the question later today. later today. the look at the day planner this morning because we're doing all right right now. it's 71-degrees in washington. by 9:00 we could still have a shower or two around. we have some south right now and show you that in just a moment. isolated showers and noon 80, but by 5:00 a very difficult commute home with showers and storms and some heavy to severe. 81 degrees. a lot of stuff out to the west and west virginia down in the care lianas but locally activity coming out of south central virginia now approaching the region. some thunderstorms down here down towards richmond and coming north now south and east of fredericksburg we're watching the activity here on live doppler 9000 hd. just almost here, give it another 15, 20 minutes. lighter showers into southern fairfax, prince william, fatherrier and stafford and cuff -- fauquier and stafford and culpeper a few showers here in the next couple of minutes. temps they're comfortable. a little muggy. although frederick at 58 and it's 74 on the bay in

annapolis. and your highs today should make low possibly mid 80s but that could be a very rough time with the weather around here. monika in. what a difference a day makes huh howard? if you're planning to head around town at least right now things are fine. it's kind of a calm before the storm. the beltway looks great. no problems to report all around town right now. i'm going zoom in first of all to the west side. no problems as you come in from the airport on the dulles toll road or manassas on i-66. the west side of the town on the beltway here at the american legion bridge traffic is moving smoothly between bethesda and tysons you will be okay. dale city to springfield looking good and over a live picture again. this time at the 14th street bridge. the only thing downtown is yesterday's water main break affecting connecticut avenue and n street at dupont circle. coming up in my next report, another look at area roads at 5:10. thanks monika. doctors at children's hospital

are treating five children after they were hit by an suv. >> the victims range in age from 1 to 11 years old as this crash happened last night in lewis dale, maryland. 9news now reporter delia goncalves is live at the hospital with more. delia? >> reporter: no doubt those parents very worried this early morning and are by the bed sides of their children here at the hospital praying for a speedy recovery after last night's tragic accident. take a look at some cell phone video we obtained from a witness at the scene. you can see some of the victims being treated there in that video. the crash happened we're told just before 9:00 p.m. in the 2200 block of han nonstreet and lewis dale. police tell us the two girls and three boys were playing in the home's driveway when the mother of at least one of the children got into her suv and never saw the kids. >> lady was in the vehicle, backed up and five children were struck.

the vehicle continued and lodged into the garage that's in the rear portion of the house. >> reporter: now one child this morning is described in serious condition. the other children are expected to recover. but of course it will be a long road to recovery after being hit by that suv. so just how fast was this mom traveling in order to not only hit the kids but to bang up the garage door behind the children? we'll have that part of the story coming up at 5:30. mike, andrea back to you. >> thanks delia. delia goncalves live at children's hospital this morning. montgomery county police are looking for the driver in a hit and run accident after a pedestrian was hit in wheaton, maryland yesterday afternoon. officers found the injured man on center hill street just before 5:00. he's in critical condition. now family members tell us the victim is 18-year-old malcolm polk. he is a senior at kennedy high school in wheaton they say and he was walking home when he was hit just a block from the house. police are looking for a newer

dark colored nissan sedan. a student at morgan state university is charged with murdering his roommate but a shocking and disturbing story and we want to warn you about the next part of it. investigators say this man, 21- year-old alexander kinyua admitted cutting up the body and eating part of his remaining heart and brains. police found more body parts in kinyua's family home in joppatowne, maryland. according to charging documents members of the suspect's own family turned him into authorities. the roommate was reported missing last week. the medical examiner is still working to confirm his identity. it is 5:04. good morning if you're just waking up. it was called the funeral service for chuck brown. but it sure sounded a lot like a concert. ♪ >> thousands packed into the washington convention center to celebrate the life of the godfather of go-go. brown swapped cigarettes way

back in the day in 1960s in prison for a guitar. and that transformed his life when he formed his first band back in the '60s. in the 1970s he dubbed the blended musical style as go-go and "busting loose" became a national hit. brown inspired new generations of go-go musicians and a lot more. >> for me it's not a sad event. it's a blessing because now, you get to realize how strong and powerful go-go is. >> now brown died last month and he was 75 and his family is asking well wishers to make donations to the chuck brown foundation. time for the latest your money report of the morning. >> not too awful bad. >> you put them all together and pretty miserable. may was awful. >> miserable may is what you called it last time. >> that's right. traders really hoping that a new month means a new direction. who knows?

