blizzard since monday and that's exactly what we have here and now we have the blizzard warnings and they go into effect tomorrow and blizzard warning all of the way over toward the chesapeake bay and back toward frederick and back toward the west into the pink and that's the winter storm warning and the only difference, stronger winds in the area and red and everybody gets the same amount of snow and nothing in our area now and you have nothing to worry about and go to the store and get last-minute items and tonight is the night to do it because here is the storm and it is a monster of a storm. already tornadoes down to the south and it's all making its way our way and the travel, stay put. once the snow starts tomorrow night, you do not want to leave your house. they will be structural issues and heavy snow on top of roofs and especially the flat roofs and that will be something we watch and the trees and power lines and the onset of this storm, veronica, less than 24

hours away and v.j., you're outside and we had the snow last night and tomorrow's snow is not going away and it will snow hard and it's going to snow fast as we get up to about 5:00, 6:00 p.m. during tomorrow evening and it will start around 4:00 so road conditions will get treacherous in a hurry and we want you to stay safe and by noon time tomorrow you should have everything you need and you'll be in doors for a while. take a look by the time we get to 7:00 as much as 4 to 8 inches of snow could be falling throughout the area and the 8-inch total is south and west of d.c. and by 11:00 p.m. as much as 8 to ten. in d.c., early morning at 7:00 a.m. when you wake up there could be a foot of snow easily on the ground in many areas and that snow will be blowing, drifting around and we could see drifts, of course. doug as high as around 4, 5 feet perhaps in some areas. >> yeah. that's exactly right.

we could easily see the wind drifts upwards of the four, five feet area. we'll talk about this throughout the next hour and we're with you behind the scenes, too. once we get off the air on the washington app and on facebook and twitter and i don't know where else, but i know we're somewhere else, too. >> thank you, doug. during the snowmageddon snowstorm metro had to shut down all of its above-ground rail service, but this time around the transit agency is suspending all service, above and below ground for the weekend. transportation reporter adam tuss joins us live with details. why close the whole thing down, adam? >> this san interesting step by the transit agency, why could aren't you just run the below-ground service so that we could get around? it makes a lot of sense if you start thinking about it from this perspective. if power were to be shut down, we're talking about high winds with this storm and a rail car got stuck in a tunnel then you'd have a big problem. plus metro's also talking about

storing its equipment inside the tunnels when all of this is happening and the blizzard is coming. so with all of that in mind, let's take a look at the schedule changes for metro. >> tomorrow on metro, trains will run from 5:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night and there will be no weekend service and no saturday or sunday service on metro rail and bus service is going to stop after 5:00 tomorrow might because the blizzard is coming and let's hear from metro's general manager paul wiedefeld. >> with the blizzard with high winds there is a concern of power loss and we cannot risk putting our customers out there and leaving them stranded in the conditions that we're all expecting. we're keeping them clean and before we start service -- excuse me, we will go through with the inspection to the entire system. >> and the last thing metro wants is for anybody to get stranded in the system, obviously, everybody needs to be safe during the storm and if

what we think is going to happen is going to happen this is a good move by metro. coincidentally, guys, the last time metro shut down all of its service was in 2012 and that was during super storm sandy. back to you. >> thanks, adam. >> social media was on fire today from a bunch of people who tried to drive home last night and who claim that what they had to deal with was absolutely the worst commute they have ever experience individual their lives. >> all of that and more prompted an apology today from the mayor of d.c. tom sherwood now reports on what the district is going to deal with the big storm that's coming this weekend. >> mayor muriel browser called together city leaders today admitted the city responded badly to last night's little storm. >> our city has a responsibility to residents and visitors to deliver essential services every single day and last night we didn't meet those goals and for that, we are very sorry.

