i'm veronica johnson. we are going show you the more interesting stories making the news this week. the baby watch is on. new hope of a possible panda pregnancy at the zoo. >>> women wishing bodies like j.lo, kim kardashian are looking to illegal injections. where some women are willing to go for fuller figures. >>> growing up wasn't always easy for the new quarterback in town. >>> first thrks year's baby panda watch is officially on. the national zoo made an attempt to breed its giant pandas. a lot is riding on it. darcy spencer explains why. >> reporter: the national zoo's famous giant panda could be expecting. she was artificially inseminated. the pregnancy watch is on. >> it's a wonderful event. it's wonderful. we need more pandas at the zoo. >> scientists had to work quickly when they knew she was ready. >> the female has a short time to conceive between 24 and 72 hours. >> reporter: they used samples collected from 2005. it's the last time they were able to conceive producing a butter stick. he's been relocated to china. >> it would be exciting. 2005 was a long time ago. it wo

i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them -- >> you can save money by the way you drive and how you drive. >> shaving hundreds of dollars a year off of your gas payments. that's right, it is possible. we'll show you how to pump those brakes to save money at the pump. >>> and it's the workout that could give you your best bikini body ever. check out the free class that will teach you all the right moves. >>> and how is life different after leaving the white house? we'll catch up with former first lady laura bush in an exclusive interview. >>> first though, you drive past them every day, but have you ever taken a hard look, a real hard look at the large highway signs and the tall light polls along our roadways? in the wake of a sign that came crashing down in our area, the news 4's iteam tisha thompson shows us what kimt of shape ou signs are in and whether you need to worry about another one falling down. >> reporter: virginia

i'm veronica johnson. we are going to show you some of the more i amming local stories making news this week. among them the 50 shades of gray frenzy. the benefits of reading the racy romantic content and fiction books. prime minister itses to turn your body into fat-burning machine find out how these conditioning moves work and what your workout. we will tell you how a run to the store for milk turned out to be one of the best moves a local woman ever made. first, we start by celebrating the legacy of local music legend chuck brown. the godfather of go-go passed away at john's hopkins hospital at the age of 75. aaron gilchrist has more on brown's roots and influence on music. not just here but around the wor world. ♪ >> reporter: charles brown's music career spanned some 50 years. there was seldom a moment when he and his guitar were not together jamming out in front of a crowd of bobbing heads and moving feet. ♪ the north carolina native got his start in the '60s playing the guitar for a d.c. based latin

this afternoon we celebrated veronica johnson's birthday. she had a cake.er surprised her with some big balloons. toe don't you love the way these meteorologists can order up 80-degree days on their birthday, the timing? >> i said we should have had one huge party. in just a period of a few days it's doug's birthday coming up with, it's chuck's birthday coming up. the party is going to continue. i hope we do have some nice weather, too. we're talking about temperatures going way up by the end of the week. close to 90 degrees. hope you liked the 80s today. only thing about the 80-degree heat, a few folks were complaining about the touch of humidity. did you notice it? >> already. >> a little sticky. 82 degrees right now. dewpoint temperature at 59. it's been right above 60. that's one of the things we're not used to because we've had that cold air around us for so long. west wind at eight miles per hour. a little breeze coming through. winds even tomorrow are going to be rather light. check out the temperatures to the north of us. 82 in mt. airy. 82 in leaes

. >>> veronica johnson starts us off with the weekend and the storm center. hey, veronica. >> hey, there. i can't let you give it all away not that easy. you know, on sunday, some locations could have a few problems. i'll sflexplain more later. pristine. blue skies. temperatures early part of the day. these numbers, 39 degrees in frederick and gaithersburg. to frederick county, maryland, montgomery county. and 39 the start in culpepper, and 37 in winchester, virginia. without a doubt. a lot of folks walk out the door with the jacket on. try to get out the door with short pants on and turned around, went right back in. 72 degrees right now. breezy today too. wind gusts at 18 miles per hour throughout the area. breezy, sunshine, and we're generally in the low 70s throughout the area. 68 in leesburg. 24-mile-per-hour gusts, baltimore toward camp sprunging. 69 degrees at 7:00 p.m. very few clouds around. 68 by 11:00 p.m. and sunset, folks, at 8:10. nice and late for you. winds relaxing this evening. as far as temperatures, tomorrow morning, patchy frost in the val

