that's why we had all the snow storms in 2010. it was a really big year then. >> i was about to say there's plenty of cold air around. you see alaska with temperatures 50, 60 below. people are freezing to death in europe. the polar regions, siberia. how come we can't get any of that and get some winter around here? >> well, as you said, we have the jet stream and it's just basically staying up north now. there's no dips in it to get down as far as the u.s. so, yeah, alaska is getting dumped with snow and it's cold lots of places. it's just that the jet stream is not coming down to us n. is very normal for la nina years. it's just quite variable and we're not getting it there right now. >> you think of noaa. how is nasa playing a role in studying winter storms and contributing to our understanding of all of this? >> know wa is -- noaa is actually doing a lot of the forecast. nasa is looking at the

research. we have a field campaign going on right now in canada where we're measuring the snow. we have aircraft flying through. we've got aircraft on the ground and we're measuring the snow to get a three dimensional representation. the reason we're doing this in two years we're going to be launching the global precipitation measurement satellite. this satellite is going to measure everything from the heaviest rains that you can see in hurricanes all the way through the snow we're seeing in the wintertime. we can put all this information together to improve our models for forecasting both regional and local weather to global weather all the way through to climate change and what's happening and how do we model that climate change. >> with that enough snow, there are negative impacts for a lot of things, not just the fact it's tough to go skiing in the eastern u.s. can you elaborate on that? >> if we don't have enough snow, it's multiple effects. a lot of places in the u.s. rely on that water. it's basically their reservoir. if we don't get enough snow, it

might be used up in early spring or early summer. it's also a problem if there's not much snow. it tends to melt faster which snow is usually like a mirror, a reflective blanket over the year. if there's not much snow and melts earlier, it causes more warming and absorption of the heat from the sun. >> this information is going to help me do a better job. >> thank you. >> thank you for joining us for 9news now at 5:00 this morning. interesting what they're doing over at the goddard space flight center. hopefully we'll be able to bring you even better forecasts in the years ahead. what else is on tap for today? >> we've got showers around. the showers are going to impact you early but this afternoon the sun returns and it's going to be far cooler than it has been. yesterday we were 72. today we'll be about 55 with those morning showers. 48 by 9:00. 51 at noon and by 5:00 not bad, 54 degrees. definitely need a jacket today. as we look at the satellite and radar swinging through, you can see the first batch of moisture

we have this morning. we also have an area of rain that will come at us from west virginia over the next few hours. a quick look at live doppler 9 hd. loudoun county, western fairfax starting to clear out and much of prince william as well but east of town, this is where we're still dealing with the moderate rain showers. our temperatures this morning range in the mid-40s. low to mid-40s up north. martinsburg and frederick 43. 50 in la plata. 48 in annapolis. 52 fredricksburg. a half-inch of rain overnight so some hefty showers down south. overall traffic has been running very smoothly with the exception of the fact that it's -- we've got the wet road conditions this morning. i think everybody is going to be fine in terms of construction. that's all been cleared up. no problems to report on the dulles toll road out of leesburg. tysons corner area and 66 out of gainesville everything is fine. the beltway is running smoothly through annandale. the northbound side of i-95 close to dale city. on the northbound side of 95 all lanes are open leaving the rest area as you head up to

springfield. we'll go there live right now on the northbound side of i-95 close to the beltway. again it's just a bit of volume forming. it's normal for this time of the morning. the last live look at 395 on the northbound side near shirlington to the 14th street bridge and into downtown, everything is incident free. in my next report, let's go into maryland at 5:10. >> thank you, monika. last week a cracked rail on the red line led to massive delays for metro passengers. earlier this week a second cracked rail at the rosslyn station had similar results. >> now according to numbers from metro, the cracked rail problem actually seems to be getting worse, not better. delia goncalves is live in northwest with more on the story. this is a little scary. >> reporter: it is not good news for passengers who are getting ready this early morning heading out to work, jumping on the metro. you might have to deal with some more miserable commutes in the future. you know, tinley town was the scene of a major disruption last week. i was here and talked to some

