being prepared for the cold weather. >> tammy: residents in a mountain town . >> frank: plus space shuttle challenger went up in flames 30 years ago. the man who helped nasa recover from the disaster is now in asheville and talks to news 13 tonight. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 5:30. >> frank: iowians are just days away from the caucuses. >> tammy: the republican candidates have their last chance tonight to make their case. but their frontrunner will not be there. >> the think about iowa is that iowians like to meet all the candidates, shake their hands. so this is a big deal tonight.

tradition of going to all the gop debates, playing by his own rules and now hosting his own events. >> before tuesday, the late week the trump-cruz show down. >> i think cruz is a snake, to be honest. and i think trump is going to walk all over him. >> reporter: some iowians want to see policy comparisons, others don't want moderators and their guy. >> well that megyn kelly, you can tell right off when she's talks, she's against him. >> reporter: the result is an environment he controo completely what they can say what he wants without nobody challenging him. >> that's good. he'll draw the crowd over there. yeah, i like him. he's smart. >> i have full faith in donald

i'm bind behind him 110%. >> reporter: cruz is the clear and away frontrunner. rubio might be able to make it all about him and ted cruz and close that gap between second and third i in the hawkeye state. >> frank: live tonight on wlos.com, donald trump will talk to news 13 senior political reporter scott duman before his organizations. that's the event he's holding instead of attending the gop debate. 8:45. you can also catch trump's comments tonight at 10 and 11. news 13 wants to know, will donald trump's decision to skip the debate be his downfall? >> tammy: a new poll of south

clinton beating senator bernie sanders by more than a 2-1 margin. according to the nbc wall street journal merist poll, 6 in 10 democrats are affect an african american. this may have more to do with her last name than the policy. >> the running joke is bill clinton was the first black president. so he's had this very tight relationship with the african american community. >> tammy: find out why sanders may not be fairing well in south carolina. and why that matters in a mostly republican state. challengers say they worry

year. north carolina officials argue the new law will cut down on voter fraud. >> frank: north carolina's public schools superintendents is seeking pay raises for teachers. yesterday, june atkinson offered her proposals to raise teacher salaries that now lag near the bottom in the country. legislators have raised teacher pay in each of the past two years. >> tammy: the buncombe county sheriff's office is looking for a suspect in an attempted robbery. investigators say the man shown here attempted to rob george's deli. the suspect is a white man, approximately 25 to 35 years old. he was driving a white two door suv with extensive front end damage. please contact crime stoppers if you have any information about this case. officials in one mountain

that will make sure that animals are not left outside in extreme temperatures. >> tammy: ashlea, they already have an animal welfare ordinance there. >> ashlea: that's right. it addresses food, water, shelter. but now some folks here in columbus say that doesn't go far enough. >> it happens actually quite a bit. we have some cats that are like that. a few years back we had an animal whose ears were completely frost bitten. >> ashlea: some come in abused and neglected and others come in with their battles from mother nature. dogs and cats must have food, water and shelter. but is that enough? >> we would definitely like to see something where if it's below a certain temperature, or

>> ashlea: at the joint council meeting last week, it came up. >> one of our council people mentioned that they were concerned about some animals they had seen that were outside animals that were in an enclosure. >> ashlea: as the mountains and any animals were left outside being battled by a blizzard, town manager tim byrd started researching changes. >> i reviewed ordinance and our ordinance really doesn't go very far in terms of animal control or animal treatment. >> ashlea: the feasibility of a measure requiring animals to be kept out of the cold is still up in the air. there are questions about enforcement and how to define what too cold means.

puguaua, a pug chihuahua. they have to stay inside. if they don't have hair and straw, they stay inside. >> ashlea: they'll likely have an update about how they'll go forward on this possible ordinance. reporting live in columbus, i'm ashlea surles, news 13. >> tammy: streets looked clear where ashlea was, but there's still snow. >> jason: take a look here at the cold springs ranch. icester carpet sales news13 sky cam network. lots of sun today but still plenty of snow to melt. you can actually watch this pile of snow kind of fade a little bit. shrinking. say good-bye to a lot of snow as we get in the 60s. wind advisories for yancey, mitchell, avery. mcdowell, burke county.

across western north carolina by morning. right now the wind speeds generally light but it's cold. temperatures in the 40s. up in to boone, 40 degrees. that's one of the colder spots. holding in the upper 40s for southern mountains and the upstate. we'll stay in the 30s at 9. 34 by 11. clouds will be thicker over the upstate. you're looking at a slower cool off. 39 by 11. when i see you again in a few minutes, we'll talk about the shot of snow that's coming. along with the coldd tomorrow. stick around. >> frank: more than 100 students had to go to the hospital today following a carbon monoxide leak at a middle school in texas. many complained of being light headed. there are no reports of serious injuries or fatal -- anyone being overly sick. it's not clear what caused the leak. but the fire department said it may have started in the boiler room.

organization says the zika virus is spreading around the americas and that the level of alarm is extremely high. zika is linked to a birth defect. it's transferred by the same mosquitos that can transfer yellow fever. >> the lever of concern is high as is the level of uncertainty. questions abound. we need to get some answers quickly. for all these reasons, i have decided to convene an emergencycy under the health regulations. >> tammy: the agency will hold an emergency meeting monday. >> frank: if you're driving on the highways you want to avoid i-40 east. >> tammy: jaclyn, a portion of the interstate will be shut down soon. >> jaclyn: the interstate will

you can take i-240 to get around it. heads up, you might run in to some delays running through downtown and i-240. this is the only problem area we are dealing with right now. it's going to take you about 25 minutes to get from henderson hendersonville over to asheville right now. that's a look at your on time traffic report brought to you by debruhl's used car superstore. >> frank: this was a date many of us remember vividly. space shuttle challenger went up in flames shortly after its launch. a seal failure on a rocket booster led to the explosion which killed all on board. back then, a biltmore lake man worked there. >> it was something we all knew could happen. >> frank: coming up tonight at

was like for folks who worked at nasa and why some of those memories are harder to recall

