overturned tractor trailer. turning to the roads over in henderson county. there are two wrecks due to black ice. one on jeter mountain road and another on little road.

listed by county for you on our website. just go to wlos.com. and click on the traffic page. that's a look at your on time traffic report brought to you by debruhl's used car superstore. the idea that tipping insures prompt service is kind of a lie. >> tammy: here's a tip, at one

longer have to leave one. [ horn honks ] okay, this is u.s. c clular, and this is verizon. now, same phones, but with u.s. cellular you get 6 gigs of 4g data for only $40 per month -- $20 less than verizon. and u.s. cellular's network was built to work in places like out here, here, and here. so, with all of that, why would you ever go to verizon? switch to u.s. cellular now and get 6 gigs of data for just $40 a month plus get $300 back.

>> frank: stocks on wall street trim their losses after an early plunge. the dow closed down 249 points after dropping more than 550 during the midday trading ending at 15,766. nasdaq down about 5 after dropping as much as 80 at the opening bell. it closed the day at 4471. a downtown asheville restaurant has eliminated tipping. >> tammy: blue dream curry house. >> frank: evan, why did they do it? >> evan: well the restaurant's owner says it's a great way to try and pay his employees a living wage. that's $12 an hour here in western north carolina. more importantly, it's that way to close the pay cut with the back of the house and the front

and servers bring that food to you. now, they'll all make the same amount. >> they've been playing good music now. >> evan: snow day, school's out. not just kids but teachers, too. but in school or out, they're always taking the opportunity to teach. especially the value of hard work. >> i started busing tables when i was 15 years old. >> evan: and this buser turned teacher . >> in an economy in asheville where you have many people who can't find forms of work, many of these people have bachelor's and master's degree looking for other work. we are a tourist economy. these people rely on this income.

the idea tipping insures g gd service isn't true. >> you understand that the money you're levering on the table is paying the wages of that server. you know you have to pay that. that's why i like to say this is an obligation mas . >> evan: blue dream was turning restaurants in to walmart. but cunningham says employee feedback has been great. >> the way they proposed it, the way they showed everything is going on. the benefits you'll have. you don't get that in a working restaurant. >> evan: it made them regulars in a snap. >> a slow day and a fasas day now you're equalizing it out. there's no such thing as a bad shift.

i'm real pleased with it. >> evan: so now when you're finished eating at blue dream curry house, you swi your card and brings up what you owe and it just says approved. instead of bringing up the tip line, you sign for what you got. that doesn't stop from cash tips. he's not going to chase people down. but he's going to take that money and pool it. they'll be able to give a bonus to all the employees. i'm evan donovan for news 13. >> frank: interesting concept. >> tammy: that food looked good. something warm and heavy for your stomach. >> jason: a hearty meal. you're going to be inside preparing meals. you will not want to get out. 19 on the low this morning. that's the big reason why we had that snow stick. we were cold enough overnight and those surface temperatures certainly made a big difference.

many of you already there. we go warmer tomorrow and then our winter walop hits this weekend. march '93 that blizzard.

i'll show you all the now your news 13 skywatch weather. >> jasas: well to say that the forecast for this upcoming winter storm is complicated would be a gross understatement. what to expect thursday overnight, the rain and freezing rain will begin. and there will be a mixture initially. then friday morning we have the freezing rain and sleet beginning to mix in. what's happening is the warmer air aloft will actually cool the air eventually down to the

our surface temperature is probably around freezing overnight thursday in to friday morning. that's why the freezing rain and sleet will be a big issue for us. once we start to cool farther above us, we'll get that wintery mix to change. that may happen sooner than later on friday. the thinking is some time afternoon friday is s en we'll really start to see the snow fly. be prepared for dangerous travel, especially by friday evening. don't get out unless you have to. have an emergency kit if you are traveling. the blankets, the water, the sand, or kitty litter and certainly a shovel. keep the cell phone charged. be prepared for power outages as well. because once we start including ice and snow, it could weigh down those trees and power lines. not everywhere but certainly that's going to be the scenariri for some of us. the global forecast system, this is the american model, it has

meaning more of a mix of rain. once that system moves by that band of significant icing asheville east tolack mountain all the way to the foothills and southern virginia, changes to snow. but they're late in the game when it comes to that because the american model is holding off the coldest air until it goes east. that would lessen the overall accumulations. the european model is thinking this thing is going to be a lot of snow with a little bit of ice because it goes farther south with the track. and that puts cold air in play for the entire event. and that means a significant snow fall of over a foot possible for many areas. we'll go now with a blend of those two models and thinking there is going to be a mix of freezing rain and sleet. how much of that happens will limit the amount of accumulations or how little of

here's midnight in to friday. wintery mix. the blue is snow friday morning, snow. back to a wintery mix. i think all this wintery mix in pink and magenta color may be overdone. we're leaning in to the snow on friday. here we go with the forecast snow fall totals. initial thinking 12-18 inches right here in the blue ridge. buncombe, southern yancey, mitchell, avery. balsams and western portions of transylvania county 6 to 12. i this say 12 to 18. 6 to 10 inches in the blue with the turquoise, about 4 to 10 inches. we get in to ice, too. we could get a good accumulation of ice. 20s for lows tonight. no threat of wintery weather other than the black ice. we see big changes late thursday in to friday.

end of the weekend. hold on tight. it's going to be a bumpy ride. >> tammy: time to check out today's "see it, shoot it, send it" picture. karien yellton sent us this shot. >> frank: beautiful picture. you can send us your pictures and video, too, just log on to wlos.com or e-mail them to pics@wlos.com. >> tammy: with snow hitting the mountains, it's important to

next in our consumer report, >> tammy: folks, get ready to dig out. much of western north carolina got a coating of the white stuff today. and this weekend's forecast could send many of you to the hardware store. >> frank: maybe a snow blower. but if you are looking for heavy equipment, jennifer. >> reporter: today's snow which brands hold up best and can make the job a lot easier. when the snow hits, you don't want to be stuck with a broken snow blower. the shop sees a lot of desperate people.

they've gotta have it. how soon can you do it? can you do it while i wait? >> reporter: some brands are much more reliable than others. >> if you choose a brand that's reliable, you have a much better chance of getting a dependable snow blower. >> reporter: huskvarna is club kadebt, and troy built. for areas that get frequent snowfalls, a two foot blower is the best. the combination clears snow faster and throws it farther. >> it's basically on steroids that allows you to clear snow more quickly. especially those big plow piles

>> reporter: a good blower could be pricey but it could last 20 years. take care of yours by changing the oil regularly. gas left from last season could lead to starting trouble. regular maintenance ensures your snow blower is there when you need it. now if you need to clear only a small area like a deck or a single stage blower might work best for you.

we've put m >> darcel: the first round of snow with another on the way. >> jason: significant snow fall for the entire region. >> reporter: some things that are smart to have when you're in driving conditions like this. >> larry: and the dangerous conditions that have already arrived.

my wife is in the hospital.