br now on news4, dangerous cold and believe it or not, folks, this is just the beginning. we're tracking bitter cold and chances for snow just as many of you get ready go to go back to work and back to school. >> neighbors simply called him mr. lou. a community speechless after flames destroy the home of a beloved world war ii veteran. >> plus only on news4, the big way lawmakers want to improve safety around many local schools for people on scene and behind the wheel. >> you're watching news4 at 4:00. >> hello, everyone. first let's get to the bitter cold that is following us into 2018. i'm leon harris. >> and i'm susan hogan in for pat lawson muse. it is brutal out there.

gloves, the hood, anything you can find. temperatures barely got into the 20s and that is before you fact for in the wind chill. >> when it's this cold some of the water mark haines belins un streets can't take it. it didn't take long for the water to turn into ice on those streets. >> the cold has turned deadly in milwaukee where it is only 5 degrees above 0. the cold is blamed for two deaths. a third man was found dead outside a church in detroit where it was well below 0 this morning. what is coming next for us as many of you head back to work and back to school tomorrow? >> storm team4 working for you on that this afternoon. let's start things off in the storm center. doug is tracking this bitter cold. doug, what's the world? >> guys, cold has been the word the last cup many of days, continues to be the word. we're going to get a little bit of of a break and then even colder, yeah, colder than we've been the last couple of days. take a look now at the wind chill. this is the wind chill at 4:00 in the

it is 10:00 in washington, 8:00 in ocean city. 9 below 0 in pittsburgh. that is the concerned wind chill. that wasn't this morning. that is right now. incredible the wind chills we have across the area. look at the winds gusting over 20 miles an hour, up to 30 in some spots. that wind gust really making it feel so much colder across our region. this is what we're going to be dealing with. the frigid weather continues, tracking a storm, snow coming up on thursday, could also be a very windy storm, and then behind that the coldest air yet moves in. even colder than last night and we had the wind chill advisory last night. i'm going to have more and show you how cold we'll be tonight, the next couple of days, thursday, too. see you back here in ten minutes. >> maybe we don't want to see you in ten minutes. >> i know, right? >> as you get back into your routines, you can get the power of storm team4 any time anywhere. open up the nbc washin

susan? >> the pedestrian was struck on crane highway at chad 4 drive in brandywine. video from the scene showed a transit police officer getting out of his canine unit and then checking on the victim. we are still working to find out how it happened and who the victim actually is. >> a lot of families are starting off the new year looking for a place to live after fires chased them out of their homes. >> that's right. one man, though, did not make it out in time. these are just a few of the fires that kept crews busy overnight. in d.c., flames raced through an apartment building in southeast. about 14 people are homeless now. a firefighter fell through a staircase, but is expected to recover. >> in montgomery county, fire crews battled a dozen fires in freezing conditions over a 24-hour period. many of the fires are the result of people trying to stay warm. in one case, fire officials say that someone didn't properly remove ashes out of a fireplace and those ashes rekindled and then burned through the home. and a fire in virginia had a tragicen

a 94-year-old man didn't make it out in time. >> and tonight his neighbors are remembering his kindness, and sharing with us how he touched their lives. news4's amee cho has the story. >> reporter: leon and susan, just a heart breaking story. if you take a look behind me you can see what's left of that house. this is where the flames broke out early this morning around 4:30. those bitter cold conditions made it especially tough for the firefighters. by the time they managed to get inside they found 94-year-old louis had passed away. neighbors tell me he was beloved by all who knew him. many called him mr. lou for short. he was a world war ii army veteran, he loved to tell stories about his days in the war, and he gave christmas presents to the neighbors' kids. he had trouble walking and needed a walker which may be why he couldn't escape the fire in time according to neighbors. >> i'm speechless. i'm sorry, i'm heartbroken. i'm sorry, it's so sad.

