>> the big dig continues. blaze oar conditions could cause you problems this morning. good morning. welcome to 9 news now's special coverage of the latest winter storm to hit the region. it is wednesday, february 1 ath. howard bernstein and devon lucie have us covered with weather. angie will tell us about the traffic. we begin with the latest closings. as you know the weather forced most schools to keep their doors closed another morning. you can see the list at the bottom of the screen and several counties are closed school the rest of the week. here's howard. >> good morning.

no jacket, no makeup yet. i have been busy looking at stuff. >> it's okay. >> the shine. that's why we wear the tv makeup. >> wear your shades. >> we have snow out there now. we have sleet and freezing rain out there. the snow is back and expecting four to eight inches of new accumulation on top of what we already have. go to live doppler hd. we are starting to see moderate snow return to the area. not everywhere and the area pink, east of town, that is still talking sleet or freezing rain in some spots, like annapolis down through calvert county, as well. the darker blues that are showing up in the metro, everything is moving to the north and northwest as the upper storm is starting to come in and interact with the developing coastal storm. you see the heavier bands. we will zoom in and show you that really starting to pick up across montgomery county. you can see that. we will zoom in and looks like

around germantown and boyds to seneca. some dark blues. some inch and hour snow rates returning to the region. on the south and east side of town i think there is sleet mixed in. could be sleet toward woodmore and east of bowie. we have a lot of sleet and freezing rain to the east. out to the west, we are going to fairfax county and looking at moderate snow springfield to manassas. chantilly, dulles looking at moderate snow. as we widen out the picture we have a few areas starting to pick up with the snowfall around prince william county in the mountains east of martinsville, lovettsville and loudoun county. eastern loudn in to montgomery and parts of frederick and carroll. this is the heaviest snow we are seeing. go to the computer and talk about what we are expecting. we are looking at the moisture that's been coming in. the coastal snowstorm will develop, and is deepening here.

but the upper level storm is here and that's why our storm is increasing. it has increased in pennsylvania also where they are getting moderate to heavy storm, as well. the storm is coming in to ohio, virginia and eastern kentucky. outside my buddy devon lucie is enjoying the next round of winter. >> enjoying it right now because it is a little fine snow here in the the northwest. if anything a little freezing drizzle mixing in but mostly fine-grain snow falling now. but not much throw. as we saw on doppler radar we have more snow behind us. we have had blizzard warnings go up in the higher elevations of the appalachians for virginia and western maryland and most of maryland wrapping around the metro. right now no blizzard warnings for the metro, montgomery county in to the district and then i will have to check and see if prince georges is in that. but toward anne arundel and baltimore county and northern

maryland in the appalachians and wave women blizzard warnings have gone in to affect there. that's the latest look at the blizzard warnings showing up in the bright purple shades and to me, i don't believe anne arundel is included. so portions and anne arundel not included in the blizzard warning right now but baltimore and to the west that's where the blizzard warning is in affect. everyone else is under the blizzard storm warning. we will have more on the weather terrace here. >> anne arundel is part of the blizzard warning. that just came out. down through baltimore and anne arundel county along with the counties in the mountains blizzard warnings. expecting those frequent winds above 35 miles an hour along with the blowing snow. back on the weather computer, a couple more things to show you. and while we have the winter storm warnings in affect along with the blizzard warnings from 7:00 this evening. as far as snow, we are expecting by the time the snow

is over, i'm forecasting an additional four to eight inches of snow today alone with an extra eight inches of the highest totals to the north and east and the bull's eye from baltimore, northeast of baltimore through philly, through jersey, maybe new york city and western long island and parts of long island and new york are also under blizzard warning. for us, we are looking at temperatures right now which are 30-degrees in town. upper 20s to the west. it is freezing in annapolis. if you are not snowing yet, which i don't think you are, you have sleet and freezing rain but you will go back to snow and it will be moderate at times with increasing winds. we will look for the snow today. increasing winds, at times they will gust over 45 miles an hour. we have bigger problems later on. now we have gofer 0 to angie and see what is happening with the traffic this morning. >> it's been my traffic story the last week, don't drive if you don't have to and if you do

