llege park campus. the outages were all over our region stretching as far north as college park and as far south as charles and st. mary's counties. >> nearly 900 pepco customers are still without power. smeco, which covers southern maryland says it restored power at 2:00. at one point nearly 20,000 people were without electricity. >> news4 has live team coverage tonight. we have a new explanation from utility officials. we begin with tom sherwood live in dupont circle with new details. >> reporter: the power outage disrupted metro, the workday, and special events. oprah winfrey was at the warner theater downtown celebrating a new maya angelou stamp when the power went out. crowd in the dark remained calm. the program finished. first lady michelle obama was whisked away by the secret service. the crowd praised oprah's

response. >> it was amazing. she took the stage and just went to handle it. >> if you decide to go back in please do not take the elevator. >> reporter: across pennsylvania avenue d.c. government officials calmly evacuated the john wilson building that went dark. >> we experienced the power being out and we were told to evacuate the building and i haven't heard any additional news since. we're just waiting on when we can either go back into the building -- >> reporter: all around downtown emergency vehicles checked out buildings. at the national academy of science on fifth street one i.t. worker thought something worse was happening. >> we were just inside working and the power went out. so we decided to come out to see what was going on. last time that kind of happened we had an earthquake so -- >> reporter: oh. >> yeah. >> reporter: on the national mall tourists were asked to leave darkened museums including the museum of the american indian. >> we were just sitting down to eat and the fire alarm went off and they notified everybody to evacuate the building.

>> reporter: and here at the dupont metro, austin texas, tourists hiked the long way up the es kaloi lei or the. >> a gentleman that couldn't get up at all was stuck down there because the elevators are out. >> these are some of the deepest vail or thes in washington right here. >> we've been told. >> reporter: as you know if you've used this dupont circle escalator, it's a long way up when you have to walk. back to you. >> it is a quad workout. tom sherwood in dupont circle for us. a lot of people wondering now just how a problem in southern maryland could impact so many important buildings and offices in d.c. it was just before 1:00 this afternoon when a large piece of equipment crashed to the ground at a substation in mechanicsville. that tripled a ripple effect all the way into the district. jackie bensen live outside pepco headquarters with what pepco is saying now. jackie? >> reporter: jim, that ripple effect i think rattled a lot of people in this city.

because of the magnitude of the buildings and businesses the business of government that it affected the white house, the state department. we asked pepco about this. we asked them what is in place to ensure that a piece of equipment in charles county isn't going to be somehow cause something very catastrophic in the district. sean kelly from pepco had this statement. "in washington, d.c. the power generation is fed from the outside. so when a fault occurs on a transmission line this size it creates a ripple effect that can impact customers tied to the grid. customers who have a backup system that senses low voltage, which are purposely sense tich and designed to assess risk those systems did their job and switched to backup. what i can tell you from talking to a number of people today on background from some of these large institutions is that they got a chance today to see how well their generators part of

their safety system in the event of a failure, whether it's caused by a piece of equipment or something more sinister how well their systems worked and it's something they're looking at. at the pentagon right now, the commander of norad was asked about the power issue. he said he'll be looking in to see how backup systems worked today and he'll be making sure the redundancy in infrastructure in the nation's capital is where it needs to be. students at the university of maryland are tweeting us and posting pictures on our nbc washington facebook page. they're showing us the moments the lights went out from the student union to a starbucks that was closed because it had no power. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins just broke the news on twitter that power has been restored to the campus. he she's got the latest now. >> reporter: power has fully been restored all over the university of maryland and there are a lot of students who are looking at their microwaves thinking what am i going to eat tonight if this thing does not

start working? well you've got your power back. a lot has been happening in the student union where we found one of the students trapped in an elevator earlier today when the power went out. let me show you what it looked like. these were the firefighters as they left the student union after helping to get that student out. they had about half a dozen calls throughout the university. good news is no injuries in any of this. we were seeing dark classrooms here computers not working, everything because there was absolutely no power. when we talked to students on campus, here's what they had to say about where they were when the lights went out. >> my computer and phone are almost dead and i have two tests tomorrow. it's all on like that stuff. >> at first i thought it was just a little outage far second. then all of a sudden the alarms started going off. so, you know all of us were evacuated. >> i was really hoping my class would get canceled because it's a two-hour lecture all on power

