i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'meu yang. the school closings are still rolling in this morning. we'll take you through them now. >> in virginia, clarke, fredrick, loudoun, page, prince william, wincheste a city, loppahannah county schools are alld today. in maryland, washington, fredrik, allegheny, and howard county schools are all closed. berkeley, jefferson, morgan, a mineral county schools are all closed. >> now to the delays in virginia. fairfax, manassas city, stafford culpepper, and spotsylvania schools all on a two-hour delay. so are fredericksburg, montgomery county schools, and grant county schools. the federal government is also open with the option of unscheduled leave or telework for employees. we can tell you that road crews across our area have been

preparing for the storm that is slowly creeping into our region. we have our team of meteorologists and our first 4 t trafficm in place as well as our crews out on the roads right now. >> let's start with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell, who's been tracking the storm. chuck, what's going to happen? >> well, we have seen widespread reports of sleet. i have not had a single report of either rain or snow yet. everyone is reporting sleet, the way from winchester and front royal, down into parts of faquier county. impacts will be highest for northern montgomer county, all of the i-81 corridor in thell shenandoah . as far as any of the accumulations of frozen ecipitation, not really looking for a lot of accumulation around the d.c. metro area. could get a slushy 1 to 3 inches

acro parts of our far northwestern suburbs. a couple inches of snow mainly in the mountains of west virginia. again, all thisas been reported as sleet. most of this here north of town not quite teaching ground just yet. again, bright colors south of city. that's where the sleet is the heaviest. temperatures still above freezing for now. that's critical, especially for road conditions. in the shenandoah valley, we're trending down closer to the freezing mark. so plan on a cold,ty n day to be outside. for more information on all the impacts, let's go over to my co reague laurynketts. >> hey there, chuck. a lot of impacts going on throughout the day across the region. this is not only going to be a morning type of deal, but we're talking all day. ybe even early tomorrow morning we could still have some frozen spots out there. so one thing chuck just showed you, the snowfall accumulation map. we're not looking at that much. ybe north and west of d.c. roads are mainly going to be just wet on the main roads. some of the untreated surfaces,

sidewalks and secondary roads, could g a littleslick, especially if you're going north and west. heavy rain is going to be a big deal today. we have flood watches up for i-95 and points to the east. icing and then windy. in fact, look at winds as they pick up after 9:00, 10:00 a.m. this morning. we'll have winds 10 to 20 miles an hour. with winds going into friday, we are looking at some power outages. it is going to be ay blustay once we head through your friday. we are looking at those winds to die down by friday afternoon. of course, power oages will be a main thing. also, the roads. that's why we go to melissa. >> good morning. if we're talking about wind and rain and everything, we could also be talking about some downed wires and trees. live look here at5 and dale boulevard. northbound and southbound is moving. we have that sleet falling through this area. a warning for you.

all of this radar showing you where we have precipitation. ome spots not so bad, other spots seeing heavier stuff falling. springfield, inner loob at 395, left side blocked by a crash at the entrance to the express lanes. still have this issue in et be, where they've been seeing sleet for quite a while. slick roads could play part i some of these. righthe now, top ofbeltway, everything here northbound and southbound looking nice and clear. >> all right. thank you, melissa. this morning news 4 is live on the roads, keeping a close eye on conditions you'll facou when you heathe door. take a look at the road conditions in prince george's county this morning. this is route 50. officials have t ated the streets ahead of time, but you still may encounter slick conditions later thi morning. we continue our team coverage now in virginia, where commuters can unter snow and ice this morning. >> news 4's justin finch ison le he roads in frederick

county, virginia. >> reporter: as we've heard throughout the morning, sleet has become an issue for us as well. as i look outside, i'm seeing a lot our windshield here is rattling as the storm system moves through our area here. we did see a short time ago those vdot trucks inhis area, treating these roads in spite of this storm. we've seen o othersthe medians here, standing by to go back out. vdot saying will be seeing this throughout the day. not a lot of salt trucks, but you will be s those crews work and maintain the roads throughout the day. they have some 2500 crews as well as contractors working this storm. they arehosaying, ver, even though they're making efforts to keep the roads out hereassable and safe, a lot of being safe out here on the roads today will rely on the drivers. >> when we know it's going to be

