i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this morning. among them, not so fast. we'll show you where some of the busiest red light cameras are in our area and why police officials say they're here to say. >>> detox missing facts. nutritionists weigh in on how well these diets can work and whether we need them at all. >>> plus this -- >> words can't describe how i feel right now. >> the surprise that left a high school student speechless. and ready to make history in his family. >>> first, it happened in russia but local scientists are also buzzing over the meteor that came crashing down from space. it happened on the same day a large asteroid came close to the planet. news4's tom sherwood at the smithsonian. how soon this could happen again. >> reporter: a meteor slammed into earth inside russia with a sonic boom injuring hundreds. almost the same day, a large asteroid narrowly misses earth, passing just 17,000 miles away. just a near miss in gala

i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them, trusting customer reviews. our i team finds out how money plays a role on what you might see online. the best apps for weight loss. we'll show you new tools to help you get healthy to fit right in the pat am of your hand. new hope for a lost pet. how a local shelter nursed this dog back to health and what it can teach other dog owners. >>> first, you need a plumber or a mechanic but you don't know who to trust? so you go to angie's list, minute yelp or some other customer review site, but can you trust the first thing that pops on your screen as being the best? news4's tisha thompson shows us why some businesses say it's all about the money. >> reporter: customer review sites offering honest to goodness opinions written by real customers, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. but how big a part does money play? >> i'm a firm believer that, you know, you have to earn where you ran

. >> we begin with meteorologist veronica johnson tracking this for days. >> that's right. it will be swift and dangerous and probably shut down travel for a highly at areas of eastern new england. for us, we're on the southern tail of all this. still, we'll feel the effects with big wind. look at the advisories up for a significant amount of snow that's expected to fall in areas of eastern new england, around boston, massachusetts and connecticut and high winds as well so they've got the blizzard warning that's been posted areas of eastern massachusetts and connecticut. newark almost an inch. caldwell in new jersey, 3 inches of snowfall in yonkers just over 2 as well. in that pocket of boston and through areas of connecticut even, a blizzard warning where they could see a foot to upward of 2 feet of snow. here's what they're expecting up through here. again, the higher snowfall amounts, the bull's-eye right there had. we'll be on the tail end of it all. still again, it's wind for us and the storm system, again, ramping up. look at radar right now. there's the area of low p

here's meteorologist veronica johnson. >> for the rest of the overnight and tomorrow morning early onthere will be icy patches out there, especially on anything that's elevated. for sidewalks, for steps, for bridges, overpasses, especially in this area that's under the winter weather advisory. that includes d.c., fairfax, prince george's county, montgomery, howard, into loudoun and areas of northern faquier county. we don't have much at all falling, just a little light stuff that surrounds d.c. extending eastward towards annapolis. that is sleet. a little bit of rain that has again been freezing. so we're going to have this for the overnight period of freezing drizzle throughout the area. our temperatures just below freezing to the north and west. that's what's going to be so critical as we head into tomorrow morning. so isolated slick spots, watch out on sidewalks, steps, bridges and overpasses. so if tomorrow morning is going to be icy, what can you expect for the rest of your saturday? i'll have that forecast coming up. >>> tonight, a man who escaped a deadly house fire in d.c. is

storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is tracking the storm. what is the latest? >> the latest is we will not see anything close to what the midsection and midwest have been getting, but we are going to see a little bit of sleet and a bit of snow. yes, this time tomorrow. in fact it will probably start at the tail end of the morning rush, and around noontime. with less wind around the area. tomorrow morning, cold for sure, but i think dry for the bulk of the morning rush, around 11:00 a.m., could start to see a few flakes starting to show up, and i think some spotty problems during the asp and during the evening hours, just spotty problems. i wanted to show you just how huge this system is and why it's causing so much trouble. snow all the way from areas of iowa, down through illinois right now, and then you've got a little area of sleet and some heavy rain that extends down to the south. in fact we'll get a bit of all of that. snow, sleet, then eventually some rain. i'll give you the timeline coming right up. >>> thanks, veronica. today president obama called hou

you can get a sneak peek inside the washington auto show with veronica johnson. special airs at 7:00 right after "nightly news" here on nbc 4. more than 700 vehicles on display for you. >>> coming up in sports now, big day for (woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. it was such a beautiful experience. (jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing breast cancer every year. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information today. it was 3 days of pure joy. ♪ and it's beautiful >>> almost time for that harbaugh-bowl. >> seven minutes when you can say best spot on the catch. save, triple save, no unsaves. >> aren't you a mom? can't you overrule any save in the snous. >> yeah, probably. this is the also the time when well deserving football alumni get the call to the hall. one of them is washington, d.c. native jonathan ogden. he is a first ballot hall of famer. wa

