from the first local station with news in high definition this is 9 news now. good morning. welcome to 9 news now special winter storm coverage. it is friday, february 26th. howard bernstein is here with weather. angie goff has our traffic. we begin with a look at the latest closings and delays and there are some this morning -- wusa9.com. let's start off with howard. high wind warning, right. >> winter weather advisory north and east of washington including montgomery and howard and frederick and prince georges counties north and east and anne arundel, as well. so we'll talk about that. start with the winds because that's the bigger concern than the snow. ghetto this map.

the area in the light blue is a high wind warning. we define that as having one hour of sustained winds. we are having that through 6:00 p.m. the latest winds 44 hagerstown, 43 winchester. we had gusts last night in kaiser, west virginia to 57 and few spots 52. philly gusting to 43. martinsburg, 51-mile an hour wind gust right now. it is blowing fierce out there and they will be with us the entire day. the storm itself is spinning not far from new york. maybe in to hartford with heavy snow to our south. to the south and west and some of that snow is getting closer to us. see the heavier snow in to pennsylvania. go to doppler hd and show you the snow north and east. moderate across baltimore

county. tough ride up 83 and northeastern car carroll county. a couple of spots where we have advisories like anne arundel county. see the snow on 97 and 32. going through the bw parkway over to 95 and jessup, ellicott city over to columbia, as well. this is more so baltimore than us but the belief is some of the snow will rotate through. as you head to clarksburg, we have lighter flurries and snow showers there and those counties, by the way are under winter weather advisories. we can show you those advisories on the weather computer. prince georges, this is northern prince georges rather than southern prince georges and only knoll noon. with the blowing around there will be some problems at times certainly while you are driving around this morning and even when the snow showers taper off. we have winter storm warnings east. already a foot plus in parts of garrett county, preston and tucker, west virginia and they could get another foot with the

upslope snows. before i go, talk temperatures which are in the upper 20s and low 30s. wind chills in the teen and low 20s. a lot going on weather wise. back in a few moments. right now it is 4:43. t -- if, everybody. it is early and we are seeing problems, some weather related. the 270 spur at wisconsin avenue an accident is blocking all lanes. as we move over to kensington and the kensington parkway is closed between beach drive and connecticut avenue because of downed wires. on the outer loop in maryland, looks like everyone is moving at speed. the wind is shaking our camera here. a live shot at university. different situation in virginia on the beltway at route 1 on the left shoulder. that's where we have crash activity and 395 northbound no incidents or accidents. very light traffic past duke street to the 14th street bridge. that's a look at the roads around the region.

back to you. in other news this morning, a man sentenced to life behind bars is back on the street this morning. a judge sentenced raymond taylor to life in prison for a 2005 attempted murder charge. officers say he tried to kill his exgirlfriend and her two daughters in baltimore. thursday, the prison accidentally released taylor because he was being held in a cell with another inmate who was scheduled to be let out. >> taylor was placed in a cell with inmate johnson, which you the first mistake here as we move along in this process. >> reporter: if you know where taylor is or have seen him in the area, police want you to call 911. a teenager in maryland is facing charges after an accident that sent two of his friends to the hospital. it happened thursday morning near appleton high school in columbia. the 17-year-old tried to drive across the intersection when he collided with a trash truck. the impact forced the teen's car in to a volvo with a mother

and a baby inside. >> all of his friends were in the guidance this morning. everyone is here for them. >> reporter: do you get nervous when you go to that intersection every day. >> i actually do. because there is no light it is dangerous. >> reporter: the young driver faces charges of negligent driving and violating a restriction on his provisional license that all passengers be belted. two passengers in the teen's car were sent to the hospital. both are expected to recover. the national transportation safety board says it will use new information from a public hearing as it determines what caused last year's fatal metro train crash. the three-day hearing exposed glaring shortcomings including a warning not to reconfigure electronic components on the system that is supposed to keep trains from hitting each other. the mother were on the crash victims says there is still no closure. >> i have a bigger job to go

and tell my grand kids that their mother died because nobody is doing their job. it's sad. it's really sad. >> reporter: official findings on the cause of the crash are not expected for several months. a trip on metro will cost you more this weekend. fares will increase by a dime starting on sunday. the transit agency is trying to make up for $189 million budget short fall because of declining ridership and it's not the only one. the fairfax connector increases fares by 10 cents on sunday. montgomery county ride-on will charge 10 cents already and dash will start 25 cents more starting july 1st. akio toyoda met with people

in georgetown. it was halted for construction. on wednesday he answered lawmakers questions about the automaker and the massive vehicle recall. president obama says he plans to move ahead with health care reform with or without the help of the gop. his comment came at the end of a day long bipartisan summit on the issue. >> we cannot have another year- long debate about this. so, the question i'm going to ask myself, and i ask of all of you is, is there enough serious effort that, in a month's time or a few weeks ' time or six weeks ' time we could actually resolve something? >> house and senate leaders plan to conduct a head count in the next few days to see if they have the votes to push a bill through congress with no gop help.