point. so i was on my way to class and my friend texted me and said i got to class and there's no light and it's canceled. >> reporter: the president of the university actually closed the university at 2:00 p.m. and it's going to remain closed for the rest of the evening. but the good thing about that power being back on is that now so much of what these kids need to study is actually online so they can get a lot of that work done they were afraid they would not have an opportunity to get done here at the university of maryland. they're also saying they should have hot water by the end of this evening. more coming up on news4 at 6:00. back to you in the studio. >> you can see more of the impact from today's power problems on your cell phone if it still has power. this is at the national portrait gallery. we even show you how some people had fun with social media. search outage on our nbc washington app. and we continue to follow a developing story that we first told you about an hour ago. crews are testing the escalators at the bethesda metro station, but it's still not open to

customers. trains began bypassing the station after the escalators went out during the rhee region-wide power outage. now that the power is back up the escalators are running but metro wants to make sure it's operating correctly. the escalators are operating correctly before allowing passengers back inside the station. this comes after reports of smoke in the tunnel this morning at the same station. montgomery county fire tweeted that there was smoke in the tunnel between metro -- bethesda rather and medical center. a metro spokesperson says crews found and removed an arcing insulator from the tracks. trains were single tracking but normal service was quickly restored. turning to storm team 4. showers, possibly a few rumbles of thunder rolling through the dmv tonight. veronica johnson is tracking the rain for us now. hi v.j. >> that i am. keeping a close eye on storm team 4 radar where we saw a little lightning off to the west.

i-66 pretty good moderate rainmaking its way eastward in the next couple minutes, from millwood and huntley east towards marshall middleburgh and halfway in the next couple minutes. earlier i saw a little lightning. not seeing that right now. but it extend towards big spring and hamburg in virginia headed toward areas like luray, wakefield manor in the next 15 to 20 minutes. good thing with all the power outages this was not a day in the middle of summer. no high heat but plenty warm 70 in d.c. 70 in fredericksburg 73 in frederick, maryland. we'll see the temperatures come down. mid-60s with showers at 11:00. more rain and much cooler. i'll show you how long we'll stay locked into this wet pattern. once that rain moves in. those who knew him called him a good kid. tonight the search is on for the person who gunned down a 16-year-old outside an apartment complex here along 37th street

in southeast d.c. news4's pat collins is there. >> reporter: he was 16 years old. he was getting ready to go back to high school. he was shot and killed here on 37th street. a street that's no stranger to violence. when officials boast about the economic development in the city of washington it's not likely they'll show pictures of the 300 block of 37th street southeast. sure the gleaming washington nationals baseball academy is here. but a half block away you don't have to go far to find a neighborhood in decay where shoes in the sky draped over power lines mark the violent history here. >> this is the death zone. so many innocent kids getting killed around here. and they ain't doing nothing about it. they're not. >> reporter: i see all these shoes on the wires around here. what's that represent?

>> one of the kids been killed around here. >> reporter: it was on these steps that luke holt was shot and killed yesterday. he was 16 years old. he was planning to go to coolidge high school tomorrow. >> never done nothing to nobody. i just hope they find who did it. >> reporter: luke holt lives in northeast, but he grew up on 37th street and yesterday he came here to hang out with some friends. they were up on the steps when it happened. neighbors say a burgundy car came down the street then a man got out, pulled a gun and fired off six shots and luke holt fell to the ground. >> i've known this baby since he was 5. he's a good kid. you could ask him to take your groceries in the house. he help you. he was a good kid. >> reporter: coming up at 6:00 we'll talk to a woman who came to luke's aid after he was shot. she says she moved here from

