the government said law enforcement's top priority will be checking for stranded cars to make sure no one is stranded inside them and moving those cars so crews can clear the roadways. while the forecast is still uncertain some any given place, it is already snowing up in the mountains and two drivers have already died on icy roads. we have to constantly warn the general driving public not to take risks because you could kill other people, not just yourself. i don't want to put our emergency workers in harm's way because of people on the street would are selfish in their own short-term needs and they can wait. >> reporter: the forecast for freezing rain here in the triangle could mean downed power lines and trees falling. so we learned today that the forestry division as what they call chain saw crews standing

breeze from roadways or power lines. back to you. >> thank you. so again, snow, sleet and ice. they are all part of the forecast. >> let's get straight to meteorologist elizabeth gardner for the latest on who can expect what and when. >> reporter: we'll did our best to outline for you as we get through the next hour. we'll start off with what is happening right now which is a pretty day. can you see laura leslie out there with the sunshine. earlier this morning, we were looking at our fountain mountain. we had ice here on the fountain. temperatures are warming up now. cold air comes in tonight just before the precipitation begins and that when is all the trouble starts. expect for the rest of the day to see a mix of sun and clouds. we are watching this storm system really developing. there wasn't much to it this morning but it is getting bigger and bigger in the gulf of mexico. it is going to spread the spreep up here across -- the precipitation up here across north carolina.

western half of the viewing area where we could have 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet and possibly even more up along the virginia line. we are looking at more like 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet. it will probably be the same as you head down towards the sand hills. the difference comes as we are talking about ice. so freezing rain is a raindrop that falls all the way to the ground as water and then sticks and freezes to everything as a glaze of ice. that causes real problems when it glazes over on trees and power lines. and we could have some power outages. some of that ice may be a little heavier south and west of the triangle. we'll certainly end up with slick roads. the eastern part of the viewing area is under a winter weather advisory. that starts tonight and goes through the day on friday. potentially an inch of snow and sleet and about 1/10 of an inch of ice. we'll see a change overto rain

we'll outline the time line on that coming up in just a few minutes. >> thank you. always a top priority with winter weather, clear roads. maybe you've noticed the trucks are back out on spray duty. bryan mims joins us live. those crews have long days ahead, no matter what. >> reporter: no question about it. for the next couple of days, they will pull some long shifts. the dot has already sprayed 150,000 gallons of brine on major roads in wake county since tuesday afternoon. they will continue to spread that brine until early this afternoon before calling it done. tonight, they will rev back up with truck loads of sand and salt. now, all of the interstates, main highways and many bridges have been treated with brine. brine is water heavily saturated with salt to help prevent ice from forming on the road surfaces. once the precipitation falls,

sand and salt on slick spots. the dot spokesman says in wake county alone 07 trucks will be working the roads early tomorrow morning. the barn here on blue ridge road has 6,000 tons of salt ready to drivers to use battling the ice. >> if you will be out if a long time. the storms could be affecting the roads from early friday morning until well into saturday. our crews don't leave. >> reporter: even with all this prep work, dot crews are doing this, he advises people to stay off the road. he says all it takes is a small ice patch for a car or truck to slide off the road. if you have to go out, the dot trucks behind me are charged with making road as safe as possible.

again where people just hit that little maul patch. >> thank you, bryan. if you haven't already, now winter supplies. arielle clay is live in durham with what shoppers are buying. butter and what else? >> reporter: salt is another thing they are buying a lot of. it is completely gone here at the crowing ore hillsboro road. there is some wood still left here, some ice crepers still out here in front of the store. inside of the store, shoppers were stocking up on food like you spoke of. the lines are long and kroger only expects it to get longer throughout the day. the workers were working to call in extra employees. the management says it has been tough because some people are worried about driving in this evening. we stopped a few shoppers to

in their buggy and to assess how seriously they take this weather event. >> this is my second trip here. i came yesterday and spent almost $200. >> what did you get yesterday? >> i got lots of canned stuff and frozen stuff. >> how much of is this is case snow or ice comes through? >> probably 99%. >> tell us what you got. >> stuff to make chicken soup, grilled cheese, pot roast and plenty of wine. >> reporter: oh, the wine. we had one lady tell us she is not buying anything but wine. that is one way to handle it. the red owl was still well stocked but people are buying plenty of things here at kroger. shoppers say they just want to be prepared when all of the snow comes. bill? >> it is all about coping. arielle clay live on the

