thanks for joining us. i'm jc hayward. it's not officially winter yet and we are already dealing with arctic temperatures. we could soon face a snowstorm -- another one. let's get right to our meteorologist anny with our forecast. >> we are talking about frigid temperatures, the wind still stick around, and yes we do have snow in the forecast. just how cold is it outside? take a look at these numbers. 31 in d.c., winchester, only upper 20s at this hour. also in oakland you're at 12 degrees. so some very cold conditions out there. the bay not as cold but still very cold. easton at 30. here's how cold it feels with

that windchill factor. gettysburg 13. many of us in the teens for the windchill. by 3:00 p.m., mostly sunny still, 32 your expected high, so we'll be hovering ritt around the freezing mark. 6:00 p.m. as you're heading home, 29 degrees under clear conditions. we'll talk about that snow coming up a little bit later. jc. >> thank you very much, anne. we have just learned that white's ferry is closed because of ice. earlier this month service was interrupted when the ferry's cable snapped. the ferry takes people and their vehicles between poolsville, maryland and leesburg, virginia. right now there's no word on when the ferry will reopen. the pentagon metro station is open after a bomb scare occurred there. the station was shut down after a suspicious package was found in the middle of this morning's

rush hour. kristin fisher reports, it turns out the suspicious package was simply showing some holiday spirit. >> reporter: a small flashing light inside a trash can on the platform of the pentagon metro station. this isn't the exact trash can in question but it's pretty close. so i imagine seeing a blinking light buried deep inside a trash can right by the pentagon. in this day and age it's not too tough to see how someone could think that it might be a bomb. but in this case it was nothing more than a battery operated blinking christmas light. >> oh, okay. >> inconvenience for us. >> we get really paranoid about a lot of little things. if it was a joke, it was a really bad joke. >> reporter: the whole thing only lasted an hour but it was enough to make a mess for morning commuters. police shut down the station. riders had to reroute. some commuters were clearly

frustrated. most people seem to agree, better safe than sorry. >> we can't help it. it's better to be safe. >> reporter: kristin fisher, 9news now. the tax plan compromise president obama reached with republicans could soon become law. the senate votes on the measure today. however, joel brown reports that that deal could get changed when it reaches the house. >> reporter: president obama made a last-minute push this morning for congress to pass the tax daily he reached with republicans. >> i am absolutely convinced that this tax cut plan while not perfect, will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. >> the senate scheduled to vote for midday and the bill is expected to pass. but house democrats are threatening to make changes. some believe the legislation takes money from social security, and others want to remove an inheritance tax cut for multimillion dollar

estates. >> $700 billion deficit doesn't make sense. alice in wonderland can believe in some things but i find that i can't. >> reporter: conservatives what hammered out the compromise say a deal is a deal. >> this agreement is not subject to being reopened. >> reporter: while most republicans in washington support the proposal some high- profile conservatives are criticizing the measure staying tax cuts don't go far enough. >> i know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of congress on both sides of the i'll object. that's the nature of compromise. >> reporter: if the deal isn't passed and signed into law by the end of the year most americans will see their taxes go up on january 1st. >> besides extending the bush- era tax cuts the bill would renew jobless benefits for the

long-term unemployed. the court-martial resumes today for an army doctor who refused deployment to afghanistan. lieutenant colonel terrence lakin pleaded guilty to one charge yesterday. he refused to deploy until president obama produced a birth certificates proving that he was born in the united states. the plea came after a military judge ruled the president's birth certificate is irrelevant to his case. the officer could be sentenced to 18 months in a military prison. someone is slashing car tires in arlington. more than 30 car owners in the langston brown neighborhood found their tires flattened. the same thing happened in that same community last october. about 20 carps targeted then. police are investigating. investigators are back on the scene of a fire in prince george's county. several families living along morgan boulevard were forced out into the cold yesterday.

