in maryland, prince george's, anne arundel county schools on a two-hour delay. spotsylvania, prince william and rappahannock schools are closed. just coming into the newsroom, allegheny public schools on a two-hour delay. westmoreland county schools are closed today. federal government on a two-hour delay this morning with the option for unscheduled leave or telework. it's 4:30 now. we want to check out all the snow falling on the boardwalk in ocean city. you see that thick snow. this is one of the cameras. ocean city live.com. that beach community is getting hammered by snow this morning. in other parts of southern maryland, a blizzard warning. >> justin finch is live for us at the beach this morning. justin, how is it looking on the ground now? >> reporter: hey there, aaron. still coming down. an

love to be out here playing in this nice fresh snow. look at it coming down here. it's getting powdery now. it was a little more coarse and frozen earlier. i want to show you how much snow has fallen. this bench presumably has not been touched. i'll wave my hand or push it off. there is an icier texture to the snow out here. as you mentioned, blizzard watches into effect out here, blowing this snow and the snowflakes every which way. that's why we're seeing tracks of our own and vehicles that have moved down here become recovered by the fresher powder that is continuing to fall on top of it. here at ocean city, between 5 inches of snow to perhaps more than that. as of right now, watching plows making their way around baltimore and this boardwalk. they were brining yeste

ready for this. of course, state and local administrators asking anyone who does not have to venture out into this, just to avoid it. i can tell you, although it feels a bit warmer out here with that wind blowing, it does go through you. i changed my gloves to be ready for the wind and the cold coming with it. back to you in the studio. >> smart move, justin. it looks like you're all alone. i know it's early. have you seen anyone out there this morning? >> reporter: i thought i might see a thrill seeker or two. but not at this time. still early by beach standards. however, the plow truckdrivers are out here with us. back in to you guys. >> back in the truck where it's warm, justin. the governors of virginia and maryland declared states of emergency because of the snowstorm. >> road crews across the dmv have been out pre-treating the roads to prevent icing before the morning

200 trucks went out at 1:00 this morning to treat the roads in d.c. i saw a few on my way to work. we had low temperatures for a long time. any precipitation could cause issues on the roads today. we continue our team coverage now on the d.c. line between d.c. and prince george's county with news 4's megan mcgrath. megan, just came across downed wires. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah. just right after we saw that accident just a couple blocks down the road, we were about to cross into prince george's and this is what we saw. pennsylvania avenue is closed in both directions because of downed power lines. this is right at the border. we're talking southern avenue here closed in both directions. there is a snowplow parked on the side of the road. it looks like the wires may be tangled up with that snowplow. we have crews on the road and it looks to be a power crew with large cable

they seem to be trying to move the lines out of way. i assume they've been deenergized. they're doing that work right now. so it could take a little bit longer, but keep that in mind. if you take pennsylvania avenue in or out across the border here, right now at least everything is closed. but they are working to open things up. so we do have treacherous conditions out here. take a look at this video we shot a little while ago. this is a couple of blocks away. alabama avenue at pennsylvania avenue. a guy was coming down the street, hit a slick spot, spun out. he said he just bought this used car about a week ago or so. there is quite a bit of damage. we are seeing slick spots here and there. even though there's not a tremendous amount of snow. keep that in mind if you're out and about this morning. we're hefd we're headed into prince george's shortly. back to you. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. >> we continue our team coverage with

boo woodbridge. >> it's pretty miserable, especially if you have to stand out here for any amount of time. with the snow blowing and slapping you in the face. 95 south behind me is moving at a good clip. the roads are very much drivable. we did encounter some slick spots once we got to the lorton area. of course, as you go further down 95 south, the roads could get a little bit trickier. there is an accumulation on the shoulders and on the grassy areas. so the side roads, the neighborhood roads, you're going to find really dicey areas before you get on to the main roads. vdo t started the pre-treating process hours ago. that is the situation here out in prince william county, virginia. back to you guys inside. >> molette green live in woodbridge, virginia, for us.

