tonight, what the city iss doing to keep this storm from shutting us down. >> darcel: some flights havee been canceled out of asheville and charlotte. preparations are underway at the asheville regional airport for winter storm that is almost here. live team coverage is seconds a. . now from western north carolina's news leader, this iss news 13 at 11:00. >> darcel: we are under a state of emergency tonight. a winter storm warning has been issued for western north carolina. some areas could get more than an inch of snow. >> larry: yeah, a number of schools have closed. those are going to be scrolling right along the bottom of your screen. >> darcel: now that storm is almost here. we have live team coverage of the preparations and the impact it could have. jason. >> jason: it is already starting to unfold before our very eyes, folks.

already. this is not even the strengthened part of the storm. we're not even to the max life cycle, if you will. all kinds of rain and moisture starting to fall as sleet and freezing rain. we've got heavy sleet reported in brevard. canton, west of asheville. you see all the blue and you think it's snowing, right? not yet. that's above us. several thousand feet in the clouds we're seeing snow because the air temperatures in the clouds are cold. sleet to snow and then it's all snow throughout the duration of this event all through tomorrow in to saturday. winter storm warnings are out for the entire region until 7:00 a.m. sunday. over a foot of snow for many in western north carolina. don't think it's going to be that much over the upstate. but you're still going to have your significant snow fall. overnight tonight, icy mix to snow. before dawn, we're going to have

ice mixed in south. then through the day tomorrow in to saturday, periods of heavy snow. so the temperatures are key. we're dropping. 36 now here. 34 in burnsville. 30s now over the upstate. big, big change. joining me right now is meteorologist zack greeee where is that? that's chimney rock >> zack: it's the temperatures that are holding a very big factor. 37 degrees right now. also at balsam gap, you can see the roadways are wet. moment. shifting. we're going to be talking about snow. we're looking at three different models here. the north american model. now you see the outlier. 19 inches for the european.

better channel on some winter scenarios. but the latest data that's been coming in is showing the gfs rising. we could be getting upwards to a foot even more. the weight of the snow. the weight of the sleet could have some bigger impacts due to the wind. a sustained wind above 20 miles per hour and that's going to continue all day long. the ground certainly going to be saturated. the weight of the branches going to have an issue. something we'll closely monitor. >> larry: asheville city crews are trying to stay ahead of the storm. >> darcel: that begins with pre-treating roads and gearing up 25 vehicles for snow removal. justin, the mayor says the city is prepared. >> justin: that's right. and she's really encouraging people just to stay home. unless you absolutely have to go

it's the calm before the winter weather in downtown asheville. when a storm is expected to dump inches upon inches of snow across western north carolina and beyond. >> our goal with this potential winter storm coming to north carolina is to be over prepared. >> justin: from the governor to the mayor of asheville. >> we have crews ready to deal with weather events like this. that involves working closely with the income department of transportation. >> justin: that preparation continued thursday with city crews laying more than 8,000 gallons of salt brine throughout asheville. and getting the trucks ready to take on the salt spray. starting with the most traveled road and working their way down. >> if we got the secondary routes clear but once they got the primary route they couldn't go anywhere, it doesn't accomplish anything.

firefighters were and we stopped it as it got out of the bush. it's taken a little bit of adjusting. >> justin: same for these newlyweds. >> we're on our honeymoon right now so we're welcome with being snowed in. >> justin: the hope is everyone will stay off the road. >> we want everyone to stay home, stay warm and stay safe. and not go out on the roads unless absolutely necessary. >> justin: buncombe county is already under that state of emergency. henderson county has already declared a state of emergency. now that goes in to effect in less than an hour. reporting live in asheville, justin hinton, news 13. >> larry: ahead of the storm, air travel is already being affected. we've already gotten reports of flights canceled. how is the airport preparing, jerrika?

extra crews coming in and people on standby just like we do at news 13. right now here at the airport, it's freezing rain that's falling from the sky. but after midnight and overnight it's expected to change to snow. snow or no snow. january is one of the lightest montnt for travel at the asheville regional airport. but throughout the week, they still have a steady number of people traveling all with somewhere to be. >> i was getting very nervous about when the storm was coming because i have one day and then i'm leaving on a cruise from texas. if my flight had been delayed today, i could have been in real trouble. >> jerrika: some flyers feel lucky their flights were today and not tomorrow. others say friday was their original plan but now it's to plan b with snow on the way. >> i got an e-mail saying my flights had been canceled tomorrow.

