it is going to add up and that's where most of it will fall. some of us here in the valleys will get snow. i'll show you how much when. >> kim: i'm kimberly king. it's dry right now but it's about to change. i'll have that for you. >> frank: does asheville need a new power plant? duke says yes but now a south carolina company says they've got t t voltage to supply the mountains. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 5:30. >> tammy: winter weather makes its way back in to the mountains. these were the conditions in madison county earlier today. >> frank: it was one of several school systems to let out early due to the snow. >> tammy: the snow has been off and on today. it will continue tonight along

>> frank: that's right. jason, which areas are seeing the snow right now? >> jason: mostly the high country closer to the tennessee border. even though flakes are flying down in to the valleys, we are nott seeing accumulation. dark blues working their way over haywood county, right over 40, headed in to buncombe county. this is where most of the significant snow resides. we have more to come from tennessee and kentucky. that wave will come in later on tonight. leicester carpet sales news13 sky cam network, it's 29 degrees in yancey county, the black mountains at 3700 feet. this has been the theme today. bursts of snow, then a lull, bursts of snow, then a lull. it's going to get steadier and heavier. balsam gap in jackson county, a little bit. but the roadways r rain wet and

42 degrees in asheville. 30s to the north. buncombe county, avery county, southern jackson, macon, clay, cherokee under winter weather advisories. winter storm warnings out for most. six inches in highest elevations before it's said and done. the roadways mainly wet. will get icy later on tonight. we'll see you what lies ahead the rest of your work week. stick around. >> tammy: we continue our team coverage of today's winter weather in yancey county vpt. that's where kimberly king joins us now. >> kim: right now it is dry but it was much different earlier today. we saw a salt truck come by here.

taking any chances today, cancelling school in the early morning hours. at 10:30 this morning outside ball creek elementary, parents loaded up their children as the district canceled for the day. >> we were happy. we were very happy. >> kim: fifth grader andy getting in his mom's car. not minding school closing one bit. mom monica cooper was right, by noon, big fat fluffy flakes were falling. >> you could feel the moisture starting. so it's coming. >> we had a lot of areas slick. returned. while we stood by watching dark clouds in search of snow, others

as we stopped to talk with tim honeycutt about bird houses at his burnsville antique shop. >> obviously i'm not going to get my wish. >> kim: his wish that it wouldn't come back down. it hurts his business. right around the corner from where we are is yancey county's nc department of transportation headquarters. that's kind of the command center for any snow removal operations tonight. they're not taking place because we don't have any snow just yet. coming up at 6:00 we will have a live report for you then. we are seeing snow swells up here, just sporadic. kimberly king, news 13. >> tammy: our team coverage of this latest wave of winter

we'll look at the impact of snow storms this week. >> frank: you can download our news 13 weather app. we'll also post any updates on wlos.com. and our facebook and twitter pages. >> tammy: new details tonight on duke's proposed powerplant and the south carolina power company is now saying it can supply western north carolina with all its energy needs without new construction. >> frank: if it's true, it could be a problem for duke energy. ashlea, cost is the key issue here. >> ashlea: that's right. this south carolina company is saying that if duke buys power for it, that will make things cheaper for duke customers going forward. >> we're always looking at ways that we can meet our customers needs through the lowest calls

>> ashlea: the company's strategy calls for a brand new natural gas plant to be built by the coal plant. it's expected to decide on whether that plan can move month. but now there's a surprising south carolina power company columbia energy has written to the commission saying it can provide duke with enough voltage to power the mountains. in documents, columbia says that using them would give duke customers here the cheapest rates. the company says regulateors should require duke to use that option. but duke says that option would require a certain kind of construction. >> 10,000 of our customers who said they didn't want a transmission line. so the company listened.

building the local plant is the most cost effective for customers. >> transmission when it travels for a long ways, doesn't provide the reliability. support needed to provide not just reliable electricity but high quality electricity that our customers expect. >> ashlea: today we reached out to attorneys for columbia energy and did not hear back. >> tammy: on the eve of the nation's first presidential primaries, a new cnn poll finds donald trump holding a substantial lead over his republican rivals. trump tops the gop field 31%. ted cruz follows with 13%.

on the democratic side, bernie sanders is polling at 54%. both sanders and clinton made a final push to gain support in the granite state today. well the state has filed an emergency petition to stop a federal court ruling. the court on friday declared the first and 12th congressional districts unconstitutional. saying the lines were drawn on the basis of race. it gave state lawmakers two weeks to redraw the maps. the state is asking for that deadline to be put on hold. it's also repealing the ruling that the districts are unconstitutional. >> frank: let's head to the on time traffic center right now for a look at your commute. >> tammy: and jaclyn, i-240 is the place to avoid right now.

