the port but for state of maryland. baltimore, say hello to my cold little friend. tonight the winds will be a howling. after two days of beautiful weather we head i weekend with temperatures that are closer to normal. hello, wyatt. a little bit of a reality check. we had severe thunderstorm activity, especially for deep south maryland, calvert cliffs and now just a few storms left, one storm flaring up south of cambridge but that appears to be diminishing. across the central part of the state there's not enough. a tornado watch for lower del mar vap and for deep southern maryland. wind advisories just about statewide.

the winds will be picking up and kicking through midnight. we'll stay breezy. our high wind warning has been narrowed to extreme western maryland, mean garrett county. so we get an idea what's coming with the front. 40s, windy, some fog, some scattered showers showers. we'll talk billion how your weekend shapes up. >> bge is keeping a close eye on the winds. extra field crews are ready to roll, but bge said this would have to wait until after the winds die down. abc2 continues to lead the way in the mobile news offering. visit right now and check out hour growing list of apps for whatever type of phone or tablet. you'll get it right to your

device. well, many of us are well aware of the dangers associated with a gas leak. that's why dozens of people dialed 911 in harford county, reporting they smelled gassments the source of the problem turned up to be something from miles away. >> reporter: these underground utility workers say it's not their line. >> coming up up north. you could smell the gas. >> reporter: havre de grace's mayor also caught wind of the problem. >> i was talking to the chief of limits she mentioned when she left her residence, she detected the smell in the air. >> reporter: the county spokesman said he shared their concern. >> i personally detected the odor of gas around 7:30 this morning when i left my home.

i checked my property and my neighbor's property and couldn't identify the source. this was very, very faint but you could tell there was an odor of gas in the air the. >> reporter: ultimately emergency responders determined the source came from a major oil spill. westerly winds had carried the odor as far as 60 miles an hour. the new jersey department of environmental protection issued a statement saying while petroleum products can be smelled from a great distance away, they pose no health effects. that's comforting to people like craig keating. >> i smelled something. it wasn't that strong but i did smell a little bit. >> reporter: did it smell like new jersey? >> i don't know what new jersey smells like, but it must be it. >> reporter: in harford county, jeff hager, abc2 news.

>> >> it turns out the man baltimore county police arrested for impers nateing a police officer -- impersonating a police officer has been at it for quite some time. in addition to a crown vick vic are-- vic, they found state uniforms, matching badges and fake gun. he was represented on the same charge 10 careers ago. >> for mr. propalis there's never been any indication that he attempted to pull over somebody. >> so, why do this anyway? well, those costumes and the police gear are for a more

personal nature. he uses them for role playing and not to trick the public. he is currently on home detention awaiting his court appearance next week. an anne arundel police have charged this man in connection with that road rage ins accident near gambrills earlier this week. he was the driver of a explorer. he got into his ford explorer before both vehicles crashed along route three. in annapolis the search is on for three men who rob lad couple inside one of the parking garages. the 54-year-old woman and 64-year-old man were walking to their car in a parking garage when the three accosted them. one robbed the man of a laptop. a second suspect tried to grab the woman's purse but she managed to fight him off.

>> no indication that any of the suspects were armed. but put your safety first. comply with the demands and immediately contact the police department. >> anyone with information is asked to call crime stoppers at 1-866-7-lockup. well, he's accused of scamming local schools and parent groups. joseph gill has taken a hit. >> reporter: dozens of schools said they have given joseph gill money for raven players but he never delivered. gill has been charged with theft in queen anne's county and was supposed to face trial today. the state's attorney said the case has been placed on the inactive county. they're waiting until baltimore

county finishes its investigation. gill is accused of pitching ravens to several elementary schools. they lost hundred when gill bailed and didn't deliver the celebs. gill is represented by a public defender. he has been released from queen anne's county. he has been sent to charles county and is also wanted in st. mary's and virginia after that. governor martin o'malley will sign maryland's same-sex marriage bill into law next thursday. it will happen during a special signing ceremony. meantime, a website as already been created where opponents can get the information on a petition to send a bill to a voter referendum. governor o'malley's redistricting map will become law at the end of the day. the plan automatically goes into

place if the general assembly does not take action by the 45th day of theception and today is the 45th day. michael bush explained by saying there were no competing redistricting plans in the senate. the heavy machinery took aim at an eyesore in east baltimore. the hold paint factory came crashing down as demolition begafnlt city officials were on hand to bid farewell. toxic chemicals also raised questions, but the neighborhoods said the city's actions have been top notch. >> we've gotten all the questions answered and everything has moved quite smoothly. >> the city acquired the

property in 2010. two affordable housing groups got help from the federal government today. cloning man elijah cummings presented a check >> i realize there are a lot of people there hop want to stay and repair their houses but don't have the money to do it. >> it comes from neighbor works of america. rumors abound as retail giant sears is headed for bankruptcy. they posted a huge loss on thursday. what drastic move the company is planning to take. he's called the king of mopups, the man behind those ads from teeth whiteners to

everything else. >> i'm cheryl conner with an introduction into two ballet shows this weekend. >> way below what we forecast. the warm air came close. richmond, norfolk, ocean city, even salisbury. we'll talk about how much cooler things trend through the weekend coming up. [ male announcer ] today at kfc get our freshly delivered whole chicken

