>> weatherwise, you know, it is a lot warmer. yesterday we had wind chills down in the single digits. this morning it feels in the 20s and 30s. the winds are light. let's show you the day planner. a good deal of sunshine. few clouds now, maybe even a flurry passing over the next couple of hours with a weak disturbance coming through. by noon, sunshine, 41. highs today 42 to 48. warmer temperatures will be south and west of town. by 5:00, we're back in the low 40s for the drive home. you can see the disturbance we had last night. this actually produced a little coating of snow down in prince, frederick. second disturbance coming through right now which is a couple of stray flurries and your temps, we're up to 34. yesterday morning, we were half that at 17. most temperatures this morning from the mid 20s to the low 30s with light wind. monika samtani, it is thursday. save me. >> all right. hey, if you're traveling out on the roadways early this morning, i'm happy to say with

the exception of some overnight construction which is in its clearing stages, things are look absolutely fine. here's what it looks like on the west side coming in from 66 to manassas all the way to centreville. this construction over here where you see the triangle should be cleared up by the time you get there. let's take a look live at the beltway and route 50. arlington boulevard pretty much a good indication of what it looks like between 56 and 95 and heading up toward the american legion bridge. if you're planning to head elsewhere, let's take a live look at the beltway and university boulevard. a live look from our mdot cameras which is looking fine here as well. no problems to report between 95 and 270, the outer loop of the beltway heading west toward bethesda and no problems on 270 coming in from urbana. if you're one of those that takes public transportation, right now, no problems to report on metro, marc or vre. we'll take another look around town coming up. mike? >> ok, thanks, monika. today, attorneys for d.c.

councilman harry thomas jr. are scheduled to meet with prosecutors. >> as 9news now first reported tuesday night, thomas is expected to plead guilty to fraud charges and resign his council seat. reporter delia gonsalves is live at the wilson building with more. good morning, delia. >> good morning, andrea, mike. although his attorney denies any comment. several sources close to thomas have confirmed that he has met with federal prosecutors, a plea deal could be struck today and he could be in court as early as tomorrow, of course. that's friday. harry thomas was a no show at yesterday's council hearing. the ward five council member has never been convicted but accused of taking $300,000 in city money to pay for luxury vehicles and vacations. sources tell us thomas will plead guilty to at least one felony charge and could do up to three years in jail. according to reports, thomas met with friends last week to apologize about the situation.

the mayor says he hasn't heard from thomas in some time. >> the justice system has been given an opportunity to work and i think that's the fair way to do this. and if council member thomas chooses to resign, he is then taking that action. what we hope is to be able to hope the residents of ward five are well-represented. >> reporter: speaking of representation for the residents of ward five, council members' ward, of course, i spoke to councilperson kwame brown. he told me if this resignation does take place, the city will hold a special election and they will have to refill that seat. harry thomas' ward five council seat within 114 days. we'll have much more from kwame brown in a half hour. andrea? >> thanks, delia reporting live outside the wilson building. in national politics, the republican presidential hopefuls have moved on to new hampshire which holds the nation's first primary next tuesday. but the field is now all male. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann dropped out yesterday

after her disappointing last- place finish in the iowa caucuses. the 55-year-old bachmann spent considerable time campaigning in ohio, the state where she was born. in virginia, newt gingrich, jon huntsman and rick santorum are joining rick perry's lawsuit to try to get on the primary ballot in the commonwealth. a u.s. district judge in richmond granted their motion yesterday. harry filed the suit after his campaign failed to get the 10,000 required signatures. only ron paul and mitt romney met the requirements to be on the march 6th primary ballot. >> investigators are back in the woods now in fort washington, maryland, trying to find the murder victim of a 16- year-old case. officers were there yesterday looking for the body of shaqita bell. she was killed in 1996 and her boyfriend confess and told police where she was buried in the woods off old fort road. he went to prison. bell's remains were still never found. no word on what led to this renewed search. a suspect accused of of

