showing any signs of letting up. today, saturday, january 23rd, 2016. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today" blizzard 2016. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today." i'm erica hill. hardy souls. >> i'm alongside sheinelle jones and al roker. we have dylan dreyer out in the field along with our meteorologists. this is all of the effected states and those under a blizzard warning. the warning from virginia to southern connecticut. >> already so much going on. let's get the latest on the storm. the snow is falling fast. 1 to 3 inches per hour. already washington, d.c. has more than a foot of snow on the ground. they are expected to get more than 2 feet. philadelphia, 9 inches already. they are expecting up to 2 feet

here in new york, we are now expecting more snow than originally predicted. at least 3 inches at this hour, but up to a foot or more we are told when it is all over. >> the storm has life threatening blizzard conditions. a storm this big has not been seen in washington, d.c. in nearly 100 years. no surprise, the roads are dangerous. people are told to stay inside. thousands of accidents. at least ten people killed on the roads. >> the storm is a huge mess as you can imagine. let's get to dylan dreyer who joins us from the nation's capital. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this hit washington, d.c. with a vengeance. we already have more than a foot of snow on the ground. at the coast in virginia and delaware, we had reports of wind hour. miles an hour. thunder snow reported in

that goes to show you the intensity of the storm. we will see the conditions continue all through the night with blizzard warnings not expiring until tomorrow morning. the nation's capital taking a direct hit. washington, d.c. expected to be buried under as much as 2 feet of snow by the end of the storm. >> stay off the roads if you don't need to be on the roads. >> reporter: the storm's scope reaches from the carolinas to new york, has turned deadly. fatal crashes in virginia and north carolina. >> hit had the brakes and when you hit the brakes, they lock up. >> reporter: thousands of crashes locked up major roads up and down the east coast. and many lucky enough to avoid accidents still ended up spinning wheels like wsnb reporter in nashville. >> i am stuck. i have the pedal to the metal. i'm not moving.

states and district of columbia have declared state of emergencies. the national guard has deployed 400 personnel to help the sickened and stranded. shelters are opened to help homeless survive freezing conditions. >> we cannot have people outside. it is unsafe. >> reporter: 21 degrees with the windchill of 8 when rescuers in virginia saved this saint bernard who fell through the ice. the plowing started wednesday and won't be done until sunday. airports are empty. more than 6,000 flights have been canceled since friday. delays rippling across the country. >> we got warnings from everyone. if you don't get in to new york by friday, don't think about it until monday. >> reporter: amtrak is operating on a modified schedule. greyhound is cancelling service for much of the east coast. blizzard conditions from washington to new york.

and nearly 140,000 people are already struggling in the cold without power. now we followed this storm from roanoke, virginia, yesterday to here in washington, d.c. what should take four hours took us nine hours on the road. we are going to attempt to get to new york city today by taking i-95. i know we just told you we shouldn't be on the roads. i want to point out we are traveling in the blue mobile. this is a satellite truck that will be able to feed you guys our trip from here up along i-95 to new york city. it is an extremely heavy truck and we are taking it very slow. we will update you over the course of the show on the travels. i don't think we will be too far from where we are now the next time we see you. race. thank you, dylan. >> the question is when will all the snow let up and when it is all done, how much snow on the ground?

that and more. >> it will be done in about 24 hours, but we are dealing with the effects of this into next week easily with the power outages and snow. we will have to get rid of it. look at the swath from montauk to the appalachian. here is why we ended up upping the amounts. the storm moved further north than predicted. we have blizzard warnings from virginia all the way to martha's vineyard. winds of 35 miles per hour or more and sustained as you get in for three hours or so. it also means you have visibility of less than a quarter of a mile. cranberry, new jersey, 7 inches of snow. you go to atlantic city right now, they are looking at 6 inches of snow. it is still coming down. at this point, it is falling at about a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour. so here's what we look for as

keep in mind we will look at winds gusting over 50 miles per hour. heavy snow for washington and baltimore. 24 inches or more when all is said and done. for philadelphia, central and southern new jersey, heavy snow into the early afternoon. 18 to 24 inches of snow with winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour. in the new york area, we expect to see 18 to 24 inches of snow. this heavy snow continuing into the afternoon. winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. we are looking at blizzard conditions. new haven, 8 to 12 inches. providence at 3 to 6. boston will see 2 to 4 inches. we have coastal flood advisories from delmarva and all the coast. we will deal with this for a long time to come into next week. >> al, thank you. you will need a lot of rest. keeping your eye on this.