rush hour and that people are on the roads and likely this time of year they're not fully fosed on there being a winter storm coming, we like to take as many precautions as we can. >> reporter: so given theco itions we're now seeing and expecting, you may want to give yourself some extra time to get to where you're going. of course, slow down. we're live here on the road, justin finch, news 4. >> all right, justin. thank you. 6:06 now. in montgomery county, we've told you the schools will operate on a two-hour delay today. news 4's megan mcgrath is live there. >> reporter: if you look at our live came, you can see some of the pretreating that's happened here in advance of this storm c systeming through here. we can see the stripes. that's the brine or the salt solution that was put down on the roadway. we're on 270 in the urbana area. not seeing any precipitation

yet, but we're told it is heade in our direction. of course, just in time for rush hour, which is going to be a problem here thi morning. they are ready. they're prepared. the pretreating has been de. take a look at video we shot early this morning. our first stop of the day was at a salt dome. that was in the gaithersburg area. you can see all of the activity that happened early this morning. i think we g this video around 4:00 this morning. all of the trucks loading up with salt. they have finished that process. at this point, those trucks are now deployed. as we drive along, we've seen them here and there, parked along t shoulders of the major roads in the area. at this point, they're in stand by mode, waiting for the sleet or freezing rain to start in the area. because it's been pretreated, they should be good. then of course they're ready to go out and lay some more salt do n if that'sded. at this point, in a holding pattern. if you're leavingnow, you should be okay. of course, we expect things to deteriorate as the morning wears on. >> all right, megan. thanks so much.

>> and our coveragent will ue throughout the morning. you can also get updates on n nbcwashington.com and the nbc washington app. > now to the other big story this morning. livs lawrence is at the desk with the latest on the deadly wildfires in california. >> yeah, take a look. it's been exactly one week since they've started. as of this moing, those fires have killed at least 58 people across the state. th morning crews inalifornia are facing ather difficult day of searching for 130 people who are still missing, many of them thought to be elderly. you're looking at part of the camp fire in northern california, which at this point is only 35% c the camp fire is the deadlier of the two. people.led at least 56 the woolsey fire is burning near los angeles. it has kille twoeople. crews have more than half that blaze contained. as it things couldet worse, officials say there's been a norovirus outbreak atn evacuation shelter in chico.

aaron? >> aght, chris. thank you. 6:09 now. developing this morning in the district, a investigation happening near the howard university hospital. this is a picturerom the scene. someone posted this to twitter. police say the shooting happened near the corner of 8 and v streets northwest. when we talked to police, they would not release too my details. they did say the victim is still alive. we'll update you as we learn more. also new this morning, a prince george's county police officer has been suspended with pay. he'sed of exchanging money for a sex he was off duty but allegedly in his marked cruiser at the time. the incident allegedly happened inheistrict. prince george's county police and d.c. police are investigating the allegation. devoping thismorning, the lawyer representing stormy daniels in her court fight with president trump is now dealing with his own legal troubles. michael anve michael atti was arrested on a felony omestic violence charge in los angeles. police say a woman with visible injuries filed a report tuesday night. no word on the relationship between thend woman a avenatti

or the alleged incident. avenatti told reporters he has never hit a woman and is confident tha he will be ful exonerated. he was released on bail last night. avenatti has been an outspokeni crf the president and has flirted with a 2020 presidential run. brace yourself if you use the dulles toll roads. pretty significant toll increases are coming at the start of 2019. you'll pay an extra 75 cents at the main toll plaza. there is a 50 cent hike atf the ramps. that's an additional $1.25 per day for some drivers, $2.50or roun trip. the money from the increases will help fund the silver line extension to dulles airport, set to open in 2020. we just received google map's thanksgivingffic data for this year. take a look. google maps looked at t data from past thanksgivings to help d.c. residents get t where ey're going with as little stress as possible. the best time to leave d.c.s on thanksgiving day at 6:00 a.m.