fingers crossed and may be the worst month in two years, the dow and nasdaq each dropped 6% in may and european markets were down 7% and concerns about the economic crisis in europe continued to push down oil prices, crude oil down 17% in may. checking the numbers -- this morning, all eyes will be on the government's latest check on the jobs market and analysts expect the economy added 150,000 jobs in may and that the rate held steady at 8.1%. that would be better than the previous couple 06 months and it would be bell below winter's pace of 252,000 jobs created each month. how natural is that so- called natural oj in the glass this morning? tropicana markets its brand as fresh from the grove but some 20 lawsuits claim the company's juice is so heavily processed

it shouldn't be called natural at all. lawyers came to washington yesterday to argue before a panel of judges about where the lawsuit should be heard as a group. tropicana said it is committed to full compliance with labeling laws. now turns out tropicana puts in some sort of flavor pack into its juice so that it's consistently tasting the same all year-round. and this is sort of the -- the nuggets that's the problem. >> natural. >> who knew? >> what do you have for us? some very serious safety concerns about the bus operators. we'll talk about that coming up. >> got it. well, if congress gets its way veterans could get some more help with their health care. we'll explain that coming up. >> plus, federal prosecutors must decide whether or not to retry john edwards after the jury deadlocks on most of the charges. >> and ahead in sports a big nba playoff winning streak has come to an end. stay with us.

welcome back. howard bernstein with you here this -- weather first in the severe weather alert day. we're concerned for the afternoon and evening hours especially the first part of tonight when strong to weather could be affecting -- severe weather could be affecting the region. this morning a couple of showers and storms here and there and on the day planner we may see them over the next few hours. the middle of the day i think with a break and then anytime from 3:00, 4:00 on really have to watch out. highs today in the low possibly middle 80s but boy the evening commute could be a very difficult one. full forecast coming up. right now monika samtani has a look at the morning's timesaver

traffic. here's a live look planning to head north on 395 heading up to the 14th street bridge. this is all clear but in the downtown area connecticut avenue you've got closures both directions at dupont circle and on n street because of yesterday's water main break. coming up in my next report, a closer look at virginia roads at 5:17. back to you guys. see you then monika. here's what's making news now. the justice department has not said whether or not its prosecutors are going to pursue a retrial when it comes the john edwards. the jury acquitted the 2008 presidential candidate on one count and then deadlocked on the other counts forcing is mistrial. edwards was accused of illegally using campaign funds. if house has approved legislation to boost health care spending for veterans. about half the $148 billion measure is for veterans' pensions and disability payments. more than 500,000 veterans from iraq and afghanistan are seeking compensation for service related injuries. police agencies across northern virginia launched a

crackdown on unsafe trucks. officers pulled over trucks for inspection at the d.c. lawrence park. a similar check last year forced 33% of the trucks off the road for problems with brakes and steering. this is a good news bad news kind of story. tuition will be going up for university of maryland students. but just not as drastically as first planned. we'll have details on that coming up at 5:33. >> and in shorts 5:23, there's -- sports 5:23, some new news about both redskins' rookie quarterbacks. >> and next at 5:15, howard has details on this severe weather alert day. we'll be right back. this country was built by working people. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production.

