across the d.c. region creating slick roads. we have crews all over virginia and maryland to help you prepare before you get behind the wheel. and you can see the fast-moving system as it pushes into the d. d.c. area. >> the conditions are blamed for a number of delays. maryland is seeing frederick county delayed. they are going to re-evaluate at 7:00 a.m. in virginia manassas city schools are opening late. stafford county schools and alexandria schools are delayed. culpeper and clark county schools are closed. >> if you work for the federal government offices are open right now. but federal employees have the option of unscheduled leave or telework today. check your office. let's begin with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein right now with the headlines for the day ahead. >> good morning. it has been snowing for the last couple of hours. we have a half inch around the metro area on the ground now. that's enough to cause slick spots on untreated surfaces.

storm team 4 radar is showing this brighter area in fairfax county northwest d.c. extreme southern montgomery county where it is coming down harder. it is coming down harder in western loudoun county and northern fauquier. all this is heading off to the east and continuing to keep us snow covered through the morning. it's a broad area of weak low pressure coming in from the ohio valley tracking through the region through the morning. most of the snow should be done by noontime. temperatures are cold and it's down to near 20 degrees. most of the region is seeing everything sticking. we have a large area under a winter weather advisory for all the counties in purple northern virginia most of maryland nearby suburbs including washington and on the eastern shore. it's in effect until 1:00 this afternoon. after it ends around noontime we could have an inch around the metro area of northern virginia. just a dusting to the south. a couple inches farther north and west. out in the mountain as much as five inches by the time it ends early afternoon. watch out for slick spots this

morning. frequent updates throughout the day as a weather alert day. the next update changes minute by minute at 6:11. melissa has breaking news. we are talking at branch avenue northbound at the beltway. the ramp is completely blocked because of a three-car crash. we have a lot of crashes happening right now. remember to follow us on first 4 traffic. we are listing all of them. they are pretty much everywhere because of the slick roads. the outer loop past annapolis road we have two left lanes blocked from the earlier crash. 270 southbound at old hundred road we have a lot of snow on the roadways. the main areas have been treated but be careful as it takes a bit long tore get to work. 66 headed into town 19 miles per hour right now. it is slower. we are not seeing any crashes there right now as you're seeing a lot of slowdowns because of the slick roads. outbound same deal there. taking a look at 95 northbound here in virginia through dale city that entire area is very slow this morning.

headed out here in maryland 95 into and out of town is 48 miles per hour. headed outbound on the bw parkway, you are slow inbound as well. eun? thank you. 6:03 is the time right now. we are out on the roads right now as the snow starts to fall. news4's megan mcgrath was in frederick earlier this morning and is now driving down i-270 in montgomery county back south to d.c. how are things looking? >> reporter: well, eun, it is slow going on 270 headed in the southbound direction. take a look at the live road camera here. you can see for yourself we are going just 15 miles an hour. actually a tad slower than that. it's a treacherous ride. it doesn't take much to make things uncomfortable and unpleasant on the highway. we have a quarter of an inch of snow. but you can see from this thick volume of traffic and the slow speeds here it's enough to

really make things uncomfortable and unpleasant out on the roadways. we are headed about -- we are headed southbound a few miles from 109 here. so we are now in montgomery county. and folks are just going to need to take it easy out there. we are seeing slick spots on the roadways. we are now starting to hear about the fender-benders occurring in the area. schools are delayed. it is just going to be a bad rush hour for people. so keep in mind that these roads, the major roads like 270 have been treated and this is what they look like. your neighborhood roads, parking lots they are going to be in worse shape. back to you guys. thank you, megan. this is also the first big test for areas and the department of transportation crews. they have been preparing since last night. in virginia 500 trucks are ready to plow in loudoun, fairfax, prince william and arlington counties. loudoun county pretreated roads with salt brine and other counties are using salt and sand to melt the snow and plowing

