an unbelievable sight. a meteor streaming toward the earth. several people grabbed their cameras. hundreds on the ground are injured from an impact that rattled buildings and sets off car alarms. more breaking news much the athlete known as the blade runner breaks down in court. the emotional hearing that just wrapped up a short time ago. good morning. welcome to "news4 today." there is a lot to get to this morning. i'm eun yang. i'm aaron gilchrist. there are about 4,000 people singing sweet home alabama this morning. >> we're like a family now. we went through hell. >> while you slept, about 4,000 people arrived back on dry land. some even kissing the ground in mobile, alabama. what they're saying about their long difficult days at sea and why so many of them are offering up praise. a live report ahead at 6:15. this morning, we're also talking about winter weather that will begin arriving tonight. we could be in for a wild

weekend. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is tracking the storm. tom, good morning. >> big changes on the way. off to a cold start. much of the region, we're down near the freezing mark, including prince jrjs county. arlington, fairfax and montgomery. charles county and west of there, into prince william. fauquier in loudoun county too. stafford, spotsylvania in the 30s. panhandle. west virginia. hour by hour through the morning hours, between 7:00 and 8:00, near freezing. by 9:00, the low 40s. near 50 degrees by noontime. sunrise at 6:59. the sunset at 5:46. hometown forecast alexandria by early afternoon should be climbing into the low 50s there with increasing clouds. then it's late this afternoon into tonight when much colder air moves in. we could get some rain changing to snow tonight. i'll have details on that coming up in ten minutes. a look at your first 4 traffic on this friday morning with

danella. good morning. >> good morning. i'm tracking breaking news. we'll head to the beltway. as you travel the outer loop of the beltway at pennsylvania avenue, crash involves an overturned truck. just a moment ago all of the lanes temporarily blocked. they're open now. you have to stick to the right. left shoulder lane, left lane and left center lane. two of the right lanes get you by the crash. this is just happening right now traveling the outer loop of the beltway. you have to particular to the right to get by the accident there. heading to the beltway this time as you make your way at river road. your travel lanes open on the outer loop as well as the inner loop in this area. a check on the rails. so far no reported delays. aaron and eun back to you. >> we're staying on top of breaking news out of russia. the emergency ministry telling nbc news that some 500 people are hurt after a meteor shower sent debris crashing to the

ground. >> we've been all over video pouring into the newsroom of that meteor. you can see it causing a huge streak across the sky, a light. russia's academy of science weighed it in at about ten tons and entered the atmosphere at 33,000 miles per hour. doctors say they were almost hundreds of injuries there suffering from cuts, from broken glass that resulted from the sonic boom from that meteor. we'll continue to follow this. bring you the latest throughout the morning. we're continuing to follow breaking news out of south africa. olympic sprinter oscar pistorius is charged with murder for the death of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. prosecutors there say they will seek a premeditated murder charge against him. pistorius' first court appearance ended a little more than 30 minutes ago. the judge delayed the bail hearing until next week which means pistorius will remain in custody at a police station

until then. this was the chaotic scene hours ago when he arrived for the first court appearance. he broke down in tears during the proceeding. he's accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend in his home early yesterday morning. today, this woman will appear in court charged with burglarizing a home where 94-year-old man was just found dead. marie johnson was arrested early yesterday. she's accused of breaking into this man's home in november. he was found dead wednesday night and police ruled it a homicide. johnson, however, has not been charged in that crime. police are searching for a weapon or signs of another break-in that may have happened before the man's death. the mystery over documents in the chandra levy murder case could go public next week. the judge will allow partial transcripts to be released. they're from hearings in december and january. her body was found in rock creek park a year later.

ingmar guandique was convicted of her death in 2010. after an inmate said guandique confessed to him. new evidence in this case could taint testimony of a key witness. 6:04. a new development in the fbi's goal to move headquarters has one local leader calling foul. fairfax county supervisor jeff mackay criticized metro in a letter yesterday because the agency says it's willing to allow fbi to build the new headquarters by the green belt in prince yorjs county. mackay claimed they're putting his county at a disadvantage and metro tells the post it's not trying to help one particular county. they wanted to move out of the j. edgar hoover building. metro is shutting down stations to do track work. the beng road, capitol heights, addison road, largo town center stations will all be closed. buses will replace trains