it will be all day on nbcnews.com. two days ago washington, d.c. was almost brought to a standstill with just a brushing of snow. is the city equipped to handle this storm? the washington mayor, mayor bowser is here with us. good morning. >> my pleasure. >> what is the conditions this morning? >> as you have been reporting all morning, we are in the eye of the significant storm. a storm we have not seen like this in washington, d.c. in 94 years. we got out early pre-treating our streets, closing our government and schools on friday. really encouraged everybody to get home. we have seen since yesterday, with snow starting about 1:00, 13 inches fall and we think the forecast is going to hold. we are going to get at least

>> back in the '90s, heavy snowfall shutdown washington, d.c. for an entire week. how is this storm? >> this is a blizzard with sustained winds. we prepared our residents and stay inside for 36 hours. we are seeing the winds pick up today. very hazardous conditions. nobody should really be out on the roads. we're keeping our roads passable for emergency vehicles. tomorrow, if it stops as it is planned to, the big dig-out will proceed. >> mayor, when there was less than 2 inches in washington, d.c. two days ago, people were stuck in the cars for hours. the president had to use the motorcade back to the white house slipping and sliding. are things different this time around? >> there's no similarity to tell you the truth.

for several days. our entire apparatus is running out of other homeland and emergency management agency. we have all of our resources fully deployed. >> washington mayor bowser, thank you. >> thank you. everybody stay safe. i want to head where the snow is less of an issue at this hour. heavy amounts of ice could cause problems for millions if the south. we have nbc's gabe gutierrez joining us from charlotte, north carolina with more on that angle. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning. more than 130,000 customers in north carolina are without power and we take a live look from the air. you can see there has been plenty of snow and sleet here in the charlotte area, but thankfully not as much freezing rain as you had initially expected. there are about 1,200 crashes or so in the north carolina area, including at least six deaths. a good samaritan was killed,

the stranded motorist he was trying to help allegedly under the influence. travel here is a nightmare. american airlines is expected to resume flights in the area. the area is preparing for the huge football game hosted here by the carolina panthers. yesterday, they practiced in the snow. a major pep rally was canceled. the team says they are ready for tomorrow. today, workers will take the tarp off the field to be able to dry it out in time for the big game. a bit more sleet is also expected here in north carolina throughout the morning. it is expected to move out later today. guys, back to you. >> gabe gutierrez this morning. gabe, thank you. >> it is not just massive amounts of snow, ice and high winds that have people worried. for many along the coast, the storm surge that brings flooding could cause problems this weekend. we have nbc's rehema ellis along

>> reporter: good morning, jose. it is a tough morning out here. we had winds gusts above 50 miles an hour. i'm holding on so i can stay on the air. there is a real concern about what could happen here. during hurricane sandy in 2012, this building where i am right now, was torn apart during the storm. the city around the coastal area, they spent the last couple days with bulldozers pushing as much sand as they could up against to protect the areas and water coming from the atlantic ocean. they are not so worried about the inches of snow they will get. they are worried about the water from the atlantic ocean. it is to my left right now and it is brutal. atlantic ocean, you can -- i can barely hold my position here because the wind is that strong coming off the ocean.

they are heeding the warnings. stay inside and just hunker down. >> thank you very much. that satellite uplink is difficult because the winds are so strong. new jersey governor chris christie was supposed to be on the campaign trail this weekend. he returned to his home state to help his residents. he joins us now. governor, good to have you here with us. i'm not sure you could see rehema ellis. jersey. where is your focus this morning, governor? is it the coastal area? >> it is not more than any other part of the state. we do not expect major flooding on the coast. we expect some street flooding, which is fairly typical for jersey. at least as of now, we're not expecting any type of major coast.

from the snow perspective as rehema mentioned in her report. in the other parts of the state, we have heavier snow than we thought we were, 6 to 18 inches in the north. up to 2 feet in central and inland and southern part of the state. >> as you well know, there was a fair amount of criticism in timing of leaving the campaign trail in new hampshire to return home to new jersey. how do you answer those critics? >> i don't know why they would be critical. i was here last night before the first snow flake dropped. so i don't understand any basis for criticism. my view was i wanted the best information i possibly could as to whether my presence was needed here. once i got the final forecast at 11:00 yesterday morning, i made the decision at 11:30 to be home. despite the fact flights were canceled. i drove from new hampshire back to new jersey.

