today's the day to get out and take a long lunch break. i'm linda so. how warm will it get? we'll let you know. >> star watchers are watching the solar storm that erupted on the sun. how it could affect you today. >> appliances can bring a lot of safety complaints but a review web site could help. those stories coming up. on this thursday morning, thank you for joining us, i'm megan pringle. >> i'm charley crowson. let's check with lynette charles on the forecast. i got in the car this morning, it was 56 degrees.

i thought we would do the show outside. >> it felt good yesterday and today. temperatures on the rise again. we'll have a mild morning. it's going to be breezy and we will be dry. just a few clouds across the area. let's talk about the temperatures you spoke of. well above average when we should be 31 degrees for this time of year, this early in the morning. so winds the big story for today. right now we're a little on the breezy side with the winds out of the southwest at 10 miles an hour into manchester. the gusts are 20 to 25 miles per hour to stevensville and pasadena and manchester. maryland's most powerful doppler radar is dry but we will start to get some activity to come. so stick around. let's check traffic. good morning, angela. how are the roads? >> the roads are in great shape. an overnight work zone, 295 northbound, there's one there. we're blocking two of three lanes on the bw parkway approaching nursery road.

same here, it's in a two-way traffic pattern. that's an overnight work zone going two directions in one tunnel there. the same on the fort mchenry tunnel on i-95. no troubles to report on 695 with a live look at wilkens avenue. we heard you talking about it. an early taste of spring today. >> forget the winter coast. it's going to be near 70 degrees. linda so is outside of the 7-eleven in loch raven with more on how people are planning to spend the day. >> reporter: today's not the day to stay inside. we talked to a gentleman who just passed us by. he's on his way to myrtle beach. he says he'll spend the day outside. what a better way to do that. temperatures today reaching 70. we talked to a woman earlier this morning who is heading to work. she says she's already decided that after work she's going to take a long walk outside. this mild winter has been a pretty mild one. it's been recorded as the single warmest winter in a decade.

the fourth warmest in 117 years. that might sound good but it's likely going to wreak havoc on your sprithe lack of winter fro pushing pollen counts up. that means allergy season started earlier and will last longer this spring. >> the warmer winters are going to bring out the pollen and make people sicker. >> reporter: another thing about this warm weather, also bringing out the bugs earlier. they are fooled into thinking it's already spring so don't be surprised if you start seeing bugs a little earlier this year. again, today, it's going to get up to 70. why not enjoy it, take a long walk, go golfing. go to a park, get ice cream. it's going to be a fabulous day today. live in loch raven, linda so, abc2 news. >> i may have to do that. the warm weather helped construction crews speed up their projects. business owners plan to open the pub in towson when fire

destroyed it more than a year ago. it took more than 100 firefighters to put it out. according to published reports reconstruction started last summer but the weather delayed the project. more testing is being conducted to find out what a white powdery substance was that forced an elementary school to evacuate in dc. police say the suspicious wide powder showed up in a package yesterday. students were allowed to return to class. five other states reported letters with the mysterious powder. so far testings have been come negative. we'll keep you posted. we showed you video last week of a man hit by a pickup truck. the mayor is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. this happened on 198 and route 1. if you have any information about this hit-&-run call the laurel crime line 301-498-7645. a home in belair road yesterday afternoon, police

believe a car had been stolen. the airbag went off in the car as it slammed into the house next door to that barber shop. three people were taken weigh, one injured. a man in serious condition after suffering serious burns from a house fire. also, anne arundel county firefighters are headed to the fire, they were there yesterday. when they ended up on a crash on ritchie highway. four firefighters and three civilians were hurt. between the two scenes. firefighters and the crash victim suffered only minor injuries. in frederick the bomb squad was called to the county courthouse yesterday after a coconut was a cause of concern. officials say it was found near the building, looked like it had been sliced down to the center and put back together. thing the building was investigated while the coconut was put back together. it posed no danger. it's under investigation. police say the gun used to shoot 13-year-old monae turnage

