watching. beauty and the beast, hotyou, d >> we're going to head outside to our weather patio out on the front lawn. good times out there. that is the weather stick. >> looking lonely. >> but it's got a girlfriend there. a little thermomter. thermostat. as we pull back, you can see the snow in the background. tomorrow, pat collins is going to come out of hibernation and is going to hit the road with that stick and cause all kinds of fun mischief for you. it is 9:00 folks. right now, it's becoming more and more apparent just how stuck you may be this weekend. nearly 4,000 flights already canceled for tomorrow all over the country. that includes 600 at our

regional airports. so far, pepco is just reporting just a handful out there. but it's early. there are about two dozen in northern virginia in the dark. of course, we expect those numbers to rise dramatically as those winds that we've been promised will certainly pick up overnight. >> seeing not really a lull. you said this is coming in kind of bands? >> yeah, exactly. we're going too see this coming in bands. some of those bands will be heavier at times and then you'll see lighter snow and then right back to the heavy snow. take a look outside down towards the airport right now. and right now, we're looking at very cold conditions and the wind is really starting to pick up here. low visibility for sure. current temperature sitting at 23 degrees. that wind's out of the northeast at 17 miles per hour. look what the windchills are, 6 degrees in martinsburg, 10 down

towards cambridge. you notice the banding that's going on. you see the bright white, that's the band. you see the lighter snow right around the fairfax area. right around quantico seeing some of that heavier snow. the transfer of energy is finally happening here as expected right around this time and it is going to be making its way our way. it's bringing in a ton of moisture down from the south and eventually those winds right off of the atlantic. that's why we have the potential for thunder snow and very heavy snowfall and strong winds. let's talk about those winds. the areas hit the hardest from d.c. to the east including all of southern maryland here. part of this area under a high wind warning. winds could gust upwards of 65 miles per hour in those areas. d.c., i think a top wind of 45 to 50 miles per hour. we've told you the last couple of days, expect to lose power.

hopefully by now you're sitting back, i've got my flashlights and plenty of batteries, i'm ready to go. the next change, that change between 8:00 and 10:00, snow, temperatures in the 20s. by 10 clock, heavy snow and wind is really kicking up. look at the winds. 26-mile-per-hour wind gust in d.c. down toward the south close to 40 miles per hour. take a look outside our studios here in northwest. not much wind at all two, three hours ago. now you can see the wind really starting to blow there. winds coming in from that northeasterly direction. that's going to make it a lot harder for the plows to keep things clear on those roadways. the blizzard warning in effect until sunday at 6:00 in the morning. that will most likely be dropped saturday night at some time. we are going to see very high winds in this area.

even around leesburg. back to the west, martinsburg, winchester, that is going to be your winter storm warning for those snow totals upwards of 20 to 30 inches of snow. we have not changed anything as far as the numbers are concerned. plus here. i do think areas could see two, maybe 3 feet of snow. that's what we'll be watching out for sure. down to the south and east, 10 to 20 inches, but this is highly dependent on any mixing that develops. we might see some sleet, maybe even some rain try to work in, especially southern portions of st. mary's country, down around the montrose area, down to the south and east. and then much less around ocean city. maybe 5 to 10 and then it will change over almost to all rain for them and back to snow by tomorrow. the heart of our area, 20 to 30 inches. that's a combination we feel very comfortable with.

8 to 12 inches by 11:00. yeah, we're going to see that. 7 inches -- 15 to 20 inches by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. you're going to wake up tomorrow morning to well over a foot to a foot and a half of show. this is going to be a long impactful event. it's over tomorrow night into early sunday morning, but the impacts will be felt at least through the middle of next week. >> doug, thanks so much. let's head to the skies and talk about air travel. out at dulles, they have yet to have their final departures for the night. >> i understand people can stild get out tonight. >> reporter: well, there's five lucky flights remaining to depart from the airport and they're headed to destinations in europe and the middle east. places with lot less snow than we have here. >> what kind of challenge is it

for you to deice those planes with the snow coming down at this rate? >> it's really not a challenge at this point to keep the airfield clear. we've had crews in two different contingencies rotating between runways since about 2:00 this afternoon. we're just trying to do everything we can to make the exit for these last five flights as seamless as possible. after that, the real work begins as the snow intensifies and we face what could be blizzard conditions overnight. >> rob, what are you looking at tomorrow and sunday? are people just not even attempting to go to the airport nor should they right because pretty much everything's canceled? >> right. everything looks like it's going to be canceled tomorrow and there are very few people in the terminal right now. folks are hunkered down someplace while they wait to hear word from the airlines and from us when conditions return to normal post-snow. >> you've been in this town for

a while, when are you thinking you guys will kind of start seeing flights returning to dulles and exiting from dulles? sunday, monday, tuesday? >> well, i guess one of the lessons we've learned is to not pinpoint an exact time and promise it to people. we still have to wait out mother nature to see what's in store in this particular storm. one thing we do know is once we reopen, it's just a few flights that are going to make it in here because the airplanes are somewhere else, the crews are somewhere else. it will take a day or two to resemble what will look like a normal operation. even after all the work clearing the airfield is done. >> did you guys put planes in other warmer climbs? a lot of flights or airlines had to ship planes down to dallas or miami and so forth. >> right, so the airlines that operate here have plenty of other hub resources in other

parts of the country. our assumption is they didn't fly them all to one place, but to places where they have available space and could continue to operate them on routes that are not affected by this northeastern blizzard. >> once the snow stops, how quickly can you guys clear all those runways? how big a task is that is this. >> one thing we're concerned about is the wind and whether or not when we clear a runway, will the snow just blow right back on top of it. so that's going to be a limiting factor. we're confident that we have the people, the equipment, and the resources we need all here in houston a-- in-house and the folks that reported to duty this morning are not going home until their work is done. >> thanks so much for taking time with us. good luck to you this weekend. >> wow, a flight to europe. doesn't that sound good. >> southern europe.

>> that would be nice. >> missed that boat. well, we have a lot more to get to after this short break. so please stay with us as the live team coverage of the blizzard 2016 continues right here on news 4. ♪ ♪

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and we're back in the storm team 4 4x4 traveling around. temperature coming in at 20 degrees as the snow continues to fall and the wind starting to pick up. so the temperature's 20 degrees. we know that it's going to be cold. we know that a blizzard has high winds. what that means is folks are out shoveling and clearing their sidewalks and driveways. you're going to be dealing with brutal windchill temperatures. it feels like single digits out here right now. we'll continue to track brutal windchills throughout this event especially overnight and during the first half of the day tomorrow. here in rockville, the streets are plowed. but we're noticing as we drive around, that might not be the best thing because it packs down the snow and there's a little bit of ice underneath.

it can be harder to get a on the road. we are moving around just fine. you can see a live look outside right now. another person, i mentioned this earlier, walking in the street. can you see them as we approach them? not really. they don't have on reflective clothing. they're wearing a dark-colored jacket. if you are out late tonight, somebody who's going to have to be out late for work purposes, please be aware of people walking in the roads. many sidewalks are just impassable. i think you're starting to see this come into view, some flashing lights. i have i say, they're doing an amazing job to keep the roads nice and clear out here. we are noticing parking lots and side streets not as well treated. traveling down a main road here in rockville, if you have to be out tonight, it's really not that bad. snow is very light in nature right now. it's a steady, very small snow that is falling outside.

temperature here in the storm team 4x4 coming in at 20 degrees with the windchill right around 10 at this time. >> amelia on the road for us. thanks so much, amelia. >> and you know, it is looking like a ghost town there. >> it is. >> that's a good thing. >> everywhere you look, guys. >> every time we say ghost town we have to drink. >> what are you drinking out of jim? >> storm team 4. >> you guys are doing an amazing job. you have called this thing from a week ago. and you are right on cue. our hats are off to you and i know the work is just beginning for you. >> we first started talking about this last saturday night. that's how much lead time we've had up to this. it's almost been like a hurricane where it's out in the ocean and you can see it coming and you continue to watch as it moves our way. >> it was finally exciting when

the storm got onshore just a couple days ago. now it's here. we've got several more hours, 24, maybe 27 hours yet to go. >> we're starting to see the changes. earlier, it was just a nice little snowstorm. take a look at the radar. now it's not so pretty. you get out there and it's definitely a little bit different. now we're starting to see the heavier snow bands get a little bit bigger. look at the bright white snow towards leesburg and frederick. towards southern maryland, lots of heavier snow prince georges county. notice the darker purples. that's the really heavy snow coming in and everybody's getting it overnight. 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, the heaviest snow we've seen yet. now the snow is coming off of the ocean. even tomorrow around 1:00, still seeing that heavy snow.

most of it getting back towards the west here. that's why we think the west could see the highest totals. by 9:00 tomorrow night, it's all pulling out of here. the winds will begin to shift out of the northwest. by sunday at 7:00 a.m., we're good. we have sunshine out there. the winds begin to calm. sunday's going to be a much better day, but we're still going to be stuck inside of our houses. let me show you the temperatures. 19 in gaithersburg. 22 in fredricksburg. that snow continues to come down. because of that, the fluff factor is in there. a little bit higher snow ratios. veronica's got some totals. >> it's good skiing weather. we've already seen a cross-country skier. i guess you call that the champagne snow where it's light and fluffy.