the homes are just south of fedexfield in land over, maryland. it appears that the fire started in the garage of one of the homes and then quickly spread. fortunately, no one was injured. however, six families will likely have to spend their holidays in temporary housing. we have an update on a story that we first brought to you as breaking news yesterday morning. we're talking about that baltimore house fire which killed six people. the victims spanned three generations of one family. eleanor and richard scatterfield were killed. the couple's 26-year-old granddaughter and her three children also perished. and the youngest victim was just one year old. investigators are still working to find out what started that fire. there have been 18 fire-related deaths in baltimore this year. a judge has ordered a mental evaluation for an arlington man that federal agents say made threats to

explode pipe bombs on the metro system. a facebook friend of 25-year- old euness tipped off officials about the posting regarding pipe bombs at rush hour. one former high school classmate that we spoke to says he's not surprised. >> like when 9/11 happened, he clapped about it in his class. >> reporter: clapped about it and said what? >> "that's what they get. " and then they beat him up. >> he is scheduled to be in court next week for a hearing. if you live in montgomery county, we have important information. you will have a new tool to help you survive the winter. see how you can track the progress of snowplows in your neighborhood with just a click of your computer mouse.

>> please don't, please don't, please. >> but first, bullets fly at a school board meeting, and it was all caught on tape. we'll tell you what drove this man to violence when we come back. this is lieutenant colonel duane devans in kabul, afghanistan. i want to wish my family a happy holidays. thank you. 

please don't, please don't, please. >> i'm going to kill you. >> a shooting at a florida school board meeting was caught on tape. police say clay duke opened fire because he was angry that his wife was fired from her job. the superintendent was duke's target but he was not struck. meanwhile, a television news reporter who witnessed the shooting says she feared for her life. >> he said, i have a motion for you, and he pulled out his gun. that's when i hit the floor. it was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. >> security guards shot duke. he died after he shot himself. a wooden boat packed with dozens of people seeking is

asylum smashed apart and sank off christmas island, australia. residents on the cliffs above say huge waves slammed passengers against the rocks. authorities are saying that 27 people are dead and at least 30 others injured. some critically. anny hong has our forecast in just a moment. >> sunny and cold. we're watching two stores. details on that, ago with your seven-day forecast after the break.

a new on-line tool will help residents in montgomery county deal with snow a little better. our scott broom reports that a program allows users to track the progress of snow plows to determine if it's safe to venture out. >> that's the idea behind the county's new on-line snowplow mapping system. so now imagine last season's snowmageddon. you're among hundreds of thousands who are snow-bound. next time you can at least turn to computers to see how much progress plows have made on or near your street. >> if you're sitting home in a

cul-de-sac and you're trying to make an informed decision of whether you should go to the airport or head to new york city, you can now look at our map at the progress we're going to show. >> reporter: to hear county officials tell it this is a great leap forward. no, it does not mean you all get blued out any sooner. nor will it tell you exactly when one of the 400 plows is going to come rescue you. but at least you'll know where the nearest blued street is without venturing outside. you can type in your own address to start. the map features a key telling you if a particular street is clear, plowing is in progress, or the street sun touched. it maps bus stops and metro stations, and there's a link to any one of the county's nearly 200 traffic cameras. something executive ike leggett likes a lot. mapping or not, here are compton's reflections on last season's weather. >> the biggest lesson learned

is we hope it doesn't happen again. >> reporter: scott broom, 9news now. >> by the way, you can try out the new system yourself. log on to our website, wusa9.com, and look for the story under maryland news. vans and one skateboarding company teamed up to give away gear to young people. by the way there's still time for you to drop off any unwrapped toy at your local firehouse. your donation will go to the marine's toys for tots campaign. if you would like more information go to our website, wusa9.com. and now we can get the forecast, the cold forecast from anny hong.

