falling and there is already a winter weather advisory in effect. >> that little thing is nothing compared to what's coming later this week, folks. a major snowstorm that will be measured in feet, not in inches. team coverage begins right now with doug up in news center 4. doug? >> you mentioned that, vance. measured in feet, not inches and that's for sure. we are predicting one to two feet across most of the area as we move into the day on friday into saturday. what we have tonight, a little appetizer, really. this is another clipper system that's coming on through and as always, these clippers very seldom give us much in the way of snowfall and this one will not bring in that much and you can see it moving across and it is snowing right now inside the beltway and southern maryland toward the manassas area and warrenton, back toward win chester and we'll see snow for the next couple of hours and it's not the amount that could be half an inch to an inch and because of the temperatures it will stick quickly to the roadways and here's what we have and the winter weather advisory

for the d.c. and metro area and we'll continue to watch that. veronica, the temperatures as we continue through the night tonight and the temperatures well below freezing and it will be a four to five-hour event for us and a very small event compared to what we'll get started late friday and going through saturday and the storm team 4 by 4 ready to roll by that and for this evening, road conditions will get slippery in many locations and there's bristow, virginia and from here in d.c. and bristow and areas north and howard, montgomery county where we'll be seeing snow and slippery conditions for this evening and the snow moves out about 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. and the temperatures will be at 28 degrees and areas from 70 to 270 and 495 and down i-95, that's where road conditions could be slick by early tomorrow morning and same thing, there could be black ice around areas and our temperature tomorrow afternoon and 35, a day to get out, prepare and plan for what's to come.

doug? >> what's to come is the potential blizzard and let's just take away potential and it will be near blizzard conditions in many areas and a blizzard warning -- i'm sorry, a blizzard watch in effect for areas in green including d.c. and a winter storm watch back to the west and the only difference that everybody will get the snow and the only difference is the high winds and winds gusting over 35 miles an hour and much more on the storm system as we continue going on right through 7:00 and the latest snow totals. i've got those for you, as well. doug? >> the university of maryland has decided it will be closed friday -- pardon me, through sunday because of the storm. student move-in day for the spring semester was scheduled for saturday, but that has now been moved to friday. as for tonight's little burst of snow, prince william and charles county schools have canceled all evening activities. we will keep you updated throughout the hour and on the nbc washington app. at some point our local airports will have to make

decisions about shutting down runways in the storm so how do they know exactly when to do that? transportation reporter adam tuss is at reagan national airport to let us know the answer. adam? >> i'll tell you about that in a second, doreen, and first, the snowflakes that started falling at reagan national airport and we've been saying they're coming and light snow right now. when the really bad stuff hits and the road crews, the crews have to get out there on the runway, they get in a vehicle and they slam on the brakes out there on the runway and that tells them everything they need to know. when planes land in rough weather every single pilot reports what they call braking conditions. then the airport gets to work. >> in addition, we do our own measurements on the runway with vehicles. we actually slam the brakes on and measure the friction coefficient. >> reporter: if things get too sloppy the runway shuts down and all bets may be off with this one. aside from battling the storm, a lot of people are battling just

to get out of here right now as airlines waive change fees. brandon carter. >> even the uber driver said get ready man, he had his coat and scarf ready to go. >> reporter: were you trying to get out before the snow? >> i'm flying into kentucky. my girlfriend called me and she's, like, we got four inches. i hope you're not delayed and if i'm stuck here i'm stuck here. >> reporter: inside the airport workers being told to expect long hours. passengers ultimately will be stranded and they'll be hungry. here at ben's chili bowl. >> 9:30, 10:00, we'll work it out. yep. >> reporter: the people will be able to come and get food if they need it. >> and chili cheese fries and chili cheese burgers and we'll be happy to serve them. >> shauna has been stuck in an airport. >> they give you pillows, a mattress and a blanket. >> reporter: here's hoping you make it out before that's necessary.

