conditions closing roads in our area. what kind of weather to expect tonight. breaking right now, several americans are missing in iraq and they may have been kidnapped. we are live with a neighbor who tried to help with a house fire that seriously injured a woman. many of us saw -- did you get a good peak at them? i did. i'm sure a lot of us saw the snow flurries. we just didn't see them stick. as we look ahead to tomorrow, storm team 4 is tracking the coldest air of the season which is why we start tonight in the storm team 4 weather center because it's the winds that are associated with these cold temperatures, and not just the temps. the winds will feel even worse. >> brutal outside and that's why tomorrow and tuesday will be

storm team 4 weather alert days. erica when you factor in the winds both days feel like the temperatures are in the single digits and teens and you might want to keep that in mind not only for the your martin luther king, jr. holiday. right now we're at 36 degrees and our high temperature was 38. clouds clear out overnight and temperatures still in the mid-30s across the area and we will be tracking some isolated black ice tonight especially south of washington where we saw more snowfall and the winds start to pick up at 11:00 p.m. and midnight and a temperature of 33. what to wear tomorrow, you have plans and you'll definitely want the coat, the scarf, the gloves and the sunglasses, as well during this cold snap and we'll be tracking dry weather and plenty of sunshine in the forecast for tomorrow with a high of 28 and here you can see the feels like temperature throughout the date. breakfast and by lunch feeling 5

to 15 and by dinner about 0 to 10. tuesday morning, erica, wait until you see what we'll be dealing with as they go back to school and i'll have that forecast coming up in ten minutes. >> we want to show you a live look outside our studios on nbc 4. a reminder, when it gets this cold remember to check on the four ps. check on people, especially the elderly. pets should be kept indoors and pipes freeze below 20 degrees and keep them insulated with clothes and keep your plants covered and hydrated. several areas are getting ready for the cold temps. d.c. is activating its cold emergency plan and its shelter hot line tonight. around arundel county has warming centers open and tomorrow is a weather alert day at news 4. to learn how meteorologists make that call, open the nbc washington app and search weather alert. we're keeping an eye on some

breaking news in iraq. the u.s. embassy confirming that several americans are missing right now. there are reports that militants kidnapped them. the embassy says it is working with iraqi authorities to locate the americans. there has been a deterioration of security in baghdad in recent weeks after months of relative calm. we are tracking developments in the prisoner swap deal with iran. jason rezaian and two other american prisoners landed safely in switzerland. four american prisoners were pardoned in the prisoner swap. ali arouzi has more on the relationship between the u.s. and iran. >> reporter: at least two of the dual national prisoners released by iran have left the country. this is the culmination of a long diplomatic process between america and iran. a diplomatic process that started with the nuclear deal been. >> translator: in the nuclear deal no party has beaten another party.

the iranian nation has won. nobody was beaten in the nuclear deal, neither inside the country nor among the countries that negotiated with us. >> reporter: a few years ago it would have been unthinkable for iran and america to be talking directly to each other, but the direct talks have resulted in a nuclear deal, the release of american iranian prisoners and avoiding of tensions on the high seas were another hostage situation when the u.s. navy sailors accidentally drifted into iranian territorial waters. this has been a long process since the nuclear negotiations started. the two sides have sworn relations that we have to be cautious of the fact that iran and america have very strategic interest in the region and beyond. they don't see eye to eye on many issues, but they have started talking, a step in the right direction, but still a long way to go. as we've seen today, president obama imposed new sanctions on iran over its missile program and something sure not to go

down well with the establishment. >> iran and america may enemies, but at least there are enemies that are talking instead of fighting. ali arouzi, nbc news, tehran. a woman is in the hospital with second-degree burns. she was trapped in her own home during a fire in temple hills and news 4's darcy spencer was live where it took heroic efforts by firefighters to get her out of that house. >> reporter: it certainly did, erika and even before firefighters got here i am told that the homeowner as well as the neighbor tried to rescue the woman. >> you can see this green garden hose. they stretched it around the back side of the house into the basement area where the victim was, but they say the smoke and flames were just too intense and they could aren't reach her. firefighters pulled that woman who was in her basement where she was taken to the burn unit with second-degree burns over 40% of her body and she had

suffered from smoke inhalation and she was taken to the hospital in serious condition. a neighbor tells us what he and the homeowner did to try to reach her. >> we started spraying water through the window, and then we came back to the door and he tried to go in. i was spraying water to him, but we couldn't get to the stairs so we couldn't get down the stairs and so when we got over here they sprayed water on me and i was trying to get in through the window and we couldn't get in. it was too much smoke. >> the fire chief has shown up here at the scene just within the last 20 minutes or so. he said firefighters came back to the neighborhood which they do after serious fires and were checking houses to make sure smoke alarms were working. they said the smoke alarm in the house where the fire happened was not working and that was the same case also for five houses here on this street where they made sure that those smoke alarms were installed here with another warning with the weather being cold to make sure you have

working smoke alarms in the house. fairfax county police are asking for your help to find a peeping tom. there have been several incidents in sprinsfiegfield in last few weeks and they happened between gloucester avenue. a surveillance camera caught this picture. the suspect is in his late teens and early 20s and in each incident he looked through a person's home and took off. if you have information you are asked to call fairfax county police. the muslim association of virginia issuing a strong statement after two men from woodbridge were arrested on terrorism charges on friday. one of the men joseph farrokh was arrested at the airport in richmond. he was trying to go to syria to join isis. the friend who drove him mahmoud elhassan is charged with aiding him. the muslim association of virginia say they are deeply concerned by this news. they say they condemn terrorism and reject the philosophy and teachings of isis.

