fredericksburg and east of i-95 could be a little bit of a mix. we'll talk more about that in a minute. let's go to the computer and show you a bigger picture, satellite picture, radar combined. it's a two prong system. the first storm that hammered the midwest will die a slow death in the ohio valley. the second storm is already developing. that will become the coastal storm and that is what is going to generate most of our snow and generate the wind. no matter how much snowfalls, we are going to get hit with wind, i cannot emphasize that enough. that is the snow beginning to fill in and more moisture back to the south and west of us as this storm down to the south starts to crank a little bit. heaviest snow wednesday morning. we still think we could see blizzard conditions wednesday morning. remember, blizzard conditions, not a function of how hard it's snowing or temperatures. a function of visibility and

wind. a dryer snow. there will be a mix, but since it's a dryer snow and coupling that with stronger winds, we are worried about blowing and drifting snow on wednesday. so, here's the breakdown for you. heaviest snow 2:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. a 12 hour delay, 2:00 p.m. all the way through wednesday night will be your highest wind. mixing south and east until 2:00 this morning. your lowest visibility, about 4:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., if you are going to drive around. here's how much will fall. 6 to 12 around the immediate metro area, north and east of town. up toward bwi, baltimore, heartford county. 4 to 6 down to the south. southern charles county, st. mary's county, calvert county. further south, 2 to 4. most of that will occur late tomorrow morning and early in the afternoon. i'll be back with devon lucy. we'll detail the forecast and give you the snowfall break down hour by hour. >> restocking the house was the name of the game for

families all across our area today. >> now that the next storm is on our doorstep, many people who were able to get out after the first big round are buying the necessary supplies, running low everywhere. peggy fox joins us live with that story. peg. >> let me tell you, this giant in mcclane is the busiest in the system. for many residents, it took a community effort just to get out of the neighborhood. some people are just now getting their driveway shoveled. on this street, neighbors tired of waiting for a plow truck grabbed shovels and dug out the street themselves. >> everybody on the block got out and shoveled out a perfect lane all the way to the end of the street. >> i saw the storm coming, the big one, anyway, and got everything stocked in and they got all the kibble they need.

>> at the grocery store, workers are trying to keep up with the demand, as shoppers start emptying shelves, the second time in a week. >> no more. >> no more onions. >> why are we out of onions? >> because the truck didn't come today. >> the onion truck did come, but other shelves are looking scarce. >> people are hungry, scared, the storm is coming. another one, a long one. so, i'm 40 years in this country and never seen so much snow in one winter. >> and some who lost power during the last storm are taking no chances this time. >> we all stayed in one room with our fire and we melted buckets of water to flush toilets. it was really exciting. very 13th century. >> the store manager here says that people are buying everything. not just milk and bread. he says a different dynamic

comes into play when kids are home. people start cooking. he says they run out of potatoes and onions and flour and sugar. people are going back to the basics. they have had to do everything they can to keep the shelves stocked as best they can. now, down the street, the gas stations are also trying hard to keep things stocked. one gas station is already out of gas and i'll tell you which one coming up at 6:00. i'm peggy fox, back to you. >> thanks. well, it's been a frustrating day for a lot of drivers who tried to get out for work, or anything else to prepare for this next round of snow. scott broome has the latest. scott. >> yeah, it was that way, particularly here on wisconsin avenue. i'm in the heart of bethesda. peggy talked about all the people trying to get out. today the day a lot of people tried to get out. there is snow removal going on, it creates huge problems on wisconsin avenue in bethesda, it was so bad, i saw ambulances

going the wrong way into traffic to get around gridlock and some people to make the normal four or five minute run in from the beltway, it was taking 45 minutes. >> this is a tough situation. >> perhaps they thought, this would be the day to get to work for the first time in the wake of saturday's blizzard. >> i thought the roads were clear. >> they were wrong. >> driving conditions are horrific. why do we have that sheet of ice and slush in the middle of the street? and people can't drive and they drive too fast. >> the lanes are closed and you got two lanes into one lane. >> on a normal commuting day, walking where i'm walking right now would be suicide. this is the right travel lane of rockville pike. the problem s the right lane has not been cleared, which reduced the available lanes going inbound from 3 to just 2. and the snow here is knee deep and it's frozen solid. >> now from the beltway to