>> reporter: and back here now live at reagan national airport. you can see some of the flakes that are falling here right now. when the really bad weather hits this weekend, a lot of the airlines are actually going to get their planes out of here completely. they don't want to have them sitting here in the snow. they'd rather be some place where the weather is not a factor. so look for that. back to you, jim. >> maryland's governor says the state is ready to handle whatever comes this weekend, but delays in contracts for independent plows did raise concerns today. some people concerned there wouldn't be enough plows to clear the streets. >> chris gordon is in frederick, maryland, to tell us how that problem was fixed. >> maryland's state government is getting ready. governor larry hogan met with his cabinet. >> we've been in touch with the department of transportation and fha and everyone is preparing. >> reporter: joe burkhardt who has been one of the largest independent contractors working with the state for more than 20

years says mare land delayed giving him contract approval over insurance issues. his 14 plows and two salt loaders would remain idle in the coming blizzard, and he wasn't alone. a substantial number of independent snowplow operators across maryland haven't gotten contracts either. >> they tell me they're trying to activate them now. whether they get it implemented in time for the storm, i do not know. >> reporter: we called the state highway administration. fh ascent a statement, an independent snow contractor saying sha will have all of our eligible resources available for the upcoming storm. sha has been working to clear up some confusion related to insurance requirements. the bottom line is we are prepared and ready for this potentially historic storm. joe burkhardt is relieved that the problem apparently has been resolved. >> that's great. i can let all my guys know we'll be working this storm and we'll continue to go through everything and make sure

everything is up to par to provide the best service we can provide. >> reporter: this also comes as very good news for maryland drivers because these plows will keep 270 cleared during the coming storm. reporting from frederick, maryland, chris gordon, news 4. white's ferry is still closed tonight. it stopped running about 9:30 this morning because there was too much ice on the potomac river. white ferry connects montgomery county and maryland to loudoun county and virginia. if you made a stop at the local hardware store today you already know you had a lot of company. snow shiovels were flying off te shelves and sleds were in pretty i had demand, too. power companies are bringing in extra crews and finalizing their plans in an effort to make sure the heat and the lights stay on. there are two major factors they're concerned about as they monitor this storm. meagan fitzgerald is in herndon, virginia, now with what the

power companies say you should be doing right now. meagan? >> reporter: jim, they're asking folks to be proactive and to stock up on the necessities so we've been seeing folks going in and out of grocery stores all day and take a look behind me here. the steady stream of cars at the gas station. that's been a condition stand throughout the day and as you mentioned, power companies say there are two factors they're concerned about that could mean thousands of outages across our area. folks are getting ready to be snowed in. >> getting gas and a shovel. >> reporter: and stocking up on the essentials in case the power goes out. >> we have some batteries and fruits and milk. >> reporter: over at dominion virginia power they're stocking up to make sure they're ready, too. >> we're more focused on when we'll need our resources and being prepared to come out of the gate running, so to speak to do the restoration. >> reporter: chuck penn is the

spokesperson for dominion virginia power and he says this entire area will be filled with personnel monitoring outages in the area and ready to deploy crews in the field, but he says there are two factors that are a major concern. >> the quality of this is what we're more concerned with because wet snow, that's heavy is more problematic. >> reporter: he says high wins cause problem, too, and it's the combination power companies consider it's a worst-case scenario. >> it could be several thousand outages. >> reporter: which is why he says being prepared now could save you a lot of stress later. >> reporter: stock up on things like batteries and make sure you know where your flashlights are and have enough water, bottled water on hand. if your power does go out or you see downed power lines they're asking you to call it in right away. we have a list of all of the numberious need on our nbc washington app as well as our

website. back to you. >> meagan fitzgerald, thank you. school districts in northern virginia are making changes already ahead of the storm. loudoun county has moved weekend sporting events to tonight and tomorrow and they may have to reschedule testing set for saturday. prince william county will send changes to school trips and activities. fairfax has a school cancellation approximately see video to address concerns of parents and they're worried as officials look beyond this weekend. bureau reporter david culver has that story coming up in the next half hour. you can stay ahead of the storm if you download the nbc washington app. you can get breaking news alerts and track when the storm is approaching your neighborhood with our interactive radar. some breaking news we're covering now. the principal of wilson high school in d.c. has just sent a letter to parents asking students for information about a stabbing that happened not long