>> reporter: today in northeast washington as the big storm approaches, bowser's apology got not only mixed responsees. >> when we get snow we shut down. so i think that even though i accept her apology they think that, you know, you have to be a little bit more prepared. >> what do you think of the apology? >> well, it's sort of -- it's sort of empty, i guess, for me. >> we had to cancel school and we had to stay home from work. so it was a super inconvenient thing. >> i appreciate the apology from mayor muriel bowser and it was a little untrustworthy. >> reporter: she apologized and the city should have responded better lastity. >> >> that's probably true, too. that's probably true, too. >> reporter: the mayor is trying to get ahead of the next storm. the city government closes at noon and parking restrictions on snow emergency routes go into effect at 9:30 friday morning. as a first-term mayor, bowser knows the politics can be as

biting as the storm itself. >> what do you think of the mayor's apologies? >> i think it was okay, but she know better from the past snowstorms that we've had, you're supposed to get out and do it earlier. >> reporter: in private meetings today the mayor said her administration has to do better this weekend. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. doreen, back to you. >> tom, thank you. in montgomery county they're working to keep people safe on the road through the blizzard. more than 500 trucks are getting ready to pretreat the pavement and you'll want to avoid many of the accidents like this one in germantown and news 4's chris gordon is live in rockville with more on this part of the story. hi, chris. >> reporter: hi, doreen. they've already loaded their trucks from this huge mountain of salt behind me. montgomery county crews will be, woing closely with maryland state snowplow drivers to clear the highways throughout our

region and some tonight are already living like an army getting ready to battle this blizzard. >> the state has 2700 snowplows which will clear local highways like 270 and numbered roads. montgomery county has 100 tons of salt. it's loading 500 trucks. this new deep opot has a salt b. >> they can help us by making certain that they're off the roads starting friday afternoon and possibly all of the way through sunday. >> reporter: there is a cafeteria to feed montgomery county crews and cots that will be set up in dorms and even supervisors will sleep in their offices and when you see a plow coming down the street, here's what the drivers want you to do. >> when i'm coming down the street i want to see the drivers pull over in a safe place so it makes our job that much easier. >> reporter: the question many

people are asking tonight is how long will it take to clear all of the snow? >> if you have 24 inches, this could be a very, you know, it's a long operation. >> it's not going to be just on sunday. it depends how much snow we get and how much drifting there is and what's the temperature and how wet or dry the snow is. >> reporter: i have heard the opinion expressed that it could be tuesday at the earliest before our lives begin to return to normal. that's the latest live from montgomery county. jim, back to you. >> thanks, chris. >> tonight, emergency officials are asking us all to stay inside once the snow starts to fall or at least stay off the roads. they point to that nightmare last night as something they would like to avoid. reporter david culver is in fairfax right now. he's got more on all this. david? >> hi there, vance. >> yeah. fairfax county officials telling me today that tomorrow at noon is when they're going to open up

the emergency operation center here within the county. they say they're coordinating at this hour with vdot so as to avoid what you saw many of you yesterday on the roads which was a treacherous commute. >> this mess many of you sat and sat in and fairfax county leads are trying to prevent this weekend. the county reminding residents. >> in virginia counties are not in charge of clearing roads and that's the responsibility of the state, and we appreciate your help with getting that message out to the community. >> reporter: they say vdot was not repaired last night. >> they seem to have been caught off guard maybe in their preparations for the larger -- for the larger event. >> it left police scrambling. >> it was chaos and we were overwhelmed. >> its leaders want you ready. >> please get prepared today if you're not already.