just past, it took what, 35? 35, 40 minutes. >> it was so bad, this ambulance had to go out into on coming traffic lanes to get by. >> a ridge of ice in the road sent this ride on bus into a snow bank. it took three hours to dig him out, only one lane got through. on montgomery avenue in wisconsin in bethesda, thick ice added to the gridlock. >> just unbelievable. a road like this, 355, i thought they should do a much better job. >> yes, the roads are passable, but not completely clear, which works for a while until you add traffic, and then it's an equation for gridlock. >> i'm going home, it's terrible. if i didn't have to come back for business, i wouldn't have come. >> let's hope he is hope by now, that gentleman had to go back to fort washington in prince georges county and now we are having light to moderate

snow here in bethesda and people are trying to get home from work and get that last minute shopping done. the gridlock is back, when the light turns green, maybe 3 or 4 cars are making it through the intersection. it's a tough night out on the roads as the snow begins to fall. reporting live, scott broome, 9news now. >> one long, continuous rush hour. unbelievable. scott, thanks for that. >> district officials declared a snow emergency yet again. cars parked on snow emergency routes can be ticketed and towed if you don't move them. mayor adrian fenty was delivering meals and he updated residents on the preparations. >> i don't know how these crews could work harder than they have. they are doing double shifts. they have been working through the night. you guys have been to our briefing. you have seen these guys. they are amazing. they are working on very little sleep and you know, more snow than washington, d.c. has ever seen. >> after delivering the meals

to the seniors, mayor fenty encountered a howard university student who is trying to dig her car out of the snow. time for a check to see how the roads are right now. are we talking gridlock? >> gridlock in some places, that's for sure. in terms of road conditions, of course, interstates fairing better. side streets not so much. things quickly change, especially on routes like 270 here, where snow is coming down in many places, especially further up north. we are seeing some moderate snow coming down, moderate traffic as well. no major problems. let's switch over to 66 in virginia, where we have a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane. you can see, so we are seeing some delays from route 29 all the way up to route 234. this is where it's happening. so far, no major accidents. let's keep it that way. there are lots of slick spots out there. on 395 in virginia, definitely jammed traffic right now, all the way from washington boulevard all the way to pass duke to the mixing bowl.

95, all lanes are still open. definitely lots of snow amounts we are dealing with and visibility loss. definitely watch out for that. a quick note for metro, all metro right now opened, but, for now mark canceled its line and also metro is honoring its ticket on the green line, back to you. >> all right, thanks. even as the next winter storm bears down on our area, some area residents are waiting for the lights to come on after the last blizzard. at last check, pepco reports 5700 outages. and 117 in the district. virginia power has 497 customers without power and bge reports 594 power outages. and what's worse, some people who are without power haven't seen a plow in their neighborhood, either.

at one condominium complex, residents had to take matters into their own hands. michael joins us live with that story. michael. >> reporter: here in laurel and across prince georges county, we are talking 90% of the side streets are clear, just as this new storm starts to arrive. however, at one condo complex, digging out from the last snow took a coordinated effort. it is back breaking work. in at the villas, they aren't just shoveling sidewalks. >> i came out here this morning at about 8:30, 9:00. >> since that time, they have been clearing the entire parking lot. an area barely touched by a plow since the flakes started falling. >> we have been out here all morning shoveling out a parking lot that could have been plowed on friday and we've done it all by hand. >> it started with just one. >> well, i looked out my window and i saw one person beginning to shovel his car out. >> oh man. >> quickly turned into a

community effort. >> neighbors helping neighbors, snacks and all. >> baked some cookies and handed out to the guys. >> trying to get the digging done before the next storm arrives. >> this snow, if it comes again, i think we can all handle it. we don't want to, but if it comes, we are ready for it. >> but that's really only half the story. we actually went to the management company that runs this condo complex. its president followed us back here and was confronted by residents. that heated exchange and the response new tonight at 6:00. for now, live in laurel, michael, 9news now. >> thank you, michael. people without power now have two additional overnight shelters in montgomery county. one is located at the gwendolyn coffield community center. richard montgomery high school will remain open as well. people planning to go to those facilities should bring all