baltimore because she thought it would be safer. wait until you hear what she has to say coming up at 6:00. back to you. >> pat, thank you. this just in. it's going to cost $1.5 million to replace those two fire trucks destroyed in yesterday's massive warehouse fire in capitol heights. fire officials say the fire fueled by heavy wind spread so fast that it overtook the fire trucks. styrofoam containers behind the roofing warehouse on ashwood drive caught fire. two firefighters suffered some minor burns. fire investigators are still looking into the cause. loudoun county has built its own miniature version of a metro rail silver line station in leesburg to keep you safe. news4's scott mcfarlane learned the county has been installing tracks and fencing and a third rail system. the plan is to train firefighters on how to respond to fire and smoke emergencies in the rail system. there are still a few lines --

years, rather until the silver line expands through loudoun, but the chief says he wants to start training his hundreds of firefighters as soon as possible especially after recent emergencies. >> the incident in january provied more of a realism that this is -- it can happen. it's not if but when. >> tonight at 6:00 scott mcfarlane shows us how the model train track system works and he explains how an where other fire departments train to handle smoke and fire emergencies on the rails. new developments in an awful tragedy on maryland eastern shore. what relatives are saying about the family of eight found dead inside the home. new plans for an elementary school promised in princess anne. why parents feel they were lied to. >> reporter: not one, not two, not three, 11 swastikas painted on the walls of this synagogue. we'll show you the surveillance is

taking shape, bringing media and technology together for more people. together is more wi-fi access in more places. it's a home you control with the touch of a finger. it's reimaging tv to give more people more choices. it's bringing technology and people together in ways you never thought possible. comcast and time warner cable. together is better for more people.

scott mcfarlane at the live desk. wisconsin salve shut down in chevy chase and montgomery county after a hit-and-run. police say the person hit was a

pedestrian and was an off-duty police officer en route to the hospital for his injury s to be checked. the drive fled the scene. you can see the traffic camera there just north of the friendship heights pret meth row station on wisconsin. northbound and southbound shut down. a hit-and-run. an update coming shortly. i'm scott mcfarlane. we are hearing from the company that supplied power to the house where eight people, a single father and his seven children were found dead inside. >> authorities tell us they all died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator that was being used after the power was cut off. news4's chris gordon has our story tonight. >> reporter: family and friends gathered to grieve rodney todd and his seven children who died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator he

ran in the kitchen of his home after his electricity was shut off. >> my brother is gone. my nieces and nephews are gone. that's what they were to me. and i just can't put a grasp on it. like he's gone and i'm not ever going to see him walk through that door no more. >> reporter: family members say they didn't know if mr. todd was having financial problem, why the power had been turned off. it appears the windows were closed and there was no vent lags. the bodies were found in sleeping positions throughout the house. rodney todd had been raising his kids by himself the last three years. >> we have bits of details how long they lived in the home. they moved in november of last year. >> reporter: "electric service was discontinued last year at the request of the --" >> we apologize. we're having some technical difficulty there. phi kappa psi fraternity is

blasting "rolling stone" magazine for its response to the uva controversy. the national fraternity released a statement demanding full accountability for everyone involved in the report that wrongly accused its uva chapter of gang-rape. "rolling stone" has retracted the report and apologized but the reporter and her editors have not been fired. phi kappa psi officers say they're evaluating options beyond lawsuit the uva chapter plans to pursue. developing story out of i'll wril seven people are dead after a small plane crashed in the central part of the state. relatives say the group was flying home from the ncaa championship game when their plane went down in bloomington about a mile from the airport. among the victims deputy athletic director and associate head coach for the men's basketball team for illinois state university. investigators believe heavy fog may have played a role.