well, the search continues tonight for 12 marines missing nah hawaii after two choppers kocollided in mid air. the close connection a local beauty queen has to the tragedy and we're counting down to the democratic debate that you will see right here

in less than three hours hillary clinton, burdeny sanders and martin o'malley will square off in the last democratic debate before the iowa caucuses.

you are looking live now at the hall in charleston, south carolina. lester holt will moderate here at 9:00 and we'll be live tweeting the search term and the nbc washington app is debate. brother of the reigning miss district of columbia was onboard one of those marine helicopters that crashed last week off the coast of hawaii. the organization says haley jarredis and her family are asking for privacy right now purpose corporal jardis is missing along with other marines during a nighttime training on thursday. rescuers are searching the debris field off the coast of oa hugh. >> after the cold snap we have the first potential shot for real snow and amelia has that coming up next. gun pellets tore through a local woman's home.

a maryland family shaken after a close call with gun fire. the piercing sound of shots were not only heard, they were seen in their upper marlboro home last week and where the gunshots came from is just as unsettling for them. prince george's county police tell us they are taking this incident very seriously. news 4's derrick ward spoke to the homeowner today. >> reporter: it was thursday morning when an upper marlboro homeowner heard a loud noise coming from upstairs in the family townhouse.

she's gotten the kids off to school so it couldn't have been them. >> i thought one of the picture his fallen or something like that. >> there is a construction site nearby and at first she thought the loud noise may have come to this sight, but upon closer examination of the house she saw something much more troubling. >> at first she saw these holes inside the bedroom wall, and inside the bathroom another hole, whatever it was, it traveled through the bathroom walls across the bathroom and into the far wall to the headboard and these are shotgun pell pellets. i was just right there tern minutes ago and i was fixing my daughter and everything and we were just there and we left because the school bus came. that's how we survived. >> after checking with one neighbor who had had no idea what was going on a neighbor from the other sideshowed up and said he'd been cleaning a shotgun when it went up. how deeply sorry he is. i can understand. he was shaking and everything. >> she was shaken by the

incident and she accepts that it was an accident, but that it came so close to being one with irreparable damage and she shudders thinking about it. >> and you're not even outside and inside your bedroom and bullets are flying so, i mean, this is pretty scary. >> she called the police who checked the neighbor's story out and the registration on his weapon. it all checked out with them and they did take a report and warned the neighbor about proper gun handling. >> it could have cost me or my children or my family's life. i mean, i cannot get the picture out of my head. >> in upper marlboro, derrick ward, news 4. an ef-2 tornado slammed the southwestern coast of florida this morning. take a look at what the storm left behind. powerful winds topping 130 miles an hour southwest through siesta key. the twister damaged dozens of homes and knocked out power to thousands and another tornado close to this area killed two people. lots of people are on our nbc washington app reading about the earthquake in loudoun valley

area south of harper's ferry. the united states geological survey confirms the 3.0 quake hit just about 2:00 p.m. there are no reports of damage. and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> and tomorrow and tuesday again will be storm team 4 weather alert day and tomorrow the weather is having a moderate to high impact on your day. tomorrow being martin luther king, jr., day having off and wanting to make plans and the weather changed my plans tomorrow and it will be cold and windy throughout the entire day and good times and throughout the day you can check out the temperatures and this is your first weather headline not just monday, but tuesday you'll notice red here in our banners and chuck will be in, tom will be in, and doug and veronica, updating the forecast and then after we start to warm up from our cold snap the temperatures remain below normal and normal now 43 degrees for the entire workweek and if you haven't

heard yet, well, i'm telling you now. we're watching a system very closely on friday and saturday. it could contain, yes, some snow. more than just flurries. more on that in a moment. temperatures right now in the mid-30s and 36 degrees in washington and 35 in annapolis and if you're headed to the 10th annual martin luther king, jr., peace walk and parade make sure you have the warmest gear. temperatures in the mid to upper 20s, but with the wind it will feel like temperatures are between 5 to 15 degrees. the coldest period comes thursday morning and unfortunately, this is when kids are returning to school so make sure they're not standing out at the bus stop for too long and this is dangerously cold air, anywhere from 5 below 0 to 5 above zero and even without the winds it will be 16 degrees and we still do track plenty of sunshine throughout the day on thursday and winds start to relax later in the day through the evening hours and the kids