their medications and personal supplies with them and one more thing, pets, except for service animals, are not permitted. >> so what if your street isn't plowed and there's a full scale emergency at your home? dave is in our storm safety center with more on what area fire and ems departments are doing to get ready for this next storm. >> all the area fire departments had an emergency action plan in place for the last storm. they generally thought it went well with adding firefighters, additional fire trucks and ambulances, but many of the area jurisdictions have beefed up one area and a number of plows are available now to help get their fire trucks to your emergency. >> all area jurisdictions are trying to their best to prevent what happened in saturday night, be fairfax firefighters couldn't get their fire trucks to a burning home. as you can imagine, it's frustrating to the firefighters and devastating to the homeowner. >> this is out of the norm for us. >> yeah. >> we feel helpless. >> the fire department knows

everything gets slowed down quite a bit with that much snow on the ground. even though arlington firefighters were able to make it down the street on sunday evening, their response time was slowed by the road conditions. roads now, fewer fire trucks can get close to the burning structure. you've heard the warning about digging out hydrants near your home. at last night's apartment fire, firefighters had difficulties hooking up to a hydrant. there was a close call, and there was a collapse. another came off a third balcony. breaking the firefighter's fall. >> the fire departments are doing for this latest storm. additional staffing, more hands to help out. extra fire trucks and ambulances placed. national guard assistance in most jurisdictions will humvees, snowplows assigned to groups of fire stations and

radio contact with county, state, and city plows to assist in a big emergency. and they are opening emergency operation center. improvisation is the key. we watched on sunday, lesli and anita, where one fire crew used a skid to take a patient across the snow bank because they don't get their ambulance anywhere close. back to you. >> thank you so much. sky 9 was over the scene of a roof collapse; it happened at an auto repair garage. a man in his 60s who was getting down from the roof on a ladder at the time, when that roof collapsed, was hurt. eyewitnesses say the man was trying to clear the snow. stay w-9news now for the latest on this next winter storm. it is approaching. we'll is continuing coverage of our website as well. wusa9.com and we'll be on the air all day tomorrow morning beginning at 4:30 a.m. with wall to wall storm safety coverage. >> some people trying to get out of town ahead of the next storm are not having much luck

at area airports. we'll have a live report coming up next. plus, metro rail is up and running aboveground again, but for how long? cold out here. i'm topper shutt. we have light snow, nothing very heavy, although that's ted, let's go to live doppler 9,000. some heavy snow south of town, just to the north of fredericksburg, as we go down 95. this is heavy activity. let's look at live doppler 9,000. down towards stafford, north of fredericksburg, it's creeping up to the north. we'll be back with a full forecast and snowfall accumulations. stay tuned.

welcome back. storm safety alert coverage, you are looking at a live shot from the key bridge and it's going to be a full ride home tonight. topper has the latest on the winter storm coming up. metro subways finally begin operating aboveground this morning, but not on all of the blue lines. sky 9 was over largo, which is one of five stations where trains were out of service. it has been reopened. enough snow was removed from the tracks to allow service in

30 minute intervals. a limited number of metro buses also hit the road again after the last storm. >> all right, airlines are canceling flights today and tomorrow because of the next storm, and we can tell you this was the scene today at dulles, where crews were busy clearing snow from the runways. southwest airlines says it will not fly to or from bwi through tomorrow afternoon. if you have those travel plans, call ahead before heading to the airport. lou turner joins us live from reagan national airport where many people did not heed that warning. lou. >> exactly. in the last 30 minutes, looking down on the runway, we haven't seen one flight take off, really early really early calm. the best advice right now before you come here is to call

