down. going live to washington, d.c. tonight, that winter storm we've been telling you about all week long is already slamming parts of the midatlantic with snow and definitely the nation's capitol as we take a look at the white house at this hour. and our area is next. it is friday night and the big story on "action news" is the blizzard warning soon to take effect for most of our viewing area. >> in fact the state of delaware has just declared a state of emergency. we have live team coverage for you. trish hartman and chad pradelli have the preparations crews are making. first cecily tynan and adam joseph watching the storm's track and of course if it snow totals. let's start with you cecily and the latest from double scan radar. >> speaking of totals. we haved ouwe have upped our to. a storm like this always throws in last minute surprises. this certainly was the case. first of all it's moving faster encountering colder iran it's als -- air and it's

making a slight jog to the left. here is the primary low. what's happening, it's transferring its energy to a developing coastal low off the coast of the carolinas and that's the system that will intensify and heads up the eastern seaboard. we're already beginning to see some snow falling parts of our region little bit deceiving because the leading edge is actually evaporating. it's encountering drier air. we have snow hitting the ground really from cape may county through kent county. this will continue to progress up to the north as we head through the evening hours, it starts light but it doesn't stay that way. not only will the snow be heavy, the winds are going to be fierce. a blizzard warning goes into effect in two hours for the same areas under the watch yesterday except i want to point this out. the national weather service has extended this to northern chester montgomery and bucks counties and this is because the winds are going to be even stronger. we're looking at expected gusts along the i-95 corridor into south jersey 45 to

55 miles per hour and even pretty far from the center of the storm 35 to 45 miles an hour winds at the shore, 65 miles an hour wind gusts expected and this likely will be a top 10 high tide for the jersey shore, could be a top five in cape may. we're looking at moderate to major flooding. they have been evacuating the low lying areas. that's a good idea. off shore waves 15 to 20 feet. the beach is going to get really battered, significant erosion but what you get with this storm depends on your location. details on that with adam. >> cecily they'll see a lot of rain mixin mixing in for the het of the storm. we take a look down the shore along the coast where that coastal flood warning will be in effect. it will start as snow change to rain and at the tail end back to snow. extensive erosion is expected. 6:43 with gusts 55 to 65 miles an hour and with all that water pushing against the shore, expecting about a three to 4-foot storm surge and with

that was water coming in to the back bays it won't have time to rush out before the next round of high tide and that is the problem, the consistent rounds of high tide with much of, you know, wake of getting that batter back out of the bays. in the philadelphia metro area across much of our region that's going to be the hardest hit area when you're talking about the combination of snow falling and those gusty winds with whiteout conditions and snowfall rates one to 3-inches per hour, two to 3 inches at times if you get some thunder snow with wind gusts herein land even 45 to 55 miles an hour and then the farther are you are away from that coastal storm and the nor'easter in the lehigh valley. winter storm warnings in effect it's a light dry fluffy snow. totals and wind gusts there even pretty impressive 35 to 45 miles an hour and again as cecily mentioned pull those numbers up a little bit because of the lighter nature to the snow, 18 to 24-inches for both the wilmington philadelphia region, 12 to 18

trenton, lehigh valley six to 12 and at the shore because of the mixing down to around three to 6 inches. when cecily tynan comes back she'll break down these numbers with a map in that full accuweather forecast. >> adam thank you. meantime the storm that's moving into our area from the south means delaware is going to get the first hit. "action news" reporter trish hartman continues our coverage. she's in wilmington tonight with more on that. trish. >> reporter: well, rick, the state of delaware just issuing a state of emergency. deldot saying they're waiting for the flakes to fall. brining on city streets like this one began a few days ago and drivers we spoke with today say they will be leaving the streets to the plow trucks this weekend. the wawa on dupont highway in wilmington manor was packed with people filling their tanks ahead of the storm. but they hoped they won't need that gas until monday with plans to hunker down for the weekend. >> absolutely nothing but sit inside cook and hang out with the kids.