between stadium armory and cheverly and largo town center. all that work lasts through monday and on saturday only. buses will replace trains between green belt and college park. for the first time in history, the senate has blocked the nomination of a defense secretary nominee. the gop temporarily filibustered former senator chuck hagel's confirmation. they say they want more information on how president obama handled the deadly terror attack in benghazi, libya. the president said republicans are playing politics with national security. democrats vowed to revive the vote after they return to a week long break. john kerry picked the university of virginia to make his first foreign policy speech as secretary of state. he will address students and staff next wednesday. it will be followed by a series of speeches across the country. he will also make his first overseas trip as secretary of state to europe and the middle east. today is a busy day for

president obama. first he'll welcome italian president to the white house. napolitano is about to leave office after serving a seven-year term. the obama administration calls the visit a "farewell call". >> then the president flies to his hometown of chicago. there he will visit a school in the same area where he owns a home. he's expected to detail economic conditions. as well as push for a vote on gun control in congress. in space terms, it is close. an asteroid the size of a football field is about to blow past earth. were this could be a great learning experience. >> breaking news on the roads right now. a big problem on the beltway. you see a live picture here. an update on weather and traffic on the 1s. next the golf course looks more

they look brilliant around the course could. australian eyes -- >> you don't see this every day. especially not here. kangaroos interrupted the australian open and while some of the best women golfers in the world were on the green. a group of kangaroos decided to hop on by. it's summertime down there. they saw the lush grass. why not? the dry climate brought the group out of the brush and they couldn't resist the green lush grass. >> what are all these women doing out here they were thinking. why are they wearing visors. keep going. time for weather and traffic on the 1s with tom kierein. >> our temperatures are near freezing all around the region now. we're going to stay near the freezing mark for another couple of hours. then it will soar by noontime to near 50. ought to hit mid-50s mid-afternoon with increasing clouds. the temperatures then will plummet tonight. all the way down into the 30s. by then, light rain early

evening changing over to mid-snow by late evening. it may continue into part of saturday. how much will we get? i'll show you my snowfall forecast map and the seven-day outlook in ten minutes. a look at traffic with danella. still tracking breaking news on the roadway. the outer loop at pennsylvania avenue, crash just past the pennsylvania avenue exit blocking the left side of the roadway. i've been watching this camera for some time. i have seen cars come to a complete stop. imagine that means the roadway temporarily blocked to clear the accident. overturned dump truck delays are just under a mile right now. chopper 4 should be back with a live look in ten minutes. aaron and eun. thank you, danella. 6:12, breaking news. hundreds of people are hurt, windows shattered. a meteor slammed into russia overnight. a nasa scientist explains how it could arrive unexpectedly. the not so triumphant return of a

welcome back at 6:15. that disabled cruise that became a nightmare for passengers sits empty in mobile, alabama. a long trip homemade longer with problems towing the boat to shore.

jay gray is also in mobile this morning where that ship is docked. jay, good morning to you. i cannot imagine the relief those passengers are feeling today. >> reporter: absolutely, eun. good to talk to you this morning. relief. it started with a lot excitement. adrenaline as the ship was pulled into the port here. take a look. not a much better picture than this had. an empty and idle carnival triumph. loud roars, applauses. not only from the ground but from those on the deck. they began chanting let us off. let us off. they were systematically removed from this ship. a process that initially carnival told us would take four to five hours. they finished in just over three hours. even with just one working elevator on the ship. a lot of the passengers, over 100 reunited with family members and friends here. but the lion's share, thousands loaded on to charter buses, some

going back to galveston where started. others to new orleans where 1500 hotel rooms that they reserved. they'll stay and they're decompressed. a lot of telling me they were looking forward to a hot shower. also looking forward to a solid meal. resting in a bed with some fresh linens. that may sound mundane to us. after what they've been through, they were really looking forward to it. >> we talked about how poor the food was and how little of it there was. on the last night shall the passengers got a surprise helicoptered in. steak and lobster. they had that on their last night. tonight, pulled into port and back on solid ground. they talk a lot about the conditions on the ship as well. give a listen. >> it was like being locked in a porta potty that caught on fire three days earlier. >> to treat your employees like that. it wasn't fair to them. they were not eating as good as us. we were eating very well. but they were not eat oing as well as us. they were rationing their food

and water. their conditions -- they should be getting our $500. >> everyone who we talked to really praised the staff for taking care of them through the duration of what was a very difficult time. that's the latest live here in mobile. i'm jay gray. back to you now, eun. jay, thank you. nasa is keeping an eye on a astroid. the astroid called 2012-da 14 will pass within a little more than 17,000 miles off the earth's surface. experts say it's about 150 feet in diameter and weighs about 143,000 tons. joining us live now to talk more about this astroid is donte loretta with nasa. we appreciate you getting up had morning. >> not a problem. pleasure to be here. >> tell us why nasa is so positive that it's going to miss us. >> this is a very exciting historical event.