stabbing an arlington man to death has pleaded go the to first-degree murder. roger k. clark iii is the man. he attacked deaner back in december of 2009 and police found deaner's body lying in the street in a clarendon neighborhood. it took a year and a half for police to make an arrest. clark will be sentenced in april. a maryland father is charged with child abuse. police say 41-year-old rockman left his two young children alone in a car tuesday afternoon while he went shopping at the frederick walmart. at the time, the temperature was in the mid-20s. the two children ages 4 and 5 months were not hurt. they're now in the custody of their mother. five minutes after 5:00. time for the latest "your money" report now. >> jessica doyle is here with today's headlines. >> good morning to both of you. wall street looking ahead to a bunch of economic reports this morning. we have updates due out on jobless claims, the health of the service sector and mortgage rates. as for stocks, they barely

moved yesterday. check this out. the dow stands at 12,418. rose 21 points, not bad compared to the nasdaq and the s&p 500, take a look at that, barely moving in either direction, ended up flat on the day. put this on your calendar. clearance sales will start this upcoming sunday at two local stores. macy's planning to close nine of its macy's this spring including the macy's in laurel mall and the bloomingdale's in white flint. the company says it is part of normal closings of stores and operations. clearance sales will begin at the stores on sunday. they will run for ten weeks. we get a little more time to put off doing our taxes this year. two extra days. that's because april 15th falls on a sunday. monday is emancipation day in the district. last year, tax day was extended until april 18th. also thanks to emancipation day. procrastinators rejoice, we get a little more time to not do the things we need to do.

>> good deal. >> we appreciate that. jessica, what do you have in the next half hour? >> we talked about high unemployment rates all the time. we'll talk about one of the lowest rates in the washington area. >> before last night's orange bowl, some football analysts questioned whether the big east deserved to be a bid through the bcs game. >> apparently west virginia took that personally. very personally. they set a scoring record last night. wait until you see this performance in sports. coming up, while the republican hopefuls battle it out, president obama does a little campaigning of his own in a major swing state. we'll be right back.

this milder thursday morning, you still need your coats and gloves and stuff. we're in the 20s and 30s. a lot better than yesterday morning when we had the single digit wind chills. clouds early. maybe a flurry in the next hour or two. we'll see sunshine building in. mid-30s by 9:00. low 40s at noon with highs today in the mid-40s in quite a few spots. it may be a bit of a breeze at times. i'll be back with the full 7- day forecast. right now, here's monika with timesaver traffic. >> live look here at canal road and fox hall road. nearby fox hall and reservoir, the signal lights are out. please do treat that as a four way stop. heading into georgetown or rosslyn, you will be just fine. we'll take a look into the district and virginia at 5:17. back to you, mike. >> thanks, monika. making news at 5:089, the german national suspected in a series of car fires in los angeles will wait a little longer for his arraignment. harry burkhart is due back in court later this month.

wednesday, he was charged with 37 counts of arson and is being held on almost $3 million bail. >> near tucson, arizona, a trail was named in the honor of zimmerman. he was one of six people killed in the shooting that nearly claimed gifford's life as well. this sunday is the one-year anniversary of that shooting. president obama hits the campaign trail yesterday in the twin state of ohio. he stopped near cleveland to talk about the economy. the president also announced the appointment of former ohio attorney general richard cordray to lead the new consumer financial protection bureau. it is a place too dangerous for humans but deep down in the ocean, a remote controlled vehicle has discovered new species of marine animals. see some of this amazing video at 5:51. >> the wizards try to avoid their worst start in franchise history. come on, guys! next at 5:15, howard has a much milder temperature scheme in the 7-day forecast.

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thanks, mom. who are you calling "mom"? dunkin' sausage pancake bites, delicious like mom's, only easier to carry -- get three for $1.59. good morning. welcome back to 9news now. 5:13 on this thursday morning. 34 degrees. it does feel balmy outside.

