>> it' s coming, the potentially historic snowfall on the east coast. what impact the greater cincinnati area is going to have with the system. >> local schools battling with the decision on whether to close today. what schools made that decision a day early. >> and some cincinnati businesses trying to get around the issues snow usually causes. how they' re using technology to do it. >> from cincinnati' s wlwt, leading the way. this is wlwt news 5 today.

lisa: the big headline today is whether, randi has worn one that is about. randi: if you are in mason county, kentucky, robertson county, southern adams county, this will be a big deal for you. for those of us living closer to the 275 loop, we will get snow out of it but it shouldn' t be a huge system. in the grand scheme of things, this is a large storm system rolling through kentucky and by and large, can ducky get that system. seeing a couple of very light flurries. rolling into areas south of the 71-75 split. heading from southeast to area.

as far as the day goes, we have an improving forecast for you in cincinnati and to the north and west. here are the latest headlines with the storm. track shifting to the south. totals are lower for the downtown area. especially areas to the north. snow is still timing out the same, starting to get going south of the river by lunchtime. a messy evening commute, potential along and south of the ohio river. our totals in our area code from anywhere from zero to 10 inches. that is a big range. sharp cut off just south of downtown cincinnati. you can see what we are projecting. you had up to hamilton, springboro, middletown, you get some snow here not a lot. 1-3 inches expected along the 71 corridor, northern kentucky. we may be on the low end of

a sharp ramp-up south of downtown where you could see 4-6 inches and hotspots were the heaviest totals are expected to be, extreme sun communities 6-10 inches of snow a possibility. miriah: mark: starting at 6:00 this morning road crews in northern kentucky will start their shifts to prepare for the snow later today. and crews here in cincinnati started late last night. lisa: andrew setters is live in camp washington giving us a look at their efforts this morning. good morning to you. andrew: cincinnati workers are busy. they never stopped working from earlier this week. they are here at the cincinnati salt pile. crews out pretreating streets, cleaning up the last bit of snow from side streets from wednesday' s snow. they' re throwing down things like salt brine ahead of the storm, to keep roads in better shape while the snow is flying. pretreatment makes it harder for

roadways. in northern kentucky, the kentucky transportation cabinet will have it' s crews on the roads starting at 6:00 this morning. they' ll be working long hours to pretreat the highways ahead of the storm. one of the most important steps in snow prep comes from you, not from the road crews. one of the things they would like to see is people stay off the road as much as possible giving more room and space to work and get the roads in better shape for all of us for the weekend. live in camp washington, andrew setters, wlwt news 5. mark: with the weather system expected to hit the southern part of our area the hardest, many northern kentucky school districts like boone, kenton and campbell counties, have already decided to close. wlwt news 5' s dan griffin is in park hills with the tough decisions that are impacting parents and teachers alike. dan? dan: for all involved, it' s difficult to figure out what you' re supposed to do when it is unclear at certain schools will

go if they are closed. many districts across northern period kentucky are closed. including kenton, campbell and boone counties. school districts we' ve talked with say these decisions are difficult to make, but ultimately come down to to safety. but when school is closed, the concern for parents, where will their kids go if they still have to work? >> it can be challenging, i do work full-time and i' m a single parent, actually so if i don' t , have somewhere for my daughter to go that would keep me from going to work. >> we have an extra 15-20 kids always on a snow day just because there' s all that need for parents to have some place to take their kids. >> some private school districts haven' t called off class so far this morning, including notre dame academy and covington catholic. of course, that could all change as we move through the morning. live in park hills, dan griffin, wlwt news 5. lisa: it is now 4:35. on the other side off the issue. several school districts are

snow today. one of the biggest ones being cincinnati public. wlwt news 5' s miriah turner is at the live alert desk with more on their game plan today. miriah: many schools went ahead to make the call yesterday not wanting to chance it. but that' s not the case for most schools in the greater cincinnati area including cincinnati public schools. the hesitation comes from not wanting to sacrifice a student' s education, for perhaps just a dusting of snow. right now our meteorologists are saying the the metro area is expected to get the least amount of snow at this point. with so many possibilities to consider according to the superintendent of cincinnati public schools it' s really a roll of the dice. >> we can get the children to school but if you can' t get children home and we did live through a situation where it was 9:00 at night, children trapped on buses without food or facilities and children sleeping on gym floors so we just cannot