the worve time to l is on wednesday afternoon around 3:00. that's when everyone is heading out. as far as coming back home, google says aunday mornier thanksgiving at 6:00 a.m. is the best time. the afternoonill be the worst time. more than 54 million americans will hit the roads for thanksgiving. i'm going to be here a 6:00 a.m. on thanksgiving. >> me too. . >> you can join us here. >> yeah, we're both hereay thur >> it's going to be a good time. if weather prevents you from getting outside today, be sure to catch ellen. >> today she's welcoming a former first lady. >> oh, look. it's the first time i've seen my book in a store. >> it's here.o you're going sign books. we have michelle obama. [ cheers and applause ] michelle obama.ir >> former lady michelle obama and ellen crash a costco to give shoppers a surprise there. hey're talking about her new

memoir too catch "elle" here at 3:00 followed by news 4 at 4:00. still ahead, continuing coverage of today's wintry >> where the storm has already hit and the damage left behind. plus, we continue our series of reports on getting you the best night's sleep possie. thismorning, from spas to dental visits, we're looking at insomnia treatments that don't involve medication. chuck? >> good morning, everybody. 6:12 on a thursday morning. already areas of heavyleet in parts of southern maryland. our first reported snowflakes as well. all the sleet will eventually mix in and t change ovsome potentially heavy rain later on today around the metro area. could be some significant icing in the shenandoah valley. complete forecast coming right up.

we are back now on a storm team 4 weather alert day at 6:16 a.m. this is our first blast of winter this many may see some snowflakes out there. others could see ice. most all of us a goingo see some rain. storm team 4's chuck bell is keepin an eye on your forecast and will join us in a few minutes with an update. >> the school closingro are stil ing in this morning. in virginia, clarke, frederick,o oun, winchester, faquier county schools are all closed. in maryland, washington, frederick, allegheny, and howard schools are closed. in west virginia, berkeley, jefferson, morgan, and hampooire county s are all closed.

in virginia, fairfax, manassas city, manassas park city, stafford, culpepper, spotsylvania county, are all on a two-hour delay. same goes for montgomery county hools in maryland. grant county schools are opening two hours late. d.c. schools are open on time. thel federal government we open with the option for telework. today's weather will impact everyone differe if even if your neighborhood doesn't see snow and ice, there's no doubt you will at some point in the next few months. is winter, after all. >> if you haven't prepared your car yet, now might be the time tech n . technicians say the first thing that goes as the temperatures drop is the battery. a lot of garages offer free battery changes. maintenance is must, like oil changes. make sure your spare tire has i air it. you laugh. >> until you change your tire and it's flat. >> make sure there's enough air in it too.ha have roadside emergency kit ready. a blanket, jumper cables, and

road flares can be a big help. also, nice to kno how to u the jumper cables if you have them. >> are you saying that i don i? >>t's not as simple as you mighthink. >> all right. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with the rest of ou forecast. what's going on now? >> northeast win have brought cold air into the region. that's going to be a big part of the forecast for today. h how long and hard that northeast wind dams the cold air up against the r frontge of the mountains and traps it in the shenandoah valley, that will be very dependent on what type of frozen precipitation you get. lauryn will be here in a second to explain the differences. right now, winter weather adviso for most of th popular centers around the city. winter storm warning across parts o sthenandoah valley, where a significant amount of icing isost likely. that's where the highest impacting will be today. western loudoun, out to the shenandoah valley. this is all rain in southern california. the change over from snow and entirelymostly if not

rain will be taking place here over the next couple hours. that change over could take a lot longer, if it ever comes, to the shenandoah valley. rain into southern maryland by about 9:00. the changeover ac the i-95 corridor between 9:00 a.m. and noon. notice how the frozen precipitation lingers a lot longer across parts of the valley.ah again, the we have different types of precipitaepending on where you live. >> absolutely, chuck. that's going to make for treacherous travel later on through the morning. then even continuing t pough the secot of the day. let's go ahead and talk about we have freezing rain, rain, .now, and we've got sle now, everything, whether it's summer, winter, starts as snow at the high elevations. in the summertime, it falls into warm air, melts, it's all rain. then we get into freezing rain. warm air aloft, sotfalls, melts, but right at the surface