will begin once two inches of snow accumulates. d.c. crews applied a brine of beet juice mixtures to streets yesterday to prevent freezing. and there's not going to be a ton of snow but the timing is making it tricky this morning. storm team 4 meteorologist has more on the impact of the snow. today is the day former virginia governor bob mcdonnell will learn whether he'll perform community service or serve time behind bars. you can download the nbc washington app to find out his sentence with a breaking news push alert. both bob and maureen mcdonnell were found guilty of corruption last september. they are asking for leniency asking for thousands of hours of community service, but the prosecutors believe he needs to spend time in prison. today a woman charged with vandalizing the national cathedral is heading back to court. the judge ruled she was not

competent to stand trial before. she was charged in july of 2013 with destroying property at the washington national co thee dralathedral. she has remained at st. elizabeth's hospital pending tomorrow's hearing. later this morning we'll learn about possible changes to montgomery county public school start times. joshua starr will present several options for changing the bell schedule at a meeting in rockville today starting at 9:45 this morning. as soon as we learn about the options, we'll post them to our website. you have a chance to voice your opinions before the school board votes on the issue in a few weeks. be prepared to see some snow in your neighborhood as you leave for work this morning. here's a live look at some of the road conditions. you can see it's starting to accumulate in some spots. we'll tell you about the trouble spots ahead. and this system is moving quickly through the d.c. area dropping snow fairly steadily. tom kierein will show you the

impact it will have on your day at 6:11. also ahead, paying extra when you shop. where the backpacks you pay at the store could be expanding to, next.

6:10. the first taste of real weather means you want to prepare for a longer commute this morning. our crews are out on the roads. in this live picture here you can see it coming down fairly steadily leaving snow on untreated roads. >> storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is tracking the system and the impact it will have on your day with weather and traffic on the 1s. tom, good morning. good morning. the side streets, the sidewalks, the front steps are covered with snow this morning. it is treacherous this morning. all it takes is a thin coating for things to be slippery. we are getting more snow coming in from the west. we have had this coming down the

last couple of hours. so far a quarter to half inch in the metro area. prince george's montgomery fairfax and the district not much snow at all to the south. just a few flurries. farther to the south, another band coming through after it ends noontime. two to five inches there. one to three for the southern areas. just a dusting farther to the south and east. we'll look at when the frigid air arrives at 6:21. we have breaking news with melissa. right now breaking news. we have branch avenue northbound at the ramp blocked with a three-car crash. that's going to be quite a mess until this morning. then we'll have this problem on the outer loop past annapolis with the left lane blocked. we are not seeing any green on the map, it is yellow or red everywhere. if you can wait until later to go in that would be a good idea. taking a look at travel times, 66 near fairfax county parkway, the beltway to the 14th street

bridge, we'll take you there at 26 minutes. quantico to the beltway, 90 minutes. an hour and a half for a normal 23-minute trip. avoid it if you can. take the express lanes on 270 south. 40 minutes from germantown to the beltway. it is slow everywhere. follow first 4 traffic for all the accidents happening around town as well. thank you. 6:12 now. many of you soon have to pay more at the store. we learned maryland is considering a five-cent plastic bag charge statewide. they have raked in more than $6.5 million from the plastic bag tax in maryland so far. this started in january of 2012. now a maryland delegate will introduce legislation to expand the tax statewide. the taxpayers protection alliance says the bag tax hurts the poor. we are tracking a developing story right now in new york city where the city is again on guard after the shooting of two more police officers.

what we're learning happened and the reward being offered at this hour. plus we are tracking conditions you'll be dealing with as the winter weather rolls through the d.c. area. the tips you need to know to make sure your neighborhood streets are safe for pedestrians. here's a live look of the snow coming down. stay with us on "news4 today" at 6:13.

we are helping to prepare you for the day ahead as winter weather rolls through the area. the fast-moving system is bringing steady snow throughout the region. thes on the road have a number of school districts in our area delays or their starts today. make sure you keep an eye on the ticker below for the latest delays and closures. if you are heading out the door we have crews out on the roads where conditions are getting worse right now. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is in the storm team 4x4 live on i-66 in fairfax county. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, aaron and eun. good morning, everybody. the difference between the treated and untreated street is dramatic. we are on 66 westbound just

