i'm hoping i can get out on monday. >> milk, bread, firewood, hoping to get ready for the storm. >> if you don't have to be on the road, please don't be on the road. >> we want the residents to help us. they can help by making certain they're off the road starting friday afternoon and possibly all the way through sunday. we're just ten hours away now from the beginning of a blizzard warning, blizzard. >> and it is already having an impact on a lot of you this morning. we're going to get to all of that. first, let's get a start on it with chuck bell. chuck? >> thanks, aaron. the snow moves in shortly after lun lunchtime. in and around the metro, probably 2:00 or 3:00, moving up into northern montgomery county and frederick, maryland, before 5:00 today. the heaviest of the snow will be late tonight through about mid afternoon tomorrow.

it's 5:15. if you're just waking up, we're getting ready for a blizzard that will be slamming the area. you might cancel plans if you haven't already. it's safe to say you will probably be stuck at home. this is why. "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell is pinpointing what things will look like for you coming up. breaking news in prince george's county. an apartment fire forcing people out of their homes in hyattsville right now. this is in the 2500 block ofsch roads. molette, what can you tell us? >> thanks, chuck. i spoke with the fire chief. he told me 20 adults and six

children forced out of the unit here. the fire is out, but you see the ladder trucks there? that's where they had to bring multiple people down to get out of this apartment here called queens park plaza. 15 units in all will be not habitable because of this situation. what made the alarm is the smoke detectors. this is here in hyattsville. i know melissa mollet is all on top of the get-around because of this emergency situation. but, again, 20 adults, six children forced out because of this. still working to get more information on what caused this fire in the first place. but multiple rescues from the third floor. the good news here is that everybody is going to be okay. that is the latest live here from the scene in hyattsville. back to you, now.

>> all right. molette green. thank you. many of your counties and cities under a snow emergency. the idea is to keep the snow routes clear for the plows to do their work. d.c. will start their work at 9:30 this morning. maryland's will go into effect across the state. a lot ofsbc6ñ counties in virgi have also. the annual march for life is today. you may see the big rally on the national mall this morning. demonstrators will march to the supreme court to protest against abortion and roe v. wade. this comes after a concert. it begins at 7:00 a.m. and concludes with a mass led by the archbishop wuerl. sources say they hope to get more snowblowers back in stock pretty soon.

as blizzard conditions hit our area, you may lose power at some point this weekend. looking at some of the store shelves around here, it seems many of you are already ready for the storm. many of you are stocking up on nonperishable items to get through the blizzard. l'wren scott like many moms in the area concerned about getting snowed in. >> i am concerned about getting snowed in. it's never fun when you can't get out and the kids get restless. "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell says to stay safe and informed ahead of the blizzard. all right. we're talking about a blizzard warning and what is going to be a crip bling snowstorm, chuck. we're getting ready for it too. >> absolutely right. preparation is key for any of these big high end long lasting weather events. so you've got another couple of

hours. you've got until lunchtime to sort of rush things to completion. make efforts. have prescription medication. have your gas tankers full. be ready to stay in place until noon time early monday morning. so it's going to be a long slow go. where you'll be tonight at 7:00 will be where you are monday morning at 7:00. before noontime today, get things done as fast atz you can. be sure to have food, water, medicine, and batteries. don't plan on moving around. travel will be crippled tomorrow. it ooh's bone-chilling 21 in fred ricks bjork, 16, luray, 14, martinsburg. where it's going to stay colder longer through the event, we could fluff up the snow quite a bit. i wouldn't be surprised to see 40-inch snow totals out ahead of the high spot. be on the lookout. blizzard warnings posted for all

the shaded area. the only difference is the amount of wind we're expecting. winds, 35 miles an hour or mrl an hour three hours in a row is the definition of a blizzard. right now, leading edge of snowflakes we have until about 11:00, noon before things get going. here there's the main area of low pressure headed for the outer banks of north carolina. scooping up gulf and atlantic moisture along the way. the winds can be very stream especially i-95 east into southern maryland. the combination of higher wind speeds and a heavier wetter snow means that power outages are more likely prince george's county down into southern maryland than they are where we're going have more snow out to the shenandoah valley and the blue ridge some of be prepared for power loss. just wanted to give you an idea how much snow we're looking at. this is our local computer

