Transcripts For WCAU NBC 10 News At 9am 20150118

And it is very difficult to see the ice. Good morning. This is nbc 10 news today. Im rosemary connors. Take a look behind me. This picture of center city this is what were talking about. Meteorologist Michelle Grossman has been tracking the wet and icy weather all morning long. The recommendation michelle is for people to stay home this morning. If you can stay home that would be the best thing to do. Do not go on the roadways if you dont have to. We have very dangerous conditions out there. It is so light, that rain that is falling, but it doesnt take a lot. Once it hits that frozen ground its just going to freeze. Thats whats happening all across the area. Major highways i95, 476, all your bridges and overpasses with, your offramps, theyre turning just into an ice sheet. Its like an ice skating rink. You can see a live look at i95 right now. Cars crawling by. Most of the lanes closed right now, as you look on the righthand part of your screen here. That will be the story as youre traveling this morning. Lets say you have to go do errands, dont do it. Wait until later on this afternoon. Were talking two hours before this trouble is out of here. We need the warm up and wait until those temperatures go up. On the roadways, were dealing with some passing roads, but you dont see it. Thats the problem, its black ice. You dont even know when youre going to encounter it. Once you try to hit those brakes and start sliding, thats a problem. Sleet you can see, snow you can see, but this thin coating inging of ice, you cant see. We have freezing drizzle and freezing fog. Once the fog hits on frozen surfaces, it freezes also. Here is your freezing rain advisory for every county there in your purple color. This is a look at what radar looks like right now. This is your whole story. I want to show you all the different colors. The green, thats where youre seeing the rain thats where youre a seeing temperatures above freezing. Thats the good news. The bad news is to the west where were seeing all that pink. Its a lot of counties. Bucks county Montgomery County into berks county Chester County, all into Lehigh Valley and this will eventually be into the poconos. 95 476, and i bet a lot of you are or you intend to dont do it, wait until later, we are seeing very tricky conditions. To the south were seeing very heavy rain you can see the darker shading there with the yellows and the oranges. Were even seeing some sleet. Ill show you that in just a minute. I want to stop this radar. Ill zoom in a little closer. Norristown, pots grove, philadelphia i could name many many cities where theyre seeing these slick conditions. 95 295. Youre getting reports of all sorts of trouble out there. Even on your driveways as you head out for your newspaper, were hearing reports of people falling and hurting themselves. Be careful out there. Sunday soaker on tap. What were looking at right now, a lot of pink. Thats what youre seeing the freezing stuff is sleet. But mainly freezing rain at this point. Where youre seeing the darker shading, the oranges, the red, thats where i think were seeing the sleet. Be careful. Sleets a little easier to drive in, i have to say, compared to the freezing rain. Zooming out to the south, thats where were seeing abovefreezing temperatures. Dover, millville, extreme southern new jersey central, southern delaware. Thats where were seeing the rain. But it is heavy and that will be the trend as we go throughout the afternoon hours. Temperatures, this tells the entire story. Take a look at these numbers. Take a look at where you live and see if you are below freezing. 29 right now in pottstown, 30 in allentown, 32 in lancaster. Right at the freezing mark in philadelphia. These numbers are so crucial for your safety in terms of if youre seeing ice or not. Down to the south in parts of extreme southern new jersey 48 degrees in wildwood. Were above freezing its no problem, but were still seeing some heavy rain in some spots. Could see some localized flooding where youre seeing poor drainage areas. 41 in dover, 47 in Atlantic City. So Pay Attention to those numbers. Thats what well look at over the next few hours. Futurecast, were looking at heavy rain mainly to the south and east of philadelphia. New jersey also delaware. Well keep our eye on that but our concern right now this second is those icy roadways to the north and west of philadelphia, even slightly to the south of philadelphia where were seeing some really tricky driving conditions. Michelle we were talking to some drivers just a short time ago, before we came on the air, who told us that its slushy out there, you cant see the ice, you speed up and then you fishtail. So you think its passable but in actuality, its not. Let me talk to you about the timing of this rain because you and i were speaking earlier and you said that the fact that this rain started to fall earlier than maybe initially anticipated, thats whats caused a lot of these problems. Yeah you know i went to bed last night thinking how is freezing rain not going to be a problem tomorrow morning . Because that was the consensus across the area. And i said to my husband, theres going to be a problem. So we talked about it in the morning meeting, went onair this morning at 5 30 and said we think its going to be a problem, we think the precipitation will get here before the temperatures rose and thats whats happening right now and happening in so many spots. So you go out, like you mentioned, and its that thin coating. A little tiny drizzle thats causing all these problems. It hits these cold cold roadways. We were at 33 yesterday as a high, so those roadways are cold and we had a cold last week. So once that wet weather, the freezing drizzle or even the fog hits those roadways, we have an ice skating rink. Thats all it takes. And when your wheels are on that ice and they cannot stop. Thats why we had those problems on i76 on 476, on i95. Youre not expecting it if you dont see it on the roadways. Just know, were telling you right now that we are below freezing in so many spots and that there are problems out there. All right. Meteorologist Michelle Grossman well of course be checking in with you periodically throughout the newscast. We want to go now to nbc 10s monique braxton. She is live in camden near the ben franklin bridge. Monique, tell us whats happening with the bridges in our area this morning. Reporter rosemary right now the bridges are being desalted and deiced. As you can see, the ben franklin bridge is closed. Police from the drpa remain onguard, making sure that no one tries to come across the bridge at this point. But let me show you the traffic, including the a new Jersey Transit bus. Traffic is backed up for