excuse to binge watch, netflix says it is going to pump out more shows this year. the streaming service says it is making a special effort to produce programming for children and families and wants to offer 20 new shows in that cat dpoego alone. a remake premieres of full house in a few weeks. breaking news out of chillum, maryland. we have new information on the tragic story. two adults and two children pulled from a burning home. molette green just spoke to firefighters, what she learned in just minutes. i'm eun yang. we're keeping a careful eye on the dangerously cold temperatures, negative windchills. it is a weather alert day. news 4 and the storm team are here with what you need to know, including some school delays. let's begin with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. a very cold start this morning, dangerous windchills,

temperatures staying way below freezing again today and, of course, all eyes are already starting to turn towards what could be a big snowstorm here. friday and saturday. we're keeping a very close eye on that. going to get you through the cold first, it is 10 in gaithersburg, 14 in reston, 16 in washington. weather alert day, have our nbc washington app ready to go for the latest on chills and latest on our thinking for the friday and saturday storms. highs only in the 20s. currently our windchills are below zero. pretty much everywhere west of i-95. windchill advisory goes until noon time today. and weather and your plans, yes, indeed, big impact on your plans. you can limit outdoor activities today, you should do so. we'll be back in a few minutes, see how it has an impact on your commute and more on that weekend storm. >> nice and dry, looks good on all of our maps here this morning. we don't have any issues here quite yet as the weekend approaches.

270 northbound and southbound, flowing along just fine. 66 headed into town, fairfax county parkway to the beltway, takes you eight minutes. that's on time as well. as you head out of town, you're okay. 95 here at lorton road, north and south, rolling alon just fine. prince george's county looking quite good. we'll look at 95 there. a little to the north here this morning in a couple of minutes. i'm molette green live in chillum. got some updated information, tragic update on this story here. four people now dead in this house fire. two people -- two children and two adults. joining me live to talk more about this is fire spokesman mark brady with prince george's fire. what can you tell us? >> this tragic incident started after 2:00 when neighbors called

911, reporting this incident. we arrived with heavy fire coming out of every window and door in the house. we knew there were people inside. we did our best. seven people inside the house declared deceased. one injured jumping from the second floor to escape and the other two to escape without injury. >> still determining where the four people who are now confirmed dead, where they were trapped inside. >> exactly. there is a lot of work left to be done here this morning and our fire investigator and county police department are on the scene conducting that investigation. >> again, we're talking two adults, and two children who have lost their lives this morning. >> exactly. we know this is one big family living in that house, but we don't know the exact relationship of everybody involved. two adults and two children both are about three years of age, we believe, are twins. >> mark brady, prince george's county fire. they're working to find out what caused this tragedy here on

knoll brook drive. just a couple of blocks. fire investigators are working the scene. back to you. cold temperatures are forcing several schools to open late had morning. you can see all the delays at the bottom of the screen. and on the nbc washington app. right now, prince william and loudoun county schools are both opening two hours late. loudoun administrative offices are opening on time. fauquier, page and clark counties in virginia are opening two hours late as well. and if you live in rap honak, and shenandoah counties, schools are on two hour delay. so are schools in frederick county virginia and winchester city now. in west virginia, party, grant and mineral counties all opening two hours late. that's a lot of information. you can go to our nbc washington app and find all of that and we'll have the latest for you on

this broadcast as well throughout the day. now let's get to derrick ward live in silver spring with how this bitter cold could affect school buses. good morning. i'm feeling for you this morning. >> good morning again. the thing is, the human factor, they don't want the kids out at bus stops early in the morning with the temperatures like they are and the windchill factors. there is also the machine factor. we're outside a bus lot on randolph road in montgomery county. these are montgomery county buses. diesel engines are an issue here. any free water in a diesel line will freeze and clog up the system. and officials, then you have kids trapped on bus anywhere on the roadway, either at a stop or sometimes just cut off. like any car, your car, any vehicle, battery issues are also something to worry about. if your battery is marginal, temperatures and weather like this will push it over the edge into nonfunctioning. so there is safety issues

involved here on two aspects, one t. we're live in montgomery county, derrick ward, news 4. if you are planning on using your fireplace to warm up the house, be sure that you're getting rid of these ashes the right way. improperly stored ashes cause this house fire in rockville, take a look, montgomery county fire, they sent us this picture, you can see the heavy damage through the front part of the home. this is on barton bay lane. today marks one year since the fire killed a couple and their grandchildren inside their annapolis mansion. a dried 15 foot christmas tree caught fire inside the pile home. an atf report found that an electrical outlet powering that tree light or the tree lights overheated. the fire ignited on the tree and spread. don and his wife sandra were