we are not the only ones dealing with this storm system. this winter storm is dumping snow in the deep south. it's giving cities their first taste of winter in decades. >> you hear that? that is the wind whipping off the water there in santee, south carolina. and the temperatures there feel like 13 degrees. take a look now at charleston. normally, a warm vacation destination, looking like a winter wonderland. 4 inches of snow have fallen there. people are taking advantage of the winter weather. they have to be out in it to say they saw snow. >> the expectation was it would be a crippling storm for them. snow is blanketing savannah and the low country of georgia. the snow and ice making things really dangerous for drivers. slick conditions have led to crashes all over that area. ice is causing

oak trees to fall into the roads. dangerous, dangerous stuff down there to our south. the only way to stay connected on this weather alert day is with us here on air and in the nbc washingtonurk toshington ap download the app and get information all day long. another look at the roads with melissa in a minute, but let's start with the weather. sheena parveen is staying on top of the changing forecast. >> good morning, guys. i was saying back here. you know people in savannah don't have snow boots. i'm sure they're walking out in sneakers. but here you need your snow boots. we are seeing sidewalks and streets coated in snow. the main roads, the treated roads are the ones mainly just wet. here's a look at the radar. we have snow everywhere. the only rain is well offshore. this will be an all-snow event this morning. we are looking at the snow falling around the district. we had a little bit of a break but it's coming back in parts and almost all of

much of northern virginia, we have roads coated through the area right now. we expect accumulations especially, more farther east. the storm system will pull away around 7:00, 8:00 this morning. it will be gone. less than an inch in the district and areas off to the west. otherwise, closer into areas like prince george's, annapolis, we're looking at 1 to 2 inches. aside from that, melissa, how are the roads? >> we have a couple of problems. we had megan mcgrath at pennsylvania avenue and southern avenue in southeast. remember, wires down there. right now, they're trying to get around that, dealing with that problem and get from the district into maryland into prince george's county to show us some roads. you can see the sort of side streets are pretty slick and covered here this morning. 270 at montrose road, that looks good. that's a good example of a main road around town this morning. just mostly wet. again, that problem with the wires

alabama avenue at pennsylvania avenue southeast, a crash there as well. aaron? >> melissa, thank you. let's take you back to ocean city, maryland, where the snow has been falling overnight. take a look at the scene here. >> whole lot of snow. remember, if you don't have the nbc washington app, today is a good day to get it. you can find the lay he's on the school closures and delays. much

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time now is 4:42. want to show you live pictures as we continue to drive for you across the area and show you what things are looking like. we can tell you that pennsylvania avenue, where megan mcgrath was earlier, right at the d.c. line, the maryland line, had been closed. we believe it's back open now after wires were taken down. that's been cleared out and the roads back open both directions. 4:42 now. a go-to spot for gardeners in d.c. will close its doors after decades in business. johnson's florist and garden center can't afford the rent. the store is set to close either on or before january 14th. in a letter posted online, it's because of a significant rent increase and other fees. american university owns that

property. in a letter, officials say they've tried hard to macon sessions for the business. but they have to balance the needs of other tenants. the stores in kensington will remain open. that's been a d.c. institution as long as we've worked around the station here. well a pharmacy opening near a school wouldn't normally be a big deal, but this one offers medical marijuana. >> the dispensary, cannabis opened in frederick county, maryland. it's close to urbana high school. there are clear signs that the entrance declaring it a fr drug-free zone. some neighbors don't see an issue either. >> to get registered in maryland, you have to go through a series of hoops. they don't let just anyone walk in here. >> they sell alcohol in the pubs between us and that school over there. >> the manager of the dispensary says they had community outreach

are so far so good. storm team 4 weather alert mode today. >> good morning folks. [ inaudible ] got snowfall on the ground. we've got -- sorry. got snowfall on the ground. you want to give yourself time. roads are coated. you want to be coated. icy spots out there. farther east you go, the lower the visibility. coming up, i'm going to give you a look at when this is all heading out and what your evening commute will look like. see you after the break. tone of the most pristine and beautiful parts -- of the world. but barbara comstock just voted to put it up for sale. why? to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.