for any reason, we have seen a couple of people on the roadway, use the low beams and let other people see you. we will tour the region. eastbound at the fairfax county parkway we have problems. a disabled vehicle to the left. a lot of snow and slush on the roadways. moving over to 395, this road is blanketed by snow. you are looking at a tree because going southbound at the exit for king street, where we have a downed tree blocking all lanes. a lot of were-related incidents out there, as well. more reason to stay home if you can. in to dc we go. some roads have been plowed but most of the side roads have not. even major roads are not drivable. on the outer loop, no incidents or accidents to report. just icy slick conditions and 270 an isolated interstate. you should realize if you are out there driving, basically you are intervideo fearing with the snow removal process this

morning. give the drivers the room they need to do their job so these roads are passible once again. >> echoing what angie said, motorists are being warned conditions on the roadways could be worse the second time around. we have crews across the region including kristin fisher who is live from gaithersburg, maryland. good morning, kristin. i can see the snow falling on your shoulder. >> reporter: snow is falling and i hear it is going to get worse. this is 355 in gaithersburg. if you look behind me you can see people are hard at work. this is a snow blower and he is clearing out the curb lane trying to get that open and cleared as traffic is expected to pick up as the morning continues. the good news, 355 is looking adagios as it can this morning. we have seen this snow blower and three plows and i have been out here an hour. this is what

it looks like. i want to introduce you to darryl. i found darryl walking on the side of the road ten minutes ago and i said, darryl, what are you doing out here? what are you doing? >> i'm on the way to germantown to meet a co-worker to go to nasa and clean up snow. >> you are one of the crews we want on the road. >> we need to get on the road and it needs a little more clear and clear the sidewalks so the kids can come out and do what they have to do. >> when i started to chat with you, you told me you were waiting if oar cab. how long were you waiting for a cab. >> since 2:30. >> two hours. my goodness. i don't think that cab is coming. i don't think it is coming either. i'm going to walk to germantown and meet my co-worker. >> how long do you think it will take you to get there.

>> an hour and a half, an hour. >> oh, my gosh, you are going to walk in this for an hour and a half. >> i have to get to the money. i have to pay my bills. >> that's what you have to do in these conditions. he's willing to walk in an hour and a half in the snow to get to work. what do you think of the snowfall compared to last weekend. is it not as bad as the weekend what do you think. >> we just came home from nashville, the night before last night, i think tuesday night -- no, monday night and now we're going back today. doesn't matter, i was there all weekend. trying to get as much 0 much as possible. >> does it run together for you. i know you are working crazy hard shifts. are you having trouble keeping your days right. >> the days go by fast when you are working. they feed us up there, there is a shower and heat and everything and it works out and

the money is worth it. >> for people that have to head out on 355 today, what's your assess of the road here in gaithersburg you have been walking on. >> it sucks. it's slippery. i fell a couple of times. i'm on mission and determined to get it completed. >> darryl, i will not keep you any longer. i know you have a long journey ahead of you and i will let you get on your way but thanks for joining us. god speed getting to where you are going. so as darryl heads out in to the snow on 355, we will stand right here, andrea. we will be live here. there goes another snowplow. we will be live here all morning long. what are you saying, darryl. darryl tell me there's more people walking down. a lot of people getting an early start trying to get in to work early. but unless you have a four- wheel drive car you are going to walk. i know that we are telling everybody to stay off the roads because if you can, if at all