still ahead, looks like we will leave the month much like we start it's it with more wintry weather. we will show you where the plows are already out. new details in the death of a trainer attacked by a killer whale. we'll be right back.

welcome back. hey, everybody, the wind is blowing and we downed wires in kensington. the parkway is closed between beach drive and connecticut avenue. more tieups to avoid early on. i will have them coming up. in the news now at 4:40 an autopsy shows a sea world trainer died of drowning and multiple injuries after a killer whale attacked her. sea world officials now say tilikum will not be isolated from other whales and he will continue to work with the trainers at orlando park. on wednesday horrified witnesses say the 12,000-pound animal grabbed dawn brancheau from her pony tail and dragged her underwater. a prosecutor wants her brot

in 1986. the death was ruled an accident. bishop is the woman accused of killing three faculty colleagues at university of huntsville. another blast of winter weather slams the tristate. the slow-moving storm is packing heavy wet snow and high winds that created whiteout conditions nearly 2,000 utility customers in new jersey are without power. still ahead, on 9 news now, if the walls at dematha could talk they would have some stories. they close their legendary gym. we have high wind warning for everybody and a winter weather advisory for some. we will tell you about some amazing wind we speeds we have already had and what we can expect for the rest of the weekend.

you want to talk about a home court advantage, dematha in their home gym never lost for years and the coach coached all of the 46 seasons and last night they closed the door on the building. final game at the wooten gym. dozens of alumni came back to say good-bye including wooten himself to address the crowd and they sent the old one out with a w. james robinson to david naves for for the throw down and then gant, the son of bullets star harvey grant, dematha closes the gym with a 14-point game over good counsel. a couple of levels up. we hardly knew yes. he was released by the wizards before he ever played a game here. saved the wizards $1.5 million and allows him to resign with cleveland in 30 days if he

likes. butler is embroiled in straw gate. many fans know he likes to chew on straws particularly mcdonald's straws. people are having fun with it but the nba ruled he needs to stop. they didn't explain why. the may appeal. the list of things the nationals needed this season was so long it should have been printed on one of the scrolls like the one santa uses for the gifts. but the first on the list would have been marquis. he won 15 games if they are rockies last year. he posted double-digit wins each of the last six seasons. the stabilizing force the nationals needed. >> i'm going to try to come here and bring veteran leadership. there's a good core of players that have an opportunity to do something here. they have to realize their potential and stay with it and

they can help this team win. >> you think he is a british fella? >> no new york. have a great friday, everybody. >> the weather is the news. that's why i'm here in the weather center with howard. how high are the gusts. >> 50 to 60 miles an hour the last few hours and that's a problem, especially through the morning and middle of the day perhaps later in the afternoon things will lay down but as i wrote on my facebook post, if you haven't friended me, go ahead. i put weather there all the time. if you have garage pick up, wait until next week because your garbage will end up in richmond. >> that's the minor problems when you think of the branches and trees and power outages and i expect more as the morning progresses and snow. we will throw that in for friends north and east. let's talk about the wind gusts. some are up on the weather

computer. some peak wind gusts in to early this morning -- the next three days, very windy and some snow this morning, especially north and east of washington. tomorrow 43, breezy. could be flurries tomorrow night. sunday we are back with 45. a much better day by sunday. the momslikeme.com bus stop forecast very windy with snow showers north and east of washington. 25 to 32. sunrise 6:45. wind chill is a big factor this morning. in the teens in most areas. the wind warning until 6:00 with snow showers this afternoon. gusts 4 -- 40 to 60 miles an hour. in the mid-30s with west winds 15 to 35. a few flurries are possible and 25 to 30.