it freezes. that's when you have that freezing rain on the surfaces that can create those slick conditions. thse we have sleet, t little pellets that bounce. what happens is it starts as snow, melts to rain, and then the cold air comes so it refreezes back into ice pellets. for snow, it's cold all the way down. this is going to create some black icing situations, especially freezing rain. we're seeing a lot of sleet right now. in terms of black ice, do not e. br take your foot off the accelerator to slow it down, and keep that steering wheel straight. we could have accidents this morning intote this oon because of the sleet and freezing rain and the prolonged winter event we'll have, especially in the shenandoah valley. of course, we hav melissa to talk to you about traffic. >> those are good tips. lots of things to remember when you chuck bell, would you like to say something first? >> absolutely. our forecast i on our nbc washington app as well as an interactive radar

feature. see something, say something. send me a twitter reported @chuckbell4. all this mess comes to an end tonight or predawn hours friday morning. next half hour, we'll give you the ten-day forecast, which includes thanksgiving. good morning melissa. >> good morning. the beltway at good luck road, no major problems. remember, take it slow, especially when you're accelerating, decelerating. usually you want tollow three or four seconds behind the vehicle in front of you. allow eight to ten. don't stop in the middle of the roadway. inner loop at 395, left side blocked by aas crash. e zoom in, another problem. inner loop after the toll road, right side is blocked thisin mo that radar showing you where it is falling. it is almoste. everywh arlington, west virginia 66 after glebe, rht sideig

it's now 6:24k all we've been working for you, trying to find ways to help you sleep more soundly. >> research says the sleep industry is a $28 billion a year business, and it'sne growing. 4's angie goff continues her search for shut eye with a look at a few sleep trendsn the rise. >> reporter: chilly pads, weighted blankets, sleep headphones. we're looking at national shut eye problem so bad some colleges require students to take sleep. >> i think there's a huge cost to society in ficiency. >> reporter: something many around here can't afford to lose. >> nobody sleeps.er ody is go, go, go. >> reporter: at her spa, her flotation therapy rooms have

become a popular place to pass out. >> we have one client who does ffer from insomnia. she says she felt great and was able to sleep for thnee fr ou e, reporter: in a pool big enough for two peo200 pounds of epsom salt mixed in with 11 inches of water. >> an hour of sleep here in thia amount o is equivalent to four hours' of sleep. >> reporter: giving the float ai trinally let go and fall into a weightless sleep. i felt like i could have stayedn here for another hour. from taking a dip to a trip to m e dentist, to fix a prob millions of americans have at night, sleep apnea. this dentist makes these mouth guards. it's a smaller, more comfortable alternative to the standard known as c-pap, and it's often covered by insance. >> in most cases they do because

it prevents a lot of problems. >> reporter: angie goff, news 4. >> the goord -- guard, which you wear during slees best for mild and moderate cases. >> the flotation sessions can be found for $45 to $100. that's a premium for good sleepp >> or justr a couple hundred pounds of salt in your bathtub. that'll float you. winter weather today, biggest impacts will be ithe shenandoah valley. even around town, many reports of sleet, even snowflakes mixing in. the change to rain already in culpepper.

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for quality of life. ctca gave me an opportunity to accomplish my goals and my dreams. learn more at cancerce appointments available now. right now on news 4 toda a storm team 4 weather alert as our area gets ready for the first taste of winter weather. you can see right there on the radar, a mix of snow, ice, and rain is heading north. >> and for some of you, it's already here. this is a live picture from brandywine in prince george's county. e telling us they are already seeing some snow. you can see some stuff stuck to the lens there on the camera. if you're ng seeing anyth

like this near your home, you will soon enough. it's coming, folks. 6:30 now on this thursday morning. morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. several schools are closed or delayed today. in virginia, clarke, frederick,, loud page, shenandoah, wi winchester, and warren schools are all closed. washington, frederick and alleghenyre closed. berkeley, jefferson, morgan, and hampshire counties are also closed. >> now to the delays. montgomery county schools in maryland, grant county schools in west virginia also opening two ouhours late today. d.c. schools opening on time. roads across virginia, district havethe

all been treated for the storm. we have team coverage spread out asou start your thursday. >> our team of reporte working for you, showing conditions near your home. melissa mollet is in first four traffic. >> we begin with our storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell and lauryn rircketts with atloser look what to expect. >> the visibility from our tower camera starting n. go d that tells me sleet and snowflakes are falling. as a result, the winter weather conditions will get worse from here on out. northeast winds will trap the cold air in place. you can see that wedge of cold air going rightown the front range of the appalachians. that's all rain in southern virginia and southeastern virginia. that change to rain will gradually come across the i-95 corridor. a more extend period of potentially freezing rain or sleet is likely in the shenandoah valley. future weather, the bright banding here is usually indicating sleet. a chance for a mix of sleet and snow through about 9:00 or 10:00 before it becomes mostly rain by about noontime.