killed with their four grandchildren. the kids were ages 6 to 8. new information overnight in a crash that hurt two paramedics and caused beltway traffic that may have slowed you down. these are pictures from the inner loop, just off saint barnabas road in oxon hill. a woman sideswiped an ambulance around 8:00 last night, sending it into a ditch. overnight we learned there were no patients inside. we also learned of a secondary crash that sent a poll through another car, barely missing the driver's seat. today, terror charges in alexandria, two men go before a judge, federal agents arrested 25-year-old joseph farrokh. hassan is accused of helping him. prosecutors say that hassan introduced farro cankh to known

terrorists overseas. andrew schmuhl and his wife alesha are charged with a brutal attack. andrew's lawyers plan to use involuntary intoxication as a defense. they argue his use of medication led to his mental state. prosecutors counter that the attack was well planned. it is a weather alert day here at news 4. if you don't already have it, be sure to download the nbc washington app. windchills you see on the screen now can also be found on your phone. single digits, negatives out there, chuck bell has the impact on your commute at 5:11. breaking news, we learned that four people did die in this early morning fire in chillum. if you are just joining us, molette green just learned that the victims include two adults and two children. we're working to get even more information for you and we'll bring you the very latest throughout the morning. 5:08.

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welcome back. 5:11 on tuesday morning and it is bitter cold outside this morning. windchills are below zero. air temperatures only near about 15 degrees here this morning. the morning commute and afternoon commute, things may be running slow, particularly an old car may have a hard time getting it started this morning. coming home later today, still breezy and cold, temperatures only mid-20s for highs today. as we have been talking about, if you've got it, wear it today. heaviest coat and warm hat and gloves and scarves and mittens coming up. friday and saturday snowstorm, which may be name worthy. melissa mollet now, first 4 traffic. >> new problem 95 southbound in virginia, a disabled vehicle and right now everything seems quite green around there. don't have to worry about that o one. 29 and south run, big look at

the beltway, no major problems on the beltway, any routes into and out of town. 270 at montrose rolling along just fine here this morning. we'll take a live look at the top of the beltway coming up. students in prince william county heading back to school despite several recent threats of violence. we'll tell you why. a controversial tree house estate could be sealed. what is expected to be decided in the case in a matter of hours. >>

if you're just waking up this morning, we want to let you know it is a weather alert day here at news 4. that's because of the dangerous windchills. it is not the cold, though, that could make a mess of your weekend. it is snow. significant snow in the forecast, we'll talk about that in the next weather and traffic on the 1s. i don't know what to do. hopefully we can get some

answers now. >> a push for answers. students in prince william county go back to class today, even though there have been threats of violence against four high schools. police just made an arrest. a 17-year-old faces charges for a threat on snapchat against patriot high school. there have been similar incidents at threer high schools in the county recently. police tried to ease fears at a town hall last night. they said repeatedly the threats are not credible, but parents are wondering how they know that. in one case, officers say they used social media to track down a suspect who lives west of the mississippi. >> we got to take the threat seriously, we also have to balance our approach and make sure we're not sparing our kids. >> since the threats began, police increased their uniformed and plain clothes officers at county high schools. today, we can learn whether ethan couch will remain in juvenile court. the judge could decide to send him to adult court ensuring

probation would extend beyond his 19th birthday. couch killed four people after driving drunk in 2013. he avoided jail time after his lawyer argued he was too rich to know about his consequences. couch and his mom fled to mexico as prosecutors were investigating whether the teen violated his probation. couch is still in mexico waiting extradition. another high profile case in court today, aaron hernandez will face a judge, accused of killing two men after an incident at a boston nightclub in 2013. the former new england patriot is already serving a life sentence for the murder of his friend odin lloyd. you can share your thoughts today about your metro ride. they will be riding the orange line this morning. connolly thought it would be a good way for the gm to see some of the challenges virginia riders experience. you can share your thoughts with them before they take their metro ride, they will start the day at the vienna metro at 8:00