. >> veronica johnson is in the "weather center" to tell us what's going on out there today. >> what's going, we're fans ourselves, we're trying to keep cool already. and we haven't even gotten the higher temperatures yet for this memorial day weekend. we'll see the mercury rising, we'll certainly see the humidity go up. we're starting out by taking a look at the satellite and radar. you can see we have a mostly sunny to partly sunny sky there on the radar, more clouds to the east. we have the little breeze producing a few showers from west of ocean city toward cambridge and easton, but isolated showers. these are not a big deal at all. take a look he temperature, 84 in leesburg and manassas and cull pep, 86 from d.c. to 87 in fredericksburg and 88 in charlotte charlottesville. so those cooler temperatures right near the coast. the higher temperatures inland. and most of us will be feeling those higher temperatures this upcoming weekend. and plenty sticky, too. so that's the big news for the weekend is the high heat index value probably getting over 90. as far as your evening, we'll be

storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson has the latest from the storm center. >> we're going to be finished with the rain before we're finished with the moisture. humidity is going to stay around this area for a while. take a look. 79 degrees, reagan national airport with the dew point temperature of 65 degrees. the wind, light. it is out of the south at three miles per hour. you mentioned the isolated storms for sure. they are out there and they are some slow movers right now. to the north of us around gaithersburg, north of fairfax, can zoom in a little tighter. you can see that one cell. that is headed to the north and northwest toward windgate and willburn acres area. so right there, making its way around the i-270 bus and then you have another area up to the north and west around barnsville north of gaithersburg and north of leesburg. that will be also headed north and northwest toward buckiestown, bayrunnerunnswick . we've got 81 in la plata. a lot of locations down south. manassas where the sun has broken out, we'll watch those areas with cloud cover breaking. so it is rain and storm

. >> meteorologist veronica johnson has details from the storm center. >> the last couple of days we have been talking about the slow moving storms. attention important the upcoming weekend, holiday weekend, memorial day, will be on heat and humidity. you will want to make sure you hydrate. red write to pull the fans out and get them red xwrip looking at clouds across the area right now. like yesterday, we have more storms popping. 83 degrees currently with the south wind at 15 miles per hour. and as you look at the satellite and radar, take a look where the clearing is. just east of front royal right now. it is right around the rim of that clearing that we are seeing the storms pop. they are popping and like yesterday they are slow moving. yesterday's storms, you can see there, i labeled it there for you in loudoun county, prince william county, fauquier, produce ad lot of rain. round hill, over 3 inches of rain. catlett, four inches. bull run, over five inches of rain. slow moving storms today. biggest batch down to our south. this cluster will be making its way north and northeast

veronica johnson is here with our first forecast. >> we are kicking it off with more storms and unfortunatelyhey are coming in some of the same locations that have gotten the heavy rain over the last couple of days. loudoun county, prince william, over into fauquier county, between three and five inches yesterday. we are seeing storms again. couple of clusters coming together into one continuous line. crossing over i-66, one cluster headed north towards briggs in the next 30 minutes. it is putting out a lot of rain and lightning. you can see the rest of the cluster there, that's headed north-northeast towards aaden in the next 30 minutes. brentsville, too. heavy rain. last time you checked about 2 1/2 inches per hour. then another cluster, unfortunately, headed back into prince william county, back towards manassas. we could be looking at more flash flooding in that area. same locations there right awn round the jackson lake dam. for tuesday storms last until 8:00, 9:00. again, big story humidity. talking about 95 degrees for the holiday. >>> pakistani doctor was involved in the cia's effort

meteorologist veronica johnson is outside with a look at the temperatures and more on how things may cool off. it has to be scorching. >> it is. every now and then will is a light breeze that comes by. i'm stand big grill. that's where a lot of folks are on this memorial day. they are right up against the grill, trying to barbecue for the family. that makes it even hotter out here. conditions today, the heat index values throughout the area running between 95 and 100 degrees. of course, that's the reason why we have this heat advisory up and goes until 9:00 p.m. and covers so much of our viewing area. all those counties shaded in orange from north all the way down to the south. the temperature right now, actual air temperature, well, we got the numbers into the 90s throughout many neighborhoods here. reagan national airport right now is at 90 degrees. there is a little bit of the light wind i told you about. 14 miles per hour. but the dew point temperatures 72. this is our first stretch of the real summerlike heat and humidity combined. current heat index at 97 degrees in d.c. 100 de

meteorologist veronica johnson is in the storm center. veronica? >> hey, guys. how are you here on this thursday? you mentioned the rain in parts of our area. that's to the far west for sure which you notice more than anything else around the area is the warmth and the touch of humidity, too. take a look outside. just a few clouds with us today. the temperatures running in the upper 70s. yesterday our high temperature was just 74 degrees. so, hey, we are really moving the warmth up there right now. 92 degrees in petersburg, west virginia. that's on the far left-hand portion of your screen. 88 the temperature in cumberland, maryland. 87 in stanton. 88 in charlottesville. you can see that warm air is parked very close to our area. even got 88 in martinsburg and winchester, too. 77 degrees right now in trinidad, takoma park, montgomery county. 81 to the north. aspen hill and bethesda. as far as our forecast goes again we mentioned the possibility of a few showers and isolated storms. those will be along and just east of i-81 where the clouds are building there comi