model. how about 33 possibly out winchester. that's our computer projection. here's our forecast. a solid batch. 20 to 30 inches of snow west of 35. more like 10 to 20 inches of snow. only 10 to 20 inches of snow into southern maryland. snow moving in today. snow, wind in abundance tomorrow. things should be over before things come up on sunday. there will be a lot of drifting and blowing snow around. no deep freeze behind the blizzard. a check on traffic now. here's melissa mollet. good morning. brand-new problem to report. this is something we were dealing with yesterday around 11:00 a.m. yesterday. white ferry shut down. too much ice on the potomac river. they cannot get back and forth. queens chapel road between chillum road and eastern avenue, all lanes blocked because of an

apartment fire. the eastbound lanes fine. linton hall road at limestone, southbound lane open in gainesville. remember the metro plan this weekend. the snow plan is they're closing tonight at 11:00 p.m. closing metro saturday and sunday as well. metrobus, again, they close at 5:00 and closing throughout the weekend as well. we'll take a look at m.a.r.c. and vre coming up in a couple of minutes. well, it's that same system that'sen to land a blizzard on us that has brought tornado-like conditions to parts of mississippi. this is the scene in the southern portion of that state. severe weather wipes out several mobile homes. reports of an actual tornado touching down there. the weather also toppled lots of trees, blocking a lot of the first responders' efforts to try to get to people. it left a trail of destruction and they're working to clean it all up. eun, back to you.

>> thank you. d.c.'s operation in less than an houfrmt d.c. mayor muriel bowser held a news conference to talk about the district yesterday. she said the city will be out in full force. >> that includes 106 heavy plows, 37 contract plows, lie plows, over 70. 145 dump trucks. >> the district also has thousands of volunteers ready to shovel streets. mayor bowser declared a snow emergency and state of emergency in the district. that means fema and the national guard could provide resources. crews will also be towing any cars on snow emergency routes. >> we will hear from alexandria's mayor today. they'll hold a news conference at 7:00. in short, watch out for the salt trucks, plows, other emergency crews on the streets and do not go outside if you don't have to this week. >> if you're aware from your tv.

come take a look. this is the "storm team 4" radar. see the storm south of us? it's headed our way and it's going to be a doozy. >> whatsome. >> a doozy. it's coming fast and coming soon. chuck bell says you need to do it now and get it done. four things to

think we just got some more snow shovels in. as fast as we put them down, they're flying out the door. >> anxious for this to be over. >> ain't that the truth. take a good look outside, folks. this is probably the last time you'll see the grown. definitely the last time it's going look this nice for a while. >> you're looking live at pictures in d.c. area, maryland, and reston, virginia, where there might be a little snow on the ground right now. but by this time tomorrow, forget about it. you won't see pavement. you won't see grass. you're going to see a whole lot of white stuff. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> you see all that white stuff? not good. >> we're getting you ready. "news4's" complete team coverage of this impending blizzard. let's start things off with the man of the hour, "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell. good morning zbhood morning, you

guys. aaron, you say, it may be the last time you see the ground. i love it. even though it's snow covered, you'll still see the ground, but i know what you mean. four things to get done asap, as soon as possible. noontime if possible. we could have our first inch as early as sunset. saturday will be shelter in place day here in the nation's capit capital. planning out the day today, cold and dry early this morning. teens and low 20s. cloudy skies for everybody by noon. snow moving in very quickly by noon today. snow under way by 4:00 and heavy snow moving in after about 7:00 or 8:00 today. tomorrow doesn't look like the day for planning to do anything other than enjoy snowfall and wind in abundance tomorrow. blizzard warnings obviously posted. most of the metro area, 18 to 20

inches in downtown washington which typically underperforms. dulles airport probably closer to 30 inches of snow. >> if you're outside, you need to have your eyes out, right? >> little goggles. they won't be snowmen. they'll be snow giants from this one. taking a look at brand-new problem here in sterling, old ox road. we have a report of a box truck versus a plow. that could be some time with closures. i'm not sure exactly what is closing. this is shut down. white's ferry shut down. brand-new metro problem i'm hearing about in my ear. we're going to hear about that along with travel times. right now queens chapel. that means you can take chillum to anne arundel.

jennifer mccourt is with us from vdot. jennifer, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> what's the plan ahead of the big storm? >> the big plan is under way, beginning last night. even if you're heading out this morning, you'll see trutscks alg interstates and roads and subdivisions. we'll have them all in place staging by 2:00 p.m. today. >> you say staging. i assume that's getting them in place. you do do any chemical work ahead of the storm? >> yes. so crews spent yesterday putting down that anti-icing material and putting treatment down in advance of the storm. so that was done throughout the day yesterday. and then crews began reporting last night to load up with the salt.