deliberations in the trial of dzhokhar tsarnaev will go into a second day. the jury called it a day just about half an hour ago. so far the judge says they passed two questions. in closing arguments, the defense argued tsarnaev's older brother masterminded the attack. if found guilty he could face the death penalty. a guilty verdict would trig err penalty phase and likely get under way next week. with a fiery speech and a promise to defeat the washington machine, senator rand paul has made it official. he is now running for the white house. paul launched his 2016 white house bid during a rally in in louisville kentucky today, and he came out swinging criticizing both republicans and democrats for driving up the national debt and reducing personal liberties. >> i have a message! a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. we have come to take our country

back. >> paul is the second to announce. ted yoouz is the other. >> arizona senator john mccain says he still has a lot of work to do and he'll run for re-election in 2016. kelly o'donnell broke the news. mccain, who's turning 80 says voters shouldn't worry about his age. >> i say watch me. i say watch me. take a look.t my 18-hour days. take a look at the hearings we have. take a look at my legislative accomplishments. listen i'm just getting started. >> john mccain is currently serving his fifth term in the senate. he was the republican presidential nominee in 2008. we've just learned that secretary of state john kerry will meet with his cuban counterpart at the summit of americas in panama later this week. it will be the highest level official meeting between a u.s. and cuban official in more than half a century. nbc news has also learned that the state department is expected

to recommend soon that cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terror be lifted. the designation has been one of the roadblocks to the reopening of embassies in washington and havana. a special tribute downtown as the post office revealed its latest forever stamp featuring the late poet maya angelou. first lady michelle obama and oprah winfrey were there for the dedication today. the postmaster general says angelou left a stamp on everything and everyone she touched adding thatitis only fitting there's one in recognition of her life's work. at the ceremony ohm ra read one of her favorite angelou passages. >> lying here thinking last night how to find my soul a home where water's not thirsty and blood loaf is not stone. i came up with one thing, and i don't believe i'm wrong, that nobody but nobody can make it out here alone.

>> angelou passed away last may at the age of 86. and we want to go back now to chris gordon's piece on the family tragedy in princess anne county. here's the latest from chris. >> reporter: family and friends gathered to grieve 36-year-old rodney todd and his seven children who died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator he ran in the kitchen of his home after his electricity was shut off. >> my brother is gone. my nieces and nephews are gone. that's what they were to me. and i just can't, like put a grasp on it like he's gone and i'm not going to ever see him walk through that door no more. >> reporter: family members tell me they didn't know if mr. todd was having financial problems why the power had been turned off. it appears the windows were closed and there was no ventilation. the bodies were found in sleeping positions throughout

the house. rodney todd had been raising his kids by himself the past three years. >> we have bits and details of how long they lived in the home. they moved in in november of last year. >> reporter: delmarva power sent an e-mail saying "electric service was disconnected in october of last year at the request of the customer of record at the time. there was no request to reconnect service. through the use of smart meter technology delmarva power discovered a stolen electric meter was being used at the home on march 25th 2015. delmarva power disconnected the illegally connected meter for safety reasons and to comply with standard protocol. delmarva power did not disconnect electric service at this address for nonpayment." coming up on news4 at 6:00, a family member talks about why rodney todd was using a gas generator inside the house that apparently cost him and his children their lives. reporting from princess anne

chris gordon news4. developing right now, hate messages sprayed on the side of a local synagogue. >> why police say they have a good lead on the vandals and what the rabbi is telling news4. >> it may be warm and dry now, but i'm tracking wet weather pap line of showers, heavy too.

why do we do it? why do we spend every waking moment, thinking about people? why are we so committed to keeping you connected? why combine performance with a conscience? why innovate for a future without accidents? why do any of it? why do all of it?

because if it matters to you it's everything to us. the s60 sedan. from volvo. lease the well-equipped volvo s60 today. visit your local volvo showroom for details.

rain will be moving back in. i'm tracking it now op storm team 4 radar. you can see the line from frederick, maryland toward rappahannock. moderate even heavy rains moving in areas of 17 and faulkier county and northern prince william county and eastbound to arias like washington cliff fills and early in the next couple minutes. not seeing any lightning right now but there is that possibility. i don't think we'll have much wind with that. still showers around pshgs 65