this astroid was detected almost a year ago. we've been calculating its orbit precisely ever since. we have a very good estimation of the close approach distance. about 17,000 miles away from the surface of the earth. i've heard reports that the expectation will that it will pass between the earth and satellites, for example. people are worried will i lose my cable as a result of it hitting in space. is that a possibility sm. >> the good news is, there's nothing to worry about. we know this is going to be a safe eye vent. the astroid will not hit the earth or the space station. it will not hit critical assets. you don't have to worry about losing your tv. >> a new variable. need to ask you about this meteor shower over russia overnight. was that predicted or was connected at all to the astroid coming through? >> the meteorite that struck in russia was not connected to da-14. they're coming in an different

trajectorie trajectories. we did not have it tracked. it was a small body that's going to drop lots of stones across the earth. that will be valuable for science. we appreciate you joining us from nasa this morning. thanks a lot. >> thank you. a key national's player is having a tough time making his way to florida for spring training. pitchers and catchers have to report earlier this week. the nats biggest pitching acquisition during the off season still isn't in camp. he isn't even in the country. rafael soriano is held up in the dominican republic because of visa problems. the issue is resolved and he will be arriving in camp soon. the team will have a full squad workout tomorrow. he fires, he scores. eric fair with a bullet. >> that's what we like to hear. he scored twice to lead the capitals to the third straight win. troy bower, jay beagle son also

scored. it pulled the caps out of the basement. they're tied for third in the southeast at this visidivision. >> they'll try to keep the winning going. >> hopefully it's the beginning of a turn around for the season. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here now. >> as the day progresses, big changes going on hour by hour. by 6:00, 7:00 more than, we'll be near the freezing mark. by noon, will be near 50 degrees and increasing clouds. late afternoon, chilly rain likely moving in. back down into the 40s. that's by 6:00, 7:00 had evening. around 8:00 or 9:00, that rain changing over to snow and down into the low 30s by midnight with some wet snow. accumulating a bit on grassy areas. off and on ending saturday afternoon. most of our viewing area, including washington and our nearby suburbs in maryland, much of virginia, around the bay, eastern shore, lighter amounts

as well as in the mountains. all ending by saturday afternoon. windy and colder. near 20. sunday afternoon, highs only o the 30s. cold start to -- cold day but lighter winds and maybe rain on tuesday. drying out wednesday and thursday. turning colder end much next week. traffic now with danella this friday morning. >> good morning. still tracking breaking news on the beltway. you're traveling the beltway outer loop just past pennsylvania avenue from twitter, wise guy 931 tweeted me and said the dump truck that's overturned was carrying sand. also tweeted a picture. if you'd like to see the picture, follow us at first. the number 4 traffic. you can see that picture. let's give you a live look of the delays at pennsylvania avenue. you can see heavy delays at one point. the beltway temporarily blocked. now just the left lane is blocked. chopper 4 actually is about to head over to the scene. i'll return with a live look in ten minutes. an update in virginia. the earlier crash, wilson

boulevard at north quinn street is clear. your travel lanes are open. aaron and eun. >> thank you, danella. >> pinching at the penny. new talk about phasing it out. plus the local high school hoping to get rg3's attention. what they're pushing the star qb to do. when the first couple hits the town, it's a big deal. where they went for a romantic dinner.

switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me!

saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. this morning, some of you are buzzing over the president and first lady's date night. they went to mini bar in northwest. the restaurant where the typical men sue has 20 different courses. no idea what they ordered. it's a tasting menu from the chef. before the president paid for din he, he renewed the debate over whether we should still use pennies. it costed more to make a penny than it's worth. during a google hangout chat, the president considered getting rid of pennies. he knows it would be a tough pill to swallow. the vote happening today that federal workers will definitely want to know about. the robbery suspects wearing something you might not expect. >> it is incredible if you haven't seen the video.