>> any chance you can give us an idea when people can expect to be back on the roads again? >> well, our goal is to have all roads passable within about 48 hours from the end of the storm. that is our general goal. now, when we say that, we're usually referring to a 6- or 8-inch snowfall that we normally see in virginia. with the snow trucks, that's the max we have on hand and that will help us get to the 48-hour goal. we'll plow concurrently because with this level of snow, looking at two full days of snow, we know we're going have to make several passes to keep one the snowfall. they're going have to make repeated passes on the roads. >> squlen fehr, if i can drill in two things you said. first you're going to have the highways and neighborhoods worked on at the same time and you said if the snow stops at

3:00 a.m. on sunday, don't expect for the roads to be usable until 3:00 a.m. tuesday, right? >> generally, our goal is 48 hours within the end of snow. that is our general rule. it takes a lot to get through 16,000-lane miles. yes, the crews will work through the neighborhoods, highways, and main roads at the same time. particularly in the neighborhoods, we have to use the smaller trucks to ploul the roads and we have to get through those a few times to get a few inches off the road at a time. we can't leave it till the end or the trucks will have difficulty plowing. so they'll be going through multiple passes. expect roads to have to -- those plows coming through multiple times to push the snow as it's falls as we're looking at two days of accumulation. >> okay. jennifer mccord with a reality check. thanks. it's 5:32. the blizzard is coming.

we've been talking with is vdot and the maryland highway safety administration. in virginia some businesses are staying open for a few more hours. "news4's" megan mcgrath is live along highway 7 to talk about what the mans are. i imagine the businesses have to close eventually, right, megan? >> reporter: yeah, they'll have to close eventually. we're expectationing a lot of snow, especially in leesburg. 30 inches or more. this is going to be one of the big snow total areas. they're getting prepared. the businesses around me, they're open, they have plenty of customers this morning, although i think a lot of the plan is for folks to get out of work early. i'm joined by steve shannon with vdot loudoun. this is going to be a big one for you. not like snowmaggedon. >> yeah, 36 hours or so after

the snow starts we'll be battling it, but we're ready. we have 600 pieces of equipment that will be staged by 2:00 p.m. today. we'll stay on top of it as much as we can. >> reporter: is it easier when it comes in multiple storms than an accumulative effect? >> yes. i think one storm, we know what we're in for and it's easier to help clear the roads. >> reporter: we're along route 7 out and about. but you're asking them to do what later real quickly. >> simply stay home. >> good luck out there. thanks for joining us. that's the advice. stay home. businesses that are open, stay open until the snow falls but then do the right thing and let your employees go home.

it will be a quiet afternoon as people start to hunker down. >> thank you, megan. it's 5:34. here's what the roads look like. emergency crews are starting to prevent scenes like this from earlier this week. vdot respondent for clearing the roads. the officials say they're ready. they even have the operation open for the afternoon. fairfax fire chief has a reminder for residents. >> please get prepared if you're not already. >> in nearby culpeper county, they're also getting ready for the snow. officials there made plans for how to keep rural, back roads clear. 5:35. you'll pay more. the d.c. commission is hiking fares. it goes into effect at 9:30 this morning. you need to add an extra $15 for

the meter fare. it will stay in place for 12 hours unless the snow emergency is increased base on conditions. we'll keep you up to date. both agencies are expecting an early rush in the middle of the day and is telling passengers the trains will be crowded. now, we are tracking all the impacts this blizzard is having on our area. we'll be updating them on the nbc washington app for you. we also want you to know about the other ways you can stay on top of the snowfall in your neighborhood. d.c., milliliter, virginia, they all provide snow maps. vdot shows the streets they've plowed as well. maryland's department of trance poratio po transportation and departments will show us. you'll have to wait until monday to check out some of the coolest cars in town.

the washington auto show has been postponed because of the state of emergency in d.c. no surprise there. now with the snow emergency in effect and no metro service, it will stay open. a lot of changes in the sports world as what could be a snowstorm that heads into our area. the caps game originally scheduled for 7:00 tomorrow will be played at 5:00 instead. all athletic activities at the university of maryland have been postponed and george washington, the men's team, will play at 5:00 tomorrow evening instead of 7:00. stay up to date. i feel like there will be more cancellations headed our way. check the nbc washington app. >> yeah. i don't think they're going to be able to get game in. there's not much time to get your house prepared. four last-minute tips you may need here. you might have flashlights, but make sure you have batteries to run those lights too.

also, get your medicines. charge everything now in case the power goes out. pick up a backup charger to keep your phone running for an extra few hours. finally, stay connected with backup radio. people still have those. with emergency forecasts and alerts. 5:38 right now. in just a few hours, that blizzard warning in our area will go into effect. we'll get you ready. chuck will break down the timing for you next.