that may help with making the snowballs late tomorrow or even sunday when folks get out. let's show you the snowfall totals. your neighborhood's going to pop up. the national mall, 3.5, almost 4 inches of snowfall. frostburg, maryland, 8 inches of snow now. the white plains, maryland, 5 inches. casanova, virginia, 6 inches. that's southwest virginia. >> i got -- >> same thing. western areas, frostburg, 8, casanova 6. you can see dumfries picked up over 5 inches of snow. very quickly now, we're seeing the snowfall rates pick up. these amounts are really going to jump i think in a big way

over the next five, six hours. your hourly forecast, it is overnight, 12:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., we expect to see the heavy snow right through 6:00 a.m. i don't think we're going to go over back to moderate snowfall for much of the area until sometime early to mid-afternoon tomorrow. and we probably aren't going to see the light snow until after about 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. it's supposed to wrap up, at least the bulk of it on the ground by 9:00 p.m. late tomorrow. but a lot of wind with this heavy snow coming through. >> you mentioned that heavy snow, but not only that, the high winds. there's two things that might wake you up overnight tonight, it's going to be the high winds for sure and it's going to be the thunder snow. most areas, some of you a foot and a half already by that time. all roads simply impassable tomorrow. hope you're prepared for it. ready to stay indoors most of

the day. going to be nasty, especially the first half of the day. we'll continue to watch it. the energy is shifting off the coast as your blizzard approachs. >> the other thing that might weak you up is shomari stone. they go, well, i was sleeping. >> he was telling that. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, first of all, i'm trying to bring our viewers here at nbc washington news4, the newest new stuff. i'm spriaining the process of covering this storm. all of a sudden, i flag this guy down. how long ago did i flag you down? >> a couple of seconds ago. >> reporter: that's how live television is done here at nbc washington news4. why are you out here? >> i'm on my way home now. >> reporter: where are you coming from? >> my sister house. >> what's it like on the

roadways out here? >> the beltway is pretty much decent. you got to stay close from the embankment. >> reporter: what about the secondary roads like this one? this has not been plowed. >> i'll have to find out. >> reporter: drive safely, get home and stay there. you take care. that's a driver. he's on his way home. some people on twitte twitter @shomaristone were asking me about these gloves right here. i tried to get a blue that matches the jacket. didn't happen when i went to rei. they are keeping my fingers very warm in this cold. now, doug cameron has been telling you all about this all evening long. this snow is just coming. it is harder right now. sometimes while you're talking, you'll feel it on your eyes. once it gets really bad, it's sort of like a hurricane because of that horizontal snow which is

like horizontal rain during a hurricane hits your eyes, you want to put on some glasses. the only drivers i've really seen was the guy i just stopped a couple minutes ago and metro drivers. here we go. look at this. this is a -- [ no audio ] -- they'll come through here, circle around and then they'll start plowing. which is why right now you see the thing up right now. a lot of folks tell me that they're staying inside, they're heeding the warning. earlier, there was a guy who was understandably taking a little nap because he's been working so hard this evening. i don't know if these guys are going to take a nap. they're actually going into the parking lot right now. they have sand in there, salt, and they have plows. a lot of folks are working very hard for blizzard 2016. back to you in the warm studio. >> all right. thank you. >> it's not just warm.

it's stuffy in here. you're lucky you're outside in the fresh air. >> reporter: no. whatever. no, no. >> we're liking those gloves by the way. >> i like the gloves. i think -- >> they look good. >> don't draw attention to them. just go with it. just wear it and own it. >> don't apologize for them shomari. the snow is actually just getting started in southern new jersey as well. >> sure is. and as sidney long reports, shoppers were out all day trying to get those last-minute supplies. >> reporter: since about 4:00 this afternoon, some customers say they got off work early, the registers here have been ringing nonstop. there is still bread, eggs and milk to be had. at one point this afternoon, the store was so busy that the grocery cars out front were all swiped up.

darlene has plans to stay warm by the fire all weekend long. >> biscuits, sausage, juice, noodles and water. >> >> reporter: we asked shoppers in camden agloucester counties why they waited until the last minute. >> this is just a few more last-minute things. >> reporter: and the weekend snow is an excuse more, work or play. >> i'm going to just relax. >> reporter: it's your excuse to relax. >> yeah. >> reporter: in case you find yourself in line tonight, a couple pieces of good news. this store right here, they get a truck shipment after 8:00 tonight. they will keep their doors open until 11:00. and blizzard or not, they will also open at 7:00 tomorrow morning. i'm sidney long, nbc10 news. >> it appears people are heeding

the warning to stay off the roads. >> reporter: i'm chris thomas here in richmond, virginia. let me show you some of the conditions here. just look around. this is the manchester bridge. this would normally be a busy time, rush hour, if you will. people heading home. just look, it's kind of quiet as we speak. many people are listening to the instruction to stay off the roads if you can. you can see some trucks are out and about. trying to plow snow as we speak. i want to show you coming down the hill there is a snow truck cutting down the hill trying to get some of that snow off of the bridge as people make their way home from work. this is one of those things where city officials have told people if you don't have to be on the roads, not to do it. i'll walk this way and show you one of the side streets here to give you an idea how deep the snow is. the sidewalk is kind of buried. i'll try to give you a line there and give you an idea how deep that snow is. you can see it's still coming

down. >> good evening from wilmington, delaware, where it is snowing and it is coming down fast. 17 to 23 inches of snow expected here in the wilmington area. it's going to coming down fast. now the bad news here, all of this is going to be over not until sunday night. anywhere between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. sunday evening. it's going to be a huge massive cleanup effort. close to 2 feet of snowfall here in the wilmington here. the national guard has been activated. they are waiting hopefully not to respond to emergencies here in the state of delaware. the government asking people to stay off the streets. it's the same story all across delaware, virginia, maryland. they're asking people to stay home until all this is over. probably not until sunday night which is what the latest forecast models are calling for. nbc news. >> i grew up in norfolk,

virginia. we didn't see a lot of snow. when you got snow like this, we used to say the snow is a sully. >> i grew up in florida. you don't want to know what the word was. >> all righty. tracey wilkins is live in capitol heights where the snow is starting to pile up. >> reporter: yeah, the snow is really starting to pile up. we think this has a lot to do with the high wind we've been talking about. look down here. this has happened in literally like the last hour. this is what i'm walking in now. i could measure the snow just with my finger. look at this now. and so a lot of this is just the wind blowing it. it's still that powdery snow, but man, is it getting deeper and it's happening very quickly out here. the other thing is, still the wind is blowing and it is still very, very cold out here. the good news, look at how many vehicles we have out here on the roadways. almost known. that's very helpful. in fact, just a little while

ago, we were talking with one of the crews that works to clear the roads. here was his advice to make his job easier. what is the biggest challenge for you all trying to clean this stuff up? >> the drivers that shouldn't be out there. that's it. really, as long as we can stay out there and do our job and there's no complications with anybody else, we'd be fine. >> reporter: we've been seeing trucks come this way. this is a major roadway here. they've cleaned it up to the best of their ability. there are a lot of roads to be cleaned up. it still is snow-covered. all the secondary roads absolutely snow covered. prince georges county is under a state of emergency right now. they do not want folks out here on the roadways. they have national guard resources on standby. they want the roads cleared to get to the hospitals and these other emergency locations. that's what's most important here. if you lose power in prince georges county, there are

shelters that are up and ready to go. if you lose your heat with your power, it is important that you make your way to someplace where there is heat and you don't stay in the cold house for days on end. prince georges county has a lot of good help set up for folks. it is important to prepare for the possibility of that. the snow is piling up so quickly. it is again, a blizzard. reporting live in capitol heights, back to you-all in the studio. >> thanks, trace. we invite you to stay with us on air and online. you're going to find lots of useful information about snow safety. how to track the plow trucks in your area. use the hash tag blizzard 2016.

continuing to track what will become the blizzard of 2016. again to be a pliz, we need 35-mile-per-hour winds for an extended period of time. we have the half mile visibility. we haven't quite yet seen the winds, but they are coming. you're already starting to feel them out there. look at the visibility. normally this shot is of the airport. now you only see a couple of the lights there. that tells me we are starting to see the heavy snow come through.