>> that's echoed farther west by officials meeting in culpeper county today. they're worried given the rural back roads. >> our job is to provide fire and ems to the county citizens. it makes it extremely difficult. residents trying to prepare and it's tough with nearby stores' shelves empty. >> when is the next shipment? >> tomorrow morning. >> i hope we got it all ordered. >> reporter: and the folks at that ace hardware in culpeper tell me customers are planning to be there tomorrow as that delivery truck arrives. they won't even need to bring it into the store and they'll just take it right off the truck so they can get the shovels and snow items they need. >> my colleague, transportation reporter adam tuss spoke with a vdot contractor who said this was essentially vdot getting caught off guard. they're looking ahead and

focused on the storm to come and they feel they are prepared. vance? >> thank you, david. we all want to forget about that one. >> most of the major school districts have canceled classes for tomorrow and they include fairfax county, alexandria, arlington and prince william and loudoun county schools. also in virginia, culpeper, fauquier, frederick, paige and stafford county will skoos a s stafford county will skoos choo spotsylvania county. charles, calvert, st. mary's all closed tomorrow. prince george's county was already scheduled to have the day off tomorrow. d.c. schools will be closed tomorrow, as well. you can see all of the closings at the bottom of your screen and on our nbc washington app. the airlines are already grounding flights in anticipation of the storm. united is canceling all flights after 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. all flights in the mid atlantic and american airlines announced today that all saturday flights in our region have been canceled. most airlines have issued travel

advisories and that means they're also waiving change fees. it's best now to call now and rebook your ticket. if you wait until your flight is canceled it will be hard to get a seat on a later flight and here is what's coming up next. >> prince george's officials insist they're ready for the next blizzard in the next 24 hours. coming up, the plan in place in case thousand of residents lose power. we're crunching the numbers to show you how much it costs to clean up mother nature's mess. >> doug and veronica on top of all of this. it's a still-evolving story. they'll have the latest and they'll have the latest and veronica will also tell us why what's that, broheim? i switched to geico and got more. more savings on car insurance? yeah bro-fessor, and more. like renters insurance. more ways to save.

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lots of us are tired today after that awful commute last night. some of you in prince george's county were stuck for five hours or more. they're revving up for this weekend and as news 4's meagan fitzgerald reports you can expect a quick response to potential problems. meagan? >> doreen, that's right. the county executive says they've activated their snowplow plan and tomorrow they say you can expect to see more than 300 of these plows which are just behind me here on the roadways. they'll remain on the road for the next several days.

there is also a plan in place, we are told, in case residents lose power. in less than 24 hour, this is what the dmv can expect. snow, possibly in historic proportions. >> one place where everybody can be here. prince george's county executive says his county is ready. >> this will be the hub of all the act that's going on when the snow actually comes in. >> this is the emergency operation center. baker says it will be fully staffed with several state and county officials that will closely monitor conditions and quickly respond as issue arise. ? our representatives from utilities and someone from the wsse will be here and pepco and the utility so that we're coordinating in case of any outages. >> if outages occur, nine warming centers are ready to accept residents. if outages last longer than a few hours, shelters are in place and busses will pick up some

residents. >> snowplow drivers have already started treating the roadways and the county says some 300 drivers will be out during the storm. >> they're pre-treating the roads. they've done that again this morning and they've already lined up the truck to go out and to plow the roads and the county. >>. >> even though the county says they're ready, they also urge residents to stay home. >> prepare now. do all of the things you need to do today and be prepared to stay at home tomorrow. >> the county is encouraging residents to call 311 to report any non-life-threatening injuries or issues. they can also do so if they see power outages, as well. >> officials say they are ready for program's, vent and they're encouraging people to be smart about what they do moving forward. >> back to you. >> it takes a lot more than planning to respond to storms

like we're expecting and it takes a lot of cash, too. >> chris lawrence has been crunching the numbers and he likes to do that and he joins us with more on that part of the story. >> i don't like to report numbers like these. >> in the state of virginia it can cost $2 million to $3 million an hour to keep the roads clear. in d.c. it costs $110,000 per shift for snow cleanup and that's with crews working 12-hour shifts and storms mean a big loss of productivity to the tune of $100 million when d.c. shuts down and that's because we have a quarter of a million people stuck at home and they're not working. >> so far no word from opm on the status tomorrow and we know they'll be meeting in a few hours so we'll keep checking and keep you posted. in the studio, i'm chris lawrence, news 4. i'm carol maloney at the live desk and the caps game tomorrow at the ducks at verizon center has moved up to a 5:00