a meteor hit overnight. an update ahead. we're watching a small system that could be our next

first a flash, then a blast. overnight a meteor slammed into

russia. it rocked buildings, sent hundreds to the hospital. we're combing the web for the latest video. new information out of russia as it comes in. good morning. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. we're following breaking news on the beltway also. very slow in prince george's county. here is why. chopper 4 just arrived over this scene. a truck that appears to be carrying sand crashed. an update straight ahead. first, though, had morning we're tracking our next chance for snow just hours away. meteorologist tom kierein is out on the storm team 4 weather deck. >> it's cold now. we're below freezing around the region in northwest washington. we have clouds that are now coming in from the west. we've got a light wind now. also moisture moving in along a front that's going to develop an area of low pressure that may bring us that snow later tonight. right now it's cold. dress accordingly. you immediate your winter coat. by midday, 50 degrees.

a rapid warmup this morning. sunrises at 6:59. the sunset at 5:46. during the early part of the afternoon, warming up. prince george's county, the mid-50s by mid-afternoon. then late afternoon, some cold rain moving in. could get some snow tonight o. i'll talk about that in greater detail coming up in ten minutes. let's take a look at our traffic this friday morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning. a live look from chopper 4 over the earlier accident. this is as you make your way just north of the pennsylvania avenue exit on the outer loop of the beltway. the crash has been moved over to your left shoulder lane. it involves three vehicles. one of them an overturned dump truck. you can see your volume about two miles right now as you travel in the outer loop of the beltway approaching pennsylvania avenue. let's head over to the 14th street bridge. tracking an accident that happened a few moments ago. at least three vehicles involved. right lane is blocked northbound across the 14th street bridge.

you're slow. aaron and eun. >> thanks, danella. melissa mollet has breaking news at the live desk. >> d.c. fire tell us they're responding to the report of a mercury spill near calvert and a adams mill in northwest washington. that's in the ad apples morgan area. they're on the way to the scene now. when we get more information, we'll pass it along. melissa mollet, news 4. police are looking for several juveniles behind an armed robbery in the district. this happened in the 1500 block of t street. d.c. police are looking for several juveniles wearing school uniforms. at the same time police in the district want to know who is behind eight holdups within hours last night. spread out throughout southeast and northeast washington. at least three of the incidents police are looking for a group of juveniles. >> a charles county family is thanking the community for helping them get through a difficult time. a fire destroyed their home and killed the matriarch of their family. a kerosene heater sparked the

blaze that destroyed her home in indian head tuesday night. 66-year-o 66-year-old geraldine key died. key's grandson says his grandmother was a person who tried to help everybody. didn't want to show his face but we're talking to him in this news 4 exclusive. >> every single day she had a smile on her face and would do anything for everyone. i literally didn't know what she mu what the word was. >> the family is staying in a hotel paid for by the red cross. they hope to rebuild in the same lot where that house once stood. >> we're getting new details about the shooting of a police trainee in baltimore county. the instructor who shot him may have been fooling around when he opened fire. the shooting took place during a training exercise in owings mills. the instructor pointed a gun at trainees who were looking into a window from another room. the gun accidentally went off.

and then the officer, the shot rather hit the trainee in head. he remains in critical condition. the instructor is suspended with pay until the investigation is complete. >> 6:34 right now. if you work for the government, don't get your hopes up for a raise this year. the house will vote on whether to extend a pay freeze for 2 million federal workers. a live look at capitol hill. the white house proposed a half percent raise after a two-year freeze. many say keeping the freeze through the end of the year would save $11 billion. the house is expected to pass the extension but it will likely face a fight in the senate. don't expect the redskins to change their team name. general manager bruce allen shot down -- when the 'skins broke ground on the new training facility in richmond. he says there's nothing he or the team feels is offensive about that name. >> it's ludicrous to think in anyway that we're trying to upset anybody. we're proud of who we are and we're proud of what we're going to be and what we're going to do

here in the city of richmond. >> many native americans call the term redskins offensive. they criticized it last week at the national museum of the american indian. redskins fans hope to see robert griffin iii on the field next season. one hopes to see him at the commencement. broad run high school's class of 2013 made a plea to get him to speak at the high school graduation in june. the students and teachers were griffining in a series of photos. he visited broad run before. he made a surprise appearance at one of the football games in october. it is the end of an era for spin garn high school, the basketball team played its last home game last night. for decades the green wave were known for strong academics and athletics. including elgin baylor and dave binge were alumni. >> low enrollment has caused this. the basketball team went out on

top, they beat luke seymour high school. an unusual retail fight. why tiffany is suing costco. when our next chance for snow could arrive. trouble on the roads with your weather and traffic on the 1s. next, why driving while sick is a real problem.