>> much more comfortable. those folks who work outside, i'm happy to tell you it will be a lot nicer for you here for the next few days, even into early next week. looks like our next shot of arctic air might hold off until sometime in the later part of next week. until now and then, a pretty good stretch of weather. here we go, the bus stop forecast today. early flurry could be happening in the next hour or two. for the most part, partly to mostly cloudy. increasing sun. 20s and 30s. sunrise, 7:27. setting at 5:00 p.m. on the nose here in d.c. we'll see a good deal of sunshine with mid-30s by 9:00. low 40s at 1:00 with highs today in the mid-40s in many areas. winds though, you'll notice west to northwest. 10, 15 miles per hour. if there is anything wrong with today, it will be a little bit of a breeze out there. if you are going skiing the next couple of days, they've made plenty of snow. finally, conditions are decent for a change this winter.

had one disturbance last night put some flurries down. just a light coating in spots. that's out in the atlantic. this morning, the second disturbance is coming through with not much more than a stray flurry or two. just not expecting it. and the clouds. once we get rid of the clouds, it will be a nicer day. clouds kept temperatures up. 28 in culpepper. 34 in washington. 31 in hagerstown. you'll notice the 20s, even 30 in leesburg. 27 manassas. this is a lot warmer than yesterday. yesterday we had spots in the single digits. 31 at springfield, crofton. scott over at andrews air force base saying hello. 31 degrees for him. 29 at fort belvoir right now. national, 34 with the clouds and the humidity is 73%. dew points have really come up into the 20s. yesterday, they were below zero. we've gotten rid of the arctic air. it won't return for another week. it is up in canada. the cold air still lingering across parts of new england. much of the country relatively

mild with this jet stream coming onshore in the northwest. you can see the storm coming into british columbia. then it comes up almost into southern canada now and taking a dip down through the great lakes toward us and this helps these little disturbances come through. gave us the snow squalls a couple of days ago. intense ones in the afternoon and evening but all is quiet this morning except for those clouds. the cold will be waning pretty quickly over the next few hours as we climb into the 40s today. tonight will be chilly. clear to partly cloudy. 20s and 30s overnight which is normal. milder tomorrow. we're shooting into the mid-50s for friday and even saturday, likely to see temperatures low to mid-50s with any rain or snow showers well to our west on the west side of the mountains here as we get into saturday. so, pretty quiet stretch of weather coming up. our forecast, today we're looking at high temperature about 44 in town. few more clouds early. good deal of sunshine. tonight, 20s and 30s. nice tomorrow, 55. saturday, we're still in the

50s. 54. by sunday, a tad cooler. monday, upper 40s. tuesday and wednesday, few more clouds. 50 on tuesday. rain will probably be developing by wednesday. monika? >> well, overall, things are looking absolutely fine. no accidents to report early on this morning. like we did yesterday, the beltway is looking good around town. we'll take a look at the bw parkway and route 50 first. if you're coming in from annapolis on 50, baltimore on the bw parkway, they're doing well into cheverly and new york avenue which is where we'll go live. new york avenue and bladensburg, you're fine. no problems over the anacostia river crossings. we'll go back over to virginia, if you're planning to head northbound on i-395 and 95, they're both incident-free into springfield, up the line on to 395 toward seminary road and up to the 14th street bridge. here's what it looks like live here on the potomac river crossings are doing fine as well. 66 inbound toward the roosevelt bridge. the national center for transit research is out with its list

of the best places to work for commuters. locally, the state department, u.s. house of representatives and national geographic society make the cut in the district. in maryland, discovery communications and the food and drug administration offices in silver spring as well as montgomery county's government center gets the nod. in virginia, the consumer electronics association in arlington and the nova alexandria hospital is on the list as well as ten different hospitals in fairfax county. the hoyas have to rally to hold off an opponent. >> highlights from the orange bowl coming up in sports. this is funny. the average person does this, one of these things, 70 times per day. is it a, pass gas. b, complain. or c, check their e-mail. >> here is a look at a response you posted on the

facebook.com/wusa9 page. ed wrote check e-mail but it might be pass gas for me but i'm not average. >> weigh in or sound off on our facebook page. leave your answer. we'll answer it in our 6:00 a.m. hour.

if you work outside, good news for you. a lot warmer than had has been.