miriah: cps transports 20,000 students, has 350 buses on the roads, and 1300 routes. the district' s superintendent says it will come down to safety even with no snow on the ground yet this morning she may be forced to close the schools. from the live alert desk i' m miriah turner. mark: remember to download our wlwt app, you can watch the updated forecast and see the list of closings and delays. and follow us on twitter. we will be updating you throughout the day today on-air, online, with the latest forecast and conditions of this winter storm. the timing of today' s anticipated storm. already has a lot of people on edge. fortunately a hi-tech solution could mean fewer cars on the area' s busiest roads. instead of waiting and wondering what' s in store dave palm. of data analytics firm 84-51 says his employees can easily work at home with their laptops. it' s a similar story for p&g. which employs thousands downtown. representatives say they can use virtual meetings and teleconferences to get the same

>> if our folks get off the road they' re safe, and they' re not part of that, and they' re being more productive, too. but also it helps contribute to people that do have to be here. mark: he says if workers do end up staying home there will be , less traffic on the roads. during today' s evening rush. lisa: airlines have started to cancel flights ahead of a dangerous winter storm. taking aim at a good portion of the east coast. online flight tracker. flight-aware. com says more than 4,000 flights have already been scrapped. american airlines said it was canceling all flights today in charlotte. the carrier said it would cancel operations in washington and baltimore saturday. american also canceled flights saturday in philadelphia. united airlines said it would suspend flights at its washington dulles hub and other mid-atlantic airports starting friday afternoon. mark: let' s get another check of the forecast. good morning. randi: for the last week, we have said cincinnati will be on

you can see this is a huge deal when you had south of cincinnati. much of the entire state of kentucky will see a hefty snowfall total. specifically once you are closer to lexington and south. if you have travel plans, planning on getting in the car and heading south, it is an awful idea. you will be able to do it tomorrow, either. winter storm warnings for all the communities in the . as we zoom in, communities and purple, that is a winter weather advisory. snow is expected, light accumulation as possible, but the areas hardest hit are in the pink. if you are wondering why clermont county is in the pink and hamilton county is not, they can' t slice a county in half. brown county expecting to see heftier snowfall totals good let' s break down the timeline. morning commute, no problem. lunchtime, snow south of the ohio river. for the bus ride home, fairly steady snow southeast of cincinnati.

best bet is cincinnati and south. snow showers across greater cincinnati at that point. tonight, study snow, rough roads south of downtown, especially hard in southern portions of kentucky. we will look at that time line in just a second. first, we check out how the roads are looking at this morning. kyla: a lot of pre-treatment out there. hopefully, that will eliminate any major issues later today with that snow. openly late, we don' t have any issues out there. hopefully not because of precipitation on the rookie or damage and 75 and butler county near union center north and southbound. no issues for you. 71 and victory parkway, inside of the 275 loop, all lines are clear. my traffic across the river. 7175, same thing. travel times are right where they should be. we will keep you updated throughout the morning.

lisa: one of the bearcats all-time greats. in the house last night. mark: could u.c. pull out a close call with kenyon martin looking on? george vogel' s in next. with sports.

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lisa: welcome back, 4:43 . d.c. and warner brothers have

mark: miriah turner joins us now with the details as well as other stories, retreats, -- ret weets, hashtags, everything. miriah: batman and superman, we have had so many of those movies. wonder woman will be coming to a theater near you. starring fast and furious actress gal gadot the israeli actress and fashion model will make her first appearance as the female super hero in batman v superman, dawn of justice, which hits cinemas in march. also featured in the story of the amazonian princess turned superhero, will be actors chris pine, robin wright, and danny huston. the action flick is set to hit the screen in june of 2017. good films coming out that year. for consumers looking for fashion meets technology look no further than the handmade leather hermes apple watches. previously only abailable in a session available in a handful of stores around the country but on apple.com and hermes.com. the hermes watches are almost

