this will transition over to sleet and then eventually freezing rain. how long we will have sleet first is heavy rain could be a big difference in terms of ice accumulation. sleet does not accumulate on power lines and branches, so it does not pulled him down. freezing rain does. it pulls down on windshields, mailboxes, and power lies. it does appear in the mid to late afternoon, we will start to see that transition from sleet to freezing rain, and over eventually a long the i-95, we will probably have a major winter storm there. it is still disrupted in many ways, but not as bad as it could be around the triangle, because we have all of this precipitation mainly during the evening, and then it tapers off after around midnight or so.

we will have minor accumulations on saturday near the virginia border. we will talk about snow accumulations. then we can have some pretty significant ice accumulations and more snow on top of that on saturday. he will go through all those details as to what we think will happen. steve and tisha? steve d.: all right, chris. thank you. and don't forget to update yourself with our free app. tonight, the gop is in wait and see mode. -- dot is in wait and see mode. they have dumped in thousands of pounds of brine onto the roads. tisha: andrea blanford is out on the roads. andrea, what do you see out

andrea: we should see this beginning to work anytime between now and midnight. we are heading down per towar- -- down towards the 40 eastbound. crews have been covering this stretch of roadway for the last couple of days to do whatever they can for this storm. they are doing whatever they can. when crews come back to work in wake -- wade county tonight, there trucks will already be filled. they have been reinforcing that brine and expanding their coverage. it is an inexpensive, proactive up roach in case snow or sleet continues. stay off the road if the storm hits. if you must travel, drive slowly and put plenty of dismiss between you and other vehicles

other vehicles, especially wade county trucks. tomorrow, they will be hitting the ramps first, and then going to primary and then secondary streets. it is asked to stay foot. under the current state of emergency, they are partnering with the highway patrol to identify who to leave or told -- leave or tow. again, they warn the best way to avoid black ice is to stay off the road. don't come out here if you don't have to be. andrea blanford, abc 11 eyewitness news. tisha: and hundreds of crews have come from florida to help outages. they are staying at the at the theater in raleigh. additional crew members

if you lose power, they are asking that you unplug your electronics. you can avoid a power surge if one area is restored at one time. and if you are on the duke energy progress grid, if you need to report a power outage, call the number on your screen. that is one 800 --that is this 1-800 number. steve d.: and more than 200 arriving and departing flights out of the raleigh international airport have been canceled for tomorrow. american airlines will operate a few early morning flights for tomorrow. heather waliga is live at the airport now with more. heather? heather: steve, united and delta

about 65 flights out of -- 65% of flights out of rdu tomorrow have been delayed or canceled. many people are here trying to make it to their final destination before it is too late. as the east coast braces for a major winter storm, passengers are ages to get home. >> we were supposed to come home tomorrow, but we changed our flights to today so we could beat snowmageddon. >> we have been stuck here for the last couple of hours because we thought that our flight was going to be on time. heather: many waited patiently for their loved ones, unsure when or if they would arrive. after 29 hours of traveling from india and one canceled flight later, at least 200,000 travelers are expected to be impacted by cancellations over

rdu is planning on deicing the runways and bringing in extra crews around the clock. >> our goal during this weather event is to keep one runway open in a safe way. heather: as airlines race to beat the weather, thousands more travelers could be forced to make alternate plans. >> i think my wife is just glad that i can make it home tonight so i can shovel the driveway. [laughter] heather: and across the country, nearly 2200 flights are canceled tomorrow and that number could reach 3000 by saturday. if you have any travel plans, you are urged to check with your airline come -- airline, check with your flight status. steve d.: many flights could be canceled or rebooked, so that is probably a good idea. heather waliga, thanks. and our news starts after early tomorrow morning starting at 4:00 a.m. here on abc 11.

live on abc11.com and on the abc 11 mobile news app. tisha: and frustration at a bus stop tonight were parents waited more than 2.5 hours for children. our cameras was -- cameras were rolling when the students finally arrived after 7:00. the driver was delayed at a kindergarten bus stop were he waited for parents to show up before it letting a child off the bus. meanwhile, more than one dozen parents waited for their kids for hours, some of them telling us that they did not know where their kids were. >> i got really scared because we don't know, we don't have telephones. i don't know or they are, if

don't know where they are. tisha: it is district policy to drop kindergarten students off where an adult is present. even though the driver had the option of coming back on his route, he waited. steve d.: and authorities confirmed that someone was killed in a car accident tonight. we are working to find out the victim's a name and if any charges have been filed. we will have updates tomorrow on eyewitness news. we are just getting started tonight on eyewitness news. cold weather concerns. children living without heat this weekend. how you can help them survive this winter storm. and they have a surprise opponent. weather worries for the panthers. first, though, a live look outside.