winds out of the northeast at 18 miles per hour. windchill close to 10. we are looking at this banding that is occurring. you have areas that are coming in and you notice the white area, the bright white around frederick and leesburg, right through d.c. that's a band. notice this, though. a little bit of a lull here. that's what's going to happen. and then another band. we've got that one right outside our studios. you can see the snow really coming down here around the area. look at all this snow and look at the wind coming in too. winds gusting over 20 miles per hour right now. even 30 miles per hour in spots. that's going to be the case throughout the rest of the night. our storm system is really developing. here is the upper level system, but the lower level system right off the coast right now and really starting to intensify. it will intensify and end up right off the coast. it's going to pull in a lot of moisture and give us a wallop as

far as the snow is concerned. as far as what we're going to continue to see. 31-mile-per-hour wind gusts. near 40 in ocean city. they will just increase. a high wind warning issued for st. mary's county. winds could gust 65 miles per hour there. we continue to talk about power outage problems around the area. especially in the warned area of the blizzard. frederick count, loudon county. a winter storm warning back to the west. everybody getting a ton of snow. again, 20 to 30 inches or more. amelia siegal is experiencing this firsthand from the backseat of the storm team 4x4. the reason because we're not allowed in the front seat. amelia? >> reporter: back here in the kids safety area as we continue to track conditions across the area. we are down to 75 south right now leaving the rockville area. we're going to make our way

towards tyson. i have to say in rockville, the plow drivers were doing an amazing job keeping the roads clear. obviously this event has been going on for many hours. you're not going to get to bare pavement. there is ice down there. as far as keeping up with the storm, they have certainly been able to do that. a live look outside with our camera right now, you can see snow-covered roads here on 270. we are moving along below speed right now at about 35, 30 miles per hour right now. visibility is really not an issue. we have about a half mile or more visibility. but what we are noticing, the winds gusting at times. pretty consistent sustained winds i'd say at about 10 maybe 15 miles per hour. we are picking up gusts of 20 to 25 miles per hour. the it were in the storm truck continues to register in the low 20s. when you factor in those winds.

it's 21 degrees right now. if you factor in the winds at about 10, 15 miles per hour, that produces a brutal windchill. as people are out. maybe they set the alarm to try to keep up with the driveway. you want to keep in mind you're going to be dealing with frigid temperatures. feeling like temperatures are in the sing digits and teens across the area. on 27 south, not a lot of cars out here tonight. very quiet, especially on the southbound lane. northbound, we had a little bit more volume here earlier and that continues to be the case. i don't know if you can see up ahead. you're starting to see the flashing lights right now. some plow drivers on the side of the road or to be in the local lanes right now. we're making our way to tyson. i'm also on facebook and twitter. lot of people chiming in about the storm team 4x4. i loved it. got to see what's going on with the storm as soon as it arrived

and track conditions across the area. you know, we're going to continue to monitor them throughout the night tonight and we'll be out again tomorrow morning. i'm not going to be out. do you know who's going to be out tomorrow morning? >> it might be chuck bell. i don't know, they too have to sit in the back. do me a favor. give a high five to haus for me. thanks for doing what you're doing. right now, 20 to 30 inches, that's what we're talking about. again, i've got this plus here. why do we have that plus? again, i really think some areas could see upwards of 3 feet of snow back here towards the west. leesburg, maybe upper montgomery county. that seems to be the bulls eye area. could it be in d.c.? right now, i really think a good number for downtown is going to be about 22 inches and over toward the airport around 22 inches. that would make it the second

biggest snowstorm in the d.c. area. the number one is 1922. that was the knickerbocker storm that brought us 28 inches. obviously the airport was not there yet. i still think we're going to get the official record at the airport. 10 to 20 inches down to the south. if you mix, it's going to be the lower total. if you do not mix, it will be the higher total. richmond has gone over to sleet a lot faster than predicted. the snow piling up quickly. by 7:00 tonight, we already had 2 to 5 inches. 11:00, 8 to 12 inches. that's pretty much right on par here. i think we will get there. all the way up by the time this ends, 20 to 30 inches or more. by saturday evening. this is going to be one for the record books. i will be homemaking igloos. >> you're going to have practice doing that. thanks. we've been saying you got to

dress in layers. you got to dress warm. but you also have to look good, too. wendy is rocking red tonight. >> let me see if i can do this. >> are they functional? >> they're warm. they cover my legs. here's why i wore them. i thought if i trip and roll into, you know, the snow, they can find me. >> and you want to look good. >> and look good at the same time. it's a fashion statement. >> it's a win-win. >> and a red light on my head -- >> derails. all right. you may have noticed there is somebody missing from our coverage right now. but pat collins is resting up staying warm tonight in preparation for a long day ahead tomorrow. when he hits the streets of washington, he'll have that new snow stick challenge for you. we've seen your best snowman, your pets, even if your snow over it frustrated faces. only pat knows what tomorrow's challenge will hold.

get ready, hunker down, and have some fun tomorrow. >> pat just texted me. he wants these red stockings. >> oh, he does. >> you know it. throughout the day, some of the best moments from the storm have come across on social media. angie has a look at the lighter side of this blizzard. >> reporter: hi, guys. now from the first time that the flurries started falling, we started to see serious snow street style out there. take a look here. we're seeing everything from fluffy hats to matching snow boats. we're hearing your dog is not digging these all too much. some of us showing us your sportier side. working out, staying warm. that's what we call dedication. and janet sending this one of her little boy on a sled. this was his first snow. we're especially loving all the photos of your adorable little ones getting out to enjoy the

white stuff. keep them coming. keep them safe. don't forget to e-mail us at nbc washington or tag u us @nbcwashington. >> darcy spencer is live in tysons corner. that snow is coming downside ways behind her. >> what does that feel like? >> reporter: it feels probably like what you think. not too good. it is cold. it's wet. right now, i think i'm standing in a good place. it's coming from behind me. so i'm protected here. you guys were tauging about being smart when you're coming out in this. this year i did something different. i have a thermos with coffee and soup. it makes a big difference. >> coffee and what? >> reporter: and some soup. >> good and healthy. >> i'm sure you're quite hydrated. >> reporter: in between live shots, get a little hot drink. let's show you what's going on

out here. really not too much. this is leesburg pike, tysons corner, the mega shopping district here. you can see it's pretty much vacant at this hour. metro is still running. we just saw a train come through here within the last 30 seconds. we've seen a few people go into the metro station. just here in the last couple hours. very light. i have to guess very light traffic on the metro system. but the trains are still running. people have about an hour and a half if they got to get home or get somewhere this evening to take the metro. we've been seeing the trucks come through here all evening. so vdot is definitely out here. you can see, the streets are still very snow-covered. like i said, you're not going to see bare pavement. it's definitely going to remain snow-covered. the snow continues to come down. the winds are very brisk. we're not getting any major wind gusts at this point, but it's a

steady wind that's continuing to blow around. that's pretty much the conditions here for right now. >> you mentioned -- you called it vacant. could you -- >> we like to call it a ghost town. >> ghost town works too. >> there you go. >> reporter: that was just a word that came out of my mouth at that moment. but, yes, ghost town's better. >> we're encouraging people to call it a ghost town. >> thank you, darcy. we'll be right back. ♪

the blizzard is not here yet, folks, but conditions have gone from bad to worse. >> at 9:45, the blizzard is still hours away. joining us now is jackie benson who's on the phone. your camera broke, huh, jackie? >> reporter: the camera broke. i am still out here reporting, however i'm not outside of the news van. my arm, my arm is outside of the news van right now. i can tell you that the snow has changed. it is almost like a sleet

granular snow that stings when it hits your face. there is that wind everybody's been talking about. that is picking up. you know, all evening we've been out here in front of the capitol and visibility has just been dropping, dropping, dropping. >> we've seen people out taking pictures things like that. right now, nothing. all we see are essential vehicles. snowplows, a shuttle bus being used by the u.s. capitol police and the occasional police car or ambulance. but at this point, nothing except essential traffic. now as soon as we get the camera back, i have an adorable story that we shot maybe -- not too long ago. something that i have never seen before. and i think you-all will find very amusing too. hopefully that will be a case of minutes that we can get it on and show it to you. >> thank you, jackie. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> let's led into the storm

center to get the latest on what's happening around the region. >> we're starting to see the snowfall amounts come into the area. we've been updating the reports and all through the overnight and throughout the day tomorrow. we've seen locations pick up 7, 8 inches of snowfall. frostburg and south to stanton. let's take a look at the list for you. maryland and virginia, we've got the amounts. the national zoo now at 3.5. waldorf, maryland, over 4 inches of snowfall. friends in howard county over 3 inches probably now. alexandria, virginia, getting close to five. by morning, many locations will already have a foot on the ground. that's going to be easy to do. i'm going to show you the radar where there are snowfall rates occurring at 2 and 3 inches per hour. broken hill virginia coming in with six.