degrees. pockets of fog too. rain overspreading the area into d.c. baltimore, annapolis. we have a weather front up to the north of us sinking south. as the front comes in crosses our area early tomorrow morning right along it and with it there will be periods of showers and a few embedded thunderstorms. i-95 baltimore early tomorrow morning. wet road early in the day. for your afternoon, the possibility of some isolated to scattered thunderstorms and even less rain on thursday but friday chance for strong storms. high temperature tomorrow 52 to 53. upper 40s to the north around frederick, maryland and, again, it will be cool and dreary tomorrow. temperatures down by about 15 degrees compared to where we were today. instead of getting up to around 70 degrees, the high tomorrow just 56. we'll stay pocketed in the mid-50s on thursday with more

dreary conditions. but, again, less rain on thursday. now, friday's the day in which we could see some storms as we've got a lot of warmth coming in a big push close to 80 degrees that temperature. we'll talk more about the severe weather potential for friday coming up in just a couple minutes. widespread power outages impacting the white house, the capitol, museums and the university of maryland. we're talking to utility companies about what caused the mechanical failure. >> members of this congregation spent their time scrubbing hate messages off the side of the synagogue. we'll show you the surveillance video. hundreds of homes still going up in this woodbridge community. parents bought in here thinking there would be a brand-new school. sign's even up.

we continue to follow two breaking news stories right now. the bethesda metro station is closed because of an escalator problem, an electrical problem cawed by those power outages today, affected the escalators. that station closed. and we are showing you live pictures of wisconsin avenue. it has just reopened after an off-duty police officer was injured in an accident just a short while ago.

again, wisconsin avenue reopened. we'll have more continuing coverage on news4 on air and on the nbc washington app. the story everybody's talking about tonight, a mechanical failure at a power substation in southern maryland triggered a ripple effect creating outages from st. mary's county maryland, to downtown d.c. and at the university of maryland in college park. museums and metro stations also impacted. tonight most of those outages have been restored. pepco at last check still had about 700 customers without power. homeland security security officials tell us there does not appear to be any link to terrorism. surveillance video show two young man vandalizing a synagogue in montgomery county. news4's mark segraves is live in gaithersburg where this stunt could come with a serious penalty. >> reporter: this was supposed to be a day for families at the shaare torah synagogue to spend together celebrating passover. instead, many of them spent

today scrubbing hate graffiti off the walls of their synagogue. this surveillance video shows the suspects wearing hoodies, masks, and gloves. about 2:30 this morning, going from door to door and across every wall outside of this synagogue and school spray-painting hate messages. there were 11 swaus kas. the name hitler. the letters kkk. >> most of all we're just disappointed that there are still people in our community who really just don't get it that see these kinds of symbols as something that they want to put out there for the public to see. it's just disappointing. we know it doesn't represent the entire community. >> reporter: while those who worship here at shaare torah are confident this attack doesn't represent an ongoing threat police say this goes far beyond a prank. >> much more than that. there's a serious penalty for

this. these hate crime incidents has a penalty associated with it up to three years and/or a $5,000. >> the fact is it's a hate crime. people who choose these kinds of symbols know it's going to create a certain emotional reaction and know that it's something that jews and others in our community find to be very hurtful. >> reporter: police are hoping someone will see something in that surveillance video that will help them find these suspects. if you know anything, they're asking you to call gaithersburg police. coming up at 6:00 more from the rabbi about what he'll tell the students here when they return and what he thinks should happen to the suspects if they're caught. jim, back to you guys. >> mark thank you. make plans to pay up if you're driving to a nationals game this season. the d.c. department of transportation tells news4 it's resuming parking meter enforcement around the ballpark. that includes both sundays and holidays when parking is typically free around other parts of the city. confusion over the parking rules

near the ballpark last year led to ddot suspending its enforcement program for the last several weeks of the season. parents at a loudoun county elementary school finally got an answer to their plea. for the fist time this morning a crossing guard was outside creighton's corner helping to get the students safely on to school property. parents have complained about the unsafe conditions around the school. sheriff mike chapman made the unusual move of installing a guard before nearby roads were turned over to vdot. >> we're happy to see progress. i think loudoun county schools need to figure out getting crossing guards at schools before we open schools. it's not just problem here at creighton. >> that crossing guard is an interim solution until the normal protocol can be followed. a gas generator thought to be the cause of a tragic incident in maryland in which a single father and his seven