ahead. >> so i just decided to come to the airport and see what i could do. >> maybe not the best idea, gw freshman ever had. >> we have a long weekend, so i'm trying to get home to see my family. >> so, with classes canceled, he thought he'd head to houston a little early. didn't work out for him. >> they have cancel add great number of their late afternoon and evening flights. >> airport spokesperson, tara hamilton's advice. >> don't come here hoping to get on a flight, because it's going to be difficult. >> i wish i knew. would have saved me a cab ride. >> out $40 in cab fare and no home cooking this week, but he's taking it all in stride. >> i'm a little disappointed. i wanted to see my family. i guess i'm in dc for the weekend. >> yeah, despite classes being canceled, our college student learned a little lesson today. now as for tomorrow, looks like

dulles and reagan will be closed. no flights into or out of those airports because of all the snow. in the meantime, reagan international, i'm lou turner, 9news now. >> thanks for that. we appreciate hundreds of flights canceled in and out of chicago's airports. the same storm headed our way is expected to drop up to a foot in illinois. and southwest airlines says it won't resume flights until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. evacuation orders have been issued in southern california. people living in mud covered neighborhoods north of los angeles are bracing for another major rainstorm. 43 homes were damaged when mud roared through lacanada flintridge. i'm going to give you these ones. >> it's where my sister lives. >> she is far enough from the mountains not to have a

problem. those in the mountains get the mud slides. >> bad stuff going around everywhere. >> yes, it is. heavier snow now earlier today, north and west of town and it is filling in. so, here we go. get ready, but i want to emphasize, doesn't matter how much know snow is going to fall today, it's the winds that will be our nemesis. let's go to the computer. i'll break the storm down for you a little bit. it's a dangerous coastal storm. you know what i said when i left home tonight? i said honey, prepare to lose electricity, if you are prepared, you're okay. winds tonight not a problem. northeasterly at 10 to 15. but, on wednesday, we're looking at winds 15 to 25 miles per hour and gusty and then on wednesday afternoon, 20 to 40 miles per hour with even higher gusts. even higher gusts, okay. so this is the key critical time late tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon, that's going to be critical and again, snow is the problem for us, but

the winds are going to be worse. here is the satellite picture, radar combined. it filled in. the heaviest snow started first up in martinsburg, it is now pretty much everywhere and notice moisture down to the south. that second storm, which is going to be our storm, the coastal storm. the storm that will generate the most storm for us is now just off the carolina coast, beginning to intensify. let's send it outside to meteorologist, devon lucy, with snow totals and live doppler. >> we want to let you know in the northwest, we had some snow going on. some light snow flurries and beginning of the snowstorm that is going to be a thicker, wetter snow until we transition to the more dryer snow tomorrow. we are streaming our super ruler over here, too. we are starting the baseline at 16 inches. we compacted the snow. you can check out that super ruler to see how much snow we put on top of it. first i want to show you northeast of washington where we had snow earlier.

we had reports in howard county. baltimore, howard, and carol counties, where we will see the heaviest snows as we go through tomorrow. as we go towards the bay, that's where we are seeing heavier snowfalls go on. into the southern parts of maryland, some heavier snows, could be 2, 3 inches total per hour. now we go into northern virginia and we see heavier bands. moving northeast, before too long, should be near, probably the ocaquan and into springfield. a couple snow totals as we go into howard county and maryland. we have that heavy snowfall report. frederick, virginia, we've had reports all the way up to 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches of snow already topper. >> very interesting to see those heavy bands south of town. 1 to 2 inches from now until 6:00. 1 to 3 inches between 6:00 p.m. and midnight. an additional 1 to 3 between

midnight and 6:00 a.m. 3 to 6 inches, that will be our busiest time from early in the morning wednesday until wednesday at noon. it will taper off noon to 6:00 p.m. a 4 to 14 inches is the total and no, these numbers don't add up to that, but i have to cover a lot of ground. 4 inches down to charles county and 14 inches all the way up into howard county. in fact, here is the map that explains it for you. 6 to 12 around metro. 4 to 6 down to the south. 2 to 4 in the northern neck. 12 to 20 plus as you go howard county. snow, heavy by dawn, mixed to the south and east. 3 to 6 inches tonight. 24 to 30 for lows. temperatures right now, 32 at national. still in the 20s in frederick. 28 in winchester and 28 also in baltimore. tomorrow morning, windy and cold with snow. 3 to 6 inches. 20s to around 30. by afternoon, the snow tapers off. 1 to 2 inches, but the winds

