alabama, southern mississippi this is the developing storm. the track of this thing coming right up the coast. we think it's going to head to cape hatteras and cape cod. we'll probably see some snow showers. but through the day tomorrow chilly 30s. cloud up late and snow showers coming in here tomorrow night. talk more about your ravens sunday forecast next week coming up. baltimore county showed off its winter weather plan in case we do get a lot of snow. luckily it's only been small stuff like we saw yesterday and last friday even the small stuff created huge headaches on the roads. i know that well. soda baltimore county showed off its snow plan. the county has thousands thousands thousands tons of salt 300 plow trucks and 400 people ready for a quick response. you can track where that salt is being spread around and which roads are being plowed

thanks to the snow fighter blog. even with all the technology what happens if we face another record breaking snow season. >> we understand in baltimore county our basic obligation of local government to keep our streets clear of snow. we do have surplus funds that we maintain, and in the event of a budgetary emergency we're going to utilize those funds to keep the streets clear. >> you can also follow the county's twitter feed for updates on storm operations weather closers and cold weather health tips. yesterday we saw what just a little bit of snow can do to the commute around baltimore and after this -- after you hear this you're hoping it doesn't snow at all around the christmas and new year's holidays. aaa predict 1.8 million of us will hit the road and drive at least 50 miles for the holidays. that's more than 3% increase over last year. and all despite the fact that gas has jumped 18 cents a gallon over the past month. the winter weather is also

causing headaches for local merchants. yesterday's snow kept shoppers away and forced some stores to close early. so it's no wonder they are hoping this weekend stays snow free. cheryl connor is live in federal hill to explain who they got some help from today why it's important for you to shop local. hope you're doing local shopping, cheryl. >> reporter: that's right rosie. it was my kind of story earlier today. i was in these local shops and i can tell you that more people were out today compared to yesterday when the snow started to fall. you know, mother nature can be a beast on these local store owners trying to cash in on holiday sales. so the first step this morning was to clear off the snow from the walkways. some stores shut down yesterday when the snow started to fall. it is tough for them to keep up with indoor shopping centers during the winter. but overall store owners here in fells point say sales are healthier this year compared to last. today's state comptroller peter fran cho came to south broadway

and encouraged consumers to put their money into the local economy. he says it is time we support small businesses. >> let me give one example. there were 600 members of the maryland retail association a year ago. now there are 300. that just shows how cal am tuesday impact this economy has had on the private sector. >> just want to support local businesses and small firms that are trying to make it in this economy. it's very important for our overall economy. >> reporter: here's another way to look at it. peter fran cho tells me that 86 cents on every dollar that is spent in a local store here in baltimore will stay in the city compared to 30 cents on the dollar if you go to say wal- mart one of the national chains. so there's a good way to look at it. when you're shopping here in fells point if you led to federal hill this weekend, most of your money is going to stay

in the state in the city. again the retailers we talked to say they hope there's no snow this weekend. they hope for the final push will be clear of snow because mother nature can really put a damper on their holiday sales. we're live in south point cheryl connor, abc2 news. if you're looking for last minute gift ideas shop local. we have a great guide on our web site abc2news.com on our special page dedicated to the holidays we've got everything from features on local stories to shipping tips to holiday recipes all from your neighbor. abc2news.com/holiday. now the latest on that assault inside holabird middle school. police arrested 21-year-old sean schleigh on assault charges. he scammed his way into holabird middle school as students were arriving. he waited inside a stall in the

boy's restroom. the student fought back calling out for help. the school resource officer ran into the bathroom and took him into custody. >> in this case the police officer performed admirably. she apprehended this suspect by herself, took him to the ground, she handcuffed him and took limb into custody and she did her job. >> the man is being held on 1 million-dollar bail. the child was not hurt. tomorrow baltimore city firefighters will be out in the east baltimore neighborhood that was torn apart by a deadly fire this week. they will be checking homes for smoke detectors and installing them for free in homes that do not have one. they will also do a free home safety fire and safety inspection on tuesday flames tore through four homes on home wood avenue killing 6 people. rich and and eleanor satterfield their granddaughter and three great children died

in that fire. a wake will be held at 10:00 a.m. with a funeral service to follow at 11:00. the y of central maryland head start program serves 600 needs he families in baltimore county. hopefully the families christmas got a little brighter. tim rutherford explains how. >> reporter: 8 days till christmas and time for the annual y of central maryland's head start programs holiday extravaganza. it may be stretching it a get but this toy and clothing give away for baltimore county residents certainly does filet need in the community. this year in particular has been a rough one for their clients. >> we had a father just lost his job a month ago his wife is terminally ill. makes children's christmas a little bit happier. >> i was talking with a mom walking up the hill. i'm not sure why i'm here if you have something that will

