news 4 begins now with storm team 4. right now at 11:00, it is really nasty out there. roads are covered with snow. but more importantly, it is really slippery. the snow continues to fall.

the federal government is shutting down and we have a long list of school closings. >> here's a live look in d.c. right now city crews are all over the streets working in shifts to make sure everyone is safe. good evening, everyone. i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim vance. for an awful lot of people in the area this is the biggest snowstorm of the season. you're looking at springfield, virginia right there. 395 and 95 i think. the roads, the interstates, all roads covered in snow. >> so much snow federal government offices are closing tomorrow. we also have a long list of school closings. d.c. prince george's county montgomery county fairfax and prince william county all planning to close tomorrow. you can see the full list of school closings at the bottom of your screen. >> team coverage tonight. we've got crews all over the place, but we're going to begin with doug. doug as i understand it heavy stuff hasn't really come down yet. >> no i think we are going to get some o of the heavier snow through the overnight hours tonight. we did have one heavy band that

brought one to two inches of snow quickly. that moved out. then we've seen a lull in the action. we still have that lull back towards the west. it was over d.c. earlier but now starting to fill in just a little bit across the area. the one region that has not seen that lull is down to the south. we told you all day this would be the bull's-eye south and east of the metro d.c. area. you see this wide area open up of drier air. i'm waiting on this batch right back to the west here. this is what i think will come in and help to refill this area as we move on through the rest of the overnight hours. because of that though we are looking at and revising our snow totals just a little bit. but here's what to expect. watching the lull the roads, though they are still a mess. we have already gotten quite a few inches. we still think there will be 4 to 8 inches for the morning. we'll talk much more about that. but right now veronica johnson outside. we've seen it go from very heavy snow in northwest d.c. to very light snow and not what you have

out there. >> reporter: just snow grains. just a little bit of what maybe is a grapple mix starting to fall. but now the moisture trying to get back into the syst -- well there's been a wide range throughout the area. take a look because right here on the storm team 4 weather deck we've got 2 inches. four at the national zoo, frederick maryland with 4.3 in fredericksburg virginia. south is where we'll see the higher totals. temperatures all day long have been around the teens. we've we're seeing a temperature rise 16 in frederick, maryland 16 in fredericksburg. all day tomorrow temperatures will stay below freezing as that snow wraps up early tomorrow morning. still slick, icy spots with travel difficult for the morning rush. >> again, we have revised the snowfall totals just a little bit. we'll talk much more about that coming up at around 11:15. >> thank you, doug. snow blanketed the roads

making it tough for fire crews to get to a burning home this evening. news 4's jackie bensen continues our team coverage in waldorf maryland where the slippery conditions are creating a major mess. jackie? >> reporter: doreen roads are snow covered. visibility is reduced and emergency crews have been going nonstop. there's no such thing as a snow delay when it comes to the business of saving lives. but the snow that blanketed charles county maryland tonight, forced volunteer firefighters to reduce to safe speeds to get to the scene of a townhouse fire in waldorf. a woman who lives in the home suffered what are described as nonlife-threatening burn injuries and was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. >> the weather did play a role in response times as units were taking their time and making sure they arrived safely in order to be effective here on the fire ground. >> reporter: as it began snowing around 4:30 p.m. road conditions deteriorated quickly. motorists on branch avenue and crane highway were forced to

slow to a crawl. as the asphalt became snow covered and road markings disappeared. because it was so cold every snowflake stuck to the ground creating slippery conditions that caused numerous accidents. >> just like this is maybe a piece of ice, because i was going like 20 miles an hour but it just slid into the curb. >> reporter: many made a last stop at the supermarket before going home. >> getting these last things making sure my family will be comfortably for -- i don't know, hopefully we'll be in tomorrow and the next day. >> reporter: back live now. take a look down here. this is kind of different. we don't get to see snow like this very often in this area. doug and veronica look how light. it's almost like fake snow. but it's not. it's cold and there's a good 3 to 4 inches of it here. >> thanks jackie. road crews do have a tough task ahead of them tonight.