outside the capital beltway right now in fairfax county. and this road has been treated. as a result you can see black tire marks down through the snow. about 20 minutes ago we showed you a live picture of wisconsin avenue in georgetown. it was coated with a quarter to half inch of snow that was absolutely stuck to the road. and there were quite a few cars and trucks that were having a very hard time negotiating the hill and the turn. you're going to want to really slow down today. one of my favorite bumper stickers better to be late mr. motorist than to be the late mr. motorist. leave early or arrive late, if you speed you will lose control and have a much worse day than being late for your meeting or late for school. the roadways are getting worse and will continue to do that before they get any better. i tweeted out a picture picture @chuckbell4 is my

twitter handle. we tweeted this out on nbcwashington.com as well. this is one knuckle deep right now. but it's not how much snow it's the fact that it is sticking to the roads. temperatures were well below freezing so what is coming down is absolutely sticking. be careful out there. the only thing sticking is you slipping and sliding if you don't slow down. >> good morning, chuck. thank you. if you live in fairfax county leaders want you to know you need to shovel your show. they put out a list saying who is responsible for that particular job. vdot will plow the roads but if you own a home or business you are responsible for shoveling or the side streets. make sure to shovel your sidewalk near fire hydrants bus stops and bike pathways nearby. 6:18 and we are seeing snow here in washington as well. richard jordan is live outside our studios in northwest. richard, good morning to you.

it's coming down behind you. it sure is eun. it is cold outside so be prepared for that. we are seeing a coating of snow at this point. much of the grass is covered. just a few spots are still untouched, but it's just a matter of time. d.c. plows are out on the streets. about 200 of them. we got an early start this morning as they work on hitting the streets, bridges and overpasses. so the district says they will take care of the streets. the d.c. residents have to take care of the sidewalk in front of your home. try to shovel off the snow so it does not get too slushy. if you drive or walk in the district today, it may take you a little while to get you where you are going because we have the snow coming down. eun, back to you inside. tom kierein is tracking this winter weather for us right now with the timing of the snow in your neighborhood coming up in a few minutes at 6:21. 6:19 and just about 6:20. taking a look at the storm team 4 radar, you can see snow

overspreading most of area but the little storm is part of a much bigger weather story across the country right now. a huge swath of the u.s. is dealing with bitter cold and snow. the weather channel's mike seidel is in columbus ohio with a look at what is happening there this morning. mike good morning. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. from columbus in the statehouse where the snow is winding down this is the tail end of the system now moving into washington with a little less oomph. in fact totals have been as much as seven inches in iowa. parts of illinois and indiana had six. in columbus three inches. enough to shut down the schools. lit wind down the dry, powdery snow. the roads have been plowed and are slushy but it is certainly passable. temperatures are cold, 15 right now with highs getting to 20. 15 degree best low average. but what the locals are bracing for is the second shot of arctic air. by thursday morning the first subzero low in columbus of the

season going down to 4 or 5 below zero. highs the next several days in the teens with windchills going down. yesterday morning in minneapolis, we are dealing with a wind which will of 30 below. this morning, aaron, it will feel like spring. the windchill is nonexistent, so it is 44 degrees warmer on the windchill scale. back to you. >> meteorologist mike seidel live in columbus ohio. thank you, mike. and jooe golfgie goff right now at the live desk. we are looking live at cape canaveral. space-x is ready in a matter of seconds to launch this rocket that has a dragging capsule attached to it. now, that capsule we are told has 5200 pounds of supplies. and it is slated to arrive at the international space station. now, if things go as planned, the capsule should connect to

that space station in a couple of days. we are seeing or thinking thursday is when that could happen. something new, space-x is trying to land part of that rocket back here on earth. now if it happens, the commercial rocket company believes this is good news as far as cutting costs to traveling states. back to you guys as we keep an eye on this. we are all keeping an eye on the snow falling across the region at this early hour. >> we'll check in with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein on the timing of this. this is not a good time for us to have this kind of weather, tom. >> this comes right during the morning commute. it's been snowing since 4:00 this morning. it's a fluffy dry snow. you can use a broom to sweep it off the sidewalk. not much as fallen with a quarter to half inch in the metro area. and the storm team 4 radar still shows most of maryland and virginia. the district and west virginia has a light snow continuing to move in from the west. it's going to continue to fall