may he rest in peace. i'm so sorry. >> reporter: fire officials say his wife managed to make it out of the house okay. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. in annandale, amee cho, news4. >> thanks, amee. well, a new law we have been telling you about for a while now takes full effect today. in maryland homeowners are now required to replace their old smoke alarms with a ten year tamper-proof smoke alarm. the new smoke detectors require batteries that last ten years. if you are caught without a new one, you could face a misdemeanor. >> a tight knit latino neighborhood is reeling from a deadly stabbing. detectives tell us a woman was stabbed and killed this morning on 38th place in the town of brentwood in prince george's county. a man who lives at that same address is now in police custody. the victim's family says that her name was liz mendez. they say she was a mother and her boyfriend attacked her. police tell news4 that other

detectives now are talking with those people and trying to piece together what happened. >> well, the kids finally return back to school tomorrow and many will be walking despite the cold. >> and our scott macfarlane has learned that maryland state officials are raising questions about the safety of the crossings and the streets near our local public schools. >> reporter: news4 has learned when the state legislature reconvenes in annapolis later this month there will be a proposal for a statewide review of the crossings and streets near every public school in maryland in every county in every jurisdiction. there is concern among some legislators there is not enough safe sidewalks, pedestrian crossings or bike paths to many schools. and supporters of a statewide review cite a series of recent accidents including a deadly accident in montgomery county in 2012 which killed a student from seneca valley high school. the legislators say this is a statewide problem, but they say in montgomery county in particular. >> good almost any elementary middle sc

in my district and you'll see what you see behind me. busy roads, no sidewalks, no bike paths, no safe routes. >> reporter: we are told if approved this proposal would have the state highway administration check state roads near schools first and have counties check their county roads like this one in bethesda, goes right by a public school. coming up tonight on news4 at 5:00 and 6:00 we go inside the troubling numbers about pedestrian safety throughout our area. for now, scott macfarlane, news4. >> a lot of us are stim playing around with some pretty awesome holiday gifts this afternoon. >> but some of them could actually pose a hazard. we have an important consumer alert to he will it you about. what you need to do with your new tv to keep that from happening in your home. >> and, of course, we have all said it. this is going to be the year we get in shape. and we mean it this time. but before you put your body to the test, we have a warning about how this could impact your health. stay with us.

♪ ♪ there are two types of people in the world. those who fear the future... and those who embrace it. the future is for the unafraid. ♪ all because of you ♪ ♪

the hi ppi e cup tour embraced one of its trademarks. >> 2. 1. [cheering and applauding] palomino -- and with that, recreational marijuana is now legal in california. the mayor of berkeley helped cut a ribbon there. the state allows poe testing of up to an ounce and you can grow six plants at your home. it is bought and sold through licensed dispensaries but be sold in public. it joins alaska, washington, oregon, washington state and the district of columbia where pot is now legal. massachusetts will be legalizing it in july. >> news4 is working for you with a safety alert. did your family get a new tv this holiday? along with setting up cable and netflix, consumer reports says make sure that new set is properly anchored to the wall. about every 30 minutes a en

child in the united states. there you can see is a simulation of a toddler pulling out the dresser drawers and then using them to climb, even flat screen tvs can be dangerous if they tip over. they are heavy enough to injure or even crush a child. >> all tvs that are wall mounted should still be anchored to the wall. if the tv is on top of furniture that can be tip over, that, too should be attached to the wall. it is an installation that should take so minutes or so. >> it costs between 20 and $25 and could save your child's life. >> good advice there. a planeful of americans plummet from the sky near a popular tourist area. >> one of the women on board had local ties. what witnesses say about a plane crash thousands of miles away that's hitting close to home. >> and we're not the only ones seeing the cold. take a look at everybody here in blue. from canada down toward central florida. wind chill

we'll show you when the colder air moves in. yeah, even colder air moves in and talking a chance of snow,

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four things to know this afternoon. president trump on his way back to d.c. at the moment, he departed the winter white house minutes ago, bidding farewell to 2017. he said there is much work to be done but it will be great. witnesses say a plan was in the air less than a minute when it crashed in costa rica. 10 americans died in that flight including a family of five with ties to maryland. still unclear why that plane went down. >> one person's recovery from an accident this morning on the george washington parkway, it happened around 6:00 in the turkey run park area. the park was was shut down in both