heavy rern coming in this afternoon. a wide variety ofatches and warnings. let's go to lauryn for the latest on those. >> thank you, chuck. we've got a wide variety, absolutely right. thank you for everybody sending in their reports. i'm looking at them now. message both chucki. and thank you so much. a lot is changing at every minute with this storm. let's break it down. winter storm warning in peak. that goes throu tomorrow morning. a winter weather advisory fo areas in purple. snow at first and then ice and sleet to rain. the rain is going to come in from the s and east and move to the north and west. that's why the shenandoah valley is in that winter storm warning. we also have a flood wch. this goes for this afternoon. this is going to be a heavy rain that comes our area.

so with the freeze that happened earlier this season, run-of're talking about 1 to 2 inches of rain. then we'll see flooding, southerny around maryland. that's going to be an impact later on. this will be an all-day type event. be careful as you head out on the roadways. of course, we talk to melissa mollet about the roadways. >> a couple new problems. westbound 66 at ebe this morning, a crash. those westbound lanes are pretty slow. eastbound we have an issue. we'll talk about that in a minute. inner loop after the toll road, right side is blocked crash. inner loop at 395 in springfield, left side blocked by a crash at the entrance to the express lanes. ois is the other issue 66. eastbound after rosslyn tunnel, a car spun out and facing the wrong way. take a look, the radar showing you how wet it is across the area. that precipitation causing a lot of issues. rememb, take it slow, especially accelerating, decelerating. instead of the normal three to four seconds of follow time, increase that to eight or ten.

never stop in the roadwaytor try un it up a hill. it's just going to cause more problems. no doubt things are going to chan throughout the morning, get worse on the roads. >> all right, melissa. thank you. here's a look at the rain/snow line moving through our area. take your time this morning. snow and ice could be on thero s. >> let's continue our team giverage with news 4's justin finch in va. he's heading into warren county, i believe. justin, how are things looking? >> rorter: hey there, aaron. making our way towards winchester right now. now that it's a bit brighter outside, we're seeing how strong this storm is, moving through our area. we're seeing quite bit of splash back on the roadway here. now more of those sleet conditions. we're seeing cars go b a too fast in these conditions.r ou temperature here also appearing to drop. now we're in the 32, 33 degree

range. vdot also warning drivers they're out here treating roads. giveck their t some time and space to work with. also make sure you're slowing down and taking the proper precautions while behind the wheel. back to you. >> all ght,justin. thank you. our team coverage continues now in maryland. >> megan mcgrath is live in frederick county with the road conditions. >> reporter: hey, guys. we have pulled over to a gas station here in frederick. you can see behind me people a tting their gas, getting ready to go to work. among them is leo williams. obviously no trouble this morning. we're not seeing the rain osl te t falling yet. are you worried? >> i'm not concerned at all. driving inrom baltimore, you could clearly see the roads were dry. you could see the lines in the road they clearly treated the roads. htm not concerned. >> reporter: all r well, good luck. thanks for joining us. that's absolutely the situation out there. you can look at the roads, bee itn pretreat the. we've seen crews all over the place, standin of the road.ide when the sleet starts coming

down, they'll be able to get out there and do their job. so hopefully it'll be allck oka. ba to you guys. >> thanks, megan. le'll get ae look at conditions in the district when molette green joins us in the district. team coverage on this weather alert y coinues next. da hey, batter, batter, batter, batter. [ crowd cheers ] like everyone, i lead a busy life. but i know the importance of having time to do what you love. at comcast we know our customers' time is valuable. that's why we have 2-hour appointment windows, including nights and weekends. so you can do more of what you love. my name is tito, and i'm a tech ops manager at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome.