did not belong to the police officer that was accused in the shooting. >> and people remembered turnage. police say two boys were playing with the rifle when she was shot. police say they hid her body under garbage bags nearby. they've been charged as juveniles with involuntary manslaughter. her mom says she's awaiting the results of the police investigation into the officer's conduct. >> it might be true. if true, i'll find out -- i don't know what to say about that. >> police are still tracing that rifle to find out whether it was legal and to whom it belonged. the funeral services for monae turnage will be held this weekend. eating healthy can cost. >> it depends. this morning we have tips on how to get the biggest bang for the buck while eating healthy meals. >> hawaiian islands under a state of emergency. we'll have the latest of what

is going on in paradise. a live look at the statue of liberty, interesting angle, at the crown. you're watching "good morning maryland."

you may want to think twice before heading to hawaii for spring break. hawaii's governor declared a disaster for two islands after the relentless rains there. the rain continued to fall in many areas, even the streets because it has nowhere else to go. >> rip current advisories on many south florida beaches. they remain in effect throughout the day. wind picking up to 15 to 25 miles an hour. lynette, how is our weather? >> the winds will be picking up. we are a little on the breezy side, we were windy last night. that's the same stay ino today. right now the current winds,

not bad, 6 miles an hour but along the eastern shore, 14 mile-an-hour winds now and these are the sustained winds. not even talking about the gusts yet. they will get up to 20 to 25 miles per hour as we go through the morning. by the afternoon maybe 30, 35. so, yes, we have a windy day on tap for us. satellite and radar, not picking up on a lot now but you can see the clouds back off into western maryland. those are poised to move in across the area. also we have this batch of rain that is poised to move in too. i'm going to tell you exactly when that gets in here and exactly when it gets out. details coming up but now let's check traffic with angela. good morning. good morning. out on the roads, let's get a look at how things are happening on i-95. if you're traveling through the city you will have to get by on the left side, southbound at caton avenue, right lanes blocked with a construction crew there. in the meantime, arbutus looking pretty good just north of the beltway on the southwest side. and we're looking at no delays and all lanes open on this

stretch. in this stretch of i-95 in the meantime is business as usual. nothing to hinder the drive on i-95 between harford county and the top side of 695. back to you. kindergartener called a pint-sized hero this morning. >> he saved my life pretty good. >> how what he said on tv helped save his friend's life. >> the plan health officials are trying to do to keep america's youth from smoking. as we head to break a live look at downtown baltimore, the inner harbor. it's going to to be a gorgeous day. more weather coming up. ñ[=

five things to know on this thursday morning. the gop presidential candidates are back at it on the campaign trail today. mitt romney and newt gingrich holding rallies in mississippi while rick santorum next door

in the state of alabama. >> president obama is also doing some campaigning. he's in north carolina this morning. the state is worth 15 electoral votes in november's general election. the president will be talking about the economy. >> and a new report by the office of the surgeon general shows nearly one in four high school seniors and one in three young adults under age 26 smoke. health officials plan to discuss state funding to help launch anti-smoking programs. >> today's international women's day. women across america plan to protest against big banks. in baltimore organizers tend to take a protest at the bank of america branch downtown. and dharun ravi, the man accused of spying on his roommate, who later committed suicide. a homicide investigator took the stand wednesday. we could be in for turbulence today. the sun spits out a huge

erupting solar flare. >> it's been roughly 20 years. it's happened before. they say it could affect traffic today. for more on this let's go to sherrie johnson on what it could mean for you. >> reporter: we made calls to bwi marshall to see what they are planning to do if sun fleas disrupt flights. we have not heard back from them yet. scientists say get ready for disruptions. we could have radio blackout, satellite communications may also be disrupted. it will unleash emissions and could mess with power grids and global positioning systems. >> we see it all the time. we're at least able to tell you that yes, this is coming towards us. >> we can expect some of these problems at least until tomorrow. when the solar storm is expected to end. back to you.