miles. Westbound on 30 heading towards the bridge. One thing i want to reemphasize is, it has been pouring here now for more than an hour. Do not be deceived by the rain. The ice is spotty. A few moments ago police from the drpa came over and put some deicing down on the sidewalk. Because in some parts, clear, but in other parts, it is very very slippery. About an hour ago, drpa tweeted out, they were shutting down all the bridges so that deicing procedures could get underway. Were going to staytay here monitor the situation, and have another live report for you in the next half hour. Live for now from the ben franklin bridge on the new jersey side monique braxton, nbc 10 news. All right. Thank you, monique. We also have jean blom from penndot from the Pennsylvania Department of transportation on the phone with us. Tell us what your crews are doing . We brought in crews this morning and have 146 state trucks that are out spreading salt at this time. These are the worst kind of situations where you can experience where you have a flash freeze situation that occurs roughly in the time frame like 6 30 this morning, where the precipitation fell and it was just the right combination of the air temperature and the pavement temperatures for a flash freeze situation to occur. And gene, talk about how difficult it is with this type of a situation that comes in. You know youre getting rain so if you put the salt down you know it will wash away but you have those very cold surfaces from the fact that we had freezing temperatures yesterday and overnight. Exactly, its a most difficult situation, rosemary. Because the trucks cant be everywhere at one time. Were spreading the material but if the temperatures are just right, a roadway can freeze. Bridge decks and elevator roadways can freeze much more quickly than a roadway built on earth. So the crews are out spreading salt, but when you have a glaze of moisture and precipitation initially come down and freeze instantly, its just you have an impossible situation to deal with at that isolated location. And the result is weve got major highways in the religion closed at this time and as i said, the salt is being spread but if motorists do have to travel over the next couple of hours, before temperatures warm up, they must use extreme care. And gene you raise an excellent point about people being out on the roads, if they are actually moving was we know a lot of people are backed up out there. But if they are moving and they are coming into the path of a salt truck, i know youve got some advice for those drivers. If youre traveling and see a salt truck ahead of you, do not pass the truck. Stay at least six car lengths behind it. It is the best place to be. That truck is going to be spreading salt on the pavement which obviously will provide you with traction. So just reduce your travel speeds and stay a considerable distance behind the salt truck and dont pass it. Gene blom with penndot, well be checking in with you later on throughout the news conference. I do want to talk to and bring in, first alert traffic reporter jillian mele. These been watching all of the Traffic Cameras for us to give us an idea of whats happening out there, where people are backed up and where the conditions are really at their worst. Jillian . Im back at my computer right now in the studio looking at these Traffic Cameras. Im going to walk you through what im seeing in a whole bunch of these cameras. This is the accident at 76 that nbc 10 has been following all morning long. A multivehicle, massive pileup accident that isnt going anywhere anytime soon. This is 76 westbound near gulf mills and this accident scene has not changed in the last hour to hour and a half when i first saw these images. And it is just a mess out there. These icy conditions have done a number on all of the local highways. Thats an accident on 76 westbound. Ill change this camera right now so you can see what its doing to the delay on 76. A lot of people are trying to get off of 76 westbound at gladwyne right now. And as you can see, its backed up on the exit thats the left side of your screen. To the right side thats the highway where drivers are trying to pass on 76 and they cant, because its completely shut down. Just another angle here of that backup and all of the drivers just stuck out there on the highway. So thats what were seeing on 76 westbound. This camera now, this is 76 eastbound. This is that delay from that massive accident. So eastbound traffic is able to get by right now, but you can see what this is doing to the eastbound side of 76. So it is a mess out there right now on the schuylkill expressway, in both directions. Now, im switching this camera to 95. Right near columbus boulevard. A few minutes ago, there was an accident out here blocking all lanes and it looks like it still is blocking all lanes on 95 flbd right near columbus boulevard. Youll notice at the bottom corner to the right side of your screen, you can see the flashing lights there. No traffic getting by at this point. Unclear how many vehicles are involved in that accident but that is causing a really big backup here on northbound 95. Take a look at another accident blocking all lanes 95 southbound near gerard avenue. And some traffic trying to crawl by there on the right side but unclear exactly how many vehicles are involved there. The blue route is shut down in both directions near route 1 and again back to that accident on 67. So a lot of trouble out there for drivers. Jillian, lets stay on this picture of 76. I just got word from our producer that one person is confirmed dead in this accident. As weve been telling drivers all morning, it is dangerous out there. Jillian . Yeah rosemary this is i mean, im not surprised by the amount of accidents that were seeing, with the conditions on the roads. When i was driving in here this morning, about 35 minutes ago, i was slipping and sliding a little bit. All of the drivers on 76 had their hazards on just to slow down. And it appears as if at this point in the day, people know that the conditions are really treacherous. So if you dont have to head out, please dont. Because as you can see, this is what were dealing with. And penndots moving this camera around a little bit, just to see the activity thats going on out there. How many tow trucks are on scene. K see the tow trucks there on the shoulder of the road all lining up to try to get some of these vehicles out of there. And eventually get some of that traffic moving. But thats going to take a long time. Jillian mele with us this morning. Thank you, jillian. A short while ago, we checked in with the folks at penndot. Now were checking in with the new Jersey Department of transportation, Steve Shapiro is on the phone. Good morning steve. Good