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tisha: new tonight, two fayetteville families shivering in the cold. their heaters have broken and they are both waiting for their landlords to take action. greg barnes's lives with more on families. greg? greg: good evening, tisha. this is an awful reality that these two families are facing tonight. next few days. a pot of boiling water and a couple of space heaters are all that shirley ray has to keep her

surely: -- shirley: we don't have any electricity at also we just bundle up together. greg: ray and the landlord are at odds over who should replace their heater. she says she doesn't have the money and so she and four others share what little heat there is. shirley: we bundle up and we wrap up as much as we can. everybody gets warm and then i bring them back to my room. greg: across town, it is just as cold for tiffany alexander and her eight children. she waits for her landlord to fix the furnace while her family shivers in front of two space heaters. tiffany: i am here with my

in order to go to school, but they are sleeping in the cold. dealing with the cold is a daily struggle to survive. faith in human kindness, that is what they need a good dose of the next few days. well. my colleagues, nicole carr and i, spoke with the families and the county communities. there are local programs with people who have heat problems and they are looking for the best ways to help these families long term but nothing immediate. these families need some help. we have heard from a couple of residents already in her area and they said that they are going to see if they could get them some heat, so there are there. barnes.

steve d.: those landlords better step in and do something. greg: absolutely. steve d.: greg, thank you. and the national weather service is warming -- warning everyone that this could bring in high winds, flooding, and even thunder snow. the forecast is calling for as much as two feet of snow and that is in the nation's capital, and so that is what people up and down the east coast are getting way -- ready. tisha: and the carolina panthers have party plans disrupted. today, they canceled the event, saying that no matter how diehard they may be, they don't want fans to get on slick rose. -- roads. steve d.: so the question is, what kind of weather will they

chris: there is going to be some snow and some sleet on top of that, so the question is, how quickly they can get those roads clear. there is all types of precipitation on the table. it is still up in the air a bit, but we will tell you what we are thinking. it is all quiet out there right now still as we thought. the next several hours, not much going on. downtown raleigh, all quiet for now. there is really not much happening, not much in the triangle until about sunrise. definitely towards morning, there will be a winter weather advisory, and it is a little less serious for the coastal plain. you should change over to rain throughout the day. the humidity is at 61% and 23 in roxboro, roanoke rapids at

fayetteville, 23, 36 and lumberton. clear for now, but here comes our storm. it is already just west of charlotte. the rain is really blossoming over the deep south. you get snow, sleet, and freezing rain, two inches could fall, which could make for potential flood issues on those rivers that are running high from the rain in september. -- december. this low that is cranking up now is going into parts of tennessee and even mississippi. memphis is talking about near blizzard conditions tomorrow. is. south. this low energizes another low off of the coast and this becomes the primary low. all of these ingredients are set

storm. heavy snow will bombard areas to our north and we will get everything here in central parts of the state starting very late tonight and early tomorrow. that precipitation is again spreading and and 34 high at roxboro tomorrow, barely above freezing if we get there in raleigh. and that is the big question, how much will surface temperatures warm tomorrow if we get into freezing rain? it should be easy to get above freezing by later in the day, and you should change over to all rain that will lessen the impact. here we go again with that first alert sunrise tomorrow. look at that come in. it could start and start fast right around 6:00 or 7:00 in the triangle. as some folks are trying to get out, this could come in very quickly and cover the roadways and make them treacherous.

sleet will change over to freezing rain, so in the midmorning, still snowing around the triangle and it could be coming in pretty hard. it is piling up pretty quickly with a wintry mix. that transitions northward and so even around the triangle, we go over to sleet and freezing rain. so that is the bequest or. how long do we have sleet to forgive freezing rain -- sleet before we get freezing rain? you don't have to worry about power outages with sleet. there could be some sleet for several hours and then it goes to freezing rain. in raleigh, it goes over to all rain. but parts of the triangle, especially durham and chapel hill and up towards roxboro, you will be seeing freezing rain through the entire event tomorrow. then it winds down for tomorrow and then snow comes in tomorrow, that it won't be as heavy as we