snowfall amounts what we're forecasting between 20 and 30 inches of snowfall everywhere here in the blue. a little less down to the south there. northern neck, extreme southern maryland, about 10 to 29d for our friends there. you can see areas around fredricksburg, it's all snow around 11:00. there's your pink where mixing will be occurring. that snow occurs up until about 4:00, 5:00 a.m. in the morning. when we go back to all snow, i think it will transition back from that wet type of snow we're going to have overnight to more of a dry, powdery fluffy type of snow. so we're going to see different consistencies in the snow. there's 7:00 saturday. here's your timeline at 11:00 p.m. saturday when it's all going to be pushing out of here finally and you start to clear

out. sunday we're talking about sunshine and the winds will start to settle down. there's the capitol wheel and national harbor. they're down under a half mile right now. and will continue to be very low throughout the overnight, even first thing through the day tomorrow. low visibilities because of the intense snow and again the wind. the winds are really going to be picking up, around 40, 50, even upwards 60 miles per hour. someone asked the question, are we looking at blizzard conditions right now, not yet. just wait until 9:00, 10:00. you can see the temperatures. those are going to be going up. 23-mile-per-hour -- 23 the temperature at midnight. 5 25 the temperature at 3:00 a.m. there's your thunder snow. the blizzard, it's going to rage overnight. talking about 9:00 p.m. all the way into hours of 6:00, 7:00,

8:00 a.m. in the morning. which is why our impact forecast tomorrow is right off the scale. a plblowing snow. are you headed outside? >> i'm headed outside in just a minute. >> with those high winds and low temperatures that we'll have tomorrow, the windchill temperature saturday are going to be only in the teens. keep that in mind because of course this is going to be part of what you're going to have to deal with in terms of cleaning up your driveway, clearing out around your house. the current winds, up to 28-mile-per-hour wind gusts now. 31, baltimore. we've got a lot more coming up. wanted to show you though the winds for early tomorrow morning at 50 miles per hour. we'll keep those blizzard conditions around tomorrow right through lunchtime. we'll have another look at those snowfall totals on the radar in just a few minutes. >> nice sound effects by the

way. both of you. makes a cameo appearance. you never see him on tv much. well, that snow is starting to pile up out there. >> it is. chris gordon in montgomery county now. the roads are deserted. >> reporter: this is rockville pike 355. although the traffic consists mostly of snowplows there have been a number of accidents today. >> as the evening goes on, snow's coming down harder, those that are out have ended up in wrecks. >> reporter: all day and evening, you've been watching storm team 4 drive around the area. let's talk to haus, what are you noticing? >> the snowplows are doing a great job, but they're basically moving the snow off and now we're left with ice-covered roads. and we're having to deal with people walking in the street because they plowed the snow in

the sidewalk. >> reporter: the montgomery county fire department is also suggesting that you adopt a fire hydrant. pick it out. and tomorrow, if it's covered in snow, digit out. so the fire department can find it in case of emergency. in rockville, chris gordon, news4. and our coverage continues now with amelia in the storm team 4x4. if you're out on the road, folks, it does not look good anywhere. amelia is heading towards tyson's corner. where it looks like zero visibility out there. >> reporter: this is the worst i've seen all day. we left rockville where we were kind of around buildings into more open areas. you can notice the winds a lot more. and also the snow at points is coming down a little bit harder. i think we got under a heavier band. all of that came together to really reduce visibility to the point if you couldn't see the signs on the road, you would

have a hard time knowing exactly where you were. we're very familiar with the area. driving very slow. we're going about 20, close to 25 miles per hour right now. at times, you can see the tire tracks in the roads, the tires kind of catching that in such a way, it pulls the storm team 4x4 to one side or the other. nothing that we're going to spinout with, but it's just something that you're noticing. as we take a live look outside right now, the visibilities have really increased. we were at a point in time where the visibility was easily under a quarter of a mile. i have not been able to say that all day today and i've been out here since 11:00 a.m. not even ten minutes ago, i would say the visibility has picked back up to at least a quarter of a mile, but the snow flakes are getting a little bit larger. the temperature continues to stay quite cold. temperature right now around 21, 22 degrees here.

the wind gusts here, not so bad right now. so it looks like where we were closer to rockville, the heavier snow right there. towards tysons here in virginia, what we're really focusing on largely snow-covered roads. here's another vantage point. i think they're going to make a pass around us, and they did. and that's fine. again, just noticing snow-covered roads. lots of snow on roads. we've been all around town today. we've been in montgomery county, loudon county. behind us there you see a snow plow treating the roads too. we're going to make our way to tysons and head back toward the city after that and continue to report on conditions. as the snow moves in, for the most part, snowflakes have been pretty light. this is the largest iden've see

them all day. temperature's really dropped. when the snow started to move in around 1:00, we were noticing a temperature around 29 degrees. the temperatures have fallen into the low 20s and we've been tracking temperatures in the storm team 4x4 remaining in the low 20s for the last couple -- more than the last couple hours. i would say about the last four hours now. it's 10:00. for about the last four hours, we've noticed those temperature notice low 20s. we're getting off of the main road. now we're getting onto an off ramp here. you can see the tire tracks. that's how you're going to know where to go right now. but there's definitely a slick feeling to the roads right now. you have to take it very slow. so reduced speed as we're getting on the off ramp. treacherous is what i'm being told by my photographer right now. very difficult at this point to see exactly where the tracks are.

of course you can see the size of the road just fine. you can see them there on the tv screen. you know you're going to want to stay in the middle of the road at this point. we have four-wheel drive. it's very easy to get around here. and actually the depth of the snow not an issue. we just came out about 6 to 8 inches of snow there. the snow we're traveling on right now is maybe about an inch on the road, but it's that hard packed snow. so we're back on a main road here in the tysons area. we're actually heading out to meet up with darcy to help her out. we're going to go meet up and continue to report on the conditions here in the area as we continue to track the blizzard of 2016. >> and you have haus behind the wheel. we need him to give us a lift home tonight. >> reporter: yeah. >> it's -- you know, we have about 4 or 5 inches out there now. it is great to start sledding. take a look at the hill on

capitol hill. people have been sledding down that big hill today. this is the first time in years that the capitol police will not stop you. they say if they feel there is any safety threat, you may be asked to leave. >> and thicke this out, one guy skipped the sleds and grabbed the skis. he skied right behind jackie's live shot this evening. he seemed to really be enjoying himself. he is really -- >> and the mall is beautiful. this is a beautiful town anyway. but it's really beautiful in the snow. still a lot more coverage tonight as a massive winter storm moves into the region. jim and doreen will be joining you in just a few minutes. >> we'll be on the air bright and early tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. our team coverage continues right after this. stay with us. ♪

this is storm team 4's special coverage of the blizzard of 2016. >> and thank you for staying with us through our live team coverage tonight. a live look outside right now. our weather deck, there's pat collins' snow stick and our trustee thermometer right now. >> that snow is piling up out there and the winds are kicking up too. good evening, everyone, and that you for staying with us. i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm jim handly. we've got a team of reporters and meteorologists working for you through all of this tonight

and through the weekend. we've been out in this blizzard all day long. >> we'll start our 10:00 hour in stormcenter 4. chief meteorologist doug cka kammer kammerer, it's starting to get worse out there. >> it really is. we're now seeing the change. the winds are starting to pick up and now we're also really starting to see the first very, very heavy snowfall move into the area. take a look outside right now. you can barely see the airport. visibility down because of the moderate to heavy snow. 23 degrees right now, winds out of the northeast at 22 miles per hour. so you see the winds picking up. that's just the sustained winds. the gusts are over 30 miles an hour in some spots. here's the radar. you notice the snow coming on in from the south but now it's moving more from the south. it was coming southwest and now it's moving more from the south. eventually it will be from the southeast and then eventually from the east right off the ocean and that's going to give us a lot of moisture. i want to show you something here. normally we put it into really a color mode. what that does is it just shows

that as snowfall, but if i put this into regular mode, i want to show you what's going on here. look at the reflectivity here and down to the south. this is the northern portion of the beltway. let me put this into play because you've got to see this, guys. this is really, really good stuff if i can put this into play. i'll move through a couple of graphics, but i want you to see this because this is what's coming over the next couple of hours all across our area here. go back to where i was with the reflectivity. notice right around bethesda in through rockville, right around tyson's corner, right on 495, very heavy snow. this band is moving right towards the rockville area, so you'll get in on the heavy snow. that's about an inch an hour. look at this area down here, down towards colonial beach, sangt mast. mary's county. you are seeing snowfall rates, 2, 3, even 4 inches an hour.

