hours. the only question will it be one for the record books? >> taking no chances. road crews are out in force already and people are storming the stores, packing frigids this morning. last minute shoppers will pick over the scraps that are left. good morning, i'm joe krebs. i'm eun yang. it is friday, february 5, 2010. we have a number of school closings and early dismissals to report. first an important change, those involving the federal government. the federal government will now be operating under an unscheduled leave policy today with a four hour early dismissal in effect. d.c. public schools will close at noon today. >> this just in. montgomery county schools in maryland are closing 2 1/2 hours early today. also in maryland, anne arundel schools will close two hours early. carole county schools will close 2 hours 45 minutes early. charles county is closed. >> in virginia many schools are closed. alexandria city, arlington county, fairfax county prince

william county and loudoun county schools are closed. also closed clark, culpeper, fauquier, frederick and king george county schools. >> manassas city, manassas park city, orange, rappahannock, spotsylvania county schools are also closed as well as stafford, warren, winchester city and prib city schools all closed. >> in west virginia, berkeley, hampton shier, hardy, jefferson and mineral county schools are closed. morgan county schools are also closed. >> metrologist tom kierein is here in the studio. he joins us now with a look at the forecast for today and this weekend. >> still on track. not much of a change over the last couple of days as far as the track of the storm and talts we expect. here's how the timeline is taking shape. will likely have light snow in the shenandoah valley by 8:00 this morning. right now panhandle of west virginia getting a few flurries. southern maryland northern neck getting a little bit of sleet and rain there. we'll see by noon time the snow moving into the metro area, light at first.

quickly having snow by 3:00, 4:00. by sunset around 5:30 we'll have three to five inches on the ground. higher amounts further south and west. very heavy snow coming in overnight covering the entire region. we may see it snowing at a rate of one to two inches an hour for 10 to 12 hours from 6:00 p.m. this evening until 6:00 a.m. saturday. by dawn on saturday, by 8:00 that heavy snow moving off, the very heavy snow further off and east. still bands of heavy snow through saturday. for the totals for this storm from this afternoon all the way until saturday evening, 18 to 24 inch amounts right around washington. we could have higher drifts around the bay and the eastern shore with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour there. so they could see three and fr foot drifts from this snow, but here the winds won't be quite as high here in washington and points west. but the total always of snow could be up to 30 inches in that

zone around the high point, near the shenandoah lley along the blue ridge. well, the wind will diminish by saturday afternoon, snow will end by then. snow back sunday and monday and below freezing. how the traffic? >> not much of a rush hour this morning. we'll keep a close watch on it. don't be surprised if you find a lot of folks out and about, heading to grocery stores. in central, doing fine. maryland, i-270 from frederick headed on down to the split still very light volume of traffic and good road conditions right now. back to you. >> thanks. >> we have team coverage of the massive preparation for this winter storm. tracee wilkins is live at rampt where some people are getting out just in time and others will show upnly to be disappointed. let's start with news 4 megan mcgrath. she's spending some time with last minute shoppers. megan, anything left? >> reporter: hey, good morning. yeah, look. here's a last minute shopper

here and you got your stuff. tell us a little bit what brings you out at this hour and how did you find things inside the store >> not bad. they have milk and everything. a lot of people said they didn't find milk. i didn't find bread. i found other stuff, cereal. >> you needhe essentials before you get snowed in here? >> reporter: right. >> be working? >> reporter: up until monday. >> do you feel like you're ready now? >> reporter: definitely i'm ready now. >> all right. we'll let you load up and get back to work. yeah. it's amazing the way people have gone through everything really in all of the stores in our area. doesn't matter what chain you go into, pretty much the similar situation. the bread aisle, the milk aisle, the produce aisle, the cheese aisle for whatever reason. not a whole lot left on the shelves. in some cases there are empty shelves.

here at the giant in rockville they just got a shipment of milk. other areas are stripped clear and then the milk aisle is absolutely perfect. just gotten a shipment. every bottle is there and ready to go. the stores are restocking. they get their shipments overnight. a lot of personnel working to restock things, get ready for the next wave. talking to folks inside this giant they said it was crazy as late as 2:00 in the morning. lines were like ten people deep in the middle of the night. more quiet now but they are expecting things to pick up here in the next hour. back to you. i think we should ask people to sends in their favorite recipes for milk and bread. >> reporter: i'm sure they will be sick of milk and bread. >> it's a tough diet to live on for four days. >> every time, make a run for milk and bread. >> reporter: i bought my milk

and bread yesterday. >> vdot says the last storm blew the budget but crews will be out. they are pre-treating the roads and stocking up on salt. vdot is tapping into a reserve funds. vdot says snow removal is a matter of safety and there will be no tbacks. crews are getting ready for another snow in the district. the snow emergency firmly takes effe -- officially takes place at 9:30. once the snow begins 270 trucks will be out salting and plowing the streets. d.c. mayor adrian fenty says the city is ready but needs residents to cooperate. >> mainly our snow emergency is to get assistance from people who normally park on snow emergency lanes. those are your traditional rush hour routes and evacuation routes. no cars will be able to park there.

we'll need them to plow all the way to the curb. >> once again that want snow emergency takes effect at 9:30 this morning. if you're parked on a snow emergency route after that time your vehicle will be ticketed and towed. the plows and salt trucks are ready to go in maryland. state highway officials said they spent about $50 million on snow removal this year. that's double the annual budget. they say weekend storms are more expensive because of the long hours and overtime costs. local airports are scrambling to get ready for this winter blast. yesterday crews at dulles were still trying to clean up from the last storm and they also had to focus on the big storm that's heading our way today. prep raugss are und way at bwi marshall. at reagan national, the same story. we have more on the last minute rush to get out of town. >> reporter: we come down here all the time and we're here for holiday travel. i can't remember the last time i saw a traffic jam like this at

reagan national. look at all the people behind us who are trying to get out as soon as possible. check out this traffic jam. we were driving through this and it was like at a standstill at some point. all the shuttles are packed full of people trying to get on a plane. cabs are packed. lines are all the way down this area in front of ronald reagan washington national airport. people scrambling last minute to get flights. there's already been some cancelations. southwest airlines has reported that they will be closing out of bwi and dulles, cancelled their afternoon and evening flights for today. all of their flights for saturday have been cancelled. some of their sun morning flights have been cancelled as well. so, last night and this morning, folks are trying to rebook hoping to make it out of town before this major storm hits. now many think that other airlines are going to follow southwest's lead and go ahead and cancel. here's our advice. make sure your call your airline before you show up and hope for a rebooking because know that a

stand by could turn into a sleep by if you're not out of here in time. i'm tracee wilkins, live at reagan national, back to you. thank you. >> 5:09. still ahead metro talking about the impending storm, what it says riders should expect this weekend. >> you may be thinking about super bowl goodies but there are some life and death items that you should have in your house before the snow starts falling. >> tom is tracking this major snowstorm. where it is right now, when it will get here and when our winter wind, all of that when our winter weather coverage continues.

good morning. major winter storm planning to hit the region today. on radar getting sleet and rain, little light snow in southern maryland where you see that pink zone as well as in the panhandle west virginia. temperatures around the region are in the upper 20s and low 30s and we'll have total amounts of this snow by the time it ends saturday afternoon of 18 to 24 inches across most of the region. perhaps higher amounts further to our west. somewhat lower amounts in southern maryland eastern shore up to 18 inches, mixing with sleet and rain there. three to five inches on the ground by 6:00 p.m. heavy amounts overnight tonight. another foot on the ground by dawn tomorrow. an additional three to five inches saturday afternoon. how is the traffic >> the beltway in northern

virginia both the inner loop and outer loop moving along nicely. this camera positioned over braddock road, between springfield and i-66 looking a-okay. up in maryland, beltway over in landover both the outer loop and inner loop around 202 looking good. basically lighter than normal volume at this hour, but that could change as the morning progresses. joe, eun, back to you. thanks. 5:13 is your time. no matter how quickly the crews work the road will be treacherous. >> for many people metro is the only way to get around. we'll tell you their plans. >> the red cross says the list of supplies every person should have in their home. >> the latest track this was massive storm. already snowing and some people will have the updated forecast. our winter storm coverage continues next.