here for another several hours. all coming from an area of low pressure out of the ohio valley where mike seidel was there in columbus and it's tapering off. it is quickly moving to the east and ending by noontime. here's the timing on this as snow continues through 9:00 to 10:00 this morning between now and then. maybe moderate at times, but then after 10:00 it will quickly taper off by noontime with a few lingering flurries. perhaps a few lingering flurries during the afternoon, but most of the accumulating snow is done by 11:00 or noontime leaving in its wake a half inch to an inch in northern virginia and nearby suburbs and virginia and the district. it is just a dusting in southern maryland and parts of northern/central virginia. a couple issues near winchester and hagerstown. the canadian valley could get five inches with the system moving through. so sweepable, fluffy dry snow between now and noontime. the impact is moderate as we are seeing it stick. so watch out for slick spots between now and noontime for the

morning commute. staying in the mid-20s. the afternoon commute, the roads should be drying out in the mid-30s under a cloudy sky. keep up with it all away from your tv with the storm team 4 weather mobile app. it is windy and colder tomorrow. frigid air arrives tomorrow. we have wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. frigid on thursday near 10:00 a.m. afternoon highs in the mid-20s. then temperatures moderate a bit friday into the weekend remaining dry with some sunshine. then above freezing temperatures during the afternoon most of the time. friday through the weekend into the first part of next week. i'm back with another update that changes minute by minute. that's coming up at 6:31. melissa, what's happening? 270 southbound near montrose has two new crashes blocking the lanes here. two reports of brand new crashes here. claredge road is shut down. randolph is your route around that. we are slow everywhere. take extra time and leave

herbally. better get there late than never. the wide look overall very very slow. almost everywhere. taking a look at 66 95 there in virginia 95 headed through dale city you're going 10 miles an hour. maryland into and out of town the same thing looking at the bw parkway. in and out of town is 15 minutes. two police officers were shot while responding to a robbery call in the bronx. take a look at the new video just into the newsroom now. our sister station in new york says one officer was shot in the arm. the other was shot in the back. both are expected to be okay. so far no arrests have been made. right now 12 aircrafts are headed to the crash site of airasia 8501. bad weather so far has made the search for survivors very difficult. 152 bodies remain missing.

the search is now extended into the java sea. divers will now resume efforts to find the wreckage of the plane. earlier this week weathers were too dangerous forcing the divers to return to land. and a first day for congress as members get back to work in the day ahead. we'll show you challenges they will face right out of the gate. for team coverage of this winter weather straight ahead, you're looking live at some of the roads around our area. we are seeing snow. more on the conditions our crews are finding and the accidents you need to be aware of. plus storm team 4 meteorologists are tracking when the winter weather moves out and the changes you'll see over the next 24 hours with your hour-by-hour forecast a

we are tracking rough weather conditions moving through the area. our road crews are finding snow pack on the roads right now. >> and things are no better in maryland as we track two new on southbound 270. slow-going there.

you'll need a lot of time to get to work and school this morning. a lot of delays just into the newsroom. arlington county schools are opening on time. and as of this point, d.c. is as well. this is the scene at 16th street and northwest at colorado avenue where snow has coated the roads there. >> and again, we are just getting this in. d.c. schools opening on time as of now. so is the federal government. if you are a government worker you can take unscheduled leave or telework to school in manassas city. the alexandria schools are delayed. in maryland montgomery county and prince george's county schools are opening two hours late. howard county and frederick county maryland schools are delayed today, too. you can check the nbc washington app, nbcwashington doom.com for all the school closings and delays. team coverage is expanding

throughout the region. we begin with tom kierein now with a change you'll see over the next 24 hours. tom, good morning. >> good morning. it's not a lot but it is enough to cause treacherous travel. i just talked to one of my coworkers who drove in from mount pleasant to northwest washington. normally you say the drive takes ten minutes but it took him 30 minutes this morning. so three times the amount of time normally it would take for you to get from point a to point b due to the light coating of snow. we are seeing this on the radar heading in from the west and the east across washington into maryland and the district. we are going to continue to see this for another few hours. we have a large area under a winter weather advisory for the light snow. all of northern virginia most of west virginia and maryland and the district. it's in effect until 1:00 this afternoon. this is a sweepable dry snow. we could pick up one to two inches. and it may be moderate at times between now and 9:00. after that lit quickly taper off leaving in its wake an inch of the metro area.