>> tammy: paying less for cable >> tammy: stocks on wall street made gains today. the dow ending trading at 16,069. the nasdaq closed at 4506. >> frank: the government wants to make it easier for customers to buy and use cable boxes. >> tammy: that includes businesses like tivo and apple. a new proposal paves the way for modern smart devices become more available. commissioners will vote february 18th. >> frank: 2015 was a good one for ford. the american auto maker posted record this year. it's fourth quarter earnings alone nearly doubled a year ago.

selling vehicle in the u.s. market. >> tammy: facebook is making more money off of you than ever before. the social media site says it made more than one and a half billion dollars in profits just in the last three months of 2015. facebook has more than 1 and a half billion people who use the site each month. it's grown 33% globally in the u.s. and canada, facebook makes more than $13 per user. >> frank: well barbie is getting a makeover. mattel is making three new body types. it's been 57 years that the doll has looked the same. critics said the toy gave young girls an unrealistic image and body type to aspire to. >> tammy: barbie always had that hour glass. >> frank: and i've seen some

barbie and it's frightening. >> tammy: it's hard to achieve. >> jason: where's the female news anchor? 49 degrees for the high temperature today. that put us just one above average. we were two below when it comes to the low this morning at 25. record to date is two below zero. we're nowhere near that. we have a deficit of only 100th of an inch. snow with that in the mountains. the warmer weekend.

find out next. now your news 13 skywatch weather. >> jason: after some sunshine this afternoon, the clouds have been on the increase. here's the proof. our leicester carpet sales news13 sky cam network in franklin down in macon county. 48 degrees. a little milder than us here in asheville. all in all, it's cloudier now. here's our jet stream pattern.

how streams are going to dip. that's that frontal boundary that's going to push down here tonight and touch off a few snow showers in the high elevations before day break. this is a big ridge in the jet stream. that's warmer air. we're going to see a major shift by then. still clouds to deal with over the upstate. a few showers south of i-85. tomorrow we're going to go 50% on the chances of snow in the high elevation. this is a mountain forecast. you see that snow showers will be possible near along the tennessee border. but know chance saturday, sunday. back up to 40% chances of rain come monday. 47 degrees in asheville. we got a north-northwest wind at 9. that puts our wind chill down to 43. you're going to feel that wind.

here's our culprit. the one that's going to bring the cold air and increasing clouds along with the wind coming quickly tonight. high pressure will rule the roost as the beginning of the weekend. the winds will come from the south and west. that's all we need to really warm things up saturday and sunday. that will carry over in to next week. we really don't see any cold air anytime soon. we'll sit east of the cold front. milder temperatures overall. here's the future cast. future radar and satellite. also note these wind arrows getting longer and longer. gusty winds to greet you. some of the snow is right over the black mountains and the northern blue ridge. mitchell, yancey, avery county. a light coating of snow. especially 3500 feet. an inch very most. other than that, the wind stays with us.

and we're sunny in to friday evening. temperatures on the cold side. cold enough for snow. light accumulation. less than an inch. 20s for lows in the mountains. highs tomorrow will get in to the 40s. low 40s for asheville, mars hill, waynesville. temperatures will warm up. 60s return saturday and sunday. they'll carry right over in to monday and tuesday. great news there. but the rain's on the increase. by tuesday we're seeing rain likely here. temperatures will also go in to the 60s for the weekend in the upstate. you'll get wetter by tuesday as well. >> tammy: just rain. >> frank: ski resorts won't like that. time to check out our online "see it, shoot it, send it" feature. you can send us your pictures and video, too.

or e-mail them to pics@wlos.com. smart watches of all shapes and sizes.

which ones top the list. >> frank: by now you probably have a smartphone in your household. but what about a smart watch?

time to buy one? >> reporter: consumer reports just finished testing the latest watches to help make your shopping a little easier. commercials for smart watches are everywhere. watches of all shapes, sizes and prices offer to count your steps, check your heart rate and display all of your notifications conveniently on your wrist. of course, they tell time, too. consumer reports has rated dozens of watches. consumer reports test heart rate accuracy by comparing watches to its highest rate heart rate monitor. putting watches in the pressurized tank. the sony smart watch 3 failed the test and landed at the bottom. at the top of the ratingses, the

>> it caught up with android ware and pebble. >> reporter: that means plenty of options like fantastical, a calendar app. and omnifocus. another option, the $350 samsung gear s2. which offers 3g so you don't have to stay tethered to your phone to receive calls or notifications. battery life of course is a big issue for smartphone users. all of the watches lasted at least a day. you can find information about this story and other news on our consumer reports section on wlos.com.

next at 6, dot crews trade . >> holly: in the carolina kitchen, tuna fish never tasted so good and it could easily be

well. a multi-million dollar face lift for the thomas wolf auditorium could be on the way. >> darcel: also tonight, food, water and shelter for animals. but is there something missing? >> it's very sad that it still happens and they're out there. >> larry: the law one mountain town is considering to keep animals warm. news 13 at 6:00 starts now. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 6:00.

15 to $37 million to possibly