pick up at 20 to 40 miles per hour and gusty. and really that is about the worst thing that could head our way. next seven days, 30 tomorrow, windy through thursday. 35 on thursday, and the 30s on friday and saturday. a little system on sunday and monday, got a little light snow possible. so it went from a flake to a little more consistent snow and 32 on monday. snow should end in the morning and talking maybe an inch or two. and 36 again on tuesday. so it stays cold, which is good, because we have a lot of moisture locked up in this snow. we want it to gradually melt. >> we would like to see a warmup, but not too fast. >> we don't want flooding. >> topper, thank you. the recalls just keep coming for toyota. >> the auto is recalling half a million prius and other hybrids worldwide. we'll have the latest coming up. first, we'll take a live look at the vdot salt zone. the one, two punch has tested our local transportation

departments. there you see them getting ready for round two, as topper was saying. fourth storm in ten days. we have more information coming up about salt supplies later in the newscast. our storm safety alert coverage continues. ( music playing ) if toyota gets credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to anyone.

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it was a positive day today on wall street. the dow jones finished up more than 150 points to close at 10,508. the nasdaq gained 25 points and the s & p 500 jumped 13 points. toyota announced another recall after days of headlines of failing brakes. recalled about 437,000 prius and other hybrid vehicles. the move is the latest in a string of embarrassing problems. the world's largest auto maker. >> together, we will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers. >> washington transportation

department says it is staying in close contact with toyota and federal safety officials say they are now examining complaints from toyota corolla owners about steering problems. the prius recall should receive their notices starting next week. president barack obama signed an executive order today to combat childhood obesity. a huge problem. it's an issue the first lady has been focusing on since her role at the white house. the order will coordinate various initiatives and provide kids with healthier meal options as well as support for their parents. it's not just area families who are getting more supplies today. >> that's right, area road crews also stocking up with more of what they need. tonight, their shipment has come in. >> another 10 to 20 inches of snow targets the mid atlantic as people are digging out from the last storm.

in washington, i'm wit jonson with that coming up. >> stay with us, our storm alert coverage continues. g÷gyç

you're watching 9news now's

continuous storm coverage. >> well, with more winter weather coming our way to the nation's capital. members of congress are taking the rest of the week off. the house of representatives already announced it will not meet again until next monday and no votes are scheduled until at least then. wit johnson joins us live from capitol hill with the latest. hi. >> lesli, washington, d.c. can hardly function at the moment, even walking down a city sidewalk is a difficult task. most of the people we spoke to today say they are sick and tired of the snow, and yet they are bracing for more. >> still, he wishes he was working in his toasty office. >> between being at my desk and doing this, i prefer being at my desk. >> he is finally freeing his car after being stuck at home for days, and another winter storm is supposed to sock washington within hours. and this one could pile on as much as 20 more inches on top of the 18 to 30 already on the ground. >> we generally don't get too

much snow like this where i'm from in oregon. it's impressive. >> thousands of people still don't have power. knocked out by the historic blizzard. utility companies have called in reenforcements from the carolinas and are asking customers to be patient. >> airlines are trying their best to get as many flights out of dc as possible. if you dent get out ahead of the storm, you are probably stuck. travel troubles led lawmakers to cancel everything on the schedule for the rest of the week. just a few blocks from the capital, baldwin tom used his days off to dig off the area around his house. >> we have been working for three days. the car is cleared up, we cleared up the back ally to our car. >> nation's capital needs only nine more inches to make it the snowiest winter in the city's history. just in time for this next storm, hundreds of thousands of tons of road salt arrived in

our area. the first of nine supply shipped scheduled docked. each one carries 40,000 tons of salt. the shipments will be distributed to road crews in maryland, virginia, and pennsylvania. a montgomery county spokesperson says that county has 100 trucks going back and forth to baltimore to pick up these crucial supplies. >> over in virginia, vdot crews are getting ready for another long haul. in alexandria, fallen trees are going to make things even tougher for them. ximmer joins us live from alexandria with the latest. beau. >> they are going to need that salt because there's a lot of work that needs to be done over the next several days. this is a 24 hour operation. these crews working around the clock in 12 hour shifts, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 7:00 p.m., the next round of crews will be coming in, working until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. they are going to do their best to keep these roads open and