welcome back, everybody. i'm meteorologist lauryn ricketts. thank you for everybody eb tweeting, fking in the conditions where they are. we can't do it without you. now we're getting snow reportsn down culpepper. i'm seeing back porches and sidewalks that areompletely lly in er, espec southern maryland. so be careful. we've got an all-day event that is going to be moving through our area. asintry mix t morning, some rain later on this afternoon. so again, an all-day event. and then we have winds that are up.g to pick they're going to be pretty gusty. now we're talking about pouer

ges, snow and ice on roads mainly north and west and untreated roways. more delays are possible early tomorrow morning as well. we have that full forecast, it including the next tendays, with sunshine, coming up in just about five minutes. >> all right. see you then, lauryn. thank y n. t jersey couple that helped a homeless man raise $400,000 through agofundme page is now accused of making the entire story up with him. >> mark d'amico, kate mcclure, and johnny bobbitt all face conspiracy and theft charges. the source says that the couple turned themselves in to osecutors yesterday. it's not clear whether bobbitt turned himself in. the couple cim the homeless man used his last $20 to help mcclurehen she ran out ofbas on i-95 in philly last year. she and her boyfriend t launched a gofundme page to oney for y raise bobbitt, but they were accused of then holding some of the monew from him. hey're all facing possible jail time. now here's your cnbc morning business >> good morning. i'm kate rogers at cnbc headquarters. uber h launched a new rewards

program offering riders perks for using the serrece. it's cly available in just a handful of cities, including miami, ton, new york, denver, and tampa. it'll roll out to everyone else in the coming months. you can earn points depending on which uber servi a you use redeem those points to unlock things such as discounts on future rides and priority pickup at airports. with your cnbc morning business report, i'm kate rogers. take a look at this radar right now. we have snow and sleet falling in different parts of the area. very light in some spots, a little heavier in others. right now roads are lots of crashes. details coming up. h >>e's a live look at the roads in brandywine, maryland. yocan see some of the snow on the grass right now. it's sticking but not acculating on the roads. 6:30's all coming down from when we first showed you this live picture. >> back with a look at the full forecast after this.

people aren't talking about how giant's delicious nature's promise turkey is free from antibiotics. they're not talking about our easy grab and go chicken wing trays. or that our sustainable shrimp wrapped in prosciutto makes the perfect appetizer. they're also not talking about our delicious spiral ham glazed with real honey. they're not talking, because they're eating. oh hello, that looks so good. at giant, it's the little things that make mealtime easy, leaving more time for those closest to you during the holidays. weatr alert morning. get ready for snow, sleet, rain,

a mix of it all heading our way, moving into the area now as we speak. mohan a dozen local school districts already are closed or delayed this morning. >> all of the updates are running at the bottom of your screen. yhuck and lauryn are tracking the win forecast. we'll check in with them and our crew of reporters out on the roads near your home. that's coming up in a few minutes. here at the live desk, we're stayin on top of breaking news overseas. saudi arabia's top prosecutor is now recommending the death penalty for five suspects in thn ki of jamal khashoggi. he was a "washington post" columnist and was critical of the saudi crown prince. khashoggi was last seen walking into the saudi consulate inis nbul a little over a month ago. during a press conference today, saudi arabia's prosecutor says h hoggi's killers started their plans three days before he was killed inside that consulate. total of 21 people are now in custody. 11 tie ake promise.

aldi. prosecco. lana marks. brussels.h sanders the deputy national securi. for h firing through her spokeswoman. the first lady infuriated after solofering with a recent trip to africa, according to people familiar with the disagreement. theos staffing movebly just the first of othersec on the wa.