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good morning, welcome back to 9news now. 5:14 and you hear it and you see it. a severe weather alert day. not the way we expected to end our week after yesterday especially. >> got to 85 with bright sunshine. but june has started beginning a hurricane season but not even going to talk about. that we're going to talk about your severe weather threat for this afternoon and tonight. really the stuff this morning kind of nuisance in the sense that whenever you get rain in the morning rush hour that's not cool at all but this morning we have the threat for storms with damaging wind gusts and hail and maybe even isolated tornadoes. big area under the gun today with severe weather. arrest lobbinged the bus stop -- here's a look at the bus

stop forecast. it's comfortably temperature- wise with reading that are in the 60s to low 70s. sunrise 5:45 and sets almost not quite but almost at 8:30 this evening about 8:28. 72 at 8:00. still could be a shower around. we've got some thousands that are going to move through over the next few hours. midday is not too bad. near 80 by noon. with mostly cloudy skies and then this afternoon, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, things are really going to start to kick maybe a little earlier west and southwest of d.c.. wind will be breezy too today southeast 10 to 20 and by 8:00 still expect a few thunderstorms to be around and temperatures into the middle 70s. this morning, we've watched some showers come up from south central virginia. heavier showers and storms western and central west virginia out into the ohio and tennessee valleys. but for us i'm looking at live doppler 9000 hd, it's the lighter rains that have made it now up to 66 in fairfax county into prince william county. lower fauquier county down through stafford. also watching down along 301 here. coming across the river now

we're seeing it from around dahlgren and south of dahlgren just coming up 301. by 17 and 301 coming into charles county and even st. mary's just starting to see a few of the showers there. they're taking that ride northbound or southbound on 301 some of that. there's the loan shower coming on shore here crossing the potomac into st. mary's county. those are the heaviest downpours right now but this is i think nothing compared to this afternoon and tonight. 66 bethesda at this time. columbia is 62 and 6 # also in lovettsville. manassas 64. remember shop light showers in springfield with the light rain and 67. as we look outside on the michael & son weather camera, just cloudy here. 71 degrees. with an east wind at 3 and the humidity out there at 78%. the futurecast we've got the showers this morning that are going to come through here and there over the next few hours but by lunchtime again, mostly cloudy.

some sunny breaks. want you to watch what happens into the middle of the afternoon and some showers and storms really start to pop. here we are at 6:00 p.m. notice one line here and one line here. this guy could become a really firm line here. by 9:00 this could be the biggest action we're seeing and ifs in an hour either side of that, this is a computer model remember that. but the trend here is for the shower asks storms this evening do -- showers and storms this evening to diminish overnight. stray shower maybe sunday. not even in the forecast. today 83. severe weather potential pretty high here for the afternoon and evening hours. as we get to tonight we'll dip into the 50s and 60s. a nice saturday at 76. a nice sunday at 79. next week temperatures stay in check and you know late tuesday early wednesday may get more shower activity and look @ highs by wednesday potentially lower 70s. to monika now with timesaver traffic. thank you so much howard. it's friday morning light i'm happy to say the beltway is

great all around town. zoom in first of all from the south on 95, where you can see there are no delays yet from dale city into woodbridge. all the way up to line to springfield. a live look outside right now and if you're planning to head here in springfield leaving route 644 you can see it's just that normal volume on a friday morning heading up to either the beltway or 395 to the 14th street bridge. let's head out west, coming in on the gw parkway you will be fine. no problems on 66 or the toll road. all the way in to the roosevelt bridge on 66 you're okay. this indicates a water main break down on connecticut avenue at dupont circle and also affecting n street between dupont circle and 19th and be aware of the closures there. the water main break happened yesterday. and a live look outside once again here we are in 66 inside the beltway heading into downtown. coming up in my next report, we'll go to maryland at 5:24. thank you monika. robert griffin iii talks about what he's learned at redskins'

otas, a big scare for the horse that has the chance to win the triple crown. that's coming up next in sports. >> here's at look at the question of the morning -- >> our facebook friend brian writes -- what do you think? put the guess on the facebook page and we'll reveal some of your comments and have the answer in our 6:00 show. we'll be right back. when it comes to gardening, we're, well, inexperienced.