another area around quantico is now coming up as the blizzard begins to take shape. i keep getting the question are we in the blizzard yet, are woe in the blizzard yet? not quite. that's going to be overnight into early tomorrow morning. the storm system just taking shape down towards the coast here and eventually that's when we'll start to see the winds. where are the winds now? 28 in d.c., that's the wind gusts. 33 in camp springs, 24 in richmond, ocean city at 35. what do we need for blizzard conditions? that would be 35 miles an hour over an extended period of time, half mile visibility. we've seen that. let's go out to veronica johnson. v.j., right now it is definitely on and you're back to the hat. >> i'm back to the hat because the wind is starting to pick up and the flakes are getting bigger. that little area of yellow that you saw on the reflectivity, it is picking up but i love to see pictures of what's happening in areas south with the snowfall rates at 2 and 3 inches per hour so hit us up on twitter, all of

us with our accounts and send those pictures in. it's early enough where you can step out your door. i just merfst measured on the p collins' snow stick, 4 1/2, getting closer to 5 inches here. on the storm team 4 weather deck, i'm sliding around a little bit. this fine, powdery snow is definitely slick. it's easy to clean or just brush to the side but definitely slick. the temperatures, of course, those have been low all day. we're at 23 degrees in d.c., 19 germantown, 23 in fredericksburg with a little bit of wind. our windchills will head down to the teens and maybe even single digits well to the west there. the winds are picking up. if i go quiet for a moment, you may hear the wind across my mike. 35 ocean city. it's that area there, st. mary's, calvert county, over toward easton, cambridge, where the winds are really going to be high overnight and through the

first part of tomorrow. about the first third of tomorrow. it's there that we could see some of the highest power outages. of course the visibility is down too with some of the heavier snow falling now from d.c. to baltimore and just about everywhere throughout the area. but look at the snowfall amounts so far. the national zoo now closer to four inches. waldorf, maryland, over 4. of course we'll see that amount jump very quickly from 4 to maybe 6 or 7 inches. same thing around alexandria, now getting closer to 5 and we're over 7 at woodstock, virginia. same thing around hagerstown, they're probably up around 9 inches. so we'll continue to bring you snowfall totals throughout the evening. doug. >> what do you have on the storm deck? >> 4 1/2 inches, getting closer to 5. >> that's going to come fairly quickly with these heavier bands that continue to be in here. that blizzard warning in effect through sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. expect power to be out in many

areas, the winter storm watch in the pink. we'll be here all night long, all throughout the day tomorrow and even through the day on sunday. >> all right, thank you, both, doug, v.j. one of the big stories kicking up are the winds in prince george's county. we saw them earlier. >> tracee wilkins is live in prince george's county in capitol heights and has a look at the conditions there. tracee, what's going on? >> reporter: you can see just how heavy the snowfall is right now. look at it in front of me, it is incredibly -- the rush to prepare for the blizzard started early this morning. >> i got here around 8:00, and it's been a mad rush the entire morning. it's been nonstop. >> 22-inch snow blower here. >> reporter: ice melt was not the only thing shoppers were looking for. >> how did you prepare? what do you have? >> snow blowers, generators. i have shovels, heaters. i'm fully prepared. >> reporter: at the gas station folks were filling up and

rushing home before the roads got too bad. >> i'm just filling up the car for the wife to make sure the car is running in case we lose power. >> reporter: but some drivers couldn't get off the roads fast enough. >> you know, in d.c. people don't know how to drive. >> we won't let anybody know that you said that. >> reporter: as the snow fell harder and it got a little darker, many roads in prince george's empty, giving the people who have to be on them more room to do what they have to do. >> as long as we can stay out there and do our job and there's no complications with anybody else, we'll be fine. all right. we want to check out the roads in virginia right now. vdot is out there and they are really manning up and they have a lot of crews out there and many more to come overnight. we're monitoring the roads right now. >> we want to get an update from vdot. we've got spokesperson kathleen leonard on the phone with us right now. are you there, kathleen?

>> hi there. >> what can you tell us about road conditions in virginia and accidents and what you're seeing? >> sure, sure. we are actually in a full operational deployment. we have over 4,000 trucks out there on the road and our crews are working, you know, 12-hour shifts back-to-back, 24 hours a day, just trying to keep up with things. so we are fully deployed and ready to go. >> what are you seeing out there right now? >> yeah, sure. we're seeing very few accidents and light traffic, but we still want to urge folks to stay off the roads. it's really important that, you know, if you're choosing to be out there, you will experience blizzard-like and treacherous weather conditions right now. >> it's great that people are listening to the advice to stay off the roads. you guys, are you treating the roads right now? are you waiting? what's happening with that? >> actually right now we're just trying to keep up with the snow. it's really important to just keep at it. we're just plowing, plowing,

plowing. >> and you don't stop because the worst we hear is going to be happening before 7:00 tomorrow morning and when most people are asleep. there's no lull in this for you guys, you are actually stay on top of this through the night hour by hour? >> that's right. our crews are just working 12-hour shifts. we're keeping going 24 hours a day, just back-to-back. >> and kathleen, are there any trouble spots that you guys are seeing or have concerns about? >> you know, at this point we're considering just about everything a trouble spot because we really want to encourage folks to stay off the roads. so again, we can't urge that enough, just stay off the roads right now. >> all right, good luck to you. kathleen leonard with vdot. thanks so much for taking time with us, we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. hi, i'm wendy rieger at the live desk with some new details about just how many flights are getting cancelled as we roll into our weekend. our snowy weekend. more than 3,000 flights were

cancelled today nationwide. that's according to flight aware. the number of cancellations for tomorrow is already near 4,000. more than 200 flights have already been grounded out of bwi for tomorrow. that's 88% of the flights that were scheduled to depart. reagan national is up to 189 flights cancelled for tomorrow. dulles at 183. but we already know that most airlines don't plan on resuming service out of most of these airports until at least sunday. at least one flight at each of our area airports is just about to leave or has just left. ron yingling from the metropolitan airport authority will join us in about ten minutes with a look at the challenge the airports are facing and when they expect to get back up to speed once the storm is gone. back to you guys. one guy was skiing and a couple was cruising in a convertible with the top down.

jackie bensen joins us from the national mall. >> reporter: i've been here through many years, many live shots, many snowstorms, but tonight i saw something i had never seen before. people taking in the blizzard in a convertible. people have been coming down to the national mall to take pictures all evening, but neamiah and his girlfriend look it to a whole new level. >> this is beautiful. this is the first time i've seen it in the snow. it's such a beautiful question. i'm out here thinking let me explore and it's amazing in the snow. amazing in the snow. >> after the photo session, the two took off in the convertible, top down. and i will tell you there are not a lot of people out here right now. we got someone from the national park service plowing this section of the mall but you've heard everybody say it, the

wind's picking up, the snow is coming in and it's more granular, tougher, things are starting to go downhill out here. jackie bensen, news4. back to you. >> thanks so much. >> let's hope those two are just as enthusiastic and aren't in a ditch somewhere, right? >> you don't want that. it's not a convertible but our 4 x 4 is covering a lot of ground tonight. amelia segal is in the back seat. >> what's going on, amelia? >> in the storm team 4 x 4 sleigh. the temperature out here continues to come in around 21 degrees. what we're really noticing over the last hour, abo two hours, the winds have picked up so that's leading to reduced visibilities at times. now, at this point it's not sustained blizzard conditions by any means out here, but we've really seen the visibility drop around at times to below a quarter of a mile. right now the vichbsibility is too bad, i'd say right around a

quarter of a mile, but you don't want to be on the road unless you have to be and unless you also have four-wheel drive. variability in road conditions from side roads to main roads, even along main roads where the plows have hit you have that snow that's packed down that has a little ice over it -- excuse me, under it, where the plows haven't necessarily gone. you can see in the storm team 4 x 4 ot leto the left of your n a little thicker snow there. the snow has enough ice pellets it will grab the tires and pull the truck one way or another. does that mean we felt like wee going to spin out or in danger? no. we're reducing our speeds and only traveling at 10 miles an hour. look to the left-hand corner of your screen. do you see anything right there? you probably don't. there are little black blob. this is a person that had to work today, i'm sure.

nobody wants to be out here. they're walking back from work or wherever they had to be and they don't have on the proper reflective clothing because they probably don't walk outside very much in the center of a road in the middle of a blizzard. so if you're out driving tonight, you really want to be aware. i can't tell you enough how many people my photographer and i have seen tonight walking in the road because at this point the sidewalks are simply impassable. the plows have been able to keep up what i would say very impressively with the snow across the area, but the sidewalks a totally different story. many sidewalks haven't been touched at all so a lot of folks have had to go to work or had to be somewhere and are now forced to walk home in the road and most of them just wearing what you would expect, a dark colored regular winter jacket that doesn't really have that reflective gear on it so making them very hard to see. i don't think you saw that at all. if you did, we just saw a car make a turn through an intersection there -- >> right in front of somebody.