adding $1.5 trillion to the debt and leaving us with the bill. tell barbara comstock we won't stand for selling our wild lands to give billionaires a tax cut.

blustery conditions.

out the door. main roads looking better. this main system will push out around 8:00, 9:00. by this evening, by the time you head home, should be peeks of sunshine. we are looking at blustery conditions to come. we'll have more on that in a moment. for now, back to you, aaron. thanks, somara. our team coverage continues on this weather alert day. take a look outside in downtown d.c. outside union station here. >> the flag seems to be blowing in the wind right there. chris lawrence is checking out how the conditions are affecting travel outside of union station this morning. chris, good morning. it looks pretty windy out there. >> reporter: maybe it looks bad. it doesn't feel all that bad, though. got to be honest with you. as we were driving out massachusetts avenue going through dupont circle, logan circle, getting here to union station, patchy, very patchy. again, at times you see a little bit of

this. it's pretty flaky stuff. you'll hit a patch. and then you'll go three, four, five blocks past 7th, 8th, 9th streets, the roads are pretty clear. as we've been driving around this area, there's a lot of residual salt left over, maybe from the weekend. the trucks are putting additional salt down. look, you have to drive a little slower than normal, but it's nothing that's going to make a major impact on your commute, at least when it concerns getting to the district. eun, aaron, back to you. >> chris lawrence live at union station this morning. chris, thank you. when it gets this cold, groups helping the homeless start to work overtime. news 4 rode along with vincent blackmon. he drives a hypothermia van and transports the homeless to shelters. if a person doesn't want

taken anywhere, he hands out blankets and hand warmers. the vans transported nearly 4,000 homeless residents to centers. you may want to prevent your home's pipes from freezing. experts tell us there are some simple steps you can take. make sure the temperature of your home is 68 degrees or higher. keep cabinet doors open so warm air reaches the pipes. before you go to bet, let your faucets run at a drizzle and then turn them off when you get up. >> customer hasn't been using the kitchen sink and the cold air got in. it actually froze the pipes. >> if your washer and dryer are in the garage, exposed to the cold air, unscrew the pipe from the machine and from the hose bib. i don't know what that is. if you want to make sure the water does not run out there. >> all of t

information, you're going to find it in the nbc washington app. we'll send out push alerts all day to let you know what's happening where you live. president trump is firing back at his former chief strategist, steve bannon. >> bannon is quoted in a book, ripping into a number of trump family members. news 4's tracie potts is live on capitol hill. tracie, late last night, lawyers for president trump sent a cease and desist letter to bannon. what now? >> now we find out if they sue him because they said in that letter, in the statement that legal action is imminent claiming he violated his nondisclosure agreement doing the interviews with the author, michael wolf. also, that it's libel and defamation, basically trying to get bannon to back off. what now? we'll find out whether this entire issue lands in court with the president and/or the white house suing bannon over

disparaging not only the president but especially his son donald trump jr. he says that the russia investigation, bannon does, is going to crack don junior like an egg. let me ask you about paul manafort. the former trump chairperson. he's suing robert mueller, the deputy attorney general, rob rosenstein. what is this suit saying? >> he says that their prosecution is an overreach. manafort is being charged with money laundering, not directly related to the campaign or russia's involvement in the election. he says that's what they were supposed to be focusing on, not anything that happened to come up and that the justice department is essentially giving too much latitude to the special prosecutor, to the special counsel. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. tracie, thank you. it's 4:51. we're counting down to the winter olympics in pyeongchang,

now until the opening ceremonies and we'll get a better idea of who will represent usa team on the ice. ashley wagner placed fifth in the women's short program. she says she'll be able to redeem herself in the long program tomorrow night. what lily know about competitive figure skating. the we do know this is one of the most popular sports in all of winter olympics. >> it's beautiful to watch. >> it's stunning. i cannot believe i'm heading there. >> i can't believe it either. >> weather to practice on. >> i hope it's warmer there than it is here. >> it probably will be. >> a few more school delays. alexandria city schools on a two-hour delay. >> falls church schools also on a delay. they keep coming in. stay right here.