toyota is recalling nearly 700,000 vehicles, one raul involves a steering -- one recall involves a steering wheel problem in takoma pickup trucks from and the second is with faulty brake lights, in 2009 camry sedans and crossover suv's. so far no injuries reported in either case but the recall is important. more information on abc2news.com. for dishwashers and spark and flame, ovens that turn on randomly, kitchen appliances are among top complaints among consumers. a government database is here to help. charley crowson is in the interactsive news center. what is this about? >> reporter: megan, it's a kind of one stop shop and holding base for you to come in and be able to check for recalls as posted by the state department of administration board. i'm going to pull up the web

site in a moment. we had a problem a second ago. give me a second here. we're going to try one more time. we have a slow responding internet this morning. all right. we're having a little bit of trouble getting this web site up. in the next hour, megan, we're going to get this up and show you how it works. again, we have a little slow internet now so let's go back in the studio and we'll get on this now. >> we'll check back with you in a bit. an upcoming breast cancer event to tell you about. on saturday you can join komen maryland for their special symposium, a day full of answers. healthy living tips as well as some expert medical advice. it's called finding your path to breast health. it will be saturday from 8:00 to noon. it's free and open to the public. the fda says they are considering waiving prescription requirements for a range of drugs for ailments such as diabetes, asthma and migraines. regulations want to make these drugs available over the

counter. officials are also proposing new computer technology that would allow customers to self-diagnose some common diseases. the fda would still require studies to prove the consumers can diagnose and take medication. a public meeting on this proposal is planned for later on this month. shopping for groceries? you may have noticed you're spending more money. researchers say the cost of food has gone up by more than 5% in the course of a year. a lot of people are now looking to cut down. experts say one of the best ways to cut back at the market is plan ahead. plan a couple of days ahead, know what you need, have a list and stick to it. it's really important that you follow that, because it's easy to get distracted at the grocery store. >> doctors say you need to buy fruits and vegetables in season. also good practice to buy your non-food items somewhere else. those usually cost more at the local market. more taxes, what the government says to be done to

keep young people away from tobacco. a report was released that revealed more than 80% of smokers begin by age 18 and 99% of adult smokers in the united states start by age 26. the u.s. surgeon general's office says smoking at an early age cannot only lead to addiction but lung disease, early heart disease and other health problems as well. jerry sandusky will receive nearly 600 pages of secret grand jury testimony before the start of his pending trial on child sexual abuse charges. but not as soon as he had requested. he remains on home confinement while he awaits trial. jury selection is scheduled for may. he's denied the allegations. a junior high teacher in california is on paid administrative leave after accused of appearing in porn. school officials say it didn't involve students, wasn't filmed on school property. the investigation started last week amid rumors around the school. the district says in order to punish the teacher it would

likely have to prove the private life was affecting overall classroom activity. massive flames and smoke from a tanker truck after colliding with a train. it happened in florida. it happened yesterday, about 40 miles east of tampa. a witness says the truck pulled out in front of the train. the truck driver died in the crash but no one on the train was hurt. the highway that was shut down because of the accident has since been reopened. most kids are used to taking the bus to school, two young kids in texas made it their home. deputies say the kids ages 5 and 11 moved here in 2009 and at some point the parents were put in frirch for conspiracy to -- prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. the aunt lives 12 hours a day, so they are on their own. the kids are in foster care and no word yet if charges will be filed. a quick-thinking kindergarten student is credited with saving a friend's life. last week the kindergartener performed the heimlich maneuver on his best friend.

it happened at west avenue elementary school. nicholas got a snack stuck in his throat. a cafeteria monitor says nicholas was turning red and gasping for his throat. that's when his friend reached out to help. >> he was choking. >> we're told that josiah learned from seeing it on mom s reminder of how important it is to teach first aid even to young kids. she's already dreaming of him becoming a paramedic. gardeners in seattle are planning to create edible forests. in the heart of the city. a number of nut and fruit trees are planned for the planting. they are going to plant bushes and herbs. people can eat what they want. it will begin in spring. we move on to our weather