operational for as long as possible. >> vdot crew member working the roads across areas of northern virginia are trying to catch up on the last storm while at the same time, gearing up for the next one. >> we are trying to get ready for it. we certainly didn't ask for it, mother nature has her own method. >> since january 29, crews have been on 12 hour shifts, alternating 24 hours around the clock. >> have to imagine this gets exhausting. >> it does, my wife refers to herself as the snow widow. i have been home six hours. >> one after another, salt trucks line up. in springfield, where some of these trucks are heading, they are expected to put down as much as 800 tons of salt on roadways in that area alone. >> once the snow starts tracking on the pavement, we then shoot salt, we apply salt

to the pavement. we allow that time to kind of work itself, to start melting, and once we get 2 inches or more, we start to the plow operation. >> a big job for these guys in store. we can also tell you that a lot of these guys don't necessarily live right here in the area. some live as far as an hour or two away and then when the snow complicates the driving situation, you can only imagine they have to work this 12 hour shift, then drive all the way home, then drive all the way back to work. so a lot of driving for these guys and a lot of them are staying in local hotels, so they don't have to be out on the roadways. of course they are urging all the public to avoid playing as well. 9news now. >> anything we can do to make their jobs easier. thank you. there are some streets in our area that no amount of salt or sand could help. just check out the 1100 block of 33rd street, just off of m

street in northwest washington. the road had to be blocked off because several cars got stuck in the snow and ice, not to mention the large tree branches that have fallen on to the roadway. >> and speaking of roadways, there are a lot of them that look just like that. >> oh yeah, we are seeing a lot of side streets not plowed. main routes like you are seeing on 495, looking better, but with snow coming down, that could quickly change the situation a lot of slick spots out there, so no excuse to speed, especially on the ramps where it can be very, very icy. let's head out to 395, the slowest stretch of the day so far in terms of traffic. bumper to bumper here from washington boulevard, all the way to duke. no accidents. still, factor in some extra time if you are headed in that direction tonight. a real time map, as we head out over there, reveal a couple problems in virginia. first, a crash, gw parkway here is closed due to this accident,

heavy delays approaching. 66 westbound, disabled vehicles still blocking the right lane here on route 234. we are seeing delays, all these red cars, all the way back to route 29. we are going to wrap it up with a shot of the key bridge, where we are seeing traffic coming in to georgetown as we take that shot and there we go, we are seeing a lot of traffic on key bridge from rocklin, no accidents. if you are coming into district, no parking on emergency routes, you will get towed and $250 ticket. lesli, anita, back to you. >> all right, stay with 9news now for the latest on our next winter storm. we'll have continuing coverage of our website, wusa9.com and we will be on the air all day tomorrow morning beginning at 4:30 a.m. with wall to wall storm alert safety coverage. we'll be right back.

well, it's a super celebration in the big easy. it's quiet on our video. oh my goodness. we are looking live at a parade celebration. it's about to begin. thousands of fans are lining the parade route to see their favorite players on borrowed marti gras floats. the saints went over four decades before they got to the super bowl, where they beat the indianapolis colts on sunday, 31-17. now that is more like it. big parade. >> that's right. you and good will ambassador is in haiti this week. today, she met with the representative of the recovery mission, the jolie, pitt foundation donated $1 million

to the organization, doctors without borders to provide emergency care to the earthquake survivors. an update on the death of nancy kerrigan's father. the figure skater's 70-year-old dad suffered a neck injury so severe, it damaged his voicebox. his 45-year-old son admitted putting his hands around his neck. mark kerrigan pleaded not guilty to assault charges and is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. it's cold and already starting to show out there. >> and tonight, some people are without power. we'll tell you how your efforts to stay warm don't have unintended consequences, and topper. >> a little covering on the deck here. it's not sticking that fast. we'll take you out with live doppler. you can access this via the web. it is filling in around the metro area. a couple things i want to point out to you north of fredericksburg. one, heavy snow around woodbridge, but notice the yellow and the orange. that is actually sleet.