this morning. 5:19. new escalators being installed at the water front station will improve your ride, but not for a while. three escalators will be replaced over the next two years at water front station. work started on the escalator yesterday. the station will stay open during work but there will only be one escalator running up and down and the 50th since 2011 to be installed in the district. 5:19 now. in news for your health, marijuana use among teens may have no effect on iq. new research challenges the belief that teens who smoke pot have lower intelligence. it tracks te s test scores. a university of washington startup company hopes its had helmets reduce the number of sports concussions. faculty members at the seattle-based school teamed up to create a four layer develop

m helmet. there is a shell that absorbs impact, the layer that prevents skull fractures and another one that improves fit. engineers and athletes state their input. >> what drives us is to make the sport safer and also to protect the kids and the players. >> the nfl and college athletes could use these helmets as soon as 2016. the company wants to make it available to all athletes one day. we want to get a check on your forecast for today as well as this weekend. we know that includes keeping an eye on a possible big storm. >> that's right. all qui questions are whether ot the storm will be stick worthy or not. the early lean, yes. this looks to be stick worthy, could get quite a bit of snow, maybe 6 to 12 inches or more possibly. little too early to nail down how much in your hometown, but just know it is coming and we are keeping a very close eye on it. that's a friday and saturday problem. first thing you need to know about today, it is dangerously

cold outside this morning. temperatures way below freezing and windchills below zero. we are keeping a close eye on that friday and saturday storm. feels like factor minus 5 in martinsburg, west virginia. minus 3 winchester. 4 above washington. windchill advisories until noon for montgomery and loudoun county, west into the shenandoah valley and blue ridge. planning out your day today, if you can delay your outdoor activities until after the sun is up, that will be a great idea. not everybody can do that. temperatures 15 degrees at 7:00 a.m. with windchills running well below zero. windchills, single numbers at noon and highs today in the low 20s to mid-20s at best. as far as snow chances, most of it is focused on friday and saturday. there is a little chance for flurries here tomorrow. future weather, clouds coming in during the day tomorrow. by tomorrow evening, a little chance for some snow showers and snow flurries, no accumulations

expected. tomorrow another cold and windy day. next big change comes up on friday. here is what we know so far, chance of significant snowstorm with a lot of wind, so it has blizzard potential. what do you node to be doing now in advance of that? start making a plan b for friday and saturday, particularly if you have travel plans to get in or out of town. seven day forecast in 30 minutes from now. out to tom, who is dealing with the cold, first hand, good morning, tom. >> i'm here in montgomery county and we have brutally cold winds here. temperatures only 14 degrees, but the wind gauge, it has been whipping around. wind settles down from time to time and picks up again and the windchills are sub zero. you need to take care to prevent frostbite. i'm wearing my thermal gloves. already i can feel that cold penetrating to my thermal gloves, head, hands, feet are most at risk. loose fitting layers, wool and fleece are the warmest.

you've got to respect the cold. it is brutally frigid on this tuesday morning. melissa has an update on a crash on 66. >> 66 eastbound at nutley street, sounds like the right side of the roadway is blocked now. not seeing the problem on camera, it is there, 66 inbound at nutley street. other issue, 95 southbound, we have a disabled vehicle in that area this morning. 295 south, 67 miles per hour, no problem on bw parkway. 95, 29, route 1, everything up top looking pretty good. we zoom into the city here this morning, overall, nice and green throughout the district. no major issues in that area. i'll see you back here at 5:31. i'm meagan fitzgerald at the live desk. if you're having issues this morning, we can tell you are not alone. the site is experiencing some

issues and according to the guardian, it is down worldwide. the company put out a notice not long ago, it says they are aware of the problems and they are working to try and resolve the issue. we'll let you know as soon as it is fixed. my ex-boyfriend is out in cameo looking to kill a cop. >> we're now hearing the 911 calls from the town in ohio where a police officer was killed. sheriff deputies in knox county received a call this a man was armed and wanted to kill an officer. deputies found an officer shot dead not long off that. his gun and cruiser were gone. deputies tracked down the woman's boyfriend and took him into custody. off the coast of hawaii, search teams have found three life rafts from the marine helicopter that crashed last week. the search continues for 12 missing crew members. those marines were on board the two helicopters when they