children were discovered dead inside their home. family members gathered outside that house today to mourn the loss of rodney todd and his children. they ranged in age from 6 to 16. power had been cut off to their home. a gas generator was being used to supply power. this tragedy has all of us thinking about ways to keep safe. consumer reporter erika gonzalez is here with an important reminder for us tonight. erika? >> portable generators provide power during outages but they can also give off carbon monoxide which is odorless, colorless, and kit kill you. to stay safe never use a portable generator indoors or near a window outdoors. also don't ever use it in a garage. the exhaust can produce carbon monoxide and that can seep into your home. when you're thinking about hooking this up to a major appliance, when you're hooking up the major appliance to the generator, i should say, you've got to use a heavy-duty outdoor

extension cord to feed it. otherwise you can start a fire from overloading that extension cord. we have many more safety tips. you can head to nbcwashington.com to take a look at those including more ways to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in your home. back to you. >> thanks erika. some parents in prince william county say they were promised a new school. new tonight, why it may not happen and how parents are voicing their displeasure about that. i'm tracking rain moving into our area. what this front will mean for not just the evening rush but tomorrow morning's rush. and a hollywood "a" lister talking on the airwaves today. a new listen to the message.

climate change can be hazardous to your health. that's the new message tonight from president obama as he seeks to change the way people think about that issue. the president says climate change is having real physical effects like more asthma attacks or injuries from extreme weather. earlier today, he announced the ways that the white house is boosting preparedness. they include work with companies like google and microsoft to gather and analyze data in an effort to predict problems and training for future classes of medical and nursing schools. he is oscar nominated and edward norton is leading some of

his -- lending some of his star power to an issue in our area. >> this is edward norton. i grew up in maryland and spent a lot of my youth in its pristine natural beauty. now a dangerous form of gas drilling called fracking threatens our state's environmental health. >> in a new radio spot he speaks against fracking or hydraulic fracturing drilling, which is used to release gas. that new ad comes as maryland's senate approved a measure barring any permits until 2017. there's currently no fracking taking place in the state but some parts of western maryland have been identified as potential drilling sites. meantime across the potomac, in virginia, the message today no new pipelines. in richmond a group up delivered a petition with 5,000 signatures to the governor's office. they oppose the 550-mile atlantic coast pipeline. the $5 billion project would deliver natural gas from ohio and pennsylvania to north carolina which much of it is --

much of it traveling through virginia. mccauliff previously called it a game changer say eight long with cheap natural gas it could also bring jobs. we have a darkening sky, the wind picking up from this line of rain and moderate rain about ready to move in. >> reporter: homeowners tell me the reason they moved to the location is because of a new elementary school. sign says it's coming soon that but that may not be the case spp sp . star power today at the trump national golf club for the grand opening of the tennis performance center.

they were promised a new school to go along with their new homes but northern virginia bureau reporter david culvert talked with some furious parents who are now discovering that may not be true. david? >> reporter: pat, all you have to do is drive through prince william county specifically this part of woodbridge and you'll see hundreds of construction zones just like this one, hundreds of homes being built here. a lot of the home owners tell me the reason they've built here and the reason they're living here now is because of what you see on this sign right here. future location of ferlazzo elementary school coming soon. but the parents now tell me that may not be the case. >> i'm still shocked by it. i can't believe that we have to put all this effort into this.

it seems like promises are being broken and someone needs to be held accountable for it. >> reporter: general fur blum is one of several moms in this woodbridge neighborhood who paid high dollar for a new home expecting a new school. ferlazzo elementary. not necessarily coming soon. >> you cannot just come and take something that was promised to us. >> reporter: the school board now considering using this land to relocate a nearby so-called traditional school. the board's trying to combat severe overcrowding several miles away along the route 1 corridor. schools like this one. >> there are nine trailers out here including two with -- two have bathrooms. >> reporter: the principal showed us what they're dealing with. what was once a baseball field for the kids sits many portable classrooms. >> we have right now about 780 students. the school is built for 650 students capacity.