>> bundled up, yeah, in front of the fireplace watching a chick flick. >> reporter: edwin morales plans to spend saturday inside with his wife and hopes others will resist the temptation to venture out in the storm. >> there's a lot of loony people out there driving in these vehicles and they don't know how to drive in the weathers. >> reporter: officials are urging people to stay home as the storm moves in as they anticipate blizzard conditions means cleanup may take longer than usual. last minute equipment inspections were under way at the newark deldot yard assault trucks loaded up. >> just making sure all the trucks have the properly working equipment and we have great mechanics and they're doing a great job. >> reporter: city of wilmington officials say they're ready two way quiet winter so far salt and sand supplies are in stock. plow drivers are expected to clear the roads tonight working until the storm is over. >> we haven't had any snow as of today so we're prepared. we're rested and ready to go. >> reporter: deldot

officials tell me they hope to have roads cleared by the end of the weekend but with 18 to 24-inches projected we'll just have to wait and see what this massive storm brings. officials are asking for patience during the storm, they're asking residents to steer clear of those plow trucks. we're live in wilmington, trish hartman, channel6 "action news." monica. >> thank you trish. let's step live outside sky6 hd showing you the center city skyline with cloudy conditions up above and of course the snow moving towards the philadelphia area very soon. it will be happening approximately the tail end of the evening commute. also this afternoon city officials in philadelphia laid out contingency plans for the city in less than four hours a snow emergency will officially be in effect in philadelphia. that means public libraries and recreation centers will be closed this weekend. prison visits and hearings for parking tickets and citations are canceled. mayor jim kenney said officials shows chose not to enact an emergency until later tonight to give everyone a chance to prepare. >> just easier for everyone

involved to be as normal as possible, commerce, business, people until it gets to the point where we need to get indoors and be safe. >> reporter: starting at 9:00 tonight any cars left on city streets that are designated as snow emergency routes will be removed and if you want to get your car back, you have to pay $125 fine. the city, though, has opened up public parking lots for five-dollar parking fees and we have a list of those locations for you on our web site 6abc.com. >> well, the snow is also bringing air traffic across the east coast to a virtual standstill. as we take a live look from philadelphia international airport, look at an empty security line, only one or two people but this is usually full of passengers. not tonight. flights have already been reduced by all major airlines and tomorrow all flights into and out of philadelphia have been canceled. "action news" reporter walter perez will have much more on the scramble for travelators change their plans and last minute attempts to get out of town coming up on "action news at 5:30.

meantime penndot crews on alert tonight ready to jump into action as the snow continues to pile up. chad pradelli is live in south philadelphia with more on tha that. chad. >> reporter: well, here in the past couple of minutes we've seen some trucks arriving here at this salt yard. they're loading up getting ready. this place has been bustling with activity all day. the countdown is on and soon penndot will be out in full force. penndot is locked and loaded to take on mother nature. the brining is complete. crews are now on stand by to begin plowing and spreading salt. they'll work around the clock through monday. >> we work shifts. they'll go off the clock go down for four hours and go to sleep. >> reporter: villanova student michael george knows it will be a long weekend. bread milk and eggs weren't on the top of his must need list but rather, beer. >> got to stock up. it's going to be a three day

weekend. hunker down. >> reporter: he and others will be digging out come sunday. salt supplies are low around town but not at this south philadelphia sunoco. it received two pallets this afternoon. >> believe it or not we ran out a couple times yesterday. we got two pallets and we sold out so i had to order three more. >> reporter: and penndot officials have some good advice if you're going to be out on the roadways, stay at least 10 car lengths behind the plows. i'm live in south philadelphia, chad pradelli, channel6 "action news. >> thank you chad. now from the preparations to the current highway conditions. >> folks obviously trying to get home ahead of the flakes to start to fall in our area. let's check in with matt pelman who is keeping an eye on the commute tonight. >> not seeing any flakes at least not of the snowy variety yet here along the schuylkill expressway, rick and monica, it remains dry for those people trying to get home this evening it's a very busy ride. it's a slow ride but they're making the trek. these are the eastbound lanes right here approaching gulf mills.

have a broken down vehicle on the shoulder with police assisting and it is generally heavy from approaching gulph mills on into the conshohocken curve. westbound also backing up leaded outer towards 202. still have that crash in plymouth township by plymouth valley park along germantown pike near pleasant road and trailer bans go into effect on the northeast extension and the east-west turnpike starting at midnight tonight mom double trailers, no empty trailers and no tow behind trailers starting at midnight. in bensalem watching a crash by the village center shopping center along hulmeville road at washington lane. watch out for one in winslow township along the white horse pike at spring garden road. we'll check it again rick and monica, coming up in the next half hour. >> okay, matt thank you. >> thank you certainly with the snow headed our way we want you to be parter of "action news." join the action and sends us videos of how you're enjoying the wintry weather. use the #6abcaction on social media or e-mail us at join the action at 6abc.com. >> "action news" will be on the air early tomorrow morning helping you track the storm minute by minute. live team coverage and

constant updates from our team of meteorologists starting tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. and if the power goes out, hopefully it won't use your smartphone or other mobile device to watch us stream live. >> ♪