morning, rosemary. We saw a short while ago in monique braxtons live shot that traffic is just backed up as folks are headed towards the ben franklin bridge. Is that making things difficult for your crews out there . The fact that there are people out on the roads . Absolutely. You know were advising if you can stay home to do so. If you dont have to be on the roads, just stay home until later in the day when temperatures warm up and conditions improve. We do have hundreds of our d. O. T. Crews out there spreading salts, trying to get the road safe, but as gene said you know the temperature conditions were just perfect for this black ice. Temperatures dropped quickly and moved in so there are conditions of black ice throughout the state, south jersey central, and north jersey, and conditions are very treacherous out there. Where are the real trouble spots in south jersey, steve . Basically, the jersey turnpike corridor towards the pennsylvania border is the worst areas of it. But really statewide, theres patches of black ice all over. All right. Steve shapiro with the new Jersey Department of transportation. Steve, thank you for being with us this morning. Youre welcome. And as we have been telling you this morning, we are staying on top of this breaking news. As i mentioned just a moment ago, we did get confirmation that in that accident on 76 west near the gulf mills accident, one person has died. As many as 60 cars involved in that Chain Reaction pileup. And of course many others backed up. Again, we are going to continue to watch the situation. We have our meteorologist in we have our traffic reporters in crews out in the field. So count on nbc 10 to bring you the very latest information. Well be right back. We are back with this breaking weather news were following all morning long. Heres a live picture of the center city skyline. This is what were dealing with. The rain the fog. Weve got freezing conditions out there. I did just get an update from Philadelphia International airport that i want to pass along. Because of the freezing rain there is a ground stop that will hold arrivals and of course passengers are having troubles getting to the airport. Of course, check with your airlines for the very latest information. But, again, there is a ground stop thats holding all arrivals. So it is tricky out there. Meteorologist Michelle Grossman she has been watching the weather all morning long. And weve been talking about it that the issue is that its not warm enough yet. Today was just supposed to be a rain event. We knew people were going to be you know staying inside. But because it hasnt warmed up yet, its still freezing thats causing the problems. And that was our concern before it started earlier this morning. We were wondering if the precip was going to get here. It was a race between each other. The precip was going to get here before the temperatures went up. And thats what happened. The precip got here really light stuff. Were not talking heavy stuff, was its a little light coating thats causing all these problems on the roadways. A little trace of rain. And were seeing a emblaze ging a glaze on the roads thats causing all these problems. Fog can even freeze on some cold surfaces. So any place that is at or below freezing, thats where were seeing the dangerous conditions. Were down to 1. 75 mile visibility in wilmington. Zero mile visibility in mt. Pocono and 2. 5 in pottstown. So visibility stinks the roadways stink. Stay indoors if you can. First alert weather day, for sure. Dangerous driving out there. Rain later this afternoon, some heavy at times, especially in delaware and new jersey. This will be the later problem. Right now were talking about the freezing rain. You can see every county here painted in that purple color. And this is whats happening right now. The pink that is what youre seeing freezing on the roadways. So if you live there, youre driving through that youll have to contend with that. Thats why we want you to stay home. To the south where you see yellows and oranges and reds thats where were seeing heavier stuff. May see a little sleet mixing in there. But for the most part looking at heavy rain and green rain in parts of southern new jersey also delaware and thats where were seeing better temperatures in terms of temperatures into the 40s. Thats what were hoping to get to in the next couple of hours in philadelphia and above freezing north and west as well. And that will happen. Its just going to take a couple hours to get there. So a closer view here we see pots grove, norristown philadelphia, reading. If you live in any of these areas, stay inside be careful if you have to drive. Take it very very slow. And a lot of times, you cant see this thin coating of ice, and thats whats causing most of the problems. Now, were seeing some darker shading in terms of yellows, oranges, and reds, that could be indicating a little sleet where youre seeing the red mixing in. Otherwise, were seeing heavy rain. That will be the trend throughout the afternoon. Localized flooding in poor drainage areas. Were not expecting widespread flooding but pyre drainage areas, we could see a little bit of low flooding. And some heavier rain falling there. Tweet us and tell us what youre seeing outside your door. Thats the best for us. We can look all the of our computers can all the information we have but we want to know whats happening outside your door. 32 right now in philadelphia. So we are right at the freezing mark, still having problems in philadelphia. You look to the south and east were into the 40s, near 50 in wildwood and millville, 48 in both spots. 47 in Atlantic City. Not a problem there, but still seeing the heavy rain. To the north and west were still seeing those problems. We need those temperatures to get up and that will change everything. 