temps in the 20s and low 30s to start. any early clouds will be out of here pretty quickly. we'll be in the 30s here with sunshine by 9:00 in most areas, just a couple of passing high clouds today. good deal of sun again at noon. low 40s in town. holding on to the 30s though up in the northern shenandoah valley. and even some mid and upper 40s south and west of town during the afternoon. partly to mostly sunny. 43 at 3:00. sunset at 5:00 p.m. by 6:00, upper 30s close to 40 with maybe some spots by then falling back toward the freezing mark. a pretty good day ahead. andrea and mike? >> thank you, howard. the so-called experts, you know they've been down on the big east as a football conference. >> what do they know? check this out! west virginia answered the critics in a big way. record-setting performance in the orange bowl against clemson, the mountaineers scored 10 touchdowns against the acc champs! wvu set bowl records for most points scored in a half, 42. then the most points scored in

a game. they won 70-33. now, here's kristin berset with the rest of your sports. >> good morning, everybody. the georgetown hoyas weren't expected to be much of a contender in the talent-laden big east conference and although there are still plenty of games left to play, what they're doing now is darn right impressive. last night, ninth ranked georgetown riding a ten game win streak, hoyas down 17 at one point. henry sims finds clark for the lay-up and takes the lead. clark with 26 points. 25 seconds left. hollis thompson with the three to take the lead for good. hoyas beat 20th ranked marquette 73-70 to win their 11th straight game. >> there were times there that yes, it was frustrating. but i don't think -- i think we -- from our poor decisions in the first half and our numerous turnovers in the first half, our talking points were to stay

with it. at both ends of the court. >> the wizards could use some of the talking to visiting the orlando magic. john wall with a steal. attempts the lay-up. wants a goaltending call but doesn't get it. it was just that kind of night for them. magic's dwight howard dominated with 28 points making it look easy. wizards fall to 0-6, the worst start in franchise history. that's going to do it for your morning sports, i'm kristin berset, have a great thursday. >> that's too bad. >> come on, wiz! >> thousands of pentagon workers and contractors will learn more about plans to downsize the u.s. military. that story is coming up. >> plus, a meeting today could finalize d.c. councilman harry thomas' plans to resign and plead guilty to some charges. monika? >> here's a live look northbound on i-95 at the fairfax county parkway. delays from here into springfield. it still looks fine on to 395. i'll tell what you that looks like coming up at 5:29. you're watching 9news now.

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good morning. happy thursday. welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. >> thursday's here. i'm mike hydeck. we're glad you're here. i'm hungry, man. >> are you? >> i keep thing thinking about the burgers you were talking about. >> she was talking about five guys and i can't get it out of my head. >> drink cold pepper. it quenches the hunger. >> for a hamburger? >> for everything. at least that's what i hear. >> i don't think so but i'll try it. >> i've eaten enough over the holidays, cold water is probably not a bad idea. >> good morning, everybody. you won't be too cold because we're warming into the 40s after the arctic air mass over the last couple of days. that has gone. we have milder days ahead. we'll be in the 50s by friday and into saturday as well. here is a look at this morning's day planner. temperatures start out in the 30s and 20s in the suburbs. with 34 now with the clouds,

little disturbance coming through and you may see a flurry. we're not expecting much. by noon though, good deal of sunshine. 41 with highs today into the 40s. by 5:00, our sun sets today. still back to 41 degrees. we'll be in the 20s and 30s again tonight. one disturbance had flurries. it produced a light coating in a couple of spots but not much more than that. the second piece of energy coming through now, maybe, maybe a flurry but after this passes, i expect the sun to be returning in the next few hours. upper 20s now in parts of the shenandoah valley. 32 at winchester. 25 degrees warmer than yesterday morning when they were 7 for the low. gaithersburg and baltimore, 29. annapolis is 34. 32 down in southern maryland at the pax river naval air station. 44 this afternoon. 48 for tappahannock. 41 in winchester and 44 here in washington. so, enjoy the mild weather moving in and hopefully you'll enjoy a good commute. here's monika. >> if you're planning to head out the door at 5:29, that's

what you normally should expect. this morning is no different. things are looking great all around town. you have a bit of volume forming around town namely in virginia on northbound i-95 as you head through triangle and newington into springfield. live look into virginia right now on the northbound side of 95 leaving route 644 in springfield. whether you're heading to the beltway or inner or outer loop near the wilson bridge or north to 395, you should be ok. we'll take another live look on 395. here's what it looks like at seminary road or just south of heading for the new mark center. people are getting used to it. exiting and entering. much improved since yesterday and the day before heading northbound on 395 here at 5:30 in the morning. this time, we'll head over to the other side of town. northside, no problems to report on the outer loop of the beltway. you're doing fine as you head through silver spring. we'll also take a live look into downtown canal road at reservoir road. i want to let you know fox hall road at reservoir road, the