5:15 is your time. 34 degrees. a live look at ronald reagan washington national airport. tracee wilkins said the lines inside and outside very long as people try to scramble to get out of town pap lot of delays and cancellations already. we'll have the latest for you throughout our newscast. another quick note st. mary's county schools are closed. we do have a number of

closings and early dismissals in anticipation of the storm. federal government will operate under an unschedule leave policy today with a four hour early dismissal in effect. dulles south public schools will close at noon today. >> in maryland, montgomery county schools are closing 2 1/2 hours early and anne arundel schools will close two hours early. carroll county schools will close two hours and 45 minutes early and charles county schools are closed. >> in virginia many schools are already closed. they include linebackers city, arlington, fix, prince william and loudoun county schools closed. clark, culpeper, fauquier, frederick and king george county schools all closed. >> manassas city, manassas park city, original, rappahannock and spotsylvania county schools are closed as well as stafford, warren, winchester and fredericksburg county schools are closed. >> in west virginia berkeley, hampton shier, hardy, jefferson,

mineral county schools all closed today. morgan, grant county schools also closed today. if you don't have to go anywhere, best to stay inside out of the cold. here's some information to keep in mind if the some keeps you home bound for several days. news 4 elaine reyes joins us live from the newsroom with more on the emergency tips. >> you know, a lot of this is very common sense. most of us can dig out after several hours or even one day. of course, by some chance your power or utilities go out it gets more complicated. we've been talking about busy grocery stores. keep extra food on hand especially the kinds that doesn't require refrigeration or cooking. have plenty of bottle water. check your prescription drugs and make sure you have enough for the week. now store shelves are starting to ety across the metro area. take a look at your first aid supplies like flash lights, kandsles, extra blankets. do you have enough batteries or

even a portable radio. now keep your cell phone charged again just in case that power goes out. if you do decide to venture out in the snow with your car, supp it with first aid items like blankets and snacks. the snow isn't a bad word just when it turns into ice that leads into problem. we'll have much more in the next hour. >> thanks very much. >> the snow will likely have a major impact on metro service. metro is open and operating on a normal schedule right now. it will continue to run normally until there are eight inches of snowfall. after that metro trains will only be running underground. when we experience snowfall totals of eight inches or more above ground when that snow begins to cover the third rail, that begins to hamper our service. and that means our trains slow down. >> metro says there is a very good chance all metrobus and metro access services will be

suspended all day saturday. a good chance that could remain in effect for sunday as well. amtrak is shutting down ahead of the storm. most trains south d.c. have been cancelled for today. that includes all southbound northeast regional trains between washington and richmond and newport news with the exception of train 67. there is no alternate transportation. trains are cancelled between lynch burg and washington. power companies are getting ready for possible widespread outages in the area. they will have service work crews working through the weekend but they won't know unless you call. dominion virginia power customers should call 1-888-677-3,000 to report an outage. pepco should call 1-877-737-2662. bge should call 1-800-685-0123. call your utility if you suffer a power outage or see any fallen or faxing power lines.

>> a state of emergency is in effect in virginia. state lawmakers will not be making it to work. house delegates and senate have cancelled today's floor session in anticipation of the winter weather. lawmakers say they don't know the last time they were told to stay home due to weather. >> just about 5:21. time again for weather and traffic on the 1s. >> let's check with tom kierein who has been tracking the storm. good morning. >> we're still on track for a marriage winter storm to hit our region here over the late morning hours we'll see late snow developing in washington. right a little bit of light snow and sleet in southern maryland where you see that pink zone as well as near the central blue ridge and the panhandle of west virginia. that area is going to be getting the heaviest amounts from this storm. right now temperatures 35 in washington, below freezing elsewhere for the most part. here's the timeline for the storm by 8:00 the light snow into the shenandoah valley. then by late morning and noon time here in washington. heavy snow moving in by mid to

late afternoon. three to five inches on the ground by then. very heavy notice moving in overnight and by tomorrow morning. by dawn tomorrow we could have over a foot on the ground with additional perhaps six inches or so by the time it all ends by saturday afternoon. so total amounts of about 18 to 24 inches, all throughout the entire region except lower parts of maryland, the northern neck and lower part of the eastern shore where they can get up to 18 inches. they may have some very high drifts three and four foot drifts from snow, from the very strong wind that will whip up that snow into drifts there, to maybe 40 mile-per-hour gust there's. then this all ends by saturday afternoon, sun back send monday and below freezing. how is the traffic, jerry? >> very quiet along 66 into the beltway. ov in maryland at this hour we're doing okay both ways at the american legion bridge. out on the rails a quiet start on metro. vre, things are looking good now. they tell us vre will be running

the trains with the biggest capacity from midday service leaving union station at 12:55 and 1:15. amtrak 95, 83, 85 and 171 have been cancelled. over on marc rail train 890 cancelled for this morning. eun, joe >> 5:22. 34 degrees. after the break the $82 million question. >> a new development in the budget crisis facing fairfax county schools. what parents need to know. >> toyota's troubles seem to get worse. this morning no exceptn. details now avenue recall. >> and the storm center is busy this morning tracking the major winter storm that's creeping our

. 5:25 is the time. 34 degrees out there. major winter storm is going to hit our area today. good morning and welcome back. we have just received word that prince george's county schools is sending students home three hours early. prince george's county schools joining school systems closing early today, three hours early in prince george's county. >> happening today toyota is set to update the massive process of fixing those gas pedal problems. the company is considering recalling its best selling prius hybrid due to concerns about brake problems. nearly 200 prius drivers have complained about brakes do not respond immediately when they press the pedal or the brakes

have an inconsistent feel especially on slick roads. any recall would involve 270,000 prius models that were made before this year. the automaker is investigating possible brake problems with lexus hybrid and the compact sedan. >> big development in fairfax county. the school system is now requesting $82 million more from the county in an effort to prevent some deep cuts. the school board approved a spending plan late last night. this plan would restore $17 million to maintain current class sizes, indoor track, freshman sports, elementary school foreign language programs, along with assistant principals and instructional assistance. the school board's request now goes to the fairfax county board of supervisors. a final decision comes in late april. 5:26. shop until you drop. >> expect a big crowd and bare shelves if you plan to hit the stores this morning pap live report from the store that just got a fresh shipment of fresh milk. >> plus by the afternoon there

will be no rush at the airport. only a lot of waiting. how they are handling the storm there. >> tom'

collision course. a monster storm is on the way. crews are readying the roads the best they can as people stock their kitchens ready for a rough ride in anticipation of what could be one of the worst storms

in d.c. history. garage, everyone, welcome to "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> good morning i'm joe krebs on is friday, february 5, 2010. we have a number of closings and early dismissals in anticipation of the storm. first, those an important alert for government workers. the federal government will be operating under an unscheduled leave policy with a four hour early dismissal in effect. now to the schools. d.c. public schools will close at noon today. >> in maryland, prince george's county schools are closing three hours early today. montgomery county schools are closing 2 1/2 hours early. anne arundel schools will close two hours early. carroll county schools close be two hours and 45 minutes early. st. mary's and charles county schools are closed. >> to the commonwealth of virginia. many schools are already closed. they include alexandria city, arlington, fairfax, prince william and loudoun county schools all closed. clark, culpeper, fauquier, frederick and king george county schools also closed.