good morning, everybody. i'm "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell. during the 6:00 hour i'm going to be on facebook live. if you'd line to join us, please do so. everything is calm, cool, and collected for the moving hours. the last opportunity to get everything done. snow moving in very quickly after about noontime. everyone's getting snow by 5:00 and the snow will pile up fast. after 7:00 tonight, the first 4 to maybe 8 inches of snow could have the first foot on the ground in central virginia as earth as 11:00 tonight. most of the metro area will have at least a foot to maybe 8

inches on the ground at sunrise tomorrow morning. by 11:00 saturday night, looks like 18 to 24 inches on the way. it oohs going to be quite a winter wallop for sure. travel conditions will go from bad to worse to impossible during the course of the overnight hours tonight. get it done tonight. here's melissa with traffic zbhood morning. new problem between shady grove and grove never here this morning. no trains on the penn line. maryland looks okay. no problems in virginia either. i'll see you in a few. take a look at "storm team 4" radar as well as the live district this morning. there's a trace of snow on the ground right now. >> wait until this time tomorrow. chuck bell has everything you need to know about the blizzard heading our way as well as how the next seven days could impact your cleanup.

good morning, everybody. blizzard warning in effect for tonight and tomorrow. what to expect on your saturday. heavy snow, high winds, power loss for many, i expect. probably more than a foot of snow on the ground when you wake up saturday morning. travel will be nearly impossible. all flights in and out of all airports in our area will be canceled tomorrow. be ready for it. snow totals in five minutes. >> taking a look right not at good news here. between chillum and eastern avenue, lanes have opened. single tracking between shady grove and groves never. >> we've got breaking news. a uva student arrested in north korea.

pyongyang issi reporting that a student by the name of otto frederick warmbier was arrested. they say he committed a hostile act. however, the state dining room would not confirm that information. back to you. >> 5:47. breaking news in prince george is county. dozens forced from their homes after a devastating fire in hyattsville. "news4's" molette green is live with the latest. good morning. >> i can tell you the scene is much calmer. you can see the ladder truck with the ladder down as fire equipment is moving out of the way. the fire chief says working smoke alarms save lives here, alerting some 26 residents to what was going on. the red cross is here to help those forced out. again, the fire completely out

after some very tense moments after the firefighters battled this two-alarm blaze which brought out extra equipment and extra help. they had to rescue people from the third floor with ladder. 20 adults and six children. everyone is going to be okay, but, of course, there's the aftermath of all this. people in 15 apartment units forced out primarily because the utilities are out, and, of course, it's a very cold morning. we are expecting a lot of snow. we're here at the queens park plaza in the 2 2500 block. it's back open. the fire crews are breaking things down. back to you. >> thank you. pepco wants to back up and runs. they say they're ready to pace

2016. >> it may strike our service territory friday through saturday. >> they say that it has extra workers including more than 200 contractors and 200 crews to deal with. they say it's also coordinating with the emergency management services. 5:49 is our time right now and we're approaching -- we're obviously focusing a lot on this storm that's coming our way and trying to get everybody ready for the realities of feet of snow on the ground. >> i love that you keep telling us, listen, we have to get everything done today. we're running out of time to get ready, right? >> if you're not a snow lover, this is not a good weekend. >> there are a lot of snow lovers out there. >> that's right. this is going to be a humdinger.

two feet. there's a perfect of what that looks like. >> ba da dum. >> if you get a picture of you and your friends enjoying the snow, send it to me. my instagram account is forecast4you. i promise you i'll be working tomorrow and sunday. keep that in mind. we've got you covered for the next few days around here. it's in the teens in shenandoah valley and 22 in washington. we've gotten a little colder. as a result, extra cold air in place means we should be able to fluff up the snow even more across the shenandoah valley. here's the way it's going to break down. clouds rolling in and thick by noon. snow begins after lunchtime today. blizzard warnings for everybody. the leading edge of the snow is moving through the roanoke

valley. severe weather. this is very reminiscent of the blizzard of '93 this which had an enormous amount which put huge amounts of snow into the washington area. the one thing that's slightly different is there is no bitter cold coming behind it. timing out the snow, snow moving into the metro. everyone should have their first inch on the ground probably before the sun goes down today. the one place that may not do much in the way of accumulating snow is in southern maryland and the eastern shore. could have a mix of rain and sleets in there. the heavier wetter snow content will make power outages more likely east of i-95. so have your backup power plan ready to go. blizzard conditions likely all night tonight into tomorrow. here's our local computer model estimates. here's 4:30 today. first inch on the ground.