>> reporter: but these moms tell me their own kids' school is already above capacity and more homes are springing up. >> it's thriving growing. right across my house right now there's construction going on. there's supposed to be more homes built for this area and we don't have any school to help facilitate the overcrowding. >> reporter: they now feel they were misled. >> that was not what was agreed to or at least our understanding as, you know first-time brand-new home buyers in this community. >> reporter: and a school spokesperson pointed out this is not a sign that they put up. and they are constantly having to reassess each year really the changing needs of this county based on the population growth. it is surging here. coming up at 6:00 tonight, you'll hear from county leaders. they will actually meet tonight with the school board to discuss this debate. we'll bring that to you. live in prince william county david culvert, news4. what a difference 24 hours can make. this is what it looked like yesterday at the tidal basin. now take a look same tree

earlier today. you can see the pink bud on the tree have nearly doubled in size. we are just days away from that predicted peak bloom which the national park service tells us they expect to begin this saturday. so v.j. just amazing what a few days in the 70s can do for us. >> that is true. i think we'll have one day they could top out at 80 degrees and unlike the fact that even though we're talking about rain i'm not seeing much wind coming up over the next few days. let's talk about where we are right now. we have wet weather just about ready to move back into our area. had some wet weather this morning. it extend from frederick, maryland down into rappahannock areas southbound just close to charlottesville getting a few showers. some rain around leesburg straight down 15 and around middleburgh here not too heavy, but down to the south and west around marshall i'm seeing some pockets of rain here with rainfall rates around a half inch per hour. this is eastbound to the plains toward broad run by 6:04 areas

like haymarket by 6:15. all this eventually into fairfax, d.c. areas like prince william county around woodbridge and quantico. wet weather coming up for your evening and for the overnight and morning rush. wet roads for early wednesday morning. the temperature 50 degrees. from 70 today to 50 early tomorrow morning. then look at this. just 55 degrees this time tomorrow. still some damp roads across the area. i think we'll be frontloaded with most of the rain we get tomorrow being right before lunchtime, right before noon then a chance again for after about 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. tomorrow. so in terms of rainfall intensity, umbrella yes for tomorrow but nothing that's looking too heavy until maybe very late tomorrow where we could have some pockets of more moderate rain coming in. occasional showers overnight, wet for the morning rush and our thunder chances closer to us for the end of the week. 55 by around 1:00 tomorrow.

for recess the kids tomorrow heading to school still could be wet around recess. dismissal, there's a chance for a shower. so impact forecast moderate tomorrow because of that rain coming in the next two days. 56 degrees your high temperature tomorrow. also in the mid-50s on thursday. but really with more drizzle than anything else as we'll be locked under an easterly wind. we change that wind direction on friday. it's out of the southwest. that will help to really dry the temperature up upper 70s to talking about a chance for storms but strong potentially, maybe a few severe storms we could have on friday. that's a look at your week here. let's take a look at the weekend. 69 degrees on saturday 67 degrees on sunday. back to more seasonable temperatures. looking like a terrific weekend. sunshine warmth for sure. and it's also again around peak cherry blossom so a perfect weekend. but not right now. let's go to a shot outside, show you the darkening skies off to

the west with the rain moderate rains moving in. more coming up on news4 at 6:00. some high-level words of encouragement for the robotics team at loudoun county's academy of science and monroe technology center. virginia senator tim kaine dropped by today to talk about their victory at the championships last weekend in knoxville. and the loss of their robotics when their vehicle was stolen a short time later. the team won a chance to compete many the world championship later this month. that means they have just two weeks now to rebuild that robot. >> all the teams at the nationals, yours will be the team with the most interesting story. while i was really sorry to hear the news about the van being stolen, what a great accomplishment already. and i bet you're going to do really well in st. louis too. >> the world competition in st. louis takes place april 22nd. good luck. a new tennis center in northern virginia could bring a national tennis following to our area. >> and they had some star power