passengers. one woman told me her normally short commute took her an hour, a whole hour on the train. metro says this problem is a sign of an aging system, but still that's really no consolation for folks. metro single tracked the trains till repairs were made which made a miserable commute for hundreds of passengers. in part, the crack could be caused by the cold. you may remember six rails cracked this january and six rails also cracked last january. but water corrosion and misalignment of the rails could also be culprits. the problems seem to be getting worse as you mentioned. take a look at the numbers. 19 rail cracks in 2009. 33 in 2010 and 49 last year alone. now, metro says they're working on this problem. they want passengers to be patient if they can. they're investing $5 billion on a project to fix this problem

and replace all the tracks but that's likely to take five years. back to you, mike, andrea. >> it's not coming quickly. thank you. it is time now for the first your money report. >> we had one. we have more information from jessica doyle. >> more things you need to know b. as for wall street what you need to know about is we had a pretty good start to the month of february. stocks surging on the heels of strong economic data, encouraging reports about the greek debt crisis. the dow rose within a hundred points since the 2008 financial crisis. we've seen asian stocks up. the dow stands at 12,716, adding 84 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq was up by 34. s&p 500 rose by almost 12 points. this is one of the stories everybody is talking about on wall street. facebook going public. the internet social network is expected to raise $5 billion with the initial public

offering. the filing sets the stage for the world's largest tech ipo ever. facebook is expected to make its market debut either in the spring or the early summer going public eight years after c.e.o. mike zuckerberg started the social network in his dorm road. >> ellen degenres will star in a new tv campaign ad to air this spring. she worked in a jcpenney store in the 1970's, part of jcpenney's new makeover. they are focusing on everyday low prices and monthly sales but this is controversial because one group called the one million moms is calling for jcpenneys to rethink the hire. they don't want an openly gay spokesperson for jcpenney so it's starting to abcontroversy. >> a lot of people were talking about how ellen has transcended those kinds of barriers but obviously not completely. what do you have for us in the next half-hour? >> one major company is looking to splash its -- slash its work

force in a big way but it may not be able to. we'll talk about that coming up. still ahead this morning, a soccer game ends in violence and in death. the man behind the website wikileaks has another day in court. we're back in less than two minutes with your weather first.

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it is 9 after 5:00 this thursday morning. we've got some showers out there. we get into a break but we're not done just yet. showers through at least mid- morning. as we get toward the middle of the day, the sun is going to return. temperatures not nearly as warm as yesterday but still above average. 52 by noon. i'll be back in about four minutes with your seven-day forecast. right now monika and time saver traffic. no delays yet on the beltway outer loop side. that's the top side of your screen in college park as you leave route 1 past 95 and into silver spring. your lanes are open. 95 is running incident free from baltimore. more on maryland roadways coming up once again in a few minutes. back to you, andrea. at 5:10 here's a look at some things making news now. at least 74 people are dead after soccer fans in egypt rushed the field aft home team won in an unexpected victory. a thousands others are reported injured. witnesses say home team fans threw sticks and stones as they

chased players and fans from the rival team. some men had to rescue a manager from the losing team who was being beaten. witnesses say police officers stood by appearing overwhelmed. wikileaks founder julian assange is taking his extradition fight to britain's supreme court. his lawyers are arguing prosecutors don't have the legal authority to issue an arrest warrant for assange. swedish authorities say he sexually assaulted two women in 2010. he says the sex was consensual. 5:11. the man responsible for bringing black music, dance and culture into your living rooms for decades is being remembered this morning. and we are back with your weather first in less than three minutes. stay with us.