because i have no idea where we're going with that. >> i like the idea of the food. >> anything with food i'm for. >> today would be a good day to get out and do gardening. >> linda was talking about the food, the ice cream. i perked up. i can eat ice cream when it's 20 degrees though. but we're talking about 70-degree weather today. it will be gorgeous, especially feeling gorgeous outside. right now the temperatures are already very mild. 54 degrees into baltimore now. we should be at -- that basically should be our high but it's actually coming in above our high. so we start out this mild in the morning. you have the southwesterly winds. then you can only score high from there. 54 now into dc. 52 easton along the eastern shore. 54 from york, pennsylvania and 55 culpeper. 50 in frederick. so you get the point, you do not need the heavy coat. satellite and radar showing some clouds trying to stream in across the area. that will be the scenario but we will have breaks.

i'm going to call it partly sunny to mostly cloudy. we will get some sunshine in here but we will have mainly cloud cover. so temperature will be tricky but due to the fact that we're starting so mild we will hit into the 70s. if we get more sunshine we'll soar above that. you can see that green blob on the map there. also, you can see some of the purples and blues. that is a little bit of a mix now pushing in to portions of arkansas and even into missouri now. we can even see blues back into colorado. so that is what is going to be pushing in, not into our area but that is going to be affecting that area as we go through the rest of today. so not so bad. it will get here as we go through tomorrow. tomorrow will be dry. enjoy, but as we've been saying, it will come and then be gone, but in the 7-day forecast, you might like it once again. we warm the temperature up and we have high pressure off into the atlantic ocean now. this is a bermuda high. that is helping to really pump the warm air in.

that is going to be the scenario as we go through time. future trend, on the timeline you can see when it will get in here. it won't be here until this evening. we'll see it overnight and especially as we wake up into tomorrow morning, things should clear out by daylight hours tomorrow. so thursday, this will be tonight, we could see a line of showers working through. then as we go into 5:00 tomorrow morning. i'm still going to call lingering showers. this model takes it all the way through. gets it out but don't be surprised if you have a wet commute coming in and then it's all out of here. then we see plenty of sunshine as we head into the weekend. temperatures will be a little cooler but all in all temperature will still be above average. this is the forecast for today, 70 degrees. we'll get that sun/cloud mix and we'll be warm but it will be windy outside. tonight temperature come in around 45. you have the scattered showers. it will stay breezy and then as we work our way into tomorrow that front pushes through. we have the morning showers but it will be cooler.

then we're looking at the 7-day forecast, where it doesn't look too bad. it will be much warmer as we head into next week with a few showers. let's check traffic with angela. >> good morning. on the roads now, also an excellent start. as a matter of fact, u.s. 50 heading to 97, a good route through anne arundel county if you're heading to 695 in that direction. also, 795 looking good, very light flow there as well as i-70 coming in from howard county. you shouldn't run into any delays there as well. let's look at how things are fathering on 695, beltway, looking good at 295, bw parkway, it's clear passing 895 and the entire stretch of the south side of 695. moving over to the north side at providence road, very light traffic on 659 between i-83, harrisburg expressway and 95 on the northeast side, also no early troubles on the east side of 695 making your way across the key bridge. back to you. a fan got a makeover by

upset protesters. >> they targeted the legendary character and why they are so upset. >> when i booked my vacation nobody told me. not at all. >> why passengers on air canada may have to worry about getting to and from their destinations now. what could happen come monday straight ahead. look, it's atlanta. >> it is. we'll be right back.

protesters led by the country's consumer

foundation. this was taipei. they protested u.s. government assurances that beef treatments are harmless. the man accused of 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in july. he pleaded not guilty to the acts. but had admitted to carrying out the attacks. prosecutors say he was psychotic at the time of the attacks. the trial set for next month. this is file video from the vatican, the computers are running normally this morning. not the case yesterday though. the international group of hackers known as "anonymous" claimed it shut down the catholic church's official web site. vatican.va. and vatican officials confirmed it was hacked. the hackers listed reasons for the attack as the catholic church teaches and doctrines as well as how they handled the sexual abuse scandals. this spring you could be forced to