winds. it is 31 in asheville and hendersonville. 28 right now in spartanburg. we will see mostly cloudy skies today. we will have cloudy skies late this evening as rain begins to move in. 27 in asheville and 40 degrees by 5:00 p.m. this winter storm will start off as rain and cool the atmosphere so evaporation of cooling occurs. as that happens, the rain will change over to freezing rain and sleet for the northern part of the area. this is around 1:00 a.m. tonight. as we head into the morning hours of friday, that is when the winter storm will take effect. we will have widespread freezing rain all day tomorrow. as we go into the evening hours, we have a short break and then, snow will wrap around the

with anywhere up to .5 inches of eyes. we could have 1-3 inches of snow on top of that ice. we will have four-six inches of snow in the asheville-hendersonville area. a disturbing trend we see with ice, coming up. allyson: thank you, chris. black ice is certainly a concern. myra: in north carolina, the department of transportation has started getting the roaofficials applied 150,000 gallons of salt brine to major interstates and primary routes yesterday. officials say crews may reapply salt brine today if conditions allow. they say crews will go into active salting once snow comes. here is some video from snow yesterday in asheville. it was enough to stick to the ground in some areas of buncombe county. and some students were let out of school early. in the higher elevations the snow means green for ski resorts like sugar mountain. plenty of skiers and snow boarders taking advantage of the snow in this video from yesterday.

will be the black ice. so just make sure to travel safely. allyson: forecasters say the weekend storm coming is potentially paralyzing. a blizzard watch has been issued for the baltimore and washington areas. the storm is predicted to bring heavy snow across more than 14 states. you heard chris talking about that. we will talk more about that in a few minutes. myra: some other concerns are with air travel. some major airlines are looking ahead to the weather and appeasing travelers in advance. american, southwest and delta airlines will waive ticket change fees and fare differences for customers who want to postpone their trips. those airlines are issuing travel waivers to customers who are expecting delays and cancellations. allyson: other concerns with this winter eat weather are snow injuries. local doctors are warning the elderly and young are most at risk. doctors at greenville memorial hospital say they're expecting to see people with injuries caused by slips and falls , flooding, and frostbite. doctors say they're most worried about hypothermia among the elderly.

bundled up during everyday things, like working outside and waiting at bus stops. myra: you can continue to check the weather updates on our wyff 4 app. you can stay up-to-date with the latest alerts right there at your fingertips. allyson: shifting gears now. governor nikki haley gave her state of the state address last night. myra: there were tears, they were celebrations, and there were some called out directly. allyson: fixing state roads and bridges will be a big issue lawmakers say they have to face this year. last year they could not come up with an agreement to pay for fixing the state's crumbling roads, bridges and highways. then came the floods. lawmakers say a compromise is a must this year. but the governor was firm on her stance. >> i think no differently of our roads situation than when i stood before you one year ago. i will not sign any piece of legislation that raises taxes.

five, not in year ten. allyson: the governor also broke down when she honored two of the three survivors of the charleston shooting at the emanuel ame church. myra: following the governor's speech mandy norrell of lancaster gave the democratic response. the state representative spoke of the lack of progress made under the republican party leadership. specifically, in public education health care and economic growth. she also took aim at the party and governor nikki haley. >> and speaking off safe roadways. why haven't we passed a bill to improve our roads and bridges. i remember hearing my republican colleagues say over a year ago that that was the most important thing. lately, you have heard governor haley call for unity and i agree. we need to start working together to get things done, but what she hasn't told you is that the fighting is within her own party. republicans in the senate actually fillbustered their own

was dead for the year. and while the republicans are fighting amongst themselves, our citizens continue to suffer with tattered roads and dangerous bridges. allyson: norell went on to say that if democrats were in control of the legislature they would have a bill on governor haley's desk within days. myra: is that you missed governor haley's state of the state, we have the entire speech on wyff4.com. a greenville county deputy who was shot in the head while on the job is home. fellow law enforcement officers applauded deputy dave dempsey as he left the roger c. peace hospital yesterday. dempsey spent 41 days in the hospital. he's expected to make a full recovery with therapy. dempsey praised a fellow deputy for his actions the night he was shot. >> so, it is gonna be a whole lot of changes. i've just got to get used to it. just happy to be home. happy to be home. myra: charles rosemond was shot to death after investigators say he fired at dempsey.