p.m. start ask it had been scheduleded for 7:00 p.m. and no word yet for sunday's game against the penguins and it was supposed to be on nbc 4 and we'll have your snow-related postponements and for now, caps game tomorrow now a 5:00 p.m. start. guys? >> a blizzard warning has been issued for the region and you know that as we get closer to the major storm. >> doug canceled a vacation so he can stay here to cover this thing. he is so pumped up. what are we looking at? >> i was supposed to leave to colorado to go on a weather conference with jim cantore. guess where jim cantore is now? >> did -- half of the people from the weather conference have now had to come back. they have had to come back. i didn't even go because i wanted to be here watching this storm with you because there's no place that i would rather be for sure when predicting that big storm and that big storm

will be here and we talked about the numbers here and we're talking about the historic storm about to move in. >> 31 degrees and winds at 10 miles per hour. the blizzard warning in the red and the winter storm warning in the pink here and the only difference is the wind. the wind will be higher to the east and lower to the west and you'll still be dealing with winds back here and just not quite as strong. satellite and radar just not showing much and it's a nice day out there between last night's little system that threw a lot of people for a loop and then the system coming up our way. >> look at this down to the south. notice all of the thunderstorm activity. >> theria a lot of energy with this storm. tornado warnings down toward the south and all of that energy moves in tomorrow and no problem, if you do have to work tomorrow maybe twrou have to run errands and i think you're good on the roads until 3:00 in the d.c., metro area and the snow starts to fall and once it does start to fall, it will start to fall quickly and by 5:00 you do

need to be home because this is when you will start to see it come down and if you don't get home by 5:00, you could be stuck on the roads like a lot of people were last night and then there's no gets out of it because the snow keeps coming and it keeps coming hard and the hardest time notice warming down to the south may switch things over, but the rain/snow line stays way south of the d.c., metro area and that's why i think everybody gets the same amount of snow. 18 to 24 inches. yes, some people will see more than two feet of snow and maybe two and a half feet of snow. eight to 18 inches and calvert county and st. mary's county and over towards the eastern shore, but still a lot of snow some ice down there for you. >> road impacts on your friday and conditions deteriorate by 2:00 to 4:00 and make sure you're in by that time and roads impassable that side and if you're out on the roads on saturday you may not get home and sunday, mostly closed roads and i do think the roads will continue to be closed on sunday,

as well. >> 32 degrees on your friday and 29 on saturday with those winds, 30 to 40 even 50 miles per hour and windchills around 15 all day saturday and it will be brutal on saturday. >> understand is, get outside and play in the snow. 34 degrees on sunday and i'm off sunday afternoon and i've planned my sledding between 10 and 3:00. temperatures are looking good there as we look toward next week this will be a long-impact event. i do think schools will be closed monday, even tuesday, some maybe even wednesday and all we have to do is look back a company elf years and saw upwards of 20 inches of snow and they were out for a week. >> i think we're all taking this one seriously. >> i hope so. coming up, people all over the area stocking up before the storm starts piling up as we normally do. >> more on the tough lessons learned from last night's chaotic commute. learn what officials plan to do differently. >> i'm julie carey in fairfax

where a serial killer learned his final sentence.

the sentencing of a serial killer has become a pulpit for gun control. the prosecutor in alexandria says charles severance is evidence of the need for gun regulation. severance was sentenced today to three life terms for three murders. bureau chief julie carey has the emotional moments inside that courtroom.