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welcome back. just about 35:22 -- 5:22 on this friday morning. severe weather alert day for the concern for the afternoon and this evening. when we could get some very strong thunderstorms no affect the region. this morning a few showers and isolated thunder will roll through here. by 9:00 we may be watching stuff into pennsylvania and western maryland. through the middle of the day with not too much activity near 80 at lunchtime. to 70s up north. look what happens though by 3:00 p.m. scattered showers and storms are popping in many areas. and then by 5:45, 6:00, strong storms north and strong storms west, southwest could be a lot of showers and storms even through about 9:00, 10:00 tonight. mike and ran tree somewhere? thanks howard. a pretty big win but this morning the spurs' 20 game- winning streak is over. >> the western conference finals moved to oklahoma city for game three and the thunder reared in front -- roared in front of the home crowd. they had a 15 point lead in the

2:00 and thunder stars durant and russell west brock helped maintain the margin. thunder downed the spurs 102-82 although san antonio still leads the series 2-1. now here's kristen berset with your morning sports. good morning everybody. know it's been just a couple of weeks but robert griffin iii says he's starting to feel at home in ashburn. getting a good grasp on the redskins' playbook and building some strong relationships with his offense. most importantly, with the guys whose job it is to keep him upright. usually you know qb will treat his offensive line to a nice dinner or some gifts to help strengthen that bond. well rg 3 hasn't had a chance to take the guys out yet but says the chemistry is building and he has a rather tasty incentive for the regular season. >> we're creating bonds every day. you know with jokes and stuff like that. but you know, my family's from new orleans, louisiana and i know how to cook beignets, so for every no sack victory, we'll get -- they'll get

beignets. and you know i think they'll love those. >> not a bad offer. all right, the battle for rg 3's backup is officially on. kirk cousins sign the contract with the redskins yesterday. the team made it official and terms of the deal weren't disclosed but it's believed to be in the four year, $2.5 million range and he'll compete with grossman for the number two job. a scary moment at belmont yesterday. i'll have another the horse going for the triple crown, almost lost another chance for that when a loose horse came screaming up the rail within inches of him during a practice run. thankfully i'll have another wasn't touched and we have video of him just okay. he went on about his day. as a quick look at sports this morning. have a great friday. coming up the final tuition hike amount for maryland students isn't nearly as bad as they first feared. >> plus, federal authorities shut down dozens of bus

companies found to have hazardous operations. here's monika. >> there was a serious overnight accident it's shut down southbound route 301 between central avenue and leyland road. you want to use an alternate route there. northbound all lanes are open. coming up in my next report, a closer look at maryland roads at 5:29. you're watching 9news now. and it only cost you $4. the $4 everyday value slam. one of 4 tasty choices for $4 off the 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

good morning, welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. there it is on the screen. it's severe weather alert day. howard will tell you more about that in just a minute. that's right. and i'm mike hydeck. thank you for joining us this morning. monika will have traffic as well but first we start with the weather concerns today. howard? >> they're going to be for the afternoon and this first part of tonight. the concerns this morning we have dot some showers and some heavier downpours but this is nothing. i mean this is not the big show. the big show is maybe 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 into 10:00. just could really have a lot of showers and storms to worry about. here's a look outside quickly

as we start you off with the day planner and a few minutes before sunrise, although lots of clouds out there. we've got 71 degrees and a couple of showers and maybe a rumble of thunder this morning. midday a lull and then i think the afternoon is when things are really going to fete nasty. 81 degrees at 5:00 with scattered showers and storms. some of those will be severe. isolated tornadoes possible from pennsylvania down to the carolinas, locally some showers and lightning and thunder down south this morning. it's moving to the northeast at about 30 miles an hour. over to live doppler 9000 hd and just show you down south into st. mary's county and southern charles county across 301 out of dahlgren some heavy downpours there with lighter showers even in to fairfax county. southern loudoun almost getting into that. prince william too. and even charlie in talbot some light rain. the quick look at temperatures before we go. 630s to low 70s right now.

