our coverage of the pliz ard of 20 -- blizzard continuing now. mayor calling for everyone to stay off the roads throughout the day. >> and a.j. transit has suspended all train and bus service overnight. they did that at 2:00 a.m. they are operating running with delays. >> more than 9,000 customers already without power in new jersey. most of them in ocean county. >> state's ewe tile utilities have them -- >> the today show is going to air but going to air on cozi tv, our cable channel.

stay tuned to us or tune over to the today show and we'll keep you posted on this storm as it develops. we want to take you now to our meteorologist. >> good morning, guys. the snow showed up early and hitting us hard now. blizzard conditions possible all over the county. here's a look at storm tracker four live radar. tracking snow streaming in on the heavier snow bans. the snow dives down in intensity and picks up again. that forecast has changed with the latest information we have. i think we'll stay with it solid. let's take a look at the spots

the roadways in all spots. jersey city, union city, you're seeing the higher snow fall rates now tracking the intensity. this is one to two inches per hour. that's the ban moving on shore right now. that's going to last for another hour or so. quickly picking up 1-2 inches in central park and also as we head towards carney. another patch of dry air right here. you can notice the trend for the dry air to advance north and then it stops and starts the pivot around. you see the yellows, arranges oranges and reds offshore, they're giving us the combination that provides the heavy downpours of snow. we've seen winds gusting over 30 miles an hour in many spots. as chris was mentioning, the storms intensifying and the strongest winds coming later on this afternoon. we've seen a wind gusts at 35

gusts down the jersey shore. blizzard warning in effect. an event all day today and tonight. winter storm warnings in effect for all the counties shaded north and west of town. chris, we've already seen some snow totals coming in. we're going to show you that as well as visibility, correct. >> visibility dropping now and the heavy snow. this is going to be a long duration storm. this is where the heavy snow is falling. look at newberd and danbury, not much snow falling there. it's from the city south, southwest we've seen the heaviest snow. and we'll continue to see that. newark, new jersey had a snow

east brunswick, new jersey eight inches of snow. i'm not home and i don't know whose going to show but we're looking at totals 15-20 inches. closer to 20 inland spots on south and west of mr. there. these numbers have increased over the past few hours. as much as 6-10 inches again. this is a long duration storm and it winds down midnight. in addition to the snow and the wind we have coastal flood warnings in effect. we're in a high tide cycle right now. we have more details coming up in a bit.

right in the middle is ray. how are conditions by you right now? >> reporter: hey, good morning gus and pat. there's about 3,800 pieces of equipment around the state. we saw them on our drive down here. we've been seeing them throughout the morning. in the last half hour or so we've not seen that many tow trucks in the area. if you take a walk you can see how much the wind is blowing.

pounds with the tripod and that was knocked down this morning. here in new jersey about 200 feet away fromluckily, no coastal flooding at this point. there have been evacuations and even mandatory evacuations but not here in belmar. not much movement in the houses. you can see it, not a lot of movement throughout the morning. maybe folks have taken off on their own. we've talked to police in this area who told me they've towed at least 20-25 cars as a result of the snow here. people have gotten stuck.

gotten stuck are first responders. officials advise not to be out there. the visibility is low and winds are picking up. folks, stay inside. really, you don't want to be driving around out in this. >> that truck is stuck and we've weathered in storm for generations here at nbc 4 and it's no easy task to get around when trying to drive in conditions like that. tracey has been trying to do that. she's in the passenger seat. she's about 10 miles from where ray is. had to get off the parkway. >> reporter: we had to get off

whiteout conditions hit us so bad. conditions so bad we had to get off, pat. we're on highway 36 heading west and this is about the best visibility we've had i would say in the past 45 minutes. whiteout conditions had people going less than 20 miles an hour and that time they had them with their hazards on. even the convoys had to pull over to the side of the road. they were trying to clear the area for the emergency vehicles and anyone who happened to be on the roads. the county an absolute ghost town and the conditions here, the visibility less than a quarter of a mile. as we continue to drive here, we see a lot of people fish tailing and spinning out. snow banks are in the middle of the road. you can see as we come to the stoplight, even our brakes are locking up. we are also having to heed the advice of all the officials in this state of emergency in the state of new jersey getting off

even though we want to show you the conditions and what you're up against, we're up against it to. again, we encourage everyone to heed the advice to stay off the roadways. you're not going to win against this weather. storm team 4 is wringing you the forecast but until you get out in it, you don't know how bad it is. our car has been blown around, hitding snow banks. when we tried to get off the ramp there was a car stuck hanging parallel. we had to get around it. right now, i'm looking at an e electronic sign saying there's a state of emergency. abandoned vehicles towed. no vehicles left on the roadways just yet. we're glad we haven't seen any vehicles stuck at all. we continue to bring you updates on this situation. pat and gus, we'll send it back