>> and fishtail. right in front of us. i think by the make of the car, i think they might just be having a little fun out here in the snow. but it's also hard to see, the snow is so light if i wasn't point it out you wouldn't see how much snow is falling right now, how much is blowing. it looks as though there's very little snow out there but it's a consistent snow. the snowflakes are very small until nature and blowing across horizontal horizontally. we're sitting here at an intersection and i'm seeing one, two, three, four, five plows around us right now so the majority of the cars out on the road are plows. cvs here on the corner, hard to tell if that's open or not. but again, so driving around checking out conditions here, snow piled up in spots. there's another -- six, seven, eight, nine plows now. so we're passing by the cvs. pretty much a ghost town out

here. i think, does that play into your game? >> she may still be playing. >> ghost town. >> that's a perfect illustration, though, of why you do need to wear bright colors, amelia, because not only -- you couldn't even see that person if it weren't snowing but if you were to hit a rough patch or slick spot, you just have a few feet to work with before you're into a pedestrian's path there. there's very little wiggle room of safety. >> exactly. and as you guys know, when you're driving in a snowstorm like this, when you have to drive with work, your field of vision, you're so laser focused right in front of you, keeping an eye on the road right in front of you that you're not kind of looking out even maybe 15 degrees one side to the other out of that straight-on center vision. that's what we've been noticing all night. folks locking in the road and they kind of sneak up on you and you're just focused ahead to keep your eyes on the road.

if we can go to our live camera now, right now we're getting on the on ramp to get back on the beltway. this is a place where that road was just fine. this is just packed with what i would estimate to be when we got on maybe 8 inches of snow. i'd say it's town to 3 or 4 inches and this has not been touched. not anyone's fault, there's just been so much snow falling across the area. >> amelia segal in the 4 x 4. stay safe out there. we can tell people to shelter in place, but there are people who have to be at work and who have to be out in this and the public transportation is shut down. >> what do you do? >> amelia is giving some good advice to be really careful if you must be out tonight. lots of us have changed our plans this weekend. people on our facebook page are telling us about cancelled parties and all kinds of events. >> but imagine if this was the most important weekend of your life, your wedding.

bureau chief julie carey joined a special ceremony in mclean this afternoon. >> reporter: this life-changing moment was supposed to take place at 4:30 tomorrow. that's when brian and jessica planned to get married. along came the blizzard of 2016. dave is the father of the groom. >> it started all over. we had to figure out how to move everything from 4:30 tomorrow to 1:00 today. it required moving everybody, including changing all the flights. >> reporter: it spend scrambling for wedding planner whitney frost. yes, her last name is frost. just minutes before the couple walked down the aisle, she was still scattering the petals. the snow was already falling by the time shivering wedding guests from new jersey and massachusetts stepped through the doors. understandably quite a few didn't make it, but jessica and brian did make it down the aisle, determined not to let a

blizzard keep them from getting married. >> there's so many tears. i cried all of wednesday. but we had a wedding, we got married, that's all that matters. we're here. >> reporter: and they'll have quite a story to tell. >> after all the events are done, it just looks amazing. all the stories of the stress will fall away and we'll have only good stories to tell. >> julie told us earlier that the happy couple -- the happy ending to their change in their wedding plans, they're headed to mexico for a nice, warm honeymoon. >> that sounds nice about now, huh? >> yes. we'd like to go with them, wouldn't we? doug, it's getting rough out there, isn't it? >> it really is. and we just -- we just saw some of the blizzard conditions starting to work into parts of our area, especially towards southern maryland, down around the northern neck. even at the airport winds gusting close to 30. >> starting to get into blizzard-type conditions and we have hours yet to go. this is really going to be an exhausting storm system not just for us but we know for so many

of you out there because this really is going to go days even after the storm ends. so we're going to be hanging in there with you. check us out on nbcwashington.com. download our app because when the power does go out, we'll still be there for you. >> and we're there right now. take a look at the storm team 4 radar showing the snow continuing to move on in. notice earlier it was from the southwest direction. now it's from the south and eventually it will be closer off towards the ocean. now, the bright white here, and there's a lot more bright white than there has been throughout the afternoon. look at this right here, montgomery county, very heavy snow right now around portions of the rockville area. again, this is reflectivity. what we're looking at here to see how big -- rather, how intense the snow is. and in this band, we've got this band moving right up through 70, gaithersburg over towards rockville, over towards reston, herndon and down towards the sterling and ashburn region.

down to the south we're seeing some incredible snowfall rates down here. as a matter of fact, take a look, i want to see how these snowfall rates are coming. in through portions of st. mary's county, around leonardtown, calvert beach, this is coming in at 7 inches per hour, 5 inches per hour to the north. so you're seeing some incredible snowfall right out of this region and then down to the south of fredericksburg, 1.6 inches per hour so that's like 10 inches per hour. the only factor i'm wondering about, this is also where we're seeing the blizzard conditions with wind gusts upwards of 35 miles per hour. now, we are also watching a little bit in the way of some sleet trying to move up to the north. you can see that rain-snow creeping up towards our area. how close does it get? we think once the storm really begins to develop off the coast, it will pull in more cold air and help to keep that rain-snow line down to our south. that's why we have not even talked about that around the d.c. metro area. now, tomorrow morning, that's when everybody for the most

part, i-95 to the east, really get in on the blizzard-like conditions. veronica has more on that. >> we had a good question, someone was asking, hey, on the precipitation rates that you showed, we showed 0.7 but we're saying 7 inches. so when you go from liquid, say, rain to snow, we actually move the decimal point over so that's why we're saying 7 inches per hour. as far as tomorrow morning likely to be more than 7 inches on the ground in a lot of locations and of course since we're already seeing those blizzard-type conditions, you get the idea. by morning this storm system is going to be raging over our area. you're going to open your door and close your door just as quickly because that's when our winds will be the highest. if you live in prince george's county, anne arundel county, st. mary's, calvert, you'll see extremely high winds early tomorrow morning. 50, 60, maybe even upward 60 miles per hour. of course the roads will be impassable because a lot of the crews won't be able to get to

your neighborhood roads for quite some time. for saturday evening, the storm will finally start calming down and we'll start to see most of the energy with the storm make its way just east-northeast of d.c. as we've been mentioning, we'll see our wind out of the east at that time as the storm system starts to pull away and our wind should be down to about 40s, maybe 45 miles per hour by the evening. travel impossible, so we're just telling folks, hey, look, stay at home. even late saturday not really the best time to go digging your car out. i would wait until early sunday morning. sledding also, we put it at moderate conditions. if you can deal with the wind and keep the kids bundled up, really again the best time is sunday to get out. i know i am a wimp when it comes to the cold, doug. >> that's why you have that big hat and if you've seen veronica's boots, my goodness gracious. we'll talk much more about this storm as we move on through. we'll be here with you throughout the whole thing. >> we know you will. >> thank you, doug.

despite the worsening conditions out there, some people are still driving and even catching late metro trains. metro is still open until 11:00. >> darcy spencer is in tyson's now where she's been keeping an eye on both the roads and that metro station behind her. darcy? >> well, jim, i have to tell you it is a ghost town. it doesn't take me long to catch on here. i get it now. we're right across the street from the metro station. you can see there's nobody there. we haven't seen anyone go in there or come out for probably an hour. even though the system is closing down at 11:00, it looks like it's pretty desolate at this point. this is leesburg pike here. you can see a plow coming through yet again. there's been plenty of plows coming through this area, so they are trying to stay on top of the storm as much as possible. i got a chance to talk to one of the private contractors who clears lots out here in the area and he said that's all they can try to do is try to keep up with

the storm. they can't get ahead, it's just too much. as we keep saying, the worst is yet to come. one of the things he said that's making it so hd are these drifts. if you look over here, you see how much deeper it is. every time they plow, the wind just blows the snow right back over onto the roadway as though they hadn't done a thing. we want to bring you over here. we've been hanging out over to this exxon station and a thank you to them for letting us hang out here in their parking lot. you can see there's been a lot of trucks coming in here to gas up and keeping this lot clear for the people who operate the plows and so forth. they need to have a place to go to gas up. let's hear from one of those private contractors. why do you think this is one of the worst storms you've seen? >> well, it's with the blowing and the drifting because once we plow something, the wind just blows it back over so that's why

we feel it's one of the worst we've seen so far and it's just getting going. >> and the worst is yet to come. >> yes, exactly. >> reporter: so you just heard it. one of the many plowers who are out here, they're saying this is really bad, even for them, and they have a lot of experience doing it. so it's a good thing, let them do their job, stay home if you can do that and hopefully they'll be able to stay on top of things as much as possible. as we said, it's just going to get worse as the night progresses. back to you. >> all right, darcy spencer reporting. thank you, darcy. and a reminder for you, our live team continuing coverage lasts until 11:35 tonight right before jimmy fallon. doug has been right on cue with the timing and he said some of the worst of it will hit right about 11:00 and he'll have new information too on that. we'll continue to break in overnight with updates on the forecast. >> those new malodels come out 11:00. we'll also be with you starting at 5:00 a.m. keep your phones and tablets

charged for updates on the nbc washington app. talk about braving the storm, the sentinels at the tomb of the unknown at arlington national cemetery will literally weather all two feet or however much snow we get. >> we have pictures and details about their mission on our website. just search sentinels. we'll be right back. ♪