you might want to think twice about getting behind the wheel if you're feeling under the weather. a new study out of great britain says driving with a cold is more dapg russ than you think. searching for tissues, they're responsible for 2500 deaths during winter months. the study found that a driver is can travel as much as 50 feet from sneezing with your eyes closed. slick and icy road conditions also contributed to hazardous driving. your eyes o always close when you sneeze. so your eyeballs don't pop out. >> that's the anatomical reason. >> more reason to stay home if

you're not feeling well. >> exactly. let's check in with tom kierein. might be a good day to get out tonight. >> thank you optometrist eun yang. that is reassuring. there is the sunrise over the potomac right now. we've got a gorgeous morning under way. no travel problems weatherwise. national weather service a live view from the city camera. weather and traffic on the 1s now at 6:41. it is a cold morning. it is near freezing all throughout our nbc4 viewing area. from eastern west virginia all the way to the bay. except right on the bay waters. it's a little bit above freezing as well as in the warmer waters of the potomac. elsewhere, it's near 30 degrees to the 20s. parts of northern virginia. hour by hour through the day, a rapid change. a dramatic warmup. by mid-afternoon, into the mid-50s. then the temperatures are going to plummet tonight as cold air surges in along with a developing area of low pressure. we will likely get a brief

period of chilly rain changing over to wet snow. that's going to be occurring perhaps around sunset. that may be light rain, then a quick change over to wet snow by mid-evening this evening. overnight, periods of wet snow moving on through. i'll show you the snowfall forecast map coming up along with your seven-day outlook in ten minutes. now a look at your friday morning commute. here's danella. >> tracking news on the outer loop of the beltway. we've been watching this accident all morning involving an overturned dump truck. chopper 3 zooms in. multiple vehicles involved. at least three. your left shoulder lane is blocked and the right shoulder lane. solid for just about over two miles. bumper to bumper. the outer loocht beltway, around branch avenue, prepare to hit the breaks as you continue toward pennsylvania avenue. let's head over to 395. tracking an accident on the 14th

street bridge inbound. it's along the right lanes here. if you're traveling gw parkway. taking the exit for 395 northbound across the bridge, the exit is partially blocked as you make your commute. travel speed right now, not too terrible. about 13 minutes to get from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. but you are slow as you make the commute into the district. over to i-66 eastbound, delays start around chain bridge road towards nutly. the drive is going to take you about 15 minutes average speed. 45 miles per hour. aaron and eun, back to you. >> 6:42 now. olympic sprinter oscar pistorius will remain in a south african jail until at least next week. he left his first court appearance on a murder charge about a half hour ago. the double amputee broke out in tears. prosecutors say they plan to charge pistorius with premeditated murder in the death

of his girlfriend. that's far more serious than the murder charge he's facing. his bail hearing has been scheduled to next week. in just about two hours, the woman you see here will appear in court accused of burglarizing the home where an elderly man was found dead two days ago. he was she was accused of breaking into his home. johnson has not been charged in that crime. police say they're searching for a weapon or signs of another break-in that may have happened before his death. the laurel police department is doing high tech police work. all officers will be wearing high tech video recorders all around their heads. the cameras will rorpd an officer's every move. city officials are backing the plan. they say the technology doesn't only keep officers safe. protects citizens as well. the video recorded by the cameras cannot be edited by an officer and all footage goes

straight to their administrators. we could learn details about secret meetings and hearings in the chandra levy case. transcripts will be made available next week. the transcripts will be partial. some of the details will be blacked out. levy was an intern who disappeared in 2001. her body was found in rock creek park a year later. ingmar guandique was convicted of her death in 2010 after an inmate in jail with him said guandique confessed to him. sources tell news 4 that new evidence could taint testimony of a key witness. the prince george's county delegation will be voting on a number of issues ha could impact schools. one proposed bill would require all county high schools to have artificial turf fields by 2018. the delegation will consider if a task force should oversee operations of a school board such as how selects members. the panel will review liquor law concerns in prince george's county.