we are talking about a mix south and east. we'll talk about the mix and heavy snow. more weather next. xxówóióiói

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get selsun blue for itchy dry scalp. strong itch-fighters target scalp itch while 5 moisturizers leave hair healthy. selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. welcome back. storm safety coverage, a lovely shot there of the u.s. capital. we have more winter weather and high winds on the way. snow starting to fall in our area. today, federal offices and agency close and lawmakers taken the rest of the week off. topper has the latest on the winter storm coming up. >> the icicles hanging from your gutters set a picture perfect winter scene, they are the sure sign of ice damming and that's a possible. that's the problem where water runoff backs up and creates a pool of water that can leak into your home, causing damage to your walls, ceiling, and insulation. here's what you can do. make sure you have proper insulation. replace smaller vents with

larger vents. install an electric vent fan that will pull outside air into the attic to keep the temperature inside consistent. and many people are turning to alternative heat sources to save money, but if they are not used properly, you and your loved ones could end up paying a higher price. in a matter of seconds -- >> this demonstration at the district's fire and ems training academy shows just how quickly flames canignite from a space heater and fill a room with deadly toxic smoke. >> it's dark, it's fast, and fire typically will double in size every minute or so. >> for penny pinching homeowners, who add an extra layer of warmth, district fire officials say if you plug in a space heater, take the proper safety measures before you flip it on. >> general rule of thumb is just give a space heater space. >> a good distance, 3 feet away

from any furniture, clutter, or other combustible materials. >> mostly, space heaters that you can purchase today have those protective shields, safeguards. >> safeguards like built in shutoff switches, just in case it overheats or tips over. >> this is the type, it's all self-contained. it's oil. it's like a radiator, but it's really the safest. so you aren't exposing any combustibles to heating elements directly. >> fan or coil versions, where the heat elements are visible could be used under the watchful eye of an adult. >> they can malfunction or break open. >> and it is illegal to use fuel burning care seen and propane heaters in district. >> we've had situations in surrounding jurisdictions, where people put gasoline or improper fuel in a heater, and that is a bomb, you know, it's a very explosive situation. >> safety experts say to keep this from happening to you, use good common sense, if you use a

space heater to nip the chill in your home. >> fire experts would prefer you bundle up in a sweater or sweatshirt to ward off the cold. extension cords are a big no. make sure it is heavy duty. if not, it will over heat. do not run that extension cord under a rug, under some carpet, or any high track area. you never want to plug a space heater into an over loaded electrical outlet. >> so important. as we were hearing from dave, our fire crews are making sure they can get there, but they are going it be slowed down. >> you should never leave space heaters unattended. all right, here's the deal. we have moderate snow out there across the metro area. we will start with the computer and get to doppler in a second. here's the deal. pretty dangerous coastal storm. we will see our fair share of snow, winds we are worried about. just be prepared to lose

electricity. tonight, no problems. winds 10 to 15. winds, 15 to 25. by afternoon, winds 20 to 40 miles per hour and gusty. and that is going to be a problem. satellite picture, radar combined, good bands of snow. a little bit of a mixed line south of fredericksburg. we talked about it mixing south and east yesterday. we talked about it again today, particularly south and east of town and east of i-95. now, for the latest on live doppler and snowfall totals, we'll go outside to devon. >> we can tell firsthand what is happening in northwest dc. last time i checked, this is now a steady light snow. let's go to live doppler 9,000. we get a look at what's going on. north, northwest of the district first of all, up around martinsburg and hagerstown, that's where we seen some heavy snow bands for the last couple of hours. we are getting snow reports of up around 2 1/2 inches of snow.