ation now swirling again out chief of staff john kelly's future. also possibly on her wayt, homeland security secretary. president trump saying heex cts to make a decision, in his words, quote, shortly, about nielsen's future. all of that after the relationship between the president and his homeland security secretary soured months ago. the latest when we see you on "today." >> see you in a few minutes. thank you, peter. it's now 6:47. back to our team coverage on this weather alert morning. news 4's justin fin and megan mcgrath are on the roads in virginia and maryland, where the storm is moving win. ll check in with both of them in a moment. first to molette green on the roads, where so many of you are ing this morning. she's in the district right now. i see at least wet roads in ont of you. >> reporter: definitely wet roads here with the rain and freezing rain coming we can see the ice pellets

popping off the windshieldere. we're on constitution avenue right by the african-american muse museum. te know the roads were pretreated overniith the plow trucks, 123 of them out on the roads here in the district. now wre seeing all of that put to use as cars are making their way to and from their destinations here. without any major issues at this int. now, d.c.'s mayor, of course, asking folks, if you can, take metro if you don't have to gend in your carsn the roads. it is going to get slippery as this continues to ce down. we're going to take it now into virginia, where our justin finch is live this morning. hey, justin.r: >> reporte hey there, mette. that's right. we're on 81 north just outside of winchester watching thi

sleet, this wintry mix come town. we're hearing i rattle against our windshield here as well. we're also watching vdot trucks salt and treat these roads a various intervals. vdot says it will be doing that throughout the day but still asking thato drivers als take chans into account, like slowing down and giving yourself more time to travel. i know megan mcgrath is in maryland watching the storm. >> reporter:inwell, i'm sta to feel a little left out here. we still haven't seen any precipitation. take a look at the roads here. ey look pretty good. there's all kinds of brine solution on the surfawa of the ro you can see those white stripes. they have pretreated the rose. all of the trucksre loaded with salt. we've seen a number of them standing by on major roadways, off to the shoulder of the road. once this starts to move into the area, they are going to be ready to spring intoio a here. so far, so good.

traffic moving at speed here in the frederick area. but this system is moving in our direction. so of urse, all of t is going to change. back to you guys. >> megan, thank you. now to our srm team 4 meteorologist lauryn ricketts and chuck bell, both working for you on theorecast this morning. chuck, that is a pretty messy picture. >> the u.s. capitol dome there somewhere. we were able to see it clearly an hour ago.e ing barely m it out about 15 minutes ago. now it's completely obscured as the precipitation intensifies here inside the cy limits. 37 in washington. that northeast wind the cold, dry air at the surface. moisture running up over the top of it. temperatures have now fallen to just 33 in gaithersburg, dulles, and warrenton. 33 in fredericksburg. still mid-30s aroundst town. l hovering on the freezing mark here across much of the shenandoah valley. these numbers are still likely to go down a m couple degrees before we get enough daylight hours and enough return of warm air and moisture from the south to raise them back up again.

your planner for today, the mix with sleet, snow, and some rain this morning. mostly sle through the morning hours. hen changing to rain this afternoon. the freezing rain threat in the shenandoah valley may continue well into ton after that's where the biggest problems with this storm are going to be travelwise. temperatures are already down to the freezing mark and won't recover until much later on in the day. future weathet there's tix of sleet, rain, and snow between now nd over the next couple hours. here comes the heavy rain. by 10:00, moderate to heavy rain ind.outhern maryl as we get into the early afternoon hours, all the frozen stuff changes to rain on the i-95 corridor. again, that frozen precip threat lingers a lot longer in the shenandoah valley, potentially until the sun goes down this evening. the heavier, steadier rain will radually come to an end late tonight. an improving weather picture for tomorrow. what you see weatherwise today depends on where you live. the zone-by-zone forecast now with lauryn. >> yeah, and i think areas to the north and west are going to

have they're going to hold on to that cold air a lot longeet so start north and west. this is the mountain zone. i-81, this is where we have that winter storm warning through winchester, througher hown. wintry mix this morning. i'm getting tons of reports from my friends in winchester. sleet, eventually changing to freezing rain, then rain. you guys will be the last to see change over to rain. could be a very long event this morning. 3 to 5 inches of snow. on top of that, you have some ice. now our western zones. we're talking about frederick county, maryland, dleesburg,n through fauquier county. i'm getting reports of culpepper changing to all snow. wintry mix unt about 1:00 or 3:00. that'll change over to rain this events. you'll definitely have slick spots out there with afrace ice. close to the d.c. metro area,