6:44 now. congress about to leave for a recess vog blocked the confirmation of a nominee in the first time ever. fill bus at theterred a confirmation vote on former senator chuck hagel. they want further information on how president obama handled the terrorist attack on benghazi libya. the president says they're playing politics with national security. they will revive the vote after a week long break. john kerry will make a first foreign policy speech at the university of virginia. the state department says kerry wi speak next wednesday about the importance of u.s. diplomacy p the address will be the first in a series he'll deliver across the country. kerry will make his first trip abroad later this month to europe and the middle east. >> president obama is preparing for a busy day ahead. the obama administration says the visit from is a farewell

call to the president of italian. the president will head to chicago. he will visit a school in the neighborhood where he owns a home. he will push for a vote on gun control in congress. the president's emotional rallying cry to curb gun violence in the tuesday night address has the nra reacting this morning. in a smeech to a hunting association, the ceo of the gun lobby calls the efforts a charade and he criticized him for never mentioning the words school safety in his speech. >> they only care about their decades-long, decades-old gun control agenda. ban every gun they can. tax every gun sold. and register every american gun owner. wayne la pierre renewed his call to have an armed guard in every school in the nation. a local man and woman will receive the honor of a lifetime today. they'll receive the presidential

citizens medical. president obama will present the awards to americans committed to public service. this year's recipient include maria gomez who founded mary's center in the district. it provides health care and other services to the less fortunate. terry shima will also receive the honor. he's a former executive director of the american yap niece veterans association ziechblt the company behind the little blue box is seeing red. tiffany is suing costco. cnbc's courtney reagan live now to explain why. >> the iconic jeweler, tiffany, is suing costco claiming the club operator is selling counterfeit diamond engagement rings that bear the luxury retailer's name. they're alleging trademark infringement on false advertising. tiffany believes hundreds if not thousands of consumers bought what they thought were authentic tiffany products. luxury chains sue to stop sales of imitation items that cut into their own sales and customer

loyalty. trump plaza is under new ownership. it's been sold to a california investment group for a bargain basement price of $20 million. that's the lowest ever paid for in atlantic city casino. trump plaza, which is on the boardwalk opened in 1984. it struggled mightily in recent years becoming the worst performing casino. it took in less than $5 million to hern 40% from a year ago. sold off -- back to you. cnbc, thank you. melissa mollet has breaking news at the live desk. >> we told you about this story earlier. wanted to give you a quick update. d.c. fire responding to the report of a mercury spill in northwest washington near calvert and adams mill. tony tull on the way as soon as he gets it i will pass it along additional mfgs from the scene. at the live desk, melissa mollet. it's a great place to find love if you're a single man.

the huffington post is out with a list of which cities are best for women and which best for men. the bethesda rockville frederick area is the area where women outnumber men more than anywhere else in the country. behind that is the rest of the dpch dmv. while guys have better chances here. women looking for the areas with the most men should try las vegas or honolulu. that doesn't work. we just told all the women to leave so the men are stuck. what is that? >> that's true. >> you immediate to work on that a little bit. >> east coast, west coast. >> bring it all together. storm team meteorology tom kierein is here to tell us about approximate the forecast. kind of a mixed bag. >> we're off to a cold start this morning. we have temperatures around the rei don't know that are up to near the freezing mark now. we're going to have our temperatures continue to hold steady here the freezing mark. there's an area of low pressure

that is now moving toward the metro area and that's heading now toward the mountains of west virginia. that is going to continue to get closer to us later today. right now, we're near the freezing mark. there is sunrise over the potomac. sun is coming up in a couple of minute at 6:59. it's 36 now at reagan national. by noontime, it should be near 50 degrees and then hitting the mid-50s by mid-afternoon. then it's when you're coming home from work and school, it may be raining. back down into the 40s. what a dramatic change here from the morning to the afternoon. then maybe back to snow tonight. couple of nights ago, we got that wet snow. this is going to be a similar evening this friday night. you may be out and about and seeing the big fat snowflakes falling. they're probably going to melt on roadways and accumulate on grassy areas. that's one wave of low pressure coming through. another one should come through on saturday. both combined may leave in their wake 1 to 2 inches on mainly grassy areas tonight.

there could be slick spot. be up early on saturday morning. we may get a couple of inches perhaps during the day on saturday on top of maybe this light coating tonight o in that dark blue zone. it covers much of virginia, the district and nearby suburbs. probably not as much in the mountains as well. watch out. could be slick spots late tonight into early tomorrow morning as the temperatures drop to near freezing. storm team 4, four day forecast. afternoon highs into the upper 30s on saturday. that's going to be probably the warmest day of the weekend because much colder air will move in after the snow ends on saturday with gusty winds saturday night. temperatures plummeting all the way down to near 20 degrees. and then on sunday afternoon highs only in the mid-30s. could have winds gusting to 40 miles an hour on sunday. a windy, cold day. and another cold start monday morning. but a lighter wind near 20 degrees monday afternoon into the upper 30s and lot of sunshine. might get rain on tuesday. highs 40s.