>> the minute he was wheeled into the courtroom charles severance shouted sadism, sadism, but it was judge randy bellows who had the final word sentencing severance to three life terms. >> for the rest of his life the defendant will be housed in a maximum-security prison free to wallow in the anger and the loathing with which his life has been filled. he deserves no better. >> reporter: severance was convicted in november of shooting to death three prominent alexandria residents as they answered a knock at their front door. evidence at trial showed a mentally ill severance harbored a deep hatred for public officials and those he considered elite after he lost a bitter child custody bet ostody. he condemned each of these family members to bear witness to a nightmare. several relatives later stood arm in arm as a family representative described what this day meant. >> the only thing they wanted from the beginning was a fair and just trial. >> brian porter, a former police

officer used the severance case as an example of why virginia lawmakers should consider stiffer gun purchase regulations and other laws. he faulted those who knew of severance's rage and mental illness and yet allowed access to guns. >> there is a real problem there where it is so easy to either make a purchase or alternatively to evade criminal culpability for this purchase. >> reporter: as for the killer's final words in court, he said it is lawful to wear weapons. in fairfax, i'm julie carey, news 4. our storm kfrj continues tonight with coverage of one of the worst disasters in our city's history. we're talking about the knickerbocker storm in 1922. the rush before the blizzard to see that the cup ♪

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6:30 now, and we are all bracing for the big one. more than a foot of snow expected all over the area. >> this could be one for the record books. our team coverage begins tonight with doug kammerer. he's tracking the timing of this storm. doug? >> that timing will be tomorrow afternoon and once again, if you're not in your home by, i think, 3:00, you've got some issues. up until that point you may be okay, but until 3:00 that's when things go downhill.

the blizzard warning areas in red and i say this a lot today, but again, the only difference between the two is the wind. everybody, for the most part gets the same amount of snow. we're talking 18 to 24 inches and some areas two feet of snow and some of you even more. you look down to the south and the storm is really getting its act together. look at all of the moisture coming right out of the gulf of mexico and look at this rain here and just tremendous amounts of rain in through parts of mississippi and tornadoes in here and that shows you how dynamic and how strong the storm is and for us, the potential impacts on your saturday, highways closed and power outages for sure. the last time we saw a storm like this in 2010, hundreds of thousands without power. i would plan for your power to go out. a lot of areas will see that. the impacts, they'll last all of the way through the following week and that's why we're calling this a crippling storm and this is a storm you do not see very often and right now

it's easily top five and could be our second biggest storm of all time. guys? >> thank you, doug. >> tomorrow's blizzard is being compared to one of the worst disasters in the city's history. they call it the knickerbocker storm. the blizzard dropped 28 inches of snow on washington. the storm was winding down on the night of january 28, 1922. the knickerbocker theater was packed with people watching a movie when the roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. 98 people were killed including a congressman from pennsylvania. many are wondering how this region will handle such a massive storm considering that debacle on the roads last night. chris lawrence now with just more on what went wrong. >> yeah, jim. hundreds of people were stranded in their cars for hours. a lot of the roads were never pre-treated so when all that snow came down so quickly they all turned into sheets of ice.

d.c., maryland, virginia. it didn't matter. this affected everyone. >> we believe that we did not provide adequate resources at a time where it could make a difference in last evening's commute. >> sometimes when ice comes down very quickly. sometimes when the ice comes as fast as it did, but we were out yesterday with 500 trucks just to northern virginia. >> once we recognized that it was different than had been forecast, we mobilized and had over 400 additional pieces of equipment out to address the issue. >> leaders across our area are promising folks they are ready for what's coming next. a lot of the crews are out pretreating some of those roads. >> chris lawrence, thank you. >> did you try to go to the grocery store? >> if you did, you know the lines are long and the shelves, are getting pretty empty as

people prepare to ride out this blizzard at home and it could be days before they're able to get out. derrick ward is out with the last-minute rush. >> reporter: how are you? just like the road crews are getting ready with the salt trucks and the plow, folks are here at trader joe's and they spent most of the earlier part of this day getting ready. >> it's a ritual when there is a snowstorm in the forecast, parking lots, teaming with cars and baskets with bags brimming with essentials, whatever they may be. >> fruits, salad, cheese and wine. >> some milk, bread and all those things. >> coffee. >> here at this trader joe's in fairfax, yesterday was their busiest day ever. yesterday was busy too, and tomorrow? >> we'll stay open until we no longer can tomorrow. i have plenty of people here and we'll try our best to stay open until 9:00. >> remember the shopper who said wine was among the essentials and elsewhere, it's proof that that's a popular taste for being