after school let out today. a wilson student was stabbed outside the sears showroom right across the street from that school after a fight. police are looking for two other teenagers who they say are responsible. the student who was stab side expected to be okay. tonight, we're getting our first good look at "kwawashingt post" reporter jason rezaian. he is being evaluated in a military hospital in landstuhl, germany. he was held in iran for a year and a half, today he and his wife, mother and brother greeted reporters outside the hospital. he wants to get back to writing the u.s.-iran story at some point, but for now he says he wants to catch up on what's been happening in the world and that includes seeing the new "star wars" movie. a former white house supervisor accused of stealing on the job. the fbi says she doctored some time sheets to pocket thousands of dollars. a milestone for mgm as we

learn new details about the first thingious will see once the hotel opens. we're bracing for a big storm later this week and we'll show you how d.c. plans to make show you how d.c. plans to make the most

♪ know you can keep your financial big picture under control. show you how d.c. plans to make the most know you can see how much you have to spend and whether you should transfer funds.

know you can easily keep track of what you're putting away. and know you're budgeted for the great escape. thanks to virtual wallet by pnc. ♪ and taking a look outside right now. this is herndon, virginia, snow

starting to fall all across the area right now. that winter weather advisory in effect until midnight tonight. we are starting to see some of that snow accumulating on some of the roadways. so really give yourself extra time this evening and that's why we have the winter weather advisory. it's not going to be a lot and you can see the snow moving across and just about everybody moving the snow and it will be light to moderate, but that's it. it will not last long, the biggest areas is a half an inch to an inch and because of the cool temperatures it will stick on the roadways and please watch out for that. this is nothing to do with the next storm. that storm moves in on friday and, jim, we'll have much more on that coming up. >> looking forward to it. thanks, doug. thousands of senior citizens have to depend on others to help them during a storm like this one. today social workers in the district began going door to door checking to make sure those residents are prepared. our mark segraves went along to find out what it takes to keep those folks fed, warm and safe. >> there are a lot of elderly

people that don't have anybody to help give them the support. >> 75-year-old almeta davis lives alone, but she knows there's someone looking out for her and thousands of other seniors. >> are you prepared for the storm? >> olivia ikenberry is part of a team of social workers doing a check on senior citizens ever since the temperature dropped. >> a lot of things can happen and it's important that we check on our friends and neighbors. >> while the majority of wellness checks prevent anything from going wrong, sometimes they do find seniors who are in need of immediate help. >> we have a few cases a month and those cases are usually related to, you know, lack of heat in the home or somebody is experiencing some sort of medical emergency or there's a food crisis in the home. while mrs. davis is ready for the snow she is concerned. >> i worry about the sidewalks a lot of times. >> reporter: the district has

2,000 volunteers ready to shovel out sidewalks for seniors and they're also making sure they'll have food once the storm hits. while the program is set up to help seniors it seems clear everyone gets something out of this relationship. >> i love my job, and i love my team, and i love the seniors i work with. >> reporter: there are more than 100,000 seniors living in the district. if you know someone who needs a wellness check or sidewalk cleared, sign them up by calling 311. in the district, mark segraves, news 4. if you'd like to shovel sidewalks we have posted the deadlines for most of the cities and counties in the nbc washington app. open it up and search shovel for more information. now to a story you'll see only on news 4. the fbi says it's broken up a theft scheme inside the white house. a longtime supervisor now under arrest and set to appear in court tomorrow. scott macfarlane broke the story

on our app and he joins us in the studio with the details. scott? >> her name is andrea turk, the former white house director of information services and according to court records she managed 15 white house switchboard operators and approved their time sheets. fbi records obtained by news 4 say it was the time sheets that got andrea turk in trouble. >> in court records obtained by news 4 an fbi special agent said andrea turk dread one of her employee's time sheets over 20 pay periods in 2012 and 2013, giving that amy unearned, extra overtime play and insisted the employee funnel the money back to turk, thousands of dollars, sometimes in cash and wire transfers according to court records. turk acknowledged having financial problems and she told her workers i'm going to need help. no answer when we tried to reach turk at home and by phone. she was fired when they became