>> tracey is in the passenger seat not driving the vehicle. >> either way, it's a dangerous situation. not a lot of snow on the ground but the wind, the whiteout conditions are making driving treacherous treacherous. we advise, if you have to go out, please take it slow. very, very slowly. we want to go out to greg now. he's at babylon on long island. i don't think the storm has hit where greg is yet. we're not seeing the same conditions out where tracey is. >> reporter: the weather god seemed to be listening to you because they seemed to have turned up the winds for us the last few minutes out here. all week people talking about the fact it was fortunate this storm was hitting on saturday because there are fewer vehicles on the road. you can understand why officials

although the worst of the storm isn't t hitting us yet, the snow is piling up out here and as we've been talking about all morning long, conditions are treacherous out on the roadways, even the experts, caddy's here telling us it's not good on the roadways. a couple saying they pun out this morning and almost got stuck on a couple of occasions. one guy was shaken up after we spoke to him after a trip he made across the island. the neighboring town has declared a state of emergency already with this storm. other towns follow suit and basically, what that means is drivers should not park their vehicles on the roadways that will allow plows to get out and do their jobs this morning. they have an uphill fight as well. as i said the snow piling up

treacherous for drooefrs. ivers. let's give a listen to what they told us this morning. >> just stay home. it's not worth it. we did it because it's our job. we had to do it. other than that, it's not good. >> reporter: and again, we're outside the babylon train station. i'll show you hear, re, no trains running at the moment. service is on a weekend schedule today. if the snow depth reaches 10-13 inches, the railroad could think about reducing or suspending service. they told us throughout the week they're going to do their best to try and keep the trains running. we also talked during the week about the coastal flooding. that remains a major concern for the shoreline communities. high tides hitting at this hour this morning. we don't have a sense yet of how bad the flooding is or if there is any flooding.

would be tonight. as far as pow ere as poz wer outages, they're ready to deal with whatever comes. >> appreciate it, greg. peggy mentioned our team is covering the storms and one with a lot of experience, al roker. this is him on his way to work down the main streets of midtown manhattan. that looks like 5th avenue down the road there. he's going to be heading out for coverage through this morning and dylan drier also with the today show down in washington keeping an eye on the situation there. >> yeah, which is getting worse as we speak. we're going to stay with our own meteorologist right here in

>> snow lovers are getting the storm they wanted. off the coast of the delmar is where the storm is right now. it's more like a banding of snow. you're going to get snow for an hour or two. it gets lighter and heavier again. in the burrows, pretty good snow fall rates. that means we're getting moderate to heavy snow out the cross long island. heading out across the shore same scenarios and north and west places we didn't think would get into the bans of snow we're seeing heavy snow falling. with the wind so strong it's blowing around and reducing the visibilities. 15-20 inches seems a good bet,

nearby suburbs of new jersey. 20, maybe locally higher amounts show up in central new jersey in particular. around western mammoth, there might be dry air. moderate to heavy snow from now to overnight and will probably taper to flurries. coastal flooding the next concern. visibility less than quarter of a mile. you don't have to be on the roads. it's a saturday. wind gusts, 45-55 miles an hour. power outages as well. so here's watches and warnings. no more watches, warnings. blizzard warnings, areas in orange. further north and west of there is a winter weather advisory. a much larger portion of the area is going to see over a foot of snow before all said and done. the future tracker, the areas shaded in the darker blue.

notice the rain/snow lines staying offshore. 6:00 tonight still seeing moderate snow and occasionally heavy bands moving through and then we move forward to 10:00 it's still snowing. finally, by 2:00 a.m. it chucks down to flurries and comes to an end. wind gusts getting close to 507 miles an hour and looking at increasing and getting close to 60. quick look at the seven day, talking about eight a quieter pattern. >> thank you so much, chris. it's that time of the morning when we need to check in with the sanitation commissioner. she's on the phone with us now. obviously, been gearing up for the storm all week long. that magic number, 7:00 as the shift started. have we reached that mark? good morning, commissioner. >> good morning. >> have we hit the number yet?

two inches of snow. this storm came in much faster than was projected. so we have been at full plow operation since 5:00 a.m. this morning. they were out at 9:30, full spread by 11:00 and we saw two inches across the entire city by 5:00. we are seeing an inch per hour in the burrows and going across the burrows, four inches in the bronx. >> we haven't had a winter storm at all this season. this is our first one. what are you hearing back from the truck operators? >> the city's doing well. it's tough conditions. the fact they are out in whiteout conditions makes for tough goings. we are seeing a lot of cars on the road that i think was unanticipated and we will be activity towing anybody who is blocking a plow. >> you're talking about cars that have been abandoned or

their cars parked on the street aren't likely to be towed away are they? >> you have to be blocking a plow. >> i did see a number of parked cars on the streets on my way in. the salters did their jobs and the plows are out. what are your biggest challenges? >> the biggest challenge is the intensity and it's projected to get more intense. we think we could end up seeing three inch per hour bans of snow which are extraordinary. we are paying attention to places of worship in case people are going to try and do that today. we're, this is going to be a very difficult storm to fight. it's very long duration. we ask the public to make sure they are off the roads today. >> and the game plan going forward, are you set with staffing and supplies? >> yes. assault. we did as of midnight. probably used some since then.

equipment on the roads right now. we'll be joined by our sister agency at 7:00 this morning which gives us another 200 with our contractors. we should be about 2,500 pieces of equipment on the streets of new york. this is a case where we're going to be plowing over and over again your street in order to keep ahead of it. >> yeah, i can only imagine the difficulties that's going to provide. especially the people we're looking at now. there's quiet a few cars out on the street. we saw more in times square. if people stay off the streets, it makes your job easier. that's actually an n.y.p.d. officer. we're okay with them. everybody else stay off the roads. you get to the point where you're in the way of the plows. thank you again for joining us and we wish you well as the day progresses. keep us posted as you run into

people to ask you. >> talk to you later. the commissioner mentioned about 6 inches of snow. catherine craig is in the mid-land beach section. what's going on there now? >> reporter: it's freezing, gus and pat. it's the strangest thing that here on the fishing peer there's a fell low that parked his car in the lot and came out here to look at the water and said it looked terrible. he was word rid about it because this is a weather weary community. these are people who suffered a lot during super storm sandy. where i'm standing, this is where the dunes are. they're five feet, six feet high in certain spots and the water is keeping back there. you know the concern is all about coastal flooding. we arrived at staton island. we want to show you video