farther north and west we are seeing a dusting of two to five inches. enough for treacherous travel. we have reports of side streets and -- [ no audio ] >> another update coming in ten minutes. we are continuing to monitor the roads this morning as they are a mess. megan mcgrath has been monitoring i-270 this morning. it is slow-going out there. >> reporter: yeah we have now changed location again, aaron. we are on 355. take a look at the live road camera here. you can get a live look at what the conditions are like. we have snow crossing the lanes here. it has been treated and there are spots where you can see the pavement coming through, but certainly we are starting to see the snow packing down making for

some pretty slippery conditions out here. a couple of times our anti-lock brakes have kicked in here especially coming up to a stop sign or stoplight. there was an instance where they came down the hill to definitely kick in because of slippery conditions out there. we saw a car spin around and facing the wrong way in the ditch. so very slippery conditions on the major roadways, that was 270. the untreated surfaces the neighborhood roads, your roads around the schools this morning, they are going to be even in worse condition. so take it easy out there. very very slick. and i believe we have that picture there of the incident i was talking about on 270. now with more on the fender-benders we are seeing i'm going to send it to melissa. thank you, megan. this morning more breaking news. we're talking about connecticut

avenue right there at the kensington-bethesda border. we have all lanes blocked there. your alternate is rockville pike to work around that mess. here this morning, 270 southbound near montrose road as we mentioned a bit ago, we have to crashes in the southbound lanes. so it will be very slow there as well. just adding to the mess here. wider look at things we are yellow and red almost everywhere right now. top of the beltway very slow. 295 headed into town from either way is slow. 66 here at you head into town slow as well. the beltway at central avenue is not looking so bad. that is not terrible. you can see the traffic slowing pretty well there but we have wet roads taking a wider look here. you can see what a mess it will be and how long it will take to get into town. taking a look at 66 zooming into town i sped this up a little bit so you can see the red and yellow all the way in. nothing green. you're running about 20 miles per hour there. at this point this morning, 95 is slow as well through dale

city. northbound 15 miles per hour. thank you. 6:35 now. and right now the polls are open in virginia's 34th district. voters deciding on who is going to replace barbara comestock now in congress. kathleen murphy is running in the district. this extends to the spring hill area of fairfax county. polls stay open until 7:00 tonight. the son of the late marion marry wants to fill his father's seat in ward 8. he says the legacy continues in a tweet yesterday. he owns a small painting company with little political experience but always wanted to carry on his father's work. barry filed paper yesterday. a challenge could be his record. the younger barry has been arrested three times on drug and traffic charges. he's currently on probation. it's a special election for april 28th. 6:36. we are days away from learning whether d.c. moves a step closer to hosting the 2024 olympics.

the u.s. committee is expected to announce the whipping bid on thursday. d.c. is competing with boston san francisco and los angeles. the winning city will compete with others around the world then. they will choose a host city in 2017. we have been telling you all morning, pack your patience on the roadways as we see a number of accidents out there already. we are tracking conditions on the roads and the trouble spots ahead. this system is moving quickly through the d.c. area dropping snow fairly steadily. tom kierein is here with what you need

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as you head out the door the snow is coming down steadily creating slick conditions out there. >> we have crews out on the roads in virginia and maryland to help you prepare before you get behind the wheel. first, storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is

here with your what to wear forecast. it is cold enough for the snow to stick. it is 20 degrees now. we have a band of moderate snow fauquier county to eastern culpeper that will be tracking right into the metro area in another half hour by 7:00 this morning. that will be moving on through. temperatures are only near 20 degrees. so dress accordingly today. you will need the warmest winter gear. you won't need the sunglasses as we stay cloudy after the snow ends. hats gloves mittens, a warm coat and scarf. it's going to be cold in the low to mid-20s between now and noontime. then low 30s during the afternoon. so a total of an inch in the metro area. more farther north and south, a little less farther south and east. a look at when the much colder air arrives in the next weather and traffic on the 1s at 6:51. melissa, multiple accidents right? a big problem here as we talk breaking news right now. this is southbound at the beltway. we'll pull this down with all lanes blocked. your alternate is just a mess