aware of the details of the case. turk managed the time sheets in her department and they say they were told she became very aggressive in requesting personal favors and assistance from the employee whose sheets she was doctoring including baby-sitting duties and picking up her child at day care. a deeper review by news 4 found this is far from the only federal case involving doctored time sheets. we found 60 so-called time and attendance time cases involving federal workers cheating on their time sheets since 2012 costing taxpayers more than $1 million including workers who went golfing, gambling or vacationing while pretending to be on the clock. andrea turk's scheduled to appear in federal court in d.c. tomorrow at 1:30 on a federal criminal charge of theft from the government. jim? >> thanks, scott. coming up tonight, a look back at some of the biggest storms that hit our area. the question is how will this one compare with what we all call snowmageddon in 2010.

sarah palin hits the campaign trail for donald

there's a winter weather advisory in effect for us tonight. frigid temperatures and snow falling in parts of the region right now. >> you know what? it ain't nothing because there's a whole lot more on the way, doug! >> just a little taste.

a little something to wet the whistle because that's what we've got going on. storm team 4 radar tracking the snow and it's a system moving through and it has nothing to do with the storm coming on friday and let's zoom in and show you the snow. it's coming down pretty good in parts of the region. take a look right outside the studios in northwest d.c. and we'll see the snow coming down and again, because it is so cold it is sticking on the ground immediately and even on the roadways and temperatures have not gotten above freezing for at least three days. so again, we are going to run into some problems and that's why we have the winter weather advisory in effect for southern maryland and parts of northern virginia including the beltway area and please watch out and the winter weather advisory until midnight. here's the big deal. this is friday into saturday and the areas in green and that is a blizzard watch and the areas in blue, that is a winter storm watch. the only difference is the wind. everybody gets about the same amount of snow, but the wind to the east along i-95 and

especially closer to the chesapeake could be upwards of 50 to 60 miles an hour and d.c. proper, i'm expecting 40 to 50 miles per hour here and the blizzard is 35 miles or better. >> here's the first system and you can see it moving on through and now we're seeing a couple of snow showers and light snow moving on through and the next system as we go back here and back toward the west, and this will dive down to the south and pick up moisture through the gulf of mexico and move in. >> when does it start? no problem, so you will wake up friday and there will not be issues on the fridays and some areas will already see snow sticking to the ground to the south. we think in the beltway area, most likely starting after 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, but that's the only difference that we have here because the 2:00 start is a lot different than a 5:00 start in our area because of all of the people in the roads and by 8:00, everybody is seeing the snow and by 11:00, it gets heavy and

heaviest snow at 8:00 on friday night until 11:00 on saturday night. a very long duration event and very heavy snow during the day on friday. saturday is really the day to watch. how much snow? 18 to 24 inches. so that's a foot and a half to two feet plus. some areas may get more than two feet of snow. a little less down to the south and this all depends on mixing down here and still a lot of snow for you. same deal for fredericks town, 12 to 18 inches. the road impacts, friday evening and snow-covered roads in some locations and saturday, many roads simply impassable. you will not be able to drive on saturday and most likely we'll have states of emergency and you won't be allowed on the roads and on sunday the snow is over and the impacts will last for days and i want you to remember that. the snow ends early sunday morning and you might not be able to get out of your house for two or three days. here's the storm friday and saturday. sunday it gets a little better with a high of 34, but again, we may not go back to school until the middle of next week even

though temperatures get above the freezing mark and it may help as the temperatures gets up to 44 on tuesday and one thing that happened in 2010 when we had snow ma getsnowmageddon and schools did not go back to school until thursday. >> we heard the spokesman from dominion virginia power talking about the quality of this snow. that's a big concern, isn't it? >> it is a big concern. >> what do we know what it's going to be? >> at the hear of the storm, overnight friday night into saturday morning and that snow will be fairly wet especially in toward portions of maryland and the heavy snow will bring down power lines and we're really worried about that and also in 2010, 150,000 people in maryland alone lost power. be ready for your power to go out. >> you know what i mean? i've seen a snowstorm here or two over a couple of years, i don't know that we've called for blizzard conditions too many times. >> this is only the second