5:14. thursday morning here at 9news now and for you it's going to be a what kind of day? we saw delia with her umbrella. >> some rain showers around. a break. another batch of rain this morning before 9:00, 10:00. but by the afternoon the sun returns and it will be an okay day. you can even go outside and exercise. it's just not going to be 72. more like 55. maybe 57 down south. still that's way above average. average high is 45. here's a look at the bus stop forecast on this thursday morning. scattered showers. right now west of 95 things are relatively quiet. temperatures run anywhere from the low 40s up in our far northern western subburns -- suburbs to the low 50s down south. the day planner calling for sun

this afternoon with the showers this morning. still in the upper 40s with showers around at 9:00. by noon, though, 52. the sun is coming back. north winds will turn to the northwest this afternoon 5 to 10 miles an hour. 5:00 p.m. temperature 54. we will be driving home with sunshine. so you'll need the umbrellas, a light jacket and sunglasses as well before you head out. looking at our regional doppler radar, there's the rain coming in a few hours later this morning. the stuff we've been having the last couple of hours is now sweeping through d.c., down toward the northern neck and the eastern shore. southern maryland got a couple of spots where there are some hefty downpours going on right now. down toward the northern neck. also from annapolis toward the east and around colonial beach trying to cross the bridge there around swan point into southern charles county we have the heavier showers. by far the leftiest stuff is east. west of 95 not much happening yet, although looks like a few new sprinkles are starting to come in from west virginia out through northern fauquier county as you get toward marshal, the plains and

straussburg are around 66 and 81. i've got to show you this on the eastern shore here from annapolis. the bay bridge, it's pouring on the bay bridge right now over toward chester, down toward mcdaniel, st. michael. easton headed your way as well. this does move at a pretty decent clip. as far as rain amounts, i do know one of our weather watchers down south had half an inch overnight. currently in the mid-40s north. low 50s south. looking outside with the light showers being reported, still decent visibility here in washington on our weather camera. a temperature of 49 degrees. winds are calm. the humidity at 90%. so we've got a system coming through, an actual area of low pressure which is coming through kentucky this morning into west virginia. out ahead of it is the last batch of rain that we're watching. we're going to watch this actually push across the region. i'm going to stop the clock here at noon. you'll notice most of the area has cleared except for maybe extreme southern maryland, down to saint mary's county, parts

of the northern neck. this will continue to move east as we go through the afternoon. by 6:00, 7:00 generally sunny or clear by then. the sun will have set. you'll notice clear skies tonight. tomorrow chillier. temps in the 30s to start. low 50s in the afternoon. then we'll see if this system can throw any moisture our way late saturday night into sunday morning. might be a rain or snow shower at worse. that's how things look right now. this does not look like a big event. morning showers, afternoon sun, 55. 30s tonight. tomorrow we're back in the low 50s with mostly sunny skies. 20s and 30s friday night to around 50 on saturday. looking ahead, sunday morning, maybe an isolated rain or snow shower, 48. monday 54 with a chance of some showers again monday night into tuesday morning. let's go over to monika at 5:17. time saver traffic. loving the mild temperatures and really this week really loving the traffic. things are looking great all around town. there are no problems to report if you're coming in from the bw parkway on route 50 out of annapolis and baltimore and

then inside the beltway through sheverly as you head into northeast, you can see it's just slowing down a bit, probably around bladensburg road which is normal for 5:17 in the morning. we'll take you outied live. close to branch avenue on the inner and outer loops of the beltway there are no issues to report here as you head down toward andrews air force base. back over to the maps. this time we'll head over to 270 on the southbound side. loading up a bit in the urbana area in germantown, rockville. everything is looking good. we'll take you to a live picture now in olney, route 108 at dr. bird road. everything is fine coming in from the north to the beltway. coming up in my next report, we'll take a peek into virginia. back to you, andrea. >> thank you, monika. 9 wants you to know every year thousands of young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking. after covering way too many alcohol-related tragedies, our andrea mccarren started investigating where some kids are getting the booze. >> last night at 11:00 using a hidden camera, andrea showed us

kids buying alcohol illegally at a northwest washington store. obviously that isn't the only place selling to minors. this morning andrea is with an undercover volunteer working with police just to see how easy it is for them to get booze. >> reporter: this isn't going to stop underage drinking but it's going to make it harder for them to get. >> reporter: watch what happens when 19-yard jen -- 19-year-old jen attempts to buy alcohol at this gaithersburg beer and wine store. >> it would too easy. >> reporter: she bought a bottle of wine no questions asked. >> it was my -- if it was my first time, i would have been wow, did that really just happen? >> reporter: jen is known as a uv, an undercover volunteer working with montgomery county police and the liquor control board to see if licensed establishments are complying with the law. >> i know some people think it's new yorking or -- is narking and ratting on people. it's not. i give them my real irchts d. >> reporter: on this night we watched as she walked into

