chief meteorologist topper shutt so let's get straight to the weather center. i looked out the wind on the way in here. it just was wet pavement. that is gone. >> yeah, that is gone. that is a distant merle. tell what you, it is going to be awhile before we see the pavement. temperatures have now settled to around the freezing mark in most of the suburbs. even downtown right around 32 and 31 out toward dulles and gaithersburg, and now the sun has gone down we are going to get to below freezing, and as the snow yanks up it's going to get down right ugly or pretty, depending on how you want to look at it. let's start with amounts. it's on our website at wusa9.com. 20 to 30 inches. i can't believe i'm saying that, but 20 to 30 inches. >> i can't believe it, either. >> i know. down to the south, not as much, but still an historic storm. in fact this could be the third footer, the third foot or plus you've had had in southern maryland, and that is incredible in one winter. six to 12 in extreme southern maryland and down toward the northern neck. in addition to the snow, i'm

worried about some erosion and some high tides. so we'll keep you posted on that because winds down there could gust in excess of 40, 45 miles per hour. almost like a winter tropical storm, as often is the case with these nor'easters. okay, brand-new snow totals. or leans, virginia, three inches. that's out in fauquier county. six inches in leesburg, 3.8 inrockville, eight inches in cumberland, and we're looking at six inches in martinsburg, west virginia. it's beginning to mount up. this is what we call pre snow because the main event has yet to start. dangerous super storm. six to 12 inches. that's a broad range but that's the potential. probably see some lightning and hear some thunder tonight. don't freak out. it often happens with these types of dynamic systems. six to eight midnight to 6:00 a.m. then we see the storm pull away slowly. and it will pull away slowly, but in the morning maybe two to

four, in the evening maybe an additional one to two. should taper off 6:00, 7:00, tomorrow evening. yes, it might snow or flurry until midnight, but in terms of accumulation no, more than a dufght after about 6:00 to 7:00. near blizzard conditions tonight, and that is something we cannot say enough. it's a question of visibility, and winds with blizzard warnings. all right. has to be a quarter mile less in visibility for three hours or longer, and also, it's not an "and/or." also have sustained gusts of 35 miles per hour or greater for three hours. also, the district, prince george's county and charles county have been added to the blizzard warning. so you guys are joining anne arundel county, calvert county and st. mary's county under the blizzard warning. tremendous amount of snow, tremendous storm system. had the gulf of mexico, now the atlantic ocean. the sky is the limit. the storm itself is moving toward wilmington. it's going to probably go

inside of cape hatteras. as it makes that track, that's when it's possible to have a little bit of a mix south and east of town. right now winter storm warning covers did entire metro area. tonight heavy snow, 12 to 20 inches, near blizzard conditions, low temperatures 28 to 32, and winds will pick up northeasterly at 15 to 25. derek, it's just getting started. >> all right, and so are we haven't thank you, top, appreciate. that let's get you up to date on what we know right now. snow emergencies are in effect for most of our area. lots of places are already closed for tomorrow, including the smithsonian museums and the gallery mall in friendship heights. you can see a list of all things closed tomorrow at the bottom of your screen. the airports are open, but that won't do you much good because most of the flights are canceled. after bad-mouthing area schools for closing so often earlier, president obama issued a statement in the last hour saying this particular snowstorm has his respect. let's get out to surae chin

live in gaithersburg. last time around in december we laughed because you tried to make a snowman and the snow was too dry. will you not have that problem this time. >> reporter: no, i don't think so. maybe i should start now, and by tomorrow morning i should have a really big great snowman. but the snow is coming down. as topper says, it's only going to get worse. i can only imagine. what makes it harder this time is that the snow is blowing sideways, making visibility tough. let me show you 355 here. you can see the snow is covered pretty well on the streets right now. the good thing is that it's nearly desserted right now, but, you know, drivers, delivery drivers, are having to be on the roads tonight. take a look and a listen. >> star syringe marvin is his name. by the sounds of phones ringing there are lots of hungry people in gaithersburg. the orders are piling up. the carry-out drivers are trying to keep pace. >> when you're dealing with 18 to 24 inches, it's very hard to

get around, especially in the back neighborhoods where the sfreets aren't plowed. >> reporter: george said because of safety they will be closed tomorrow. >> unfortunately it would be very hard even for them to get in here. >> reporter: but as far as tonight, they will be delivering as long as they can. >> tonight we're going to be very busy all the way until about -- hopefully we can go until 11:00, 12:00, as long as my drivers tell me they can keep going. >> reporter: so starving marvin still open. the temperature, 23 degrees. i want to use my ruler to find out how much snow we've gotten, and i've taken this ledge here, which is a pretty flat surface, and it's about two and a half, close three inches right now at this hour. so we'll continue to monitor the situation here at gaithersburg. now back to you in the studio, derek. >> thank you so much. can i ask awe quick question? are you still there? >> reporter: i'm still here. >> as you have watched the

