rain is falling across d.c., maryland and virginia and it won't be long before it all changes to sleet and snow. >> snow emergency. thousands of salt trucks, plows and utility crews ready to hit the streets. they're asking drivers, keep the roads clear for tomorrow morning. >>. >> getting ready for the snow. people are packing for the next blast of winter weather. good evening, everyone.

>> if you are watching us now you're included in this winter storm warning. >> that's right. we've been tracking this storm since last week. the question isn't if the snow gets here but when. >> now the latest on the timing and the track of this storm. >> well, parts north of washington will already start to see a wintry mix by 9:00 this evening. we're looking at a wintry mix overnight in the d.c. metro area from about 11:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. everybody under this winter storm warning and it goes until 6:00 tomorrow evening. so with the wintry mix we're worried about a layer of ice and then when that mix change to snow, snow on top of ice. that will lead to dangerous travel. especially early tomorrow morning. and once we see the change over to all snow, the snow will be heavy. by 6:00 a.m., most if not all the area will already see about two to three inches of snow. here's the radar right now.

just scattered rain but don't worry. this is going to fill in. this is our storm system. all of this rain, sleet and snow makes its way into the area overnight tonight and throughout the day tomorrow. now on future weather, we're looking at 8:00 tonight. rain with that mix. north of washington by midnight. we're looking at sleet making its way into the metro area. 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., we are looking for heavy snow. by the afternoon in washington, southern maryland, you will see this event come to an end by about 6:00, 7:00 tomorrow. i'll have how much snow you can expect coming up. >> thanks. news. we're just getting our first school closings tomorrow. prince george's county and anne arundel county. we're waiting to hear from others. you can get a complete list as they come in on nbc

washington.com. drivers, listen up. any vehicle that is parked on a snow emergency route will get a $250 ticket. the vehicle will also be towed at the owner's expense. snow emergency declarations allow plow drivers to keep the roads clear. there is free narc county owned parks and garages at midnight. >> public transportation will be limited at best. officials already canceled metrobus service for tomorrow morning and the metroaccess service is canceled all day monday. marc is being monitored. vre says it will make a final decision by 4:00 a.m. and trains on amtrak's northeast corridor will be running on a modified schedule. >> airlines are already canceling flights ahead of the bad weather. close to 2,000 flights have been grounded across the country

today. hundreds of flights in our area already off the board for tomorrow. many airlines are waving change fees if passengers want to rebook. reagan and dulles have snow removal equipment on standby. if you have a flight the next couple days, you'll want to call your airline ahead of time. >> it will be a long night for road crews. they say they are ready to tackle the job. darcy spencer live outside of salt dome in leesburg, virginia. they have certainly had a lot of practice. >> reporter: you know, they've had a lot of practice. that's for sure. they've gotten this down pat. i was told they've had 21 snow or ice events just this season. that's really unheard of. so getting ready for another big one. this loader here has been getting a little pile of sand and salt together and getting these trucks loaded up. this has been going on since about 5:30 this afternoon on a typical snow event. they might wait a little bit longer later in the evening to

start getting ready. with so much snow expected to start hitting us around midnight, they're not going to wait. let's look at some video that we shot today at the safeway store in alexandria. normally in a big storm, people might be going and loading up their cars with tons of stuff. we're not seeing that this time. people have gotten used to this. they're coming out getting their items like perishable foods, milk and eggs, making sure they're ready to be home the next couple days and possibly have the kids home for a couple of snow days. as we mentioned the virginia department of transportation has been out here. they're gearing up for another major storm. and right around 8:00 tonight, they'll have a major deployment. let's hear from a couple of those shoppers as well as from the virginia department of transportation official about their planned deployment. >> i remember we had a foot of snow and you still went to

school. now, you know, just a little snow and there is no school will. >> the snow doesn't bother me. i kind of tend to wait for it to happen. >> we started our mobilization at than today loading trucks, prestaging them in a lot of different areas and we're doing it in stages. by 8:00 only the we'll be in a mobilization level four. close to 3,000 pieces of equipment. at midnight we'll be in our highest mobilization which is level five and we'll have close to 4,000 pieces of equipment out in >> reporter: the thing they're most worried that here in northern virginia is ice. never say they're planning for up to one inch of ice, they're saying tomorrow, stay home. driving conditions are expected to be treacherous. reporting live from leesburg,