robbery call at his apartment. allyson: chris joins us again. chris, we are all watching to find out how serious this is going to be. chris: it will be pretty serious with significant ice showing up. this storm will be more of a hazard. temperatures outside are below freezing in many areas and that is a concern, especially in the northern part of the upstate where we have a winter weather advisory from travelers rest northbound and all of western north carolina. what fell yesterday wet the roadways. there is some black ice out there. the very careful. the national weather service upgraded the storm watch to a warning.

nothing is expected to fall throughout the day today. it is late this evening around midnight that we will see that snow and ice move across the area. 31 in asheville and 34 in greenville. 36 in downtown columbia. this winter storm is coming out of the gulf. the moisture will arrive around midnight and begin as rainfall. that will cool the atmosphere so is operational cooling changes that rain to freezing rain. freezing rain is a deceptive. it is bringing outside, but it is a solid sheet of ice and freezes on contact. at the bottom of the atmosphere it is below freezing where it is above freezing up above it. during the morning hours, freezing rain will continue across the northern part of the upstate from the i-85 northbound. it really ramps up by lunchtime end of the precipitation will

as that low moves east, the eyes will change over to snow and a good bit of it could fall across the area, especially in the mountains. this is a troubling trend here. the nam model is showing .5 inches of ice. the other model is showing 3/10 of an inch of ice. that is the concern right now, the ice in the upstate. the snowfall models sometimes think it will be all snow, but in reality, that snow will fall as ice. when these totals down a little bit, but the low end of the snow model is showing four inches and the high end is showing nine inches. even when you cut that in half, which is what i am doing right now, we could see two to four inches of snow on top of the ice. for the mountains, it will fall as mainly snow. 9-12 inches of snow could fall

we are expecting .25-.5 inches of ice. prepare for power outages. go to the grocery store and get something you can cook without power. in the mountains, you could receive 4-6 inches of snow. combine that with strong winds and it will be a serious situation. i will continue to keep you posted. allyson: thank you, chris. winter weather is backing up traffic everywhere. you will not believe whose motorcade was in this. myra: just his away from the end of the championship.

myra: it dramatic drop pushed the stock market to its lowest level in nearly two years wednesday. the dow jones industrial average was down more than 500 points at one point during the day. the plunge was tied to a steep drop in crude oil prices, which sank 7%. the price of u.s. crude dropped below $27 a barrel, the lowest price since may 2003. that drop is blamed on a global glut of supply. allyson: throughout the mid-atlantic and northeast, people are prepping for the weekend's big snow storm. last night drivers in washington d.c. got a taste of what they can expect this weekend. drivers crashed on icy roads and sat in gridlock after a thin

streets with ice starting around 7:00. in philadelphia, crews are already out treating roads with brine. officials say they are preparing for the very worst, and getting plows and salt tricks ready for the weekend. the weekend storm is predicted to bring heavy snow across more than 14 states. myra: even the president of the united states is not immune from the headache brought by driving in snowy weather. the president rode in a motorcade from joint base andrews to the white house as a result of the bad weather last night usually traffic is president, but that could not be done on this snow we night in d.c. a drive that normally takes 25 minutes took an hour and 10 the president had to deal with this too. he did arrive safely. allyson: taking a live shot in philadelphia right now. crews are prepping for the

chris: here is a look at the winter storm warning in effect. we are expecting ice and snow

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announcer: now, your live super doppler 4 hd weather forecast. chris: you hear us say this a lot with the i-85 core door. this it wil -- this will be one of the hotter spots northbound. this is going to be the difference whether this is a big event for you or a moderate event. it is 34 degrees in greenville. the engineers that built the i-85 did it for a reason. it is at the foot of the mountains. it is an old indian trail toward atlanta. they build it there for a reason. south of their the elevation is so low it often times falls at's rain. north of their it can fall as a wintry mix.

what fell yesterday wet the roadways. black is -- black ice is possible today. north of the i-85 all the way up into western north carolina will have significant winter storms tonight and tomorrow. spartanburg. 31 in asheville. today we will only have cloudy skies. we will top out in the lower 40's. asheville will begin in the 20's and reach the lower 40's. clouds will increase as the day goes on. the winter storm will arrive later on tonight. originally it was thought it would arrive midmorning tomorrow. now, it appears it will be after midnight. after midnight we will see rain. that will cool the atmosphere and through either operational cooling that rain will chang freezing rain.

by 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning moisture moves in from the south of that will give us widespread ice across the area. especially from the i-85 corridor northbound. the precipitation will taper down into the evening hours and cold air rushes in. that will change of the ice to a little bit of snowfall. we could see snow on top of the ice. the nam shows over half an injured of ice for the gsp area. the gfs is showing 3/10 of one inch. for the snowfall models, they are indicating that we could see nine inches. what the snowfall models don't account for is some of this moisture will be used as ice. even if you cut these totals in half we could see anywhere from

the mountains will mainly have 9-12 inches of snow. that is certainly possible along the i-85, or the i-40 corridor. we could have four to six inches of snow in the asheville-hendersonville area. we could have more than one foot of snow in the high country. throughout the day friday we will get rain, snow, and ice. snow is possible friday night. things will get better late in the weekend, but not before the damages done. we will see a significant ice and of snowstorm for the upstate. next week we reach the 50's once again. allyson: and washington, the senate has voted to block the syrian refugee bill. myra: that vote was 55 to 43. it needed 60 votes to pass. it was a measure that would have impacted thousands of refugees in the middle east. but the debate is heating up in

yesterday at the state house several measures were discussed. including one that would prevent state agencies from working with refugees programs. this until the federal government creates stricter security measures. a second bill would require refugees to register with the department of social services. allyson: south carolina taxpayers will have to wait longer for their tax refunds this year. the state department of revenue will hold refunds until march 1. at reducing tax refund fraud, which a dor spokeswoman says has reached pandemic levels. to say they're not happy with the delay. >> it is aggravating. you feel like you are paying taxes. they should do their part, instead of them saying they're going to give it to you whenever they feel like it. >> a lot of our customers are depending on that money, whether it''s to pay property taxes,

allyson:he state department of revenue director rick reames will hold a news conference to further explain the delay in state refunds. myra: we are just four days away from the nfc championship. and the carolina panthers hoping for a victory that will lead them to the super bowl. wyff news 4's ricardrdlecompte is in charlotte. ricardo: the carolina panthers continue to get ready for the championship. it is not the ideal condition to practice in. that is why the coach wants his team allen this weather as much as they can just to get themselves aggravated. -- as much as they can to get themselves acclimated. they are not talking about the super bowl. as rivera said on wednesday, there is no point in the in closer to the super bowl because they are not in that game yet. have to take care of business against the cardinals, who are

they have been successful playing away from glendale, arizona. our coverage continues with the panthers leading up to the game sunday nreporting in charlotte, ricardo lecompte. allyson: remember to join us saturday for a special wyff 4 panthers playoff special. sports director brad fralick will get y conference championship game. the panthers will take on the cardinals. you can watch of that special right here from 7:00 until 8:00

>> now, your live super doppler 4 hd forecast. dale: -- chris: temperatures are cold outside, especially the mountains were it is at or below freezing.

another part of pickens and back toward raven county in georgia, all the way up to hendersonville, so a winter weather advisory in effect until 7:00 a.m. a winter storm warning until 7:00 p.m. saturday. roads will be treacherous until then and starting later tonight as the storm moves in. we will see a 20% chance of showers, rain showers later today and it will change over to ice overnight and start ramping up by tomorrow morning and through lunchtime. as a head into the overnight hours tomorrow, the ice will change to snow. this could be a significant storm for the i-80 five corridor, upstate, mountains of north carolina and charlotte. peering out by the big panthers game -- clearing out by the big panthers game, 50's and roads clear. today's school salute goes to

they recently enjoyed sunshine after the rain we have had. they are also good sports about getting their pictures made for the yearbothat is always fun. you always have the kids behind you put the bunny ears up. allyson: my son is into that. myra: their school director was in the back so he rankled them. [laughter] let's take a look at this morning's buzz. a chinese snowmen, "rosen" style. this giant olaf tyler myers 12 feet tall. allyson: samantha and her dad jeff spent almost an entire day building the snowman. jeff and samantha have been building giant snowmen for years. myra: i wonder if he sang the song. jeff says the best part is

allyson: i am impressed. whenever we try to build a snowman, and it ends up this tall. myra: i am better at running into them. allyson: you have a nemesis with snowmen. wyff news 4 continues. [captioning made possible by wyff-tv] [captioning performed by the national captioning inwhich is responsible for its captmyra: in the upstate deputy injured on the job as he finally -- is applauded as he leaves the hospital and speaking out about it. >> this has been a difficult and different kind of the upper south carolina. the year that warrants a different kind of speech. allyson: an emotional night for nikki haley. behind us, these at your photos