snowed in. in some cases they're close to being sold out. >> some of the biggest sellers are right there and we're starting to run low. >> there's no shortage on the sense of excitement, camaraderie and community that shopping for a common cause can bring, and once you get it home, people seem to get a little closer, too. >> it's a good time to be together and to be creative. >> yeah. very good time to. >> and there's one more thing to be. >> be safe. >> reporter: and that is good advice whether you're going out if you have to, only if you have to or if you're staying in. weir live in fairfax, derrick ward, back to you. >> so you have your bread and you've got your milk and your toilet paper. you do have toilet paper, don't you? we bet there's something bugging you because you know you left something off the list. >> millb, maybe? >> crucial items you may need when you can't get out. susan hogan here to remind you what you might have missed.

>> it's not alcohol, although that could be on the list. there is say good chance you will be stuck in your home. let's go through four essential things you should have inside your home before the snow hits. some of these things are common sense and we sometimes forget the obvious stuff. you've got the flashlights, but do you have batteries? stock up now. make sure all of your medicines are refilled just in case you can't get out for a few days. also, of course, charge your smartphones and tablets now to keep them powered up and buy back-up charges and that will give you extra hours. hand crank radios just in case your battery is dying, you can stay connected to emergency alerts and crucial weather forecasts, as well. getting all of these checked off your list today or first thing tomorrow will save you a lot of aggravation in the long run. you can find more items to avd ad to your shopping list and preps to take care of before the storm on our nbc washington app, just search preps. >> check your flashlights. >> absolutely.

>> get those things ready to go. >> we want to welcome susan here to nbc 4 so we can blame her for bringing the snow. >> i know! >> you came from rhode island? >> where blizzards are typical, not so much here. so yes, you can blame me, i guess. >> you'll handle this better than i. >> here i am. >> welcome, susan. we're glad you're here. >> indeed. so do you have tickets for the washington auto show this weekend? you might want to be patient. the show was supposed to open tomorrow. earlier today the washington auto show chairman told us it's going to remain open even if we got ten feet of snow. that's what he said, but that was before metro announced it was going to shut down saturday and sunday. now the officials at the auto show say they're not going to open the show tomorrow. they will open it on monday, instead. >> wouldn't really feel like a

snowstorm around here without pat collins. we'll check in with him from home as he issues a new challenge for a chance to win one of those coveted snow sticks. and in politics, the bitter fight for votes

voters in iowa and new hampshire are hearing a lot about the presidential candidates right now. new campaign ads for hillary clinton and bernie sanders are running in both states with the first caucuses just 11 day away. the candidates are locked in a bitter battle for momentum. edward lawrence reports. >> hillary clinton targeted the heart of senator bernie sanders' support, young people. today the former secretary of state spoke at colleges in iowa. >> in theory, there's a lot to like about some of his ideas, but in theory is it enough? a president has to deliver in reality. >> reporter: undecided students are listening.

>> politics as usual, is that what our country really needs or what bernie is introducing and kind of an overthrow of the establishment? >> sanders spent the day in new hampshire where he is leading in the polls. >> our job is to create an economy that works for working families and not just a handful of billionaire campaign contributors. >> reporter: in a new political add, sanders useses a garfunkel and simon song and images from a huge crowd. ♪ ♪ >> beyond the first two contests, sanders is hiring staff to cover all 11 super tuesday states. >> everything it takes to do every part of the job. >> a day after releasing her own campaign ad, clinton repeated the theme that she is presidential. >> i'm the only candidate on either side with the experience and judgment to keep us safe at home and strong in the world. >> reporter: with 11 days to the i. >> caucus, clinton and her

supporters are putting on the full-court press. edward lawrence, washington. >> still to come, this storm coming up is no joke, folks. it's a big one and we'll report on what's being done to compete. >> doug and veronica, find out just how much snow we can expect and when it will start moving in. >> you and your children are not the only ones who love playing in the snow.