>> taking a live look right now sky6 hd showing you cape may new jersey. they got snowfall about an hour, hour and a half ago. just a coating there now on the beaches. looks beautiful. but this weekend's snowstorm is expected to deliver a one-two punch to new jersey and the inlands areas will see lots of snow. coastal areas here have a big are couple of problems. flooding and possible beach erosion. so very serious for them as well. >> meantime governor chris christie will return to the garden state after all to help guide new jersey through the storm. christie initially told reporters he did not have any plans to leave the campaign trail. but today he told supporters at the rally the circumstances have changed. >> for reasons that i'm sure you cannot understand, they feel comforted by my presence >> [laughter] i don't quite know exactly how that works but they feel comforted by my presence and i guarantee you, to answer your question more fully, that if i didn't go back, they'd

criticize me. >> christie said he hopes to be back in new hampshire on sunday. >> already officials in one new jersey town are telling folks they have to get out. >> it's a small area under evacuation and it's a sign of how serious officials are treating this storm. new jersey correspondent nora muchanic has more. >> reporter: started out as voluntary evacuation in barn g as authorities learned more about what's coming they've turned that into a mandatory evacuation in the town's bayshore area. >> we're changing that to a mandatory evacuation. >> reporter: barnegat township police are going door to door alerting residents that there is now a mandatory evacuation order in that effect for a very specific area from the municipal beach on bayshore drive to the east bay avenue bridge which is currently closed. >> looking at a potential 4-foot storm surge here and sandy was about four and half foot storm surge so it's a significant amount of water that obviously gives us cause for concern. >> reporter: this family lives right on the bay but says they're staying put. >> we've seen the water this high here and we're still

here. so, it will come, it will go out and that's fine. >> reporter: you don't want to leave. >> no we're not going anywhere. >> reporter: there's only one way in or out here. police are hoping to avoid high water rescues at the height of the storm. >> going to my sister's house. i have two young children and i worry about the beach floods down in that area over there. >> reporter: authorities can't force residents to leave but they say the smartest safest thing to do is for residents in this area to get out by 10 o'clock tonight. in barnegat, i'm nora muchanic, channel6 "action news."

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the snow shovels and snowblowers have been idle so far this winter but they're about to get a workout. >> every year about 200,000 people get hurt should having their snow. health reporter and wretch girard nurse ali gorman has advice to help you avoid injury. >> reporter: when a snowstorm hits, dr. craig reuben stein of rothman orthopedics at jefferson says he sees all kinds of injuries. >> back issue, lot of shoulder issues from shoveling. >> reporter: many of the problems stem from bad technique or just overuse. dr. reuben stein says you're less likely to get hurt if you warm up before shoveling and then take it easy at the start.

>> tackle some easier spots, some lighter snow. don't fill up your shovel the first few times. >> reporter: if you can, push the snow rather than lift it and when you do shovel, don't bends from the waste. that puts the stress on your back. >> you really should be trying to bend your knees and use your legs and sort of just short motions to get it out of the way instead of trying to throw it way over to the side. >> reporter: he says there twisting and throwing can put a lot of wear and tear on your shoulders. >> the farther your arms get away from your body the more you use your shoulders and your rotator cuff. >> reporter: also don't overload the shovel. a cubic foot of average snow weighs 15 pounds. wet snow weighs even more. of course another big concern with shoveling is the heart. if you are over age 55 or have a chronic medical condition, have someone else do the shoveling. but at any age, be sure to listen to your body. the type of shovel can also make a big difference. plastic or plastic coated shovels weigh about half of what a typical metal shovel

weighs. now, other dangers of course are slip and falls and snowblower injuries. never put your hand inside a snowblower. we have more tips on 6abc.com/health check. ali gorman, channel6 "action news. >> good idea. >> still to come, another check of that important forecast. >> as we look live outside from sky6 hd showing you wilmington delaware where the snow is expected to start falling any minute now since the storm is coming from the south. we'll keep an eye on the situation and bring you the latest track from meteorologist cecily tynan when "action news" comes right back. >> ♪