how much will fall? one to three inches in several parts of the triangle. 36 in the northern parts of the triangle, durham, orange county, and in six to 10 inches around roxboro. that could cut back soon, but a quarter of an inch of ice potentially. there will be attentive financial run the i 90 corridor. -- there will be about 1/10 of corridor. we are hoping to see sleet longer before we go over to freezing rain, and of course, the blockbuster snow is off to washington. there is your first alert seven-day forecast. we talked about friday, saturday, scattered show --

and many times after a big winter storm, we have the arctic air come in with teens and 20's for highs, but it is going to warm up in the 40's and 50's. so this will come up and then we quicker than with other storms. tisha: the feds launch an

online retailerssteve d.: new tonight, a proposal to temporarily ground the online sales of hoverboards. the consumer product safety commission is calling for the suspension of those sales until they finish a safety investigation. meanwhile, amazon.com said it will offer a full refund to anyone who bought a hoverboard on their website. the consumer product safety commission is calling on other retailers to do the same thing. tisha: and a prisoner makes a break for it in new york. steve d.: yes, the cow was on the run after escaping from a slaughterhouse. the cow was on the run through queens for about a half hour. they chronicled the chase and the cow was ultimately corn old and corralled in a parking garage.

corralled in a parking garage. fortunately, no one was hurt or injured. he probably saw what was happening at the slaughterhouse and said, i am done with this. tisha: hopefully he will be set back there. steve d.: and tonight they did pretty well in toronto. ngozi: they needed extra time. we have more on that and

announcer: now abc 11 eyewitness news sports sponsored by your local toyota dealers. ngozi: we've already had a few abc games -- abc games canceled because of incoming weather or moved, but as of now, duke is still on a schedule for saturday afternoon in raleigh. nc state made that announcement earlier on gopack.com. it looks like they are writing a new wave of confidence going into this game -- they are riding a new wave of confidence going into this game. >> we just did well on the last game and hopefully we can keep going.

and we are going to play hard. ngozi: on the ice, toronto takes on the maple leaves. neither team breaks through and this is a chance here for the carolina power play. they go into overtime. there, jordan staal is playing with the goal. they win, 1-0. in women's coupes, there was this seventh straight double-figure game. they are trying to beat the first half buzzer. the packers were playing and trailing and there's the third with the lay up. they also got a big contribution from stephen rogers tonight. they had 10 in this one and they

was taking them on on the road. she had a career high of 33 points in this one and duke winning at clemson. steve d.: all right, ngozi, thanks. tisha: but cruz is firing his own shots saying trump's priorities are all wrong. >> is he qualified to be commander in chief? >> that's a determination the american people are making. i would suggest the next commander in chief, instead of living or dying by the latest polls and latest twitter storm should focus on identifying our enemies, listening to the expert advice of generals and admirals and national experts and doing whatever is necessary to keep

>> you can hear more from george's interview with cruz later on "good morning america." department of homeland security is making major changes to the visa waiver program, cracking down on europeans with ties to four countries -- iran, iraq, sudan and syria. under the new rules, europeans who have duel citizenships with one of those countries or have visited in the last five years will be under increased scrutiny. the changes prompted by the paris attacks. the attackers all europeans who travel to the u.s. without a visa under the old visa waiver. former pilot has been arrested for flying a plane while drunk. he has been released on bail and ordered back to court next month. according to court documents, he was randomly tested for drugs and alcohol when he landed in orange county. conviction on this charge could mean 15 years behind bars. federal officials say a

passengers were caught last year trying to take guns on planes. most of the weapons were loaded. the tsa says more than 2,600 firearms were found in carry-on bags. and here's something every beginning musician's parents can relate to, the first recital. music to their ears, right? this boy brings something special to it. >> look at this kid and listen to him there. you got to love that. however he sounds. yes! exit off stage. then what happened was -- >> no. oh, my. >> we don't know who the kid is, but it is starting to go viral. >> it's like, i left with confidence.

>> now, michael jackson moonwalk, moonwalk. >> and then face plant. >> oh! >> i assume the kid is okay. >> i know. >> his ego, not so much right now. >> that's the thing about social media. that video will be there forever. >> yes. therapy bills. coming up, police in south florida are on the hunt for -- oh, yeah. caught on video. we'll tell you who necessity say drugged and robbed two men they met at a bar sdmru coming up, "the skinny," the rumors have been confirmed. it's back on between miley cyrus and liam. first, another look at the forecast map. it's not pretty. what is that face? >> it's just not happy weather. >> just look at that. yes, map. >> announcer: "world news now"