by 8:00, a solid 2 to 4 inches of snow. by 11:00, 3 to 6 inches of snow already on the ground. there's the rain across southern maryland. wakeup time tomorrow morning, looks like most of the metro will have a solid foot of snow on the ground. look at the snow totals where the air is a little colder and we can fluff the snow a little bit more. look how much snow it's cranking out by 5:30 tomorrow. snow totals probably around 18 to 20 inches downtown. more like 24 to 30 at dulles airport. there will be places along the blue ring and high spot that could get 36 inches or more. that is a lot of snow en by snow lover standards, melissa. >> that is a lot of snow. just enough for my son to make a snowman or snow angels. he could get buried. perhaps a little too much. chopper 4 is going to be there in the next couple of

minutes. sterling, we have a crash reported there. tunlaw road, the water main break, all lanes blocked. as we zoom out, looking quite good. no problems to speak up quite yet. we know that's going to change. saturday and sunday too, metrobus closes at 5:00 tonight and, again, saturday and sunday as well. we'll show you the chopper shot as soon as we're there in a few minutes. >> a quick correction. the games are tonight not tomorrow night. >> makes more sense. we check in with chuck. good morning. >> good morning. >> we know it's going to be a big blizzard. the road crews pretreat to get ahead of it. is there anything power crews can do to get ahead of the storm? >> i think what we have to do is 'zo exactly what i've already

done and that is to fully staff all of our feed offices and have all of our manpower prepped and ready to come out the gate running. that's exactly what we've done. by the end of today we'll have at least 4,000 personnel working this crew including support personnel. there will be hundreds of bucket trucks out there as soon as we can get them out there. >> all right. you've got it all out there. chuck pen, spokesperson for dominion power. thanks, chuck. i'm tracy stray hachblt it's not just the snow. it's the snow, the wind, and the

water. let's see how they're gearing up. the sand dunes have been gathering up. they're concerned about a significant storm surge as a result of this storm. a drove flew the length of the beach and they put this on youtube. you can see for 1.3 miles it stretches. crews here have reinforced emergency berms on the beach preparing the storm for maximum impact. this is a storm that was hit hard during hurricane sandy. floodwaters flooded out a lot of the roads here and that's something they're hoping not to repeat along the jersey shore. people are being asked to move their cars. some towns have already asked for an evacuation. that's the latest. i'm tracy strahan. >> reporter: the major concern here at the jersey shore is not so much the snow nal but the heavy winds and possible flooding. right now we're in jersey city.

it ee dark but you see the dunes. they're hoping the dunes will hold up. a lot of the emergency crews and city workers have been bolstering the dunes by adding more sarjsd piling that up yesterday and over the past couple of days just to make sure that if those ocean waters move in, that it doesn't come into the city. over here on the boardwalk it is pretty dead at this hour. just a little bit of snow left over from a couple of days aerks but really this is what people are going to be preparing for. heavy winds. take a look at this flood here. light winds on the jersey shore but the forecast is for winds upward of 60 miles an hour, onshore flow coming into this area and that's what could cause some of the flooding. and in these particular areas, that's where people can see a lot of flooding. some were predicting this could be the worst flooding since

hurricane sandy. people have been boostering their homes, bolstering their homes with hurricane san de. some are getting out of town preparing for the worst. in ocean city, new jersey, i'm matt delucia. 5:57 am blizzard warning going into effect in our area as we prepare for one of the strongest winter storms we receive in some time. >> you're looking at the current track as it pushes its way in. "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell will show you when the snow will

oh, the final calm before the storm. mostly quiet for the morning commute today. people around the region bracing for one of the strongest winter storms we've ever seen. our crews are spread out throughout the region with what's being done in your community to keep you safe. you won't see any snowflakes fall for essentialseveral hours. when you do see them, they're going to pile up and pile up quickly too. >> we're going to begin with the guy who knows it all, "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell. i want you to tell us it's pulling back, going in another direction it's going to be a miss, aaron. you shouldn't be worried at all.

everyone else, squlould be concerned. around 1:00 on average. but have everything done before noon today. that's sort of your drop dead time. after that things go downhill quickly. the heaviest of snow likely between 10:00 tonight and 4:00 saturday afternoon. the peak of power problems will be around midnight. that will be the combination of the heaviest snow and strongest wind. have your backup power plans ready to go. it's bitter cold this morning. teens and low 20s on your way out the door. the next 24 hours, things go from not too bad to pretty bad to nearly impossible to move around. temperatures not getting above freezing until possibly sunday afternoon. blizzard warnings are already in place. it's about six hours or so away from reaching the metro area. obviously your friends and neighbors down toward culpeper and luray and