liquor stores, restaurants, even a convenience store. >> i usually check everyone's i.d. but this time i thought she was legal. she came every time. >> reporter: she made successful buys 50% of the time. >> we do want to protect their identity so there won't be any repercussions from the clerks or from the store owners. >> reporter: at restaurants, jen orders beer or wine and if she is served, she'll contact authorities waiting outside via phone or text. they go in, photograph her with the alcohol, and issue a citation. >> the girl is not allowed to use heavy makeup or provocative clothing. if we use male uvs, they cannot have facial hair. >> reporter: they're so fair that once an undercover volunteer turns 20, they will no longer be used, even though the legal drinking age is 21. andrea mccarren, 9news now.

>> for itself first offense, a licensed establishment is fined $1,000 for selling to anyone under 21. after that you'll have to go before the liquor control board. twice a month montgomery county offers free training sessions for licensed establishments to learn how to train their employees. >> for more information on that go to our website wusa9.com and we are determined here at 9news now to put a stop to underage drinking and we want your help. if you have a tip that we should check out, go to our website wusa9.com and click on wasted: young and using. hey, everybody. pay attention. it's -- is everybody clear now? >> tonight at 11:00, andrea will show you what can happen when underage kids get alcohol, drugs and access to a home that is not supervised by parents. anatomy of a party bust tonight at 11:00. let's take another look at the question of the day. women tend to get a better deal than men when shopping for one of these. is it a, a cell phone, b, a

car, or c, a computer? >> here's a look at one of the responses from our facebook fan page. maria wrote any of them. >> log on to our wusa9 facebook fan page and reveal your response. we announce the winner of the brand new kindle fires in our giveaway. stay with us.

5:24. we have 49 degrees with light rain showers here. the heaviest stuff is east of town and now along the eastern shore some moderate showers in southern maryland. new showers showing up to the west. the showers are going to be with us for the morning hours. looking at our future cast, we'll see the heaviest stuff pull away but another batch of rain moves in by 9:00. best chances will be south of town but this stuff could easily schenck up into montgomery county -- sneak up in montgomery county and fairfax counties as well. lunch time it starts to sweep out of here. temperatures in the low 50s. upper 40s up north. sunshine this afternoon. not as warm as it has been but still not a bad day for february with highs in the mid- 50s. >> thank you, howard. we all know dating websites are very popular these days. they're a place for people to go to meet maybe the person of their dreams. a new website is kicking the concept up a notch designed specifically for people looking to get married and soon. it's called marrymealready.com. the site was launched just a

few weeks ago. so far more than a thousand people have signed up. no word yet if anyone has popped the question. >> this seems like you're putting out that desperate vibe. i think that would be a bit of a turnoff. i wouldn't say it's going to be facebook popular. probably not. >> marrymealready.com claims to be the only website of its kind. it'sest pated one in five -- it's estimated one in five new relationships these days starts online. the federal government is being sued. we're back with that story and your weather first in three minutes.

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good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it is thursday morning. happy thursday, friday eve. >> all right. go pats. i have to say that only because -- good morning. i'm mike hydeck. here's monika samtani.

i'm a uconn alum and we were embarrassed to georgetown. cheers to georgetown. we stunk last night. it was ugly. howard, good morning. good among. we have some rain out there in the form of showers. we'll not be done with the showers completely probably until mid- to late morning. then the afternoon is going to be fine. it's not going to be in the 70s like yesterday when we got to 72, but we'll take 55 when the average is 45 for groundhog day, february 2. >> we're starting all over again? >> exactly. let's show you what's happening on our day planner. 49 degrees with light rain showers. by noon sun will be back, 52. this afternoon 54 at 5:00. we're looking at highs around 55 degrees. let's show you what's been happening with the radar. we had one batch of rain. that has been with us the last couple of hours. that's why streets are wet. look at this area coming out of west virginia. we're seeing a few showers starting to develop in northern virginia as well. you can see them up along i-66.

