about we expected. the snow fell leisurely in philadelphia for much of the day today ending up with about an inch but a number of locations in the tri-state area saw snow squalls particularly this afternoon like here in allentown. visibility was reduced to almost nothing during the squalls. the lehigh valley got as many as 5-inches of snow today. meteorologist cecily tynan is live at the pennsylvania convention center for the taping of tomorrow night's flower show special. no, she did not get dressed up just for us. cecily, no surprises today. >> reporter: that's exactly right, jim. inside here it's springtime in holland. outside the pennsylvania convention center across the region it's still very much winter. in fact storm tracker6 live double scan showing that we still have some snow squalls around. i do want to zoom into this one squall we've been tracking. it moved through philadelphia

about an hour ago. it's in burlington county right now and this one is potent. not only is it reducing visibilities less than about a half mile it's also creating some thundersnow. we've detected two lightning bolts with this particular cell. it's moving very quickly at about 30 miles per hour. so, it's moving through lower bank right now and it's really going to be hitting the garden state parkway within about the next two minutes. the good news is the sun is now setting so we won't see that many more snow squalls but when you get them this evening, you do get that will sudden burst of snow, a quick drop in visibility near whiteout conditions. not dropping much in the form of snow, a coating to perhaps a half inch on grassy surfaces. the problem, though, anything wet tonight will be freezing solid now that the sun has set. so, take a look at these temperatures how quickly they'll be dropping. at 9 o'clock we'll still be above freezing but then by 11 o'clock, 29 degrees. by 3:00 in the morning, 23. by 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, it's sunny but it's 22, wind

chills generally in the single digits and this weekend will be our second coldest weekend of the season. it stays cold next week and, yes, there is an increasing threat that we could be getting hit with a major nor'easter early next week. could make today's snow seem like just an appetizer. i'll talk more about that, also give you a tour of the philadelphia flower show, holland flowering the world coming up a little later in the newscast. back to you, jim. >> cecily, tip toeing through those tulips. thank you cecily. well, drivers are blaming the weather for multiple accidents along the northeast extension of the pennsylvania turnpike this morning. this one in lower milford township involves seven vehicles. pal state police say two people suffered minor injuries. of course you can count on 6abc.com/weather for any forecasts. you'll have access to the power of storm tracker6 live and we invite you to connect with our team of meteorologists following each of them on facebook and

twitter. fire claimed the life this morning in schuylkill township chester county. "action news" reporter gray hall has the full story. >> it could have been a lot more deadly and i'm glad it wasn't but we're still like right now in total limbo as to where we're going to go, what we're going to do, what's recoverable or not. >> reporter: viewer individual cho captured flames shooting from this home along the 500 block of valley forge road in schuylkill township. the fire started about 9:00 a.m. >> there was heavy fire conditions on the third floor. there was smoke and water damage on the other two floorsism firefighters confirm a person died on the third floor t the vices body was discovered after the fire was put out. >> this is the first fatality in schuylkill township we believe in 17 years. >> reporter: the victim's identity is not being released. the cause is under investigation. those who live inside the home say they were renting rooms. >> it's a house share so it's rooms for rent and then we share common rooms like living

room and kitchen and that kind of stuff. she was the only one on the third floor. >> reporter: six people were inside at the time of the fire including the victim. residents say they don't know much about her and say she lived alone. cindy was at work when she got the news about the fire. her husband was inside at the time. she's thankful he made it out with no injuries. >> my emotions are everywhere. it's crazy. i've run the gamut already and i'm probably sure i'm going to do it again very shortly. >> reporter: and so again the cause of this fire still an tell you no other injuries were reported. and firefighters tell us room on the third floor.ross now helpi . we've also learned the did have working smoke detectors. reporting in schuylkill township, gray hall, channel6 "action news." >> the woman accused of killing and dismembering her adopted daughter has pleaded not guilty. sara packer was arraigned in a you can were county courtroom today. packer is charged with murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse

and rape conspiracy. she and her boyfriend jacob sullivan are accused in the death of 14-year-old grace packer. court records show sullivan confessed to raping and killing grace and dumping her body in the woods in luzerne county. police say the pair reported grace missing in july claiming she was a run away. grace's body was found in october. pennsylvania state police are trying to track down a man who confronted a woman outside her apartment in many chester heights delaware county. if that sounds familiar, it should. it has happened three times in northern delaware and police on both sides are comparing notes investigating if it is the same man. "action news" reporter john rawlins is live at the madison glen mills apartments in that chester heights. john. >> reporter: hi, jim. well, there's certainly some similarities as far as the description of the armed assailant on both sides of the state line here as far as the clothing they were wearing, use of masks, that sort of