>> i know you have been advising folks to stay home. you talked about the revised snow totals. when will it be safe for folks to be out again in your este estimation estimation. >> i think tomorrow. i think today and tonight, this should be expected as an inside day for them. we are doing well in keeping the roads passable for the emergency vehicles. up in the north, we have mostly wet roads with traffic moving freely. all the roadways are passable. 35-mile-an-hour restriction on the roads like the new jersey turnpike and garden state parkway. our department of transportation has over 3,800 pieces of equipment out there right now spreading salt and sand and moving snow off the roadways. you know, right now, we feel like we are doing well from that

we have about 17,000 power outages so far across state. most of those focused in a southern part of the state. about 15,000 being in cape may county. >> we know you are a busy man today. we appreciate you taking time for us. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> the snow is falling quickly in philadelphia as well. that city is expected to see 2 feet when it is all said and done. nbc's jacob rascon is in philly with more. jacob, good morning. >> reporter: jose, good morning. we were thinking 1.5 feet, but now as you said, up to 2 feet of snow expected. the snow has been falling 2 to 3 inches an hour in some areas. they are blizzard conditions. sustained winds above 30 miles an hour with gusts well above 40. this snow is not expected to stop all day. there is a blizzard warning and winter storm warning in effect here and in the surrounding areas through tomorrow morning at 3:00 a.m.

and saying there are no flights in or out of the airport. all day at this airport and three other airports as well. as you can tell, the wind is pretty bad. it is miserable out here. the problem is the plows are trying to plow all of the roads, but they can't get done with the primary roads because they go and as soon as they are done with one, they have to turn around and do it again because of the wind. they have not gotten to the secondary roads. they are advising nobody be out and driving today in philadelphia. jose. >> jacob rascon, thank you. >> if you had a trip planned this weekend and did not get out ahead of the storm, you are staying put. 6,000 flights canceled. several airports shutdown. it could be a while before it is all back up and running. nbc's kristen dahlgren is at a quiet laguardia airport. >> reporter: good morning, erica.

all the time. a virtual empty laguardia. there are a couple dozen passengers at the food court. they did not get the texts or memos that the flights were canceled. they are here trying to figure out what to do. whether to get a hotel or sleep here for the next day. trying to figure out when they can get out. it is a mess nationwide. take a look. more than 4,100 cancellations nationwide. the worst airports in new york. topping the list at jfk. at laguardia, 254. security is shutdown here. no flights getting in or out. also philadelphia, as jacob said, and d.c. airports having a tough day. it is not just those airports, we are seeing the misery across country. ft. lauderdale and miami with

it is all interconnected and if you have cancellations here, those flights are not here and aircraft is not getting to the right place. difficult day of travel in the nation. >> kristen, thank you. and we will have your flight canceled as well. >> i had my flight to miami tomorrow canceled yesterday. they texted and said don't bother come together airport. >> you should come over for dinner. >> we will have much more on the blizzard throughout the morning. we want to get to other news. in politics, nine days to go to the caucuses in iowa. candidates are sharpening attacks as they work to getting a high voter turnout. nbc's kristen welker is at the airport. >> reporter: jose, good morning to you. the candidates will be out in force despite the weather making their closing arguments with the voters about to weigh in. >> i approve this message. >> reporter: the two gop

the air waves. donald trump hitting ted cruz over immigration. >> sounded like you wanted the bill to pass. >> of course i wanted the bill to pass. >> reporter: and cruz trying to paint trump as establishment. trump and cruz will court voters in iowa today with the bitter fight dividing the party. the conservative magazine "national review" released its against trump issue. rebuke of the businessman. >> we are making an argument that donald trump has not been with conservatives, he won't be with conservatives. >> reporter: some have warmed to trump fearing cruz is more divisive. 2016 is fast becoming a race where establishment is a dirty word, even for democrats. bernie sanders surging, painting himself as an outsider. >> i want to say a word on the issue that secretary clinton and

that is the incredible power of wall street. >> reporter: and hillary clinton trying to show she is the most qualified candidate. >> we need a president who can do all aspects of the job. >> reporter: the question now? just how strong is the anti-establishment surge? >> this is a good year to be an insurgent. you hear many on both sides saying i support, fill in the blank, because nobody else says it like that. he says the truth. he is telling it like it is. >> reporter: last night, donald trump sounded off on jeb bush for putting his mom in the campaign ad. tweeting, quote, jeb desperately needed mommy to help him. jeb, mommy can't help you with isis or putin. a video trying to help people find caucus locations was released by his campaign.

