we have chief meteorologist norm lewis working overtime. norm? >> they came marching through the city with a vengeance and they're on the way to the north and east. we have a weather station right here at the studio, and our temperature right now is at 71 degrees. when we talked 20 minutes ago, it was at 86. then it dropped to 78. and that was at 71. we just received just short of a half inch of rainfall, but that whole system is making its way on towards the north and east. as it makes the way towards the north and east, it's heading to portions of harford, northern baltimore, down in anne arundel county they're getting just hammered by the thunderstorm activity. as a matter of fact, a severe

thunderstorm warning remains in effect for carroll county, adams and york county in áe#ti baltimore city, anne arundel county, and i've got a feeling that they're going to include cecil county in that as the whole system continues to make its way towards the north and east. the scattered showers and thunderstorms all result of the heat and humidity that we had during the day today. we got up to around 91 degrees. but now, as you just çósaw, it' at 71. big change. we're going to be back after we put a few band-aids on some more lightning strike problems at the station. we'll be back right after this. explain.

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research is correct, this is still the most popular method for ingesting cocaine. not using $100, but rather 5s, 10s, and 20s. dr. rites is attempting to recreate the results inside gw's chem lab. >> this is a technique that was recently discovered at graham cook at purdue university. >> reporter: so for the purposes of testing money off the street, i'm going to go into my own wallet, pull off a couple of the required 10s and 20s, and give them to you, doctor, and tell me what do you find on this money. >> we can do that. >> reporter: while they get to work, we take to the streets, trying to understand how the amount of cocaine on d.c.'s money has grown by 20% over the past two years. >> the high rollers are using, okay. >> reporter: former mayor

marion barry has a theory. >> what i can get of the study, washington is no different from other large cities. but it means a shift in drug use. >> reporter: tough times might be driving a rise in cocaine use. but it might also be getting on money as contaminated bills mix with others inside atms. back in the lab, my bills are literally under the gun. >> we apply high voltage. this high voltage drives the liquid to the paper. they give off ions. and these ions are characteristics of the chemicals that are on the paper. >> reporter: and the results? >> there it is. >> it is the actual cocaine. >> reporter: when researchers tested drug money for residue in los angeles, detroit, and miami, 100% of the bills tested positive. >> wow. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate. here is chief meteorologist norm lewis, and maryland's most powerful doppler radar.

>> well, if you have been watching, you saw us take a direct lightning strike, knocked us off the air for a little bit. we're not alone. 3200 homes between baltimore city, baltimore county also without power right now. >> i tell you what. these are very strong storms. they weren't that strong as they were approaching the city, but they what it is called the heat island. you've got all the bricks, all the steel, the concrete, the asphalt around the city. as soon as that storm it is that huge amount of heat, it just blew up. and that's what we've got right now. and it's heading to a neighborhood towards you. if you live towards the north and east of our area. go ahead and take a look outside right now. there is your shot from harbor cam there is the storm system on the west side. but the real telltale is up to the north. that's where the storm is now heading. our temperature at bwi has dropped precipitously as it has here at the station. our temperature down at bwi has just fallen right off the scale. a thunderstorm warning is in effect for baltimore county, baltimore city, carroll county, as well as harford county,

york, and adams county in pennsylvania. they have now taken the thunderstorm warning for anne arundel county off. but i've got a feeling they're going to extend this on up into cecil county, because that's where the storms are heading. there it is right there on the radar. here is baltimore city there is the beltway right there. watch the storm as it gets in. boom, just explodes. and it's heading up towards the bel air region right now, in the process of crossing 83. very heavy shower and thunderstorm activity. extremely heavy rain, gusty winds. a lot of lightning. we've had over 2,065 lightning strikes just ñrin the past 30 minutes as it makes its way towards the north and east. now let's talk about hurricane bill. hurricane bill has intensified. it's now 110 miles an hour storm. 1,959 miles east-southeast of miami, will track towards the north and east, and it should not impact the continental 9ñ it is however, going to cause some rough surf along the carolinas. it does not look like it's going to impact our weather.

we'll keep our fingers crossed, and hopefully bill will stay out into the atlantic as the national hurricane center thinks it's going to be. lots of heat gave rise to the shower and thunderstorm activity that you see building up right there, and just explode once it got over the top of the baltimore area. once the patch gets by, we'll have a little break in the action, but still a few more scattered showers to the west. again, take a look at the radar. as you can see, it's just completely covered over with lightning strikes. now what i'm going to do is switch to a little bit different view there is the storm system right there. now it's making its way on towards the north and east. and basically, it's right along this line right there. and what it's doing, it's making its way on towards the north and east at about 20 to 25 miles an hour. so there is the towns it's going to be hitting. should it be in jarrettsville in about 6 minutes. 7 minutes from park on the. 16 minutes to hickory. fawn grove 18 minutes. and 20 minutes up in the