this morning. as we look at the mess it is red and yellow almost everywhere. inbound 95 in maryland, very slow all the way down to the outer loop of the beltway. and the bw parkway outbound and inbound right there at the beltway, very slow as well if you take the bw parkway. a warning there. 66 eastbound from fairfax county parkway to the beltway, 25 minutes. 395 northbound taking you 33 minutes to get from the beltway to the bridge. 95 north, the worst spot in the area. quantico to the beltway, an hour and a half instead of 23 minutes. one of the worst times i have seen to this point. 270 southbound germantown road to the beltway, 45 minutes. that should take you 12 minutes. and taking a look at the outer loop 95 at 270, instead of ten minutes lit take you 38. allow four more times than you typically would today. it is very slow. melissa, thank you. the drop in temperatures could lead to another spike in flu cases. cold weather tends to keep more people inside as students are back in school. both add to the potential for

germs to spread. today in the centers for disease control, they say the flu season could peak in january instead of february or march. to minimize the spread of the flu, holy cross hospital in silver spring and germantown are implementing new restrictions for hospital visitors. giving your kids the chance to sleep in. the potential changes coming to montgomery county. and be prepared to see snow in your neighborhood as we track conditions on the roads and the trouble spots just ahead.

snow is coming down steadily across the area creating slick conditions. we have crews out in virginia and maryland to help prepare you before you get behind the wheel. and take a look at the storm system building up snow across the area with teams on the road to show you the conditions. but checking the conditions before you head out the door take a look at this. this is 66 outside. it looks pretty rough. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is driving 66 with more on the conditions. chuck, how is it going out there? >> reporter: well, eun, we are still on the westbound side of the road where traffic is very light. on the opposite side of the median eastbound traffic is moving at a snail's pace. we are on i-66 near the manassas

exit. exit to 47 is the one we just passed. exit 44 is the one right in front of us. that's the prince william county parkway. so this is a very long slow drive for everybody going back into town this morning. you're going to want to leave extra early if you can because the roads out here are, even though they are treated, they are definitely snow covered right now and on the slippery side. we have seen quite a few cars split out into the medians around here. i tweeted out the pictures. there's -- oh yeah the guy we were just passing on the right-hand side just slid off the road. so you really need to take it easy. folks in pickup trucks often feel invincible because they are driving a truck and will do just fine. but without slowing down you're putting yourself at great amounts of risk. even at 8 miles an hour we were

barely able to keep it from slipping and sliding around. be careful this morning. as a reminder the speed limit is as fast as you can drive this morning. it is slippery out here. visibility is somewhat reduced but really the iciness on the roads that you need to be careful of. no more than 25 to 35 miles an hour. we are on the light traffic side of i-66 westbound. but that whole 66 eastbound ride now from prince william county all the way to the capitolal beltway is bumper to bumper and only moving 8 to 9 miles an hour. be careful, everybody. >> best advise from chuck there. we are watching to see if the weather will impact metro this morning. so far the agency says it should not affect trains. however, some bus lines are running 20 minutes late because of the conditions on the roads right now. other crashes are delaying bus lines up to 30

minutes. now the snow is the first test of the year for area crews. and in maryland crews did what they could early pretreating major roads with salt brine to make plowing easier. in virginia loudoun county used salt brine and 500 trucks are ready to plow in prince william, loudoun and arlington counties. they will begin to plow when two inches have accumulated. d.c. counties applied a sugar beet juice mixture on the roadways yesterday. richard jordan is live outside the studios right now. how is it looking? >> reporter: the snow just keeps on coming down. if you did park in the district tonight, you will have to brush off that coating of snow on your windshield before you get out to hit the roads. d.c. has about 200 plows that will be out on the streets today. they have not gotten all the roads just yet, but they are working on it. you're still going to find only snow-covered roads all across the district to make it