>> kristen, thank you. >> where was donald trump when i was in high school? >> he is available now. al is back with a look of the rest of the country's forecast. there are people who are not dealing with snow today? >> there are. in the mid section of the country. look at this. pacific northwest, you have rain and snow. out here in the northeast, you can see that giant swirl of clouds still taking over. so for today, again, middle of the country, nothing going on. we heard about thunder snow in baltimore. this is a big factor. then we have wet weather from central california all the way into the pacific northwest with snow. of course, you got this out there today. hey, good saturday morning. after a messy day yesterday, we're dealing with the flurries and light snow showers in the area. an additional dusting and inch

raleigh and durham and 27 in fayetteville and up to 33 today. icy again toni and don't forget rokerthon #blizzard2016 starting at 8:30 this morning. al, thank you. changes are coming to the oscars. what the academy will now be doing to tackle diversity. and conversation with figure skater gracie gold and her sister carly. they are set up for a sibling rivalry that you have never seen before.

nbc. still to come on this snowy

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snow keeps on falling. good morning. i'm justin quesinberry. and i'm stefan chase. power outages are a problem for thousands of people in south carolina. all the red icons mean more than two 2,000 households without power. >> and the client in our area include wake county and 9,000 in johnston and cumberland and 5,000 and more than a hundred thousand outages statewide. the crews are out there assessing the damage this morning. kristin ketchell is here after the break what we can expect today. we take you to a live look over

we'll be after a messy send to the week yesterday, we're dealing with light snow showers in the area right now and pushing in the triangle right now and orange and durham and person county and don't be surprised if you pick up another dusting in some spots up to an inch in the virginia border counties likely today. and 25 is the current temperature in raleigh and

and the roads are icy. and i would advice staying off them today. we are back on the saturday morning, january 23rd, 2016. this is a live look for you coming from the streets of washington, d.c. dylan dreyer not at the desk with us this morning because she's in the blue mobile. the snow is coming down hard. it is rough on the roads. outside of studio 1a, the snow is falling quickly out there. that does not stop. that looks thrown, by the way. i think it is tripled in size. they get extra medals today. >> a lot of the folks in the buchon bakery. >> they will wait for a long time this morning. >> we are keeping a close eye on the blizzard of 2016. al is here with us in the studio.

down the east coast this morning. >> the snow has only been falling in new york city for what nine hours now, it has been going strong for 24 hours in washington, d.c. nbc's miguel almaguer is in the nation's capital. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: jose, good morning. it is definitely a nasty conditions out here. the promising punch is delivered and we have already seen 13 inches of snow in the nation's capital. we are expecting more. behind me what you should be seeing is the state capitol. instead, it is fog and snow back there. it is coming in sideways and sloppy and continue for the next four hours. our hotel is a few blocks away from here. we were not able to drive to this location. cars are not able to go up and down the streets. they are working as hard as they can to plow the main intersections. jose, we have not seen many people on the roads today. they are concerned the mayor has

here. she spoke to us earlier. she said this is a potentially life threatening storm. calls have doubled in the call center. many people are staying in their homes and heeding the warnings here. every flight out of local airports seem to be canceled or delayed. that nightmare will continue for the next couple days as we see the ripple effect. the mayor says you should stay in your homes for the next 36 hours because the snowfall here is steady and it certainly not letting up anytime soon, jose. >> miguel, thank you. >> for the next 36 hours. >> the pronunciation of miguel's name. >> you have more where that came from? >> we do. on telemundo. good plug. >> we will plug your 18 shows later. let's get to dylan because we the blue mobile. she is making her way from washington back up here to new

your heading north on i-95. is it is a snail's pace? how are the roads? >> reporter: you know we were right in downtown where the live shot was this morning, the roads haven't been touched. we are on new york avenue. this will turn into u.s. 50 and take us to i-95. the main roads have been plowed. we are moving along just fine right now. it is almost like the snow gives you more traction than if we had a layer of ice. this has been all snow here in washington, d.c. we never had that layer of ice. there is some traction. i want to point out one of the seemingly most dangersous things i have seen is a lot of people are walking in the roads because the sidewalks have not been cleared. people show up out of nowhere and with the visibility reduced, this is dangerous. if you are walking around, make sure you know the drivers can see you.