blizzard watch and the last one, 1993. >> that was fun for me. >> thanks, doug. here's what cells coming up tonight. from fairfax to loudoun to right here in prince william county, we've been in touch with school officials from across northern virginia. their focus on weather conditions for this friday and we'll tell you ahead at 6:00, why they're also just as concerned about early next week. >> i'm tom sherwood in the district. whether you live here, work here or just visiting the nation's capital, that sign is what you better pay attention to in the coming days. the city is preparing for

now at 6:30, challenges for people in the st. louis area and we got a couple of inches of snow last night and it made for tough day on the roads and the temperatu temperatures did not warm up enough to melt any of the ice and snow and that's the system that's beginning to have an impact on our area now. we're only expectation very small amount of snow from this system, but it could create slippery conditions so you want to be careful if you're heading out to stock up for the big storm that's coming this weekend. >> you can see the radar behind us at the snow moves in tonight and your kids may already be asking if they're going to have school tomorrow or friday or as

more snow moves in. >> bureau reporter david culver checked in with school officials in northern virginia. you have to look at how they're going to make their decision and why they are so focused on early next week. as you can see, we've got a lot of students. >> reporter: it's a list several pages long, field trips and activities just for tonight. prince william county school spokesperson pointing out the big impact of a school cancellation and they're ready to push out an alert if it becomes a question of safety. >> as soon as we have a good level of confidence we'll start notifying the community of what the plans are. >> it's been tracking fairly steadily. >> reporter: school superintendent in touch with storm team 4 meteorologist and he's likewise, following the storm closely focused on dismissal friday. >> any time around any rush hour period when there's volume on the road our vdot friends tell us please stay off the roads and do the work we need to do, we

honor and we respect that. >> reporter: we're in touch with officials from loudoun county public schools and they're monitoring this very closely, as well. they tell us the weather service considers them to be two separate counties given how large they are. here are things they're considering ahead of this potential severe weather. for one, they're looking to move up scheduled sporting events from this weekend to take place tonight and tomorrow. they're also considering rescheduling some standardized tests that were initially set for this saturday. >> the school systems are also focused on early next week, the possible aftermath and snow blocked sidewalks and marking lots as well as power outages and possible damage and that could all impact classes and activities. >> and then we get into the cleanup because once this event hits we have to start getting things back to normalcy. >> right now it's the beginning and in a situation like this it will last through the weekend and beyond. >> reporter: fairfax county public schools have gotten so many questions about the snow procedure, they put out a new

video. check it out at david, underscore, culver. in prince william conte, i'm david culver, news 4. some schools have not decided what to do in d.c. schools are planning to let out at 12:00 noon. they'll decide whether to close early on friday morning. prince george's and frederick county schools are already closed on friday for a teacher work day. make sure you download the nbc washington app and we'll have a list of all of the school, church and business closings just as they come in. d.c. mayor muriel bowser says the district's snow team has been preparing for a big storm like this since last summer. new equipment and hundreds of volunteers will be on hand to help clear roads and sidewalks, too, but as tom sherwood reports the mayor still has concerns. mayor bowser says the city is big-time ready for this maybe big-time storm. snowplows and road salts, but with blizzard winds expected,

bowser still has a big worry. >> my biggest concern would be power. of it are it would be power. if this was a blizzard and we have sustained winds and people lose power and it's cold over a sustained period of time. >> reporter: t city also is thinking small, handing out more than 2,000 shove else for volunteers to shovel walkways for the infirmed or elderly. neighbor to check on neighbors. if or probably when a snow emergency is declared, the city is urging everyone to pay attention to these signs and not park. $250 fines, big towing fees. >> we advise to be mindful of where you park. if you're on one of those restricted roads, be prepared to move and it's safer if you don't have cars parked out there for everybody involved. >> another concern friday. organizers say they're not calling off the annual march for life. the anti-abortion march to capitol hill. they could draw several hundred