we've seen metro operate in the snow before, but this time around there will be no weekend metro service. that includes both above and below-ground trains. busses will stop running at 5:00

on friday. the rails are going to close after 11:00 tomorrow night. >> at the airport things are running on time right now, but that will change tomorrow when the snow begins. united and american airlines have already announced they will suspend service tomorrow. you're invited to check with your airline before you go to the airport. and here is a look at conditions right now out on the roads. this is a live picture, georgia avenue in maryland. it looks like some traffic there. roads are clear, but some secondary and back roads are still covered in ice as crews work to get ahead of the next storm. >> adam tuss is with storm team -- come on, vance. he's with the storm team 4 by 4 now with more on what the crews are doing ahead of the storm. adam? >> reporter: that's right, jim. it's a very cool truck and i'll tell you why it's been a full day for the road crews today. last night is kind of behind them. they know they missed that one

and they don't want to miss this next one. let's show you what the roads looked like out here right now and taking a look as we pass route 7 on the inner loop. the crews have been out here putting down liquid magnesium and making sure the road is in a good condition and a lot of trucks are being staged and vdot calling in to put them in neighborhoods and don't be surprised if you wake up tomorrow morning and there is a truck waiting in the neighborhood and they want to say they want to attack the snow and start plowing it. we'll be in the 4 by 4 all weekend long and we'll be out here in the conditions and let us know what you're seeing and we'll try to get it fixed for you. back to you guys. >> thanks, adam. exactly what should we expect from this storm? that's pretty much what everybody wants to know. >> sure is. doug and veronica have been

tracking the storm system and they join us with the very latest. >> i help him to bring it home in one piece. we're all expecting that snow to come through and this is the time for people to prepare and they need things to make their way through. >> make sure you have the medicine and the essentials ready to go. make sure you have the storm team 4 ice scraper and brush and these things work really ç&1t because when your power goes out and your cell phone dies and these power bricks work great. make sure you download the nbc washington app. >> we are expecting power outages and that's the biggest thing that you need is to keep that cell phone charging as much as you can and once you lose power hopefully you have a backup, as well. it's cold, 25 in gaithersburg and 25 in culpeper and 27 in manassas. when the snow starts tomorrow it will stick fairly quickly. winter storm warning to the west

and no difference. everybody gets snow and it's just windier off to the east and let's show you the timing and 8:00 tomorrow morning and no issues at all. you still have time early tomorrow to get out and about and do some of those errants and by 1:00 it's close to the d.c., metro area and by 5:00, everybody has the snow and that snow comes down fairly heavy and the roads will become slick very, very quickly and we could see some mixing down here toward the south and that's the only area that is a little bit below as far as the numbers are concerned, but i want to show you this picture and this is what it will look like outside by 8:00 a.m. on saturday morning and very heavy snowfall and let's take you through it. 7:00, 4 to 8 inches, and to 12 inches and 12 to 18. we're predicting 12 inches in the city and 18 down in places like kull pepper and fredericksburg and 18 to 24 or more as we move on through the

day. let's take you through friday, saturday and sunday. veronica has that. v.j.? >> this time the crews will get out to salt and treat the roads. so a lot of the secondary roads and the neighborhood roads will be snow covered and let's talk about friday evening and several inches already and some of the main roads still could be fine in areas and conditions will be deteriorating rather quickly with travel becoming hass douse especially around 8:00, 9:00 p.m. and by saturday morning when you wake up almost a foot of snow and many locations on the ground. the wind will start to pick up and as you get out and try to clear some of the snow even from your driveway or sidewalk, those winds could create windchill temperatures in the teens with the high drifts of snow with as much as 4 to 5 feet in a few locations for early parts of saturday morning, you saw it and now saturday evening and crippling conditions which is why we're telling folks the best