you're looking at 395 and 495 in springfield. there's a state of emergency declared in virginia. 12,000 plows and trucks will be deployed there. more than 200 plows have been on the d.c. streets since this afternoo about 2500 plows and trucks are hitting the roads in maryland tonight. >> if you're hoping to avoid the roads and take metro instead, well here's a heads-up. metro rail will be running on a saturday schedule tomorrow but you're going to pay weekday fares and if you plan to take metro bus expect limited operations. starting tonight the buses will operate on major roadways only. and metroaccess service is suspended tomorrow. and a warning for people who live in the district. if your car is parked along a snow emergency route, you need to move it by 7:00 tomorrow morning or risk getting ticketed and towed. the mayor declared a snow emergency, which means trucks will be out early clearing streets. for a look at the district's map go to nbcwashington.com and

search for emergency road. offices will be open in prince william county in virginia but it could be a little tough getting there. shomari stone is in woodbridge right now where it's been tough getting ar. shomari? >> reporter: as much as she wants to be at home and not on snow covered roads nell king couldn't resist pulling over to comfort a stranded driver. >> i wanted to help him. he looks, you know i saw him come out of the car, i didn't see any flashers on and he seemed shook up. >> reporter: she called 911 after the teen lost control and hit this concrete barrier in woodbridge virginia. >> both of his air bags deployed and he bounced off and after that he wasn't very with it. >> reporter: tonight v-dot has deployed salt trauks to treat the roads. most drivers say they've done a relatively good road. this sign on prince william parkway warns icy conditions are

possible. possible. snow is expected to fall overnight. >> not too bad if you maintain and don't speed. >> reporter: i talked to chief meteorologist doug kammerer he tells me this is a light, fluffy type snow. so when you clean it off the windshield like i'm doing here make sure you also remove it off the top of your car so that when you're driving it doesn't blow off and distract other drivers. nell king cleaned it off and she's happy the driver she helped is okay. >> i think he's going to be all right. >> reporter: why? >> he's a good kid. he went to work and this is what happened. >> we're not the only ones dealing with this winter weather. almost 50 million people are in the path of this storm. including folks down south. kentucky for example, might get the worst of it. up to 15 inches of snow possible there. and according to the website flightaware, which puts up what they call a misery map, it could be tough to get out of town

tomorrow to catch a plane, i mean nearly a thousand flights have already been canceled tomorrow nationwide. about 150 of those cancellations are in the d.c. and baltimore area. the storm also has amtrak operating on a modified schedule. getting around anywhere is going to be hard. as scott mcfarland shows us some people traveling to d.c. decided to just pull over for the night. >> here in greensberg pennsylvania people worked through the night to keep the main streets passable. but the pennsylvania turnpike was an absolute mess. we saw cars slipping and sliding and here in breezewood we saw not only the truck stops full up but the hotels too. they had an unexpected surge of reservations earlier this evening when drivers headed to d.c. or maryland realized they couldn't make it any farther. >> we'll be tracking this storm all night and well into the morning so be sure to wake up

early with us. it starts at 4:00 a.m. with the latest delays cancellations and road conditions. next at 11:00, a state of emergency in west virginia. a train derailed and then exploded into a ball of fire. awful lot of damage left behind there. we'll tell you what witnesses say happened. >> keeping d.c. roads passable. it all starts here. plus d.c. taxis under an emergency fare plan. just how much extra it will cost you to get home in the snow. and we want you to stay ahead of the storm. so during the break you're invited to download the storm team 4 app. it's free in the app store. we invite you to