fairfax through prince county, we've got that mix this morning. then heavy rain and windy later on this afternoon. mainly the roads aroundhe d.c. area just wet. the secondary roads and also the untreated services are going to be icy. now i'm seeing pictures out of waldorf, where we're getting a lot of snow. eventually this mix, you tuys will b first to change over to rain. once again, it'll be heavy rain. i believe there's going to lo someing issues around this area. as i've been saying, and as chuck has been saying, the weekend is looking a lot better. >> sure is. you can always stay ahead of the weather with our nbc washington app. if you see something, sayme ing. send me a report on @ twitteuckbell4. after this mess ends, we're dry tomorrow, through the weekend. dry weather all the way up to thcoksgiving day. d have some rain on black friday. let's go to melissa now. good morning.

good morning. remember today to keep distance between you and the car in front ofou. normally it's three to four seconds. they're saying eight to ten now. that's the advice from aaa. those bridges always freeze first. northbound 301 at 5 in brandywine, northbound/southbound looks okay. take a look, you can see some of that accumulation. very light right, now. accoke indian head highway, a vehicle fire and crash. that radar looks easy right now over our roadways, showing you falling.cipitation is 66 westbound at glebe road looks better than it did earlier. also a problem eastbound on 66 ter the rosslyn tunnel. a car spun out facing the wrong morning inner loop after the toll road, right side is blockedy crash on the beltway. inner loop at 395, left side there at the entrance t the express lanes. 270 looks good,op of the beltway. 66 inbound and 95 north looking

pretty normal. ease take it slow this morning. remember to listen to wtop5 10 fm when you hop in your car. >> melissa, thank you. 6:55 now. here are four things to know. the lawyer representin adult film f film star in a court battle with trump was arrested. michael antih michael avenatti has denied the charge. the deathol tl from the deadly wildfires is now at 58. officials say 130 people are m stillsing in the so-called camp fire in northern california. the woolasy near los angeles killed two people. nbc's miguel almaguer will have the latest next on "today." saudi arabia's tops prosecutor s1 suspects have been indicted in the killing of jamal khashoggi. heeeng the death penalty for five of those suspects. khashoggi was "washingt post" columnist who disappeared after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey,

in october. more on the "today" show next. several schools across our region are closed or delayed. they're all running at the bottom of your screen. os've also pted lists in the nbc washington app. the federal governments open with the option of unscheduled employees. and some new live pictures coming out of national harbor now. this is indian head highway, where we're seeing some snow come down. you ca tell the roads are here. wet mostly wet is what we're seeing in this area. it doesn't appear the snow is sticking there. h >> ae in brandywine, yarn maryland, we've seen this change over the course of this morning's newscast. it's startingeo stick on grass. not a whole lot of accumulation on the roads, as you can see. you ktw t if it is snowing or sleeting, the roads are going to be very sliayery t just be careful. >> absolutely. it's cold enough to support snow n though most temperatures for the metro area and southern maryland are still above freezing. you can get snow,ut that's the kind of snow that only sticks to

the grass. bee roads hav pretreated in many, many spots. take it easy today. an ugly wintry mix allay long today. drying weather returns tomorrow. it'll be greathis weekend. won't that be nice? >> really nice. >> we are just looking to the future. accokeek slow here, indian head highway at berry road. vehicle fir and crash there this morning. 66 west at glebe looks better than it didearlier. we were pretty jammed westbound. >> lissa, thankou. we just heard stafford county schools are now closed. that's a change. we may be seeing more changes. we'll keep you up to date on that. we appreciate you joining une fr 4 today. the "today" show is up next. >> back in 25 minutes with the latest on your weather, traffic, and you know when you're at ross and you realize it's time your sister stopped borrowing your sweaters? yes! that's yes for less. stop stealing mine... never. the perfect sweater makes the perfect holiday gift. and it feels even better when you find it for less -

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at ross. yes for less. ood morning. hello winter. 123 million people in the path of a massive storm spreading snow, ice, and rain from the south all the way to new england. decades old records being shattered. crashes at airports, delays pilingam. al will have theey very llatest the death toll grows higher from those california wildfires. this morning the grim searchor more than 130 people still unaccounted for and the over who may be responsible for the deadliest fire in the state's history. breaking news. a major bre in the killing of that "washington post" journalist inside an embassy