news4. >> reporter: on a day when people dined al fresco in the district, others were preparing for rain, ice and snow. stocking up on groceries and things to melt the snow or move it around. and stuff they'll need if they get snowed in. >> i have this wonderful little puppy and she is very intelligent. she gets bored if she has to stay indoors. i thought if i get a hoop, i'll get to it jump through the hoop. >> reporter: as you can see from the sea of cars here, people are getting ready. asno prep goes, people seem to be at def con 4. >> a lot of the shopping seems to be as much about fending off cabin fever as fending off hunger. >> i'm going on entertain myself and do some cooking that i don't usually do. >> reporter: in bethesda, it was about snow prems. they already sold out of snow melt and they won't get any more until tomorrow. merchandisers and their suppliers are trying to get to

spring. but winter just won't let go. >> we're ready to switch seasons and go into our next season. >> reporter: so are a lot of us. >> i am snowed out. i bought my first snow shovel and broke it just last week. >> reporter: others still like it. >> i love it. this is the weather we grew up with. >> i work for a school so i'm enjoying it thoroughly. >> reporter: and others like this recent transplant from california fall somewhere in between. >> i would rather have snow here. >> reporter: news4. >> news4 haus covered all the way through this winter storm. we'll be starting tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. on news428 the latest on the storm, the road conditions and the school closures. and you can track storm with the storm team 4 weather a.m. it is free in the app store and google play. major developments in the ongoing crisis in ukraine. a staboff continues in the crimea region and now a top u.s.

official is headed to kiev. hundred of arrests outside the

there have been some fast moving developments in the ukraine. john kerry will travel to kiev to meet with officials.

the prime minister said his country is on the brink of disaster. russia continues on move troops into the crimean region. earlier today, kerry said vladimir putin had nothing to gain and everything to lose by staying the course. >> russia is going to lose. the russian people are going to lose. he will lose all the glow that came out of the olympics. his $60 billion extravaganza. he is not going to have a sochi g-8. he may not even remain in the g-8. >> late today president putin accepted a dialogue. meanwhile about 40 people were arrested there. it started peacefully but ended with several arrests. a group of mostly college students participated in a march today to protest the proposed key stone oil pipeline. they marched from georgetown university all the way to the white house. police moved in and arrested a couple hundred of them who

strapped themselves to the white house fence. the demonstrators are hoping to convince president obama to reject the pipeline saying it will damage the environment and contribute to global warming. >> our coverage of this winter storm is just getting started. rain, ice, snow. who gets what and when? >> plus, the butter cold that's coming in behind the snow. why the snow that we get tomorrow isn't going anywhere

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a man who was shot at the green line this morning was grazed while walking out of the station this morning. he walked out of the hospital and refused to speak to police. and no arrests have been made. tonight show host jimmy fallon is a man of his word. this morning he anxioused the challenge of chicago mayor rahm emanuel and jumped into icy lake michigan. are you kidding me? he wore his suit and tie with the mayor. the lake temperature? like 30 degrees out there. about 3,000 other people also particated in the fund-raiser. he just looks shocked. all this to raise money for special olympics chicago. as part of the deal, he now has to appear on "the tonight show." >> do you know the firefighters were tossing chunks of ice out of the way in the few minutes before they started. it is that cold out t

>> unbelievable. and things will get really cold for us and then we're not even done with the snow. >> the weather story is two parts. a snowstorm and then bitterly cold temperatures. we're talking about the chags for some record lows tuesday morning. you need to keep that in mind. overnight, a wintry mix in the d.c. metro area from about 11:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. then once that mix, including sleet, maybe a little freezing rain and rain changes to all snow. snow will be heavy. it will pile up quickly during the early morning hours. so road surfaces will quickly deteriorate. all snow early monday morning so that morning commute if you do have to make your way in. you need to allow for a lot of extra time. because the roads potentially will have some ice on them and then snow on top. our temperatures fall throughout the day tomorrow. extremely cold on tuesday. starting off with temperatures in the teens and single digits. right now on storm-team 4 radar,