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>> time for accuweather at the "action news" big board. >> all right, meteorologist cecily tynan is here with more on a complicated forecast. >> we've got snow on the way, double scan live showing that the snow is beginning to break out across the region. this is a little deceiving because we had a lot of dry air at the surface. so the leading edge is evaporating but we have very light snow right now elmer salem, newark, delaware as well. let me get that. and oxford also reporting some very light snow. chadds ford if it's not snowing there yet, it will be within the next 10 minutes and also seeing snow breaking out in some of our western suburbs. kutztown right now it's not snowing yet but reading we have some snow beginning to develop higher in the it's a

feature it'atmosphere. this is from the pagoda in reading. over the past five minutes this is really changed. we're really beginning to see that snow starting to fall from the sky and this is just beginning of it. the blizzard of 2016 is going to cause a lot of problems. now, all this week we have been talking about how it's going to be a really heavy wet snow. changing our thinking on that. this is why. temperatures right now only in the 20's. a lot colder than anticipated and as that storm system moves in faster, it will be starting when temperatures are in the low 20's tonight. so, this is not going to be a really powdery snow. going to be kind of medium consistency. not really heavy as well. right in the middle. but with those high are snow ratios we are going to see more snow than anticipated. satellite six and alaska radar showing i

snow showers breaking out near philadelphia. most of it on the light side. by 11 o'clock it is snowing everywhere. even up in the poconos and look at what happens around 4 o'clock. this is when you see these lines of the darker purple, those are the heavier bands of snow and they could also contain thunder snow. i finally said it. i've been holding off a few days to say it. don't be surprised if you hear thunder in the middle of the night and as we head into the morning this is when we get the mixing along the coast, heavy snow around philadelphia. it continues into the afternoon. we'll really be seeing this through waves. tomorrow night this is when things begin to break up. 9 o'clock some snow showers and then it all clears out by sunday morning actually we'll see a good amount of snow and that's when the melting will begin. so, expected snowfall totals, we brought these up by about 6-inches except for the

poconos, except for right along the coast. so, the pennsylvania turnpike, philadelphia interior south jersey, new castle county delaware we're looking at 18 to 24-inches of snow. this will be a top 10 snowfall for philadelphia. a foot to a foot and a half into ocean county, also the northern suburbs lehigh valley you got to band of six to 12 and then along the coast this is where we haven't changed our thinking right along the immediate coastline we're looking at three to 6 inches of snow. that's where you will get the mixing. so, the five day at 5:00 showing tomorrow the blizzard of 2016 it's out of here by sunday and then temperatures tuesday and wednesday into the 40's so this will be melting pretty quickly next week but we're going to have a lot of it to melt. back to you guys. >> thank you cecily. >> thank you. >> quick break. more news when we come right back. stay with us.

>> ♪ >> "action news" at 5:00 continues with the very latest on this approach nor'easter. the monster storm is knock on our doorstep right now. >> snow is already falling in cape may new jersey as you can see from your cameras to the left of you, that's our sky6 camera. now is the time for people to start making their way home on the right side the snow is slowly but surely moving closer to wilmington,

delaware. if you're out and about you may want to start heading home because the storm is getting closer. >> and good evening again. most of our region is under a blizzard warning starting at 7:00 p.m. that means in addition to heavy snowfall there will be high winds low visibility. snow emergency goes in effect in philadelphia at 9 p.m. >> many communities under emergencies tonight. officials are stressing to all residents that this is a very dangerous situation and people should go home and stay home until it's all over. >> all right, we're going get the very latest in a little bit from penndot. first we want the find out what's happenings in the diamond state. delaware will be the first to be impacted by this storm in just about a half hour ago governor markel declared a state of emergency there. deldot crews spent the day topping off salt supplies and of course getting into position to start plowing once that snow starts to stick. >> and penndot preparations are already in full swing as well. hundreds of plows getting into position. we're expected to hear from penndot officials coming up in just a few moments and we'll bring you that news conference