. >> storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson tells us all about that and this glorious day, veronica? >> that's right. it is gorgeous outside. it feels good. it looks good. but this time tomorrow, folks, we'll have some very, very powerful storms moving through the area. know that with today's dry air with today's wind even a little bit of warmth it's helped to dry us out. if you remember yesterday's mold spore count it was high, over 30,000. today it's just under 10,000 spores per cubic meter. our grass pollen right now is moderate. and the temperatures were in the low to mid 80s throughout much of the area. takoma park, anacostia at 84 degrees. good afternoon to you. manassas, warranton, and herndon where doug kammerer is today, coming up a little later, 82 right now, 84 bowie and green belt and 79 degrees in damascus and kensington. on the radar not a drop to be found but tomorrow at this time you see that system off to the west? chicago, down to the south around memphis, it's one long system bringing with it right now some powerful storms and that's what we're going to be seeing m

>> storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is tracking this wet system as it hovers over us. ronica? >> that's right. you'll want to keep an umbrella in your back pocket, in your purse, and hope it opens up really big. we're looking at more rainfall coming in and at times it is going to be heavy during the overnight. as far as today goes, yeah, the rain that we had the early part of the day really slowed travel and it's been messing with our outdoor plans. .22 inch of rain in jessup. fairfax spoi 39. manassas, virginia 0.4. this is really beneficial for our area because the rainfall deficit for the year since january 1 running over 5 inches right now. on the radar, there is the heaviest rain. some moderate and heavy rain, montgomery county, to western howard county. it's moving to the east so you folks in columbia get ready. bowie, too, get ready for pockets of moderate and heavy rain. right now south to i-95 corridor from woodbridge down toward fredericksburg more moderate and heavy rain moving toward waldorf and then down to the south we've got several lines of some very hea

. >> storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson has the first look at weather. >> hey there, guys. this is the way we are starting off our week. with clouds, right? across the area. and we are waiting on the showers. seems like, you know, we have been overcast much of the day today. take a look. complete canopy of cloud cover throughout the area with our temperatures throughout holding. holding in the 60s, low 70s around the area. radar right now, storm 4 radar, you can see where the showers are. off to the west, south of frostburg. around areas of mineral, around hampshire and harty county in west virginia. there is a little storm there that is building. that will be making its way eastward. moving slowly at about the 10 to 15 miles per hour. so any storms well off to the west. we could see an isolated shower trying to sneak into our area here for the evening hours. that really is it. again, upper 60s, low 70s throughout the area. 70 degrees now in cleveland park. waldorf area. 72 at fairfax city. great falls, down towards culpeper. some of the higher temperatures down you a round

. >> storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is in the weather center with your first forecast. >> we're going to have more showers coming through the area. we haven't had a whole lot of rain at all today. some showers early this morning, and it left with some real small puddles across the area. take a look at storm 4 radar, where you're seeing the green and the blue. that's where the showers currently are. hagerstown, down south towards win chester, lereah, and charlottesville. so from washington county south toward paige and rockingham county, you get more down toward the south there. southern virginia, roanoke seeing some thunderstorms just east of the city. richmond, virginia, has some thunderstorms approaching the area, and big storms moving through north carolina right now with a severe thunderstorm warning up just north and west of raleigh. that's where the thunderstorms and the heaviest rain has been today. i think overnight, we could get another maybe tenth of an inch of rain. so the green you're seeing there, satellite and a radar. the white, that's the clouds. and we are certa

storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson joins us with your first forecast. >> thanks, guys. we haven't had much rain yet but for a week it shows rain just about every single day. it's going to be a wet one for us. let me start by saying the moisture over us, the cloud cover today, not from tropical storm alberto. that system of course formed this weekend. it's off the coast of north carolina and south carolina but what has us moist and cloudy today is an area of low pressure, an area of low pressure that is right down south around fredericksburg and warrenton. let me slide out of the way and we'll put this in motion. you can see the heavy rain just off the coast right now down around north carolina but for our area again we're seeing some showers and we'll continue to see rain showers up until about midnight. after midnight it's drizzle for us. the same east and southeasterly flow will be staying with us for most of the week. the bulk of the rain right now those showers frederick, leesburg, dallas, warranton, around i-66 pushing west. more rain then headed toward hagerstown