perryman area. if you live in that region, get the kids inside, because this is one powerful storm as it heads towards the north and east. look how much the temperatures have dropped, just fallen right off the chart. parkville was at 91. now 71. 20-degree drop in a very short period of time as the system makes its way towards the north and east. that system will continue to move north and east overnight. a few scattered showers are still likely, but then tomorrow afternoon, more thunderstorm activity pops up once again, and the same kind of a situation on thursday. here is your forecast for the overnight period. showers and storms, you just saw them. 73 for the overnight low. during the day tomorrow, a very similar day today. hot and humid with scattered showers and thunderstorms, high of 89 degrees. and the extended outlook. the same kind of situation is going to continue through thursday, friday, saturday. sunday we start to get into scattered showers. and monday and tuesday partly cloudy, 83 and 85. but right now some very heavy thunderstorms heading up toward northern baltimore county toward harford county. we'll continue tracking the storms and have the latest

right here on abc 2. >> thank you. this was graduation day for special students at sheppard pratt's residential treatment center. >> it's graduation day. >> they completed a five-week course that helped them learn socialization and life skills by working with trained therapy dogs. they worked with karma dogs, a volunteer-based organization that rescues animals and trains them to become therapy dogs. >> the program consists of teaching them how to care for dogs, the costs, the food, the nutrition, the bathing, the vetting that is required, and how that translates into caring for themselves. >> karma dogs dog care program helps adolescents with a variety of behavioral and emotional issues, including those who have never been exposed to dogs. well shaquille o'neal is a big force on the basketball court. tonight shaq gets to prove himself one-on-one against one

of the best athletes in other sports. and get this, he got the idea from baltimore's best, michael phelps. our own jamie costello talks with shaq about the big show. >> reporter: we're just a couple hours away from the debut of a brand-new show on abc. it's going to be called "shaq verse versus ." how did they get you into this? >> hello, jamie. how are you doing? >> how you doing? >> believe it or not, i was watching baltimore's own michael phelps, watching him swim and break all the records. so the question was posed to me. if i swim one way and he has to swim down and back, could i beat him? and of course me being the competitor that i am, i said yes. so, you know, this is for me the ultimate cross training. so i'm going up against the greatest deletes in the world, and we're just having fun. it's going to be a show that

the whole family can watch, you know, people can laugh and just see great guys compete. at a high level. >> reporter: all right. first things first. let's talk about tonight's show where you take on ben roethlisberger. we're here in baltimore. we no like no steelers. can you give him a once over there? >> yeah, you know, i'm the type of guy that i was, you know, really like to see what i can do against other people. so, of course ben roethlisberger may be great playing the super bowl. me being the competitor i am, hey, you give me the same blocking, i can make that same pass. >> you know ray lewis is going to be watching tonight? >> hey, tell me swimming against michael phelps. you going to get in the pool, right? you're not going to do this in the ocean or anything. >> no, in the pool. michael phelps is one of the greatest athletes in the world. nobody can really beat him. but we're going to have to handicap him a little bit and very excited about it. >> do you have your speedo

picked out? >> yes, i'm going to wear the same one he wore in the olympics. >> you're going the wear the same one? >> oh, yeah. >> a little larger? >> a little larger. a lot larger. is this show more fun for you than giving a hard pick to kobe? >> you know, for me, it's very fun because i got to hang out with some of the greatest athletes, some of the greatest people in the world. and like i said before, it's really the ultimate cross training. >> now basketball players, nba players are considered the greatest athletes in the world. are you proving it right in all sports? >> man, i'm just going out, having a good time. each perspective player is great, and they're all right. every sport is different, you know, it's different. when you play football, you know, you can be in greater basketball shape in the world, but you don't have your football stamina right, you're not going to look good. so it's all different, and all these guys are at the top of their game for a reason.

because they're great players. >> will you win a title with lebron? >> supposed to. >> supposed to. we're supposed to watch tonight, "shaq versus." >> yes. and thanks to michael phelps for giving you this idea, right? >> thanks to you jamie. >> shaq versus tonight. he is on tv more than regis philbin now. all right. we'll see you. >> and you can see "shaq verseus" tonight at 9:00. we'll see how does does on the football field against ben roethlisberger. you soon could be feeding the meter more if you park downtown. how much prices could be going up. and items in your kitchen cabinet that might help fight off disease. we'll have details in 2 your health. those stories and more straight ahead on abc 2 news at 6.

here is a fish story you may not believe, even though a lot of people swear it's true. beneath the waves of the mediterranean sea is the world teeming with life, including a mermaid. according to residents of an israeli seaside town. mermaid spotters say she usually appears at sunset. it sounds fishy to most people, especially since there is no photographic evidence of the mermaid. she is apparently just a little camera shy. the governor talks about what programs could be impacted by state budget cuts. details on abc 2 news at 6, which starts now. >> now abc 2 news at 6. >> we begin tonight with the weather. severe storms are rolling through the area. don't be fooled by what you're seeing there live on harbor cam, because downtown got hit too. they have just come and gone by now. good evening. i'm