live as soon as it starts. >> at the jersey shore the concern is not so much about snow totals but a significant storm surge that could cause beach erosion and coastal flooding including the back bays. chopper6 captured some dunes built along the shore line that they hope will help protect residents and properties there. >> our live team coverage continues this evening. "action news" reporter walter perez standing by at 30th street station with travel restrictions and adam joseph and melissa magee are tracking the storm for you tonight. >> first let's head over to adam joseph and the latest from double scan radar. >> you can see the precipitation really expanding all the way from the tennessee valley ohio valley to the midatlantic. the primary low, the initial low that brought a lot of moisture out of the gulf of mexico is beginning to fall apart near atlanta and transferring its energy to the coast where you can see on the coast of south carolina and north carolina kind of the explosion here and the colors in eastern carolina as that low is beginning to develop and this is the low that will bring us the tremendous amount of wind and also those very

heavy snow totals and as we lift to the north the leading edge of the snow is in delaware and southern new jersey. even parts of berks county as well as lancaster county. the northern edge of this from philadelphia to new york city not reaching the ground, kind of moistening the atmosphere before that heavier precipitation pushes in a little bit later tonight. 7:00 p.m. that's when the blizzard warning goes into evening and lasts through 10:00 a.m. on sunday morning so a good chunk of the weekend. and most of the area is under a blizzard warning including lancaster county. it's only close to the lehigh valley and cape may county where you're not under a blizzard warning. and the only difference between the blizzard warning and those winter storm warnings is the wind speed combining with that snow falling. in addition to this when we break this down for you, in philadelphia specific how much snow we're expecting between now and tomorrow morning, eight to 10-inches will be on the ground. then during the day daytime on saturday we add another eight to 10-inches and then on

saturday evening, it starts to wind down when we'll add another two to 4 inches of snow and we bring in meteorologist melissa magee because so many elements to this storm, very complicated, you kind of break it down for us. >> yeah, adam you need cold air and you also need moisture to produce that snowfall and we certainly have those ingredients in play. check out the numbers across much of the northeast. we have high pressure across canada and the winds around that high are clockwise so we tap into that northeasterly wind, that traps that cold air at the surface. currently 27 in philadelphia. 21 in pittsburgh. the lower 20's in baltimore, maryland. now we'll show you the moisture. water vapor imagery showing you 12 hours ago you could see the moisture coming in across the tennessee valley. we have that moisture that continue to work its way up the eastern seaboard. so, yes, we are tracking the blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings there have been posted. snow is just one part of the story. the other issue will be a

coastal flood warning. this goes up at 4:00 a.m. saturday right through noon on sunday. this is mainly for areas from seaside heights down to cape may westward into the back bays. the time of high tide between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning. something else i want to keep in mind is that right along the immediate coastline where you have that heavy wet snow impacting locations where you are dealing with wind there will be a concern with power outages. this is the highest risk when you have the windy and wet conditions. so, from toms river really across central sections of new jersey down across areas in dover, telling wear. stelling -- delaware. heavy wet snow dragging down those power lines power outages are a big concern. meteorologist adam joseph will have the latest on the expected snowfall. we'll see throughout the duration of the storm and when it comes to an end with the full and exclusive accuweather forecast. >> let's take you live to that news conference. penndot officials are giving us an update on all their preparations. this is leslie richards and

let's listen in. >> which will allow you to pick the safest route. 511pa which is free and available 24 hours a day also provides access to more than 770 traffic cameras. you can also download our hands free app. it's hands free and eye free. 511 in the itunes and google play stores. in fact roughly 100,000 people have already done so. using these tips to prepare yourself and driving and knowing what to expect from penndot is very important to help us keep our roadways as safe as possible through this storm. i cannot stress enough please stay home. if you do not need to be out on our roads, please do not go out. we know there there will be emergencies but the less cars that are on the roads will allow our equipment operators

to do what they need to do and clear the roads during this storm. at this time i would like to turn the microphone over to john, our abe for maintenance and operations and he'll give you details on what penndot will be doing in this region. don. >> thank you, leslie. good evening. penndot from the philadelphia region is fully prepared to deal with this major storm as it hits the philadelphia region tonight through tomorrow and possibly even into sunday morning. work and preparations began for this storm well early in the week. we had mechanics working on our equipment making repairs or making final adjustments for the storm. on thursday, we began preparing by brining our anti-icing our roadways, our major networks, our interstates our limited access and our highly traveled roadways. due to the magnitude of this