>> manassas city, manassas park city, orange county, rappahannock and spotsylvania county schools are closed. stafford, warren, winchester city and fredericksburg schools are closed. >> almost heaven,, berkeley, hardy, jefferson, mineral. morgan, grant county schools also closed. >> mlgs tom kierein is here with us in the studio to give us the latest on the forecast and this monster storm heading our way. >> all the storms you've had and all the school closing, students going to school until the fourt of july this year. another big storm coming our way. when you look at the radar where you see the pink and white that's mostly snow and now coming into the central shenandoah valley. now snowing, roanoke, lynchburg, blacksburg. now the local view by radar is showing a few areas of some sleet and rain where you see the pink in southern maryland, charles, calvert st. mary's as well as the few scattered area

near charlottesville, and panhandle of west virginia. and copious amounts of moisture coming in behind the snow off the gulf of mexico. right now 35 degrees in washington. near 30 in the suburbs and rural areas. timeline for the storm, snow in the shenandoah valley, by 8:00 this morning. heavy snow by late this afternoon across virginia and crossing the potomac into maryland. overnight tonight is when we'll have the very heavy snow moving through, tapering off and ending during the day on saturday with total amounts of 18 to 24 inches across most of the region. somewhat lighter amounts around the lower bay because of a mix with sleet and maybe a little bit of rain. that includes the northern neck and lower eastern shore. 30 inches around the blue ridge. how the traffic? >> moving along pretty well. picking up volume along the 95 corridor. northbound traffic up towards lorton and hov lanes moving nicely. southbound wide-open at this early hour with no incidents to

report. hov restrictions are being enforced this morning. so important to know. few folks have asked about that. over on 270 concerns moving along pretty well under both directions. out on the rails this morning metro rail, no delays, vre again a reminder they will be running the biggest capacity trains midday today instead of the afternoon, early afternoon. marc, brunswick train 890 is cancelled. other than that we're doing all right. eun, joe. >> if you haven't made a trip to the store yet you want to get there before the roads get bad. >> the grocery stores were packed yesterday with people trying to stock up before the storm. you can expect the same thing this morning. megan mcgrath is outside a 24 giant in rockville this morning with more. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the stores were packed yesterday. they were actually also packed in the middle of the night if you can imagine. we got a lull but things are starting to pick up again here. take a look at the parking lot. it's filling up.

a lot more cars than when we last spoke to you a half hour ago. people are starting to venture out to get those last minute items before the storm hits. it doesn't matter what store you go, to it's pretty much the same situation every where. take a look at this video we shot this morning here. there are a lot of items that just are not available any more. people are really, really stock up with the expectation that they will be stuck in their house for a number of days. they want to make sure they have everything they need. so the produce aisle, the bread aisle, the cheese aisle not in the greatest shape. here at this giant they are getting shipments through the night. they are in there. they retokd their milk opinion plenty of milk here. again, stocking the shelves to get ready for the next wave. we talked to the checkout guy who was here all night long and he said it was busy up until 2:00 in the morning. >> we had about six casher's until about 1:00 in the morning.

eight to ten deep. >> not normally like that? >> no, not at all. no bread, all that's gone. pretty bad. pretty bad. >> do you feel like you're prepared now >> yeah, definitely. i just got to get it back and stored in the refrigeratorefrig. >> reporter: now is not a bad time to go. we're not seeing the really crazy long lines that we had yesterday and no doubt we'll have later on this morning. the longer you wait, the more people you're going to encounter out there. actually you might not get what you want too. if you got to go, go pretty soon. back to you. . >> megan mcgrath in rockville this morning. thank you. >> the stores are not the only place where things are hectic. the rush is on at the airports. at bwi crews are getting ready for the storm. also getting ready out of dulles. they are trying to clean up from the last snowfall.

no matter how much the airports prepare, likely to be a rough weekend for sky down travellers. tracee wilkins joins us live from ronald reagan washington national airport where tons of folks are trying to scramble to get out of town. >> reporter: long lines of people are warting to check their bags. on the inside it looks worse. let me show you what itooks like inside ronald reagan washington national airport. we were just in there a few seconds ago. it's absolutely packed with people trying to rebook and are hoping to get on to some flights before they are cancelled later on this afternoon. some people just showed up. others called in and were told look you need to come down here if you want to try to get another flight. now all flights have been cancelled for saturday and some cancelled this afternoon and also this evening if you're flying southwest airlines. that's going to affect folks flying out of bwi and dulles because those people will try to get on to other flights. last night and this morning a large number of people trying to rebook at airports all over our

area. folks trying to get out of town before this major storm hit. they all had a story. >> i got here early enough but apparently not. just have to wait and see. >> my flight is delayed. there's one that goes out earlier and i hope to get on that. crossing my fingers. >> reporter: the best thing for you to do if you plan to rebook is do it online or call your aiine before coming down here because as i said earlier a stand by could easily turn into a sleep by at the airport if you're not properly prepared. we've seen this happen before with major storms and this is supposed to be the biggest. just think about that before you head down to airport. i'm tracee wilkins live at the airport. >> or bring a pillow. thanks very much. >> 5:37 is your time now. 35 degrees. all right. just as all of us are preparing, power companies are preparing as well. >> with the heavy snow, they are expecting out jags. important numbers for customers

coming up. >> we've been telling you about the rush at local supermarkets. one got so busy they turn customers away. >> tom is hard at work at the storm center watching this storm as it moves this way. his forecast is next as our winter storm coverage continues.

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we answer to a higher authority. . good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. here's the latest on the big winter storm heading in to our

region. we have a little light snow coming into southwestern virginia. that snow by 8:00 should be up in the northern shenandoah valley, getting a little bit of sleet and rain in the northern neck right nown southern maryland. by late afternoon and we'll see some moderate to heavy snow by then, maybe three to five inches on the ground. after that very heavy snow coming in overnight into the pre-dawn hours on saturday. could well have over a foot by dawn on saturday with an additional six to ten inches on top of that by the time it ends saturday afternoon with total amounts of 18 to 24, up to 30 around the blue ridge. how is the traffic? >> in virginia picking up a little volume. this is 95 northbound. as you make the trip north from woodbridge headed up to lorton and up to springfield. all travel lanes are open. southbound moving along nicely. let's head south on the woodrow wilson bridge. crews are out pre-treating the road weighs so give them a wide

berth and let them prepare the roads for our benefit. >> thanks. our time is 5:41. 35 degrees. coming up, they got out just in time. >> an update on tai shan's big trip to china, plus metro says it's going to be ready for the snow but teague has a message for ridesers. that's coming up. >> a whole lot of shoppers are disappointed. one store got so crowded they turn people away. >> they turned us away. i need food.

5:45 is our time. 35 degrees. taking a live look out at ronald reagan washing closings and ear dismissals to tell you about in anticipation of this big winter storm headed our way. first an alert for government workers, the federal government will now be operating understand an aunt scheduled leave policy today with a four hour early dismissal i effect. d.c. public schools will close at noon today. >> in maryland prince george's county schools are closing three hours early today, montgomery county schools are closing 2 1/2 hours early. anne arundel county schools will close two hours early. carroll county schools will close two hours and 45 minute early and frederick county schools will close 3 1/2 hours

early. >> alexandria city, arlington county, fairfax county, prince william, loudoun county schools, clark, culpeper, fauquier, frederick, king george county schools all closed today. >> manassas city, manassas park city, original, rappahannock, spotsylvania county schools are also closed. as well as stafford, warren crony i and winchester city. >> in west virginia, berkeley, jefferson, mineral, hampton shier and morgan and grant county schools closed today. >> severe weather storms, winter storm could bring power outages a lot of within and ice. heavy snow can slow down emergency response and transport of supplies. news 4 elaine reyes with some of the thing you need to keep in mind to keep safe while home bound. >> joe, snow doesn't seem so bad when it piles up and ice gets involved. that's when the problems start.

it's common sense. here a few reminders to keep in mind when the power or utilities happen to go out during the approaching winter storm. we've been talking about busy grocery stores this week. keep some extra food on hand, especially the kind that doesn't require refrigeration or cooking. it doesn't hurt to have plenty of bottled water. check your prescription drugs and make sure you have enough for at least a week. store shelves are starting to empty across the metro area so take a look at your first aid supplies, flash lights, candles and extra blankets. do you have enough batteries or a portable radio. consider having an alternate heat source such as a kerosene heater or something else as a back up in case your power goes out. so if you decide to venture out in your car here's some things to keep in hind if you do want to go out. consider stocking your car. use a shovel or a scraper. flashlight, extra batteries, water, snacks, extra clothes.