. >> veronica johnson is here. >> a story for us with the big rains that moved out at 9:00 a.m. then we got breaks in the cloud cover. it's been a very humid day and a very warm day with temperatures in the 70s. we've gotten just the right ingredients with an approaching weather system to get severe weather in here. severe thunderstorm watch not over our immediate area, but in north carolina, south carolina until 10:00 p.m., north carolina, 9:00 p.m. in south carolina. i do think we could see a severe thunderstorm watch issued for portions of our viewing area. you can see how scattered the showers and storms are. the watch might be from i-66 towards the south. as far as right now where we're seeing some of the strongest of storms, right around sunder lynn, that's moving to the northeast. around allens fresh around 301. that's heading northeast towards golden beach and port royal area, making its way over 17. we've got more storms off to the west, right around charlottesville, toward areas around bridgewater. that's all pushing to the northeast. headed our way for late afternoon.

storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson has your first forecast. vj? >> thanks, guys. under a canopy of clouds across the area. look at the jefferson memorial, the washington monument there, covered with clouds. we have been getting some rain today. 1/100s of an inch of rain. and folks, this is beneficial rains, because our rainfall deficit for the year now down -- or up around 5 inches, as far as the rain. we're seeing rain around frederick, maryland, gaithersbu gaithersburg, and calvert beach, lighter showers. and embedded here, moderate rains through howard county and frederick county. but all this is moving to the east, so behind it, for the next couple of hours, just some occasional showers coming through. i don't think we're going to be seeing any big storms out of this, but look at the cloud cover. it's starting to break up just to the south of us. around rappahannock, areas of culpeper county. and those temperatures have been nudging upward, accordingly, where it's 72 degrees now in manassas and culpeper, 74 in charlottesville, virginia and 77 degrees currently

let's get the first word from veronica johnson in the storm center. >> a lot of us needed our jacket this morning, right? i know i sure did heading out. a little on the cool side. we're talking about temperatures tonight that will be even lower. but look at that beautiful, beautiful blue sky there with the monument there in the distance. also the jefferson, hey, the reason for a clear sky, big area of high pressure just to the north and it's moved in behind yesterday's weather front. so if you've got clear skies all the way up to the north around pennsylvania and new york, notice the clouds, though, down to the south. around the norv neck and areas of southwestern virginia right now. otherwise again a very clear sky with a north to northeasterly wind around the area. your temperatures at 75 degrees. yesterday's high was 82. your wind now at 8 miles per hour after a breezy late morning and early afternoon around the area. 73 bethesda and damascus. chantilly good afternoon to you. falls church coming in at 72 degrees currently. 76 in fredericksburg and 73 currently in bowie and landove

meteorologist veronica johnson is in the storm center with your first forecast.all right. >> we could see some showers and some thunderstorms move through the area during the evening hours. now, i'm not seeing much pop up on radar right now as we take a look there toward the capital. we've got some cloud cover across the area and it's that cloud cover once again that's kept us on the cool side. look at the wind. it's out of the east at reagan national, the temperature 73 degrees. other locations also in the 70s because of the cloud cover. but inland locations and where there is a southwest wind temperatures have been much higher. we've got some storms popping north and west of front royal right now, so sliding out of western maryland. i do think that some of these storms are going to make their way down through fauquier county, prince william county, and southern maryland so that includes charles and st. mary's i think during the late evening hours. so we've got the clouds now but we could see some storms popping, some strong, possibly evening. we're at 72 degree

storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is here with your first forecast. >> steamy and warm out thereyou probably noticed the higher humidity and, yes, we could have some thunderstorms some of which could be strong coming our way over the next couple hours. as far as the radar goes there are a few showers around fauquier county and prince william county but we could see this area fill in with more scattered showers and again thunderstorms here over the next couple hours. it will take us through 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00 p.m. as far as the cloud cover goes, we've been seeing breaks in the cloud cover off to our north and west. that is exactly where temperatures have gotten a chance to really warm. 86 degrees in cumberland, maryland. it's 84 in martinsburg and 81 degrees in winchester. 84 right in the district right now and 85 in fredericksburg. that with the higher humidity and the same old weather system that's been meandering around the area and, yes, you have the ingredients for more storms. like the ones we had early this morning and like some of the storms we had late last night. boy,

. >> meteorologist veronica johnson has the latest on the weather and is outside this afternoon on the front lawn. >> that's right. out here, folks, it is out standing. that's what our day has been today with lots of sunshine. you'll notice the leaves on the trees. those are swaying back and forth a little bit. a light breeze but very low humidity. 75 i think is the perfect temperature for me. that is exactly the way i like it. and we're at 76 degrees right now but so many neighborhoods this afternoon who have been in the mid 70s. we have a northeast wind at 10 miles per hour. temperatures across the rest of the area take a look at that. 73 up in olney and gaithersburg. 73 degrees sterling. you folks around warranton and manassas at 75 degrees. we have 75 degrees also down around pax river. the only thing you might not like that pollen count with the breeze today it's been blowing the pollen around. we're seeing a step down from yesterday but still high for trees and grass. 172 for trees and 41 grains per cubic meter for grass. it is still pine pollen that remains the highest. forecast