collided during a training mission last thursday. the coast guard says there is no indication anyone was using the life raft they found. it is decision day on whether to bring down a tree house in d.c.'s capitol hill neighborhood. the wooden tree house has windows, a drawbridge, build in an alley. the tree house hangs into public space by about two feet. the homeowners received the proper permits in august but neighbors argue it shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. the lack of diversity in the oscar nominations is causing quit a stir. a statement issued on twitter. it says she is frustrated and heart broken about the lack of inclusion. she also added there are big changes on the way. there isn't a single actor of color up for a leading or supporting actor award this year. for the second year if a row, the #oscarssowhite is trending. some of the industry's biggest

names are calling for a full fledged boycott of the show. jada pinkett smith posted a video on facebook saying she's not going to the show. co-founder and guitarest for the eagles died according to the statement on the band's website. glen fry suffered from multiple illnesses. ♪ >> music stars took to twitter to remember the guitarist and singer. huey lewis calls him a brilliant songwriter and really good guy. don henley made a statement saying, i will be grateful every day that he was in my life, rest in peace, my brother. eagles, a big part of music culture in this country. >> yeah. huge. huge heart break for a lot of the eagle fans. the industry as a whole. the record, the eagles record,

one of my first records my dad played for us. you grew up with it. very, very sad. >> take it easy. that's trending on twitter now. we continue to follow breaking news on prince george's county where less than 30 minutes ago, we learned four people died in an overnight house fire in chillum. two of the victims are children. molette green is at the scene and will join us with what else she learned. live across the city, it is 15 degrees. with the windchill feels like and that's warm considering some other places in single digits and negative digits. chuck bell has what you need to know about the dangerous windchills.

it is 5:30. we're staying on breaking news. terrible story here. four people are dead, several others badly burned from a house fire. it broke out in chillum. molette green is getting new details from investigators. molette? >> reporter: this is a horrific family tragedy here. four dead, two adults, two children. firefighters believe twin 3-year-olds trapped inside when firefighters got here shortly after 2:00 a.m. one person managed to escape the flames out of a second floor window. with a neighbor at this time. a total of seven people inside the house. investigators are right now looking for a cause.

the fire is out and so now they're hunting down what caused this horrific scene this morning. we're on knoll brook drive in the 6700 block in chillum, not far from fort penn. that's the latest live here from the scene. four people dead, two adults and two children. firefighters believe they were just 3 years of age and twins. a weather alert day today. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> i'm angie goff. look at the windchills. yikes. forcing some delays this morning. we'll have a full list in a moment. we want to check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. hey. >> good morning to both of you once again. good morning, everybody. wow, is it cold outside. the four things you need to know about the weather. dangerously low windchills again today. that's the reason it is another weather alert day here at nbc 4. we have more frequent pushes

outen oout on our social media platforms. a chance for flurries coming our way tomorrow. no accumulations expected tomorrow. much larger accumulations likely friday and saturday. right now, though, windchills are near or below zero. high temperatures today only in the mid-20s across most of the area. and, again, i see a few more minutes, talking more about what could be a very significant snowstorm coming up friday and saturday. measured in the inches, potentially in the feet. see you in ten minutes. back to the anchors dealing with school delays this morning because of the cold. >> they're stacking up. with that cold, lots of school delays to tell you about now. students in prince william and loudoun counties are on a two hour delay today. loudoun school administrative offices are opening on time, however. >> frederick county, virginia and winchester city schools in west virginia. >> in west virginia, hampshire,

party, mineral and grant county opening two hours late. we'll have all the delays on the nbc washington app and scrolling at the bottom of the screen as well. let's check in with melissa. >> we have a couple of problems right now, inner loop, brand-new disabled vehicle here on the beltway as we zoom down here. another problem there outer loop of the beltway at pennsylvania avenue, a report of an accident in that area. 95 southbound, disabled vehicle there. 66 east at nutley street, a crash blocking the right side of the roadway. travel times in ten minutes. new numbers today in decision 2016. candidates are spread out across the country. their campaign eager for results of a new nbc news poll in the next 30 minutes. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from capitol hill with more. >> we wait for that one, let me tell you about the numbers that came out overnight showing

republicans more than democrats are taking a hit from the tone of this campaign. a lot of that coming from donald trump. let's go there first. he has increased his attacks on ted cruz. ted cruz says he won't respond but that issues, not personal attack, are fair game. we see both of them focus on iowa and new hampshire as we lead up to these caucuses. our latest poll shows four in ten voters overall have a more negative view of the republican party, based on the tone of the campaign. not as many republicans said so. with the democrats, our polls show that they're more focused on experience than change and that could benefit hillary clinton in her fight against bernie sanders to get that nomination. tracie potts live, thank you, tracie. the number of pedestrian accidents tripled in the last four years in fairfax county. it seems look a lot of roads are not easy to cross. that's what they see the report tells them. pedestrians say drivers are to blame and drivers say it is a