thing. enough so that as you say detectives from the psp have been in conference with detectives with new castle county about all of this. noing has been ruled out at this point in time we're told but at this point both camps are stressing that there is no evidence of any link between the pam case and th -- pennsylve an the delaware crimes. >> surprised shocked. honestly somewhat alarmed. >> we had a little bit of a family meeting like so we know that if you are coming home you're going to park 'cause definitely look around a little bit. >> reporter: residents reacting to the news a 65-year-old neighbor fought off an armed attacker as she was about to enter her apartment early tuesday night. >> it was a physical confrontation but i don't know what was actually said between the two. >> he was armed and wearing a mask? >> yes. >> reporter: armed and wearing a mask the in the end she got the better of him. >> i would say so, yes, she did yes. one of the things where she put up a fight and he fled the scene and did not -- as far as we know did not get anything from her. >> reporter: this incident at the medicine glen mills occurred just one day after an

armed masked man tried to overwell a delaware woman and get into her apartment at the preserve at deacon's walk in newark. delaware investigators think that man may also be responsible for two previous attacks and sexual assaults of delaware women last month. >> we have been in contact with delaware. however, at this time we cannot say that this is connected with delaware. >> reporter: connected or not, what occurred tuesday has people here considering options. >> i'm going to go out and guess some mace and i'm thinking we have one of those things that make really loud noises, i was thinking of carrying that with me. if anybody comes around me just hold it and keep my finger on it or take the dog with me. >> reporter: you are changing your. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: well, certainly concern here. this is an upscale development that's been here for many years, about 240 units. people here have always considered themselves pretty much comfortably secluded. no one can recall anything like this happening in the past. police are said to be following some leads here but they're also saying if anybody

knows anything about the person who was armed and in this complex on tuesday night, to please reach out to the media barracks there, the pennsylvania state police. live in chester heights, john rawlins, channel6 "action news." jim. >> john, thank you. several people were hurt in a crash involving a school bus and a dump truck in wilmington this morning. the bus was carrying students from the delaware school for the deaf when it collided with the truck. the accident happened at the intersection of d and south field streets. the driver of the truck was trapped and extrick catered by first responders. a student on the bus, the driver and an aide were also hurt. all suffered minor injuries. there was much celebration last night among motorists and local merchants when the bridge between the new jersey and pennsylvania turnpikes suddenly opened weeks ahead of schedule. new jersey correspondent nora muchanic started out on the pennsylvania side of the bridge today. >> reporter: trucks and cars are hopping on the turnpike

276 connector between pennsylvania and new jersey once again. the 1.2-mile bridge over the delaware river reopened last night more than a month earlier than expected and drivers are delighted. >> oh, it's much easier. just staying on the turnpike is a lot better than trying to weave through the back roads. >> our warehouse is right around the corner. we hop on the turnpike. way easier now. >> reporter: the bridge was closed january 20 when a fracture was discovered in the super structure beneath the westbound lanes on the pennsylvania side. good weather helped speed up the installation of a permanent splice. reopening means the 42,000 cars that use the connector every day can now stay off of local roads. >> it was just block the traffic. everybody wanted to get through the red light so i'm glad its a relief. >> about 20 minute detour before and now i can just go straight through. >> reporter: pretty happy about that. >> very happy. >> we're ahead of time, okay, i like it. sounds pretty good. [laughter] >> i have high hopes for tonight. >> reporter: jennifer williams manages gray's liquor store on route 130 in florence right near the jersey access

to the turnpike bridge. since it was closed, her business dropped 50 percent and she stopped restocking the shelves. >> it's a relief that it's opened so much earlier than they initially thought it was going to so we're thrilled about that. i haven't really seen an influx of customers yet today but i think the weather is kind of affecting that. >> reporter: the dunkin' donuts next door says business was up this morning: the pennsylvania turnpike commission says at this point the 276 bridge may be the most scrutinized structure in the country if not the world. they say it's safe and the people who depend on it and drive on it couldn't be happier. in florence, i'm nora muchanic, channel6 "action news." >> coming up on "action news" tonight, we are getting a look at the renovations that will be made to the pavilion at villanova: jaime apody in south philadelphia live talking to newly acquired philadelphia eagles. jamie. >> reporter: yeah, jim, the novacare complex, the place to be today because the eagles