we saw a tweet at 4:00 this morning that said the intersection between 495 and 95 about five miles from where we are was completely impassable. i hope the plows have gotten through that point right now and we see the roads open up a bit. once we get on the major highway, we will check in with you. hopefully nobody sells onelse is on the roads. we will check in with you. >> dylan, you could bypass if you took the bw parkway and you could catch up with 95 there. in case that is not possible. >> a real difficult situation for a lot of the roads. >> reporter: okay. >> the winds also. >> winds are rough and it will get rougher. laguardia right now reporting snowfall rates at 3 inches per hour. so we are just getting warmed up with this, unfortunately. you can see the reason why we

storm has actually tracked a little further north. here is what we are looking at through tomorrow. this is the latest we have. washington, d.c. and baltimore area, basically heavy snow continuing this morning. wind gusts to 50 miles per hour. snowfall, 24 inches. maybe more than that. top three snowstorms, over 100 years ago almost, 28 inches. we will come close to that for washington, d.c. now you get to new york city and surrounding areas. 18 to 24 inches of snow. heavy snow continues into the afternoon and evening. winds gusting to 55. we are probably going to see blizzard like conditions. top three storms. 23.9 inches in 2006. we come very close, i think. we are dealing with coastal wind gusts. 60 to 70 miles per hour. the high tides.

er good saturday morning. i'm kristin ketchell. we have a stew light snow sure falling in the area right now. you see the light snow and flurries in spots. and the temperature across the region in the that's your latest weather. jose. >> thank you, al. just ahead, forget the storm outside. we will tell you about a dating storm that is happening inside this weekend. it's pretty hot. >> find someone to snuggle up with. plus, we will catch up on

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back now on a saturday morning with "the download." the chance to catch you up on the biggest stories. sheinelle. >> snow aside, a lot of stories throughout the weekend. from donald trump's endorsement to the cdc warning of the zika virus. we start with the fears over the stock market. nightmare on wall street. plunges for the dow with oil prices plummeting and the chinese economy stalling. >> more price declines to come. >> even so, experts say don't panic. >> you have to look at your plan. there is a huge opportunity here. >> sarah palin back in the spotlight endorsing donald trump. >> let our warriors do their job and go kick isis' ass. >> slamming president obama will defending her son track. iraq war veteran charged with domestic violence against his girlfriend.

come back a bit different. they come back hardened. the question that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, do you know what we go through? outrage over the ongoing water crisis in flint, michigan. >> i'm sorry most of all that i let you down. >> sorry's not going to bring us fresh water every day. >> it's a problem that has been building for yearly two years. doctors discovering an alarming amount of lead in children's blood. >> the cdc is urging doctors to monitor pregnant patients or those hoping to become pregnant if they traveled to zika virus hot spots. it can only be contracted from a bite from an infected mosquito. >> it can cause micrephaly.

the murder of a spy litinvenko? >> the london assassins poisoned him by pouring polonium into his tea. his widow said putin is guilty of nuclear terrorism. a call to boycott the oscars is gaining momentum. >> at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say this is okay. >> academy is meeting next week and consider increasing best picture nominations to ten. gracing the cover of "vogue" is derek zoolander. >> what is the best about living in new york? >> the very attractive people. >> how do you feel about brooklyn? >> i really hope they find a cure.

behind the scenes look at jennifer lopez debuts his las vegas residency. hoda putting jlo's team to work. >> i love hoda. up next, the massive engagement ring i'm going to share a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. that's so interesting honey because i'm going to share a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. l'eggo my eggo l'eggo my eggo (answering machine) hey! leave a message. hi, i know you're there, 'cause i can see you. i'm calling you to tell you to l'eggo my eggo! anncr: some things are too delicious to share. golden crispy, warm and fluffy eggo waffles. l'eggo my eggo.