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there is a fire still burning out of control on the banks of a river in west virginia. it happened after a train derailed and then exploded. more than 100 tanker cars were carrying crude oil. at least 14 of them caught fire. one of them ended up in the cono wa river. this happened not far from charleston west virginia. one house was destroyed by one of those tanker cars and the fire that ensued. we only learned of one injury. >> we were standing on the river bank when we saw the train explode or a car explode and it shot up about as high as those flames are now, like that. >> more than 200 people have been evacuated from that area. a thousand homes are now without

power. water treatment plant in the area has been shut down. the concern is that the water might now be contaminated. are you planning to hail a cab to try to navigate in the snow? be prepared to cough up an extra 15 bucks. the d.c. taxicab commission is putting its snow emergency fare plan into effect from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. you'll have to pay your fare plus $15. the commission wants to give cab drivers an incentive to remain in service. the extra fare could be extended depending on weather conditions. more than 280 trucks will be deployed in the district tonight to clear as many streets as possible. derrick ward in northeast d.c. now with that massive operation there. >> reporter: good evening, jim. you see the snow has lightened up a bit, but not all the tiflt here at this salt zone in northeast. it's the d-dot facility. there's been a constant circle of trucks coming around here to

get their load of sand. they line up then they deploy out on to the streets. and it's a good thing because we'll show you some of the road conditions. these are road conditions early on in this storm. this is going up 395 headed toward the third street tunnel. you see those roads have been treated chemically and you just have tracks at about 9:30 and 10:00 we started to see the first trucks put their blade down. they're coming back here and getting more salt and sand and going back on the streets. there have been challenges for people who were out in the street. we were telling people to stay inside. an apartment building in southeast had actually lost its heat for a couple of hours. we got there and the resident told us they had the heat back. that's certainly good news for them as people are going to be staying in there with school closings and government closings but again the activity here has not let up at all. they are taking breaks to make sure they're rested and not too fatigued to be out there on the

street. you can see there's a lot going on here. these people will be out overnight well into morning. you see that line of trucks waiting to go out and deploy to make it safer going emergency for emergency equipment and things like that and if you can stay off and give these guys room to do their job and make it sap for everybody. derrick ward news 4. >> that's very good advice. hopefully people will listen. we were talking a little bit ago if we were at a ski resort this would be perfect snow. >> this is great show. >> light, fluffy powdery. >> that's what you want to see if you're at a ski resort. or not. >> or not. too bad about that. >> we're reminded about that all the time. the roads, they are a mess across the area. they'll continue to be. but this is a very light, fluffy snow. the kids off from school tomorrow not going to be the best for making those snowmen or even those snow forts across our region. right now storm team 4 radar showing that we're still dealing with the snow across the area. it is starting to fill back in.

but you notice the holes here. some of the area from montgomery county annapolis to fredericksburg. take away the snow and just show you the reflectivity here. what that means is showing you exactly where it's falling. the darker the green, the heavier the snow. so frederick county seeing pretty good snow up towards martinsburg back to the west then down to the south in through portions of the southern maryland area. but notice the holes here back around d.c. back down through sterling up towards dulles a lot of holes around the region. we have seen that lull in the action. now one thing i am expecting, this back edge right here once this back edge moves in i do expect to see a little explosion as far as the snow is concerned. so this is going to fill back in parts of the region. but one region that's not seen the lull is down around the neck in fredericksburg. the winter storm warnings are still in effect until noon tomorrow. we also told you earlier at 6:00 didn't really buy the warning up into this area. i don't think you're going to

meet that criteria being five inches of snow. i don't think you'll get it up there. let's talk who will get what. we'll see where we are around midnight tonight, notice the snow not much going around north. a lot of snow to the south. same deal around 3:00 a.m. it will fill back in for everybody around that 3:00 a.m. hour. then it quickly moves out and by 7:00 we're out of here. we're dealing with cold weather and bad roadways and those kids that don't have school tomorrow. throughout the day, cold air and temperatures that will stay in the below freezing. anything that we get will continue to stick around. 2 to 4 inches. the only real difference is i've just moved these lines down a little bit. we never bought those higher totals around the d.c. area. 6 inches was high as we went. frederick frederick, leesburg still in play gaithersburg fairfax, manassas 4 to 6 inches and some

areas have already seen close to that. we'll see another 1 to 2 inches overnight. 6 to 10 down to the south. fredericksburg close to 4, colonial beach 6 inch, then calvert beach, the vam deal. another 2, potentially 3 inches down to the south. so the impact overnight is going to stay on the high side. the roads are terrible. sniff delays. significant disruptions. give yourself lots of extra time tomorrow. as we mentioned the last couple of day, winter just getting started with a 31 for a high tomorrow. wednesday we see another chance of snow it will bring in more arctic air, may be colder than it was this morning. down to 8 in d.c., 10 onned from friday then another chance of snow mixing with sleet and freezing rain on sunday. maybe just some rain. again, that's something we're going to continue to watch as another storm system moves in. but we're in the thick of it for sure right here in the month o