out west as you head toward front royal, winchester. the heaviest stuff we had earlier is now east of us, especially on the eastern shore on the other side of bait bridge. it's pouring over there around queenstown. anne arundel, prince george's county, calvert, st. mary's, down to the northern neck you're dealing with much of the rain now. west of 95 it's a lot quieter. the temperatures are cooler. upper 40s. mid-40s in manassas to around 50 in la plata. as cold as 43 right now in martinsburg and frederick. let's go to monika with your time saver traffic. it's just the slow traffic that's forming on the major thoroughfares. there are no big deals to report i'm happy to say. good morning, everybody. i'm going to start off first with the west side of town on 66 and the disul less toll road. -- dulles toll road. both are running incident free. we're starting to see the slow traffic form out of manassas. we'll take a live through there. you have the brake lights into centreville and then you're fine. back over to the maps and this

time to 95 on the northbound side coming out of woodbridge, you're going to be okay. we'll take a live look along 95. no problems in springfield up to the beltway. then here's what it looks like on 395 at duke street running very light right now as you head through landmark and up to the 14th street bridge. here's what it looks like downtown on pennsylvania avenue near the williard hotel. everything is running incident free in the northwest corridor. coming up in my next report, we'll go to maryland. back to you, andrea. >> thank you, monika. earlier this week passengers were forced to endure another instance of a cracked rail on metro transit. >> according to the numbers from the transit agency, the problem has actually gotten significantly worse, not better over the last few years. delia goncalves live outside the tinley town station in northwest with more on the stories. we talk about the escalators, the cars and now the rails too. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it almost seems never ending and it's never really good news for any commuters who ride the metro. i was here last week when that cracked rail caused major

disruptions for folks, hour- long commutes that normal took about 20 minutes. and i hate to be the bearer of bad news, folks, but it seems according to the trend some more tough commutes may be in store for you riders. let's take a look at some video of the last week break. a metro speaks person says cracked rails are a sign of the aging system. the agency is undergoing a five- year $5 billion project to fix the problem, but in the meantime passengers are subjected to these long delays whenever there are cracks. metro tells washington examiner the culprits are cold, water corrosion and misaligned tracks and take a look. the problems seem to be getting worse n. 2009 we had 19 cracked rails. in 2010, 33 cracked rails and last year 49 cracked rails. now, metro tells us they are investing in a new thermal imaging system that will especial them detect -- help them detect these potential

problems before they become huge disasters but that system won't likely take place till the summer. coming up in my next live report in a half-hour, i'll tell what you other steps metro is taking to at least address these ongoing problems. mike, andrea? >> thanks, delia live outside the tinley town station in northwest. police have released the 911 calls made just minutes before a deadly wrong-way crash in anne arundel county. two cars collided head-on along route 50 early sunday morning killing four people in this accident. maryland state police say the driver 19-year-old brittany walker was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. >> it just came past me in the left lane. i'm like oh, my god, he's on the other side. i don't think they had a clue they were on the wrong side of the road. >> he's headed toward route 50. if he gets that far, there's going to be a real problem. >> walker along with two 18- yards riding in the car was -- 18-year-olds riding in the car

died. d.c. police say an assault happened just before 4:00 in an elementary school southeast. the manual allegedly groped the student and then left. officers say he came into the school building without authorization. if you have any information about this case, please call d.c. police. an army veteran is suing the federal government. she and her same-sex wife, same- sex partner are being denied military benefits that are granted to heterosexual couples. it involves tracy cooper harris who served in the army for 12 years and married maggie cooper harris in california in 2008. two years ago tracy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. >> facing ms made me take a step back and exa my priorities. that's why i wanted to make sure maggie would be taken care of after my death. i applied for disabled veterans

benefits for my spouse, the same benefits available to spouses of other disabled veterans. but the department of veterans affairs denied those benefits simply because maggie is not a man. >> the couple's lawsuit argues that the difference in the way heterosexual couples and same- sex couples are treated is unconstitutional. it is 5:36. time for another your money report. >> jessica is back with the latest on the plans to help homeowners. this sounds good. >> roughly one in four homeowners are considered to be under water. when we talk about under water, what that means is their home is actually worse less than their loan. a lot of people face this problem. the government has been rolling out programs to help them, and the boldest one yet was presented in more detail yesterday. in falls church president obama explained his idea to help under water borrowers help refinance their mortgages. the president says the plan would save the afternoon borrower roughly $3,000 a year.