at 3:00 in the morning is treacherous. the bqe also very bad. drivers going 25-30 miles an hour. you can see the snow blowing sideways. then here in mid-land beach. the winds have been brutal. imagine you're here. 24 hours ago talking with joggers, they were walking their dogs along the boardwalk. that's not the case today. we've seen half a dozen of sanitation trucks plowing the streets. the problem is the winds are blowing the snow back on the roadways. the worry aall is all about coastal flooding. >> the moon and high tide doesn't go well for the coast. >> reporter: it looks okay for you. >> the full moon is tonight at 10:00 so i will be back here to check it out. >> reporter: he's the gentleman out here in the middle of the

the water and said it gave him a little bit of a relief knowing it wasn't too high. there's still concern throughout the day. i'm going to give you a live look right by the fishing peer. we've seen some cars traveling along it. you'll see headlights and just a few seconds there are cars, drivers out there. this is where we seen the sanitation trucks gus and pat and also where we seen mta buses. mass transit is running for the time being. they had to tell people to stay at home. >> as well they should. thank you katherine. you can't even see the beach behind her. stay safe. she mentioned people are asked to stay home. folks are waking up 7:22 on a saturday morning and fortunately, this storm is hitting us on a weekend.

got your eggs and milk yesterday. there was an interesting blurb on our website. folks were taking surveys on what people stock up for. we know you have your milk and eggs. staples was reporting people were loading up on pita chips, chocolate covered graham crackers, red wine and ice cream. there's no need to go out. if you got that, borrow something from the neighbor, the libraries are closed, the post office is open rain, snow, sleet or hail. if you got to go out make sure you do it in a safe matter. take mass transit or go out on foot. don't walk in the roads either. >> you can hear them. raphael miranda keeping an eye on the winds. >> right now winds gusting 30-40-50 miles an hour. this is what you're waking up to

you're thinking it's going to get better as the day goes on, it's going to get worse. the storm has to move closer to the area. these conditions will continue for 12 hours. you saw in staton island how it's going to look. it's going to look like that. generally the trend is for the treacherous conditions. the blizzard warning is in effect until tomorrow morning. visibility down to a quarter of a mile. we assess how heavy the snow is. that means moderate to heavy snow. that's what we have now. a band parked over the city. these are current wind gusts and the trend continues strongest winds along the shore. belmar over 40 miles an hour. blowing snow there. horrible visibility and the winds get lighter as you head north and west through new york city.

lesser as you head farther inland. still breezy with snow even in danbury. there's our dry slot right there. it looks like it's going to miss us now. the snow is building back in. the heavy snow coming back on shore there. band after band and the tropical moisture feeding into the system and the snow continues through d.c. and pennsylvania. some spots really impacted right now, east new york and it doesn't get better across long island. you can see the bright white bands coming off the shore. those rates two inches per hour. multiply that by 12 and you'll see the total. staton island dealing with the snow ban as well. heading north and west chester county, not escaping this one. heading up 684, u.s. snow

white plains getting sucked in with moderate snow. by the time it's said and done through tomorrow morning 15-20 inches including new york city and most points south tapering down as you head to the hudson valley. even places like west chester, you're in the 10-15 inch ban. bands are moving in 6-10. hudson valley and 6-10 inches. sullivan, oyster and dutches county. thankfully, after the storm, no deep freeze. temperatures are in the mid-30s to 40s and we will slowly melt this snow but this snow will take many, many days, even weeks in some spots. >> thank you. we want to take a look at video from around the individual area. ocean grove, that's the snow covering the boardwalk. out viewer john sent us that.

that's going to be a different picture by this time in the morning. you want to send us an update. do time lapse. we love when you send us your pictures. make sure you're safe as you're taken and don't go out on the roads. >> we hear you don't want to be on the roads. some of the vehicles on the roads are the taxis. we've seen them around midtown, manhattan as well. they're being asked to make sure the vehicles and wipers are ready for the snow that comes down. >> yeah, there's no state of emergency. the mayor did declare local winter weather emergency. not a state of emergency. just asking people to stay off the roads. please stay there. this is northern new jersey. that's about 2:30 this morning. the snow sticking to the plan is probably covered now.

phone the today show. >> that governor answered the criticism o. criticism of the campaign. >> it's approaching the 7:30 hour. the storm expected to stay with us 10-12 hours on sunday. stay put, stay with us.

region the best we can. we have reporters all around the state of new jersey. long island with greg and of course, we have our stations and other parts of the country bringing you pictures from there. there's no need for you to go anywhere. stay here. we'll keep you safe and informed. storm team 4 working hard to keep you advised. governor is on the phone. there he is live there. governor, how are you? i thought we were going to talk to you on the phone. we have you on satellite. good morning, sir, how are you? >> good to see you. >> can you give us an update? >> well, it is, the forecasters thus far have called it right this time. as a matter of fact, they've even upped the prediction for our area up to about 12 inches. we've been all around the metropolitan area today looking at new york city, west chester,

long island and it is very, very bad. the worst is coming. the eye of the storm is suppose to hit us at 11:00. i'm going to declare a state of emergency this morning because it is very bad. the state of emergency gives the governor the power to do certain contracts like closing roads, et cetera. the snow is a problem but a manageable problem. the worst case scenario from our point of view is an evacuation scenario because that's where the city of new york really winds up creating a problem. intensity of long island which is hard to evacuate by definition all flooding. flooding is a dangerous situation from a public safety point of view. it also does tremendous damage. i went through hurricane sandy

the flooding is the worst case scenario scenario. we've had minor flooding thus far but we're looking at what happens when the tides come up. the one point stretched which you have said and i would like to say more bluntly possibly. besides mother nature what we wind up dealing with is citizens and people who go out in their cars. you go out in your car today chances are you're going to get into trouble. i've been driving all over the area. there's all sorts of accidents and stranded cars. what happens is there's a domino. one car gets stranded. now the road isn't passable, the plow can't pass, the snow starts to back up, other cars get stranded and now you have a chaotic situation. that's what's happening on the roads. you should not be on the road. it's that simple.