on hand to kick things off. donald trump and serena williams were in town today for the grand opening. kristin wright was also there. >> reporter: donald trump and serena williams in a friendly brief matchup to celebrate the grand opening of the tennis performance center at trump national golf course in sterling virginia. >> this doesn't look like your average tennis facility and i've been in a lot of tennis facilities. this one is the best one i've ever seen. >> reporter: five indoor courts. trump loved the blue courts at the australian open won by williams and wanted it here. >> we spent $10 billion and i think built one of the great indoor fails of the world. >> reporter: trump national golf club will host the senior pga championship in 2017. members of the private club say the new tennis center now puts the area on the map for a national tennis audience. >> i don't think there's anything like this on the east coast that i know of. >> i'm excited. we have been waiting for this for a long time.

>> reporter: it could mean rising property values. >> we put tens and tens of millions of dollars into the place and all the surrounding houses have dwon up substantially in value. >> reporter: but most of all williams hopes the area's newest tennis facility will boost the game for generations to come. >> i can hit it like way into the sky. >> it's a fun game. >> i can hit it over the net. >> reporter: the outdoor tennis courts are also being redone as part of the new trump tennis performance center at trump national golf club. in sterling virginia kristin wright news4. back to breaking news now. we're going to go to shomari stone live at the scene of that accident that injureded an off-duty police officer. shomari? >> reporter: right now i'm here at wisconsin avenue and southpark avenue and i tell you, you look over here montgomery county police are on the scene and we're hearing that an off-duty officer was hit by a car and that car kept on going. we're continuing to gather details on news4 and will bring

you the latest updates at 6:00 and our show and our app.

she's an eighth grade girl charged in her mother's murder but her attorney says she's not a cold-blooded killer. >> and after visiting her in jail he plans to request a transfer. doug schimmel reports from allentown, pennsylvania. >> i met with her in the prison the adult prison and she was very tearful.

>> reporter: john's murder defendant wears braces and is in the eighth grade. >> she misses her mom. she was crying about her mom today. the events that have transpired over the last few weeks are just devastating to her. >> reporter: 14-year-old jamie is charged with conspireing with her 20-year-old boyfriend who's in the army caleb barnes to murder her own mother sheryl after she demanded the two stop dating. >> kale ep barnes was controlling her. she's not able to control him. an eighth-grader doesn't control a 20-year-old soldier. >> reporter: but lehigh county's prosecutor delivered deleted texts just before thened to throw me out of the house, i want her gone." another says," i'm going to the bathroom while you do it okay? why don't we wait until we get in the car with her." he responds fine. then another, "just do it." they seem damning on the face of them. >> they do on the face of them.

>> reporter: he says keep in mind caleb barnes also faces a murder charge for stabbing the woman in the neck burying the to push the bloody car into a pond. >> i want to go through each text as to what she meant by those too. they do sound damning at times. and we're going to have to deal with those. >> reporter: after visiting his client in the lehigh county jail he says he's immediately asking the court to have her moved to a juvenile facility because he says his 14-year-old client is not a cold-blooded killer. we spoke to the district attorney who says the texts speak for themselves and his office will oppose any attempt to have her tried as a juvenile. in allentown, pennsylvania i'm doug schimmel news4. now at 6:00, the power is back on now for thousands from southern maryland to the white house and beyond. but one metro station is still closed because of a widespread power outage. and now the pentagon is responding to questions about security. >> more answers tonight about the deaths of seven children and

the father trying to support them. killed by carbon monoxide from a generator in the house. and hate messages covering a local synagogue. tonight police say they have a good idea who they're looking for. we ge be ginn with questions about the ripple effect caused by equipment failure at a substation for the southern maryland power company. >> it led to power outages in three maryland counties and some of the most sensitive buildings in the district. that substation it's in mechanicsville maryland. smeco sent us this picture of a burned transmission line near the station. you can see the grass is charred around it. pepco crews are also investigating tonight. here's what we heard from pepco just 30 minutes ago. >> there are crews at the scene now, look tagt equipment, trying to determine what caused