>> if you're ineligible for refinancing just because our aunder water on your mortgage -- you're under water on your morning through no fault of your own, this plan changes that. you'll be able to refinance at a lower rate. you'll be able to save hundreds of dollars a month that you can put back in your pocket. >> the plan would allow all borrowers to refinance their mortgages, even those whose homes are worth less than the loan. the cost of the plan up to $10 billion, a cost the president wants the large banks to cover with new fees. that idea could face a really tough time in congress. if american airlines has its way, thousands of its employees would be grounded for good. the airlines parent company wants to slash 13,000 jobs, 15% of its work force. it hopes to remake itself under bankruptcy protection and will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions. they also propose to end its traditional pension plans and the unions as you can expect plan to fight this program

very, very hard. we'll have to follow this story. >> they'll be stressed out for a while. >> absolutely. an american drug maker announces a massive recall and this one involves birth control pills. researchers say the indicational massage can do you good. we're back in two minutes with your weather first.

. it is 5:40. still some light showers in northwest. leftier showers mainly south and east at the moment but we'll still have showers around till 9:00, 10:00 the latest. here's a look at the day planner. get ready for a little bit of wet weather this morning. you'll need the sunglasses because the sun will return midday. mid-50s for highs. by 6:00 p.m. we're looking at 52. i'll give that you seven-day forecast coming up in the next few. right now here's monika. she'll tell you about the wet roads and how it's affecting the commute. it is beginning to affect the commute. on the northbound side of 270

out of this camera range, there is an incident on the spur before montross road. we are hearing authorities are headed that way. northbound on the 270 spur possibly closed because of an accident. i'll keep you posted on that situation in bethesda coming up in my next report. 5:41. here's a look at some other things making news now. drug maker pfizer is recalling roughly one million packets of the birth control pill lo/ovral- 28. the company says a manufacturing mixup led to some packages being distributed with the pills out of order. which means a patient could have unknowingly skipped a dose and raised her risk of an unintended pregnancy. pfizer estimates only about 30 packets were plawed. the -- flawed. the pills were made and shaped last year. here's a good excuse to get a massage. a new study find it is can heal damaged muscles faster. researchers in canada say a massage activates molecules which lowers inflammation in

overworked muscles. studies have shown massage can also reduce chronic pain and improve range of motion. time for a break. before we head there, let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. graham nash of crosby, steels and nash is 70. the stunning christie brinkley is 58 today. actress marissa winoker is 39. and columbian singer shakira is 35. bush moved to the british controlled area in the hopes of escaping discrimination. some historians say the success of his settlement is what strengthened the american claim to the area. check it out at wusa9.com for

more blast history e-- more black history events happening in the area.

welcome back to 9news now. 5:46 this thursday morning. howard is here. won't get as warm as yesterday. 72 degrees but still unseasonably warm. >> 45 is the average. we're going to be around 55 this afternoon. let me tell you, sunglasses, you'll need them later but you'll need the umbrellas early. we do have some rain out there this morning. most of us is going to be gone by -- most of this will be gone by 10:00, 11:00. the afternoon will be another nice one. you can get outside, work, exercise, walk the dog, whatever you want. it will be decent later on. here we go with your bus stop forecast on this thursday morning. scattered showers are out there. temperatures are running anywhere from the low 40s up north now where the front has kind of swept through but still some low 50s well south of