thousand demonstrators to snowy city streets. >> we would, of course, expect any entity that's organizing to look out for the safety of their participants. >> reporter: the mayor says she'll announce more snow preparation details tomorrow. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. politics now, just one day after endorsing donald trump, sarah palin missed his first campaign stop in iowa. she caught up with him in time to speak at a trump rally in oklahoma. nbc's edward lawrence has our report. >> reporter: in oklahoma today sarah palin stressed donald trump's anti-establishment campaign, and his strength saying he can change the country. >> our vets and you deserve a commander in chief who will respect what it is that our forces go through, and would never leave them behind! >> reporter: in iowa, some voters say palin can help trump win. >> you still hold some sway with the tea party and the republican

party. >> reporter: once again, trump attacking ted cruz for being born in canada and failing to disclose two, low-interest bank loans. because he didn't want you to see that. okay? that's a problem. i think when you go to caucus, you should think about that problem. >> in new hampshire, this moving billboard circled cruz's campaign event and cruz highlighted how he would fix the presidency by following the law. >> if you have a president that behaves as an emperor saying this law i'll ignore or this law i'll ignore, we lose the protection to the liberty. >> on the democratic side in new hampshire hillary clinton let her husband do the talking. >> i trust you. and three weeks is an eternity in politics. >> reporter: senator bernie sanders leads polls in new hampshire and hillary clinton is running new ads there and in iowa to make her look presidential. >> she has everything it takes to do every part of the job. >> reporter: voters caucus february 1st and go to the polls in new hampshire eight days

later. edward lawrence, nbc news, washington. coming up, a digital tool for women in the workplace. we'll tell you how this website is helping women find the best companies for which to work in our area. tracee wilkins at national harbor where we're learning more about the grand hotel being built here at mgm casino and what's going to go inside. that story up next. >> and we're tracking the snow right now coming down across the area and again, it is cold enough and it is sticking on the roads right now. it's only been snowing here in northwest d.c. for the last 15 to 20 minutes and look at the road right outside the studio already covered. be careful, it could g

we still have that winter weather advisory in effect and this is a live look at the conditions outside our studio in northwest d.c. right now. you can see the pavement is white, up to an inch of snow could fall tonight and doug is

working on the forecast and he'll have an update for us in just a few minutes. we have rather sad news to report on a story we reported a few weeks ago. a mother in virginia with cancer who inspired a local beer died over the weekend. kerri rose was fighting stage four stomach cancer. her husband owns the forge brew works in wharton. others teamed up to create kerri's cure in her honor. you can still buy the special brew. proceeds will help cover medical bills. we have a list of locations on the nbc washington app. it's no secret that a gender gap exists in the workplace. men typically make more money than women and hold more leadership roles. there is a new website that scolds employers on how it treats women and it's growing in popularity. news 4's angie goff checked it

out. >> reporter: for almost 20 years, sally was living the life in new york city, living a wildwild ly successful career at several magazines and then her husband got a job opportunity in washington. >> we jumped at the opportunity and it was a huge career risk for me personally. >> reporter: almost two years later, sally is still looking for the right job and she's also become a mom. >> it's a book. >> it is! >> reporter: which has changed what she wants from work. >> prior to having a child i could devote myself to my job. i could work whatever hours i needed to work. now my mind is a little more split. i can focus on work, but i also need to focus on my daughter. >> reporter: it was her search for the flexibility that bought her here to in her se, a website that allows women to anonymously helps women rate their work. the tripadviser of women in the workplace, a place that scores