i called american airlines. waited on hold for an hour. they were able to resolve it and get my flight changed to tonight. >> jerrika: all american airlines flight out of asheville and charlotte on friday have already been canceled ahead of snow and ice. so as long as there are flights, there are crews, working to make sure they land safely. >> we have a department prepared and trained on how to handle winter weather and what to do to keep our runway open and operational. >> my daughter will certainly be excited to see momma walking in a day early. >> jerrika: airport officials told me there could be slight delays tomorrow as they clear

and we also learned tonight that delta has also canceled several friday flights. if you have flights tomorrow, your best bet is to check with the airlines' cancellations. >> darcel: with the potential of ice comes the potential for power outages. duke energy says they have crews on call to bring in extra help this weekend. extra transformers and other supplies are also stocked and ready to go. should you lose power, representatives say they're ready to answer the call. they have crews staged at the western carolina ag center right now. >> the men and women that work and serve our customers each and every day stand ready to strap on the gear as quickly as they need and get the heat and lights back on if mother nature packs a punch. >> darcel: if you lose power call duke energy to report the

with the eye on the winter storm, some local major events are forced to postpone. the jackson brown concert at thomas wolf tomorrow has also been postponed. and the hot chocolate 10k fundraiser for isaac dixon elementary. >> you may be able to run in the snow but i have, you know, 50 volunteers coming and driving from all around town. and in addition to that, 600 participants. >> darcel: the abby road live concert at orange peel on saturday is still on for now. event planners across the mountains say checking their websites or facebook pages is the best way to stay updated.

right here for continuing coverage of our winter storm. we're starting a half our earlier tomorrow morning. get the latest on our news 13 app and facebook and twitter. we have a list of updated closings and delays scrolling along the bottom of your television screen. we also have a list on our website under the weather tab. also, don't forget to share your snow pictures with us. people are losing their jobs. >> darcel: an asheville call center is closing. hundreds of jobs will be impacted. coming up, why the company says it's shutting down. >> larry: and police released

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call center says it's closing its asheville center. >> darcel: the company says it's working to help find them employment. aaron adelson is there live. aaron, when is the office closing? >> aaron: darcel, sitel says it will close july 30th, but employees may only be here through may. after 20 years, sitel will be leaving. the company says it's closing because the clients' needs changed. for asheville, it's 250 jobs. next door, dickie's store manager girlfriend . >> i have no idea. >> aaron: 250 people and she feels for each one. >> it's heart breaking that that many people are going to be

and it makes me thank my lucky stars i have one. it's scary because with everybody else going out like how long are we going to be here? >> aaron: a couple sitel employees say they weren't allowed to talk to us. >> it's not good news for asheville. it's not good for sitel. >> aaron: sitel says qualified employees will be offered employment and relocation bonuses. the company says it will try to help everybody. the owner of the shopping plaza says it's not in a slot. this much change concerns jessica edwards. >> i don't know. i don't know. i'm hoping it's not location.

>> aaron: sitel's knoxville office will continue. aaron adelson, news 13. >> larry: new tonight, new surveillance pictures of the suspects who robbed an asheville jewelry store. they were wearing masks when they robbed golden diamond connection monday morning. police say they got away with 4,000 worth of jewelry and were driving a black jeep cherokee. if you have any information, call crime stoppers. >> darcel: some people in haywood county have no water tonight. they lost 400,000 gallons of water yesterday because of a water main break. that means dozens of residents and several businesses have no water. officials are urging customers to conserve water so that the reservoir tanks can fill back up. they say people letting their faucets drip because of freezing temperatures made the problem worse.

weather mode all day. >> darcel: it's getting close. >> jason: yeah. >> darcel: chief meteorologist jason boyer is here with an update. >> jason: it's pretty much here now. the moisture is here. it's just a few hours before we start to see the snow kick in. here's your forecast flake-o-meter. it's maxed out. you've already bought your bread and milk. stay off the roads. the good news is this is coming tonight. let it come and then stay off the roads. march '93 blizzard 18.2 inches. that's the heaviest snow event in asheville. we may get close to 18. i'll show you all the details next.