pedestrian. >> i worry about people who aren't from here, who are walking around and don't realize you need to -- you can't just go whenever you feel like it. >> well, according to fairfax county police, there were 11 pedestrians fatalities last year, up from 2012. a case involves the future of voicing your political preferences at work. this case comes from patterson, new jersey. the high court will decide whether a public employee can be demoted based on a supervisor's perception of that employee's political preferences. a space heater may have been the cause of a fire in temple hills. a woman was trapped in her basement during a blaze on sunday. she suffered burns over 40% of her body. firefighters found five homes in that very neighborhood with no working smoke detectors. it is a good reminder to check your smoke alarms and keep heaters at least three feet away from bedding, drapes or

furniture. firefighters will be operating out of their temporary facility just a little bit longer than expected. their new station number 4 is set to open up in october. it was originally set to be finished this summer. the state of the art facility on spring street will replace the firehouse that had been operating there for about 60 years. changes ahead in your child's school lunch. a new senate bill isn't giving cafeterias any more money, but it offers some flexibility. the bill eases requirements on whole grains and delays how soon schools need to cut sodium levels. you can help name a school in prince william county. a new elementary school under construction on liberty hill in woodbridge. the naming committee will consider i hhistorical identifi and names of people who made contributions to society. go to hilton high school at 7:00 if you want to be involved. there could be progress at the purple line in the next couple of weeks. maryland transit officials are expected to nape the contractor who will design, build, operate and maintain the light rail line.

the purple line will connect to bethesda and new carrollton metro stations. it is estimated to cost more than $2 billion. if all gees goes according to p the line could open up in 2021. if you're just joining us, we're following breaking news out of prince george's county where four people are dead after an overnight house fire. we're updating the story on the nbc washington app and the latest on the victims, which includes two 3-year-old children. this morning, fire comes as we're getting an up close look at this dramatic rescue that happened at a different fire. a look at that incredible footage coming in. a weather alert day and that's because of the current windchill, look at that, as we mentioned. a lot of schools on a two-hour delay today. what the kids are up against had they head to school today. that's at 5:41.

a dramatic fire rescue. firefighters were called to an apartment fire where a mother and child were trapped inside. the child was passed through the window to a firefighter and lowered to safety. six other adults were also rescued. northern virginia roads need work. that's according to the washington post. in fairfax county, nearly 80% of

local streets are in poor or very poor condition. in prince william county, almost 70% of streets have potholes, corroding asphalt and other problem. arlington streets are in much better shape with 40% in need of repaving. fairfax officials want the state to reallocate money to fix local roads instead of the highways. it is 5:41. time for weather and traffic on the 1s on this weather alert day. chuck bell, what are we dealing with here? >> first thing, the biting windchill. minus 8 in gaithersburg now. minus 5 martensburg. minus 4 in winchester. minus 2 waldorf. a lot of spots below zero with windchills getting the can kids out, school delays, have our nbc washington app ready to go or come to nbcwashington.com for delays. still breezy and cold. ten minutes, i'll let you know

what to start doing now to be ready for the storms coming up this weekend. that's in 10. delays on metro here, red line delays shady grove because of malfunction at bethesda. getting a report in my ear here, bw parkway, northbound, after 193, crash reported there. taking a look at travel times, 66 headed into town, 595 northbou northbound quantico to the beltway. over to 27 0, taking you nine minutes. we are following breaking news right now in prince george's county. firefighters are on the scene of this deadly house fire. within the past hour, we have learned that two adults and two children died. we're working to get you more information and will bring you an update straight ahead. today marks the beginning of tax season, we're getting you ready. what to do to make sure you get the most out of your return.

your time now is 5:43. we'll be right back. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months?

