>> good afternoon in the news,

mickey mouse and mini mouse are in town to give a big boost to children's hospital. and in baseball, fans benefit from the bitter cold. >> it was fire and ice after a city block was frozen after firefighters battle the blaze during our near zero temperatures overnight. >> it was a site on the # pun block of south -- 200 block of south 52nd street. the firefighters put on out the blaze and it turned to ice. it was a bitter cold morning for anybody who had to go to work today. people were bundled up head to toe to protect themselves against the frigid temperatures. those we've talked to say they have never experienced this kind of cold. >> chopper 6 hd was by the schuylkill river this morning and it shows how frigid the temperatures have been. the river is beginning to ice

over. take a look at the water near boathouse row. some of the water has frozen in place near the art museum. chopper 6 was over the tacony-palmyra bridge you can see how the river is covered in ice here, as well. we have live team coverage. deep freeze and the approaching snow. meteorologist david murphy and karen rogers are keeping an eye on the low temperatures and the snow on the way. "action news" reporter, david henry has details on how people are copying in the frigid temperatures after a gas explosion forced them outside. let's gin with david murphy -- let's begin with david murphy outside. >> reporter: i've got another one for you, this is the back bay behind brigantine, new jersey, where my twitter follower braved the elements as the sun was coming up. you can see the snowy ice in the water. no surprise given the

temperatures that we had this morning. we set several temperatures in reading, one below zero. an trenton, 1 degree and 2 degrees at the airport in atlantic city. no matter how you slice it was bone-chillingly cold. in philadelphia, we got down to 3. that missed the record of 2 set back in 1888. that's impressive close to a record that's been standings that long. the morning windchills were always very apparent as you stepped outside. 16 below in philadelphia is what it felt like at one point. that's why we had the windchill advisories in effect, we were talking about how significant the frostbite issue was. it only took a half-hour to stand outside and get frost bite on exposed skin. 11 degrees in philadelphia. 12 in allentown. windchills 5 below in philadelphia. 1 below in allentown but we are

slowly improving as we get into the afternoon things will get better. the high today, 2 # degrees the overnight low 16. conditions a little bit better with windchills getting above zero as we head into the afternoon. karen rogers joins us inside where it's more comfortable. you have the second partly of the story. >> reporter: we have the extreme cold in place the ground is frozen solid. the actual area of low pressure is in plzless, you can see the -- louisiana, you can see mixed precipitation in nashville and snowfall in the ohio valley light flurries trying to reach ground in richmond. not here in philadelphia. the national where service has put out this winter storm warning. it's a warning in the areas that you see in pink. it's a southern system so it will be aerials to the south hit

hardest. we have a winter storm warning for new jersey and delaware. future tracker 6 shows it's dry in most areas. this is a look at 11:30. we see the snow starting in philadelphia. watch the varying shades of the snow at 6:00 a.m. when people are getting out for their morning commute. we can see the darker shades of purple in south jersey and delaware showing heavy snow bands pushing out by 11:00 a.m. off the coast at this point. here's what to expect tonight into tomorrow. aerials to the south hit the hardest. dover, millville atlantic, wildwood showing 8 inches in that area. 3 to 6 interior south jersey and delaware, the i-95 corridor, including trenton philadelphia, wilmington and most of bucks and montgomery counties, one to three the farther north and west

you go the snow having bad timing with the morning commute. david will be in a couple of minutes to do the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast. he'll show you which models are printing how much snow. >> now back to the fire in philadelphia firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze on 200 block of south 52 street. most everything the water touched almost instantly froze. power lines, the ladders the sides of buildings and the home next-door encased in ice. firefighters remained only the scene trying to breakup the ice and remove the frozen equipment. chopper 6 hd was above the aftermath of this two-alarm fire in tioga nicetown. 13 people were forced out of their home into the night air. the blaze damaged four houses along the 1700 block of west erie avenue before 5:00 a.m.

john rawlins will have more on both fires on "action news" at 12:30. let's go live to "action news" reporter, david henry live outside a chestnut hill apartment complex where a gallons explosion forced residents out into the frigid temperatures overnight. david. >> reporter: you have to take a look at the building. it's right behind me on the corner. the windows are blown out the walls are buckling, it's a miracle that everybody in the buildings all ten people walked away without injuries. a little bit over to the left you can see the pgw crews are working to repair the gas line that caused the explosion. it happened at 1:45 a.m. it send residents scrambling for safety in the darkness. there was no fire. nine adults and child escaped without injury. the red cross is here to advice them, but they did not require emergency shelter.