signal lights are out. treat that as a four-way stop. we'll take a look into maryland at 5:38. back to you guys. >> today, president obama traveled across the potomac for a visit to pentagon. >> the president will join leon panetta and others in outlining a new strategy for a leaner u.s. military. the proposal is expected to include plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in sea and air power. >> health inspectors are expected back at the site of the occupy d.c. camp. "the washington examiner" says d.c. health inspectors visited the camp's kitchen after receiving complaints about rats. the kitchen was shut down. it could reopen today if it passes another inspection. mayor gray ordered the inspection at mcpherson square and freedom plaza. >> the driver who killed three friends in a dui crash is facing up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced today. 20-year-old kevin coffey pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter charges stemming

from last may's wreck in olney, maryland. his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. 18-year-old haley maguire and spencer datt and johnny hoover died in the crash. one passenger survived. coffey ran away without checking on his passengers or even calling for help. you'll want to look at the screen for this. d.c. police have released a sketch of a sex assault suspect. police believe a man matching this artist depiction kidnapped a woman and then attacked her right in front of her child. the attack happened december 29th, a week ago today. the woman was stopped in traffic about a block from verizon center when a man jumped into her car. she says he sexually assaulted her at gunpoint all with her 1- year-old child in the backseat. the man eventually let them both go. >> today, fema will open a new disaster recovery center on courthouse road in spotsylvania county. and reopen one in louisa county. people who sustained damage in the august 23rd earthquake two

months from today to apply for federal assistance. meanwhile, the department of transportation is also helping recover repairs from tropical storm lee. by giving the commonwealth $6.5 million from the department of transportation and that would pay for road and infrastructure repairs. back in september, flooding caused by lee damaged or washed out 15 roads and bridges in northern virginia, all of them have since reopened. >> you first heard the story on 9news now. we continue following the latest on the local political shocker in d.c. council member harry thomas jr. is expected to resign and plead guilty to a felony charge in connection to using city money for personal purposes. delia gonsalves joins us live from the wilson building with the latest on the expected plea deal. delia, good morning. >> good morning, andrea. we could see the plea deal later today. sources tell us harry thomas jr. spent the whole day with federal prosecutors yesterday trying to iron out a deal. that explains why he was a no show during council hearings

wednesday. charges haven't been filed in the case but thomas is accused of misusing $300,000 in city money. he agreed to pay it all back without admitting any guilt but he missed his last payment of $50,000. this all comes about a month after an fbi and i.r.s. raid at his northeast home. i spoke to council chairman kwame brown about thomas. here's what he had to say. >> if, in fact, he decides to step down, he maics that decision and if the rumors are true, we would move once that takes place. right now, that's all speculation. i'll do everything i can to make sure i deliver what residents want to take place in their city. if we miss the bar on any particular way, i'll double my efforts to make sure that we bring back their confidence and integrity. >> reporter: if that plea deal is indeed struck later today, we could see thomas in court as early as tomorrow. again, he faces up to three years behind bars. back to you. thank you, delia. at 5:35, time for another

"your money" report. >> jessica is back. the country has a new consumer top cop. >> right from the beginning, the new consumer financial protection bureau has been controversial. now, it has a controversial new chief. the president has named richard cordray to be the first director of the consumer watch dog group but he did it as a recess appointment as an end run around republican lawmakers. g.o.p. senators called them too powerful and unaccountable and they've been blocking the appointment of a director. the agency is able to oversee a vaster array of consumers. >> hard to beat this unemployment rate. arlington county has the lowest jobless rate at 3.3%. it is followed by loudoun county's 3.9%. the washington metropolitan region including arlington and alexandria comes in at 4.2% in november. the city of martinsville has the highest unemployment rate in the state.