monika. 5:29 and timesaver traffic. you got a lot to talk about. i do have a lot. in fact i'm going to start off this time with some video of a 12-inch water main break that happened yesterday right at dupont circle and you're looking again at the video. affected businesses in the area, they had to shut down because of the break and right now, expect to find closures on connecticut avenue at dupont and n street and 18 street street southbound between n and dupont. it's going to take two days to repave n street and that obviously means you need to find another route. if you're planning to head around the beltway well at least good news there. no problems to report early this friday morning. all lanes are open construction cleared up for the day. at least 270 southbound coming out of frederick looks great. no problems from i-7 # down. we'll take a live look outside right now and if you're planning to head over on to 70 here in clarksburg look how light that is. that's great. back over to the maps no problems on 95. baltimore and washington and a live look at the beltway north

of town here at university boulevard. still pretty light for silver spring. coming up in my next report, we'll go south of town at 5:39. back to you guys. thanks monika. five children between the ages of 1 and 11 are in the hospital this morning after being hit by an suv. >> police are investigating last night's crash in lewis dale, maryland. 9news now reporter delia goncalves is live outside the hospital with more on this story and the updates on the childrens' condition delia? >> reporter: the conditions of the children range from serious to critical and certainly a very touch and go situation and doctors are monitoring those children at this very early hour. the driver behind the wheel, one of the kid's own mother. i'm sure she's very devastated. this is cell phone video of the children that was taken just moments after the crash. police say the boys and girls rather range in ages from 11 to just 1.5 years old. they were playing in the driveway we're told of a home in the 2200 block of hannon

street. just before 9:00 last night. when the mom backed up her suv and she never saw the kids. she then we're told continued and crashed into the garage door. >> really no -- more than a total distance of 75 to 100 feet. i don't believe she's the mother of all the children. >> reporter: this early point in the investigation, police are still trying to put a lot of the pieces of this puzzle together but they believe the mother wasn't traveling too fast. they believe since it was a short distance she was only going maybe 0 to 10 miles an hour at the very most they say. that's preliminary at this point. but you can certainly imagine the weight of that car and the direct ohm pact on all children -- impact on all five children certainly enough to cause some very serious injuries. >> delia goncalves reporting live outside children's hospital. later this morning a one time olympic hopeful will be sentenced in a prince george's

county courtroom. dover ma coast was convicted on two counts of assault and other gun charges. steming from a shooting last august. matos shot and critically wounded 2-year-old deandre johnson at the glenarden apartments. he and his mother were caught in the crossfire during a gunfight with rival groups. a 3% tuition hike is on the way for in-state students in the maryland state university system. it could however have been a double digit increase. this is the third year in a row tuition has gone up for students at college park, tuition and fees will go from $8,655 this year to $8,908 in 2013. 5:33, time for utterer money report. >> good morning jessica doyle. >> good morning, some serious concerns about the safety of the bus services that run from our city to other cities around the country. 26 bus operators have been shut

down. federal investigators call them quote imminent hazards. one of them is new century travel with a location in chinatown. 9news now went there to investigate, the business all locked up. new century operates a network of smaller carriers the idea behind the shutdown is to prevent tragedies like the one last spring when 15 people were killed as they returned to new york from a casino trip. this crackdown is the largest since the department of transportation history. the shutdown also affects i-95 coach and apex bus. the companies are accused of using drivers without valid licenses and failing to test drivers and using buses that had not been properly inspected and repaired. might be time to call your mortgage broker and say hi. hi maureen. going give you a ring. mortgage rates another record low. freddie mac says the average rate on the 30 year fixed rate mortgage is down to 3.75%. that's the lowest level since

they started keeping track of these records back in 1950s. the drop is in part due to the selloff on wall street. and dominion virginia power is providing $1 million to help customers keep their homes cool this summer. the additional funding brings the 2012 contribution to the energy share program to $2.5 million. energy share is a program of last resort for the elderly, the ill and anyone facing financial hardships from unemployment or family crisis. and needing help paying the energy bills. last year it helped nearly 5,000 families pay for part of their summer energy costs. applications are being accepted june 1st through september 28th and also its care program is being offered to help seniors with a free fan. good stuff that they're doing there. >> because boy it is hot around here. >> a hotter summer than last year even. thank you. coming up we'll learn more about the young lady who is the new national spelling bee champion. >> plus we'll have a preview of the weekend's south asian film

festival. it's coming up in rocksville. we'll be right back.