l&i was and posted off limits signs on the buildings. it will have been demolished. it was caused by a ruptured gas main. when that happens a throwing a light switch can create an explosion. >> every single section of of windows, it was blown outwards. if you look through here, the only section. ceiling length of time in their the heavy plaster ceiling is above the bed and didn't come downer on us. i really feel like we all hit the lottery. >> reporter: even though they are out in the cold now very lucky people in the buildings early this morning when the explosion happened. pgw is investigating trying to

figure out what called the gas line to -- what caused the gas line to rupture whether it was the cold weather or some other factor is unknown but some very lucky people out here, live in chestnut hill, david henry. from our delaware newsroom there was a solid sheet of ice on often -- on the steps of an apartment buildings after a water main break. a water pipe that belonged to the sprinkler system broke between the second and third floors. 12 families were evacuated from the building. workers put rock salt on the ice to keep anyone from slipping. >> deldot and other road crews are gearing up for the snow heading our way. dell dot crews will get a little rest and be back on the job tonight as the snow arrives. they have 43,000 tons of salt on

hand to use during the storm. tickets for the april home opener went on sale today and those in line paid just get 4 cents the same as the temperature a8:00 a.m. that's the only reason to celebrate the frigid temperatures and these folks were lucky. the morning show team will be on early tomorrow morning with the latest on the snowfall from accuweather and help you to navigate the roads. join, matt tam david and karen with all the latest developments and school delays or cancellations. >> new england is digging out from another snowstorm the 4th in the month there. windchills are well below zero. boston and parts of main have seen about 100 inches of snow in the past month. officials in boston say 278,000 miles have been plowed in beantown just this winter. that's enough to go around the

circumference of the earth 11 times and get this, more snow is on the way. glad we're not there. >> big donations. children's hospital gets a boost thanks to the generosity of mickey mouse and mini mouse. meteorologist david murphy returns with the word on how much snow we're expected to get when "action news" at noon comes right back. # # [ male announcer ] approaching medicare eligibility? don't put off checking

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>> the children's hospital of philadelphia received a big gift from the walt disney company today. >> that's right, mickey and minnie were on hand, annie mccormick joins us live with the details. >> reporter: a big day at chop. actually this month the month of february is compassion month for disney and 6abc and in order to spread the compassion we decided to share some with the children's hospital of philadelphia by presenting them with a check. this is video when mickey mouse and mini mouse were here to spread their special cheer to kids on monday. the iconic cartoon first things will have a bigger presence with our boss and manager.

bernie prazenica presented this check of $250,000 to chop ceo on behalf of disney and the 6abc television group. the money goes toward a wait and play area. it will go for advanced pediatric care. it's a waiting area that will make it fun for kids. it's for kids who spent a lot of their time at chop. >> there will be activities where they can play, where they can learn, there will inter active, so it's a completely different concept from your typical waiting area. >> and back out here live you see mickey and minnie greeting the patients here at chop. getting smiles a big wave there. they are making the kids happy and that special waiting room will be in the berger center that will be completed in the summertime sometime around june.

reporting live from the children's hospital in philadelphia, annie mccormick channel 6 "action news." >> a new treatment for autism is coming to our area. it will be called jaden's voice. the center offers kiln i canal and hole -- holistic services. it will be in chester.

>> "healthcheck" this noon an eye-opening study found teenagers are getting less and less sleech. reachers at the university of

michigan studied 20,000 teens over a 20 year period. half said they got less than seven hours of sleep a night. they say the rising rates of obesity are a factor. experts recommend that teenagers get 9 to 10 hours of sleep each night. today on "action news" at 4:00 p.m. we're checking out the calories on some of your favorite snacks at the movies. here's ali gorman with a preview. >> reporter: you're at the movies as you want a snack but you don't want to detour your diet. it's diet detour's movie theater edition today on "action news" at 4:00 p.m. >> i wonder what she did with all those snacks. costco and american express is parting ways. they are ending their 16 year

partnership in march of next year. right now costco can buy items at the store with special american express cards that include a true earnings reward program. american express said it's edge a deal because it cannot come to an agreement on new terms that made good business sent for the credit card company. the postal service is getting an upgrade. they want to retire their 200,000 vehicles, but need new ones in place they need new ones that are bigger on the inside with better mileage. it could cost up to $16 billion to replace all the trucks. >> hey alicia. how was your weekend.