>> when i was driving here, there are a lot of roads that are snow-covered. it's your main roads, neighborhood roads are most likely snow covered. sidewalks are snow-covered. a lot of the area where the kids need school buses, they need to get back on the main roads, they're snow covered in many areas. >> be careful driving. temperatures are well below freezing. >> stafford county schools now closed. >> whoa. >> stafford county, all closed. >> snow day for those kids. the snow has been falling through almost the entire area here. we have a little bit of an exception closer to the shenandoah valley. the blue ridge mountains where we see the edge of the snow system offshore. it will be intensifying towards new england here. but locally we have the snow falling across the district right now. we had a little break early. then the snow came back. frederick could see snow falling where we were not seeing it earlier. much of northern virginia, maryland, closer to theas

totals. storm system is centered off the coastline. as you see, the edge moving up to north carolina and virginia. but by about 7:00, 8:00 this morning, that's when we'll see a lot of it pull away. as for the commute, a lot of you are concerned about driving. by 7:00 a.m., snow-covered roads. icy spots out there. it will be blustery and below freezing. by noon, icy spots by the afternoon. we're looking at drier conditions. treated roads, the main ones are going to be mainly wet. i did see snow sticking when i drove over the key bridge this morning. keep that in mind. any bridges or overpasses could be icy, too. sticking though on the untreated roads, winds are sustained anywhere from 15 to 20 miles an hour. temperatures below freezing. mid to low 20s through the day today. the snow clearing up by 7:00, 8:00 this morning. it's going to get blustery. we have another weather alert tomorrow and saturday with temperatures only reaching the upper teens. but morning tra

windchills will be about 10 to 15 degrees below zero. it's going to get really cold around here. let's check the roads on this snowy morning. melissa? >> taking a look at the roads, megan mcgrath is kind of showing us what's going on around town. heading into prince george's county, she's in upper marlboro on 4 there. you can see the plows here working the roadways. they're keeping a nice distance. just be careful. they're going to be out all over the place this morning trying to help us out with our morning commute. 66 at germantown road. main roads are mostly wet. you can see it doesn't look incredibly hot here this morning. the road is open at alabama, georgia avenue. the crash in beltway looking okay. a lot of school leaders are waking up right now and changing their statuses. fairfax county schools now and offices will be closed today. that is a change.

today. >> we will keep you updated on the latest on all the school closings and delays coming into our newsroom. right now, a live look at ocean city, maryland. look at all the snow on the ground and the winds whipping it up there. justin finch is live. we'll bring you the latest

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vehicle emission testing. it should make it more convenient and affordable. they'll have three years to get it inspected. it's expected to save marylanders more than $2 million every year. light duty vehicles before 1996 won't need inspections anymore. there will be more self-service kiosks set up across the state and the prices will be reduced from 14 to $10. today you can order from mcdonald's revamped dollar menu. the prices range from $1 to $3. the most expensive thing on the menu, a sausage mcmuffin with egg is $3. mcdonald's says there's more food options than before on the menu. >> loving it. >> sounds good about now. we get so hungry on the sched e s

>> whole box. "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. right to the storm team weather alert at 5:00 a.m. snow added into the cold weather mix. it's causing slowdowns on the roads and delays in the schools. >> depending where you live, you could have an inch outside your door or nothing at all. a live look outside union station. blowing snow there. >> check this out right now. this is on the eastern shore. it's really coming down there. the winds whipping, making visibility low. this is the ocean city boardwalk where a blizzard warning is in effect right now. >> justin finch is there for us. he's one of our many crews spread out across d.c., maryland and virginia. >> of course, the weather center is very busy with your first 4 traffic keeping you up to date on your weather and the roads. good morning everyone. i'm eun yang. i'm aaron gilchrist. first things first, montgomery county schools now