help make something better for my family i'll stand in that line. >> reporter: that line was impressive. filling the halls here and then some. the veteran volunteers here know this community well. >> it's kind of like -- >> reporter: and the effort is appreciated. >> i think everybody looks forward to it. helping kids and epps get the things we couldn't get for the kids. >> reporter: the man knows hi daughter will look cute on christmas day. >> i don't know. my girls like to dress up. this is a nice dress. >> reporter: the economy's trouble people are struggling but there's no sense of despair here. only folks doing what they have to do to make christmas a little better. in towson tim rutherford abc2 news. it's been a christmas tradition for 25 years. but this year will be a bit

quieter for one harford county church. members of the oak grove baptist church in bel-air decided not to perform living christmas tree. they would spend weeks rehearsing but this week's schedule proved to be a bit too much. >> and a lot of these individuals are people that work full time, and they have had a hard time fitting all the time and hours that are required into it into their schedules for doing 11 performances during the month of december. >> rev. pool says he hopes this is only a one year pause and the living tree will be back again next christmas. how about spending the new year in london. well that's where some local high school marching band students will ring in the new year. delane he valley high lyons have a thing about that special honor. final week at colleges and universities. a lot of stress for students.

what mcdaniel's college is doing to keep students from reaching the breaking point. 33 was your guaranteed forecast so not quite within 2 today. no winner. and watching this coastal storm we'll break that down for you on the other side of this break.

. one baltimore county's high school marching band is set to perform on the royal stage delane a high school lions held their final practice to play in the new year's day parade in london.

it features over 10,000 participants from all around the world. that's pretty cool. delane he was asked last year to be a part of the parade and band members are excited to play in the world spotlight. >> we're a very good marching band. we've performed a lot of great places. we've always performed the most challenging music. >> they will also perform in a concert in st. johns square a few days before the parade. this time of year many college students are hitting the books preparing for their finals. a new study shows college students are more depressed. one in 7 students having problems functioning because of some mental illness. administrators at mcdaniel college are trying to be pro active with their students and stop the problem before it starts. cherie johnson heads to westminster to see what's going on there. >> reporter: here at mcdaniel college in westminster students are busy preparing for final exams. finals can be a stressful time

as the semester draws to a close. >> we zoo students with away lot of anxiety issues panic attacks. they are trying to manage everything. they are staying up late. it impacts everything because they have so much they try to get done at the end. >> reporter: in a proactive step mcdaniel college merge its health clinic and counseling center to form the wellness center. it's a holistic approach to helping students. the center offers counseling, educational programs on stress management and alcoholism. daniel scott is a freshman at mcdaniel. he says the transition into college life can be tough. >> if they are not used to talking to their parents or opening up their feelings toward other students, they are going to keep all that inside. after a while it becomes an overload for someone to handle and the sad part is a lot of students turn to suicide because they can't deal with

the pain anymore. it's something. it's a quick get out they are done and they can't turn to anyone else. >> reporter: the wellness center has seen an increase in the number of students who come to college with physical and mental conditions. according to the national alliance on mental health one in three college students reports having experienced depression. one in four reports having suicidal thoughts. >> students are more stressed that the anxiety, the pressure they feel to succeed has increased. >> reporter: mcdaniel college is making sure students have the right services so they are feeling goody emotionally and physically to do their best academically. cherie johnson abc2 news. mcdaniel campus looked very pretty snow free. let's hope it stays that way for a while. >> hit and miss stuff.

it's amazing. we're going to show you time lapse photography. even though we stayed in the low to mid 30s. that bright sun will melt off an inch or so which is mainly what we had. >> which is what i'm happy about. >> kind of happy to see it go as opposed to seeing it pile up. it's still autumn. >> that's always exciting. >> not reassuring. take a look outside right now. and we've got, well, a nice night relatively speaking, although it's cold. temperatures drop really quick this time of year after sunset, and especially when you still have snow on the ground. that only makes things cool off quicker. 26 frigid degrees. so we're going to get quick frere freezing. slushy areas sidewalks, parking lots secondary roads see some ice on those. updated total at bwi from yesterday's storm 1.2 inches. i don't think we even get back to this for saturday night's event. maybe toward ocean city they

may approach an inch of snow. snow covered roofs early this morning in mount airy. watch how through the day they clear right up and we get the dark roofs back and it works out well. glen oaks snow covered lawns turn green through the day. isn't that some interesting time lapse photography. not because we warmed up much but because of that great sunshine. take you down to ocean city. talk about a postcard picture. nobody laying out on the beach though with plenty of snow still on the sand there even late in the day. this is the area we typically may get a little more snow saturday night sunday morning as the coastal storm rolls in. maryland most powerful radar clear tonight. no trouble for saturday errands doing last minute christmas shopping. right now mid 20s to low 30s. president's below freezing already. highs today struggled to get above that freezing mark of 32. we hit 37 downtown briefly. through the day tomorrow should be back into the upper 30s.