employers on female friendliness and makes it public. >> it's women helping women figure out where they're going to be successful at work. >> on in her site, women rate a past and present employers on a range of topic, paid time off, leadership opportunities, maternity leave, flexible hours and thousands visit the site every day and they're finding metrics do matter. >> companies really want to do well. you know, they're not happy unless they have a score of four or above. with more than 4,000 in the database, tech and non-profits rank the highest. among the lowest, manufacturing, construction and education. like other public ranking websites, there's no real oversight on who is posting what, but meade says for the most part the reviews have been balanced. back at home, searching with sally. >> it's one piece of the puzzle for me. >> and her site is just another source, a starting point at this point in her life. that keeps in mind what matters

most. >> in addition to ranking companies in her site also plays matchmaker. online you'll find a tool that connects women to companies based on their individual needs. back to you. coming up, an inside look as mgm marks a milestone and the local celebrity chef who plans to be part of it at national harbor. a major winter storm is approaching and doug will let us know how much snow

a dream is starting to become a reality at national harbor. the signature hotel at the new mgm casino is taking shape.

today the project reached a big milestone. tracee wilkins has a look at when everything will be finished and a look at some of the fine dining we'll find inside. [ cheering ] >> reporter: it was a vegas-like celebration on the site of mgm national harbor marked by a tree being hoisted to the top of the new hotel, a symbol that the highest point of the 24-story building is complete. >> i've seen this property from the, you know, the start of it and now to actually seeing it raising, so it's really exciting and i think it's a long time coming for prince george's county. >> reporter: brian is especially excited. he and his brother have a restaurant going inside this 300-room luxury resort here in his home county of prince george's. >> we lived in bowie for a while and i went to bowie high school so for me it's a coming home. >> he's a world class chef featured on shows like "top chef" and the owner of charlie

palmer's steakhouse and yes, it will be another steakhouse at mgm. it will be a world-class steakhouse. we're both sons of the chesapeake. we both grew up in maryland and this area so certainly we'll be looking to this region and the chesapeake watershed for ingredients. >> reporter: it's the first named by mgm as they promise more world-class restaurants, spas, high-end shopping and entertainment and the theater that ended up costing $100 million more than first expected. >> we'll bring in world-class boxing, ufc, great concerts. >> we're expecting that new restaurant to be somewhere on the first floor of this hotel and we are now being told that this casino is expected to be complete, possibly by the end of this year. on national harbor, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. enjoy our weather now. snowing in parts of the regional ready, but this is not compared to what's coming later this week. >> it's practice. doug and veronica are in the

storm center and what to expect on friday. >> she said practice. we're talking about -- huh? >> we're talking about practice. oh! yeah. practice. >> that's just practice. >> that's exactly what this is and a little practice out for us and tonight's practice has to do with the fact that it has to do with a light amount of snow that's cold enough and it's immediately sticking on those roads and we're looking at what we could get or what we will be picking up at the end of the week friday through saturday and looking back at the record books and back at the calendars and what impacts that will have in the area. >> here's the first storm and our practice storm and we have the first storm coming through the i-95 corridor because again, the snow came down and it covered the roads within 10, 15 minutes because of the fact that we have such cold air across our region. here's where the snow is right around the d.c., metro area and take a look outside, again, very pretty snow tonight and it's also a very fluffy snow and you will notice that, a very dry

snow and that's how it's going to start on friday and you notice the snow was covered within a half an hour and that's why we have the winter weather advisory in effect and half inch and maybe an inch at the most, but on the roads it could get fairly slick fairly quickly so watch out there. the blizzard watch in the green from frederick county, maryland, all of the way over to the chesapeake. winds 50 to 60 miles per hour and i think d.c. to the west, 30 to 40 and to the east of d. chlt kr 50-mile-per-hour winds and we'll all get the same amount of snow and it's the wind and that's the difference in the watches. here's how much snow, and 12 to 18 extreme south and 18 to 24 plus, yes, we could see more than two feet in some areas and maybe even the higher elevations and 18 to 24 inches and a very good bet and just a couple of years ago and six years ago we went through snowmageddon in