welcome back. 5:37. howard bernstein with you on this severe weather alert day. severe weather could be a real threat late this afternoon for the first part of tonight. this morning though you may need the umbrellas for some showers and a rumble of thunder that are coming north out of virginia. here's a look at the day planner. we'll have a couple of showers around for the next few hours, not too bad middle of the day as temperatures approach 80. low possibly mid 80s this afternoon but boy the afternoon and evening ride home could be a very difficult one with strong to severe thunderstorms and more on that plus a look at live doppler 9000 hd coming up in five minutes. right now we go to monika with timesaver traffic. well, right now volumes are light and it may be a good idea to head to work early and head back home early with the severe weather coming in. right now 395 northbound here at the 14th street bridge nice and light across the potomac river. coming up in my next report, a closer look at virginia roads at 5:48. but first, bollywood is coming to the d.c. area.

the first ever south asian film festival gwynns tonight bringing together some of the finest directors and actors from the film industry. it will take place at the universities of shady grove and rockville and all of films including this one that means two pennies for sunshine will have subtitles. you can also sign up for acting and film workshops and i'll be there tomorrow night to host the debut of a new film at 7:00 p.m. for more information on tickets and events, log on to the website, wusa9.com. jess back to you. so much fun. thank you monika. thanks for telling us about that. we've been combing through the day's daily deals emails and retailer websites to find you some deep discounts. and here's some of my favorites on this friday. friday people. ladies, the heels are high but the prices aren't. target's daily deal five different colors of platform pumps. today they cost $22.49. that's a 25% discount and plus free shipping on this one. go to the restaurant of the

celebrity chefs with this deal. gilt city d.c. teemed with "top chef" contestant mike isabella. pay $25 and get lunch. this includes any free specially selected foods and beverage items i have to tell you the pepperoni sauce to die for. and from the meal to the movies, date night is cheaper. use a visa signature card on fandango. you will get one for free. this deal is good for friday through august. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. and i will send it over to mike. all right, thanks a lot jess. san diego teenager has $30,000 extra to spend on deals this day. >> that's just one of the prizes she got for winning the national spelling bee. >> guetapens g. u. e. t. a. p. e. n. s..

guetapens [ applause ] >> and 14-year-old snigdha nandipati is your new spelling champ. guetapens -- >> spell that. >> really, is a french word derived meaning ambush, snare or trap. nandipati is the fifth consecutive american indian winner. she wants to become a neurosurgeon or psychiatrist. now another look at the question of the day -- >> on our wusa9 facebook fan page, kimberly guesses -- post your comments and guesses,

we'll reveal the answer in about an hour and paper or plastic would do well too. >> the dishwasher will you? >> will the slower pace of summer set your goals off track? we have an expert with some tips on maintaining your focus through the vacation season. coming up. >> plus, a little bit too much end of school excitement as a bear enters the last day of classes. >> don't go away. we have birthdays still before we go -- >> plus weedlike wish a happy

-- like to wish a happy birthday to jay mishkin. happy birthday jay.

welcome back to 9news now. 5:46. severe weather alert day. today but i must comment howard just happen today put on pink tie but this is a very special weekend for breast cancer survivors, supporters, and all of course the global rates of the cure tomorrow on the national mall. and for women early detection and awareness screenings, free screenings are being offered in frederick county. national breast cancer foundation, the convoy of hope will tell you more about that later on. will the severe weather continue? >> no weather problems tomorrow. problems are going to be today really this afternoon. we have a few minor issues this morning with some showers out there down south but it's going to be the 3:00, 4:00 on and until maybe about 10:00 tonight, 11:00 even we could have strong to severe thunderstorms. the bus stop forecast, there are a few showers out there and southern maryland seeing the brunt of it right now. with some heavier showers. we've got temperatures in the 60s and even low 70s and an

isolated rumble of thunder would not surprise me. sun came up about a minute ago. the day planner couple of showers around for the next few hours, afternoon seeing into the first part of even with the strong to severe thunderstorms coming through. temperatures upper 80s and maybe 84, 85 in the warm spots with a breeze out of the southeast at 10 to 20. some stuff this morning coming toward us and there's more activity to the west and southwest. you throw in the daytime heating with. thes in the 80s and -- temperatures in the 80s and yeah some strong storms, this morning some light showers from warrenton and culpeper and fairfax county. but down south, is where we're seeing our yellows and oranges and reds and brighter colors and heavier downpours we're looking at. southern charles county light to moderate showers there but as you go in toward eastern charles, going towards st. mary's, this is now faulkner to newsburg.