15.6% according to virginia's employment commission. think you're an amazing hack summer facebook is saying prove it. and get paid. the social media giant is hosting its second annual hacker cup challenge. it is starting january 20th. the contest is open to coders anywhere in the world. the winner walks away with a $5,000 cash prize and maybe a job. it is a good way for the tech business to find skilled programmers, one of the industry's scarest resources. last year, a russian programmer for google won. he wore a google badge the whole time which people think is funny. >> very cool. >> thanks, jess. dozens of local students earn a free ride to some of the nation's top colleges and universities. >> their parents are very happy. >> plus, the caucus is out of the way. there is one less republican presidential candidate heading into tuesday's first primary in new hampshire. we'll be back. alright everybody, get your heads up.

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>> it is cold. it is not the arctic cold over the last couple of mornings. a good day ahead. we'll get some sunshine here shortly. clouds now. last of a couple of weak disturbances is overhead with maybe a stray flurry at most. clouds giving way to sunshine. mid 30st at 9:00. low 40s at noon. high temperatures today many areas about 44, 45 degrees. even warmer as we head toward friday and saturday. we'll have your weekend forecast within the next five minutes. inside, monika has timesaver traffic. >> here's what it looks like on the beltway in silver spring. inner and outer loop looking good between 95 and 270. no problems on 95 from baltimore or 270 from frederick. more coming up at 5:47.

mike? >> dozens of local high school seniors and their families don't have to worry about paying for college anymore. the posse foundation selected 61 students to get full tuition scholarships. the students were honored last night at lincoln theatre. they were chosen from a pool of more than 1500 students nominated for their academic excellence and their leadership skills. this morning, the newest millionaire in northern virginia will reveal his identity. the man bought one of the three grand prize winning tickets in virginia's new year's millionaire raffle drawing. the ticket was purchased at the great falls 7-eleven which will get a $10,000 bonus. the check presentation is scheduled for 10:30 at that 7- eleven. we had two big winners in the iowa caucuses. mitt romney and rick santorum try to repeat their success next week in new hampshire. plus, marine biologists discover a treasure trove of new species deep in the ocean. >> birthday time now. former vice president walter mondale is 84. actor robert duvall is 81.

he is one of the new cohosts of cbs this morning. charlie rose turns 70 years old today. >> we first met her as anny hall. diane keaton is 66. marilyn manson is 43. wonder if he'll have a hangover tonight. bradley cooper is 37. and mad man actress january jones turns 34 today. happy birthday if it is your day as well. we'll be right back.

welcome back. >> this woman is so lady-like. >> good morning. >> it is weather time. >> so cute. >> you have a tissue, very good. there is my sneeze. have to break of my -- here is my sleeve. i have to break my son of that habit. temperatures are returning into the 40s after being in the deep freeze the last couple of days.

let's get you going with a look at the bus stop forecast. we're down in the 20s and 30s. it is not bad. the winds are pretty comfortable, too. slight wind chill this morning. sunrise, 7:27. while we've got clouds now, you're going to see sun returning over the next few hours. we'll see a good deal of sunshine today. temperatures by noon into the low 40s with a northwest wind, a west to northwest wind 10 to 15 miles per hour. that will give us a little bit of a wind chill. today's highs trying to get through 44, 45, 4:00 temperature of 42. west wind at 8:00. by 8:00, 37. southwesterly winds, in fact, tonight, i'm expecting south to southwest winds 5 miles per hour or less. that will keep temps 20s to low 30s. set the stage for even milder conditions come friday. last night, we had a little wave push through. this produced a light dusting of snow in places up toward baltimore and over to calvert county had a little dusting over prince frederick. that's quickly left. however, as you look off toward the west now, second weaker

disturbance is coming through. you see the radar echoes, they're 5,000, 6,000 feet off the ground. they're drying up before they're reaching the ground. not seeing much of anything except the clouds. the clouds are holding temperatures up into the 20s. upper 20s in gaithersburg and win chester, cumberland is 36. much warmer than the last couple of mornings. pax river is 32. fredericksburg also at 32 degrees. charlie in catlett. same as the temperatures. upper 20s to low 30s. it is a nice way to start the day. 34, cloudy skies. south-southwesterly winds 6 miles per hour at reagan national. many areas, winds are fairly calm. dew points in the 20s. that's come up a lot ins is yesterday. the barometer is going to start to come up 29.97. the arctic cold we had over us has retreated up to canada. the white, the pink you see up around james bay, that's the core of the arctic air. caribou is up to 15 which