first aid kit and emergency flares. no one of expects to get stuck in their characters it's just much easier to be prepared. right guys? >> absolutely. thanks very much, elaine. metro riders can expect major service disruptions. metro is operating on a normal schedule now. will continue to run normally until there are eight inches of snowfall. after that above ground service will be shut down. >> given what the anticipated snow total always are going to be for the weekend, it is highly probable that we will suspend all of our above ground rail service for the entire weekend. also highly probable we'll suspend all of our metrobus and metro access service certainly all day saturday and that could extend into sunday as well. if above ground rail service is suspended, metro will operate on a modified underground schedule with trains running every 30 minutes. >> most amtrak service is

cancelled south d.c. all southbound northeast regional trains have been cancelled between washington and richmond and newport news. with the exception of train 67. there is no alterte transportation. trains are cancelled between lynchburg and washington. maryland state highway officials are prepared for another long winter weekend. >> the state has some 2200 pieces of equipment, 2400 people all standing by. state highway officials say they already spent $50 million on snow removal this year. that's almost double the annual budget. weekend storms are more expensive because of the long hours and all the overtime costs. >> a lot of hours put in on the weekends. last four or five weekends have been relentless. throw in a tuesday, wednesday storm this week and now a full weekend this weekend, it's very tough on the men and women that do this. >> highw officials hope to recoup some of that money in other places in the budget by the end of the fiscal year. power companies are getting ready for possible widespread

out jags in the area. they will have service work crews. we won't know where to go. here are some numbers. dominion power customers should call, 1-888-667-3000. pepco customers, call 1-877-737-2662. bge, 1-800-685-0123. you should call them if you have an outage or see any fallen or sparking power lines. >> a state of emergency is already in effect in virginia and state lawmakers will not be making it to work today. both the house delegation and senate have cancelled today's floor sessions in anticipation of the winter weather. lawmakers say they do not know the last time they were told to stay home due to weather. and tom has joined us here in the studio to take a look at the forecast. >> before we do that, though, we have beth out in hickory, north carolina. she joins us now where the within weather has already hit

there. beth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you see the world is white in hickory. i don't mean to give you a shock. this is a pile of snow left over from a storm last week. it's pretty covered over ts morning in this really slushy wet stuff. you can probably even hear it coming down a little bit. give you a little perspective. hickory is an hour northwest of charlotte. it's a higher elevation. they get more snow here. the forecast is less dramatic than the ones you guys are getting but they are expecting a couple of inches of sleet here and that's really the concern, of course, ice is always difficult on the roads and power lines as well. so they are having salt trucks out in this area. power crews are on stand by. we're waiting for hem to make a call about the schools. this ishat it will look like, hopefully a little bit more fluffy for your guys in the d.c. metro area. >> we suspect it will be. beth thanks very much. stay safe down there.

>> now let's get to our meteorologist tom kierein. we've been watching you all day. we'll be watching you all morning to get the latest on this storm. >> it's an evolving storm so it's important to stay in under the what is happening. right here we'll have frequent updates all throughout the day. we'll be here four. right now as we take a look at radar, we can see the leading edge of that precipitation is in north carolina. in hickory a mix ever rain and snow. mostly all snow southwest virginia, blacksburg. visibility a mile. closer to washington that precipitation has begun in the form and trying to reach the ground, a little bit of snow and sleet where you see the white and pink zone in the northern shenandoah valley as well as the panhandle of west virginia and in southern maryland, calvert, st. mary's and charles counties, a little bit of a mix of some light snow and sleet trying to reach the ground.

most areas no precipitation yet aching the ground. the temperatures are above freezing in washington, 35 here. but it's just a little bit above freezing right near the bay, elsewhere near 30 degrees, montgomery, fairfax, prince george's, arlington counties near 30. upper 20s to near 30 all throughout region. now the leading edge of this snow is just coming in to virginia. there's moderate to little bit heavier snow further, far southwestern virginia but light snow further north and east. winter storm warnings in effect throughout the entire region. blizzard warnings for the eastern shore. 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. saturday. so it's a long period of time. this will be a long period snow. and having heavy impacts. look at this moisture streaming in off the gulf of mexico. as this does come further north we'll see it enhance even more with more moisture coming in off the atlantic as with see this area of low pressure by saturday moing right off of cape hatteras. that will increase the within, increase the flow of atlantic,

slam into the cold air here and giving us more snow. this snow system will pull off to the east. we'll see precipitation end by sunset on saturday. sunday sunshine returns. here is the timeline for the storm. we'll have that light snow in the shenandoah valley in the next few hours. then into washington by late this morning and noon time. then heavy snow moving in by 3:00, 4:00 this afternoon. in fact by sunset we could have three to five inches of snow on the ground. very heavy snow moving all across virginia in the district and across maryland. 6:00 p.m. today until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. by then we could pick up an inch to two inches per hour of snowfall rates. that could give us well over a foot on the ground saturday morning and then perhaps additional six to ten inches on top of that by the time it all end saturday afternoon and evening with cot all the amounts of 18 to 24 inches across virginia, maryland and district of columbia in a higher amounts in the blue ridge ahigh spots of shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia and out in western

frederick county, maryland. somewhat lower amounts in southern maryland with that mix of some sleet, maybe a little bit of rain. high winds on the eastern shore may cause drifts across parts of delaware and right around the bay of up to three to four foot drifts with winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour. sun back sunday and monday and still below freezing. how is the traffic? >> pretty quiet commute along interstate 66 inside the capital beltway. on the approach to 66 coming through rosslyn no worries. rosslyn tunnel over there. travel lanes are all open. let's head over and see how we're doing sewhere. trip to wilson bridge no hangups. northeast washington, new york of a at bladensburg road northeast traffic light issues. flashing all the way around. no police assistance on the scene as of yet. out on the rails doing pretty well. metro rail and no early delays. mark rail, brunswick train 890 has been cancelled for the day. other than that we're looking

all right. >> once again people in our area are getting ready for a big one. >> they could be snowed in and not taking any chance. news 4 pat collins has more on last minute preparations. >> going to snow. >> going to snow. >> going to snow. >> going to be big. >> reporter: how big? >> real big. >> reporter: how big? >> going the break the record. >> reporter: what do you think it will be? >> i don't predict snow,omen or elections. >> reporter: the milk here is selling like hot cakes. how many days supplies is this? >> we got a family, we got two dogs so i hope so. >> reporter: ground turkey, fresh turkey, turkey breasts, chicken tenders, chicken breasts, slim pickings. >> it's a tough time right now. >> reporter: up got what you need >> yeah. >> reporter: will you make it >> oh, yeah. i evenot my snow belower today. >> reporter: top off the gas in

your car. get washer fluid. get new wipers. put a shovel in the trunk. when you've done all that maybe the best thing is to is -- >> park in your driveway. >> reporter: the costco parking lot in arlington, cars are lining up. backed into the street. waiting just to get into the parking lot. cars at the ready. hoping that someone will pull out so they can get that space. cars over there. cars down there. and that's just the parking lot. imagine what it's like inside. >> chaotic. >> busy. pain in the butt. >> terrible. the lines are outrageous. you hear the word snow and everybody starts panicking. they said it's going to be a big one. haven't seen one like this since the '70s. >> reporter: i'm pat collins, "news4 today." >> all that snow could be luck tough to shovel if you can

actually find a shovel. there's a run on them. as people get ready for the snowstorm many local stores are sold out. >> the whole foods grocery store in logan circle shut down after filling to capacity with last minute shoppers. the p street store closed for 30 minutes at 7:00 and turn away shoppers. when whole foods reopened customers had to shop in shifs. as you might imagine that turned some folks in to a frenzy. >> this woman was on the phone freaking out, oh, my god they turned us away. >> it was super busy. a lot of people in there getting ready for the storm. >> the local blog that d.c. has reported that whole foods location closed an hour early at 9:30 last night because of a previously scheduled staff meeting. >> he missed out on all the good snow. tai shan has arrived in china. his fedex plane landed a couple of hours ago.