possible you do not want to be in these conditions but some people have to get to work and they have to do what they have to do and we will be here all morning long bringing you the latest as the second round of winter weather comes in. can you believe it? >> no, i can't. thank you, kristin. as darryl says people have to get to work. one of those people who got to work early this morning, jessica doyle. she's live in alexandria, virginia, and the snow is falling on you and belated happy birthday. we didn't get a chance to say that to you yesterday. >> it is a winter wonderland and perhaps the greatest birthday present i received is the fact i woke up this morning with only two inches on the ground falls church. the snow is really coming down now. it is very picturesque and the roads look pretty good. i drove from falls church, virginia, took columbia pike to 395, drove around the micking bowl a little bit to see what it was like and came in here,

i'm at king and royal street in alexandria. the roads are down to pavement on the main drag. you can see people driving. this woman is driving around the corner. people are driving at speed or above on the major highways because it is just that good out there until you hit alexandria. i want to show you what i found here. this is going to give you the impression of what is on the roadways. this is a hunk of ice and almost as hard as a brick. in fact it looks that way. this is stopping people in the intersections. if they are having problems on the road it is because of this, the leftover from the friday/saturday storm. it was so massive they haven't been able to get it off the roads. we saw crews driving in. they are still hitting the roadways and going out in convoys and spreading the salt and sand mixture and doing a fantastic job because the roadways are looking terrific. if you are out there this morning we are telling you to stay home obviously, unless the crews do what they are going to do but if you are a driver on

the roadways that are looking good, i want to describe to you what this precipitation will feel like to you. the fact that you can see the flakes tells you it is a snowstorm but if you are driving through it, it feels like a rain event because it is so, so wet. this moist snow that's dropping and very cold. we want to tell folks today, too if you are out an about dress in layers. this is a very cold day. something you will expect. kristin saw a lot of walkers on the road. we have seen the same thing this morning. folks just walking to work because they have to get to work. people at gas stations, grocery stores. we have a 24-hour cvs across the street. that is fully staffed this morning. we have seen people coming back and forth and talked to drivers going through the intersections here. we asked them how does it look? they say the roads are looking good. it is very good idea to have a four-wheel drive if you are going to be around. i will tell you again, very cold.

it is snowing. we are hoping it is not going to come down in buckets today but we will see how it goes. we will be here all morning. back to you. even as the winter storm bears down on our area, some area residents are waiting for the lights to come on after the blast blizzard. pepco reported a little more than 3,000 outages. 2700 of those in montgomery county. dominion virginia has 188 customers without power and bge is reporting 536 power outages. an update now on metro. the transit agency will have limited underground service today. it will open at 5:00 this morning. officials say they will work to clear the tracks quickly in hopes of resuming above-ground service, as well. metro bus and metro access will not be running at all and the dc government isn't open this morning and that may help, as well. most airlines have cancelled flights today. if you plan to fly the rest of

the week, check with your airline first before heading to the airport. we have links to all three airports on our website at wusa9.com. a snow emergency. straight ahead, we'll show you who's dealing with whiteout conditions. you are watching a special edition of 9 news now. ♪ whoa, she's a pink warrior i felt strong at the end, like--like i had conquered something. (woman) it's 60 miles of feeling invincible. "mom, you did it. you did it." she said, "you're my hero." (man) register today for the susan g. komen 3-day for the cure, the boldest breast cancer event in history. visit the3day.orgto request your informational dvd and receive a free promise ring. ♪ got an army of angels marchin' around with her ♪ (woman) we're bold. we're crazy. we're doing something out of the ordinary. i walk to show that breast cancer didn't beat me.

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welcome back. live at colesville where the roads are wet, slick and slushy. it is like this pretty much everywhere. more roads you use coming up. at times whiteout conditions maid made driving difficult in illinois yesterday. no brotherly love for philadelphia, just more snow. the city declared a snow emergency and the plows are out in full force. school is cancelled today. no flights are expected to depart before noon. another round of snow wipes

away most of the progress made on our roadways. we will detail the trouble spots. stay with us.