clouds on the increase through the day after early sunshine and again snow showers a good possibility late in the day. again, especially on the eastern shore tomorrow night into sunday morning. tawny town eldersburg looking at mid 30s with a mixture of clouds and sunshine. satellite radar trend clear tonight. few clouds blowing through, what we are watching is a potentially bigger deal for some areas. this storm is getting its act together beginning to tap into some gulf moisture some pretty heavy rains in northern florida right now. this coastal low will continue to track up the coast through the day tomorrow, and interact with some cold air in place. so there will be some wintry weather around the mid atlantic by tomorrow night late into early sunday. right now our future cast tracks this baby off the carolina coast we stop here. this is overnight tomorrow night. making a close track in. right now we think this is going to mean scattered snow showers and a coating for the baltimore area. down at the beach could be a little more toward the beaches

and ocean city and delaware. overnight tonight 25, partly cloudy, some refreezing out there. many spots will fall closer to 20 overnight. and 37 tomorrow for a high clouds on the increase through the day. cold tomorrow night could see snow showers. doesn't take much to make the road slick and your 7-day forecast the trend here into ravens sunday call it upper 30s. maybe just a little bit of snow on the seats in the stadium for the morning. and early next week windy, cold weather into the mid 30s. rosie. and remember you can always, always log on to abc2news.com/weather for the latest forecast and track weather right in your own neighborhood. and we it a and justin and lynnette will take a look back at all the wild weather we had this year. the blizzards the blazing heat and even a tornado. special one for the record books airs saturday night at 7:00. coming up tonight at 11:00. tonight at 10:00 abc news will

air be the change save a life about what people from all walks of life are doing to help make a difference in the global health crisis. right after that abc2 news at 11:00 will profile a local objection that played a big role in the abc news special. how folks in our own backyard are coming up with innovative ways to help save the lives of women around the world. the holidays are here. that means plenty of good desserts. lots of suites. your mom's chocolate chip cookies your aunt's chocolate cake enough to give your sweet tooth a big hangover. nutritions say chocolate could actually be good for you. >> reporter: chocolates are a special part of the holidays the darker the better. recent studies have shown dark chocolates can be good for us. go easy on it eating too much chocolate can leads to tooth

dekay obesity even diabetes. >> keep their suites extra foods to 10% of your calories per day. >> reporter: could co-is chockful of antioxidants called and-a-half inalways. watch what you're buying. the more press the dark chocolate the fewer health benefits. >> the least processed cocoa is the one that's going to have the highest health benefits. >> reporter: the best source of pure dark chocolate is dark cocoa powder. candy manufacturers are developing ways to keep and-a- half inalways in dark chocolate so the suites you enjoy during the holidays will be good for the heart as well as the sweet tooth. i'm lynnette so say. to help brighten the season for a child in need come next wednesday we'll be taking these lovely ties loading them

on giant trucks and delivering them to the children of baltimore. we teamed one the baltimore symphony orchestra. you can drop off toys tubas or trombones until next tuesday. we have a list of drop off locations on our web site abc2news.com. click on the kindertime link under the marketplace tab. let's check out how the driver home is going tonight for folks. hopefully it's a lot better than yesterday. this is 83 downtown and it does look a lot better than yesterday. wyatt has a last check on the weather coming up. stay there.

. a youth football team from baltimore county looks to make its mark in the history books. it will play in the maryland state championship the team is undefeated and has only one game to go before becoming the only team in parkville history to become state champ. the kickoff 1:30 p.m. good council high school. go get 'em. they are fired up. >> similar skills almost like patriots. i want to show you one last time the snow covered. this is where most of the snow is going to come in saturday

night into sunday morning. if your travels take you that way. >> that's its for abc2 news at 6:00 thanks for joining us. if we're not here go to the web. we'll see you. you disgust me. prove it. .+++ d-con baits are speciallyfol in one feeding, guaranteed. d-con. get out.

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