bet is to stay at home and stay put right through sunday morning. doug? >> we talk about the long impact events and this will be friday, saturday, sunday and even still cleaning up monday and tuesday, and i would not be surprised if will skoo schools were out in parts of the area, tuesday, wednesday and those harder to reach. >> it will be on the cold side and we go above average and ahead of another system that will bring in cooler air and at least we'll be able to start melting as we move on through early next week. vance? >> thanks, doug. if you've been in washington for a while, you know we have a legendary snow correspondent right here. pardon me, at nbc 4. he's getting a little long in the tooth now so he needs to rest before the big day, pat collins is resting now for the weekend storm, but you just wait. >> what's that about, pat? >> oh, it's just a piece of

fiction. you know, i'm here getting some rest because you know, in a short time we're going to get a doozy, snow like we've never had it before. not to worry. i'm ready. i've got my boots. i've got my hat. i've got my gloves and i've got my coat. i call this the solution. it's never let me down, and i have the official pat collins snow stick. it has markings on one side to show all of the big storms we've had in our city over the past years, and the one we're getting this weekend, why, it could be right up here. i'll be out there saturday measuring every inch as it comes down. watch on saturday and you can end up with a pat collins snow stick of your very own. >> bundle up now.

>>. >> look, i promise you, you really don't want to miss pat. nobody covers snow like pat. >> he's just back from vacation, so he's really going to be revved up. >> came back to cover the snow. >> pardon me, we have sports coming up. the latest on cancellations all around the league and changes in the schedule. >> caps still set to play. carol will tell us all about that and more coming up next opinion

. the snow has an impact on everybody and everything including athletes and sports events. >> yeah. we'll see who the real fans are and who's really not. >> exactly. because the caps game tomorrow is still on. news in the last hour, caps will face the ducks at verizon center and it's been moved up, though in time. face-off instead of 7:00 is at 5:00 p.m. and no word on the wizards game on saturday. the women's game against michigan state scheduled for saturday has been postponed and no make-update has been announced and that game originally scheduled for saturday. in addition, uva's road game at wake forest moved from monday at 9:00 to tuesday at 7:00.

george mason men and duquesne will play tomorrow at 2:00 and that game moved to the athletic complex. howard men and women doubleheader moved to wednesday & at 5:00, and american moved from sunday to monday at 2:00 p.m. we wanted to throw out a couple of important ones and there was a lift that would challenge pat collins' snow stick and you have to check the local teams and their website. >> boy, oddly enough, those two teams did play during a blizzard. this was the general manager game when he took the metros. as we learned earlier this time around, metro is close and it was quit an epic game. >> sydney crosby scoring the first two goals at the game and the great 8, he countered with the hat trick and ultimately it was the caps coming out on top, though, a 5-4 overtime win and it might have felt like a nightmare scenario and outside it was a dream for the caps. >> i remember it being awesome, actually.

>> it's -- i don't know, it's just fun. fun to see. this is hockey weather, you know? so it kind of feels natural. >> i don't like how slow traffic gets and quite often i'll pull out and make illegal passes because i get frustrated with how slow some people drive. >> if we play we play, if we don't we don't and we'll practice or have a day off, i don't know. >> or we'll have a snowball fight. >> he has keys to ket ler, by the way. >> catch the penguins right here on sunday on nbc 4 at 12:30 p.m., weather permitting and according to reports, you guys, the nationals are in serious talks and the outfielder, yoneses yones es cespedes and four rbis helping lead the mets to the world series. get ready to see some met fans really panic and freak out if

this happens. they'll have daniel murphy. >> and some fans celebrate because he can play. >> thanks, carol. >> that's our broadcast for now. nightly news coming up next. >> hope

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