introduced their two newest weapons at wide receiver. alshon jeffery torrey smith both brand new birds both here because of carson wentz. we'll hear from both of them coming up. cecily. >> reporter: hi, jamie. i am live here at the plaque tie preview of the philadelphia flower show. the theme this year holland flowering the world and they are flowering the convention center. this exhibit alone has more than 30,000 tulips and you feel like you're in amsterdam with its bridges rimming with flowers. this really depicts the dutch lifestyle. i have more on this and i'll also talk about why you may want to come here this weekend because you will be want to be inside out of the cold. the accuweather forecast including the chance of a major storm next week is coming up. jim. >> all right, cecily. those stories and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> we are getting our first look at what villanova university's pavilion is going to look like after a $60 million renovation. it will be fit for a champion. the new facility will include a new home locker room, a hall of fame exhibit, new concession stands and improved seating. it will also be getting a new name. it's expected to be complete in time for the 2018/2019 season. nurses at delaware county memorial hospital are now back on the job. they went on strike sunday. they only expected to be out for a couple of days but the hospital's management hired replacement nurses that required a five day contract. the nurses walked off the job to protest staff cutbacks which they say threatens patient safety.

dozens of retired wilmington police officers were honored today for their years of service. the event was held at the william t mcloughlin public safety building and was part of the department's 125th anniversary celebration. after all of their names were read, the retirees marched out of building escorted by the wilmington department of police pipes and drums. >> ♪ are your allergies holding you back or is it your allergy pills? break through your allergies. introducing flonase sensimist. more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one.

break through your allergies. new flonase sensimist. ♪

>> eagles introduced three new players today. there's a first among equals. >> alshon jeffery said he got excited by watching the disney movie invincible with mark wahlberg. he's hoping to get cheers from eagles fan. alshon jeffrey texted carson wentz you were good enough to win m.v.p. and i'm going to help you win it. wentz texted back i don't care about m.v.p.i want to win the super bowl. live to jaime apody at eagles headquarters in south. jeffery wanted to come here jamie because of one carson

wentz. >> reporter: yeah and he thinks he can win here a sentiment echoed by both jeffery and torrey smith. wentz went from having no weapons at wideout to having two proven ones. take a look at alshon jeffery who was introduced to the media about 90 minutes ago. he took a one year deal here hoping to prove he's worth a longer one. it's worth $9.5 million at its base plus incentives which is how the birds fit it in barely under the cap. jeff fer prehas dealt with injuries and a suspension the last two seasons which is why his numbers dropped off. when healthy he's a sure fire thousand plus yards guy and he plans to prove that. you have are you out to prove something this year. >> i got a chip on my shoulder. i'll oui'm out to prove a lot. i'm not going to you can talk about it right now but i got a lot to prove. >> reporter: what are eagles fans going to learn about alshon jeffery. >> passionate about the game definitely going to make a lot of plays and i want to bring the city a championship.

>> reporter: music to our ears there. earlier in the day we met torrey smith, cool and confident and also committed to winning. he already has a super bowl ring at just 28 years old and says any year without one is a wasted year. smith is deep threat. he wants to prove he's still a speed demon despite two downed years in san francisco he's confident that eagles fans will find that out fast. >> when the ball comes my way i need to go out there and make it happen. like i say i know there's no issues with me physically thankfully i'm healthy i'm good to go and, you know, i can still roll so i'm looking forward to making those plays that i've made in the past. been on a two year break but we'll be right back at it. >> reporter: smith's wife chanel was a standout track athlete at plymouth whitemarsh high school grew up in conshohocken. she's got lots of family here that can't wait to have him in eagles green. live at the novacare complex jaime apody channel6 "action news.