may rebound a bit on wednesday to near 50 during the afternoon. does look like it will turn colder again toward the end of next week. i'm back with frequent updates, be updating this snowfall outlook throughout the morning hours. stay tuned. now a look at traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. the first 4 traffic office, still tracking breaking news on the beltway. if you're traveling the outer loop past pennsylvania avenue. chopper four zooming into the crash involving an overturned dump truck. it was carrying sand. now that the sun is rising, you can see sand on the ground. the crash involved three vehicles off to the left shoulder lane. delays are about over two miles right now. about 2 1/2 miles solid delays as you make your way on the outer loop towards pennsylvania avenue. i'm tracking another accident across the 14th street bridge. let me shoot over, give you a closer look. right lanes are blocked. police on the scene. let me let you know that just a moment ago, fire department was on the scene blocking two right

lanes. you are seeing delays on 95 northbound prior to the 14th street prbridge. you'll hit the brakes around the pentagon. a heavy delay on 395. be aware of that. the beltway in montgomery county, as you travel the outer loop at colesville road, a little bit of volume. it's not bad. it's friday. light volume. as far as tea lace, a bit slow all the way to georgia avenue. not heavy on the brakes yet. you still have time. danella, thank you. this is a live look in the ad apples morgan area. adams mill road. fire crews are on the scene of what they thought was a mercury spill. apparently crews were working in that area and spilled something. someone called in. thought it was mercury. they tested it. at this point, they cleared it. it is not mercury. they're approximate to clear the scene shortly. metro closing seven stations this weekend. madison avenue and deanwood

stations on the orange line. capital heights, morgan boulevard and largo town center stations on the blue line. they'll all be closed. buses are replace trains. stadium armory and largo town center. all that work will last through monday. on saturday only, buses will replace trains between green belt and college park. a new development in the fbi's goal to move the headquarters has a local leader calling foul. according to the washington post, supervisor, jeff mackay criticized metro in a letter because the agency is willing to let the fbi build the new headquarters in prince george's county by the green belt station and putting his county at a disadvanta disadvantage. metro is not trying to help any county they said. they wanted to move the fbi out of the j. edgar hoover building. new had morning, russia's emergency ministry tells us that 500 people are hurt after a meteor shower sent debris a crashing to the ground.

video has been pouring in all morning of the meteorite. you can see here it's causing a huge streak and then a flash of light across the sky. all are suffering from cuts by broken glass caused by sonic booms. earlier this morning, we spoke to a nasa expert who said it was unexpected but not uncommon. >> meteorite falls are common. we find a couple dozen a year. might rights that we recover stones from. >> it's a meteorite because it hit the earth. not a meteor. >> the academy of sciences estimate it weighed tons and it entered at 33,000 miles per hour. incredible video. apparently, exploded in air and that's what caused the sonic boom and then the shockwaves from that caused all the damage on the ground. >> pretty amazing stuff. you see the video here. people thought they were under

attack in western russia. we're going to see if tom can put something on tape later about how this happens and how it was more like the earth hit the meteorite as opposed to the other way around. tom has a good explanation. this all comes on the same day that an asteroid is supposed to have a close encounter with the earth. it designated 2012 da-14 will pass within 17,000 miles of the earth's surface. that's closer than the satellites broadcasting news of its arrival. experts say it's about 150 feet in diameter and weighs about 143,000 tons. right now, thousands of passengers from that nightmare carnival cruise voyage are waking up with running water, electricity and clean linen. the triumph ship docked in mobile, alabama late last night. some passengers ran off, cheered and even kissed the ground. a fire in the engine room started most of the problems had. passengers describe the conditions. >> it was literally like being

in a floating porta potty. there's human waste everywhere. the crew was great. they did a really great job on keeping spirits up. it was tough. carnival canceled future voyages on the triumph. let's get a last look at the roads before we go. danella? >> let's look right now at a 3d map across the 14th street bridge. very slow because of an accident blocking the right lane. thank you, mel knell. the "today" show next. we're back here monday morning. have a great day. >> have a great weekend everybody.

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