30 in pottstown, 30 in alan town, 38 in reading. The advisory ends in so the spots around 10 00 and i expect it to be a little bit better in the next hour and a half but still the temperatures need to rise. As we look towards futurecast, well see that heavy rain still continuing in parts of southern new jersey delaware well continue to see this freezing rain continuing. So were going to stay here and continue to watch this for you and keep you up to date. Thanks michelle. Well check back with you shortly. In addition to the first alert radar, weve got crews and cameras on the ground and weve got you, the viewers. Youre sending us your pictures and we appreciate it. A viewer tweeted this picture to jillian mele. This is an accident on the blue route at route 1 in Delaware County. You can see it right there. It doesnt look like theres much on the ground. Its not like were dealing with snow or a ton of rain. All it takes is that thin coating, as michelle mention, of just a little bit of precipitation. Weve got the freezing temperatures the ground is so cold. Thats it. And youve got these accidents. Thats why its important to stay inside. This is a truck into a pole. This is in springfield, Delaware County. This picture right here. So again, weve got the major highways we talked about that accident on 76. We just showed you that picture from the blue route. And here this is a residential area. So all across the region drivers out there are dealing with tough conditions. We checked in with the folks at the new Jersey Department of transportation, penndot. Now lets check in with the people at the Delaware Department of transportation. Jim westhoff is joining us on the phone. Tell us what your crews are doing . Weve been at it since about 6 00 this morning. There have been a number of accidents, but weve been applying salt to the roads heavily and we continue to do so, trying to make the roads as safe as possible. And jim Michelle Grossman told us earlier this morning that the rain really started to fall first south of philadelphia. So in parts of delaware. Did that change your game plan going into this mornings knowing that you may get the rain first . Absolutely. You know when rains first, we cant pretreat the roads with the brine, because the rain will just wash it away. So this is like the worst case when it rains, and it rains, and clears all the residual salt off the road and then it ices. Its very difficult for us to get there right at the right time. Because its a small window when theres going to become ice on the road. Jim, any specific spots or areas in delaware that drivers, if they absolutely have to be out this morning, should avoid any major problems or accidents that youre seeing request m. Yes, right now, the northern part of the county is, you know the coldest. But watch out for bridges and overpasses and turn lanes and also areas that are heavily wooded. So, you know, be watching out for those and just drive carefully. Jim westhoff with the Delaware Department of transportation. Jim, thanks for being with us this morning. Fortunately, from those pictures in delaware, it looks like a lot of people are heeding the warning to stay inside. That is the advice because it is dangerous out there. We are going to continue to follow this breaking weather news at 9 24 this morning. Well be right back in just a few moments. Skippy yippee fun fun fun shiny you never listen what . Is someone talking . Skippy yippee look a ride vo made with the funnest peanuts ever skippy. Yippee we want to take you back to this picture of whats happening on 76 west. This is near the gulf mills exit. Officials are now telling us that at least one person is dead in this pileup on the schuylkill expressway. As many as 60 cars have been involved in this Chain Reaction crash. There could be many more than that. We certainly know that people are backed up there. This, by the way is a picture from one of our Traffic Cameras in upper marion township. This accident happened just before 7 00 this morning. Again, this is the westbound lanes of 76 near the gulf mills the exit. We also had some driving video for you. This comes to us from christine medela. Shes driving in from king of prussia. You can see, it just looks like its a rainy day out there, no big deal but a very different story for many drivers, as weve talked about, the conditions in many spots very dangerous because its icy out there. The problem has been the temperature didnt rise quickly enough before the rain hit. The surface of the road is very cold. Thats whats causing the freezing icy, difficult conditions out there on the roads. All right, our next picture now, this is in bala cynwyd. We have an accident that happened in bala cynwyd. Weve been following accidents happening all over the region. Again, the big ones on 76. Also one on the blue route in Delaware County. A couple of residential roads. This is driving video from bala cynwyd cynwyd. Actually, in lower marion township the township was sending out an alert to residents to make them aware, hey, stay inside this morning, because we know that the conditions are going to be difficult. Jillian mele has been following whats happening out there on the radio. Shes got her eye on all of our Traffic Cameras. Jillian, what are you seeing . Im seeing a lot of different problems out there. The biggest problem is this massive pileup on 76 westbound near gulf mills. Its shut down in both directions. You can see, weve got a lot of emergency officials out here. We have a massive pileup. We have confirmed one fatality in this accident. So avoid 76 completely. Now, im just looking through all of our cameras in our system county by county and i came across this accident on 422. This is the westbound side. You can see at the bottom of your screen the ambulance there. This is right near egypt road and out near route 23 and oak. You have an accident on 422. Also found this accident out of Chester County. This is route 202 northbound out near route 29. We cant see the accident itself, but what you can see, all those drivers having to emerge into that far right lane to get by that accident there. 95 northbound near columbus boulevard, we have an accident to the bottom portion, the right side of your screen, you can see the flashing lights and cant make out much of this accident in the camera but you can see, traffic barely getting by if at all, weve seen intermittent closures of 95 northbound at columbus boulevard. Blue route, still completely shut down. This is a live look at some of the cleanup right near route 1. Both directions are shut down on the blue route. And take a look at this. This is the blue route northbound, right near route 3. And we cant see this accident here, but what you can see is just all of those cars out there, trying to detour around an accident but pretty unsuccessfully, because the blue route is shut down right now. A lot happening out there on all of the major highways. And as i bring you back to this accident on 67 i also want to point out that among the website right in and out for the pennsylvania turnpike and they had issued a highway advisory that the turnpike is completely closed in both directions. This is the pennsylvania turnpike shut down in both directions between morgan town and the Delaware River bridge because of icy conditions there. No one is getting by both ways on the pennsylvania turnpike. Rosemary, its just a mess out there. Thank you jillian. The icy weather appears to be the cause of the major pileup on the schuylkill expressway. We have been following that since early this morning. Again, heres that picture of the schuylkill expressway. This is westbound near the gulf mills exit. This all