don't care if you have a four wheel drive vehicle, what you have. it's going to be dangerous. also, as the day progresses. yes. >> people might be riding on mass transit today. any chance the trains might not run today? >> right now we have full service on the them. the trains are running their weekend schedule, buses are running. as the day goes on, our decision as to keeping roads open, bridges open, especially given the gusts of wind, the bus service may change. my other point was if you go out on the roads this morning, there's a chance the situation degenerates and we have to close the road and now you're already

hard to get back. later in the day we wind up closing roads and now people get stranded where they were. this is going to be a long term situation. again, the worst has not yet hit us. >> governor, we saw behind you appear to go national guard. they helped us out in super storm sandy and irene. >> we have the national guard ready. they have been critical in operations like this. the equipment they bring and the humvees exceeds anything we have on state or local police.

basically the army. depending on what mother nature brings us, they will be ready to deal with it. we've dealt with before, i want to make sure the citizens are doing their part and they're keeping themselves safe and that is stay inside, please, please, please. >> point well taken. governor, thank you for joining us this morning and get a hat, please. if you can. be safe. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> let's check in with our weather team. we'll start with chris in the storm team 4 weather center. >> a half foot of snow on the ground is how quickly this has moved in and piling up.

widespread heavy snow continues. most areas going to receive a foot or more of snow. even the suburbs to the north of the city can get close to that as well. the other thing we haven't talked about, it feels like 11 degrees right now. 6 in some places. 8 in morsetoub. ristown. i say this because if you're going out, don't stay out too long. this continues to move north. >> we get a lot of lift in the atmosphere and that's not a great sign. these bans of precipitation

snow bans push toward us. 10-15 just to the north and west of the city. morris county into northern county and now to rock land and west chester county. in order to of there to putnam and further lesser amounts 6-10. the blizzard warnings stays in effect throughout the day and

>> as you head to the hudson valley we're seeing winds up to 30 miles an hour. watching out for the wind potential. we add on hour after hour and everything takes a beating especially along the coast. the wind finally relaxes overnight tonight. tomorrow still breezy with blowing snow. the winds still a problem into the overnight hours. coastal flood warnings in effect and high tide happening now for the jersey shore and you can see the entire coastline really under coastal flood warning. we have three high tide cycles to get too. first high tide happening right now. the second one probably will be the worst one for south shore of long island happening tonight. 7:00 p.m. to 10:00. flooding moderate and the waves 12-16 feet. winds absolutely brewing gusting around 50 miles an hour. how about the north shore? immaterial pacts a little less there.

first high tide comes 2-3 hours later around 10:00 to 11:00. a concern with waves 4-6 feet and winds less gusting 45 miles an hour. the good news, the seven day forecast shows temperatures don't go down after the storm. they go back up. tomorrow still chilly and breezy. not much melting going on. >> all right. thank you. if you're just waking up, you heard it here first on news 4. governor declaring a state of

that means he will have the power to close roads, bridges, whatever he needs to do to keep us safe. that means keeping you off the roads and that's the biggest concern here people are out on the roads and snowplows. one car gets stuck and it's a dominos effect. it creates a dangerous situation. the same in new jersey where it's also a state of emergency. >> and a call for places like delmar, ray standing by. you've been there all morning. is daylight giving you a better perspective on how things are? >> it is, gus. i have to tell you i'm still thinking about mentioning 40 degree weather. i cannot wait for that. as daylight approaches, we're getting whiteout conditions. i can barely see over there where the stop sign is which is waving like a leaf down the street because the winds are so intense. it is a coast town out here.

since i seen youdsast on air. cops have been out, police going to be out. they have to help out 25 people this morning. folks had to get to work, doctors, nurses, first responders, folks trying to keep us safe, we're about 200 feet away from the water and no coastal flooding. you can see a lot of the folks that live here don't appear to be home. some of them staying in facilities sleeping there to be able to hit back the roads and

you can see i'm not a tall guy, about 5'8 but you can see i'm knee deep in the snow which gives you an idea how much snow we've seen accumulate this morning. i have to tell you, folks, you should be listening to us and you can see the whiteout conditions, this is not the time to be out. i haven't even seen someone walking their dog. goes to show you what a ghost town we're in in delmar. the wind is whipping. the only thing i can tell you is no coastal flooding. the beach is 200 feet down the street. folks, if you can avoid being out here, please do so. i cannot wait for the 40 degree weather. i'm ray villeda. today in new york. >> high tide started to reseed after 7:30. we dodged a bullet there. big concerns later on with the full moon. that can cause problems for sure. what a best illustration of a

that's something, if you go out on the roads which is an awful idea, tracey is on the roads this morning keeping an eye on the driving conditions. tracey, how does that evolve? at one point you had to get off the highway and hit the local roads. >> reporter: we're on route 35 because the garden state parkway too much for us. whiteout conditions and the snow coming down sideways and you can't see anything. keep in mind, it's daybreak and the sun is up but the conditions less than a quarter of a mile at this point. flashing yellow lights

on the road at 8:00. you have to keep in mind all the cars that become disabled as a result of the snow not come or go anywhere, we've seen a couple of accidents. very dangerous and slick. our viewers have been asking via twitter and instagram, no, i'm not driving. i'm not that crazy and no one should be that crazy to get out on the roads. you're asking for it if you get out on the roads at this point. another thing i want to point out as we pass a vehicle who has a paper towel wiping the inside of their windshields, there's an icing condition out here right now. we have a car right in front of us as you can see, he's stopped. he's not going anywhere.