between hollywood -- it's going to cross the patuxent river and into parts of calvert county as well. prince frederick in the next 30 to 45 minutes. that's the worst of it. this morning our temperatures, they're mild. they're comfortable and won't need a jacket. low 60s up north to low 70s down south. with the 64 in culpeper and easton and there's been a touch of fog on the eastern shore. they just changed on me to 63. clouds out there this morning. 71 tegs on the cam cool -- degrees with the michael & son weather camera and the humidity is up at 78% and we're talking about the severe weather alert day. with a few morning showers and storms. no big deal here. critical times today 4:00 to 11:00 and could be earlier to the west and southwest, maybe 2:00, 3:00 starting there. hail damaging winds possible and even the isolated tornado can't be ruled out. the futurecast, you'll see the showers this morning come through don't do too much. midday at 11:45. but watch what happens is the showers and storms will be all over the place from

pennsylvania down into the carolinas. and by the evening hours, we could have a very strong line of thunderstorms pushing through here just after sunset. the forecast today. severe weather alert day. you have time just please pay attention this afternoon and evening. 83. tonight 50s and 60s and mid 70s tomorrow and a nice saturday. nice sunday upper 70s and next week, could be a shower monday. 78 with a better chance of some showers later tuesday into wednesday morning. let's go to monika samtani now with timesaver traffic. we're going to go to a live picture from sky 9 of the serious accident that happened overnight actually here's our chart camera. sky 9 may be in black right now. here we go and this happened at 2:00 this morning involving a car and a tractor-trailer southbound route 301 has been blocked ever since between central avenue and lee land road. it's maps right now i suggest that instead of route 301 blocked in the area use route 424 or route 193 as the alternate route. here's 95 whole different story

here things look great this friday morning. dale city into wood bridge. springfieldment just the volume but no big delays, coming up in my next report, another look at area roads at 6:00. back to you. making news now, at 5:50, a record-setting wildfire in southwest new mexico is spreading in all directions. the blaze in the gila forest is now nearly 300 square miles and more than 1200 firefighters are battling the flames. the school board has voted unanimously to remove a copy of the ten commandments from the high school. last june the board voted 3-2 in favor of the display and then the american civil liberties union sued on a student's behalf. federal judge sent the case to mediation last month. and the california elementary school was put on lockdown when a bear crashed the end of the year party. surveillance video shows the bear wandering across campus. the middle school graduation

next door also came to a halt. eventually, animal control officers tranquilized the young bear and returned it to the wilderness. >> that will get your attention won't it? okay. six months ago today january 1st, remember setting all the goals for the year? how you doing? making progress? just blow them off? dale casper is here, she's a life business coach and author and she's joining us with tips on how to stay focused for the 2012 goals. it could have been financial goals or exercise goals, whatever it was. >> whatever it is. >> how do we lose focus and get back on track? >> it's called discipline, we get caught up in routines and whether it's summertime, life goals or whatever we're off track and very difficult to get back on track. >> it's vacation i can take it easy and relax. >> sometimes we miss out on the fun. >> so get us back on track. the first thing to sort of get started back on your -- your original goal from back in january 1st. >> yeah and it depends.