that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com

we're stayinging on top of breaking news in prince george's county at 5:46. two adult and two children have been killed in a fire. flames tore through the home on knoll brook drive. the children are believed to be 3-year-old twins. molette green is there live now getting new details. we'll check in with her coming up at 6:00. today is a weather alert day, we're working for you by tracking the dangerously cold temperatures. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is in the weather center, updating his forecast and keeping an eye on snow in our future. we begin with derrick ward in silver spring where getting the school buses is going to be a problem this morning. >> this may explain why some of those decisions to delay or close schools were made. we're outside a bus depot off randolph road in silver spring. these buses have been idling and

at the ready. when you're dealing with diesel engines, reliability becomes an issue when temperatures are like they are. they do add a substance to the fuel to sort of -- gelatin like substance to try and keep it from clogging. but ice crystals can form in that fuel line and they become like any other particulate and makes the engine stall. don't want to have a stalled bus with kids along a dark icy road. that may be the reason why some school districts decided to close and some changes. live in montgomery county, derrick ward, back to you. good example of what to wear today. weather will impact all of your plans today, morning, noon and nigtime. take it easy, everybody, if you can delay anything this morning until it gets warmer. that will be a great idea. more about the weekend snowstorm in five minutes. northbound bw parkway after 193, slowdowns starting because

of a crash there. delays on the red line and another problem on the inner loop of the beltway. details coming up. developing in tennessee, a search for a toddler missing for days. 2-year-old noah was on a hike with his sister and grandmother when he disappeared five days ago. his grandmother says she was focused on the little girl and when she looked up, know wnoah gone. making the search more difficult, the freezing cold temperatures. >> got to hang in there. you never know. miracles do happen. and i hope this is a miracle. >> well, rescue crews say that it is possible that the boy found some warmth in a hole or perhaps under a tree. but that is unlikely. the sheriff department says they're committed to bringing noah home alive. new information in a drug trial turned deadly. doctors say one of the five surviving participants is back home. this is video from a recent

press conference. french health officials say some of the volunteers face the possibility of brain damage. they're part of tests. the drug was in its first phase of testing, prosecutors launched a manslaughter investigation. mexico has beefed up security at its maximum security prison in case drug lord el chapo tries to escape again. six months ago, joaquin guzman escaped through awe tunnel dug into the bottom of the cell, he's being held in the ice lason unit with a ard outhis doside h door at all times. he's broken out twice. we're going to find out about a new plan to make housing more affordable in arlington, virginia. terry mcauliffe is making an announcement at the community center. average home prices have gone up more than 140% and the average

rent, that's gone up 90%. it could be easier it pay a cab driver in montgomery county. a bill up for discussion today would change credit card requirements for drivers. there is also a vote planned this morning to increase penalties for selling tobacco products to minors and another bill today urges the county it adopt a new effort to reduce the number of traffic related deaths. we're working to find out about memorial services for a dedicated community activist in prince george's county. greg hall died in a car crash yesterday morning. hall unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the maryland state house in 2013. police say an suv crossed the center line and hit hall's car head on. investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause. back to today's weather alert day, take one look at your screen and you're going to see why. for the second day in a row, we're dealing with dangerous windchills, single digits out there. by the end of the week, we could see significant snow. chuck bell, what are we talking about here significant, that

worries me. >> yea much. a whole lot of uncertainty. a long way to go before the first leg gets here. have it stay weather alert through today, tomorrow, on to the weekend. we'll have a lot of extra postings on all of our social media platform and on our website, not to mention talking a lot more about it on air over the next couple of days. be weather aware there is a chance for significant snow this weekend. but first thing we get through is the bitter cold this morning, windchills running between zero and 15 below zero in a few isolated spots. minus 8 in gaithersburg. minus 5 in martensburg. very cold morning, windchill advisories are posted for northern maryland, panhandle of west virginia and all the shenandoah valley and loudoun and montgomery counties. keep that in mind. here is the fauch wiuture windc. windchills up to 12 degrees by about 4:00 this afternoon. fortunately once the sun goes down, the wind will ease up. as a result, windchills won't be

the only big nose-dive below zero tonight into tomorrow morning. still single numbers, but not going to be the dangerously low windchills. planning your day out, 15 degrees this morning, with chills below zero, 22 at noon, 25 at 5:00 this afternoon. windchills back in the single numbers. we have a little chance for flurry coming in tomorrow ahead of the bigger storm this weekend. here is tomorrow, 7:00 tomorrow night, 9:30 tomorrow, chance for flurries going on through here. not anything more than just a coating. the weekend storm, much more likely to be significant, it has blizzard potential, could impact travel and power. the forecast models are in good agreement, on average, works too early for hometown snow amounts, but 6 to 12 inches or more is certainly a possibility. what you should be doing now ahead of that is stay ahead of the forecast, start making plan b for friday and saturday for travel plans or if you have outdoor activities to go, have a plan b ready for friday and for saturday as well. a lot of cold here this week,