have to try to go around him very carefully and make sure he's ago as we roll down the window here. all good? okay? he gave me the peace sign so i'm guessing he's okay but he's going to have a rough way to go. we've seen a lot of this on the roads, people just stopping because the conditions are too precarious. as i was saying windshields are an issue and people cleaning off their cars which is my absolute pet peeve when it comes to driving. if your car is covered in snow it's going to fly into someone else's. if you have to come outside today be smart about it and be consider rate of other people on the roads. i'm looking at a railroad crossing that's blowing. signs are blowing, our vehicle is blowing as we cross into red bank right now, we're going to send it back to you guys in the studio and continue to bring you

way north fingers crossed. >> thank you so much, tracey. keep it real. by the way, if you must go out, lauren is tweeting out a number of pictures. >> it's still very dangerous even in suvs and stuff like that. thankfully, so far nothing terribly serious.

to get worse by the hour. the place it's getting worse is out on long island. greg standing by there. greg, you said it was starting to pick up. what are you dealing with now? >> reporter: yeah, kbus, a few minutes ago chris was talking about the cold and we're beginning to feel that now as the snow blows into my face. we've also been talking about road conditions and you can see how plows are fighting an uphill battle. this area was just plowed. it's now snow covered and slick and we're in an area that hasn't been nowed and the snow is 3-4 inches deep here. earlier, you heard the governor urge people not to be on the roads today and we've seen evidence of what can happen if they are. we've seen them tell us they've seen fender benders all across the county this morning. those injuries reported so far. there's been a couple of people

driving intoxicated in these conditions unfathomable. getting back to what the governor said earlier, he was describing how when on the road you could create a chain reaction. plows could be blocked and other drivers could get stuck behind you. that's a big reason why a lot of long island towns had declared states of emergency. they don't want cars on the roads so plows can get through and do their jobs today. as we pointed out, the plows are fighting an uphill battle. if cars are in the way, it's tougher. they're asking drivers to stay off the roads and get their parked cars off the roads as well. treacherous conditions all morning long. let's hear what a couple of drives told us earlier this

we currently don't have those drivers from earlier but they told me there's ice on the roads and they got stuck a couple of times and it's been a mess. as the weather were guys have been pointing out it's going to get worse. the worst of the storm the president p expected in a couple of hours. we've seen the train come in and crews out with snow blowers clearing off the platforms and the areas here below the trains. the trains running at the moment but also you heard the governor say that if snow conditions worsened, if we get 10-13 inches of snow, they could consider reducing service or even suspending it all together. hopefully, that won't happen. folks have to get around, the train appears to be the best way to do that right now.

>> greg, thanks for the update, greg. >> stay off the roadways unless it's necessary to be on the roadways or you have to get to work. we have been through our roadways and on our second pass. those county roadways are in good shape. again, the viz nlt sibilities an issue. we're monitoring that flooding. >> looking at the trains there, what's the update?

but we have to diverse it. we've had one fire. >> always a risk people trying to keep warm. perhaps we want to remind people too if you're out in the snow and get stuck. thanks very much. if you get stuck in the snow we want to remind you another safety issue is to make sure if you're staying in your car, you want to make sure that tail pipe is clear. you don't want co2 coming back in your car. we've seen in the past people die in their cars because they were trying to keep warm. that's a dangerous situation. you can't smell it or see it because it is deadly. if you get stuck in your car waiting for help and talking to

please remind them to make sure that tail pipe stays clear, folks. we want to keep you safe out there. >> we have all this video coming in our news room and we want to start with coney island. that's a big issue. pretty much everything running on time and on weekend schedule. when the governor was with us a few minutes ago he said if the storm worsens, there has been an issue in the past where the trains might not be able to get you home. that's one more reason if you can stay close to home today, do so. >> they're trying to keep the trains running. it's a very difficult situation to overcome. very tough call. >> a major inconvenience for people who have to get around. clearly, mass transit is the only way to go today.

they shifted at 7:00. when the plows are out there, even though the governor has declared a state of emergency, the situation could change and the roads could close at any moment. >> you're an animal lover and you know when it comes they have reasons. some are sharing images of that.

>> the dogs are out having fun. >> be careful if you got pets and make sure if you go out and start your car there's not a cat under your hood. you might want to knock on your hood before you start the car. stray cats crawl up in there to keep warm. send us your pictures. we love the animal pictures of snow. >> they attract the accumulation. six inches so far reporting there in long valley. that's in morris county new jersey. we thank you for all the submissions and hope you keep them coming to us. >> wherever you are waking up, you're looking at snow outside your window. send your pictures into us and send them to the website at

>> time to talk to the men of the hour. >> we've got the blizzard warning in effect and winter storm warnings in effect. this stays in effect right now through the overnight hours just to play it safe. the real heavy duty snow is done before midnight. moderate to heavy snow. snow bans coming through 1-2 inches of time. coastal flooding another concern as well. visibility at times below'quarter mile. wind gusts 45-55 miles per hour.

lines come down and power outages. the heavier snow bans indicative of the white areas. that's the way it's going to play out throughout the day. we talked about the visibility. a quarter mile in the city. everywhere for new jersey for the most part. not quiet as bad in sections of long island. here's how it plays out. 15-20 inches of snow. can't be ruled out in central portions of new jersey. in the city probably closer to the 20. same thing across long island. same thing nearby suburbs of new jersey. 10-15 inches north.