getting the pantry stocked up. just right, mob canada. -- monica. >> whatever it takes to cope. less than an inch of snow in washington, d. trgered a traffic nightmare of hundreds of accidents and hours of delays. as craig boswell reports, now, folks along the east coast are bracing for a big blizzard forecasted to hit there tomorrow and saturday. >> reporter: hundreds of crashes across the d.c. metropolitan area made last night's commute nearly impossible. backups lasted late into the night because of just an inch of snow that froze over. >> it is crazy out here. i know it seems like just a little snow but it is really, really slick out here. >> reporter: it was ath better this morning but not much. truck drivers who had reached their shift limits had to approximately over blocking lane of the highway. >> i left ft.

ago at 7:00. got into traffic here. >> reporter: president obama also got stuck in the mess. his motorcade skid ad long roads as he returned to the white house wednesday. >> tonight's dusting is nothing compared to what is ahead. the winter storm could drop two feet of snow on the city over the next couple of days. the mayor of d.c. apoll gitessed for wednesday night's debacle an says the city is ready for the next storm when w. 40,000 tons of salt, 800 workers and about 500 plows. >> i've lived in d.c. most of high life and i don't know that i have lived through a forecast like this. an extremely large storm that will last for 36 hours. >> reporter: much of the northeast is in the blizzard's cross hairs. the storm surge is a big concern along the coastline. washington, d.c. and virginia have already declared a state of emergency before the storms even arrive. some good news today for

in the path of the winter storm. most airlines are allowing passengers to rebook for free before the mess. we want you to remember we need to you send us your picture on social media. this is also a good time to make sure your smart phone is up to date. for the latest, get the wral weather app. it is available on the itunes store and the google play store. cold weather, hot stocks. major rally on wall street fueled by a surge in oil prices. the numbers tell the story. the dow up 258. the nasdaq up 61. s&p 500 up 29. making up for the losses from yesterday. for complete market and business news, go to wral.com and click on business. a jury rammed sentence of 263 years in prison. >> john kerry at noon, the

officer committed and what happens with his case today. >> also sounding off over contaminated water. one resident says her family has been veerly impacted by the crisis in flint, michigan.

a former oklahoma city police officer is scheduled to be sentenced for raping and sexually victimizing eight women on his beat. daniel holtzclaw faces up to 263 years in prison after last month's convictions on 18 counts. he preyed on black women that he interacted with on his beat. school officials if detroit say all of the schools are in session today after a massive sickout by teachers closed most of them. the detroit public schools filed a lawsuit yesterday to try to stop the absences that have kept thousands of students at home in recent weeks forcing parents to scramble for child care and other remedies. teachers are protesting governor rick snyder's plans for the district where buildings are in disrepair and finances are quite shaky. thgovernor of michigan, mr. snyder, is asking the president once again to declare a disafter ther in flinted to

residents are calling for snyder's resignation. >> i want to see him fix this. we are not begging for bottled water. we want our pipes replaced. we want medical help and we want it now. i want to see deposed and not in a position of power. i would like to see him in jail. >> people are collecting water to send to the folks there who are living with high levels of ensintres bj

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m. knan abouwefi om cable river had had cable had had had ---- some people joked and called it carm ageddon. >> here is the thing. some of those commuters will still on the road this morning. they didn't even make it home from last night's commute. we just have to hope we don't have that here.

sleet and ice that could make for problems tomorrow. >> wral meteorologist elizabeth gardner is live in the weather center. everybody asking when's it coming, how much? >> we can be sure that doesn't happen here if you don't get out and drive. that is why we're here. we have the meteorologists here to say hey, here what is is going to happen. then you don't get out and drive in it and you don't end up like that. the timing of this does look like it will start in the early part of the morning commute. i'm hoping that people will trust us. can you tune in. we'll start here at 4:30 in the morning. i'll be showing you the radar. i imagine that most of the schools will be closed. it is pretty out there. good day to get ready spend the day tomorrow and even part of saturday at home. this is durham. you can see a mix of sun and clouds out there. the clouds will be thickening up as we are tracking this huge

you can see some snow back