2010 and veronica has much more on how that played out. >> that was february 5th and 6th and we pulled the calendar and pulled some video to show you just what it looked like what the scene was throughout the area. man, we were buried in a whole lot of snow and we had very low visibilities and just like what you're seeing there, and those are the type of conditions that we'll have to deal with come friday and saturday. very similar event that was as the snow started falling on friday and once again, it's going to start, we think around friday between 1:00 and 3:00 with a lot of snow accumulating by late friday night. snowmageddon 5th and 6th 2010 we picked up 17 inches and that's the number four storm for d.c. take a look at the number one storm for d.c. and that was back in 1922, way back where d.c. had 28 inches of snow. so that's why we're saying if you saw from the scenes in the

video this will be a crippling storm for us. the government even with snowmageddon, doug, was closed for days as well as the schools. >> it started on friday and some of the schools did not go back until next thursday. we mentioned the crippling snowstorm and that's exactly what we're talking about. some of the highways will be closed this weekend, we think. power outages during that storm we saw hundreds of thousands without power. be prepared for your power to go out this weekend especially saturday into sunday and the impacts will be all of the way through next week and there's no way it will end saturday night and sunday morning and the impact on this will go through next week and please know that, as well. this is not a quick system and this will be with us for about a week's time and the snow ends on sunday morning, but even monday, tuesday and wednesday we may not have school and work. just something to think about as we move through the next couple of days and you know we'll continue to keep you posted right here. for now, we're just dealing with practice. >> we're counting on you keeping us posted. >> to answer your question, no,

i do not remember the knickerbocker, storm. >> back in 1922. >> i know you were thinking it! we have sports coming up and the friendly confines of the verizon center haven't been so friendly to our skies. >> no. >> no. >> one ha ♪ (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator...

can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there. are you taking a zumba class?

jason has sports and the wisz arts have trouble winning at home. >> they better win tonight because half of miami came out and they're hurt. they should win tonight. after tonight we will officially be at the halfway point of the winter season. the pretty large size to draw conclusions from and what started off as a minor concern has snowballed into a much bigger issue. the wizards stink at home. they are absolutely terrible. if they don't figure it out soon it could be a lost season. home has not been sweet especially as of late and that's one of the worst home records and one victory in the last six games and homecourt advantage has not been much of an

advantage and marcin has more. >> at home we've been hustling and talking trash like people aren't listening like we're shooting a movie or something sometimes. i don't know what the difference is on the road or at home, and i'm trying every second i'm on the court and it doesn't matter if i'm at home or on the road. >> divine wade both out for miami and without their starting backcourt this evening for this game. >> we'll move on to football for a moment and the redskins have a coach on their staff. he'll be in charge of coaching the outside linebackers for this team and he played for the skins in the late '80s. elsewhere, around the league for the weekend, who wants to play in super bowl 50? the game everyone is talking about, broncos and patriots, this goes back to peyton manning's colt days and he

helped out with an 8 and 4 head to head record including a record in the playoffs when manning made the move to denver so did the rivalry and they beat brady, and tom still holds the 11 and 5 overall record and manning versus brady, 17 this sunday and has everyone excited. meanwhile, not many new yorkers are fans of tom brady. today's "new york daily news" back page cover with the picture and crybrady. they talked about how brady complains and the officials and say when he's played against brady he's definitely thrown some temper tantrums. finally, we all know the redskins defensive line loves having fun and they also love helping those in need. terence "pot roast" knighton, saying he ordered 3600 bottles of water for those in flint, michigan and their prayers are with the city. chris baker also tweeting this

out and his support for flint. >> good for them. >> that is good. >> good guys. way to go. nice move. >> that's our broadcast for now. stay tuned, folks. we'll get through

developing news tonight. a monster winter storm bearing down. blizzard watches up, in some places forecast for the kind of snow they haven't seen in 100 years. 50 million americans acing for impact. on the attack, sarah palin hits the trail with donald trump. and what she said about her son's domestic violence arrest, ptsd and the president, raising eyebrows. roller coaster plunge on wall street. retirement savings taking another hit as the price of oil continues to fall with no end in sight. new developments in the toxic water crisis in michigan. what did the governor know and when did he know it. and a rescue. a hollywood star turned real-life action hero. "nightly news" begins right now.