>> it's hard to believe this is just the beginning. a lot of snow on the ground already. a report out of jfk a heavy bit of snow on the ground. let's take a look at times square. that is quiet a scene. near whiteout conditions. the wind blowing the snow and just a few brave cars trying to make their way down there. you can see the roads completely covered in times square. cars moving slowly there. that is the scene. this is what it looks like when the heavy bands move through. the danger continues for the poor visibility and treacherous conditions right through the afternoon. it's amazing to think we have 12 more hours to get there. you can see on future tracker, this is what it looks like at 11:00. the darker the blue, the heavier the snow. this is heavy band of snow. look at the mixing line.

we were concerned with potential of mixing with sleet and rain. it looks like if that happens at all it's down the jersey shore. this is 11:00. let's set this in moeks and tion and the bands keep coming in. this is the peak of our storm. it starts to wind down in intensity after 3:00, 4:00 p.m. but it's still snowing. it does lighten up as the day goes on and after midnight, the snow pulls away. 1:00 a.m. and accumulating snow for the most part is done and sunday, thankfully, is our dig out day. nothing much going on but breezy conditions and blowing snow. 7-day forecast shows after the storm leaves temperatures rebound nicely.

the snow will be around all week long and next week and beyond. get ready now. >> our coverage of the blizzard of 2016 continues this morning. >> stay with us. we're coming right back.

transit is shut down until sunday afternoon. that may be only way to get around on wheels. the safest on a bicycle. he's even abandoned ship there.

north still running on weekend schedules. >> we were talking about the danger the storm possesses. at least 10 were killed in traffic accidents related to the storm. thankfully, we haven't seen that here. driving conditions we continue to hear from officials. hearing that from the crews out there as well. >> ray is in new jersey and he has been stuck in the snow there since he arrived. a truck got stuck there in 6-8 inches of snow. >> ray, i'm guessing you're not alone. >> reporter: i'm not alone. the sand dunes built up on thursday have worked well as far as coastal flooding is concerned. no widespread coastal flooding here in delmar. i have to say thank you to someone who just tweeted me inviting us over for break that's.

6-8 inches of snow. this is one of our photographer's vehicles and you can see this truck is not moving any time soon. the snow is up to the bumper here. i have to tell you it is a coast town. we haven't seen a single person not even drive by or walk by. this is not a town with mandatory evacuations. you can tell folks may have evacuated here anyway. the towns that were effected that had the evacuations were more south than we are. it's angle deep here. even the photographer is having a tough time walking by. i have to tell you, they pulled out of the snow 20-25 cars. curtis is wiping isway the lenses because the snow is filling it up. visibility hasn't improved since we seen you this morning. if anything at times it has

20-25 cars were towed out of the snow. those people had to get to work. had to be at work today had a tough time getting to work. as you can see, we have not moved at all since you saw us. we have not even seen a tow truck drive by in the last hour or so. what we're told by the state of new jersey is 38 pieces of equipment equipment. >> the snow obviously having an impact on ray's equipment as well as it does. that's what happens out there. >> we'll get that fixed and get back on track here. we've been getting a perspective on that. also, talking about the intensity of the winds.

>> there's less friction. the wind is up the new jersey coastline. the snow is falling heavily and the snow on the ground gets pulled into the visibility too. we have not yet met the -- temperatures what it feels like out there, it's cold. the bottom line here if you're thinking about going out to try to remove the snow early on and stay ahead of it, make sure to take breaks and dress in layers. it's cold with the temperatures in the 20s. there's the storm system offshore. it's moving toward the north and it will slam on the brakes and move towards the east, northeast as it runs into a blocking area of high pressure. we're getting the bans of heavy snow off the ocean. we're in the midst of one right now.

our way shortly. what may happen is the snow get lighter in some locations. visibility most locations in and around the city. quarter of quarter of a mile or less. you don't want to be traveling in those conditions. it's not really snowing up there just yet. future tracker, you can see the bands of darker blue. that's where the snow will be heavier. 8: up.00 a heavy band gets going. notice where the rain/snow line is. it may brush up against the shoreline. this is 3:00 in the afternoon. still a good deal of snow out there. 7:00, same scenario. starts to get lighter and pull out at 11:00. overnight, most of the snow

northeast of us. other parts of the area concerned about the storm, where are those, raphael? >> yeah, imagine the drifts. coming in this morning you saw snow drifts around a foot with the winds howling like that, you're talking about very extensive drifting. the winds continue to peak through the morning along the jersey shore. winds gusting over 50 miles an hour. the winds continue to howl across long island then. chris mentions coastal locations see the strongest winds throughout the afternoon. the winds continue relentless. 40-50 miles per hour for the jersey shore and also long island. blizzard-like conditions