. >>> cold out there today, wind didn't help, but veronica johnson tells us it ain't going to happen anytime soon, is it? >> it is not. unfortunately another 24 hours of the same stuff we went through. the cold, the wind, low temperatures. windchills are currently in the 20s across the area. while we do have a few clouds across our area, just a few mainly to the north, i'm focusing on the next weather system over oklahoma, over dallas, because that is what is headed our way. it's eastbound. and it will arrive on friday. it could make travel just a little slick and a little problematic at times. we'll have the timeline on that coming up. furse your fast-4-cast, another cold night, and then the details on the interesting weather that will move through on friday, and of course a look at your weekend, guys, in just a couple minutes. >>> workplace safety regulators are investigating the death of an auto shop worker. police say 39-year-old was killed after an industrial tractor tire he was inflating suddenly exploded this morning. hess was an employees of brunswick auto repair. >>> a group

veronica johnson outside now. we sent out the nastiest night so far. >> that's right. i'm still smiling because the rain really hasn't picked up hard again out here, doug. but indeed we have big puddles as i walked out front of news4. i moved across big puddles. as we pan down, weather deck, look at that. area getting slick out here, too. meanwhile, stuck with my big umbrella trying to stay shaded from the rain. and occasionally there is a good gust that comes along and yanks at that umbrella. folks will want to hold firm. we have seen rainfall as high was an inch and a half in leesburg, virginia. purcellville, close to three-quarters of an inch of rain. looking at is the current wind gusts through outthe area. 40 miles per hour and they are only going to get higher because getting about another quarter, maybe even another half of an inch of rain coming our way prior to 2:00 in the morning. >> we will watch the storm as it moves lou. we will update you on what you can expect tomorrow morning later on. >> nasty weather and other parts of our country. roads are closed an

. >> let's go to veronica johnson. what can we expect here in this area? >> well, here we won't get much in the way of any wintry weather. we're looking at mostly rain, a system for us that will start as rain around 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. mostly rain for us, but we can't at the tail end of this system when it starts making its way out of the area, we could see gusts up to 50 miles an hour. as far as areas around new york city, they could get upwards of a foot of snow. snow and wind as the system gets off the coast and really starts affecting the northeast. in new england it's a full-out blizzard with 1 to 2 feet of snowfall. you're looking at the start times here. for us, it's friday morning as rain. for areas around new york, it's friday early afternoon. they by friday evening, up into eastern new england. again, significant travel delays for the northeast, probably all out coming to a spot in areas. so just a newsens storm for us, but a full-out blizzard with high winds, a lot of snow, and big-time snow drifts occurring throughout areas of n

storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson is back with a weekend forecast that you need to hear. >>> and the situation that left local beyonce fans shaking their heads. >>> we'll tell you about this year's big trends and the technology that's changing the way couples plan to tie the knott. >>> this just into the news4 live desk. minutes ago former conmadge was charged with conspiring to spend campaign funds on personal expenses. he just offered a statement that he fully accepts responsibility for decisions and mistakes he has made. jackson resigned from his position as a representative from illinois in november. for several months absence from capitol hill. also, the virginia man charged with killing eight people at hi home in appomattox and firing on a police helicopter has pled guilty to three charges. he shared a house with his sister's family. he killed his speaker, her husband and two children and four friends there. and a new investigation into what's caused a massive power failure during the super bowl in new orleans. the power company for the super dome in new orleans have h

let's go to veronica johnson. v.j.? >> thanks a lot, guys, it will only be a little snow and will accumulate north and west of d.c. on grassy areas. the advisories have been issued, or where they remain, because some were dropped earlier today. the moisture has been over us for a while, but taken a while to saturate. we've gone from sprinkles to light rain. meanwhile, to the west, we are seeing that light, where there is some snow starting to come down around winchester. in the high spots, and just east of fronts royal out on i-66 we'll get a bit of light snow, but i think any accumulation will be well to our north and west of d.c., if it accumulates, it will be on grass where surfaces. those road temperatures are in the 40s and 50s right now. as as far as the actual air temperature, we are set at 44 grease, again sprinkles and light rain, there will be a bit of snow coming into parts of the area by 5:00 p.m., your temperature 42, and at 7:00 we're at 40 to 39 degrees with a bit of light snow coming in at 9:00. all this

