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washington painted white. the biggest december storm in d.c. history. airports closed, roads snowed over. this brutal saturday for some was more enjoyable for others. it seemed everywhere you looked there were strangers out helping other strangers. good evening. welcome to news4 at 11. i'm wendy reagor sitting in for craig mein. jane watrell is in virginia, derrick ward is on the national mall. >> wey, this storm is winding down. ouremperatures are staying well below freezing. 28 degrees outside right now as u can see in northwest washington. the area no longer under a winter storm warning. there is some in the mountains

of west virginia and in new york. it is not only a winter storm but a blizzard in long island. you can see the last of the snow moving out. for us right now, i can zoom in, there is a little spot of snow in northwest washington. there it is. that's about it. we will continue to see that area of snow move out. we will see clearing skies with left oversnow flurries. generally around 20 inches of snow. this goes into the record books as not only the biggest snowstorm for december but the snowiest december ever in total snowfall and now number six as far as the biggest storms of all time here in washington. i'll join you in a few minutes to take a look at sunday and what is in store for next week. there are a lot of school cancellations up next week. >> speaking of which, some schools have canceled classes

for next week, loudoun county, monday and tuesday, manassas city, monday, stafford county monday and tuesday and code blue for employees. we will key you posted. the roads first to be plowed are virtually impassable. in northern virginia some are lined with abandoned vehicle. jane is live in tyson's corner. hey, jane? >> reporter: bob is right. it is tapering off, but in northern virginia there was 15 to 22 inches of snow. it creates some ji nor mouse drifts. it is up over my knees. these are the kind of treacherous conditions people had to drive through and walk through.

onormally busy northern virginia streets were abandoned. this is how columbia pike looked 7:00 on a saturday night. only abandoned disabled vehicles could be found. >> it took me like three hours to get here. unfortunately, i stopped three times in the road and right here is my car. it just broke down. >> the dangerous storm forced 18 shelters opened. at the bailey's crossroads center the homeless population doubled. >> i was trying to go to my mom's house and stay with her but the snow was too bad. i couldn't get on a bus. they shut the buses down at 1:00. by the time i was ready to go, the buses were shut down. >> reporter: those who ventured out, they got an eyeful. >> it is pretty bad out there. some of the four-wheel drives, some of the plow trucks went

into the media. once you are in the deep snow you get stuck, get pulled in. there are a lot of people trying to drive regular cars. it is not a good idea. >> reporter: drivers seem to be taking the advice of staying off the road tonight. it is very quiet in tyson's corner. this is the saturday before christmas. you would think the roads would be packed, people would be out shopping, gets last-minute presents. it is not like that. the roads are literally abandoned except for salt and sand trucks. according to the governor's office there were 3,000 accidents around the state of virginia, the majority in northern virginia. live in tyson's corner. back to you, wendy. >> the story is the same in maryland and the district where a lot of drivers never made it to their destination. derrick ward is live on the national mall. derrick? >> reporter: let me show you what is behind me.

i'm going to walk into the snow. you can see how the consistency is right now. take a look at this parking meter, see how deep the snow is. that gives you a good sense. take a look at that. pavement. something we haven't seen in quite a while. the plows have been busy on the mall and in the area. you will have a challenge in places like southern maryland. roadways became seas of white, curbs and pavement undiscernible under a blanket of snow and in the farout suburbs coming around is next to impossible. >> coming from waldorf. >> reporter: what happened? >> i got stuck. stuck for two hours trying to get the truck out. >> reporter: those who were not fortunate enough to keep their vehicles on the road. >> people calling wanti to know if they can get their cars

in today. >> reporter: lots of auto damage? >> transmission work, fender benders, there's a lot going on today. >> reporter: it was important to get the vehicles off the road so plows can do their work. tim harley knows the challenges of driving a big truck. >> you have an 1/8 mile of visibility. >> reporter: we have been hearing how a lot of the stores closed early today. this is supposed to be an important day. we heard from an economist at the university of maryland. the entities who benefit are the online stores. you may end up paying premium prices to make sure anything you buy this weekend gets to its destination by christmas. live in the district, back to you. >> thank you, derrick. fun in the snow turned serious when a man pulled out a gu this happened at 14th and "u"

streets the man turned out to be a plain clothesed officer was mad when his suv was pelted with snowballs in this mass snowball fight. he displayed his gun. he was reaching for his cell phone, he says, and someone noticed his gun. the officer speaks for himself on youtube. >> what is your badge number? >> for what? >> so we can report you. >> detective baylor. pulling a gun in a snowball fight. >> d.c. police say a uniformed police who responded conducted himself appropriately. the incident is under investigation. we have an update for travelers in or out of the area. bwi has a runway open. all flights are canceled at reagan national airport. crews may have one runway

cleared. dulles international has closed all of its runways. a lot of airlines have canceled their flights tomorrow. check with your airline before going to any of our area airports. metro is just running underground train service. that will continue tomorrow morning. they will re-evaluate tomorrow and open train service to above ground stations when the conditions improve. all metro bus service remains suspended. they hoped to have the buses back on the ground tomorrow. all metro access services have been canceled as well for tomorrow. our coverage of this blizzard continues after the break. pat collins sets to find out how folks are faring in the field. is fedex field going to be ready for monday night's game? we will show you the massive cleanup effort today. thanks to everyone who sent in their pictures. send them to

isee@nbcwashington.com.