through the afternoon because of a wind and snow combination. around 6:00 very windy. you can see winds beginning to decrease a little bit. not much. getting a big break as the storm pulls away. it's still breezy at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. winds gusting at 30 miles an hour. a much quieter picture as you head into sunday afternoon. so far, we've seen winds gusting over 45 miles an hour. jfk, this is what you've seen so far. it's still getting closer. these wind totals, these wind amounts increase throughout the day. a wind gust of 44 miles an hour. central park mid-30s. the powerful winds near the coast especially. strongest winds through the morning and mid-to late afternoon. then slowly decreasing tonight. power outages, watching that possibility closely. epp lip at the coast. lighter winds north and west of town. hudson valley, the winds not as intense and much better for

sunday. coastal flood warnings in effect for all the counties shaded in red. we've gone through one round of high tide. tonight we have another round to get through. that could be worse in some spots watching out for intense wave action and beach erosion. the 7-day forecast has brighter news once we get past the storm. tomorrow is breezy and cold and temperatures rebound nicely back to the 40s for tuesday. more coming up in just a few minutes. pat and gus, over to you. >> thanks to both of you gentleman. right now we want to head over the mark. he's been out on the roads making his way around. right now, he's in the area of new jersey. mark, where exactly are you and what are you seeing? >> reporter: good morning, gus. we're on 495 coming up to 95 right now. just came through the lincoln tunnel. good news no traffic at all and bad news is you're looking at it. you can tell, gus and pat, the roads have been plowed.

the plow trucks can't keep up with the snow. yesterday here in jersey, they were briending the roads heavy. keith has about a quarter mile visibility. you can see the snow blowing, drifting, moving. you have to be careful. just the walk was slippery. i almost slipped a kp couple of times. take a look at the right, right-hand side of your screen. two vehicles spun out. they pulled over. we'll get on the phone and call

this is what you're seeing, ro tads quickly deteriorating. you can't keep up with this. right now, the most difficult thing we're seeing, it's just the visibility. that's the toughest part. just seeing. we've got about a quarter of a mile right here as we approach 95. about a quarter mile visibility. you can see the entrance ramp here. it doesn't look like it's touched. we're staying in the ruts and keeping forward and going very, very slow. again, if you're heading out, be careful. if you're driving, taking the rails rails, walking, be careful. very, very slippery out here. gus and pat, back to you. >> all right, mark. thanks very much for that perspective as you approach i-95. we have a team of shotgun reporters this morning. >> we do, inseed. glad mark joined us. tracey, are you still in the west long branch area there? i think she's made her bay to

don't see as much black top. >> patty and gus at this point we're in middle town new jersey on route 35 and grateful for the car in front of us leaving tracks. this is a road that hasn't been plowed. if it has it's been a couple of hours and the blowing snow not doing it any favors. the visibility is a nightmare out here, at least a quarter of a mile and we can certainly atest to that. we had to get off the garden state parkway because there were whiteout conditions and that's something we're still encountering as we enter homedale at this point. we're in township right now. not a lot of cars on the road. that's a good thing. we've seen plows doing private places and businesses. the businesses aren't open. another thing to keep in mind if you're getting on the roads today, gas stations are closed. we encountered that at least twice today. even service areas are having a

we've seen a couple of fish tails and a lot of accidents. the flat beds and tow trucks busy since about 3:00 this morning when we hit the roads. we'll continue to bring you updates. we're going to try to make our way north at this point. it was a losing battle and we're not sure if the conditions are going to stay like this. it's going to get a lot worse gus and pat. we'll send it back to you. >> all right, one more reason to stay indoors. gas stations are closed, libraries are closed, lots of other businesses closing down today and lots of power outages being reported. 41,000 in new jersey the majority in the southern part of the state. over 9,000 people without power, 9,000 customers, 6,000 in lacy township. people were warned to leave their homes. they were now without power. psg geared up for the storm preparing for that.

are going to come down. tree limbs are going to come down. again, we're reporting 41,000 power outages in new jersey. i know people geared up and got their flashlights and candles, but the heat is a big problem and temperatures are as cold as they are. >> talking about people living along the shore worried about what the storm could bring to them. that's where greg is reporting from. >> reporter: gus, we're at the babylon train station and a couple of minutes ago a train came from from manhattan and when the folks arrived, you could see the angst on their faces as they walked through the wind blown snow. one guy took a tumble. the snow is that deep. i got the trusty shovel out and it gives you a sense of how deep

let's get a check on the roadways. veins, how long have you been driving in morning? >> it started lightly and progressively got worse. >> how bad is it? >> real bad right now. they're plowing the roads and very slippery and very wet and you got to watch the plows. people are starting to come out. very dangerous. >> have you seen a lot of cars stuck in the snow or did you have any trouble getting through anywhere? >> no, i just kept going and kept my momentum. i know if i stopped i would have got stuck. i didn't see anybody stuck though. >> your advice to people thinking about driving today? >> stay home for a while. >> reporter: good advice. veins, thanks a lot. that's the situation here, guys. again, the trains running on the double r. as we've been saying all morning

the snow levels get to 10-13 inches, they could reduce service or suspend it all together. the governor talked about that earlier today. the governor also telling us earlier, we should stay off the roads echoing what veins said. if you get stuck on the roadway, that can create a chain reaction that can cause problems were others down the line. if the plows can't get through to do their jobs, that's going to be a big problem and as we've seen, the plows are already fighting an uphill battle out here. back to you guys. >> all right, greg. thank you very much for the update. we'll see you in a little bit. we've been talking about what's going on in the suburbs. >> for that, let's go to msnbc's adam reese. >> good morning. >> standing in about six inches it looks like. >> reporter: good morning to you. heavy blinding snow in central park. blizzard-like conditions coming