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we'd like to get an update now on flight cancellations across our area and the situation at our airports. joining us live from dulles airport tonight, rob yingling from the metropolitan washington airport authority to tell us a little more about what's happening here. >> so, rob, you told us last hour you still had five flights getting out tonight. any change to that? >> yes. we are down to three flights getting deiced. there's two flights that left for london in the last hour and the folks on the last three flights also have, we've been told, that they have told their flight crews they want to stick it out and take off so we're going to do everything in our power on the ground to ensure that's possible. >> and what will your personnel be doing this weekend at the airport to get things ready to fly in and out again? >> well, they have been plowing

pretty constantly except for one dinner break since 2:00 this afternoon. and there's actually -- they work in six-hour shifts. so the 6:00 p.m. to midnight shift has had the most work so far in this storm but we're really looking forward to seeing what happens on the midnight to 6:00 a.m. shift when the storm really kicks into high gear. by then we expect these three flights to be on their way over the atlantic. >> do you have a target in mind? do you hope to be moving some planes in and out by sometime sunday, not till monday? what's the target? >> well, the airlines have taken the lead on cancelling pretty much all of saturday's flights. but that will give us plenty of room to do the work we need to do without having to dodge these big obstacles and get from one end of the runway to the other. we have four runways here at dulles, each about two miles long. many, many taxiways that you have to navigate from the runway

to the terminal. so we expect our crews as long as the conditions are safe and they can see one another in these giant plow trains, they're going to keep working throughout the storm and likely into sunday. >> all right, rob yingling with the metropolitan airport authority. thank you again for take time with us and good luck to you guys this weekend. well, right now metro is getting ready to completely shut down rail service. >> indeed. joining us on the phone, metro spokesperson dan stetsall, very action-packed day for you guys, dan. one of the reasons metro is shutting down so that you can use the tunnels to protect trains. am i right? >> yeah, that's exactly right, doreen. that process is under way right now. we're up to about 300 rail cars that have already been parked in those underground tunnels and that is one of the reasons that we won't be running any underground service this weekend. it's really important for us to protect that rail equipment and that will let us return to

service on a faster timetable than we otherwise would be able to. as you mentioned, we're about 25 minutes away from metro rail closing for the weekend, so if you are one of those hearty souls heading out, you should only do those if you have to. metro will close at 11:00 tonight and remain closed all day saturday, all day sunday. that's true of metro bus as well. then we expect that by sunday afternoon we should have a general sense of what we should be able to do for monday. >> speaking of that, dan, is there any estimate on how long it will take to get full service ramped back up to speed once the storm ends, if we're hearing 6:00 a.m. sunday, for instance? >> sure. so i would expect that you're going to feel the impacts of the storm in terms of its impact on metro, at least on metro bus for days into next week. you're going to see detours and service changes on metro bus. for metro rail, we will be

working -- we're going to work through the storm. we have more than 1,000 employees and contractors out there trying to keep up with it. so that will help us keep us in a good position when the snowfall does end late tomorrow night or sunday morning. it's important for folks to remember we've got 130 miles, track miles that are exposed to the elements. some of them are at the surface level, some of them are the aerial structures. those will all need to be plowed out and also the rail yards to get access in there so that these rail cars, many of which will be in the tunnels, can get to service locations and turn around and all those sorts of things. so it is a very, very complicated effort. we've got an army of folks working to keep the system in a good position as we go through the storm and to recover as quickly as possible once we get to the other side of it. >> dan, you know there are so many people in our region who depend on metro. shutting it down completely is a

real game-changer for people and you guys have taken a lot of criticism about that decision. can you talk about what went into that -- reaching that plan? >> sure, absolutely. you know that was one of the things that our new gm said at the press conference when we announced that we absolutely understand the importance of metro to the region, to the economy, to mobility. but here it's really about putting safety first. this is a storm of historic proportions. you know, we're under a blizzard warning, the whole region. one of the concerns we have about underground service, we talked about the benefit of parking those cars in the underground tunnels, but there's also -- there would be -- on the other hand there would be a risk of operating service even underground due to the potential for a regional power outage. metro, like everybody, takes its power from the commercial utilities, pepco, dominion power in virginia.

if there were to be a power outage, that would mean trains stranded underground in the tunnels that would be tying up emergency responders when they really should be focused on doing other things. >> a power outage with people in the tunnels is something that everybody can understand wanting to avoid. dan stessel from metro, thank you and good luck getting through this this weekend. >> well, you know, doug and veronica have been manning it all from the stormcenter but these folks have to go out and experience, they have to walk the walk, they have been talking the talk. >> they have to be out in it. >> they are out on our weather deck bundled up. what's it out like there now, guys? >> i like the fact, first of all, that i've got my back to the wind. doug, can you turn to me and talk to me? >> no, i can't. >> we're talking about how much snow we have out here on our storm team 4 weather deck. the measurement, 5 inches, but we're already starting to get

some drifts out here. i've got my yard stick as well. i believe i purchased this in 2010 with our big storm, but we know that there have been oar big storms. '96, of course, when there was quite a bit of snow. >> especially to the west. >> exactly. by morning already there could be areas that have upwards of 20 inches, maybe two feet on the ground. >> most definitely. you just mentioned that we need to come outside. normally it's one of us. we fight to get to see who gets to go outside because this is what we live for as far as meteorologists are concerned. so we both get to come out. heavy snow, high winds is what we're expecting tomorrow. we're getting high winds now. woe say a foot of snow already but we've got to change that because it's going to be a foot and a half in most areas and all roads will be impassable. as we look towards what we're going to be seeing the next couple of days, it is the fact the winds will continue to pick up. by saturday evening the snow and the wind will relax. we'll see windchills in the teens, and that's where they are right now. actually we have windchills in

the single digits. stay at home, travel will be impossible as we move on through. we've seen a couple of different types of snow come through. you were just checking out the consistency here. >> exactly. it's very fluffy, if you come back to us. it's very fluffy. >> can't make a snowball. >> right, exactly. it was blowing often of your roof, which is a good thing, hopefully, a lot of it. doug, you were out here a few minutes ago and you said you saw something else in the snow that some folks are probably going what is that sitting ontop of the snow? >> earlier we had gropple and those are just little snow pellets. they come down but they're formed a little differently. formed way up in the atmosphere. super cool water droplets and then a little snow that occurs and they come down as little tiny balls. they were all over the place a little earlier. i can see they have been covered up right now. this snow, i was supposed to be in colorado for a ski conference. this is perfect skiing snow. >> i don't ski, i just kind of

goof around a lot. >> i heard you stay in the lodge. >> exactly. i guess you'd call this the champagne snow. >> this is fantastic snow. don't worry, if you're thinking about making a snowman, it's okay, we'll get wetter snow. thundersn thundersnow, the wetter snow comes up soon. >> we have a question, come back, doug. >> we talked about this a little bit ago, doug. i know people are wondering, i don't want to have to shovel two feet or more of snow. should i be getting a head start on it. you know, i think people are wondering, should they be out trying to get this lighter snow out of the way before the heavier stuff comes or what's your advice on shoveling? >> one of the graphics that i made earlier today was showing just that, doreen. if you have dry type of snow, what we have right now, a shovel full of that is about 5 pounds. you get a shovel full of the

heavy, wet snow, that's 20 pounds. you take your pick. i'd rather do it in stages. >> but if you do it now you've got the wind coming across the area. but she's right, you do it once. can i go inside now, it's getting cold. >> veronica, come on in, doug, we've got six more questions for you. thank you, guys. >> i'm wedged wendy rieger, lie live desk. in d.c. about 60 soldiers and 30 humvees are out there helping police and fire reach and respond more quickly to emergencies. the virginia national guard has about 400 soldiers and airmen staged along i-81, route 29 in northern virginia. they are also helping virginia state police respond to issues in those corridors. guardsmen will be working through the night to transport people who need to get to the hospitals and bring supplies to the medical providers.

we don't have any updates yet on deployments in maryland, but we do know guardsmen are there and standing by. back to you. >> thank you, wendy. our live team coverage continues through 11:30 tonight. that's what our capitol dome looks like as we head toward 11:00 tonight. we'll be back in a minute.

a snowy scene live at the white house tonight, as the blizzard of 2016 continues. we don't know if the first family is in there tonight, whether they're in there drinking hot chocolate or sitting by the fire or doing what most of the rest of us are doing tonight. >> i don't know if it would be better at camp david, though. >> i'd be nervous to go up there because of the roads. our meteorologist, amelia segal, is in the storm team 4 x 4 and she's out telling us what the roads look like. amelia, you're in springfield now? >> yeah, doreen, we're in springfield right now, just passing a brigade of snow plows continuing to keep the roads clear. we've encountered a wide variability of road conditions tonight. rockville, the roads were excellent driving. then down to around the tyson's area the roads were okay. as we take a live look outside right now, you can see here the roads in springfield have

definitely been touched on in the main roads, but as you try to get into kind of the turn lanes, the on-ramps, the offramps dealing with very thick snow right now. we're also looking for a gas station that's open still. one of our safety policies, a lot of people asking us about safety tonight. one of our safety policies in the truck, we don't let the gas tank get below three-quarters of a tank so should anything happen, we're well stocked up on gas and i think we're seeing a shell station up here. but the visibility isn't bad at all, i'd say it's about half a mile right now. snow continuing to come down steadily. wind gusts, we are noticing that. we're not noticing necessarily sustained winds at any impressive amounts. sustained winds at about 15 miles an hour. you can see as we pull into this gas station right now plows leaving tracks. so if you have four-wheel drive it's not really a huge issue to get through this.