the mountains. the latest wind gust, upper 30s, dover, philly, georgetown 43. and out to the west, oakland and garrett county gusting to 36. where the snow is flying big time. the mountains could get a foot and a half of snow on the upslope. same story across parts of new york and new jersey and eastern pennsylvania. our winds are gusting now, low 30s at national. 40 at dulles, 51 in martinsburg. the storm itself is a deep storm. imagine you make a fist and pound it in a pot of water. the water will go to fill the hole. similar thing here. the air is rushing in to fill the deep ear of low pressure and that's why we are getting the winds. we are getting the snow trying to come back. show you live doppler hd. we have expanded winter weather advisories. you see the snow around baltimore but it is getting in to areas in the north now.

here it is. bwi in to northern anne arundel counties tries to get in to prince georges crossing 32 up to jessup and ellicott city. howard county a few flurries now but we have to watch if that heavier band comes around. that's the same for frederick. let me show you the winter weather advisory, not out west. virginia you are not in it but areas to the north and east some warnings. on the eastern shore they have been lowered to winter weather advisories from warnings. winds, temperatures first, upper 20s to low 30s out there with the wind chills now mid teens to mid-20s. a very cold day. looking at 31 now. wind chill 18 and a sustained wind out of the west at national at 22. look at that pressure. 29.4. here's the seven-day forecast. no time for national, sorry, folks. we have wind and the snow this morning north and east. wind will be through today. weekend looks better.

next week while we will warm up we have a coastal storm we will watch closely for next wednesday. if that happen it will be more trouble and highs in the 30s. it is friday. hope you have -- hope you are off to a great start. brewing that coffee. make it a great day. 270, northbound is closed between the beltway and old georgetown road because of crash activity. we are noticing that out in kensington, the kensington parkway is closed in both directions. this is beach drive and connecticut avenue because of blowing winds and downed wires. you expect to see it with a lot of downed trees. as a result you can use beach drive and take it to connecticut as the alternate. moving to 66 and show you the eastbound trip. nice and quiet centreville to the beltway. back to the maps and show you the outer loop at route 1, nothing here. the accident has cleared. good news there. the inner loop is doing fine

moving at speed. and wrap with 95, outside no problems to report out of fredericksburg, past quantico to the springfield interchange. back to you. our special storm coverage continues with the latest closings and delays next. plus, we put moms, teens and bus drivers to the test. the frightening results when people try to text and drive. that's next.

hundreds of flights were cancelled before the first flakes of snow hit the ground north of us and it looked like a good idea once the snow started falling. this was the scene in row chester, new york. crews struggled to keep the runways clear. schools are dealing with delaying schools and cancellations today. -- swiss for the latest winter weather. if you are at work get updates

at wusa9.com. follow howard's forecast. go to the traffic page to check out live cameras and upload your snow pictures. it is all at wusa9.com. there are also sorts of conflicting studies out there about texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. one said there is no impact and then there are studies that say it is as dangerous as driving drunk. we decided to conduct our own informal test as part of our safe and sound campaign. as derek mcginty shows us, frankly the results were scary. >> i text and drive because i can. i have talked on the phone. >> once in a while we all do. >> i multitask better. >> reporter: teenagers, some young a professionals, a mom, a driving instructor and school bus driver, we put them to the test. >> a dry run here. >> reporter: allstate insurance set up the course.

if you hit a large cone it represents a child. the smaller is a barrier and or a curve. and a few other surprises. >> let's start. >> ringing. >> the test shows driving with one hand is bad idea. >> look out. >> i got hit by a ball. >> this teen tried to text and drive. he nearly hit the camera man. >> sorry. >> and this mom didn't do much better. >> i text and drive every day. >> i actually ran over a kid. >> even the professionals had trouble. >> i'm trying to juggle eight different things at one time here. this man teaches accident avoidance. and he can't drive much better either. >> you can't do it. >> reporter: giving our drivers a hands free device didn't help much. everybody took longer, hit a cone or missed a light.

>> i did worse on the blue tooth than the regular phone. >> really? >> yeah. >> reporter: now the school bus driver's turn. >> holy cow. where did that come from. >> she hit cones, missed obstacles and couldn't pay attention to the road. >> i do better when two hands are on the wheel, looking straight, two hands on the wheel, much better. >> that was derek mcginty reporting. each of the large cones they ran in to represents a child. virginia, maryland and dc have all some form of prohibition against driving while using a phone while driving. federal employees are already banned from texting while driving. we will tell you what to expect and when to expect it. here's angie. tgif, my friends. 95 northbound out of baltimore, hearing from howie it is

snowing a little bit but route 32. you are pretty much clear. we will more on what to expect and remember, when we are not on the air we are always on- line. everything you need to find is on wusa9.com. stay with us. we'll be right back after these messages. (vet) i love working with animals,

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