sounds cold. a lot warmer than it has been. when you look at the rest of the country, 20s, 30s. dallas is 39. in the 50s along the gulf coast. even into great falls, montana where the jet stream is coming well to the north. it hits the pacific northwest bringing in the moisture. they've got rain along the coast even into northern california. actually gets up into parts of southern canada before taking that dip in the east which has given us the cold air. there is still a lit bit of cold air left in new england. 15 in caribou will be leaving as the mild air moves in. a chilly start today. we get toward the noon hour. we'll be into the 40s. mid-40s for highs today. tonight, we're back in the 20s and 30s. tomorrow, even milder as temperatures during the day on friday, i think they'll be in the mid-50s for highs tomorrow and back into the 50s on saturday. you might see a couple of sprinkles or flurries in the mountains here as we get into saturday morning but our next storm system probably not until

next wednesday at the earliest. here is a look at the next three days. today is 44. sun returning in the next few hours. tonight, 25 to 32. 33. seasonably chilly. tomorrow, 55. that will be nice tomorrow. saturday as well looks good at 54. as we head toward sunday and monday, a tad cooler. not bad at all. upper 40s. necks week, clouds increase. by wednesday, rain develops. behind this, as we get into later thursday, friday. another shot of arctic air could be headed this way. it is now 5:48. monika samtani is coming in with timesaver traffic. >> in southern maryland, california, maryland, thomas johnson bridge will be interested to hear because of icy conditions, we have an overturned vehicle. so, keep that in mind. >> they had a little coating of snow down there as well in prince frederick. >> exactly. that's what you've been saying. we see the results of that in terms of traffic. be aware of that in california, maryland on the thomas johnson bridge. closer in, no problems to report on the beltway. we're look good around town. we'll first take you to the

west side on 66. you've got a bit of slow traffic out in the manassas area. then here at chain bridge road, about 65 miles per hour. your drive in. river road in bethesda on the west side of town, no problems between 270 and i-66 and crossing the american legion bridge. activity here on the shoulder. it is not attracting any attention. we'll take you back over to the maps. this time into downtown looking fine as you travel along 395 to the 14th street bridge. fox hall road at reservoir road, the signal lights are out. another live look if you're planning to head over to the pennsylvania avenue northwest corridor. here's what it looks like at the willard intercontinental hotel. no problems around the ellipse as well and constitution avenue. more on area roadways at 6:00. andrea and mike? >> in campaign 2012, the gauntlet of presidential primaries starts in five days in new hampshire. >> the republican hopefuls are

shaking hands and running ads. drew levinson has more. >> how are you? >> reporter: mitt romney hopes new hampshire will give him the landslide victory he couldn't get in iowa. >> talk about a squeaker. talk about a squeaker. do you think we can do a little better here in new hampshire? [ cheering ] >> reporter: with senator john mccain at his side, he urged supporters to show up at the polls tuesday. a new survey shows romney holding a commanding lead in new hampshire with 43%. >> what you need to do, i'm asking you is to make sure that we send him to south carolina with such momentum that it cannot be stopped. >> reporter: but the rest of the g.o.p. pack is trying to slow him down. >> governor romney in the end has a very limited appeal in a conservative party. >> newt gingrich slammed the former massachusetts governor wednesday. while rick santorum tried to build on his own growing support. >> we can move up and show momentum here, too. >> and now that michele bachmann is out of the race, santorum could get yet another boost, picking up her

conservative supporters. >> there they are. >> despite placing fifth in iowa, rick perry plans to keep fighting. all of our friends in new hampshire and south carolina, get ready, here we come. >> reporter: as for jon huntsman, says the race is still wide open. >> we've been kicked around as people. we're getting screwed as americans. >> today, he'll begin airing his first tv ad in new hampshire. a state he's counting on to kick start his campaign. drew levinson, cbs news, washington. making news now at 5:51, in utah, six police officers are being treated after they were shot while serving a warrant late last night. a suspect was also shot and taken to the hospital. no word on the condition. some of the injured officers belonged to a drug task force unit. >> a cargo ship stranded off the coast of new zealand could be breaking apart as some rough weather approaches there this weekend. it ran aground on a reef back in october andle is vag crews -- salvage crews have been trying to remove containers