difficult to get around. if you live in d.c. you have likely noted all the christmas trees thrown out on the curb. those may stick around longer than expected because the same people who operate the plows are the ones who take care of the trees. so they may not get to them today. later on d.c. mayor muriel bowser will talk about this and the week ahead with the colder temperatures planned for the district and how the district plans to tackle that. back inside to you. and storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is tracking what is next for us as this snow moves out and when you'll see temperatures fall in your neighborhood. that's coming right up at 6:51. the arctic weather is bringing snow and frigid temperatures to upstate new york dylan dryer is joining us live from syracuse with a look ats there. wow, look at the snow behind you there. >> reporter: yes, and i got here when all the snow was falling that fell in a short period of time. we have 8 to 12 inches here

north of syracuse. when i landed here the sun was out. so that's the nature of lake-effect snow. we were trying to get in a band of lake-effect snow this morning, but it has pushed farther to the north. in fact lit shut off today as the clipper moves through. the same one to bring you snow down in your area. but then it's going to fire up again later on today. and then it will last through friday. we could end up with additional 1 to 2 feet of snow. but this area can handle it. the roads are already clear and cars are going by just fine but there's still a lot to clean up when we factor in the cold. especially by thursday morning. here we could see windchills down around 15 to 20 below zero. so we've got the snow but it's dealing with the cold that will be the hardest part, aaron. >> dylan dryer live in syracuse new york. thank you. she is a trooper. they send her out with all the snow. she's good at reporting it too. >> we are still waiting for snow to accumulate in our area.

just a little bit, right is this. >> this is worse than a 6-inch snowfall. two inches is not enough to plow and enough cars are out there to compact it down to a sheet of ice. and it is sweepable, dry snow. so pack it while you can. your sidewalks your front steps, get out the broom and sweep it off now as more is on the way. right now we have had a quarter to half inch around the metro area but that's enough for all the slick and treacherous conditions. there's one band of moderate snow now in fauquier county. just exiting culpeper and about to come into prince william in five to ten minutes. after that, it is moving into fairfax, the district and prince george's. and southern maryland they have not had much yet. you'll feet the band coming in about 20 minutes now from charles and st. mary's county. this is all associated with a low pressure exiting ohio and tracking through us here and quickly exited by noontime. look how cold it is just near 20 degrees for most of the

region. it is just freezing solid when it lands. and we've got this big area under winter weather advisory with the areas in purple west virginia northern virginia the district and maryland. this is in effect until 1:00 this afternoon. snow moderate at times, one to two inches and a sweepable, dry snow. we can deal with it but the problem is it is just enough to coat everything. but not quite enough for the plows to really make much of a dent in it. and all it needs is salt but with so many people on the roads, it is hard to get the trucks out with the salt. we'll have this off and on through 10:00 this morning. by noontime, most of it is over. maybe a few lingering flurries into the afternoon. a few passing lighter snow showers coming through. all of it dissipating. then overnight tonight, maybe a few more snow showers out in the mountains where they may pick up as much as five inches. i just heard from a weather watcher in garrett county two inches there. farther south and east a half

inch to an inch from nearby suburbs to northern virginia the district into maryland, and just a dusting in southern maryland as some of the snow bands come through here over the next hour or so. and the morning commute is going to be really slick. keep one the weather when you are mobile with the storm team 4 weather app. then gusty winds and frigid air tomorrow. very cold on thursday with highs only in the mid-20s. a little milder on friday into the weekend and remaining dry. breaking news on the roads with melissa. still have this problem on connecticut avenue southbound at the beltway. we have a pole down with all lanes blocked. the alternate is rockville pike. i've been tweeting about that and pushing alerts out. 270 southbound at montrose road. we have two crashes there making things very slow. if you think about the alternate, that is okay. 355 is slow too. megan mcgrath is here in maryland. southbound you're jamming southbound at the bw parkway. headed out of town slow at the