number one i sauce remembered have a team in place. who are the people that can surround you and promote you and push you forward and hold you accountable and make you feel good about who you are and actually get you the goals. >> set up a network. >> yeah. so who are these people? and if you don't have them in place you have to get them in place. >> now, say you were one of people that tried to conquer the world and you wanted to do all of -- you know five or six things. should you concentrate on one and sort of get that back on track first? >> i always say to people what are the top three things you really want to accomplish? those are the things you want to focus on first. in other words what would produce the greatest positive results in your life? you'll feel better about yourself in the process. >> little victories? >> things -- what are the top three things if you did them would produce the greatest positive results for you? is it fitness or career, or is it financial? lay the things out and you can move forward. >> how do you stay on track once you get started? do you continually lean on that

support network and -- >> you need to set yours too. where's your attitude in the process? you want to be sure that you're focused on yourself in terms of making those stops and make that plan -- steps and make that plan. what do you have to do to get there and many people i find they do not use it for their goals. you've got to use the daily planning system for those goals to help you get to the next step. >> what about tracking your progress? is that part of that? >> that's all part of and it we have a tendency to look at what we haven't denvers have at what we have done. if -- versus at what we have done. oh my god i've only lost a pound but you lost a pound and one step closer to it. >> she has a book signing for her new book "unstoppable." that's at the union station today at the barnes & noble. have a great weekend. over to you. thank you mike. calling all cat lovers. one of area's biggest shelters is at capacity and it's asking for help to reduce overcrowding.

that story is coming up. jess? >> thank you andrea. the extra fees, they're really hard to avoid lately particularly on vacations. but this morning, we are helping you dodge some of the worst of them. that's coming up at 6:06. you are watching 9news now.

welcome back. 5 4:00 56. your weather first. the severe weather alert day. storms this afternoon could be strong to severe. this morning a few showers and some couple of highway downpours in -- heavier downpours in charles and st.

mary's county and tracking to extreme southeastern prince george's county. we'll put the futurecast in motion. by 9:00 mostly cloudy and 74. maybe some showers here in southwest p. a.. we'll get to lunchtime still okay. i think you've got time to watch what happens to 3:00. the showers and storms start to pop. and boy by this evening we'll have scattered showers and storms some of these could have some damaging winds gusts and hail and might even have an isolated tornado to deal with. mike? are you thinking act bringing a cat home? is this anything you thought about recently? well, fairfax county animal shelter could use your help. >> its cat population doesn't go down soon they may have to start euthanizing. 9news now reporter surae chinn visited the shelter. >> reporter: the sign says it all. >> right now we have more animals than foster care. more cats and kittens in foster care than we currently have in the bidding. >> reporter: they are maxed out

beyond capacity for cats. the fairfax county animal shelter is counting on people to provide a forever home. >> actually i think i'd want to see milkshake because i was looking at him the most. >> reporter: shelters across the region are experiencing an influx of felines, they come in abandoned. sometimes sick and injured. there are roughly 100 cats at the shelter and the same for foster homes. >> i feel really bad there's like too many cats or something because i feel like it's not their fault that they don't have anywhere to go. >> reporter: a big reason why shelters are overcapacity is because these guys, it is kitten season where there's a huge number of births happening to cats. >> and particularly because this is a very, very mild winter and the breeding season was much longer. >> reporter: the shelter is providing major incentives, just # $15 to adopt and plus free spay and neuter for cats that are 5 years or older. >> i just came in here by myself and like i'm so upset looking at all the cats because they don't look happy and i

mean they're definitely happier than i'm sure where they were before but they just -- i really feel like they node a home. >> reporter: but in the end. after meeting with several cats, she walked away still looking for the perfect match. and leaving milkshake behind. in fairfax county, surae chinn, 9news now. and if you need to give up your cat or cats shelter officials and you try to keep caring for them until the fall. that's when they'll have a better chance at finding a home. and we begin 9news now at 6:00 a.m. by declaring a severe weather alert day. the morning is expected to be okay. it's the afternoon that's going to be an issue. good morning, i'm mike hydeck. >> i'm andrea roane. we want to get right to howard bernstein, this will impact monika's forecast for travel later in the afternoon though right? >> we have a few minor issues this morning. i say minor with some sprinkles out there and some showers in southern maryland but the afternoon and evening commute that really could