. >> i'm jim handley. more on that in a bit. >>> we begin with that winter weather out there this week. the storm moved out early this morning but residents all across our region woke up to a fresh coat of snow. parts of maryland, d.c., and virginia saw between four and six inches of the white stuff. road crews got an early and busy start this morning plowing highways and neighborhood side streets, too. however, many schools did cancel classes today giving students another snow day. >> and now there's talk of another major winter storm brewing. veronica johnson is tracking the forecast from the storm center. hey, veronica. >> hey there, jim and pat. the next storm system, though, not quite like this last one. it's going to be a major storm for us with much, much higher snowfall totals and a bigger impact on our area. as far as this storm systems it ended way early this morning, most of our snowfall amounts were between four and five inchs& from ashburn at five inches to four in fairfax, four for the distri

i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handley. ready or not, here we go, folks.tching this approaching storm from the track to the amount of snow we'll be seeing to what conditions look like outside at this hour. we have it all covered for you. we begin with bob ryan. bob? >> jim, it is another indeed major winter storm. if this were an average winter, this would be the storm we'd really be concerned about. after two, this is another one. this is a bit different. while we're all under -- it's not a blizzard warning. that's just a winter storm warning through the area for tonight and on into tomorrow. this one, though, is coming in with some stronger winds from the south and the re-formation of the storm will be more to our north. meaning that we are going to be seeing a period of sleet and freezing rain. as a matter of fact, it's even mixing with rain right now outside. there's the area that is under the winter storm warning and once again, it's a bullseye for washington. but at the heart -- and as this next storm which is moving through kentucky reforms late ton

i'm jim handley. >> i'm wendy rieger. our winter storm coverage begins live outside. let's head -- the snow started falling around 10:00 this morning across our region. we are expecting to get more than two feet of snow in some places. >> don't adjust your set. that's all you'll see for a couple of days now. our team of reporters and meteorologists are fanned out across the region, covering every angle of>ok this winter event. let's begin with veronica johnson tracking the storm. >> we've seen the light snow falling throughout area. it was really light at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. now we're seeing pockets of moderate snow in virginia. a tremendous amount of moisture over the area and a lot more to come. i'll show you a little bit of areas here where we'll see baing throughout the overnight hours, getting thunder snow coming through the area. all of this from that moisture that's been heading up through the south, spots through north carolina and south carolina are already getting over 2 1/2 inches of rain today. and the visibilities will be dropping, too, with this storm.

i'm jim handley. >> we're number one. i'm wendy rieger. we've been on the air all day keeping you informed on what you need to know in this blizzard of 2010. 18,000 people are without power throughout our area. metro is operating underground stations only. amtrak has canceled much of its service in our area. flights are canceled at all of our local arirports. the federal government is closed for a third day now. all major school districts are closed. for a complete list, go to nbcwashington.com. >>> we have a team of reporters fanned out across our region. let's start off with julie carey. she's live in vienna with the latest there. have you seen any slack out there yet, julie? >> conditions have improved out here in the last t hours. the skies have started to brighten. we're just barely getting flurries. it feels a little bit warmer. conditions are a lot better. maple avenue here in the heart of vienna, coming back to life. a lot of people out on the street. people driving still mostly in suvs. but earlier today, walking was about the onl

. >> i'm jim handley. >>> three young children hospitalized tonight after a fire at their washington apartment building. those three children are in critical condition tonight, but they are alive. tonight, we're hearing from the firefighters who saved their lives. chris gordon talked to them. he joins us live from the scene of the fire in the 1900 block of nailer road southeast. chris? >> this is a scess story. it could have been tragic. three young girls left alone in an apartment in this building on nailer road. it is not often that we are able to take you behind the scenes to witness a dramatic fire rescue, but we are doing so tonight. we start with video from d.c. fire engine 15 as it responded to this emergency call. the fire broke out at about 6:00 a.m. in the kitchen of a second-floor condo unit as plastic melted the apartment filled with toxic smoke. what firefighters didn't know at the time was that three children were in a bedroom left alone by their father who went to work after asking a neighbor down the hall to check in on them. when the neighbor went to the apartment, s

i'm jim handley. >> i'm wendy rieger. live tonight we continue to monitor the conditions outside. snow is starting to fall. everyone wants to know just how bad is this one going to be? >> we do know that it's a bit trickier. is that right, bob? >> we're into that snow/sleet/frieseezing rain. i don't think we'll see much plain, old ra. by tomorrow morning, that line will be moving once again back into southern maryland with snow and increasing winds coming in. look at dopter right now. already just a report from fredericksburg of sleet and snow. we'll be seeing this mixture. we're under a winter storm warning. no doubt about that. here's the timeline. by 8:00, that mix may be into the washington area. that's only a couple of hours away. but then it's probably not going to get much farther north than that. by 2:00 in the morning, that mix begins moving off. that is a mix of sleet and freezing rain for the most part. snow coming back into the washington area midnight to 2:00 in the morning. by the time you get up tomorrow morning, for you folks into fairfax, montgomery county, northw