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actually data to back this up. last year, hinge found leading up to winter storm juno spiked 27% on the day of the storm. >> what does activity mean? >> they also found the average user logged in five times each day. binge watching will be up this weekend. lists have been popping up all over the place with must-watched shows for the blizzard. the one that is on most of those, "making a murderer." >> you know, in october, we will spend a lot of time in maternity wards. >> that is exactly right. there is activity happy happening now. and vine is celebrating it's anniversary anniversary. the new way to share videos in six seconds or less. the most looped vines from 2015

>> yeah! >> wow! >> i have avocado. >> is that it? >> i think we do. videos." >> the kid that got hit. and mariah carey is now rocking a big rock. sheinelle has that in "pop start." >> we told you yesterday that mariah carey said yes to billionaire james packer. we now have the ring. the colossal stone is 35 carats. that ring, by the way, costs $7.5 million. so this morning, we will put this in perspective.

ring, 15 carats. beyonce's is 18 carats. the only thing slightly bigger than mariah's ring is the hope diamond. we could have rings, earrings. congratulations are in order for one direction crew member as he welcomes a baby boy. there is no word from him yet, but he will have plenty of time to dote on his baby. and michael buble and his wife shared the news via twitter. and then there were four. introducing elias buble.

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nbc. morning, we will have the latest from up and down the east coast as that storm makes its way through tens of millions of people. we will also check in with dylan driving along i-95. and two sisters with olympic dreams, but forget about the

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hope you're having a great saturday morning so far. i'm stefan chase. >> and i'm justin quesinberry. tens of thousands of people without power this morning and some of them seeking shelter. sanderson high school opened their doors about 4 and they are worry bad the potential of power outages there becoming more money as the weekend goes on. >> and the shelter had to be hop and it will be opened through sunday and more shelters will open if the need arises. for a list of other shelters, check out our website, wncn.com. kristin ketchell is here after the break with what we can expect today. this is a live lookout

we just stepped outside and we have a light dusting on cars out there. don't be surprised if you have a dusting as well. a chance up to an inch, especially along the virginia border. so we'll keep a close eye on that. 25 degrees in raleigh and durham, 27 in fayetteville and roads still icy in the area. and travel not advised unless

and only getting up to 33 today and down to 25 good morning. the blizzard of 2016. a huge storm powering up the east coast this weekend. a quarter of the u.s. population in its path. a blizzard warning now for 33 million americans. snow totals revised overnight. now higher than first predicted. already 1.5 feet has fallen in some areas. thousands stranded as traffic comes to a halt on major highways along the coast. officials telling people to weather this storm inside. >> stay off the roads if you don't need to be on the roads. >> at least ten people killed in traffic accidents. a historic storm and the worst may still be to come.

ice, ice baby ice, ice baby >> it's not that bad outside! now that the party's jumping good morning on the lovely snowy saturday. welcome back to "today" on saturday morning. it's lovely. it turns out you are not the only one here from florida. we have hardy souls on the plaza. from florida. >> and phoenix as well. >> good call to be here this weekend, guys. >> if we close our eyes, we can think we're in south florida. >> it feels just like that. >> some of the crowd is back here -- al is cleaning off the camera lens. some of the crowd has made their way into the green room. a trading spaces moment for us. they are getting warm inside. i think they are. we see them in the window.

our team is spread out along the coast because they are busy today. monitoring the storm every step of the way. a lot of snow has already fallen. still a lot more to come. >> let's check in with dylan who is slowly and carefully making her way up i-95 to get to new york. dylan, good morning. how is it going? >> reporter: hey, it is a slow go. we first got on to 95 and 495, the beltway around washington, d.c., that is when there was no activity of plows on the road whatsoever. it was just like driving through the snow ruts. now we have cleared things out. we have seen two cars off on the side of the road trying to get off at the on/off ramps. nothing compared to the height of the storm. back in kentucky, yesterday, a 35-mile back up on i-75. there were no reported injuries,

shutdown for a time. kentucky. things are starting to improve in that area right now as the roads are starting to get cleared out a bit. it was the case when the snow comes down so heavy in such a quick period of time when the cars are on the road, they get stuck and nowhere for them to go. we are slowly making our way on i-95. we are in and out of really bad patches on the roads. when it clears out, it is easier to drive. it is a slow go. we will continue to keep on trucking to new york. guys. >> we know you are being safe. dylan, thanks. we will continue to check in with you throughout the day. let's go inside with jose. >> thank you, erica. i'm still drying off. the snow began falling early on friday morning in the nation's capital and has not let up since. nbc's correspondent miguel almaguer is in the middle of the it all. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: jose, good morning. we are expecting another foot of snow.