common apple watch sport. the price for a hermes leather design ranges from the classic single tour at $1100 to the the intricately designed, at $1500. also trending online, the overwhelming amount of support for those suffering from the water crisis in flint, michigan. volunteers from across the country, including right here in cincinnati, are sending water bottles to the city. what started as a social media post transformed into a coordinated effort at the hartwell kroger. a group of volunteers will be accepting cash and bottled water donations there tomorrow from noon to 9:00 p.m, more than 700 people have already pledged to help the effort on the group' s facebook page. mark: a bad situation out there. miriah: it really is. mark: i saw a piece where they were talking to a pediatrician and she had just lost someone and she was in tears. it is so bad. mark: did it just recently

miriah: they made a change to the local resource three years ago? mark: it is just coming to light when they see these elevated levels of lead in the kids they were testing. all in the pipes. tough situation. lisa: speaking of kids, heading to school this morning? let' s get to the rest of forecast. -- bus stop forecast. randi: showers rolling into the south but it won' t get going until we head into the lunchtime hour and early afternoon. by and large, this is somewhat hit harder to the south of cincinnati. -- the system hits harder to the south. moving into the louisville and lexington. the bus stop forecast today, checking my twitter account this morning, tons of people asking if they get a snow day. it really depends on where you are butler county, school, warren county, school.

no problems, just cold, 22 degrees. on the way home from school, 28 degrees. snow will be falling southeast of cincinnati. mark: a battle of the cats -- the cincinnati bearcats take on the memphis tigers. lisa: wlwt news 5' s george vogel has that and more in sports. george: after losing a slew of close games, the bearcats have a chance to win against memphis. the cats and tigers coming down to the final minute, kenyon martin hangs at pittsburgh arena. this game was tied throughout the entire night. shaq thomas, 18 points and six rebounds. he was big in this game. getting the assist here. alley-oop to gary clark , memphis comes back and takes the lead. a sweet tip-in coming up right there.

--u.c. goes ahead. u.c. wins a class 176-72. >> the last couple we lost our because i rebound we didn' t grab or late turnover. i am just glad as a team, we close out the team up. we had those last two rebounds, missed shots, and we turned the ball over. that is how you finish games. george: john calipari and the kentucky wildcats playing in arkansas. the wildcats, off the missed shot, the slam and the follow. u.k. up 12 at the half, after the break, on the run. you list leads kentucky will with 24 and the wildcats when it 80-66. ohio state at purdue and purdue

ohio state now 12-8 on the season. everyone is keeping their eye on the winter storm including high school athletic directors. decisions will be made on high school games this afternoon even though some schools are already off. the reds added a final stop to the winter caravan at the florence mall on sunday, january 31. manager bryan price, five players, marty brenneman, all will be on hand. that is a top shelf stop your doors will open at 9:00 a.m. former reds closer will not face charges for the infamous at his florida home back in october. police reports described it as a domestic dispute. he admitted to firing a gun inside his garage at his home but prosecutors say there is a lack of evidence and conflicting accounts. the reds traded chapman to the yankees last month. first round of the career

next time you do that -- you play, try doing this. i have never gotten a golf ball to do this. polls the string, straight back into the hole. that is good stuff. nicholson with an eagle. for are tied at eight under par including jason dufner. we will see if we have many games tonight on the friday night blitz. it depends on the weather. that is all of the sports for now. we will have more coming up later in the day. mark: big kids are hoping they can get those games in. cps schools are closed for today. you get a snow day, you get a snow day along with a bunch of coatings for kentucky at the bottom of your screen. cardinals traveling tomorrow to get to charlotte. interesting. randi: didn' t charlotte shut down all their flights today? mark: they normally travel today

randi: what is that -- what is the have to do with the arizona cardinals? [laughter] we will avail. mark: it is a friday. randi: i' don' t throw footballs at me. there will be a big and sharp cincinnati. our amounts for our viewing area will range from nothing to 10 inches of snow. this much, some that is a big difference. central kentucky will get hit much harder then we willing greater cincinnati. winter storm warnings for the communities and think. all of kentucky and claremont, brown, adams in ohio. areas in purple, a winter weather advisory. those communities in purple, you' re still getting snow, still getting accumulation, but the heavy stuff should cut out south of downtown. we are seeing light snow showers falling south of the 71-75