he was born at the national zoo four years ago but now joining a breeding program in china. his parents are supposed to head to china b the end of the year but the national zoo is pushing for an extension. our winter weather coverage continues now at 6:00 a.m. the calm before the storm. take a good look at this scene, everyone. nice and dry at this time tomorrow. outside will look nothing like this. a major winter storm is barreling down on us and only a few hours away. we have live team coverage to tell you what you expect and everything you nd to know to stay safe. good morning and thanks for staying with us for "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> i'm joe krebs on this friday, february 5, 2010. we have a number of school closings and early dismissals in anticipation of the storm. first an important notice for government workers. the federal government will operate under an unschedule leave poly today with a four

hour early dismissal in effect. now let's take a look at the schools. d.c. public schools will close at noon. >> in maryland prince george's county schools are closing three hours early. montgomery county schools are closing 2 1/2 hours early. anne arundel county schools will close two hours early. carroll county schools will close two hours and 45 minutes early. frederick county schools will close 3 1/2 hours early. st. mary's county and charles county schools are closed. >> in virginia many schools are already closed. they inallude alexandria, arlington, fairfax, prince william, loudoun county. clark, culpeper, fauquier, frederick county and king george county schools all of those closed for today. manassas city, manassas park city, orange county, rappahannock and spotsylvania county schools are also closed as well as stafford, warren county winchester city and fredericksburg county schools. >> in west virginia berkeley, hampton shier, hardy jefferson and mineral county schools all

closed along with morgan and grant county schools all closed today. >> meteorologist tom kierein joins us now in the studio. he's been tracking the storm. how is it looking now? >> this has been an unusual winter. much more snow than average has fallen. we had 27 inches so far in washington so far this winter. we may add up to 20 inches to that total making this the all time heaviest winter snows. right now, light snow trying to reach the ground here but the snow that is definitely reaching the snow is in southwestern virginia, now snowing in lynchburg, roanoke, blacksburg and western parts of north carolina. the closer view of our radar is showing just a little bit of light snow and sleet trying to reach the ground in those pink zones in the southern maryland near the central shenandoah valley and from charlottesville up west of winchester, light snow out in the panhandle of west virginia and in western maryland. and the wider view of that radar shows moisture coming in from

the south and west behind where you see the snow. that will change to snow as it gets up our way. 34 in washington. upper 20s to near 30 degrees elsewhere. a huge area under a winter storm warning from 10:00 a.m. today until 10:00 p.m. saturday all across virginia, maryland, the district of columbia and out in the mountains. theimeline for the storm has the light snow later on this morning, heavier snow later on this afternoon, could have about five inches on the ground by sunset. heavier snow moving in overnight into tomorrow morning with an additional foot on the ground tomorrow morning total amounts 18 to 24 inches around most of the region, somewhat higher amounts further west and north. jerry, how is the traffic? >> chopper 4 is out and about and taking a live look at the baltimore washington parkway near route 97 in laurel. everything is moving along well northbound and southbound. right now travel lanes are open. no accidents or incidences to report down on the beltway between the american legion bridge all the way down to the

wilson bridge. no changes in greenbelt and college park. new york avenue at bladensburg road northeast those traffic lights are malfunctioning, flashing all the way around. southeast washington doing fine. 66 quiet start so far. eun and joe? >> thanks very much. >> only a few hours before another big dose of winter weather. vdot says the last storm blew the budget but crews will be out clearing the roads no matter what. right now workers are pre-treating the roads and stocking up on salt. vdot is tapping into a $25 million reserve fund to pay for it. vdot says snow removal is a matter of safety. >> rod crews in the district are getting ready for a very long weekend. the snow emergency officially takes effect at 9:30 this morning. that means all vehicles must be removed from any snow emergency route. once the snow begins 270 trucks will be out salting and plowing

the treats. if your vehicle is still parked on an emergency route after 9:30 this morning it will be ticketed and towed. and we have a team of reporters out covering this winter storm four. >> tracee wilkins is at ronald reagan washington national airport where people are racing to get out of town before the storm hits. but we begin with megan mcgrath who is outside a 24 hour giant grocery store in rockville where people are clearing the shelves. anything left, megan? >> reporter: yeah. it depends what you're looking for. if you're looking for bread you're in tough shape not just at this location but every where. a lot of people doing a lot of shopping. we got the storm. a lot of folks anticipating they will be stuck inside their houses for days. you also have super bowl parties and gatherings or hoping to still have those gathering, so people are shopping for that. take a look at this video here. you can see what the shelves are like and people are still shopping. this is a 24 hour location and what they are saying to us is that they were absolutely jammed

until about 2:00 this morning. then they had a little bit of a lull. definitely picked up again. they got some bare shelves. however still getting some shipments in. they got a shipment of milk this morning so were able to restock their milk. they have folks in there restocking their shelves. depending what you're looking for you may go awaympty handed. one woman got most of what she needed but couldn't get the meat she need sod she has to go to another store. >> i have no choice. have to get it done and waited until the last minute. so i'm here. no meat so i'll be going to another grocery store. >> were you fining what you needed? >> i found what i needed but i just needed meat to cook for dinner. i found everything else. i'll be going somewhere else for that. >> we got a call from chevy chase supermarket. they just got a big truck that came within a whole bunch of supplies. they are restocking and so they should be in pretty good shape

if folks need something. again, very busy morning. it's early and we got a full parking lot here at this giant. so lots of folks just jamming in there where this snow hits. they don't have a whole lot of time to do it. >> no, they don't. thanks very much. >> is the stores aren't the only place with last minute rush. things are hectic at the airport. crews at dulles are until trying to clean up from the last storm. a big storm heading our way, prep regulates are understand way at bwi marshall. tracee wilkins joins us live from ronald reagan washington national airport. still busy out there? >> reporter: yes, it is still busy out here, eun, even more inside than outside right now. we're seeing it calm down just a little bit because we had a lot of people who got up early this morning hoping to catch some of these early morninging flights out of reagan. some people are still inside. let me show you what it looks ke. a lot of folks trying to rebook, southwest airlines has already

said they will be cancelling their afternoon and evening flights. also all flights from saturday. and some sunday morning flights as well out of bwi and dulles. those folks will be trying to squeeze on to your flights but you have to get there on time, make sure everything is worked out fine for you. a lot of rebooking is going on. started late last night and still happening this morning. we're talking to folks, just hearing them say look i'm just scrambling to get out of town. have you had any issues with rebooking? >> i did get a flight. it was hard to get a flight and i think i probably got one of the last seats out of here. >> reporter: how are things going for you so far? >> pretty smooth. expected. you got a big storm coming in. all the traffic. >> reporter: every shuttle we see come through the airport completely loaded. folks leaving their hotels, coming from the car rental agencies, ready to get out of hire. the airport is packed inside. if you're trying to rebook, call your airline and make sure you have a seat before you come down here. i'm tracee wilkins live at

national airport. back to you. it's going to be a cold and snowy weekend. you'll be spending a lot of time indoors. little things you can do right now that can save you big on your heating bill. >> what you need to know if you plan to rely on metro this weekend. >> tom kierein will be back with his very snowy forecast as the winter weather is moving closer.