once we get the snow stopped, it will be warm enough to melt things down a little bit by sunday and monday. i'll break down the timing what i think the first flake will get here coming up at 6:01. here is melissa with traffic. this problem here on bw parkway, northbound, after 193, really is starting to cause some issues here. we'll keep you updated on this one, sending chopper 4 to the scene now. one mile backup. red line cleared of any problems. single line, single-tracking between tyson's corner and spring hill. in frederick, green valley, fire activity shutting down some lanes in that area. more from chopper here in the next couple of minutes. they are machines we depend on while we shop and that small businesses depend on to grow. now the news 4 i-team uncovered a growing number of complaints against a huge cooperation that

rents out credit card swiping equipment. thousands of business owners have been sued by northern leasing systems. the company provided credit card equipment, but they accuse the company of intimidating clients into paying thousands of dollars through fraudulent lawsuits. a d.c. beauty shop owner tells the i-team it happened it her. >> it is hard, but, you know, you have to go on and try to climb from it. she is such a good force in this community. to see someone like her, have something that negative hit her, it bothers me. >> more on the backlash from small businesses and how northern leasing is responding to allegations of a racketeering scheme that is coming up tonight on news 4 at 11:00. take a minute today, if you can, to click through a new website, all about how to respond it an active shooter situation. georgetown university published it recently. campus police chief jay gruber says you're going to find a 30 minute course on what to do.

right now, only groups or departments can sign up for it. today law enforcement officials and other experts will meet to discuss the page. we'll post a link to the website on our nbc washington app. neighbors in northwest d.c. are weighing in on a new redevelopment plan. community members are meeting tonight about the future of the park morton housing community. a new plan calls for redeveloping the state on morton street into a mixed income and mixed use development. good morning, i'm landon dowdy. the wealth gap gets wider. a new report shows just 62 people own as much wealth as half of the world's population. their assets average half a trillion dollars. the total owned by the world's poorest has fallen by $1 trillion. oxfam is urging world leaders to tackle economy. the minimum wage has been stuck

at $7.25. start getting your documents together. the 2016 tax filing season begins today. can you believe it? today is the first day you can start filing your 2016 income tax returns. now, the irs expects to process about 150 million individual tax returns this season. a big change this year is the filing date deadline. april 15th out of your head. the new date is monday april 18th. the extra three days are thanks to the district's celebrating emancipation day on the 15th. as you prepare to think about how you want to file your taxes, the irs recommends e-file. e-filing is the fastest and most secure way to receive your return. 70% of taxpayers are eligible for ire free file and you won't have to wait to get your return either. the irs anticipates issuing most

returns in less than 21 days. find out which tax bracket you're in, be sure to check out the nbc washington app, search tax tips. as if you needed another excuse to binge watch, netflix says it is going to pump out more shows this year. the streaming service says it is making a special effort to produce programming for children and families. it wants to offer 20 new shows. a remake of full house premieres in a few weeks. just got new information here at the scene about the four people who lost their lives in the chillum house fire. we'll have more on that coming up in just a couple of minutes. also preparing you for the dangerous conditions you'll face when you step outside as we deal with the below zero wind chills. what you'll be dealing with on your way to and from work and when things warm up.

that's next on news 4 today at 6:00. stay with us.

we start at 6:00 a.m. with some unthinkable tragedy in prince george's county. multiple people including young children get in an overnight fire. >> it broke out on knoll brook drive on chillum.

that's where we find molette green live following developments. this is so heart breaking. >> we just had some updated information from prince journges county fire. two adults who died in this fire were the grandparents. and the two children who died, new information here, twins, 2 years of age, a boy and a girl. we also just found out that the mother is the one who jumped out of the second floor window to escape. the twins' mother. she's in the hospital with injuries that are described as nonlife threatening. seven people in total inside this house when the 911 call came in after 2:00 a.m. the four people who died were trapped and firefighters had to pull them out. we have learned this morning, of course, not too long ago they did not make it. right now, investigators are looking for a cause and we asked them about whether there was smoke detectors inside the