welcome back. storm safety alert. howard bernstein with you. looking at a live shot of the capitol right there, where the snow is starting to come down again. we had a lull overnight with sleet and freezing rain and we are coming back to all snow. it is lingering a little bit but you will go back to all snow within the next 30, 45 minutes. go to doppler hd. all the darker blue colors are moderate snow. the pink and purples is a mix of sleet and freezing rain across parts of southern maryland. we will go there now. down in newland, i spoke to bill in the northern neck, he said it is foggy but quiet there. and pax river, saint mary's city and in to calvert city,

sleet but a different intensity. it is starting to slip to moderate snow. this will be moderate sleet or moderate snow here, sort of the on the border east of brandy wine annulet of badden. that's when you get in to more snow. dark blue, talking snows three- quarters to an inch an hour accumulation at this point. right through dc. you see a little clutter around the radar site for college park, but we see moderate snowfall in many areas, especially out to fairfax county. look at this. north of vienna, this dark blue here, you see that here, it is crossing route 7 and the dulles toll road. that's moderate to heavy snow that is falling right now. we have seen some heavy snow also in montgomery county i want to show you this, as well. we are seeing it light up from bethesda to rockville. now, looks like east of 270 and east of germantown, coming up to 108 there you will run in to moderate to heavy snow.

big picture once again. we have the storm system spilling in with the snowfall as the upper low starts to get closer. show you this on the weather computer if we can. you will see the action is starting to come in. we have a storm system offshore and then the storm over ohio and kentucky moving in now. the snow is exploding in pennsylvania. we will see some of that especially in the northern hours. devon lucie is out on the terrace. it. >> is a steady light snow beginning to fall down. we have storm reports coming in and we can get a great help from you at wusa9.com, submitting your reports. bill, also telling me in schmitzsburg, maryland ten inches reported there. mountains of berkeley springs from susan, seven inches of snow

snow. parts of fairfax and spotsylvania two inches of snow. we expect more and even blizzard conditions that have been issued north, east and west of washington. howard? >> let's go to the graphics quickly. i want to show you the blizzard warning before we go. all the lighter pink colors across the northern tier includes frederick and west minuter the. going to the mountains west in eastern and west virginia, it includes most of new jersey, all of delaware, the eastern shore. bay bridge you can bet there will be wind warnings there, as well. blizzard conditions will start later this morning. a dangerous storm still to get think. here's angie with the traffic. if you have to head out for any reason, remember the cell phone, charger, bottled water, flash light. a good chance you could be stuck. roads are not looking so good.

we are seeing a lot of snow and sleet in the roadway. moving to the beltway in virginia. live from little river, roads are messy. in some cases you can't see the lanes. they are pretty much invisible. a lot of clearing to go. in maryland, we have 270 and untreated cars out here. a couple of lanes let you get by. the beltway in maryland, this is a better part of the beltway. drivers are moving without incident. and connecticut an calvert is a good example. a lot of side roads are untreated. this goes for neighborhoods in virginia and maryland and throughout dc, as well. i'll second it over to andrea. our special snowstorm coverage continues after this.

welcome back to 9 news now. storm safety alert coverage. you are looking at a live picture of downtown washington. stay with us for the latest round of winter weather. we have continuous team coverage throughout the day and at wusa9.com you can follow howard's forecast anytime you like. go to the traffic page to check out live cameras and don't forget to upload your snow pictures. it's all at wusa9.com. i think i even have one of me using the snow blower at my house. snow has led to a high demand for some local hospitals. in maryland, the holy cross hospital center is ready to take care of patients, the only problem not enough four-wheel drive cars to get everyone to

work. the hospital would like to have 100 drivers considering all of their 3200 employees are required to make it in, bad weather or not. >> over the weekend, that storm was so big that we eventually were only able to use the big four-wheel drives in a lot of places. we couldn't make it without them. >> reporter: they will also have to speed those 3200 employees and volunteers. how much snow? how long will it last? the storm safety coverage continues with the latest on your forecast and those troubled roadways. here's angie. we are looking live from the state capitol right now. a very pretty shot, but don't let it deceive you. the roads are messy, slick and treacherous. we will have a look at conditions across the region when 9 news now returns.