before it sink. british scientists have discovered a host of previously unknown marine species near antarctica. using a remote operated vehicle, researchers explored three miles below the surface. their cameras captured images of a strange octopus as well as never seen before crab, starfish, barnacles and sea anemones. >> if you run a business, depending on what kind it is, chances are you have to do inventory. imagine if your business was the london zoo and you had to make sure you still have 18,499 animals. the animal count is required for the zoo to keep its operating license. they're paying special attention to the penguins because they have a new enclosure which means they have more places to hide. >> sometimes it is very difficult to count the penguins. we're quite lucky. we work with the penguins every day. we know them all individually. >> where is willy the penguin. if all goes according to plan, there will be 64 penguins.

they'll keep track of the number of endangered species. it will take several weeks to complete. it is time for another look at the question of the day. it was the average person does this 70 times a day. is it a, pass gas. b, complain or c, check their e- mail. >> here is a look at one of the responses from our facebook fan page. michael wrote a, i have never checked my e-mail. 5 ,079 e-mails. >> just go ahead and delete all. >> log on to the facebook.com/wusa9 page and we'll reveal the answer in about an hour. >> if you frequent the office vending machines, there are healthy choices hiding in there. we have that story coming up. >> sure, there are. we go weightless in this week's cool schools. check this out. >> when it comes to new year's resolutions, some young folks are putting the goal of saving money ahead of losing weight and getting healthier.

simple steps to save money that we can all follow. that is at 6:07. you're watching 9news now.

it is 5:56. we're looking pretty good

today. few clouds this morning. temps in the 30s to start. by 9:00, mostly sunny, i think. a couple of lingering clouds. sunshine. mixed 30s. as we head toward the lunch hour, we'll be pushing the 40 degree mark. this afternoon, into the 40s. for the drive home this evening, temps falling back in the 30s. no problem with precipitation. a couple of slick spots early. that's it. looking good. mike and andrea, over to you. >> thank you, howard. ours is just one floor below the newsroom. if you don't want to brave the chill walking outside or even lose your parking space because you're hungry and want to get something to eat, there is the siren call of the office vending machine. >> it can be a trap if you're starting off the new year trying to lose weight. reporter katherine shows us options that do offer some advantage. >> reporter: long hours and busy schedules keep the sales staff at this west houston car dealership on their toes.

>> it is busy. it is a fulfilled day where you're always interacting with people. >> it is no surprise work day meals and snacks -- come wrapped up out of the vending machine just a few steps away from the desk. >> if you're hungry, you eat a snack or you didn't have time for breakfast, it gives you something for the day. you don't want to be hungry when you go out on a test drive. >> what you're getting in convenience, you're also getting in calories. >> it is tough. >> between the candy bars, the cookies and the chips, it is hard to tell which is the lesser of the evils. >> you can do that instead -- >> dietitian says the trouble is your options are often limited. >> choices you have in a vending machine aren't the best choices obviously. >> so, for smart snacking, she says opt for the granola bar over the candy bar. >> they have protein and fiber gy going to stay with you. >> instead of chips, go for light popcorn or nuts which are a good source of energy. >> nuts are a good idea

especially if you can get dry- roasted. >> for a meal, try high protein tuna for lunch or high fiber oatmeal for lunch. watch how much of it you eat as well. >> anything that you get, you want to check out the portion size. >> reporter: ask your company to stock the vending machine with healthier options. >> if they will make changes and you can make a request. >> good advice for those who want to stay on the road to weight loss success. in west houston, katherine bailey. >> thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. i had peanuts and whatever, sunflower seeds just yesterday. >> sure, you will. >> right. >> you want that so much. thank you for watching. >> good morning. welcome to the 6:00 a.m. show. here's monika samtani with traffic. she'll be with us momentarily. >> howard bernstein does weather and he does it first. >> we're in a good mood today because temperatures have warmed up. arctic