time for the weather and traffic. radar showing a little light snow and sleet, trying to reach the ground in southern maryland where you see the pink and white zone as well as the panhandle of west virginia, central shenandoah valley. no weather watchers reporting it's reaching the grounds. temperatures around the region generally below freezing, 34 in washington and near bay in the low 30s opinion blizzard warning tore t eastern shore. those counties colored in red, the pink counties under winter storm warnings. most of virginia, all of maryland including the district of columbia. here's t timeline. light snow moving in later this morning. heavy snow this afternoon. very heavy snow overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. and the total amounts from the storm by the time it all ends

saturday afternoon 18 to 24 inches around washington and throughout most of the area, maybe higher amounts around blue ridge up to 30 inches and maybe even more and some very high drifts on the eastern shore with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour there. how is the traffic now, jerry? >> we'll head on out and check the roads along interstate 66 inbound as you head towards the capital beltway through vienna no worries. westbound side lanes are open. right now everything is dry. as tom just mentioned that will change shortly. 270 same thing, coming out of frederick down to the split. light to moderate volume with no accidents reported. new information from toyota this morning. the troubled car company just made another big announcement. >> it's been a cold and very snowy within and your heating bills are piling up. the four things you can do to reduce your costs and stay with us as

we have a number of closings and early dismissal. the federal government will now be operating under an unscheduled leave policy today with a four hour early dismissal in effect. d.c. pun schools will close at noon today. >> in maryland prince george's public schools will close three hours early. anne arundel schools close two hours early. carroll county schools close two hours 45 minutes early. and frederick county schools will close 3 1/2 hours early.

in maryland now, st. mary's county and charles kroin schools will be closed for today. >> in virginia many schools are closed today. alexandria city. arlington county, fairfax, prince william and loudoun county schools closed. >> coning with closed schools, manassas city, manassas park city, orange county, rappahannock and spotsylvania county. stafford and warren county along with winchester city and fredericksburg schools all closed today. >> in west virginia berkeley, hampton shier, hardy, jefferson and mineral county schools are closed. morgan county and grant schools heater is working harder to keep your home arm. your bills cou go up significantly this month. a few easy steps can help you cut your heating costs and save money. you want to cut your heating costs and you don't want to spend a lot of money doing it. take a look around your house.

home improvement expert says the fixes are right in front of you. first keep your air vents clear of all furniture, otherwise your heater has to work overtime to pump o the heat and that means higher bills. >> if you put your sofa on top of your floor vent you are blocking that heat and heating the sofa. >> open your blinds, shades and curtains during the day and close them before sundown. the sunlight during the day helps heat your home and drawing your shades at dunk traps the heat. >> anybody can do that if you have some sort of window treatment. >> you can set your ceiling fan on reverse. heat rises and a lot of it stays up near your ceiling. >> if you turn your ceiling fan backwards it should help lower the heat. >> shrink wrap your windows. you're covering your windows with plastic wrap. you need a window insulator kit and a blow dryer. >> if you blow dry enough it looks like gas. so you can't tell it's there.

>> covering your windows can curt energy bills by 30%. >> minor investment can save you a lot of money over the course of winter. >> other quick fixes include getting a floor pillow jam. ceiling and leaks. and installing a programmable thermostat so you can lower the temperature in your home when you're not there. lowering your thermostat by one degree will save you 3% on your heating bill and you won't notice the difference. >> thanks very much. toyota just announced dealers nationwide have now received the parts necessary to fix the faulty gas lynn pedals. the actual repair takes only about 30 minutes. the automaker is also considering recalling its best selling prius hybrid due to concerns about braking problems. almost 200 prius drivers have complain that the brakes don't respond immediately when they press on the pedal or the brakes have an inconsistent feel especially on slick roads. in addition to that toyota is

investigating possible brake problems with the lexus hybrid and the compact sedan. this winter storm will likely have a major effect on metro services this weekend. metro is opening and operating on a normal schedule right now. it will continue to run normally until there are eight inches of snowfall. after that all above ground service on metro rail will be shut down. metro says there's a good chance that all metrobus and metro access services will have to be cancelled for tomorrow and possibly on sunday as well. also listen up. amtrak is shutting down ahead of the storm. most trains south d.c. have been cancelled for today. they include all southbound northeast regional trains between washington and richmond and newport news with the exception of train 67. now, there is no alternate transportation. trains are also cancelled between lynchburg and washington. >> and if you don't have to go anywhere it's best to stay inside and out of the cold but here's some information to keep

in mind the the snow keeps you home down for a few days. news 4 elaine reyes joins us with some emergency types. >> snow doesn't seem so bad but when it piles up and ice gets involved that's when the problems start. this is all common sense but here are a few reminders in case your power or utilities go out during this winter storm. we've been talking about the busy grocery stores this week. keep some extra food on hand the kind that doesn't require refrigeration or cooking. it doesn't hurt to have plenty of bottled water. check your prescription drugs and make sure you have enough for at least a week. store shelves are starting to empty across the metro area. take a look at your first aid supplies. then your flash lights, candles and extra blankets. do you have enough batteries or a portable radio and consider having an alternate heat source such as a kerosene heater or something else as a back up in case your power goes out.

and if do you decide to venture out in your car at some point, consider stocking it with supplies as well. you'll need a shovel or a scraper. flashlight. extra batteries. water. snacks. extra clothes. first aid and some emergency flares. of course no one of expects to get stuck in a war, it's just much easier to be prepared. back to you. thank you. let's go to tom kierein. he's been following all of this. tom? >> yes. we're still on track for a major storm with up to two feet here on the ground by the time it all ends tomorrow afternoon. right now no precipitation in washington and throughout much of the region. regional radar is showing a little precipitation aloft. no reports it's reaching the grounds here in southern maryland or central shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia. few locations may be getting a little light snow but most areas don't have any report of it reaching the ground yet. 34 in washington, near 30 in prince george's county, montgomery, arlington and

fairfax. upper 20s to near 30 throughout most of the region now. the timeline for the storm, we'll have light accumulating snow in the shenandoah valley by 8:00 this morning. then across northern virginia by 9:00, 10:00 and into the district by noon time. heavy snow about 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon across northern virginia and across the potomac into the maryland and district of columbia. heavy snow tonight from 6:00 p.m. this evening until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow we can pick up a foot of snow on top of three to five inches by sunset today. additional six inches tomorrow with total amounts of 18 to 24 throughout most of the region. >> chopper 4 checking out the capital beltway. georgia avenue both ways traffic moving along nicely. let's head on out and update you, latest information, new york at bladensburg road northeast police have arrived. they are on the scene. assisting with directing traffic. those traffic lights are malfunctioning over there. out on the rails looking pretty good as we get going. metro rail, vre and marc no

early delays. >> some programs are staying, others are going. the school budget cuts voted on late last night in fairfax county. new video overnight, tai shan touches down apartment his new home. >> what to expect at the store if you've not gone already for shopping. as this winter weather is just now hours away.

good morning. welcome back. a big development in fairfax county. the consume system is requesting

$82 million more from the county now in an effort to prevent some deep cuts to the school system's programs. the plan would restore $17 million to maintain current class sizes, indoor track, freshman sports, elementary school foreign language programs, and assistant principals and instructional assistant. the school board's request goes to the board of supervisors and a final decision from the supervisors could come in late april. >> d.c.'s favorite panda is officially in china now. here's new video of the panda express arriving this morning with tai shan on board. the fedex plane is carrying a female panda from atlanta. tai shan was born at the national zoo four years ago but now joining a breeding program in china. his parent are expected to join him at the end the year. the national zoo is pushing for an extension. what could be a historic storm is expected to hit the area in a fuse hours. >> some school systems have already cancelled classes ahead of the storm and the rush is on

to stock up and hunker down or to get out of town. we have live team coverage of this winter weather.

snow, me, gee. the first flakes of what could be a historic snowstorm is just

a few hours away. whatever. and now the rush is on to be ready for when the storm arrives. road crews are gearing up and so are shoppers buying up everything they can for what could be a very long next few days. good morning. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. is friday, february 5, 2010. we have a lot of school closings and early dismissals ahead of this major winter storm. first an important alert for government workers. the federal government will now be operating under an unscheduled leave policy today with a four hour early dismissal in effect. d.c. public schools will close at noon today. >> in maryland prince george's county schools closing three hours early today, montgomery county schools closing two and a half hours early. carroll county will close two hours early. also in maryland, st. mary's and charles county schools are closed today.