started before 7 00 this morning in upper marion township. We are hearing from officials that at least one person is dead because of this pileup. The rain mixing with those freezing temperatures thats the issue. Lets take a live look at the center city skyline. You can barely see anything in addition to the cold weather, that precipitation out there, weve got some fog, as well. The roads may look passable. Were here to tell you they are not. The advice this morning is to stay inside. Good morning, this is nbc 10 news today. Im rosemary connors. Its just after 9 30 on this sunday. You can see right behind me this is what were talking about. This is what were watching and because of you, we are getting pictures into newsroom pams our crews in the field. Were going to check in with them in just a moment. Lets go to meteorologist Michelle Grossman. She has been watching this all morning long. This started as light rain really all it takes is a little bit of precipitation and some cold air. Youre absolutely right. Yeah, weve been watching this since 5 00 this morning. We saw the rain first in parts of southern new jersey delaware, thats where the temperatures have been above freezing all night long. And then we mentioned to the north and west along i95 its going to be a race to see if the precipitation gets here before the temperatures go up. And unfortunately, thats exactly what happened. The rain got here very light stuff, before the temperatures actually got above freezing. Were starting to see them tick up slowly, but its taking a long time to get there. We have a freezing rain advisory through at least 10 00 in some spots, other spots, through 1 00, thats in the poconos. For every county here painted in this purple color. Thats where were seeing the massive problems. Heres our sunday soaker yet. We have that rain to the south and east but look at this last frame. You notice the temperatures went up. We started to see a big jump in temperatures over the last half hour where we went from 20s to 30s. Were starting to make some progress. And i think that 10 00 ending time is a good time for that advisory. Because we are still seeing some were seeing those changes. Now, she had mentioned on her drive in that she did encounter some sleet, some slush on the roadways. Were still going to have some driving conditions. But this is what radar looks like right now with that last frame seeing that warmup. Still some heavy stuff where you see the darker shading. Zoom in a little closer here. Thats where you may be seeing some sleet. Right there where youre seeing red and orange norristown in parts of montgomery we may be seeing some sleet in that spot. And temperatures right above freezing if not or just a bloiltelow freezing pap couple spots seeing this nasty weather. Wilmington, bear seeing heavy rain. And weve been seeing rain in delaware all morning long at least for the last for hours. So we zoom down a little further, dover seeing heavy rain parts of northern and southern delaware they have been seeing wet weather since 5 00 this morning. So this is nothing new to them. But now its a little heavier, andic by the end of the day, thats where well see the most rain falling, would be in delaware, new jersey. But the most dangerous conditions right now are north and west of philadelphia and along the i95 corridor. Take a close look at this screen. Depending on where you are, if youre below freezing, youre certainly seeing those frozen surfaces. 33 right now in philadelphia finally above freezing. Were starting to see those temperatures climb up. 30 in pottstown, 30 in allentown. Thats below freezing. 29 in reading, thats below freezing. 30 in mt. Pocono also below freezing. Finally above freezing in lancaster. 35 in wilmington. No problems in terms of the temperature south and east of philadelphia. Notice the darker shading, thats yellows and oranges, thats heavier rain and staying mainly over philadelphia and south and east of philadelphia. Ending up with almost 2 inches in some spots by the end of today. And thending about 5 00 6 00 7 00 tonight. 2 inches in some spots, south and east of philadelphia. Localized flooding might be a problem. I dont anticipate widespread flooding to be a problem, but poor drainage areas. To the north and west were dealing with the frozen precipitation. Thats our immediate concern. And hopefully over the next hour well see a big improvement in terms of that. Well clear that out overnight. Taking a look at rainfall totals by the end of tonight, by 6 00 7 00, almost an inch and three quarters in Atlantic City a little over an inch and a half in dover. A big, big cutoff as you look to the north and west. You can see that dividing line in the Lehigh Valley and the poconos. Well see a huge cutoff by the end of today. But this morning, you know what if youre in south jersey youll get all the rain this afternoon and youre not dealing with those major, major problems of ice right now. For today, it is dangerous right now. Dont go out if you dont have to just wait a couple more hours. Icy morning. Well see rain falling heavy in the afternoon, especially south and east of philadelphia. 42 to 45 and well peak ahead towards your sevenday forecast. We want to focus on today and get you through the next couple of hours. Be careful and stay put. But tomorrow the sunshine returns. Its going to be blustery and cold. 38 degrees, feeling colder than that. And our next chance for some wet weather, some snow, some rain comes on wednesday. So well get through today and deal with wednesday at a later date. Weve got you covered this morning. In addition to our meteorologists, we have crews in the field. Lets check in now with nbc 10s monique braxton, shes live in camden near the base of the ben franklin bridge. And i understand you have an update . Reporter i do have an update. Ive been following the tweets from the Delaware County Port Authority all morning long. Good news for folks who are waiting to cross the Commodore Barry bridge. They have reopened two lanes in both directions. But the speed is limited to 15 miles an hour. The biggest challenge for folks out here at the ben franklin bridge who are trying to deice it. Weve seen salt trucks coming back and forth and some traffic is coming from the philadelphia side. But the challenge has been battling the rain. They have been deicing this now for the past couple of hours. The rain is washing some of that salt mixture off of bridge but we do see that some traffic is coming from the philadelphia side. But the briblgdge signs still say bridge closed. Let me show you now this backup westbound on 30. You see this huge new Jersey Transit bridge. Ive been monitoring their tweets this morning. The new Jersey Transit authority tells us that they are