later, how this now your news 13 skywatch weather. >> jason: as we mentioned before the break, here's the mois urturemoisture. it's already coming in. it's now working down to the surface. look at the change over here. watch the pink in transylvania county. pink, boom, now blue. so this is happening very quickly. it's going to rapidly detearate in terms of snowfall. it's still heavy rain but it's

in the upstate. sleet and snow. once eventually we get that colder air to work down the surface. it's going to be a crippling storm no doubt about it. when you talk a foot of snow or more, think about what two inches does. okay. how two inches complicates travel. a foot. yeah, virtually impassable. they're only going to treat and really go after the main thoroughfares. the side roads, if you live higher up, you may not get a plow there for days. we'll show you all that in just a second. right now we're certainly interested in the impacts from this. snow will be the greatest impact here in western north carolina. ice will also be an impact. but it's a little less than anything else. so we're going less ice. some sleet. a lot of snow and a lot of wind, too. so that's going to be a big issue.

the equation. we're all going to see power outages in some cases south and east. it's going to be a bigger deal there. severe snow for the upstate. even though you're not going to get as much snow. you're going to have issues with it. dangerous to impossible to travel. don't get out unless you have to. have an emergency kit if you are traveling. be prepared for power outages. 36 now and it's rain and sleet mixed in at the asheville regional airport. here are your snow totals first. anything from northeast buncombe, southern yancey, mitchell to avery, 16 to 20 plus inches. close to 20 inches, too, some places over western transylvania, balsams, jackson. all the pink is 12 to 16 inches. look at how many places we're talking about. mcdowell, hendersonville, transylvania county, smokys. you get in to blue here. the lighter blue, 8 to 12.

madison county you're involved in 8 to 12. over the upstate, 4 to 8 inches. nothing to scoff at. that is a lot of snow for you. the future cast shows all of that moisture coming up tonight and it's blue is snow. pink is a rain-snow mix. more ice initially. then we start to see more snow come back down on the back side of this system. it's just going to continue all the way in to saturday afternoon. the ice potential greatest southeast. your lows tonight will be sub-freezing. i should say your highs tomorrow will be close to freezing or below. everything is going to stick. everything is going to continue

we warm up and get back to >> larry: a man released from a prison in iran is back in the states tonight. we have new photos of him reuniting with his family in asheville. pastor saeed abedini was incarcerated in iran back in 2012 after being convicted of trying to establish christian schools. he and four others were released over the weekend in a deal struck between the u.s. and iran.

seen a dismal start to the year on wall street. the lowest in 12 years, that's a savings for consumers but a significant blow to the energy industry, which lost 100,000 jobs last year. investors are also concerned about a down turn in china's economy. >> darcel: a bank president and robber were killed during a robbery attempt. a man came in dressed as a woman. he was later killed in a shootout. a pep rally for the carolina panthers has been canceled because of the approaching storm. it was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon to cheer on the team ahead of sunday's championship game against phoenix vpt city

dangerous to have fans out on dangerous roads. >> larry: stan has their action against the citadel. next in sports. in this line of work only the freshest ingredients make the cut it's important to me to know every dish i serve is the best it can be. especially for this food critic. publix bakery scratch made bread we bake it in store every day with pride so you can serve it with some

>> stan: college basketball in cullowhee tonight. citadel and western carolina.

torium brumette, nice pass. later in the game it's devon peterson. the cats up five. then brumette's going to get the ball in the high post. makes a great pass to mike brown. the cats fell 92-91. western women played furman earlier and lost in overtime. saturday's double header moved back a day. the games were scheduled to be televised. they will not be televised sunday but you can go to the game free of charge. prep hoops west henderson at smoky mountain postponed for tonight.

polk at mountain heritage postponed. more college hoops. mars hill and brevard postponed. prep hoops, boys game if you have cancellations, call us. terrible news. one of the area's top basketball players who plays for the best team, senior guard of erwin tore her acl this weekend. she's out for the season. good luck to her. we are pulling for a speedy recovery. nfl carolina panthers just a few days from some wondered if they were going to fire their coach juan rivera.

>> we've added pieces and we've become a unit and a team and a family. and it's been a lot of fun. hopefully we can go out there and get a win this weekend and make it that much sweeter. >> stan: they are three point favorites. >> larry: we've already got sleet. >> jason: a lot of sleet being reported around the region. that's an indication there is cooler air above. we're going to get all this to happen sooner than later. a lot of snow tonight in to the morning and through the day tomorrow. 12 to 16 inches for many of us. >> larry: thank you for joining us.

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