a woman is facing jail time if she doesn't write letters to the man who wanted to kill her. we have cravments -- crafts that don't require sewing or baking. we have dyi things that will break your cabin fever. don't forget you can take us on the go if you haven't don't know loaded the free 6abc news app watch our newscast on your smart phone or tablet. >> that was fun to watch. yikes.

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>> trees and power lines came down in north carolina this weekend because of the high winds. huge trees were brought down in asheville yesterday. 20,000 people were left without power at the height of that storm. >> back here, david murphy is keeping an eye on precipitation heading our way late tonight. >> insult to injury. >> reporter: it is, but march is coming, right? >> and baseball. >> reporter: that's the biggest shining thing in the sky for me. all right, storm tracker 6 live double scan we have no precipitation, so that's good. as we look outside, on the action cam oh, my, that's the fishing pier in ocean city. a lot of ice out there. remember not to walk in any of that ice you can fall through and get into big trouble. if you have any frozen ponds stay off them. the dewpoint is well below zero.

winds north/northwest at 14 miles per hour. the windchills are making it feel like it's a bit on the cool side. these temperatures, 11 degrees in philadelphia. 12 in allentown. 12 in millville. and the windchill is below zero in a lot of spots including philadelphia. as you step outside in the city, right now if you're not protected and if you your skin exposed you could pick up frostbite. there's the snow that will build in later on tonight. might get light snow showers through the evening hours but looks like the heavy stuff will hold until later on. i'll show that to you in a second. 18 is the high in the lehigh valley. windchills will be below zero for a good portion of the time. atlantic city, sun and clouds and very cold at the shore. in philadelphia, a high of 21 this afternoon with clouds on the march brisk and cold, winds

out of the northwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour and that will give you windchills in the single digits for much. afternoon. and the overnight low is 16. notice how we see winds dropping back to the single digits, so winds and windchills will not be as bad as overnight. but we're looking fogger the arrival of snow. for the evening commute it will be dry that's good. it will be cold and sliding into the upper teens by 7:00 p.m. mostly cloudy skies there. all right let's take a look at future tracker 6. 8:30 p.m. we're still dry so the commute will be over with under dry conditions. the latest model run has a couple of sweeps of snow, but most of the heavy stuff is staying to the south of us. it is after midnight when the morning crew will be on early at 4:00 a.m. that we do see the snow overtaking the region and starting to accumulate. that meanest in time for the morning commute 7:00 a.m. we'll

see accumulating snow. and finally it gets on out of here after 10:00 11:00 p.m. we're going for 3 to 6 in the central portion of the region. 6 inches plus, keep in mind all it would take is a little shift in a southern storm to change the numbers. the nam 7 inches. bitter cold with snow arriving overnight tonight. morning snow continuing, during the morning rush, high of 30 with a dry afternoon. looking ahead looking at a snow shower wednesday, back in the 20s, thursday and friday, another chance of a snow shower or flurry on saturday. >> okay. >> thank you. there's much more ahead in the next half-hour of "action news" at noon. our live team coverage. bitter cold and snow coming our way when we continue. >> snow turning cold in new

england. and the record boston could break with another winter blast those stories and more when we come right back. #

hello again here's some of the stories we're following on "action news" at 12:30. windchills this morning were in the negative teens this morning believe it or not. the cold remains a concern for those needing to go outside

today. but after the cold comes the snow and we have team coverage tracking the next system heading our way that's packing yet another winter punch. the cold proved to be problematic for firefighters this morning. the buildings and city streets frozen over hours after fighting a fire. now to the cold on the blast gripping the tri-state area. >> the freezing cold and windchills can be described as brutal. they put the president's day into a deep freeze. commuters were few and far between because it is a holiday. but those who did have to trek to work were bundled up big time waiting for the train. now going outside to sky 6 in high definition, showing the center city skyline. we have live team cover tracking another winter