traffic roll by there behind you, have you noticed whether or not folks are having any trouble? i see it's moving pretty slowly. have you seen people struggle at all in terms of maintaining control? >> reporter: you know, what i haven't seen a snowplow. the only snow -- well, on 355 that. but i have seen snowplows and contractors actually inside the parking lot. and we've seen several situations like. that in fact, we followed one around, and we'll show you in that the next half-hour. but they're doing a pretty good job of trying to make the parking lot pretty good, and, you know, sometimes we forget about how dangerous it can be in the parking lot, just getting out of your car. >> surae chin, thank you so much. tough to hear the questions because it's loud where shows. but we'll get back to those questions later in our broadcast. we'll be here all evening. let's get out to tysons corner. peggy fox is there where she's been for quite some time. peggy what are the conditions like now? >> reporter: i've got my ski goggles on because they have me positioned, and it's not only

colder, but this helps a little bit. it's getting worse what. cain tell you? look at the cars. some of them creeping along. i think some of them going a little too fast. we've seen one plow go by, but, you know, some vehicles just shouldn't be out here. if you drive a mercedes, don't be like this guy and think your rear-wheel drive car won't have trouble in the snow. it will. >> there's a lot of accumulation now, and you're starting to he seat now with your car not getting much traction. >> reporter: even four-wheel drives are slipping on the slick roads, as the temperatures drop and the snow accumulates. >> we're starting to believe what the forecasters are telling us, yes. >> reporter: right, right. what are you doing out? >> that's a good question. we live very close, and friday night is our night out, and we're going to get home quickly. >> crazy, a lot of people. a lot of people. >> reporter: grocery stores continue to be inundated with customers stocking up to

prepare for the big one. >> i went over to get sausage. that's all gone. bread, stuff like that. gone. eggs, gone. >> i came last night, and there were no eggs on the shelf, and no hot chocolate, and aim just picking up snack stuff for my kids. but overall i think people are in like a panic mode, you know, which they should be, i guess. >> reporter: you know, the grocery stores are planning to be open tomorrow. i know the safe way that i went to, they said they've got people staying in hotels and are planning to be open but the problem will be getting out of your house if we've got two feet of snow, even if you have a four-wheel drive you might bottom out and not be able to get out. , so you know, you have to make sure -- i hope you've stocked up. please stay home, because it's very cold out here, and you don't want to get stuck, especially in these conditions. back to you, derek. >> peggy, one thing no one has talked about this has been a boom time for all the supermarkets. they've been stocking up, selling out and stocking up and selling out again. >> reporter: right, right.

i'm sure the cupboards are filled at people's homes with more food than they can possibly eat. they'll be ready for super bowl. >> peggy, glad you have those goggles, because i'm told it's not going to do anything but get worse as teaching progresses. thank you so much. we'll get back to you. meantime we already know the roads are a mess in western virginia. we geek around sometimes, but it's very serious, at least two deaths have been reported along i-# 1. state police say the father and son were hit by a tractor-trailer, as they were trying to help another driver who crashed in the snow. interstate 77 was also closed for awhile in carroll county. why? it got very slippery. all the lanes are back open now, but v-dot is asking anyone who doesn't have to be out, stay off the roads. as a matter of fact, could you say that about, i think, our entire metro area think. if you don't have to be out, stay off the roads. a little earlier tonight it wasn't so bad. again, it was wet pavement, but as top has described to us several times that has all begun to change, and change

drastically. now, one person who is out on the roads but who very much knows what he's do is scott broom who joins us live via the skype connection, and scott, where are you now? >> reporter: well, i thought i would start moving north to see if there are folks who are still trying to get out of town so i'm on # 5 north, headed towards laurel. things have turned very treacherous in a one-hour period of time. you can look at the lockdown camera, the sort of cop cam that's on this vehicle, and look out, prudent speed on i-95 north, anywhere from 25 to 35 miles per hour. you can see it is not completely snow covered. you can't see the white lines. you've got follow the vining front of you. so things have broken very bad on the roads as predicted, as the evening moves on. i was listening to, on my hands- freehand set to peg gee talking about the grocery store. i just left the grocery store in college park. i can show you some of the pictures.

this is shoppers food warehouse. i think they're pretty well stocked, all things considered. they were slammed on things like ground beef, frozen pizzas, not doing well there. cereal, not a great selection left, but they did still have a lot of the essentials, bread and milk, and a lot of the other shelves add lot of food. so nobody is going to starve to death for the last-minute people getting out. but as i'm beginning to drive around again now, we're kind of passed the last minute get out in your two-wheel drive car try to get some groceries late here. we're not at the critical stage of the storm yet, but the roads have turned very treacherous very quickly, and just for safety sake, so you all understand, these cameras we're talking on are completely locked down. i have no control over them. i've got both hands on the wheel and i'm talking to you on a hands-free head set, as if i was talking to you. so that's the way i'm working it. i'm locking very much forward to getting back toward the

city, hunkering down for the night, getting in out of the storm and, you know, we'll see what the morning brings. for the moment, scott broom reporting live, i-95 north headed towards laurel. derek, i'll stay in touch with you. >> scott, can i get a quick question? i just want to know how you found your vehicle handling out there. i know after you four-wheel drive. how tough has it been? have you found yourself going around turns and not being all that certain if you were going to be able to stay in control? >> reporter: well, on the interstates, we're using prudent speeds, 25 to 35. yes, if you're asking have i touched the antilock brakes, have they made that grinding sound, yes, the antilock brakes have locked up coming off of side streets, all of the above. so it's a very wet snow. i'm not saying it's scientific. my opinion, wet, slushy snow is and it is more slippery than the real cold hard stuff. so it's slick, and there are truckers and others continuing to move on the interstate here.

i think the big question on the