town. sunrise 7:19. the showers will start to wind down by 11:00. could still be a few south and east of d.c. north winds 5, 6:00 miles an hour. will start to turn more to the northwest after the front goes through. 53 degrees at 1:00. your afternoon, that looks sunny, 55 with a northwest wind at 8. for the drive home you'll need the shades at 54 degrees which is still pretty decent for february 2. we'll find out in a couple of hours whether or not phil up in punxsutawney sees his shadow. here we go. we've got two areas of rain. one pushing east of us now but another one approaching. where we had a little hole, that's starting to fill in in spots in northern virginia. we're seeing the showers redevelop along 66 headed in toward fauquier county. our live radar located at college park's university of maryland campus, you can see the showers now developing here into prince william county. getting in towards centreville and chantilly and southern loudoun county. all of this is moving east. the heaviest stuff we've been watching -- let me get back to

radar for a second. the heaviest stuff we've been watching has moved over toward the eastern shore for now. there's the new activity along and south of route 50 from upperville to olney, down toward warrenton and amissville along 66. this is tracking right toward the district as it's all moving off towards the east. we have the lighter showers here but newer stuff is coming in. we've also seen heavier showers not only the eastern shore but down to the south. look at this in calvert county now from saint leonard to lusby approaching cambridge. some heavier showers are moving over toward you folks as this all moves east at about 30. temps are still okay. above average. our average high is 45. 50 in arlington right now. gaithersburg 46. columbia and andrews are 48. off to the west we've got a 48 from haymarket and manassas. springfield this morning 51 degrees. we've got decent visibility in spite of the light showers outside looking on our weather camera. u.s. capitol all lit up this morning. 49 degrees with calm winds and

the barometer 29.98. that's going to be falling first as low pressure here in west virginia, this will push through. the afternoon turns sunnier and temperatures won't be as warm but still above average. today 55. afternoon sun. tonight we're down in the 30s. tomorrow decent finish to the week. mostly sunny, 53. into the 20s and 30s for friday night but saturday morning around 50 with some clouds late in the day. might see a rain shower or snow shower sunday morning. sunday ending upping be -- up being partly sunny. it is now 5:49. monika is tracking all sorts of activity, especially in montgomery county and 270. that's right. on the northbound side of the 270 spur before you get to montrose road, we're taking a look at an accident blocking off the 270 spur completely right now with this major accident. we are just beginning to get details in about it. in the meantime you want to plan early. go ahead and use old georgetown road to get yourself on to 270

and do not get stuck in this delay. i cannot tell you how long the lanes will be blocked. delays have been formed on the northbound side of the spur. use 355 at your alternate route to head northbound this morning. i'll keep you posted on this accident. i'll quickly show you a map so you get some perspective on where it is on the northbound side of i -270. if you are planning to head into virginia, 395, 66, they both look good in toward the potomac river crossing. we'll take a look inside the district in northwest where there are no problems to report. if you're planning to head on to pennsylvania avenue through the northwest corridor, all the potomac and anacostia crossings are doing fine as well. in my next report, i'll july date you on the situation -- i'll update you on the situation in bethesda. in the meantime in my handses are two d.c. street -- hands are two d.c. street signs, one old, one new. you may have seen both up lately and wondered about the change. in today's extra mile, d.c.

street signs are transitioning to a new style after 30 years. >> reporter: which street sign can you read better from here? or from here? what about from here? which one do you like better? can you tell the old from the new? >> which one is old? which one is new? >> i prefer that one. >> the new one. >> reporter: that's good news because new federal standards mean that in the next six years almost 32,000 d.c. street signs are changing. >> they believe that upper case and lower case lettering is easier to see, especially at a distance than all caps which is what we currently have in the district. >> reporter: as they age, sign requests come into d.c.'s own shop where supervisor valerie wiggins now creates the new mixed case templates. her team then carefully crafts and cuts using the more reflective vinyl material and attaching it on to an aluminum plate meant to last about ten years. the process? 45 minutes per sign. at $65 a sign, the price tag