storm, penndot in the philadelphia region will have a full call out of all available equipment that we have which is nearly 450 trucks and plows that we will have on the road to help keep our roads clear to the best of our ability during this very difficult storm. our fleet consists of 152 state trucks and 260 contracted vehicles and as you can see in the background our trucks have been loaded, we're out there, we're ready to go. we're expecting snow to start, you know, within the next few hours, so we're ready to hit the road. >> you've been listen to officials from penndot holding a media briefing tonight just to let the peanut butter lick know that they are ready for the imminent snowstorm. they've been preparing days ago but again they're urging residents to stay off the highways and by ways if at all possible. and of course we're continuing to follow the story, the penndot story to your as the flakes start to fall here in the delaware valley.

>> and again philadelphia snow emergency begins at 9 p.m. tonight. now that means all cars must be moved from designated snow emergency routes by 9 p.m. or they will be towed. and residents who park on those snow emergency routes normally can put their cars instead in all city owned garages. >> meantime let's take a live look from the action cam at philadelphia international airport and it is a ghost town as you can tell, just a few people going through the security checkpoints right there. usually obviously this is a very busy scene. anyone who is able to get out tonight should consider themselves lucky because the airlines have canceled all flights in and out of philadelphia tomorrow. if you're leaving on sunday, it's a good idea o check with your airline before even heading to the airport. >> septa will suspends service on all regional rail lines. bus and trolley routes and the norristown high speedline starting tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. however, the market frankford el and the broad street line will actually keep running throughout the storm. they will be in full service and cct service will also run but on a limited basis.

>> let's switch live to "action news" reporter walter perez standing by at 30th street station tonight. >> walter what's the situation with travel there? >> reporter: hey, guys. well, once again everyone is pretty much being encouraged to go home tonight and stay home until sunday but there's always a few people who regardless of circumstances venture out even in a blizzard. so, if you fall into that category, this one's for you. once the storm arrives in our region, septa service will be suspended for 24 hours or so and philadelphia international airport has already cansly is all scheduled flights tomorrow. now in case that's not clear enough, airport officials say if you have a flight leaving from or arriving to philadelphia international airport tomorrow, saturday, january 23rd,. >> please do not come to the airport. if you have plans to fly on sunday or another day going forward it's always important of course to check directly with your carrier as to the status of your flight. >> reporter: earlier today,

we caught up with a couple from westampton new jersey flying out of town just hours before the cancellations are expected to begin. >> no, we're actually going to see our son in arizona and it's been planned since january and. >> perfect timing. >> reporter: the rest of us are being strongly encouraged to stay put tomorrow until this whole thing blows over. but if you absolutely positively have to skip town and you have to do it tomorrow, you have a viable option. amtrak plans to continue operating northeast corridor service right through the weekend. now, there are two caveats. service will run on a modified schedule through the storm so fewer trains than normal will run between boston and washington, d.c. and if conditions become unsafe, amtrak reserves the right to pull the plug. >> of course our number one priority is the safety of our passengers and our employees. we'll be keeping a very close eye on the conditions and we'll a muc adjust our scheduled operations as necessary. >> reporter: now, if you do

plan on traveling amtrak tomorrow, of course call ahead to make sure your train is on time. give yourself a lot of time to get to the train station and finally, good luck. reporting live from 30th street station, walter perez, channel6 "action news." >> okay, walter, thank you. now let's switch live to "action news" reporter matt matmattpelman with the latest oe roads. how are we looking. >> we've gone snow hunting. not finding a whole lot. standing on the delaware pennsylvania state line on 95. you can see the snow has not started yet. traffic is moving fine. of course in wilmington and areas farther south in delaware it is snowing already. watching slow speeds elsewhere on 95 coming out of the city northbound from girard through this point at cottman we had a broken down vehicle that was occupying the left lane here. they just got that cleared out of the way but again, no snow in northeast philadelphia. will looks like maybe we're just starting to see a few flakes here in bucks county as you come offer the scudder falls bridge. we had a crash in the southbound lanes of 95 on the bridge. the crash has cleared out but