honoring all what they call cross passes. That means passes whether youre going by rail or by bus. They are cross honoring all passes. But traffic is still backed up here. The westbound side coming en route 30 towards the bridge. You need to be very careful, though, this morning, because the rain can be deceiving. We came through camden about an hour ago. Some of the side streets are still slippery because the crews are still working to get to those side streets. Theyre focusing now on the major street. So do exercise caution. Also want to let you know ive been monitoring some of the radio stations some churches are canceling their Morning Services because of the ice and no doubt, some of these people that are sitting here in traffic are probably trying to cross the bridge to head to church services. So they may want to go online and check their church and see if those services are still going to get underway. But for now, as we walk back towards the philadelphia side of the bridge we can see that it appears two lanes of traffic are proceeding eastbound, across the ben franklin bridge. Were going to continue to monitor the situation and an update for you in the next half hour. Live for now in camden monique braxton, nbc 10 news. Some good information. Thank you for bringing us those pictures monique. Weve been showing you whats been happening out on the roads, now lets check in on whats going on at Philadelphia International airport. Mary flannery joins me live over the phone. Good morning, mary. Good morning, rosemary. Tell me whats happening at the airport. We understand there is a ground stop in effect. There has been a brief ground stop in effect to manage the air traffic. That has just been lifted. And now planes are beginning to arrive and takeoff, but there are delays on both arrivals and departures. Were fortunate because its a sunday morning and a lighter than normal schedule of flights. But we know that a big problem, as monique just mentioned, is passengers on the roadways getting to the airport, because of the road closures and the icy surfaces. What does this mean for passengers . Any advice if they do have to catch a flight later on this afternoon . What should they be doing . Whether this morning or this afternoon, we encourage that passengers and people who are picking up people ariving passengers at the airport, to check with your airline or else go on our website, phl. Org or call 1800phlgate to check on the status of your flight. So it sounds like at this point, things are starting to improve at the airport. You can there was the ground stop but that has since been lifted. It has been lifted. Some flights are arriving on time, some are departing on time because we have been putting chemical on the roadways. The planes are being deiced. So were trying to get out as many passengers as possible but, of course safely. All right. Mary flannery with Philadelphia International airport. Thanks for being with us this morning. Thank you rosemary. And jillian mele is watching all of the Traffic Cameras out there. Jillian . Im being told we have a live picture from one of our photographers at the scene of this accident on 76. Thats what were trying to pull up right now. Here it is this is 76 westbound, near gulf mills, and it is completely shut down in both directions. Now, what youre looking at right now, to the right side of your screen thats the eastbound side. Thats closed because of the response for officials who have to get there. Surveillances that had to get to the scene. Police that had to get to the scene. The westbound side thats where the accident happened. Im not sure exactly how many vehicles have involved in this. Its a very serious, multivehicle pileup and right now you can see tow trucks backing up to get to the scene. We do know this is a fatal accident. At least one person has died as a result of their injuries from this accident. And right now crews have to get this tow truck in and get this accident cleared. This is going to be out there for hours this morning. This is not going anywhere anytime soon. So 76 is completely blocked off in both directions right near gulf mills. If you can bring you back to my Traffic Cameras other cameras from the other accidents we found. This is 95 southbound right near gerard avenue. Some traffic is getting by but we have a multivehicle accident blocking lanes on 95 southbound near gerard 95 northbound near columbus boulevard, we have a multivehicle accident there as well. The blue route has been the source of our problems all morning long. Thats what youre looking at right now. This is a live picture, the blue route northbound. You can probably barely make out whats going on but all lanes are currently blocked right now, and it looks like drivers were trying to detour using the shoulder of the highway, but theyre not getting anywhere on the blue route near route 3. The blue route near route 1 is completely shut down. 422, the westbound side was shut down a few minutes ago because of an accident there. It looks like traffic is starting to move again. That has since cleared. In Chester County 202 northbound, right near route 29 youll notice a single lane of traffic there. We cant see this accident. Its outside of the view of our camera but youll notice that ambulance on scene, and we have all of those lanes having to merge into one. We have a serious accident on 202 northbound near route 29 as well. The pennsylvania turnpike is shut down in both directions between morgan town and the Delaware Valley toll bridge because of icy conditions there. So no one can travel on the pennsylvania turnpike so conditions are changing by the minute, but the one thing, 76 this accident is not going anywhere, anytime soon. We are staying on top of this breaking weather news this morning. We have freezing rain, icy conditions, dangerous conditions out there on the road. This is that live picture from 76 west as you heard jillian mele tell us just a moment ago. This accident, this backup is not going anywhere anytime soon which mean ifs youre at home stay put. Well be right back in just a moment. Count on nbc 10. Thanks for the ride around norfolk and i just wanted to say geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years roger that. Captains waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. Couldve parked a little bit closer. Its gonna be dark by the time i get there. Geico. Proudly serving the military for over 75 years. When youve got something to share, you need upload speed. And only verizon fios gives you upload speeds. As fast as your download speeds. And the fastest wifi available from any provider. Period. So join the millions who get the difference fios makes. And see how sweet it is. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v this is the scene of the deadly accident in upper marion township Montgomery County on 76 west the schuylkill expressway at the gulf mills exit. As many as 60 cars have been involved in a Chain Reaction crash. No doubt that the weather certainly played a factor here. We are finding out again that one person is dead in this crash. We are continuing to monitor this situation. Were also watching whats happening with the airport. Were finding out that there was a ground stop earlier this morning, but that has since been lifted. However, passengers should keep in mind at the airport that there are still some travel delays. As i bring in meteorologist sheena parveen, to talk about the conditions out there, we did just get an update. Jillian mele told us that the drpa is telling us that the eastbound lanes of the ben franklin bridge so heading over to new jersey they are now open, but westbound, theyre still being monitored. Youre telling us its starting to rain the rain is starting to pick up. So even though weve got a couple, we have some good news out there in terms of roads opening up people should still be careful. And always remember bridges and overpasses theyre going to be first ones to ice over, especially in situations like this. We are still talking about the ice around still talking about the rain around. In this situation, the rain moved in earlier than expected. Temperatures were below freezing. Here is what it looks like on radar. It is not suggested to drive on the road if you are around the philadelphia area areas north and west through the Lehigh Valley obviously in the poconos. But south jersey and delaware you are quite a bit above freezing. Icy conditions where you see the pink, we are talking about ice on the roads this morning. It is falling as rain but on contact, it is freezing as ice. So even if you walk outside and see the rain it is ice as it falls. Thats where you see the pink. The pink gives awe better idea of where we are seeing that rain freeze on contact. 476, 76, around conshohocken, all of these areas are reporting some icing across the p. A. Turnpike. You dont to be on the road in the areas where we have the pink. There are icy roads. Definitely dont try to make any quick turns or drive too fast. Now in the Lehigh Valley around the allentown area this is clearly where we are seeing that freezing rain and icing conditions across 478 and 476, going through the Lehigh Valley up into the poconos. Once again were dealing with icy conditions here. Thats where you see the pink. Now into upper bucsks county, were dealing with ice. Lower bucks county a more of a mixed bag where you see the green and yellow. Remember, you have this pink mixed in it depends on the temperature of that surface and this is border line freezing. So we are seeing icy conditions around bordentown township. Be careful as youre driving. Now well take a closer look around the philadelphia area. We are seeing rain falling, but it is freezing on contact and we have a lot of spotty areas, as you get into new jersey. So right across the bridging in new jersey youre still on the borderline there. Thats why we have some pink mixed in. Still seeing icy conditions. The rain is getting havre moving into philadelphia. Thats why the color is now changing to yellows and oranges. Thats heavy rain. This extends all the way down into wilmington where i wouldnt doubt if there were patches of ice in parts of delaware, but this is mostly a rain event. Not freezing on contact for extreme south jersey and most of delaware. But either way, the rain is becoming heavier and we all know that that also creates travel problems on top of what we already have out there. Closer to the shore, this is light rain and we are not seeing any icy spots that we have reported. Southern delaware into suffolk county, this is mostly light rain as well. Temperatures play a big role in this. This morning, it was a little earlier that the rain moved in. Temperatures below freezing. Its this vicious cycle, where were waiting for the temperatures to rise but more and more rain moves in. Its below freezing in chester springs. 30 degrees. Thats where we start to see the rain freezing on contact. Philadelphia, 33 degrees, but i think at this point, it doesnt really matter because weve seen icy roads in philadelphia. The rain is still falling, its still creating slush. At 33 degrees, that rain will not disappear. It will still be on the roads and make it slippery. Northeast philly 34. And now we look into the Lehigh Valley. These temperatures are barely below freezing but it is enough to freeze the rain on contact with the roads. So 30 degrees, allentown, quakertown reading. 30 degrees in doylestown. Be very careful if you have to drive. If you dont have to drive, do not drive. The roads are very dangerous. Accidents all over the place. But now in south jersey and delaware, we have a lot Different Air in this part of the region. We are in the 40s. Mt. Holly, 32 degrees. But right across the bridge in new jersey youre still borderline and seeing icy patches. It is a first alert weather day. Morning ice is out. Weve been telling you all morning, dangerous driving. That rain moved in too early with those freezing temperatures and now we are seeing icing. Most of this icing is north and west now of the i95 corridor. Temperatures are slowly trying to rise but at this point, i think with the rain falling so early in the day and were seeing such cold temperatures around, it is a little hard for those temperatures to rise quickly. If it was a sunny day, it would be quickly, but its not. So now were dealing with this situation where were watching those temperatures slowly rise and were continuing to just watch heavier rain move in. So regardless of when those temperatures do rise above freezing which should be in the next few hours, well still be dealing with heavy rain. That is still going to make for dangerous driving out there. Sheena lets take a look. This is the aftermath of that early rain you were talking about. This is that live picture of that massive accident on 76 west. This happened before 7 00 this morning. So the rain started falling sooner than expected. So maybe people werent anticipating that the conditions would get difficult out there, but by 7 00 we had 60 cars involved in a Chain Reaction crash. Yeah the rain actually did move in earlier than expected. At that time temperatures were below freezing and this is what caused that freezing on contact. Rain was falling, freezing on the roads. It did move in a little bit earlier, and this is why were having so many problems. This does tend to happen sometimes with these type of weather systems coming up from the south. Moisture can start to move in a lot faster in the morning like