we're moving right on through with the storm team 4 x 4. i'm going to get out and stretch my legs. i'll see how freezing it is out there. that's the other thing, 21 degrees. you couple that with winds at 15 miles an hour and that puts windchill temperatures in the single digits. i'll put on my warm jacket, stretch my legs, get some gas and report back to you as we make our way back toward northwest washington. >> move around a little bit, amelia. we know you can skate, run, do it all. she must be frustrated in the back seat there. >> indeed. >> some folks aren't even waiting for the snow to stop to go sledding. we found a few folks sliding down the big hill at capitol hill. the good news, for the first time in years capitol police won't stop you from sledding down the hill. but if they feel there's any safety threat, you may be asked to leave. >> looks pretty safe to me. tracee wilkins has been keeping an eye on the conditions in

prince george's county and she has an update from capitol heights. >> reporter: the story right now in capitol heights is juis. you can see how fast and how hard the snow is coming down here. it has been like this for the last hour or so. let me show you what's happening down here on the ground. remember i was out here just a little while ago shoving through the snow. my tracks are already covered up. this is higher than anchkle dee snow. just a few minutes ago i hung up with a spokesperson with the county executive's office and he was saying they just talked to the national weather service. they do these calls and get updates periodically. he was saying it was the scariest report he has ever heard on the phone with the weather service since they have been in office. that being said, prince george's county government has worked really hard to make sure that they are prepared for this storm. they have got the shelters up and running. they have hundreds of crews working long hours to get these roads taken care of. thousands of tons of salt that

are ready to go out onto the roads and just all of the resources that they need. but the thing here is that if they have never dealt with a storm of this magnitude, one just has to wonder how prepared can one be when it's something that you haven't dealt with before. so the county is holding tight. they're prepared at their emergency preparedness center and working to make sure that everything is going to be okay for folks here in the county, but it's important that you also make sure that things are okay for yourself on your end at home, that you're taking the precautions, that you have the generators, that you have the flashlights, that you've done all the stuff that we've talked about, charging the cell phones and the rest of it to make sure that you're ready just in case, because if there are power outages or if these roads are not plowed as quickly as we would like, some folks could be in their houses for some time. so hopefully everyone has done what they needed to do to be prepared for this major blizzard. reporting in capitol heights, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. right now transit options in maryland are shutting down.

>> yeah, paul comfort from the maryland transit administration joins us now on the phone. paul, we know buses aren't running any longer and mark was on an as schedule. what's the outlook for the rest of your weekend? >> our bus service actually running tonight through midnight before phasing down now with our subway system in baltimore and our light rail and our buses. for the rest of the weekend we are kind of mirroring what wamata is doing, suspending all service for 48 hours at least. from midnight tonight through midnight monday morning. >> paul, through midnight monday morning, and what's the best case scenario for getting all of your systems back up and running again? >> what we're doing over the weekend is while we're not offering on street service, we'll still have hundreds of our staff working. we'll have managers, maintenance personnel, supervisors. we're storing a lot of our -- at

least two-thirds of our train sets underground in the tunnels. we're running snow trains all weekend as weather permits to clear the tracks. we're running -- we've got maintenance crews working around the clock. so our game plan is to begin service right now at 3:00 a.m. as normal on monday morning for our bus service and then the subway service starts at 5:00 a.m. we're hoping that mark and computer bus services also will be able to run as normal on monday, but we'll reassess our game plan on sunday and be announcing late sunday afternoon what our game plan is for monday. so folks should stay tuned to your station and other stations to find out for sure what we're going to do but we won't start before 3:00 a.m. on monday morning. >> paul comfort from mta, the maryland transit administration, thank you for talking with us. i'm sure we'll be talking again before the weekend is over. >> sounds great, thanks. we saw a few minutes ago

they got a good taste of the wind and good taste of the snow coming down. they're back indoors, though. they're smart. >> we're all dried off. >> just a little snow. >> piece of cake. but we did notice and you just said it, we noticed the change. the change is really occurring as the blizzard-type conditions move in. >> right. and it's going to rage and get worse throughout the overnight period. we have some concern by early tomorrow morning because by then we really could see power outages throughout portions of the area. >> and we're getting winds that would coincide with 35 miles an hour. we're seeing that transition into very heavy snowfall. you can see the brighter whites around waldorf up towards portions of montgomery county, down around the fredericksburg region. notice the dry area too here. that happens sometimes with these storm systems, but don't worry, it will fill in. very heavy snowfall rates around the region. i show you this.

this is the normal colors that we use, the greens, yellows, oranges, because this is showing you very heavy snow up there towards northern montgomery county, around damascus, very heavy snow right now around the waldorf area, in through charles county, calvert county, southern prince george's. this is going to move right up 301 already seeing heavy snow. this also has wind associated with it. you may even get a little thundersnow from this too. look at this. this is incredible snowfall down around portions of spotsylvania county, culpeper county and fauquier county. so these snowfall rates will give you 2, 3 inches in one hour. that's what we're going to continue to see and this is all moving up toward the north. around clinton, around waldorf, here's 301 right here. it's over huntsingtown and will move up towards dunkirk and diehl. this will move up towards warrenton along 15 and 17. down to the south this storm really trying to get its act together just off the coast here. as it does, we'll see our winds begin to shift and that's why we

think we're really going to start to see those, the heaviest snow now developing but veronica has timing on the intensity as we move through the rest of the night. >> more heavy snow pockets taking over the area and moving up to the north. there you are at midnight, very heavy snow in the forecast with our sky cast and snow intensity put on for you. at 6:00 a.m. still big flakes coming down and at a pretty good rate as well. 9:00 a.m. same deal. it's not until noon that we tart to see at least some of the rates come down a bit, maybe 1 to 2 inches per hour by lunchtime. and then we drop it to moderate snowfall by 4:00 p.m. and finally, finally by about 8:00, 9:00, we should see lighter snowfall amounts throughout the area and of course that is just one reason why tomorrow is high impact day, of course, from the weather. it will be a high impact day on sunday even when the snow is done. >> that's right. that snow will get out of here on sunday, but the impacts will stay for quite some time. once again we'll continue to

keep you updated. we're going all the way through 11:30. >> all right, thank you, doug. a reminder that we're starting early again tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. and the nbc washington app is always on, so coukeep your phon and tablets charged for live radar and breaking

as we were looking at the radar a minute ago, i showed you the intensity here. you noticed the bright yellows, the bright oranges, looking at this i was wondering and i asked my friends here on periscope what's happening in fredericksburg because a lot of times you see these colors, yes, we're getting very high snowfall rates but a lot of times when you see the oranges, you're also getting sleet. this is a melting layer, you're also getting sleet which has higher reflectivity and we're reporting heavy sleet around fredericksburg, also toward st. mary's county. wondering about the waldorf area is this sleet, is this snow. if it is, what we're most likely going to see tonight and we talked about the potential for mixing that most of it would stay well down to our south and east. if we do get some of that mixing, it could bring totals down a little bit. i expect as the storm gets going we will see this change back to snow so i'm not too worried about our snowfall totals just yet but this is something we'll be watching around the waldorf county, through charles county,

st. mary's county reporting some sleet and some this is sleet around fredericksburg. yes, we are seeing some sleet here and that will bring down some snowfall totals potentially down into that region. still snowing in wornton, culpeper and over towards manassas. i'll keep you updated in just a couple minutes. back outside now, shomari stone is in prince george's county and he joins us on the phone from college park. we don't have a lot of time. what's happening there? >> reporter: well, just to let you know, we were just in prince george's county. we just got out of i-495. we are now here in college park. we made it back to our nbc news4 live truck and plan on getting this thing up and running pretty soon so we can get on television. for now we're doing a phone interview. on i-495 there was a prince george's county police officer who was doing a really good job of making sure that people were slowing down because in front of him there were several snow plows and basically those guys

were across the roadway on i-495 and they were making that snow -- you know, pushing it off of the roadway. it's really treacherous out there because at times while we were driving, you could actually feel the snow beginning to go up against the undercarriage of this suv and then you had to correct it and get yourself here. we're doing everything we can to make sure we bring you the latest information on this storm. also we're telling you all the businesses obviously are closed. you know, we were actually kind of hungry and really thankful that my photographer i'm working with actually brought some food and he had it and he warmed it up and surprised us with it. >> thank you, we'll talk to you in a little bit. >> all right, thanks. bye-bye. >> it's going to get worse and it's going to get worse fast >> giving us those 50 to even 60-mile-per-hour winds. >> i can tell you the snow is coming down heavier. >> i'm just hoping and praying i can get home. >> in fact i want to show you what's going on here live right

now. just things that we don't get to see very don't get to see very much. >> mcclean couple that abruptly rescheduled their wedding to beat this blizzard. >> some are covering each other with snow. >> just how strong and dangerous the storm is and will continue to be. >> bad. i wouldn't be out here if i didn't have to work. >> it's really, really bad. i just really hope that everybody stays safe. and that breaking news right now, for the first time since hurricane sandy, the entire metro system is officially closed. trains making their final trips as we speak and the transit agency is shut down for the rest of the weekend. >> there will be no metro service saturday or sunday. metro's general motors says tane is to use saturday cleaned up and to