now back open. one word to describe 2018 so far, cold. cleveland actually had to cancel its annual polar bear swim because they couldn't cut a hole in the ice. the ice skating park had to close in columbus, ohio's annual 5k, run. get this, you guys, it happened inside on treadmills this year. and just as many of you get ready to go back to school and work, we are working for you on this bitter cold new year's day with team coverage from storm team4. >> let's start things off with our chief meteorologist doug kammerer. >> we get these streaks every once in a while, but not this long. this will continue on through the end of the week into the weekend. looking at the pattern here, i think we get colder than we've been the last couple of days. >> hard to believe. >> on friday and saturday. if you thought last night was cold, we had those wind chills below 0, we'll get them again tonight but they could be well below

take a look outside right now. you know, it looks good today from the inside looking out. most of us were doing just that, staying inside because of the cold. temperatures right now 23 degrees. winds out of the northwest at 15 miles per hour. you know that's going to create a wind chill. wait until i show it to you. these are the numbers. only 19 in gaithersburg, and in martinsburg, 24 in manassas, 21 in honeytown. the warm est spot charlottesville at 26 degrees. you add in the wind and look at the wind chills. it is now 6 degrees in gaithersburg. 3 in martinsburg. 8 towards the eastern shore and easton, 17 down towards fredericksburg. really continuing to see extreme cold out there. nothing on the radar right now. we're not going to see anything until the day wednesday into thursday. we're tracking the cold system. i'm going to be talking much more about that coming up in the next couple minutes. you notice we have cloud cover across the area but that's really about it. here's the wind chill advisories, again, for the entire eastern half of the nation, goes all wait down to

advisory iz do. for us i mentioned they're going to be brutal. take a look at the numbers, in single digits, 2 in d.c., 6 in gaithersburg. waking up tomorrow, 0 north and west as far as the wind chill is concerned. a brutal tuesday. many of us going back to work and school starts, too. somara theodore in the weather center with more what you can expect tomorrow and the next few days. >> yeah, it's going to be super cold. new year, new you, same cold weather. you saw the foles lieels like temperatures. we'll have the wind with us tomorrow morning so it's going to be blustery. by the afternoon we are very bright, plenty of sunshine tomorrow afternoon, still very cold. pack the lunch, it's going to be hard to walk anywhere. by 5:00 p.m., the drive home frigid. we are dry and the winds are calming tomorrow evening so that's good. just how cold is it? we had to do a little digging in the storm team4 weather center. the last time we had say

degrees was in 2004. so, yeah, it has been warm or warmer the past couple of winters, but it is going to be downright cold and normal this time of year should be 44 degrees. here's look at the feels like temperature trend the next couple of days. there is no hope in sight, folks. 27 degrees is what it's going to feel like at best on wednesday. then by the weekend, we're talking feeling like 6, 9 degrees friday and saturday, doug. >> yeah, that's in the afternoon. that's not even the overnight into the morning. that's the afternoon. >> exactly. >> wind chills, just incredible. tomorrow 28 degrees, sunny and cold. not as breezy. that's a good thing. we don't want the wind chills, but we're going to have the wind chills during the day. take a look at the ten-day forecast here. 28 tomorrow. now, look, we get above freezing. i put an exclamation point here. 35 degrees. we come right back down and boy do we come crashing right back down. that coastal storm that brings us a chance of snow on thursday, also brings in some brutal winds and brutal cold.

highs. look at these numbers here. only in the single digits. wind chill 10 to 15 below 0 most likely at this point. we start to see a little warm up before our next banner of cold air comes in. 29 next wednesday. so, guys, a lot to talk about winter definitely has its grip on us right now. >> you are just full of good news. >> happy new year. >> yea! thank you, doug. >> thanks, doug. now it's back to work on the roads tomorrow, and there are some big changes that could impact your commute. >> megan fitzgerald is in the newsroom with a look at what is coming up at 5:00. >> happy new year. >> same to you. >> 2018, fresh start, time to turn the page. one thing that is not likely to change much, the terrible traffic we all have to deal with on a daily basis. ahead at 5:00, transportation reporter adam tuss takes a look at three big projects coming up in the new year and how they'll change our commute. plus, more than a dozen people forced into the col