will be over $2 million. >> this is what's in place on most of the streets currently in the district which is what we're changing out. >> reporter: this reveals the new. >> that's right. so that's what the new sign looks like. highway font is what our folks just call it but the sign is also or the lettering is also more reflective. it can be distinguished or seen at a distance, especially at night. >> so the feds have mandated that this massive overhaul be done by 2018. it will be done under a normal sign replacement schedule. again the huge price tag, guys, what do you think? which one do you like better, m.c.i.d case or all caps? >> with the glasses i can see both. i don't know. if it's going to be standard, then i guess it's okay but you wonder, for $2 million, you wonder if it could be better spent on something else. >> the only thing i realize is the fact that they're going to be more reflective at night

especially with headlights it's a great idea. whether it's worth spending $2 million when we have so many other problems, not so sure. >> i take take the money and replace signs that are completely gone. that would help anyone getting around difficult because it can be difficult. also clear out the trees. that would help too. >> you can't see a lot of them at all. but it's a start i guess. we want to take another look at the question of the day. women tend to get a better deal than men when shopping for one of these. is it a, a cell phone, b, a car, or c, a computer? >> one of our facebook friends johnny said, i think women get a bad deal on everything if the salesperson happens to be male. if it has to be one of the above, it has to be a cell phone. >> log on to our facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer in about an hour. we're going to announce the names. the two inwin -- two winners of the brand new kindle fire in our great tablet giveaway.

join us at 6:00. good morning, federal workers. should you be planning for a raise? we're going to tell you the latest on your money at work coming up at 6:04. you are watching 9news now. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open.

let me get you a free tank of gas -- how's that sound? progressive saved me money, and i'm saving you money. [ chuckles ] now these guys are protected with progressive. come on around. we'll fill up your tank for you. free gas! 5 more inches. now you're lined up for some free gas and savings, eh? [ horn honks ] hey, we're trying to save here. i came in for this. yeah, fill it up, too. thank you. don't thank me. i'm just the messenger. it is 5:56. plenty of showers on live doppler 9 hd. keep the umbrella with you. up north there's not much action. in frederick you might not see much today but the showers, the

heaviest stuff we did see earlier is along the eastern shore now pulling out of southern calvert county. out to the west here along route 50 down towards 66 and warrenton even into prince william county, new showers are approaching the metro from the west. so looks like we're going to be in and out of this stuff for a few hours. our future cast showing the bulk of the rain, looks like it's going to past south of d.c., even through 9:00. can't rule out a few of those showers sneaking up towards us. by midday, lunch time, 50 degrees. the sun returns out west. that sun will sweep across us. all of us will be sunny by this afternoon. 2:45, 3:00 looking at highs today right around 55 or so. so a decent afternoon after this wet start. back to you. the david letterman show celebrates a milestone. we have those stories and more in this look of entertainment. >> reporter: late show host david letterman celebrated his 30th anniversary on television. he began his late night career

in 1982 as host of nbc's late night with david letterman. he hit the air on cbs in 1993. letterman's top ten list included things staffers would like to say to dave on his 30th anniversary. >> number three. >> you're incompetent. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: lisa marie presley opened a new exhibit at graceland to hon ear late -- honor her late father. she posed in front of an installation of her childhood nursery. she was personally involved in the development and planning. it will remain part of the graceland v.i.p. tour through february 2014. another hollywood actress is appearing in a sexy billboard ad for pita. penelope justice is say nothing to fur. the ad is in new york's city garment district just in time for fashion week. similar bill hoards are planned for -- billboards are planned for paris, milan and london.

>> reporter: the show lily hammer is about a new york mobster who enters witness protection after ratting out his boss. >> frank is so shocked by someone trying to kill him because everybody loves him that he kind of overreacts and goes to norway. >> reporter: you can catch the new netflix series starting next monday. that's your eye on entertainment. i'm edward lawrence for cbs news, hollywood. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. it's thursday. we're almost there. i'm mike hydeck. good morning. here's monika samtani's. it's monika this morning on the streets. she'll let you know about traffic in a moment. right now howard has the right of way. letell us about weather first-- >> he will tell us about weather first. >> that was a great segue. wet streets out there. monika will have more on the issues around the area. we will have the showers on and off through mid-morning. the