generation if the forecast holds true and the steady pattern coming down. it is not letting up anytime soon. we are facing blizzard like conditions here and will continue to do so all the way through tonight into tomorrow where they start to dig out. even after then, the city is bracing for problems. all of that steady snow is falling on rooftops and threaten homes and could bring down power lines. it has been quiet here in terms of emergency response. most of the power in the area has stayed on. that could change over the next 24 hours. about. the airports are crippled. people are battering down the hatches here. the neighborhood here in the last 24 hours. the city is warning the situation could get worse before it gets better. jose. >> miguel, thank you. the winds are picking up in several areas. a major concern for people who

a close eye on the storm surge. nbc's rehema ellis is alongside the new jersey coast. >> reporter: jose, it really is windy. the winds are roaring and the sea is angry. the governor of new jersey is -- >> obviously we are having difficulty establishing that satellite link with rehema. rehema, be careful. >> i know where she is exactly. pleasant, i believe. that is rough. are. we have reports that so far 3 inches of snow falling at laguardia so far and in manhattan as well. here it is. east of montauk and to connecticut and all the way back to fredericksburg. we are looking at snow. we will give you accumulations we got so far.

talking about 3 inches of snow officially. we have 6.5 at newark airport. long island, 7.1. mt. olive, new jersey, 7 inches of snow. it will get worse. here is what we have through tomorrow. baltimore, washington area, you will probably see 24 inches of more. the winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. philadelphia, central new jersey and parts of eastern pennsylvania, 18 to 24 inches. wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. in new york city and surrounding area, the heavy snow in afternoon and early evening. 18 to 24 inches. new england and new haven and providence, we are talking 8 to 12 inches of snow. boston may pick up about 2 to 4 inches. we had to up these amounts because the storm has moved further north. yesterday, we thought boston

they may get 4. new york, 6 to 12. now up to 24 inches. >> amazing. a lot of snow coming down. thanks, al. we have other news to get to this morning. sheinelle is following a horrific school shooting in canada. a small canada town is in mourning after the country's worst in a decade. four people dead after a gunman opened fire in a remote town in central canada. staff and at least one student are victims. students scattered as the gunman began. the sungunman shot two of his brothers at home before heading to the school. tourists watching the show at the bellagio hotel last night in vegas found them selves in the middle of gunfire with shots caught on tape. >> police cars converge with a

crowd closing off parts of the vegas strip. the suspect refused to drop the weapon and the office opened fire. officers wrestled the suspect to the ground. packaged salads recalled after an outbreak of listeria. it comes from the dole processing plant in springfield, ohio. one person has died and a dozen illnesses have been reported. the package salads are sold under several different names and in 27 states. they are identified at the "a" in the manufacturing code. the controversy of lack of diversity has lead to rules changes. sweeping changes in voting and doubling the number of women and diverse groups by the end of the decade. amongst the changes, to replace the inactive lifetime members with more active members. the move following rising protests by academy members by

nominees in the acting categories. a new ball game in space. look at this. it is ping pong on the space station played by astronaut mark kelly. you don't need a ping pong ball. you need a drop of water. the paddles help the liquid and zero gravity will keep the drop bouncing back and forth and back and forth. isn't that cool? >> man. >> that is something you see when you are a kid and you want to go to space. >> and the water goes everywhere. it explodes. very cool. another check of the country's forecast. >> that's right. i was checking commander kelly's twitter. he has a great shot of the storm from space. it's pretty cool. as you can see right now, we have the storm here in the northeast. we have a lot of wet weather in the pacific northwest. in between, things quiet. that's good news. temperatures really mild for this time of year up in minnesota.

here is the storm system making its way to the northeast coast. northern central california into the pacific northwest, rain, and good morning. i'm kitchen k a little light snow falling in parts of the -- i'm kristin ketchell. a little light snow fall parts of the area. 27 in fayetteville and scatte and guys, our control room has the picture of mark kelly's picture. you can see back to the east. that's the storm.

rokerthon #blizzard2016 on nbcnews.com. we will have a break for nbc nightly news. sheinelle is over in the orange room now. >> i am. if i had a trophy, i would give each one of you a "today" show trophy for being here in this weather. where are you from? >> outer banks of north carolina. >> you have never been in a blizzard? this is your first blizzard? >> a lot of hurricanes, al, but no blizzards. >> thank you. you know, i'll let you take it away. >> still to come on "today," twins in life and now competitors on the ice. conversations with gracie and carly gold. but first these messages. we take away your stuffy nose. you keep the peace. we calm your congestion and pain. you rally the team. we give you relief from your cough. you give them a case of the giggles. tylenol cold helps relieve even your worst cold & flu symptoms. so you can give them