in virginia many schools are closed today. they include alexandria city. arlington, fairfax, prince william and loudoun county schools all closed. also closed today clark, cup pepper, fauquier, frederick and king george county. >> manassas city, manassas park city, orange county, rappahannock and spotsylvania county schools. also closed starve and warren county and winchester city in fredericksburg still schools closed. >> in west virniaberkeley, hampton shier, hardy, jefferson and mineral county schools are all closed. morgan county and grant county schools are also closed today. >> a reminder all these closings and delays of all the school systems in the area will be running at the bottom of the screen. let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein to get the latest on the storm. everybody is nervous. >> it is certainly going to be paralyzing traffic. and travel. and if you, you know, have any plans at all for traveling, i would reconsider definitely. in fact, travel is not

recommended at all. only in the most extreme cases would you need to travel. after this snow does begin it's going to increase rapidly. on the radar it's reaching the ground in southwestern virginia but don't have any report of it reaching the ground here locally theen it shows up there on the radar and our local radar showing it may be reaching the ground in the panhandle of west virginia and parts of the shenandoah valley. southern maryland pink zone no reports there that it's reaching the ground. now the temperatures are at or below freezing. 34 in washington. milder near the bay. elsewhere near 30 degrees at this hour. huge area under a winter storm warning all those counties in pink across southern pennsylvania and ohio valley all of maryland most of virginia and the district of columbia. even a blizzard warning for the eastern shore show because they will get powerful winds. here's the timeline for the storm. by 8:00 snow will be reaching the ground in the shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge and into washington. and the suburbs. by 10:00, 11:00 this morning then heavy snow mid to late

afternoon. very heavy notice overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. total amounts by the time the storm ends tomorrow afternoon up to two feet around most of the region. how the traffic? >> take at that live look around town where we're picking up the rush hour volume. 395 northbound at the 14th street bridge travel lanes are open. no incidents. outbound side moving well. let's check out maryland along i-270. southbound as you head from g r germantown through rockville no incidence. metro rail no delays. vre one delay on fredericksburg train 300. over on marc rail brunswick train 872, ten minutes behind schedule. >> road crews are to discussion than latest winter weather threat. vdot has blown its budget spending the $79 million it had earmarked for snow removal. now tapping into a receive fund.

if that money does run out vdot said it will clear the roads regardless of the cost. >> the plows and salt trucks are ready to going maryland. state highway officials said they already spent $50 million on snow removal this year. that's double the annual budget. weekend storms are more expensive because of long hours and overtime costs. >> in the district, 270 trucks will be out salting and plowing the roadways. d.c. mayor adrian fenty say crews will be clearing the main treats and residential treats as quickly as possible. >> we will have trucks in the residential neighborhoods immediately as soon as the snow begins to accumulate. just trying to make sure there's enough salt, enough liquid brnen will b down. >> the mayor advised people to stay home if they can, especially immediately after the storm. >> part of d.c.'s plan includes a snow emergency. it takes effect at 9:30 this

morning. all cars must removed from any snow emergency route. if not moved those cars will be ticketed and towed. >> if you haven't stokds cked u supplies, you're running out of time. this morning we're finding much of the same thing. news 4 megan mcgrath isutside a 24 hour giant food store in rockville that has been unusually busy this morning. megan, how does it look like right now? >> reporter: it has been unusually busy. look at all of these cars. it looks like it's the middle of the day in terms of the number of people who are out here shopping. they were going strong, we're told until 2:00 in the morning. they had lines that were ten people deep in the middle of the night if you can imagine that. everybody, of course, trying to get out, get those essential items before the snow starts. with the accumulations that we're expect a lot of people will be stuck indoors for a couple of days so you want to

make sure you got everything you need. now find everything you need, though, that is the challenge. they are running low. all stores. all chains are running low on some of those essential items. kind of hit or miss whether you'll find milk or bread or some other item you're looking for. stores are getting additional shipments in. we've been at this giant all morning long. trucks are coming in. they restocked the shelves. this morning they got a shipment of milk. they are fully stokds with milk. they got eggs. they are running low on brd. it's hit or miss. we've been talking to folks and they are out trying to get what they can. >> just a few last minute things. definitely before the weather gets bad here later today. >> describe the store what it's like. >> it looks like a little bit of a disaster area. most of the shelves look like they have en well picked over. >> i'm pretty much ready. i got up before my husband and kids got up this morning.

i'll be back. >> i gave my son our milk and eggs yesterday so i have to come back and get milk and eggs. >> reporter: isn't that sweet he gave his son the milk and eggs and he come here and got milk and eggs. they have tons of eggs and tons of milk. we got a call from chevy chase supermarket earlier this morning. they reported that they just got a truck that wasilled with all kinds of essential items. they are telling us that they got a fully stock meat department, produce department, hundreds of snow shovels and milk and the like. they just got a big shipment. very, very busy and, of course, we got a few hours to go before the snow starts. we're expecting a lot of people to head out and stock up because you might be in your house for days. >> yeah. >> back to you. >> you could exist for a long time on milk and eggs and bread. you got french toast for all those days. >> there you go.

>> you know what they had here? they got a ton of frozen pizza. i just thought the pizza aisle would be decimated. but no. >> power companies are preparing for possible widespread outages in our area. they will have service work crews working through the weekend but won't know where to call unless you call. dominion virginia power customers should call 1-888-667-3000 to report an outage. pepco customers should call 1-877-737-2662. and bge customers call 1-800-685-0123. call your utility company if you suffer a power outage or if you see any fallen or sparking power lines. many of you will be ditching your cars and trying to take metro this weekend. find out the transit agency's plan for this big snowstorm. >> the airports are already packed. what you need to know if you're trying to get outf town. >> tom kierein will be back with his updated and snowy forecast the within weather is moving closer.

6:41. time for weather and traffic. good morning. as we look at the radar some

snow is trying to reach the ground in the panhandle of west virginia and central shenandoah valley but most of it is not quite reaching the ground yet. temperatures are near 30 degrees to mid-30s in washington and right near the chesapeake bay. and as we take a look at the timeline for the storm, it like wlil begin to reach the ground oh, by the next coue of hours in the shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge and then quickly right after the rest of northern virginia into maryland and district of columbia by late the morning. heavy snow moving in mid to late afternoon and by sunset three to five inches on the ground. overnight tonight very heavy snow. it could snow at the rate of one to two inches an hour from 6:00 p.m. all the way to 6:00 a.m. saturday and then taper off on saturday afternoon with total amounts 18 to 20 inches. ke it on nbc 4 throughout the day. we'll have frequent updates. how is the traffic. >> picking up volume on 270 right by the split. no accidents or incidents to report. let's head over to virginia and check out 95 northbound around

lorton, so far smooth sailing. eun, joe. >> thanks very much. our time right now 6:42. 35 degrees. lifend death items you should have in your home before the snow starts to fall. we'll have the list for your right ahead. >> airports are already crowd. the rush to get out of town is picking up as airlines are already starting to cancel flights as this major winter storm is closing in on us.ñq

a number of closings and early dismissals ahead of this major storms. an important alert for federal government workers. the federal government will operate under an unscheduled leave policy. d.c. public schools will close at noon today.