february. >> i don't see much opportunity for melting in that seven-day forecast. >> there's not one. >> that's what i was afraid of. thank you, doug. next at 11:00, who is up for a snowball fight? the big battle that could draw a lot of people to d.c. in sports neither snow nor ice nor even panthers can slo

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tonight one person is dead after a serious wreck on the governor thomas johnson bridge in calvert county. investigators say a car lost control on the bridge and was t-boned by a jep just after 6:30 tonight. the driver of the car later died at the hospital. the bridge is back open now. days after somebody stole a food truck in alexandria it has

been found. the satay truck was reported stolen on saturday. it's now covered in blue spray paint. somebody spot that truck today at the shopping center in forestville. he called the cops. that, though, is the same street where another stolen food truck was found three months ago. a pipe burst here at the benington apartment in silver spring today creating icicles on the balconies. water from the break flooded out apartments on one side of the building. the building was later able to get the water turned off. montgomery county is handling dozens of frozen or broken sprinkler pipes and expects to deal with many more in the coming days. it used to be just a social media thing, but now there's an organization called d.c. snowball fight association. they're hosting what they call a snowball fight tomorrow at is 11:00 on dupont circle. the deal is folks, you need to know this before you go down there, this is not snowball snow. but they're doing it at 11:00

tomorrow morning, so if you want to give it a shot go for it. >> what do you have to say? >> do it without gloves. >> brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. >> there you go. yes. it's that light. >> march madness coming up but not yet. in the meantime -- >> going to win it. >> those teams never pull it all the way out. >> march madness less than a month away. the university of virginia men's will be looking to win their first national championship if they keep playing the way they have, this could be a reality this season even snow down in charlottesville couldn't slow down the cavs neither could pitt. first up pass and stops, knocks down three. uv up 10 at halftime. second half while bringing the deep end, atkins comes up with

the huge dunk. cavs take advantage. he drives to the rack but ten points six assists for him. brogdon has been sensational this season. put some love on that one. 18 points. justin anderson all into that right there. virginia's 69-41 win over pittsburgh. cavs now best start in school history. keep it going. to the women. maryland on the road at michigan state. second half three-point game. pass to heir yellaerial powers. just go down low to brianna jones. 17 points 11 boards for jones. later in the half this one still

close and you can't give lexie brown this much room. she had 14 points. maryland goes on to win it 75-69. 17-game win streak. >> you go girls.

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one made with only real cheese. a pizza my family will love. (announcer) freschetta naturally rising crust pizza. freschetta. made better to taste better. we recap some things you need to know. the federal government will be closed tomorrow as will major school districts including d.c. prince george's montgomery fairfax and prince william counties. metro rail operating on saturday schedule. metro bus will be limited.

metroaccess service is suspended for the day. news 4 today team will be here early in the morning. the latest on the forecast road conditions closings and delays that starts at 4:00. >> more snow coming overnight. when is it going to stop? >> i think it's over here by around 6:00 in the morning. if you can wait until 7:00 8:00 the main roads will be a lot better off. the secondary roads will be a big issue. the snow has filled back in. we're seeing the heavier snow moving through downtown. take a look at the radar, white everywhere. a few areas need to fill back in. you can see what's happening on the back side. a little bit of a lull then that lull starting to come to an end. we'll see a burst of heavier snow in the next couple of hours from i-95 down to the south and east. you need to know this, 16 early tomorrow morning with snow ending but 16 degrees going up to a high of 31. that means things will stay slick all day long.

give yourself extra time. more arctic air moving in over the next couple of days. >> not good for making snowballs and snowmen, but lighter to shovel. >> lighter to shovel and not bad for sledding. >> we're still waiting.

>> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- edward norton, craig robinson musical guests, chris brown and