their apartment building. but wait until you see the good that's coming out of a tragic situation. and we're talking redskins, of course, the disappointing end to the burgundy and gold season. but what's next for the head coach, right? and even their quarterback. we will see you at 5:00 in just about, what, 6 minutes, 7 minutes. >> disappointing is not strong enough. oh, what they did yesterday. >> always next season. >> that's right. >> that stank. >> i'll be there in a few minutes. >> you will. >> meg ann, thank you. we no what president obama has been doing with extra time on his hands. he released his favorite book and songs of the year. his play list this time around included jay z, harry stiles, u2 and staple ton, exit west, anything is possible, and janesville, an american story. he gave a bonus shout out to kareem abdul-jabbar's coach. >> t

d.c. mayor muriel bowser among those at the annual fresh start 5k run. they are troopers. despite the cold, hundreds of people turned out to outdash the cold. it is part of the mayor's 1 billion steps challenge which encourages people in the district to make healthy life-style choices. the event kicked off at anacostia park, part of a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the river corridor and its historic milestone. some of you told us about your new year's resolution for our flash survey today about half of you say you don't have one. but most of you who do say your goal is to lose weight and exercise. you can weigh in, too, over the nbc washington facebook page as well. >> you're a runner. would you recommend running outside in these conditions, and creating your own wind chill? >> i know. if you're dressed properly, then you're okay. you just don't want to -- >> i will take your word for you. i will not join you, but

>> i know you won't. if you are planning to exercise more in 2018, you might want to keep this in mind. >> a warning from doctors about certain exercises and your heart. a group of people who could be more at risk than others. >> plus dangerous cold with no end in sight. storm team4 helping you stay one step ahead. what you snead to know before you go back to work and school as well as your chances for snow this week.

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you may have just made a new year's resolution to lose weight. but before you hit the treadmill, we have some new information for you. figure out how much is the right amount of exercise. nbc's bianca castro reports on a study that says too much of it may not be a good thing for some people. >> reporter: can too much exercise really be bad for your heart? >> more is not always better. >> reporter: dr. danny lee at medical city arlington reviewed a recent study out of chicago that found white men who workout at least 7 1/2

twice as likely to suffer from heart disease than people who workout a moderate amount. vigorous exercise can stress the arteries and lead to plak buildup. but the correlation did not exist for white women or black men, and the researchers don't know why. >> there might be some biological differences among the sex and the race that we have yet to determine. >> reporter: more research is needed to find out why very active white men are 86% more likely to experience a plaque buildup by middle age. however, dr. lee said the findings don't mean stop working out. american heart association recommends 2 1/2 hours of moderate exercise a week for better heart health. >> multiple studies have determined that people are more active and exercise live longer and they decrease the mortality. >> now, while no amount of plak buildup is great, scientists say the kind they found this this study may

causes heart attack. in any case, talk to your doctor before start a new exercise regimen. good advice there. the news continues now with susan and meagan. >> right now at 5:00, it is cold out there. as you get ready to go back to work and school, storm team4 works for you tracking a blast of cold air and the chances for snow. >> heart break for a family. a young mother of three stabbed to death inside her home. what we are learning tonight about the victim and the suspect in her murder. >> and trapped, a world war ii veteran surrounded by fire and unable to escape. tonight a community remembers a life well lived. >> news4 at 5:00 starts now. >> our top story tonight, you feel it. this blast of frigid, frosty air that just will not go away. >> we are walking into 2018 bundled up.

is in the storm center. you're talking about snow, too. >> that snow could make its way on thursday. still the latest for that. the big thing is the cold and it continues to be there, and it will right on through the end of the week. and even into next week. take a look right now. these are the current wind chills around the mid-atlantic region. you notice just how cold they are. 11 d.c., 5 below in pittsburgh. and that's where we're going to be in most areas tonight, down below freezing, especially in our northwestern zones overnight. we're still dealing with winds, right now still gusting 15 to 25 miles per hour. starting to lessen, though, not seeing much in the way of wind gusts. that's good news. even a 5, 10 mile an hour wind will give us brutal wind chills as you make your way through the area tonight. now, frigid weather continues. we're going to be tracking the storm system for thursday and it's going to bring us a number of things, including a chance for snow. very windy conditions and the coldest air yet. believe it or not, we get a lot colder towards the end of the week and into the weekend. much more on that. i've got it for you coming