are getting home from school. your weather outlook through tuesday, if you're planning on skiing tomorrow, know it will be windy and cold and outdoor exercise and treat yourself and head out to the gym and stay indoors and the car battery being tested and you'll see the pressure light come on for your tires, as well. wednesday, a high of 35 degrees and clouds increase throughout the day and wednesday night there's the chance of some flurries, but little or no accumulation. thursday, a high of 42. friday and saturday, this is that storm system and storm team 4 is watching closely and you can see temperatures hovering right around the freezing mark for highs and this is our first real shot for snow, but i can't stress enough how much uncert n uncertainty we have in the forecast. does it come early friday, rain friday? is it a rain/snow mix or all snow? it does bear to watch the models and of course, i'll have much more on the cold weather and the system coming up on news 4 after the debate and right now the system does look to have a

moderate impact on the area friday into saturday, erika? >> we know you'll keep a close eye on it. still ahead on news 4 at 6:00, alex ovechkin has new york alex ovechkin has new york values

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the nfl playoffs continue today in carolina. all season long the panthers have proven to be the best team in the nfl, but that was during the regular season. 15 and 1, yes, it's nice, but it didn't mean much if you don't make it to the big game. cam newton had the panthers ready to go for their matchup against the best team in the nfc in the last two seasons. panthers and seahawks. carolina won back in october and russell wilson and his guy had plenty of problems to start this game. down seven early on and wilson gets picked up by luke kinklet, the inside linebacker from carolina and the pick six there and the panthers find themselves up 15-0. second quarter, it's a 24-0 panthers lead and newton going for more and he finds his tight

end and that's a 19-yard touchdown and carolina are up 31-0 at halftime. wilson, 31-14 scrambling and finds an open receiver and that is jermaine curse. seattle would add a field goal to make this one-possession ball game and just over a minute to play and seahawks are tipped down seven. and the panthers recovers it. carolina hold on for the victory, 31-24 and the panthers, they will host arizona next weekend in the nfc championship. >> moving on to hockey now, it hasn't happened too often this season and last night we saw the capitals get beat in convincing fashion and so convincing that brady hoped he was pulled from the game in the second period. no time to sit and sulk if you're the capitals and they were back on the ice against the rangers and back at net tonight and they've only lost back-to-back games once this entire season.

braden looked on point early in the first and hoping to see him peeking around the traffic there to make the glove save and it's going the caps' way later in the period and ryan mcdonogh and the rangers take a 1-0 lead. alex ovechkin and he has scored in eight straight games against the rangers and later in the period, go ahead and make it nine. and the caps, tie this one up at one. nicholas back strom added another goal and the caps find themselves up 3-1. in college park, the eighth-ranked maryland women hosting number 24, northwestern. it was the kristen show this afternoon and just called it threes company. going nuts from behind the arc and the sophomore tied a school record with eight three-pointers and later on in the fourth quarter, you will see her open here and she has six at this point in the game and how do you

leave her open at this point. maryland cruises to an 8 of 62 win and she walked the entire family playing ball. >> this is marcus, this is tyler. i said they need to shoot the three like k.c. did. >> i think our school did a remarkable job finding her. casey put hours upon hours in the gym and was ready to shoot the ball and it made a huge difference for us today. winners of nine straight entering today taking on duquesne. colonials up by 12. nice drive here by lauren chase and a beautiful find to jones who finishes. >> brianna cummings and mark jones with the rebound and follow-up. the next possession and there she goes again. 23 point, 18 rebounds and seven blocks. g.w. wins the tenth straight 70 to 52.

marquise moore and george mason still looking for their first win in conference play taking on st. louis. moore drives to the hoop and he had 11 points in the first half. mason's up three at the break. later on they go inside to shivan thompson and he cokickedt out to moore. 22 points. later in the half, more from mason and off the st. louis miss. otis livingston and two of his 17 points today and george mason wins 92 to 79 and the patriots pick up their first conference win of the year. >> american and coach mike brennan on the road today at army and the eagles put themselves in a big hole early on, but they try to climb out of it. davo davontay jones. pierce margos from way out behind the three and the teammates are loving that. >> second half, army takes off,

and au drops to 2 and 15 on the season after a 65-45 loss to army. >> thank you, jason. i want to remind everybody that both monday and tuesday we are considering a weather alert day, amelia. >> because of how cold it will feel. temperatures will feel like in the single digits and teens and we'll have more after the debate tonight. >> that's right. that is our broadcast for the evening and as amelia said we will see you after the democratic debate. good night, everybody.

on this sunday night, fight night. clinton versus sanders in tonight's crucial democratic debate. what they're saying about key issues like guns and health care with a tight race in the first primary state where the candidates stand nationally in our brand new poll. deadly tornadoes. the unusual january storms that tore through parts of florida. we're there tonight in neighborhoods hit hard. new problems. millions of gm cars recalled because of a defective part suspected in more than 100 deaths, now possibly facing more issues. our nbc news investigation into the new complaints. and recess time. we'll go to a school where the kids are getting a lot more breaks during the day, and the results may surprise you. "nightly news" begins now.