. >> meteorologist veronica johnson has details about a big change headed our way. >> that's right. another storm will be moving in late tomorrow. and already throughout the day tomorrow, we'll see an increase in clouds. we have been dealing with some wind. it's been breezy and we've been g getting wind gusts through the afternoon. upwards of 25 miles per hour. still hanging on. 22-mile-per-hour wind gusts in virginia 21 right there in d.c. our winds will be decreasing throughout the even evening hours. taking you back to 4:00 this morning, watch these clouds as they try to move out of here. at least some of us had a lot of sunshine today. that cloud shield hanging on right around northern areas of montgomery county, howard county, frederick county in virginia. that's where the cloud line is with clearing skies down to the south. we're in the 40s throughout the area. 47 degrees. here's a look at your city planner forecast. heading on down to 35 degrees by 11:00 p.m. we'll have more on the next storm system coming your way in a couple minutes. >>> the nfl, hockey, all paying attentio

join veronica johnson and zachary kiesch for some of the coolest cars on the showroom floor. >>> i saw one convertible in that bunch. we might have to wait a while to take the top down. >> love the top down. >> you might have to wait a long why. the first part of this winter started off -- yes, we hit 72 on wednesday, but that was such a long time ago. right now the windchill, what do you think it might be right now? >> 20s? >> no. >> 30s? >> wrong direct? >> 16! >> whoa! >> 16 is the current windchill. look at they numbers 29 is the current temperature, but here is the windchill of 16 degrees. winds out of the northwest at 21 miles an hour, we've seen those winds gusting 30, even 40 miles an hour through the day. these are the current windchills. how about this? 6 in haguerstown, 9 in winchester, 22 in culpepper, 15 in manassas, 8 in gaithersburg. if you have plans to go out and it is a friday night, a friday evening, you might want to bundle up. bring everything you've got. the scarves, the hats, the gloves. hour by hour, this is the windchill. breezy, a windchill of 16 down to 15 by

. >> veronica johnson joins us with just how much and if it's going to affect our evening commute. how about it? >> probably the tail end of the evening commute, around the time we get to 6:30, 7:00, light snow will be coming into our western suburbs. take a look outside right now. we have high clouds that have moved in. filtered sunshine, the clouds will thicken up and we'll start to see more of this. precipitation showing up on radar. right now we have light precipitation just south of haguerstown, right around the winchester, virginia area. this is not reaching the ground yet, but there's this whole area of moisture will shift more to the east and get closer, a better chance of seeing the flakes start to fall, and lighter accumulation, as we -- there it is on radar right now. there's the leading edge, just like this weekend, another fast-moving systems diving south that will come clipping by deliver just a bit of snowfall for us, our temperatures are in the 30s, and they're certainly going to be dropping off down to freezing by the time we get to midnight. so here we are. snow d

this was taken by veronica johnson just a few minutes ago. it's a mammatus cloud that usually gives indication rain is on the way. send your pictures to weather@nbcwashington.com. that is stra toe cumulus and we we have a cloudy sky at the airport. mid-40s by 4:00 p.m. and little light rain into 6:00 p.m. maybe the rain coming down steadier by 6:00 p.m. down to the upper 30s by then. after that is when we may see a change over to snow. right now around the region in montgomery county, upper 30s. low 40s now. arlington, fairfax, most locations near 40 degrees. where they've had a few sprinkles to our south. much of southern maryland now into the mid-40s as well. and it's in mid-40s in fredricksburg and farther west. but the northern part of the shenandoah valley. it's farther west of there that they're beginning to see some snow showing up there in the ohio valley into western northern kentucky and southern ohio. that is coming our way out of southern indiana as well. and a few wet snow flakes showing the view up to our west. but closer to was

join veronica johnson and zachary quiche for a look at the coolest cars. >>> our time 11:11, actor bradley cooper is in town. we'll tell you about the cause he's throwing his star [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your light chicken pot pie soup and it was so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant >>> we're following a developing story out of turkey. a suspected suicide bomber has blown himself up outside the u.s. embassy in ankara. we just got this video of the scene into our newsroom. we're still gathering information, but we can tell you that the bomber and an embassy guard were killed. turkey's government is blaming the attack on a leftist group in that country. >>> and rescuers are using dogs, trucks and a crane to look for survivors in that deadly explosion in mexico city. this is surveill

storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson taking a look at our plunging temperatures. >> that's right. we're likely to see them drop as low as they did this morning. the wind is still with us. outside right now it looks pretty, right? but it's cold. you're looking at your hour-by-hour forecast. windchill readings will be headed on to the teen by 10:00. >> we sit at 32 to the north. some folks are still under some of those clouds up to the north. your forecast as we talk about this brisk cold overnight period, we have some being weather that could make getting around just tricky at times. we'll have the details coming up. >>> the pentagon notified congress today of some of the steps that will become necessary if the automatic spending cuts go into effect march 1st. most of the pentagon 800,000 civilian workers will be furloughed one day a week. defense secretary panetta sent notice to workers that all affected employees would be notified at least 30 days ahead of any of those planned furloughs. he warned the ridge i had nate and scale of these cuts would result in what he called a seri

storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson has your first forecast. >> hey there, guys. we are going to be going through a fairly quiet period. until then the end of the week. next big storm. looks like mainly rain. but at the beginning of that system, areas north and west could get just a little icy where temperatures will be low enough. for us this evening, just some chilly clouds. those clouds parting and we have a better day coming our way tomorrow. check out the temperatures right now. not too cold but on the cool side to our north. frederick, maryland, gaithersburg, only at 37 degrees. then you get down around fredericksburg, whole 13 degrees higher. and fredericksburg, virginia, stafford, spotsylvania, so big range in temperatures throughout the area. you can see those clouds out there right now. in fact, storm team 4 radar, few flurries just east of frederick, maryland. around mt. erie. that headed to the east. series of systems comg through. it is not until the end of the week where we see a bigger system form around the area. good night forecast, clearing skies

veronica johnsons that first forecast in the storm center. >> got to say it is going to turn wet around here tomorrow. as we take a look at rain. rain that will be changing to snow for a brief period of time tomorrow. let's start out by taking a look at radar. storm team 4 radar you can see behind me is completely dry. no precipitation. showing up right now we have nothing more than just sunshine out there. the leading edge of the precipitation associated with our upcoming storm system now coming through northeastern tennessee into western north carolina as rain. through areas of georgia and, in fact, that area of low pressure that's producing all of this precipitation, is still in texas. we have just a little bit of snow showing up on the western side of all of that in western oklahoma. it is this leading edge of rain that will start falling around our area tomorrow. so not a lot changed since yesterday. still looking like nothing more than a nuisance storm. still mostly rain for us which is light snowfall to no accumulation at all. all depends on where you are. i do not think that we

veronica johnson and zachary look at the coolest cars on the floo r.t starts this morning right after news 4 at 10:00. you can catch it again at 7:00 tonight. >>> tomorrow, ray lewis could get the perfect sendoff with the super bourl win in his final game. today, a former raven could receive a big honor of his own. we caught up with jonathan og again, who finds out today if he makes the pro football hall of fame. >> reporter: what an unbelievable ride it's been for jonathan ogden. from playing high school football in washington, d.c. to an all-american career at ucla, and now to a career with the ravens where he won a super bowl, went to 11 pro bowls and will find out later today that he's probably going to be a first-ballot hall of famer. we got a chance to catch up with jonathan on the golf course, and he reflected on what this moment's going to be like. >> met a lot of the guys over the last five years doing golf outings like this one. a lot of really nice guys. they're all like, good luck to you, we want you in our club. these are guys, you know --

storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson tells us how cold it's going to get. >> that's right. you can see those flags blowing right there with the kennedy center in the background. our winds have been gusting as high as 25 and 30 miles per hour. windchills here for the afternoon have been in the 20s, but as temperatures will start dropping off, down to the freezing mark by 8:00 p.m., or windchills will be dropping, too, down into the teens. it will be cold. right now a mixture of clouds and sunshine out there. that will be the case over the next couple hours. here's your satellite and radar. you can see how the northernmost areas, the counties -- you folks down around stafford, you've had more sunshine today, so temperaturewise right now we're in the 30s up to the north where those clouds are, and in the 40s down to the south from 40 degrees tacoma park, to 46 degrees in fredericksburg. and then we have one brisk evening out ahead of us, another cold night for sure. and some interesting weather coming up for friday that could impact your travel. stick around for my forecast. t

veronica johnson took this picture. our own veronica johnson a few minutes ago.ding there. got a quarter of an inch there. it did stick to untreated surfaces there. but it melted on roadways and around washington. this picture i took outside the building in northwest washington a dusting, quarter of an inch there. and windy and cold the rest of the day. gusts of wind over 30 miles an hour. already moving in now. with us through the afternoon as have highs low and mid 30s. cold day tomorrow. maybe some more snow, lite snow, late saturday night into early sunday morning. remaining cold into the first part of next week. perhaps a few more flurries late tuesday. >> tom, thank you. we will check the morning commute next. >>> good morning. slick roadway conditions causing problems on gw parkway northbound. 123. multiple accidents. cars are sliding into each other. slow down sxif yourself extra time this morning. darnestown road is closed at turkey foot road. downed wires. give yourself extra time and use caution. >>> another check on the roads and your forecast in abou