towards washington county, where we are getting 3 1/2 to 4 in snow reports in parts of west virginia, where that steadier snow has been going on. south of us, this is where we are looking at the possibility of heavy snow, changing over to areas of sleet. just called my brother down in woodbridge, and he says it is heavier snow. south of that, it is turning into sleet and that is making progress off to the north. that is going to be a big trick. we'll be following that very closely. we expect a mix in of sleet south and east of 95 through periods through tonight, where we get that sleet. we'll have a lot lesser snow amount. by the time we transition to all snow for everyone, as we bring a much colder air, that's where the heaviest snow is going to go. top. >> let's break down the timetable. for the next couple of minutes, 1 to 2 inches. overnight, 2 to 6 inches. the biggest band of snow will be 3 to 6 inches and it tapers

off in the afternoon. wide range, 4 to 14 inches. 4 inches toward southern charles county. 14 inches toward howard county. here's the band. 6 to 12 around the metro. there's your bulls eye. lesser amounts as you go south into st. mary's county. tonight, snow, heavy by dawn, a mix south and east, 3 to 6 inches. low temperatures, 24 to about 30. temperatures are right around the freezing mark downtown, but those above freezing towards fredericksburg and in the 20s up towards frederick. windy and cold with snow in the morning. 3 to 6 inches. temperatures 20 to around 30. by afternoon, windy and cold, maybe another inch or two, but again, winds northwesterly at 20 to 40 miles per hour. that could still produce some near blizzard conditions. took this picture on the way to work. that's a street sign, there's the car. please be careful when you are trying to cross intersections. you cannot see on coming

traffic. take it easy. next seven days, 30 tomorrow, snow tapers off. 35 on thursday. 30s on friday and saturday. watch another system sunday into monday. kind of a clipper-like system. well, could produce 1, 2, 3 inches of snow and it will be cold once that passes and temperatures only about 36 on tuesday. so winter storm warnings continue through 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. >> as far as people driving tomorrow, when is it going to be the most treacherous situation? >> morning to mid afternoon. >> all right topper, thank you. >> the approaching storm has the medical community on high alert. do you have what you need at home to minimize the chances of an emergency? a medication checklist up next. >> and don't forget, we are always on at wusa9.com. stay with us, our storm safety alert coverage continues. 9news now is sponsored by the university of maryland university college.

welcome back to our storm safety alert coverage. you're looking at a live picture from union station. topper will bring us the latest on this winter storm coming up. the national kidney foundation put out a call for more volunteers with four-wheel drive volunteers to give kid kidny dialysis patients a ride. a week without dialysis can be fatal. doesn't look like the correct video, but if you can help, go to wusa9.com. now, in getting ready for this next round of dangerous winter weather, do you have enough medication on hand to weather the storm? it's a crucial question pharmacists are asking. >> i would recommend to set up a network of friends and family that you have phone numbers

for, that you can contact in case you can't get out. >> patients should really think about putting together a prescription list, a medication list that lists the names of the drugs they are on, the dosing, the frequency of dosing and the physician's name and number. keep that on their person or keep it in the house so that in case there's an emergency and you are unable to have that information at your fingertips, someone will be able to have it for you. >> a particular concern, those who depend on insulin for treatment of diabetes, also anyone with a life threateningery should have a pen on hand in case of a reaction. and mace sure you have a rescue inhaler available. 9news now at 6:00 starts right now. >> from the first local station with news in high definition, this is 9news now. >> and we continue our storm safety alert coverage. topper shutt is tracking the snowfall, the potential amounts

and he joins us from the weather center with the latest. top. >> it's going to be a dangerous storm in terms of wind. we are going to get some snow. nothing like what we saw over the weekend. the wind is going to be the real problem. that said, let's start with live doppler 9,000. we have some heavy bands of snow in parts of mt. e trough area. particularly up to the north, up towards frederick, smithburg, that area reports 1 to 2 inches here from martinsburg from middletown and myersville and also westminster. this is heavy snow. you see this purple stuff, that's pretty heavy. even the dark blue is moderate snow. pretty good snow as you go up 270 and eventually into frederick. we also have some heavier bands down to the south. and this is where we are going to watch the transition and just see, you know, exactly how much is going to change the sleet. we talked about it mixing to sleet, which is one reason why we are giving such a wide range. wood bridge, we