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if you're looking to save money on your medicare part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d. just switch to walgreens for savings that'll be the highlight of your day. now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. you can even get one-dollar copays on select plans. back now on a saturday morning with a true sister act. later today, gracie and carly gold will compete for the same title on the ice. >> you remember gracie from the 2014 olympic games, but her sister is a skater as well.

paul, minnesota with more. >> reporter: jose, good morning. a new ladies figure skating champion will be crowned tonight in st. paul. two of the leading skaters have been roommates since birth and tonight they are cheering for each other. >> triple lutz. >> reporter: a dazzling star in figure skating. gracie gold. >> like a fairy tale. >> reporter: in the gold family, it's not just gracie's dreams this year. >> i'm awesome. so excited. >> reporter: among the elite skaters vying for the title, gracie gracie's sister carly. >> just qualifying for nationals is just above my wildest expectations.

train on the same ice. both under coach frank carroll. life long roommates and best friends, but differences in more than appearance. carly an equestrian. >> i learned to skate through the isi. carly just jumped in. >> because it was fun. >> reporter: now more than fun. >> reporter: from thousands of competitive skaters, only 22 make the cut to skate for the ladies title. nbc sports panelists tara lipinski. >> carly is happy to be here. >> reporter: carly missed one jump in the short program, but otherwise, skated clean.

surreal experience and it is going by quickly. >> reporter: gracie missed a jump too. well in consideration for the title. >> i don't consider it sharing my spotlight. she has her own. >> reporter: sisters turned competitors. each in pursuit of their own definition of gold. in the ultra competitive world of figure skating where thousands of women compete and make it to the national stage, it is spectacular that both gold sisters make the finals. they will be broadcast live tonight on nbc. >> thank you, janet. if you are on the east coast, another reason to stay inside tonight. you can watch the figure skating championships as janet mentioned here on nbc starting at 3:00 eastern and noon pacific. and coming up, easy things you can do today to help you

first this is "today" on nbc. i'm going to stand by you even if we we're back on a saturday morning with "our start today" series helping you get the start on the week. >> there are a lot of easy things to do today to help you get a handle on the week ahead. our experts have you covered. >> get a head start. >> get a head start. >> get a head start today. >> today. >> today. >> today. >> a perfect assignment is to go through your kitchen cabinets. first of all, check what is expired. 2013. i'm sure you have that too. next, go into your cabinet and see all of the vases and plates. i probably got rid of 20 vases this year.

because your cabinet can look like this. >> finding balance between being a mom, work and also being a wife can be difficult for me. the most important thing you can do for yourself is to take care of yourself. write in your journal, read, take a bubble bath. use your weekends to refresh. maybe even a date night. >> if somebody happened to you, would the important people in your life know what to do? would they know who to call or access your online account? i want you to work on a letter of suggest or instruction. it is not a legal document, but a road map telling the important people in your life what to do in the event of an emergency. this week, we will talk about protecting your financial life, but this is step one. >> i'll show you the simple trick to dramatically slice the

favorite bottle dressing. first up, vinegarette. this is balsamic vinegarette. you will put it in a jar and add low sodium vinegar. next up, ranch dressing. pour your favorite ranch into the mason jar and now dilute it this time with low fat buttermilk. it will drive down the calories and sodium. there you go. vinegarette ranch dressing at your service. >> those are our tips. >> those are our tips. >> those are our tips to start today. >> today. today. >> and you can see more tips all week here on "today." that does it for us this saturday morning. dylan, stay safe out there. >> we will be keeping you posted on the weather all day long.

throughout the day on nbcnews.com.

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we're seeing some light snow showers falling in the area. and we'll let you know how long they will last and what to

but definitely expect an inch ice is coming down and accumulating and bringing down the tree limbs and hitting the power lines. >> and the ice affected tens of thousands of people without power. and the freezing temperatures will keep the roads icy through the weekend. 25 degrees and 8:30 in the morning and we show you a live look in downtown raleigh from the crew driving there right now. it is saturday, january 23rd, 2016. morning. and thank you for watching this weekend edition of wncn today. so glad to have stefan chase with us this saturday. >> no place i would rather be. wink. we understand that governor mccrory is going off to a live

we'll be there.