freshly prepared by real cooks with our own secret recipes. pick up an 8 piece meal with 2 sides and 4 biscuits just $15.99. taste why fresh is better. [ man ] 4...3...2...1... mission accomplishe

now on to the economy. after posting huge losses on thursday, sears is banking on a

new set of plans to turn things around. it plans to spin off the stores, outlets. sears also owns kmart as well as the lands inn brand. if you've spent any time searching the web, you've seen those annoying pop-up offers. but they may be going away for awhile. >> reporter: the king of the free trial offer is out of business. that means the parade of emails and pop-up ads for teeth whiteners and $49 ipads may slow down. you may not have seen the name jesse welm but you may have seen his ads, sometimes oprah winfrey's face would appear on

the ads. the ftc said he was behind teeth white iners and swipe bid.com. free trials often turned into big charges on customer credit cards. oprah sued him a couple years ago after her endorsement showed up without her permission. this is a reminder to be careful of any free sample that requires a credit card. no doubt, this won't be the last of these. reporting for abc2 news. more containers mean more jobs for baltimore. they will begin weekly direct shipments from europe make baltimore its first port of call. >> the one thing we have not attracted is the first port of

call. it's cargo that can move over any port, so we're very excited about that. we think that's a business we can build. >> as many as 600 jobs may be added. they're expected to bring 30,000 containers annually. tonight abc2 is on the go in annapolis. we're checking out the ballet theater of maryland. we have big performances coming up. cheryl conner is there where things are just about to get underway. got your ballet shoes on? >> reporter: i'm not that coordinated. we'll leave the ballet shoes to the dancers. a few are on stage. the rest are getting ready for the show that starts in less than an hour at the maryland hall. you're looking at maryland's home professional bali -- ballet company, the ballet theater.

the artistic director joins us. thank you for being live with us. >> thank you. >> reporter: you have two shows, fire bird and the scarlet letter. give us a synopsis. >> they are both one act ballets. in fact, firebird was the first one done. that was meant to be a statement against the classical regime and they wanted to stream it into something more powerfully dramatic. so we're excited to be able top present that -- to present that. it has a princess and a prince but it's as russian as you can get. we're also jux that mosting that

-- juxtaposing that against another. it's the story of the scarlet letter by hawthorne. it's -- it has a lot of the starkness that we would capture in the 1600's. both are powerful features. they're both romances. the scarlet letter ends sad but they both have themesdemption ae interesting to she how the audience responds. >> reporter: thank you so much for joining us live. i want to add top it, these dancers put in full-time jobs. let's go through the ticket price. they are $45, but there are discounts for military, seniors and children. the show begins at 7:00 tonight,

7:00 on saturday night and a matinee at 2 on sunday. rosie, back to you. all right. let's get right into it. maryland's most powerful radar, still tracking weather. salisbury. we saw severe thunderstorms, even a tornado warning for wicomico county out to ocean city, those areas still getting active weather but most of the state just with scattered showers. in fact, not any weather. watches and warnings still up. tornado watch for lower eastern shore through 8:00 through an abundance of caution. light breeze on federal hill but that will be intensifying. 48 degrees at bwi. we just struggled to get out of the low to mid-50s around

baltimore. that was not the case in areas to our south inside maryland. hey, take a look through the day, heavy showers at times. annapolis getting socked with the rain. a real active day of weather in kent island. watch as that boundary crosses the bay and right on the camera lens we get a good soaking. take a look at the wind advisories for all but the shore where they still have the tornado watch. we have a high wind advisory for the entire state and high wind warnings that enhance the risk. so far winds up to 2, gusting to 30s and areas to our west. that true wind boundary as not come through. still hanging out in the upper 40s. mid-50s in d.c. they hit 76. that's one of the reasons the severe storms was able to get this cranking. look at richmond and norfolk,

into the 80-degree range. it was a tough forecast today. we thought we would be much warmer. that warm front never quite got into central maryland. as a result, we stayed cool. windy weather. we will see basically the fog getting out of here has those winds pick up through the evening. as we check the trend, saturday looks dry. maybe a few snow showers western maryland. that will be it. i have windy and cloudy day. sunday the winds let up and we'll be left with sunshine. we do see a milder trend next week. a few showers. windy. tomorrow windy still, 48. much cooler, obviously, but that's seasonable for late february. clear and cold. your seven-day forecast as we take a look at the outlet, you can see the cooler trend does not warm up very well.

mid-50s monday and tuesday. next chance for rain looks to be on wednesday. it's interesting, rosie that for some people tomorrow it will be 10 degrees cooler. if you're on the lower eastern shore, a 33-degree cooldown -- 30-degree cooldown. >> we'll be right back after this.

wheeeeeeeeeeeee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today.

before we go, here's a look at what we're working on for abc2 news at 11. have you been trying to get your hands on target products. you won't be happy about something being considered in washington. a look at the weather. >> rosie, still some active weather toward the beesms. take a quick check. these will be clearing out fairly quickly, a tornado watch for the lower eastern shore through 8:00. look at the winds. winchester 34. that highs highs with -- wind advisory through midnight tonight. >> thanks, wyatt. who do you want for the best picture? just a reminder, abc2 is home

for the 84th academy awards. you can seat oscars this sunday starting at seven followed by the big show with billy crystal as the host. that's it for right now. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering.