back to you. >> jessica doyle, doing a great job. >>> and howard bernstein joins us on the set. scott and jessica and peggy, they've said it a. dangerous situation out there. don't get out and drive. don't get out and tend to the sidewalk and driveway at this point. there is a lot of stuff flying around. >> we have the snow indivisibility -- snow and visibility down. and for some areas our heaviest snow of the day is happening now. it's been responsible for the heavy snow and wind gusts as we get the lens cleaned off. topper is trying to make it here. he stayed in bethesda last night. you can hear me. >> i can hear you. visibility is well under a quarter mile, i'll tell you that. you drive with your hazards on. power went out briefly in bethesda. it's been restored. i would not recommend travel. it's pretty bad. >> now, top, you will make it to the station. any other cars out there, are you the only one out there? >> no. i'm not the only one. i'm crossing two cars and i have a truck in front of me at brandywine. they have some hazards out. there's a few folks out and some walkin

jessica doyle has the latest on the mad dash to get last-minute supplies in virginia. but we will start with kristin fisher in rockville. she can take us there and we can find out how maryland is trying to stay ahead of the storm. >> that's right. hello, j.c. as you can see it has started to snow here in rockville. i'm standing outside of montgomery county's salt domes and this place was packed earlier this morning with salt trucks that lined up to get filled up with salt and hit the roads, but right now it is real quiet. the reason why is because they are out on the roads pretreating the roadways before the storm sets in. i spoke to one salt truck driver scene said we will work as hard as we can but when you expect this much snow there is only so much that salt and pretreatment will do. you will see accumulation on the roadways no matter what. salt trucks are on the road. the snowplows, you are not going to see them until we get three inches of snow on the ground. that's when the county says they will send out the snowplows. the focus will be keeping the main and emer

them roads as i heard jessica doyle say in virginia the roads are actually soaking wet. there's no ice whatsoever on the main roads here in silver spring. that's the good news. now, some other good news for the kids out there. i have to put the coffee down, because i want to give you a snowball report. for the kids in montgomery county, i understand schools are now closed. so you are going to have a snow day and let's see what the conditions are like. this stuff is not quite as light and fluffy as we have seen. if i take the giant scoop, i can compress this thing pretty tight but it is actually pretty a decent snowball. first one i have made this morning. i'm impressed by it. we will be live all morning long. main roads are looking good. be careful of the service roads. montgomery county schools are closed and, you know, it is gorgeous outside. enjoy the morning. back to you. >> thank you, kristin. >>> well, as kristin just showed us, the snow stopped falling earlier this morning. it is still causing school closings. we are hearing that charles county schools in maryland

jessica doyle is keeping an eye on things in tysons corner this morning. good morning, jess. >> reporter: hi there, andrea w -- we are here at the intersection of international drive and 123 in tysons corner. as you can see, traffic is moving briskly through the area. that's because the roads have been streeted and -- treated and plowed and things are looking very, very good for the main roadways. the side streets, though, are touch and go and we caught up with jimmy with vdot safety services for some driving tips. here's what he told us this morning. >> just kind of take your time. even though the snow is not really accumulated on the roads right now just take your time and keep in mind it is cold and there's possibility of ice. we have a lot of sand down and stuff like that, and just kind of take your time and don't push it. >> if you push it, then you could wind up in a median on one of the highways. something i saw twice on the drive to work. even though the roads are in a good situation. we have a plow behind us. it took 20 to 30 minutes for another p

jessica doyle has more. >> good morning, jessica. >> good morning, andrea. the snow is really coming down and we want to show you how the streets are looking here. the plows are out in force. you have a combination of factors. you should do what the major is telling you to do. stay home and let the crews deal with this. right here we have pavement. you can see pavement. walk a couple of feet over and this is slush. we keep walking. this is a solid block of ice here and this will cause problems for drivers today. you are moving along, doing great. the road is looking fantastic and then hit a chunk of ice. we are seeing this all throughout the region. i will tell you the major roadways in northern virginia look pretty fantastic compared to the last couple of days. i spent an hour driving around this morning. i drove 395, 95, the mixing bowl. i mean pavement. it looks like we are having a rain more than snow event if you look at theories and in terms of alexandria, i would say this is where they have their work cut out for them because there are all of these bi

we want to check with jessica doyle who is monitoring the conditions des moines burton -- conditions in burtonville, maryland. >> reporter: all we are lucky. ewe luck -- you don't see much right now. right now we don't even have the rain. that will change later this morning as howard has been talking about. the roads, we have not seen any accumulation. that's not expected to be a problem for the morning commute. the rain concerns this morning as angie was talking about, the low temperatures that could potentially cause the icy concern out. there the main concern is the wides. we caught up yesterday with tree came clippers on kringle road in zc. they are takinged a many calls as possible because we are expecting gusts of 40 to 50 miles an hour potentially. that could bring down more trees and branches. it's very soggy, and the tree trimmers say they will see more downed tries. add them up, and you have potential power outages. we could have blocked roads. we could have damaged roofs. i want to show you behind us this is 198. we have been seeing the cars traveling at speeds this mornin

jessica doyle is in falls church, virginia with more on the mad rush to stock up on food. good morning, jess. >> of course kristin just talked about the preparations going on outside. we are talking about the preparations inside. we are here in falls church. as you can see behind me, the bred truck is here. that's right. they have a fresh load of bread. that may be a concern for a lot of people. we want to show you the scene of what it was like yesterday in a lot of area grocery stores, long long lines. people stacked up. i was talking to folks at the giant and they said they were jamming from the 6:00 a.m. start time a yesterday all day long. people coming in for the toilet paper, bottled water, the bread. the typical stuff people go out to shop for when we get major snowstorms. this weekend is super bowl sunday so people are getting beer and hot wings and the food they want to serve their guests if they can make it this week. but we want to give you a reminder, too, folks. if you are out today and if you are out buying food supplies for the weekend, keep in mind there is

. >>> 9 news now jessica doyle is in tysons corner with more. good morning, jessica. >> i think we are all ready to cry uncle with the snowstorms we have been getting lately. more snow is in the forecast but it is a winter wonderland out here. it is beautiful and that makes things a little easier. if you have to get up early and go to work and if you can't wait longer in the morning we want to tell you what the road conditions are like. grab the cup of coffee and here's the deal. around the beltway it is looking pretty good in northern virginia. vdot has been out all night long with the snow removal truck and the salt brine trucks. they have been out and melting the conditions and as you can see on the roads they are actually wet. all of the snow is gone from the main roads. and a lot of minor roads have been treated, as well. and the neighborhood, the side streets, you know from saturday those roads probably weren't -- they may not have gotten to those areas. so you are potentially going to have problems on my own street we had a school bus stop

jessica doyle is in alexandria. how are things looking there?till snowing or raining, or what is that? >> it is a combination, andrea. it is very fine snow. when it comes down it feels like really, really cold rain. it sort of melts needily on contact. they have been plowing the streets here. the surrounding area, 395, 95, 50, columbia pike they are down to pavement and not having troubles getting the snow off because it is falling slowly. we haven't had a ton of accumulation. the problem is the remainedder of last week's storm. what i have in my hand, a big chunk of ice. is what folks are trying to navigate and this is nothing. let me show you what else i found. this one i will have trouble lifting this probably weighs 20- pounds. we have got more, though. this shrined up here. this is what people are trying to get through this morning. if they are driving on the roadway, the pavement is fine. it is these accumulations of ice and snow that people are trying to get around. i want to direct your attention this way. if you walk to the sidewalk, we

. >> jessica doyle is standing by. jessica, it looks pretty. how is it really out there for commuters? >> reporter: it is pretty good. the commuters are driving through pretty quickly. they are at speed or over speed this morning. they were treating the roads last night and getting it in good shape. there are really icy patches out there. we want to let you know, you want to be careful. use your common sense. if you think there is black ice on the road, there probably is. i want to give you a little cautionary tale. i direct you to my own feet. these boots i am wearing today have seen me through lots of snow storms and have kept me dri and warm. the ice has melted this morning. it is like a rainstorm out here. if the is damp. you want to dress not only for snow, but for the equivalent of a rain storm. keep those feet dry. no high heels and open toed shoes today. you may see around this area too, there is a lot of fog so if you're taking to the roads, if you're driving to work, be sure to keep your lights on. don't forget even though the sun is

jessica doyle has more from tysons corner. she's near the beltway. >> reporter: we are reporting from tysons corner, virginia at chain bridge road and international drive, a main thoroughfare here in tysons corner where we got three to four inches of snow with this overnight storm. the bulk of the storm was at 3:00 this morning and that was good news. it gave vdot plenty of time to hit the roads with convoys of trucks. they were plowing, spreading de- icer on the roads and getting ready for the commute and the hard work paid off. we had a smooth commute here in tysons corner. the main roads were in great shape. a lot of the roads looked like a rain event rather than a snow event. a lot of water on the roads but that doesn't mean commuters didn't have some issues. >> right now the roads are looking good other than being wet and stuff. they have been keeping them good and keeping on top of it. other than the side streets i have seen, the main roads look like really good. >> the side streets can be challenging and vdot will conti

. >> let's go to jessica doyle who is live in tysons corner. hey, jessica. >> guess what, it is snowing again. howard talked about that a few minutes ago. and we are seeing them now. in tysons corner we saw the snow stop at 3:00 this morning but not before it had dumped three to four inches in the area of northern virginia. now, that was actually good news in a way because vdot crews had plenty of time to hit the roads. they were out all night in force, they were plowing, adding de-icing to the roads and that made for a nice commute here. you will see a lot of cars stacked up but if you can see the conditions of the roads likes like we had a rain rather than a snow event. very wet roadways and as a result you have to keep in mind some of those wet roadways can refreeze with black ice. so you want to keep the speeds down. if you are moving about today, just keep that in mind. back to you. >> thank you. >>> the snow we have received this winter is breaking several local budgets. virginia budgeted 80 million there's for snow removal this season but

one of those people who got to work early this morning, jessica doyle. she's live in alexandria, virginia, and the snow is falling on you and belated happy birthday. we didn't get a chance to say that to you yesterday. >> it is a winter wonderland and perhaps the greatest birthday present i received is the fact i woke up this morning with only two inches on the ground falls church. the snow is really coming down now. it is very picturesque and the roads look pretty good. i drove from falls church, virginia, took columbia pike to 395, drove around the micking bowl a little bit to see what it was like and came in here, i'm at king and royal street in alexandria. the roads are down to pavement on the main drag. you can see people driving. this woman is driving around the corner. people are driving at speed or above on the major highways because it is just that good out there until you hit alexandria. i want to show you what i found here. this is going to give you the impression of what is on the roadways. this is a hunk of ice and almost as hard as a brick.

jessica doyle is live in falls church, virginia. good morning. are you seeing more people coming in this morning? >> i will tell you, andrea, the parking lot here is jammed. you will have trouble finding the space. we caught up with the mayor of falls church an some friends and she offered advice on what to do with this snow. >> our snow crews have been resting because they know it will be a very long weekend and our services are ready to handle the snow. >> this is mother nature's way of telling us to attack a break. stay in, watch movies, eat some good food and read some books, get some chores done. play board games with the kids an take time off. >> what's your favorite thing about the snow. >> i like sledding with my best friend jeffrey and snowball flights with my brother. >> i like it because i can make snow angels and stuff. >> stay out of school. >> more snow! >> the kids are clearly going to get what they want and that is more snow. if you are coming to area supermarkets you may not find what you want inside. we are seeing there's no gro