welcome to noon. >> thank you. it looks like the cold is sticking around. we're also talking about some snow coming this way. maybe they'll get a day off from school. but not a whole lot of snow. maybe not enough to make some snowmen, but maybe outside the metro area, we'll see. we have a day planner going on here for your wednesday. we have sunny skies but still a cold day. 32 by 3:00. by 6:00 for those of you heading back home, clear skies, 29 degrees, and still we're looking at some blustery conditions but not enough for a wind advisory today. if there's any good news that's the good news. right now it's 31 here at d.c. metro area. 27 for gaithersburg. 27 in york as we head out to the west a little cooler in parts of cumberland, also 27 oakland. you're coming in at 12 degrees. we are still seeing some areas of snow develop, probably by

tomorrow or so. it feels like, once you factor in that windchill, even colder. we're talking teens, 15 in baltimore. york, 14, gaithersburg coming in at 15. washington, d.c. at metro, 20 degrees at reagan national. so yes, you want to be bundled up if you're headed out for lunch or doing errands. here's our satellite and radar picture. yes, we have sunny skies, clear skies tonight. so we're going to probably see clouds increasing by tomorrow. we do see the areas of blue to the north and west of us and parts of central new york and pennsylvania where they are getting some snow. the highs for today, a lot of us struggling to get to even the freezing mark. d.c., metro reagan 3, 2 degrees. gettysburg, 29. actually gaithersburg. manassas 32. luray, 30 is your high for today. so another cold one. even colder tonight. no surprise there. lows tonight 24 at reagan.

manassas 21 degrees. in the teens out to the west of sues in parts of petersburg and cumberland. so here's what we're talking about. we're talking about the possibility of snow tomorrow. by tomorrow morning we'll have have the clouds coming in. also, when you see this blue that is the light snow. by tomorrow afternoon, right around 3:00. this could probably impact your evening commute tomorrow. the roads could be slick as well. as far as the accumulations, not a whole lot. we're going to start with the southwest. culpeper, about .03 of accumulation. maybe a dusting in most areas. for d.c. metro we're talking around half an inch, at most up to an inch. by friday we should not be dealing with too much snow here. it's mostly an event for thursday. so here's your three-day forecast. windy today at times, still sunny. then thursday, cloudy conditions, increasing clouds for the morning, and snow likely, light snow, but it

could impact your driving, especially for tomorrow's commute in the inc. 30 degrees the high. friday sunshine, and we're going to bump temperatures up a little bit up to 39 degrees. we look at the weekend. saturday and sunday, we are watching a coastal storm. it could miss us, though, and be more of a coastal -- we could have some rain and light snow. also for monday and tuesday, windy and partly cloudy conditions. that's your forecast. jc is in the kitchen coming up after this break. [ male announcer ] are you watching cable?

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one of my all-time favorite restaurants is in great falls. and the legendary chef jacques is here with me. he started his restaurant and said he wanted to have great food, great ambiance for a good price. then he moved out to great falls in, what was that, '76? >> 76. my dad started it in '54. >> it's a lovely ride. and he brought some holiday favoriteses. >> we have the traditional chocolate yule log. if you worry about every bite and every sip, the stress will kill you long before the cholesterol. enjoy. then we have chocolate truffles. we have hot mald wine.

and i will start here, and hopefully we'll get to the finished product. what you do is you cut off the ends and take some more of that chocolate butter cream. this is what creates your logs, like that. >> now, you put the recipe on our website. >> i did. >> is this difficult to make? >> i always recommend, don't do this at home. i don't want you staying at home cooking. i want you to come out to the restaurant. you can make it. it's a little time consuming, but think of the fun you can have. how do you create the log effect? you take the fork like this, like that, then put it up this way. >> i've got ask you something, what's in those truffles? >> chocolate, heavy whipping cream, 40% butter few. you know you want it.

and then we're going to take our holly leaves and a little santa marzapan, a couple of mushrooms, and some chocolate shavings for the bark. to get creative you can make a little snow with sugar and a little bit of -- and, voila. chocolate yule log. >> i'm going to taste this one. >> we'll both try it. let's try it. >> it looks beautiful. >> that's good. >> if you're a chocoholic, this is the place. >> by the way, the chef has two books, one is called two for tonight, and the other one is chez francois cookbook. your food is delicious and your prices are unreal. >> you're too kind.

>> but the atmosphere, if you want to celebrate a birthday or anniversary or just have a nice evening out, go and tell the chef i sent you. >> is i'll give you a tour of the kitchennen. >> come back and visit us at 5:00. >> happy holidays to all.