as you look in those lights yes undeeds snow beginning to fall in upper bucks county along i-95. in mercer county on 295 southbound past 195, a love 95's there's a crash mostly off to the side but speeds just in the low 20's right now. in bellmawr an accident partially blocking the ramp from 295 northbound to the black horse pike with slowing there on the southbound side as you head toward the north-south freeway. in olds man township salem county where it is snowing right now a vehicle flipped over along pedricktown woodstown road at pennsville auburn road. a crash on the garden state parkway northbound approaching northfield. 45 miles per hour also the max on the parkway because of the weather. we just got word from dart that they are suspending all service tomorrow. patco is running on a special weekends schedule all weekend and as you heard just a bit ago septa suspending all service on the regional rails and buses and trolleys starting at 4 o'clock. safe travels if you have to head out this weekend. i'll see you guys tomorrow. >> definitely.

>> yes, you will. >> thank you sir. >> thanks matt. >> if you have to be on the roads penndot has that feature for drivers on 511pa.com and on its smartphone app. it's only for interstate travel but it does show you exactly where the snow trucks are going to be running in realtime the plow trucks and remember conditions of course will be treacherous out there on local roads. authorities are urging you please stay home if you can until the storm is over. >> that's right. officials have been emphasizing all lay dong to allo stay off the roads. >> we want to pass over some information. >> big closures to talk about. reading terminal market will be closed as well as the philadelphia museum of art, philadelphia public libraries and rec centers will also be closed. eastern state penitentiary also closed tomorrow and if you were hoping to go ice skating leave your skates at home. dillworth park's rothman cabin and rosa blanca cafe also closed. >> crucial for anybody who works outside to get inseed

immediately during the storm so if you see a homeless person in particular please call the outreach hotline (215)232-1984 and please get them that help. >> this weather is dangerous for your pets. bring them inside. if you happen to see a pet being kept outside during this wintry weather call the acct philly hotline at (267)385-3800. it's against city law to leave pets out in the extreme elements and owners can be fined up to $500. >> and "action news" will be starting at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow to help get you through this storm. our team of morning' meteorologs will track the storm's presumption. stay with "action news" on air and online during the blizzard of 2016. >> our coverage continues tonight. we'll be right back with more. stay with us.

dear fellow citizen, i know how it feels to save for retirement and college - times two. i get that it can be overwhelming, because i'm living it. but i always tell people - saving's not that complicated. you just have to work with what you have. if you have a question about saving, ask me. sincerely, alex payne.

fellow dad and fellow citizen.

sincerely, alex payne. >> grocery stores have been extra busy today as you can imagine. there were long lines earlier here at the acme on city avenue in bala cynwyd. lots of folks had their carts full of food but others were there for the rock salt and the shovels. >> yes, i'm very prepared. now i do have my shovel. two bags of salt. i went food shopping.

uh-huh. >> shoppers like natasha told us they were pleasantly surprised acme had snow supplies in stock unlike other stores in the area. >> plumbing experts advising you to take action to avoid frozen pipes during storm. pipes cannot freeze if there's water moving through them so it's okay to just let them drip a little tiny bit over the weekend. you can also insulate your pipes with heating tape and maybe even keep a blow dryland to periodically warm up your pipes with warm air. you may want to turn up your heat. >> during the cold temperatures keep your heat at least 70 degrees or above. you don't want to set it down to 60 degrees or 65 degrees that you normally do at night to save money when it's this cold. you don't want to have freeze. you could have a lot more damage costing thousands of dollars if your pipes freeze. >> also a good idea to have the master water valve in your home clearly marked so anybody can find it quickly and then turn off that water in case a pipe does break.

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>> all right love the area starting to see the flakes fall finally. adam joseph here with the latest. >> once they fall it will be some time before they stop falling. >> right. >> this is a long storm we have to go through as we look it's a double scan live radar. a lot of in it white at this point. center city to the north

awaiting for those flakes to fall but especially south of the city and west of the city that is where it is beginning to coat the ground in spots especially in central and southern parts of delaware, middletown smyrna to dover, south on route one roads are getting covered. same thing for cape may county and then as you look to the north you see it's breaking up near atlantic city expressway. there it is just few flakes at the present time but also as you work north and west of route 100 in berks county kutztown and fleetwood a little flareup of white here along 222, they are also it's starting to get a little bit of a coating on the ground and this is the very beginning stages of a very long nasty storm. as we look at the numbers, they are a lot lower than every single model was predicting. 27 right now in philadelphia, 27 in millville, 27 in allentown. the clouds came in very quick early this morning capping off that sunshine from trying to warm us up so what this means is every flake will stick and also the consistency of the snow will be fluffier in