i'm scattered rain across the area. 8:00, 9:00 p.m., we'll see more widespread rain with a bit of sleet maybe mixing in at that point. this is our stom system. this continues to push into the area. by tomorrow afternoon, by the evening hours, this is how much snow you can expect. six to ten inches for most of us. washington, bethesda, fairfax, areas north of washington well north of washington actually won't see as much snow. areas like hagerstown seeing about six inches. in southern maryland and parts of northbound virginia like culpepper, fredericksburg, you will see seven to ten inches, maybe upwards of a foot. a lot of snow will fall. the most snow will fall during morning hours tomorrow. and on into the midday hours. and again though, this storm system is continuing to evolve. we will look at numbers throughout the evening. if we need to do so, we'll

update this map. i'll be on a little later this evening at 11 sko:08. there is a 60% chance that most of the d.c. metro area is getting six to ten inches of snow from this event. only about a 20% chance that we see a little bit more or less than that amount. we are definitely seeing snow. and again, the second story. the temperatures. 43 in washington. 37 in frederick. look at how far we've fallen by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. the 20s for washington. through southern maryland into northern virginia. and then temperatures will continue to plummet throughout the day tomorrow as snow starts to wind down by 3:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m., most of the area will be mainly dry but then look at the temperatures. so whatever snow falls on tuesday, it is not melting at all. starting off with the

temperature around washington, single digits in the suburbs and a high on tuesday of only 27 degrees. >> thanks a lot. coming up in sports, the revolutionary adds a thrilling ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

we just received word, federal offices in washington will be closed tomorrow. emergency workers will be required to work following the agency policies. more cool and business closings right now on nbcwashington.com. t looked like the cats had this all wrapped up. >> looks can be deceiving. >> i'm embarrassed to say himself the turned off the game and started watching other games. there was so much action going on. they blow this lead. it's unfortunate. we all know that ery single loss hurts but some losses, they do hurt a little more than others. today it was one of those losses for the capitals. led head out to the verizon

central. going for the first 5-game one-streak. niklas backstrom puts one on the net. everyone at the verizon central thought it was a goal but watch it again. the puck did not go over. it was swatted away. it was ruled no goal. second period. tied 2-2. cams on the move. mike green to joel ward and ward somehow finds jay beagle. find it again. a beautiful back pass. the cams up 3-2. they lead 4-2 at the period. the flyers back within one. the goalies pulled for the extra attacker and claude giroux puts the deflection pass. that's the second goal of the game. we're headed to overtime. phillies on the attack again. describe sent lecavalier for the winner. flyers come all the way back from a two-goal deficit 5-4.

they take it in overtime. the capitals and flyers play again on wednesday. that game will be played in philadelphia. let's move on to college basketball now. rivalry games are always unpredictable. whenever george washington plays george mason at home, the outcome has always been one sided. the colonials haven't lost at home to the patriots ever. charles smith is the place to be. joshua morgan in the house taking in the game. gw led by two at halftime. second half they start to pull away. thanks to maurice creek, the senior. knocking down the three bl there. that capped off a 12-0 colonials run. a few minutes later, off the gw miss. one more time. he had a game high 22 points. later in the half the patriots coming back. corey edwards. giving it up to jalen jenkins for the layup. gw, they close this one strong. the backwards tip.

he had 13 points. gw topped the patriots 66-58. >> i didn't have the best first half. i knew that. and i went in there and prayed and coach just told me to keep shooting the ball. >> i said his picture on the milk carton has been missing for a while. i prayed too. he is one of the best shatters i ever coached. we were such a good team when we knock down some shots. >> dez wells and maryland taking on clemson. pick it up in the final seconds of regulation. wells going for the game winner. gets swatted away. we're heading to overtime. 12 seconds left. maryland down. nailing the three-pointer.

we go to a second overtime. a 1-point lead. harris in for the three ball and clemson took control of the second overtime. two o.t.s. sure, maryland women were hosting virginia tech. alyssa gospel did not disappoint on senior day. you knew she was going to show up. gets the basket here. more from the senior. off the miss. gets the rebound. two of the 20 points and 12 boards in this game. melissa thomas, the terps take it 87-48. she is having an outstanding career at maryland. she is points away from crystal's school record for most points in a career. over on the diamond, the nationals were back at i in viera for spring training.

matt williams and his club hosting the marlins. another new guy. on the mound for the nats. two strikeouts. one run allowed in his nationals debut. bottom of the fourth, marlins up 2-1. that's adam laroche sending a moon shot over the wall. that is a two-run blast. his first homer of the spring. before we let you go, we continue talking about severe weather. one more note to pass along. d.c. government offices also closed tomorrow. so federal government and d.c. government. >> good night. we'll se

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