it started early about 10:00 last night. when all is said and done the models were looking at anywhere between one and two feet, maybe more. mayor declaring a winter weather emergency. that means we're on high alert and all agency ies are activated and want people to stay indoors and stay off roads. 6 6,000 miles of roads need to be plowed. they have 2,400 soft spreaders and plows attacking the roads. 300,000 tons of assault at their disposal. a big focus today, flooding. governor christie back in new jersey keeping an eye on the coastal line. governor declaring a state of emergency here in new york. he'll be looking at areas like brooklyn and long island. back at central park, believe it or not we've seen a lot of joggers, plenty of dog walkers and plenty of sledders coming

vantage of this beautiful winter-white wonderland. >> the funny thing, winterfest was suppose to be here. you can do your own winterfest thing out there later today. >> it does have a lot to have it cancel. there's a lot of concern with the wednesday. hopefully, they'll reschedule that. >> a lot of worries about flooding in staton island. seems we've dodged a bullet. certainly, conditions there, intense snow fall. >> reporter: absolute i ly. we've been talking to residents. one of them took a look at the water and a little while ago they said it was okay. we're going to pan over and show you the water. as you know, this is an area ravaged by super storm sandy and people whose homes were damaged.

the sand dunes are high and is drifting. we want to show you video with you just put together for you. this is an area right by the boulevard and we have seen drivers. that's the thing. there are drivers out and we don't know where they're going. as adam just pointed out, the governor has declared a state of emergency. he's imploring as well as mayor deblash owe people stay off the roads. around 3:30 this morning i saw a guy walking. people had some place to go even though officials are telling him to stay at home. we are also talking to the people worried about the coastal

take a listen. >> i know we're doing a live interview with you around 8:40. it's interesting. my friend's husband's running club is still meeting in central park. maybe adam reese will see them. the running club is still going on in central park. here though, it's so windy. i couldn't imagine anyone walking or running in these conditions. >> they'll be walking and running unvoluntarily because the wind is going to push them. tell them to be safe out there. we're talking tonight full moon, high tide, strong winds. that's when people are dreading

people living along the coast. >> we have new video coming to the news room by the hour. we want to keep you updated with that. this is in queens. about 6:25 a.m. and the snow was starting to come down and plow trucks making their way through the city. we heard from the commissioner, the plow trucks are out full force and good on staffing and supplies. the big thing they ask is please don't block a street. if you do, your car is getting towed. >> leave those cars right where they are, please. here's another picture from mike kelly. this is the storm covering. this is the tik bar. don't get down there that much this time of year. no tiki huts today.

>> no pina colodas today. this is hamilton street in long island if you happen to know the area. please keep the photos and videos coming to us. one of the other areas we're concerned about, new york, we're use to the storms. when it hits washington, it's a different story. they have a history of being

inches. >> reporter: some of the state roads are navigatable. that's where people are walking right now as they try to get to points to get food and work in some cases. we are near police and fire. near a lot of federal offices here in german town maryland. some of the roads are passable. at this point in the storm, it's difficult to walkout side your home. in german town, i'm scott m mc mcfarland. back to you. >> looks like he has goggles to deal with the snow there. >> it's not just the snow. it's the wind that's cold. i think our index for layers today is probably seven.

blankets in bed if i had a choice. nice to you know you worked out a deal. snow totals so far, morristown 9.5 inches. east brunswick an update of 8 inches. winter storm warnings in effect. here's the storm. it's not behaving so well. there's dry air getting into it and it's forecast is going to get tricky over the next couple of hours. the snow may shut down and we're trying to figure out exactly

end up going. the bands of white is indicating the bright white, the heavy snow. the gray areas, the lighter snow and looks like a little bit of a lull may be heading that way for a little while. this is the area heading offshore. this is the greatest lift sitting to the south of it. this is going to pivot to the north and northwest. here's offshore the dry air we're talking about. this may move into ocean county and shut down the snow. the snow has become much lighter. the southern jersey getting into the lighter air. i don't think that ben

too far north. a good 15-20 inch of snow. maybe along the immediate coast of ocean county shuts down for a little while closer to the 10-15 range. go northwest against and 10-15 is the anticipation. 6-10 inches further north and it drops off dramatically. snow and wind one part of the storm. coastal areas concerned as well. raphael has the latest for that. >> that's right, chris. we are getting through one high tide cycle right now. two more to get through as the day goes on. here's a broad view of what to expect. moderate snow now through tonight to early sunday morning. all right. let's start out with the south

heavy snow right now. high tide also right now. moderate tidal flooding. that's between 7:00 and 10:00. the waves between 12-16 feet and the winds gusting over 60 miles an hour the rest of the day. drifts get intense in long island. the north shore less intense. high tide later as well. 10:00 and 11 stem :00 this morning. minor to occasional flooding there. waves 4-6 feet and winds gusting 45 miles an hour. jersey shore also expecting to bare the brunt of the storm. winds gusting near 15 miles an hour and visibility way town. first high tide over for the jersey shore. another high tide could be worse 7:00 to 8:00 tonight. winds gusting over 55 miles an hour. the 7-day forecast has nice

if you don't like the snow, it's going to taper down. still cold tomorrow with a high around freezing. monday and tuesday we're going to start the melting process. long process to get through again with the impressive totals up to 9 inches already. >> we have you coffered and will keep you covered. storm team 4 working hard to update the storm. it's going to be with us for the good remainder of the day. we'll be right back. people are shocked, that this process is so easy. every person that i helped, i wanted to help 10 more people after that. it just made me feel good. come into work everyday, and just knowing that i was going to make a difference in people's lives. come get health insurance, it's easy. i can help you.

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