nature which is good because it won't be as much weight on the power lines and the trees, but that fluffy snow he can build up a lot faster. as we look at satellite and radar, there's the leading edge. a lot of moisture still to come to the south. in fact, that coastal storm nor'easter is starting to take shape on the south and north carolina border. you can see the moisture really pulling in off of the atlantic here and this storm will rapidly develop. bomb mow genesis it's called in meteorology and that means a lot of moisture will come with this storm. turning heavy at times to the south, that continues in the wee hours of the morning at midnight. still snowing at the shore at that point. then the warm air comes in 4 o'clock in the morning switching over to rain. southern cape may county the the beaches in delaware while it's still snowing heavily with whiteout conditions early tomorrow morning everywhere inland you see that heavy rain at the shore. some thunderstorms even likely there. thunder snow inland. 3 o'clock in the afternoon

still raining at the shore. bands of heavy snow setting up all the way to the poconos and it starts to break down here at 8 o'clock saturday night. you start to get a void in some of the precipitation and then it wraps up and pulls out and first thing on sunday morning that sunshine will return. here's the latest numbers. lehigh valley six to 12-inches, six to 12-inches most of atlantic county to the south right around millville 12-inches, same for dover. at the shore with all that mixing three to 6 inches and then as you head inland, most of our region getting at least a foot of snow, if not a little bit more for trenton, chatsworth, hammonton quakertown north of the pennsylvania turnpike and that bull's-eye of a foot and a half to as much as 2 feet in some locations for the harder of philadelphia including southern chester and delaware county. future tracker winds this is another major storm with this storm. coastal flooding winds in excess of 50 miles an hour first thing tomorrow morning. near 60 miles an hour at times in the afternoon and as you head north and west, the winds

will lessen but they'll still be pretty nasty so we are expecting moderator to major flooding at times of high tide. in atlantic city could be one of the top 10 highest tides in its history with a three to 4-foot storm surge. first high tide 6:43 then saturday at 7:09 and again sunday at 7:26. the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast blizzard conditions all day tomorrow with those whipping winds blinding snow squalls even thunder snow south and west and philadelphia and south and east where you could have snowfall rates of two to 3 inches per hour but the sun's back on sunday with some melting at 34 degrees and quiet on monday. warm tuesday and wednesday before it cools off a little bit thursday and friday. but be sure to check us on twitter and facebook because cecily and i we're constantly there doing some live facebook feeds for you. >> thank you for all your updays.

updates. we appreciate that. we'll be right back.

>> and right now jim gardner and the "action news" team standing by with more continuing coverage of the approaching winter storm. >> have a good night. stay with us. >> be careful. >> ♪ garbage. that's the budget passed by the republican legislature in harrisburg. it's unfunded, unbalanced and unconscionable. it'll balloon the deficit. and cuts education by $95 million dollars. causing governments to raise property taxes. all while protecting the gas industry by refusing to make them pay their fair share. call your legislator. tell them to fund education, stop the deficit from ballooning out of control, and build a better future for pennsylvania.

>> ♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program. with ducis rodgers, meteorologist cecily tynan and jim gardner. >> ♪ >> it is friday night and the big story on "action news" tonight is the latest on the storm almost ready to knock down the door. this is the way it looks on sky6 in cape may. the snow has begun to fall at the jersey shore. a gentle start to what will be a monster storm.

we are just an hour from the start of the blizzard warning which will remain in effect until sunday morning. agencies in pennsylvania, new jersey and delaware are gearing up to begin plowing operations on major roadways. and thi this scene at the giantn havertown is being repeated throughout the region. this is not an overreaction. we are indeed expecting a foot and a half to 2 feet of snow so stocking up with milk, foodstuffs and other essentials is not a bad idea. we've got dann cuellar in newark tonight. chad pradelli in south philadelphia. gray hall in havertown and jeff chirico in atlantic city but first let's go to meteorologist cecily tynan and adam joseph with the latest information from accuweather. cecily is live at the big board. >> and jim, new developments today. we have upped our totals because the storm system for one is moving faster, it's encountering colder air making a bit of a jog to the northwest. double scan live showing