>> can't wait to see them running. college hoops after scoring 108 points a school record in the big east tournament yesterday villanova now gets seton hall tonight at 6:30. the very team that upset them last year at the garden. it's their last post season loss by the way. nova is a lock for the ncaa's. they can seal their fate by winning the palestra. penn place princeton tomorrow to get it going. >> these kids took advantage of the excitement of thinking that this could still happen when you're o and six. if there's ever a reason to have this tournament, that's it right there. >> new phillies starter clay buchholz trying to find his new groove in clearwater. when he strikes out six today he also makes one big mistake in the first. the phils will kiss clearwater and spring training goodbye in three weeks. today against the yankees buchholz the three run shot to chase headley in the first. phillies lose five-nothing. it is their first shutout of

the spring. >> thank you. cecily tynan with the accuweather forecast when we continue in just a moment. >> ♪ we just moved into this house

and didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to tie all that space together.

with an open floor plan, you need to separate it with furniture. bassett had everything that we needed. fabric combinations marry the rooms together. having someone with bassett has been invaluable. we could've never dreamed up this room without bassett. >> cecily tynan wearing her knock around clothes tonight at the pennsylvania convention center. [laughter] she's going to be taping a special program for the flower show that will be aired tomorrow night. but, cecily. what about the accuweather forecast? what happened with the snow today? did it meet our expectations. >> reporter: you know, it really did. philadelphia got a slushy inch of snow. it actually overperformed in some areas up to the north and the schedule was pretty much on target and as expected we

have been seeing some lingering scatter snow squalls tonight. storm tracker6 live double scan showing now that the sun has set they are not quite as widespread as they were earlier today but i do want to zoom in to the trenton region and because we got one pretty potent snow squall that's moving very quickly moving to the east right now it's right over 130. these systems moved at about 30 miles per hour. so skies will be clear in one minute, a minute later you've got that blinding snow but again, now that the sun has set, we won't see much more of this. look at these totals though. salisbury township lehigh county 6.6. lake harmony jack frost/big boulder will be happy about this 6-inches of snow. allentown 5.4. s church five points two. west caln township 4.5. now the focus really on the falling temps. philadelphia still above freezing, 36 degrees but allentown and trenton now below freezing. atlantic city down to 32. wilmington 37 and satellite6

and action radar showing everything is really winding down as far as precipitation and look at these 24 hour changes. this is pretty amazing. philadelphia it's 29 degrees colder than this time yesterday. it's 25 to 35 degrees colder, so what a change. now let's go to satellite6 and action radar showing that everything really is winding down tonight. the focus not what's falling inn out of the sky but the falling temperatures. allentown dropping down to 14 degrees, philadelphia 19, cape may 23, trenton 17, wilmington 18 but that's really not the whole story. future tracker showing tomorrow we'll be dealing with some pretty gusty winds all day long so 7:30 in the morning, the wind chills in the single digits. if you're thinking about heading up to the poconos skiing in some fresh powder you want to bundle up, wind chills 10 degrees below zero and even into the afternoon wind chills generally just really struggling to hit 20 degrees. it's going to be almost as cold on sunday.

it will be dry. that storm system on sunday missing us to the south. however, monday night and tuesday this is the time period watching the coast. looks like a nor'easter will be developing. the big question is the track of the storm. it will be powerful with strong winds, plenty of moisture available. the big question is will it all come in the form of heavy snow or will we have a mix? we'll be ironing out those details as we head through the weekend. so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast,? you have the a really cold weekend, second coldest weekend of the year. the high tomorrow struggling to hit 33 degrees. wind chills in the single digits and teens most of the day. 36 on sunday, still windy. monday increasing clouds, chilly, 38 degrees. tuesday that nor'easter nearby could be a big storm, 36 degrees. on wednesday the storm exits. it's windy, 37 degrees. thursday partly sunny, still cold, 40 and friday saint patrick's day mixture of sun and clouds and mild, 44 degrees with a chance of

some snow friday night hopefully we get the luck of the irish and that snow will miss us. in the meantime i am here in holland. it's springtime. i've got the tulips not only here more than 30,000 blooms also. if you look right here we have more than 6,000 blooms hanging from the ceiling. i honestly think this is the best one yet. please watch our special tomorrow night at 7:00 back to you, jim. >> thank you, cecily. of course the entire "action news" accuweather team is going to give us a behind the scenes look at the flower show. please join us tomorrow night at 7:00 right here on channel6 for a special preview of what's in store. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir is next on channel6. "action news" continues at 11:00. now for the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope to he sao you at 11 see.

tonight, the one-two punch. major nor'easter that's brewing next. temperatures bringing -- plunging overnight. also tonight, where's the proof? jon karl, pressing the president. and michael flynn, what we've learned about him. breaking news from the justice apartment. and the new photo scandal gets worse. images of women in the military in multiple places. and the new plea from the top marine. and when parents