beltway. then you open to 40 miles per hour. and indian head highway northbound the ramp to the outer loop we have some of the lanes blocked because of an earlier crash. and this accident that was the outer loop at branch avenue is now cleared and out of the way. the woodrow wilson bridge into virginia here, a problem in the center lane as we see that on the camera. 66 13 miles per hour into town. the alternate is randolph road. i'm going to take a breath now. >> it is one of those mornings now. thank you, melissa. all morning long you will be dealing with complete lane closures on i-66. vdot is installing new extra informative overhead signs. so take a look at the map. each marker shows where all lanes in one direction will be closed for this work. it is all happening on different night this is month. tonight, some time after midnight the westbound lanes at route 28 will be closed. we are told the closures won't last for more than 30 minutes at

a time. it is now 6:55. today we'll learn whether virginia's former governor heads to prison. bob mcdonnell's sentencing hearing starts in a few hours from now. mcdonnell and his wife maureen were found guilty of corruption and found guilty of trading political influence for more than $150,000 in gifts. hundreds of the mcdonnell's family members and friends wrote to the judge on his behalf including his sister also named maureen. she told northern virginia bureau chief julie carey her thoughts about this. >> something that i'm not sure really came out during the trial which was the kind of man bob mcdonnell really is and the humanizing of bob about the random acts of kindness. >> maureen mcdonnell bob mcdonnell's wife won't be sentenced until next month. as for bob mcdonnell the legal experts say they are expecting some kind of prison sentence but not the ten years prosecutors are asking for. congress is in charge of the house and the senate on

the agenda with a showdown of democrats over the long delayed keystone xl pipe line. the gop wants to push it through the house later the week. then the senate where there now appears to be enough votes to pass it. house speaker john boehner will face a charge from louis gohmert from texas in his bid as speaker. superintendent joshua starr will present several options for changing the bell times at the school districts. as soon as we learn about the new possibilities, we'll post them on our website. we'll have a chance to let you voice your opinion on the school board decision in a few weeks. angie goff with new photos of what you're seeing right outside your window right outside your door. these photos into the live desk. shawna say ss these are her lights. how pretty is that? this is deceptive, we are seeing

spinouts this morning. this just into the live desk 21 traffic accidents so far. already reported in northern virginia. most of them on 495 and springfield. and 95 making your way to prince william county. looking at more photos here from viewers, keep them coming. we love to share what is going on where you live. back to you. thank you, angie. let's check in once again with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein now on the weather alert day. tom, what is going on? >> right now we have around our region the snow continuing to fall. we will have this snowfall with us into the afternoon hours. and early afternoon it will be ending. right now getting the snow tracking from west to east. we have one band of moderate snow here in western loudoun county across fauquier, and coming into prince william county. that's going to be tracking into the metro area from the west. also coming into southern maryland where they have not already had anything yet this morning, but that one band is going to put down a quick look there. we have a half inch around the

metro area to continue to move off to the east and will continue to see this passing through from time to time into the afternoon hours. it will really taper off quickly. and then we get some much colder air beginning to move in with temperatures hovering right around 20 degrees. so what is falling is certainly sticking. up to an inch by the time it ends in the metro area. melissa, what is happening on the roads? just a mess everywhere. i want to show you the travel time now. the worst in the area. 95 northbound from quantico to the beltway. should take you 23 minutes. it will take you an hour and 40 minutes. it might be a day to go into work later. avoid the roads altogether or consider paying the tolls for the express lanes. 270 south from germantown to the beltway should take you 12 minutes, but it is taking close to an hour. pack the patience. look at the map right now, really slow all over the place. lots of red, lots of yellow. again, pack the patience. it's going to take a lot of extra time. a live picture here of 66 at lee highway.

the snow covered roads are treated, all of the main ones but still it is messy and yucky. be careful. >> thank you marx police melissa. normally we would be leaving you, but we are going to stay on to bring you all the team coverage you need. >> crews are fanning out across the region to give you an idea of what it looks like on the roads. this comes at a tough time. stay with us here on "news4 today."

quickly be putting a quarter to half inch in the metro area. our southern suburbs, really not much snow yet. right now near 20 degrees. all of this is sticking. we've got a big area of winter weather advisory includes all areas in lavender purple in effect until 1:00 maryland north virginia west virginia and the district. and we will have about an inch or so of sweepable dry snow on the system as it comes through. melissa, how are the roads now? >> pretty much a mess. breaking news all over the place, 270 montrose two earlier crashes causing a