there is a lot of dry air in place. that will stop the line from working further to the north until we head into the lunchtime hour. you can see this is a large storm system making its turn to the north. center that storm over top of nashville. 23 degrees, feels like 11. the breakdown today at 8:00 a.m., claude julien. noon, snow south of the river. 3:00, snow generally along and southeast of 71. by 6:00, snow continues to most places seeing snow showers in the evening. some areas get hit harder than others. the snowfall forecast, this is not a huge issue for folks and 74 and southeastern indiana right you may still get snow showers this morning. substantial accumulation south. 1-3 inches of snow for downtown cincinnati. we may be on the low end of those totals for those of you in hamilton county.

cincinnati that has five inches more than we do downtown. a band of for-six inches from walton, alexandra, mount or, georgetown. feist expected -- highest expected snowfall totals, the extreme portions of hamilton county good southernmost adams county is where we could see 6-10 inches of snow. here is the futurecast. lunchtime, you see those snow showers creep toward the ohio river and overspread the ohio river to the east. getting into lunchtime and -- how about 3:00? are the bulk of the snow is east and south of downtown cincinnati. as we hit the evening commute, it spreads further north. we could have slick roads anywhere, but your biggest spot of problems will probably be south of cincinnati for the evening drive your snow showers continue overnight into tomorrow morning. 5:00, 6:00 in the morning tomorrow, snow showers moved out

sunshine for saturday afternoon. today, snow is likely whether or not you' ll get hit hard depends on your location. tomorrow, 34 degrees with flurries ending in the morning. sunday looks decent, 38 degrees. monday into tuesday, 40' s. rain may be a rain snow mix. lisa: 4:53 right now. new details this morning on a deadly shooting in winton hills. police have identified the victim as 22-year-old markel combs. police say he was found dead at the scene from a gun shot wound. this happened around 11:00 last night in the 200 block of craft street. if you know anything about this shooting, you' re encouraged to call crime stoppers at 513 352-3040. mark: a norwood man in jail accused of holding young girls as sex crimes is accused of threatening one of his young victims. from behind bars. now he will have to answer the indictment before a federal judge this afternoon. according to court documents cody lee jackson jackson called the 15-year-old repeatedly from jail. he was, "threatening and

against him. the she' s the same victim he' s accused of kidnapping last march and locking up as a sex slave at his norwood apartment. she was 14 at the time. kyla: lisa: the ohio supreme court ruled suspended juvenile judge tracie hunter, will not have to go to jail today. judge pat dinkelacker. was going to make his decision about whether hunter could remain free today. but the supreme court issued its own ruling thursday. hunter was convicted of a felony, unlawful interest in a public contract last year. she' s appealing that conviction. and earlier this week prosecutors announced they will not re-try hunter, on the other eight other counts the jury could not agree on. mark: we want another check of your forecast. randi: today, 29 degrees for the high, snow is heading in. it is going to be way heavier to the south and east of cincinnati. as we look at our futurecast, right now, the bulk of that heavy snow is in southern

as we creep toward lunchtime, it starts to move toward downtown. generally in the early afternoon hours, area southeast of 71 and especially south and along the ohio river is where we see those have your snow bands for the early part of the afternoon. into the evening commute, you can see there is a chance of snow all the way up to date. the highest accumulation will be centralized to the eastern and southeastern most communities. the back edge of the snow morning. i 6:00 and 7:00 a.m., snow is gone. if your travel plans take you south into kentucky, it will be a mess. an option for you. for us, we eventually sunny. snowfall forecast, it looks like 6-10 inches of snow possible for awesomely lighter end of things. afternoon and sunday looks nice and dry. miriah: mark: 4:56 is your time. kentucky preparing to get hit with the bulk of the snow system

lisa: how state offices are responding to the weather threat. mark: taking a live look outside, all for your, 4:56, 23 degrees as your temperature. we continue to update your forecast and keep an eye on the roads for you with the

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