today stores at fair oaks mall closed. this is a rare occurrence. it is not what the retailers hoped for. the magnitude of the storm became clear for folks in montgomery coty. pat collins reports on that. >> speed limit is 55. we're doing about 25. and even at 25 it's sort of white knuckle driving. if it is this bad on the beltway, imagine what it's like on the side streets.

enwood avenue in sligo woods, sidewalk, nine inches. street, 6 1/2 inches. lots of progress here. look. i've heard of shoveling the walk. i've heard of shoveling the driveway, but you are shoveling you truck. >> yeah, i know. let me see the measure. >> reporter: go ahead and do a measure. 18 inches. >> 18 inches already. >> this is too great a storm to pass up. >> reporter: at the malls on super saturday, snow business. those who chose to stay away they'll get a chance to shop another day. i'm pat collins, news 4 montgomery county. and when we come back, we have a word from the senators on

capitol hill that there may be a break through in the health care debate. bob is back with an update on the forecast and when we could see this snow starting to clear.

tonight president obama says the nation has taken a major step toward sweeping health care reform. the democratic leaders in the senate said they likely secured the 60th vote. it would extend cover to 94% of americans and ban insurance companies from denying coverage

due to preexisting conditions. >> these are not small changes. they are big changes. they are fundamental reforms. they will save lives. i look forward to working with the senate and the house so we can make this reform a reality for the american people. >> the lawmakers hope to reach a deal and vote on the reform before christmas. and we are in a beautiful city and washington is more beautiful tonight in the snow. this was the scene tonight outside the capitol. residents and tourists out taking pictures of the capitol christmas tree with the capitol dome in the background. it was perfect if you send christmas cards again. we thought this was what we thought was a snowman b it is

a snow obolisk. bob is here. >> i'm going to turn my mic on. quite a day. >> quite a night. >> the snow is pretty much over. it is one for the record books. the snow has tapered off. the flurries, boy, driving, you didn't want to be driving. our high temperature today, we only made it up into the 20s. our kusht conditions outside right now, 28 degrees. record 16.4 inches of snow from this storm. greatest storm ever in december and a december record. i did a calculation, just in d.c., 10 million tons of snow fell in washington, d.c. you hear what is a trillion dollars? 30 mile radius around washington, a trillion pounds of snow fell. 28 in shington. 24 in buffalo. this is mid winter cold. this would be a storm right at

home in the worst of the storms in january and february. blizzard warnings are out around islip. there is the last patch of snow. to us in northwest washington. aren't we special getting the last areas of light snow. you folks in silver springnd earlier a couple of leftover ones in southern maryland. baltimore, winds gusting to 30 miles an hour. ocean city had winds gusting to 50 miles an hour. cold night for our friends in the shenandoah valley. there goes the storm. but tomorrow gusty northwesterly winds. a cold pattern. temperatures about a high of 32. look at the snow we all had. 24 inches common out to the west. 18, if you have 18, 15, 20

inches, a little more around annapolis. a few snow flurries tomorrow morning, breezy and cold tomorrow. temperatures 28 to 33 degrees the next seven days. we are going to be staying on the cold side of things. temperatures tomorrow will be once again only around the freezing mark and we'll see the mornings into the 20s and when the youngsters are off school as i predict as we did with this storm moond maybe tuesday and maybe as a matter of fact because of christmas eve and christmas week might contie into thursday with cancellations. christmas day itself looks like another icy, not a snow, but maybe some rain, freezing rain. that is a long way away. >> hopefully everyone gets their family in town. >> i have some great pictures for you. >> we'll be back in a moment. we want to head into break with more beautiful pictures of our little town and some pictures

you guys sent in of the snow where you are.

a lot of problems on the roads tonight. virginia state police say they are responding to several stranded cars at i-95 northbound at mile marker 161. they are warning people to stay off the roads. you don't want to be out there. the redskins are going to

remove 25 million pounds of snow from fedex field as they prepare for monday night's home game against the giants. here are pictures from this afternoon. that is a lot of snow. the skins are going to bring in 1,200 workers to remove snow from the seating area, the sidewalks, the parking lots. it will go on. games in baltimore and philadelphia will be moved to 4:15 to give the crews in those cities to get rid of that snow. and what kind of morning are we going to wake up to? >> maybe partly sunny kind of morning. thank you. with a few snow flurries. look how this stacks up. this is the record for december. before today there were all of these records for monthly snowfall. we shattered everything in one day. our total is 16.6 inches of snow for the month.

this storm was 16.4, that is number six on the all-time snowfall record. >> is this a wednesday weather quiz three years from now? >> we'll see. >> there is the last of the snow moving out. i want to show you a great picture. isn't that? this is lloyd from the plains. if you have the bird and bird feeder sprinkle feed out. >> it is greatly appreciated. they could sprinkle some outside of the door tonight and i would appreciate it. >> enjoy the snow tomorrow. >> stay with news 4. news 4 today will start at 6:00 tomorrow morning and the latest any time at nbcwashington.com. that is our news. "saturday night live" is next hosted by james franco. we leave you with lovely

pictures transformed by our beautiful snow.

♪ >> this is pbs. and now we return to an innt