this. And unfortunately, when you have those temperatures just below freezing, you get situations like this. And unfortunately, we are still seeing the icing going on right now. Cities not above freezing everywhere. Cities still below freezing north and west of the rain. Still falling north and west still freezing on contact. Were still looking at icy roads. These dangerous conditions, not only creating a problem for drivers, but also for the folks who rely on mass transit. Lets check in now with hearth redfern. Talk to us about whats going on with the buses right now . Weve just suspended service on all of our buses until at least 10 00 this morning. The conditions out there are just too bad. We cant put our passengers and our operates in anymore out in dangerous conditions. So weve suspended bus service until 10 00 a. M. And as the weather warms up well continue to update that and monitor the weather and see when we can get our bus service back running. Have any of your buses been in accidents this morning, heather . Weve had some slip and slide accidents throughout the morning. As you can imagine, all the cars and youre controlling a big bus and you know you hit a patch and we have had some slip and slide incidents this morning. No major injuries though. Heather you mentioned the that at 10 00, thats when youre going to reassess whether or not to continue to suspend the bus service or to let it you know to have it be back up and running. So were just a few minutes away from 10 00 right now. What should septa riders be looking for . Should they be checking your twitter county checking the web . How should they get this updated info . Absolutely our riders can check our twitter accounts. Were sending out messages as we have that information to send out. Were updating our website, septa. Org. Theres a system status section that has all of the recent detours and delays and suspensions and then also they can call our Customer Service number, 2155807800 and our Customer Service representatives also have information. While i have you on the phone, heather, we talked about the buses, whats going on with Regional Rails and trolleys . Were putting delays across all of the systems. We have 15minute delays on Regional Rail lines and trolleys, its the same thing, and our trollis are operating out in the street with the regular traffic. So were just you know, telling people to be very careful, getting on and off our vehicles walking to stations getting on trains. Trains. All right, Heather Redfern with septa, thanks for being with us. We may check back in with you shortly. Thank you. We continue to follow this breaking weather news. I just got an update a moment ago to let you know about two accidents, one in Delaware County the other on 76. Here is a live picture of the accident from earlier this morning on 76 west. At this point, we know that one person is dead in this accident. Very dangerous conditions out there on the road. What weve been hearing from drivers is that it looks like the streets have passable. That is not the case. The advice this morning, stay at home. We will be right back. At just a few minutes before 10 00 this morning, here is that live picture of this major accident on 76 west. This is at the gulf mills exit. You can see that there are many Emergency Responders on the scene. They have been out there since 7 00 this morning. This accident happened before 7 00. We now know that at least one person is dead. In addition to the emergency crews out there, you see penndot out there. Theyre trying to salt these roads and make sure that as they open up people have safe conditions out there on the road, because eventually the roads are going to open up and people will be able to get around, but right now, we are telling you, stay home. Weve been showing you these pictures all morning long. The conditions are dangerous and were reporting that people have died in these accidents. So the advice the caution this morning, stay inside. Lets check in now with first alert traffic reporter jillian mele. Jillian, youre also reporting on an accident near route 3. Talk to us about. We have two fatal accidents were following this morning. The one youre seeing right now, 76 westbound near gulf mills, that massive pileup we know one person has died as a result of that accident. If we can take you to the Traffic Cameras, ive been showing you this image throughout the morning of this accident. It is tough to make out the accident itself but this is the delay we just lost that image. Okay its back. Broomall, this is a fatal accident. Now, as i mentioned, we cant really see the scene. But the blue route is shut down in both directions near route 3 and route 1 as a result of this accident. And what youre looking at right now, are all the drivers who were stuck out here behind this accident scene. I dont know how many vehicles are involved but we do know no traffic is getting by. Both directions on the blue route. Keep that in mind. This is 95. Out near wolf street. This is 95 right near allegheny avenue, actually. And you can so eee the delay were seeing in that area because of an accident there. 95 northbound near columbus boulevard. Another accident in that area. We had one on 422, we had one on 202. All of those have since cleared, though but we have these really serious accidents out there. Again, a fatal accident on 76. A fatal accident on the blue route. The pennsylvania turnpike is shut down in both directions between morgantown and the delaware state line. We have a lot of activity out there and im getting new information by the minute. Im sitting back here at my computer looking at all of this traffic data thats coming in so when i get anymore information, ill be right back. Deadly dangerous conditions out there. This is not the day to get your errands done. Stay inside. In addition to the meteorologist who are working and check the first alert radar and jillian mele whos watching the cameras were also getting pictures of whats happening in your neighborhood from you. Youre sending us your pictures. Meteorologist Brittney Shipp has more on that. Britt britney . Thats right, this is from joshua howell. You can see all of the ice and how slippery it is. He uploaded a picture and a video. Its not just the roadways were concerned about, but the sidewalks as youre trying to walk to wherever you get to need to go to today. So as we take a closer look the other thing were seeing as folks are trafging and running their errands this morning, theyre waking up to accidents on the roadways. Were dealing with pileups and people running into the different dividers. It is really important for everyone to take their time. These videos and pictures are really telling it all. Heres another one. These folks are try