jessica doyle is live in alexandria with more. where are you, jessica in. >> well, andrea, we're on king street and south royal. we had an emergency crew vehicle drive past us and you can pretreat but once that snow covers the pretreatment you are out of luck. we have to tell you this morning the city of alexandria declared a blizzard warning until 7 p.m. tonight. that alert went out at 8 a.m. this morning. you know, part of that, they are telling people to stay home. they are asking you to clear off your hydrants and we have a clear hydrant here. the reason this hydrant is clean is because this spot where we are at is 15 to 20 national guardsmen are staying and emergency crews from other locals who have come to alexandria to help out because the situation is so dire here. so much snow accumulation. the city hasn't been able to keep up with it. i want to tell you about the roads. we have people walking on the roadways because there is no sidewalk. there is caution tape it is because of the risk risk of falling snow. so much wind an

jessica doyle has good news for the local housing market. >> it is so good it is almost hard to believe. last quarter the local real estate market turned out to be the strongest in the entire country. a government report says housing prices the washington area posted the biggest increase, jumping more than 10 1/2%. they say it is after a 5.6% gain in the third quarter. nationally average prices fell by 1.2%. >>> near record low mortgage rates have helped to fuel home sales. they are still near historic lows but may not stay there much longer. freddie mac rates inched up to an average of 5% on a 30-year loan. part of the reason rates are so low right now the fed has been pumping a trillion dollars in the mortgage market to keep it stable and the program is ending next month. >>> meantime apple's iphone app store has been on a purchase. sexually provocative and sexually reminiscent ads have been delighted from the store. some think apple is responding to parent groups and some think it is trying to get ipads in to schools, homes and churches so eliminating the offensive content. >> good i

jessica doyle; 9news now. >> we called all use some sun. >> the national arkansas kiefs starts today. the concern is the flashes of light and ultraviolet radiation are damaging. those include the decloration of independence, the institution, and the bill of rights. the museum says visitors can buy copies of these documents at the archives gift shop. >>> the national museum of women in the arts announce a plan to create a sculpture ally. it will cover an area from 13th street to mount vernon square. features sculptures by a self- taught french artist. >>> 9news now at 6:00 is less than 15 minutes away and here's what we have now for you tonight. blue cross, blue shield is raising rates by 39% in one state. tune in at 6:00 to see if your family could be affected. >>> and, a major turnover as one struggling school district fires every teacher. and those stories all new tonight at 6:00. >>> can we ban the bred-o- meter? >> we can for now. i might bring it back at 11:00, but given what i looked at, pretty confident, a little bit of snow. mother nature already did that with a couple storms.

jessica doyle is at a giant in falls church. anything left? >> we have ben with us.want to introduce you to ben who has a tropical hat on. where would you rather be. >> i am looking forward to going to spring training in fort meyers. >> this is my second trip. now we have the milk, the guacamole for the super bowl. the orange juice, the frozen fruit because my daughter loves smoothies. we have that in here and a couple of paper towels. cream for my and my wife's coffee and my son's birthday is next tuesday so we have to have brownie and stuff for them and my daughter macy loves those, too. we are set for the weekend and  birthday parties and things like that. >> you were just inside and clearly found the things you need, except there were some things that were missing. what did you see a shortage of? >> there was no ground meat of any kind. no ground turkey. i wanted broccoli and callly flower. none of that i had to get it bagged. no bananaens. what else, some apples but i didn't get any of them. but the shelves are pretty bare, especially if you are looking for chi

. >> jessica doyle is live in the tysons corner area with more. ood morning, guys. we'll tell you the report here in northern virginia is similar to what you heard from kristin in silver spring. we are at 123 chain bridge road, international drive, the area between tysons corner, center mall and the galleria, we have a lot of company, even though it is 4:00 in the morning because we have a lot of trucks going up and down the lane. we have the delivery truck, pepsi just passed us by. there is a convoy of salt trucks going by. vdot is placing the salt bryne on the roads to help with the melting of the snow. we have four inches here. we did a little measurement and here is what we want to tell you about. the snow is obviously out there and it is great packing snow to make a fantastic snowball but under that you have a thick layer of ice and snow pack. it is hard to describe except for saying it is icy snow. it is not a sheet of ice but icy snow and this can be pretty slippery. tysons corner center, this area has been plowed pretty well. so is the belt