want to avoid west patton avenue as well. i-240 the main problem spot to avoid. crews are still working on this wreck. thankfully the driver is okay. no injuries are reported. improvements on 1923. things are busy around new leicester highway. but things clear up. that's a look at your on time traffic report brought to you by debruhl's used car superstore. >> frank: news 13 investigates a trend in the service dog industry. more people are now turning their family pets in to emotional support service dogs. with the proper training, emotional support dogs do a great service, e eecially for veterans and senior citizens. one industry experts believe some people are abusing the system just to take them anywhere. >> the problem of course is there are some legitimate uses of these animals and they can

service. what this does is it cheapens the whole enterprise. >> frank: tonight at 11, news 13's john ostendorf investigates how easy it is to certify your pet as an emotionally support service dog. and if that certificate can legally protect you if a business askskyou to leave. construction begins in a new asheville apartment complex. where it's located and how big it will be. >> tammy: and a super bowl ad

why >> frank: the dow trimmed some big losses after a 400 point down today. nasdaq . >> frank: project broke ground behind the toys r us on brevard road. it will include a dog park,

atlanta based hathaway development is the company behind the project. they say they'd like to start leasing new units. >> tammy: chipotle closed its doors for four hours today. employees went over updated food safety program. the move comes after an e. coli outbreak. >> frank: quicken loans super bowl ad didn't sit well with viewers. rocket mortgage. it's a new tool that allows consumers to get a mortgage completely online. some viewers criticize the app saying it promotes a lending environment similar to the big crash. the goal of the ad was to promote the tool's convenience.

dogs and the buns. >> frank: it wasn't crazy good ads to me. it's not like mean joe green. the little boy. >> tammy: that was the pepsi, right? >> frank: yeah. pepsi or coke. >> tammy: well we're going to be watching tv a lot lately, right jason? >> jason: there's going to be a lot of snow in those higher elevations. expect black ice. 46 degrees for the high temperature today. 26 the low. that 46 certainly helped warm the ground up enough to melt the snow we've seen so far. it's going to add up. i'll show you how much and when

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your news 13 skywatch weather. >> jason: well the snow is flying.

a lot of it's melted as it's come down. but it's going to stick and the higher elevations will be favored. keep in mind, though, this isn't just going to happen in the next couple of hours. snow bands working through this evening, much of the day tomorrow. notice some of the dark blues. very impressive. wet flakes. same thing on the western side of buncombe county. same thing in haywood county. stretching down in to portions of graham county. greatest impacts will be the snow and the black ice. moderately high in those categories. wind and cold not as big of a deal but certainly moderate in terms of the impact. you're going to notice the wind. you're going to notice the cold. but the snow and the black ice will complicate travel. in the valleys, this is through tomorrow, moderate terrific for

it's a little bit more on the moderately high side. 42 degrees in asheville. some flurries being reported. no snow accumulation. we'll likely not see any for maybe several more hours. there are the snow showers going on through the rest of the evening for the mountains. some of this working on through the valleys. you may get a light snow fall accumulation. henderson, transylvania county. it will still fly in to the high country in to early wednesday with that gusty northwesterly wind. that pesky, stubborn and annoying wind. five to seven inches here in the pink. that includes the smokys. this turquoise is three to five

that encompasses northern madison, norther haywood, northern graham, yancey, mitchell, and avery county. much of central, northern macon county, central haywood. back through the black mountains. and the white here is a dusting to an inch. i know that's a big range. farther south of i-40 don't expect as much. closer to i-40, expect closer to an inch. that includes asheville. we could see closer to an inch in the next 24 to 48 hours. only 20s in the northern mountains tomorrow. it will be freezing or colder in many of the mountain valleys. around freezing thursday with some sunshine. then the next blast of cold comes in just in time for the weekend. we'll have lows in single digits

night in to valentine's morning. >> tammy: time to check out today's "see it, shoot it, send it." panther pride while dabbing in mardi gras attire. >> frank: she took this during yesterday's parade in downtown asheville. you can send us pictures and video, too just by logging on to wlos.com. giving the ball to grandpa. next, why a mountain basketball

for a picture perfect moment. >> tammy: a picture posted on social media captures the moment a pisgah basketball player will never forget. >> frank: john le and photographer ken have the story behind the tear-jerking image. >> john: how sweet would victory be if no one's there to see it? in sports and in life, highlights are best when shared. when pisgah's home crowd turns

especially when her inspiration is in the stands, grandfather michael austin >> you just mean the world to me and thank you for all that you do. >> thank you. >> john: recently fans get a snap shot of why brooklyn is so tough. that's when she reached a career milestone and reached out to her number one fan. >> i scored my 2,000th point and i knew exactly where i was going. in the picture you can see multiple family members that were crying. >> john: it was a defining social media moment. >> it's awesome we have that picture to share with everybody. >> i got lipstick on your face. >> john: now every milestone. >> women's records, check. >> john: every t-shirt means

>> he's got terminal bone and throat cancer. >> john: notice that michael didn't say it. >> i just try to ignore it. >> john: leading by example. >> like i said, i don't think about it. i don't sit around and dwell on it. >> they originally told him he's got six months to live and it's been four years. >> john: honoring one of the mvp's of brooklyn's life. >> it was one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me. >> john: this is one to be cherished. >> everybody was just saying it brought them tears to see that moment. >> john: great players know the perfect time to pass the ball. because what would it all mean if someone like papa couldn't be right there to watch brooklyn make history. >> we joke that he has nine

>> john: in canton, john le, news 13. >> tammy: brooklyn is just the 13th player in mountain history to score 2,000 points. >> frank: next year she'll play basketball for appalachian state. and i run in there and he was on the kitchen floor. >> frank: a mountain teenager accidentally shoots himself in the head. the quick action taken by a

what the >> karen: a chance for more snow. >> kim: we're on standby waiting for more snow. i'm kimberly king. we'll show you the big fluffy flakes that came down. now from western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 at 6:00. >> darcel: another round of winter weather is taking aim at

this after a quick blast of snow