>> in maryland prince george's county schools are closing three hours early. montgomery county schools two and a half hours early. anne arundel schools two hours early. carroll county schools close twhours 45 minutes early. frederick county schools will close 3 1/2 hours early. in maryland the following school systems are closed. st. mary's and charles county schools closed in maryland. >> in virginia many schools are closed today. they include alexandria city. arlington, fairfax, prince william and loudoun county schools all closed. also closed today clark, culpeper, frederick, and king gorges. >> manassascy, manassas park city, original, culpeper and rappahannock and spotsylvania. >> in west virginia berkeley, hampton shier, hardy jefferson and mineral county schools are closed. morgan county and grant county schools are also closed today. >> people heading out to the airports should also be in for

some flight delays today if their flights even leave at all. crews out of dulles were busy enough trying to clean up from the last storm another whopper is on the way for them and for bwi marshall as well. they are bracing for the storm. the massive flight cancellations that are in the works. tracee wilkins joins us live from ronald reagan washington national airport where a lot of folks are changing their plans this morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah they are trying to get on to these earlier flights. every bus we see come past here, every shuttle, packed full of people who want to get in here, rebook and reschedule before these flights start to cancel. let me show you what it looks like inside ronald reagan washington national airport. we had one airline, southwest airline flies out of bwi and dulles say they will be cancelling flights this evening and this afternoon, also all flights on saturday and some early morning flights as well. we have seen lots of folks who are worried but other major airlines will follow their lead and start to cancel and also

they are worried about delays. we've been talking to passengers this morning who are saying they are just scrambling to get a flight. >> we're worried now because i have a 6:00 flight. there's three lines. i do not have the answer yet. so, you know, they told me i do have a seat but i have to go to the counter. the kiosk is notworking. very worried. >> i got here very early but apparently not. have to wait and see. >> reporter: the airports are packed. these flights will be packed. if you're trying rebook call the airline in advance. i'm tracee wilkins live at national. back to you. thanks very much. most amtrak services cancelled south of washington today. all southbound northeast regional trains have been cancelled between washington and richmond and newport news with the exception of train 67. there is no alternate transportation. trains are also cancelled between washington and lynchburg virginia. >> metro may be the only way to

get around and even then it won't be easy. metro is open and operating on a normal schedule. it will continue to run normally until there's eight inches of snow. after that above ground service needs to be shut down. if above ground rail service is suspended they will operate on a modified underground schedule with trains running every 30 minute. >> power outages could happen from the wind and ice and heavy snow, can of course, slow down emergency response. and the transport of supplies. news 4 elaine reyes joins us in the newsroom with things to keep in mind to stay safe while home bound. >> a lot of this is pretty much common sense. of the of us can dig out after several hours or even one day. of course if by some chance your power or utilities go out in the storm it starts to get more complicated. we've been talking about busy grocery stores this week. keep extra food on hand especially the kind that doesn't

require refrigeration. check your prescription drugs and make sure you have enough for at least a week. store shelves are starting to empty across the metro area so take a look at your first aid supplies, your flash lights, candles and extra blankets. do you have enough batteries or a portable radio? and, consider having an alternate heat source such as a kerosene heater as a backup. here's some things to keep in mind around-the-house. check the batteries in your smoke detectors and flash lights. use caution with space heaters and candles because the red cross say most fires they respond to in the winter are caused by those items. if you do heat your home with propane or fuel check that you have enough. of course, don't forget to check on your senior citizen neighbors.

very important things to keep in mind. if you do decide to drive out in the snow and venture, don't forget to stock your car with first aid items as well. this is common sense,ry to keep your cell phone chard. >> thanks very much. stafford county in virginia is opening two shelters during this storm. the shelters will be at stafford high school and north stafford high school. they will be managed by staff from the red cross. residents who have experienced many power outages in their homes during weather events and do not have back up heating sources and especially those with medical equipment that relies on electricity should seriously consider using one of these identified shelters. the shelters will open at noon today and will remain open for as long as necessary. keep that in mind. >> tom, you mentioned the snow will be heavy this time around. that could be a problem on the power lines. >> right. heavy wet snow could be luck real difficult for shoveling. this is one of those neighbor helping neighbor storms. if you do have an elderly

neighbor and you know a teenager who has a shovel, tell them to go and shovel that elderly person's sidewalk and help them out because this is going to be some heavy wet snow. right now, though, no snow in washington. there's the jefferson memorial under a cloudy sky. temperatures right now right in the mid-30s in washington. regional radar showing snow now falling in southwest virginia. not quite reaching the ground here even though the radar is showing it aloft but it's reaching the ground right now from harrisonburg, virginia down to lynchburg and blacksburg. this is all rain and a lot of it. moisture riding into the cold air that's at the surface and turning it into notice. the local radar showing this precipitation trying to reach the ground here in southern maryland. this may be a little bit of sleet, northern neck and near richmond over to charlottesville. shenandoah valley and up to the panhandle of west virginia. most of it is not reaching the ground. temperatures are below freezing except near the chesapeake bay

and right in washington. elsewhere in the upper 20s to near 30 degrees. and we have a large area that is under a winter storm warning, it includes all of virginia, and all of maryland, the district of columbia and the eastern shore. southeast virginia is the only area that's not under any warnings. all rain there. but a blizzard warning north of there for parts of the eastern shore into southern new jersey they will have some very strong winds from this storm that could cause some significant drifting of the snow there. look at all this precipitation streaming in off the gulf of mexico. this is going to be coming up our way as we go forward over the next 48 hours. primary area of low pressure will begin to form and deepen over the carolinas by 8:00 this evening and by then we'll begin to see the snow picking up in intensity and by dawn on saturday it will deepen off cape hatteras, increase the flow off the atlantic giving us more moisture then and increasing the wind could be gusting to over 40 miles per hour, which could

cause snow drifts up to three to four feet on the eastern shore. further west not as strong a wind because then we would have that situation. it will quickly end by saturday afternoon and sun returns on sunday. for the timeline we'll have the snow reaching the ground quite likely all throughout the shenandoah valley and blue ridge in the next couple of hours. next couple of hours after that across northern virginia, the district, heavy snow coming through during the mid to late afternoon hours. by sunset three to five inches on the ground. heavy snow coming in overnight after that. by dawn tomorrow well over a foot on the ground with an additional perhaps ten inches. total amount of up to two feet around most of the region. sun back on sunday and monday but below freezing. how is the traffic? >> tom, check out the trip around town and so far chopper 4 showing us road conditions pretty farable. no big accidents to report and a reminder to watch out for crews as they are out pre-treating the roadways throughout the day

today. out near dulles airport, already a very busy place but traffic appears to be moving along pretty well. out on the rails at this hour looks like we're in good shape. metro rail and vre. brunswick train 872 on the marc rail is 11 minutes behind schedule. >> if you haven't stocked up on food or supplies you still have a few more hours. >> but expect a lot of company. megan mcgrath is outside of a giant in rockville where people have been shopping all night long. >> reporter: all night. they had quite the crowd at 2:00 in the morning. look at this parking lot. it is full. tons of people going in there, getting those last minute items. hoping that they are there. that the shelves are stock with what they need. in some cases they are. in other cases they are not. obviously, people are all going after a lot of the safe items, the milk, eggs,, the essentials. we're seeing in some stores a shortage of some of those items.

in this location they have tops of eggs and bread. they just got a shipment of lettuce. their produce department which was a little lean on lettuce they got a shipment of that. that's basically the way it's been going. getting additional shipments. stocking the shelves and next wave of shoppers come. back to you. >> easy come, easy go. thanks. >> quick out the door forecast with tom. >> this is the map everybody wants tosee. how much will we get. it will pick up in intensity. by sunset five inches on the ground. dawn tomorrow ten to 15 inches on the ground and add another six or so on top of that. total amounts up to two feet across mostf the region. the higher amounts in that one zone further to our west in the shenandoah valley, higher ridges especially the east side of the blue ridge which includes rappahannock, madison, green, northwestern fauquier, western loudoun county into frederick county maryland that area could get up to 30 or more inches of snow. not as much for the lower

eastern shore and southern maryland and northern neck. on the eastern shore they could have three an four foot drifts with the wind blowing over 40 miles per hour. now, jerry, how is the traffic? >> be careful out there is all i got to say. >> good advice. that's "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> have a great day. stay safe in the snow. you can count on news for for continuing coverage on the storm. have a great day. >> bye.