Closed today as a result of this storm. Lets go to tom now in the storm center with more on how this system could affect our weather today. Yeah it is the same system that will be getting closer to us not until this evening, but will not be nearly as severe. Right how getting a few showers, even a little bit of lightning flashing will in the sky northeast of richmond right now coming in to the eastern part of the Northern Neck. Thats going to be tracking well south of the metro area, may get close to the eastern part are of the Northern Neck far southern st. Marys county just a brief down downpour. Right now a milder start. Near 50 in the metro area mid50s shenandoah valley. Northern part and up toward North Central maryland upper 30s and low 40s. Look at the highs today though low to mid70s in the about metro area maybe into the mid70s across North Central virginia. Maybe a few showers passing east of 95 during the afternoon. And then some of those thundershowers beginning to roll this in the evening. At 4 41 a look at your bus stop and drive time forecast for the day ahead. New crash want to mention this it is in lovettesville, 672 the at beech grove lane the road closed in both directions because of a nasty crash. Taking a look at Prince Georges County overall no major problems right how in and out of town. Youre looking good branch avenue pennsylvania avenue indian head highway here. No problems there. Up north a little 95 in maryland no issues. Same thing bw parkway northbound and southbound and of course our fun story of the day, 270 at shady grove road with that woman delivering a baby earlier this morning. Congrats to her. Back in ten minutes. A Northern Virginia family is now mourning two victims of the germanwings plane crash in the french alps. This is emily selke from nokesville in Prince William county. She and her mother yvonne died in that crash. Emily graduated with honors from Drexel University and was a Woodbridge High School a lum fuss. And is he worked at booz allen. They were just good people. They were committed to their faith. Both emily and yvonne. Three of the planes 150 passengers were americans. As for what happened it could be months before the official report. An investigator told the New York Times one of the planes two pilots was locked out of the cockpit shortly before that crash. Today Jesse Matthew is expected in court for a hearing in charlottesville. He faces charges in the murder and abduction of hannah graham. A new trial date will be set in may. Matthew also faces charges of attempted murder and Sexual Assault in fairfax county. Also today, a uva student is expected to plead not guilty following an arrest that left him with 10 stitches. 20yearold Martese Johnson faces two misdemeanors. Cell phone video shows johnson with a bloody face as a. B. C. Officers pinned him down outside a bar. Governor mcauliffe is ordering all a. B. C. Officers to be retrained immediately. He signed an executive order that requires agents to be retrained in the use of force, cultural diverse city policing and interacting with teens. Mcauliffe already ordered state police to investigate johnsons arrest. Weve all seen the push for Police Across the country to build better relationships in the communities that they serve. D. C. s police chief and other leaders held a town hall about the National Crisis in community confidence. Its part of a series of meetings in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in ferguson missouri. Police chief cathy lanier told the crowd Better Community relations start with better recruitment. When youre evaluating a recruits suitability for the job, whether in the academy and one performance measure that you rate them on, empathy. The town hall was organized by the International Association of chiefs of list. This morning three women and one man are waking up in jail in Northern Virginia accused of running a drug ring. Spotsylvania sheriff arrested the people you see here. They found 26 ounces of cocaine, 16,000 in cash and several weapons. All four are from the new york area. First 4 traffic is working for you if you live in arlington. You might have noticed some of the countys newest sidewalks already showing some serious wear and tear. The debris is breaking off the tops and ending up scattered. Al link ton arrestlington department is investigating whether its a construction flaw or weather related, but they say its not a safety issue. Youll soon see some relief on route 7 in loudoun county. Construction under way to complete a missing section of Russell Branch parkway, a several hundred foot stretch just east of ashburn road and claiborne parkway. Stay with first 4 traffic with sun updates. It is slated to open in 2016. Today youll find out the official names of the new cubs at the national zoo. That happens between 9 30 and 10 30 this morning. Youll have to wait though a couple more days to seat cubs as they make their first public appearance on saturday. The cubs who were born in november are the third lit are to litter to be born at the zoo since 2010. A walk outside turn there is to a life or death situation. The incredible rescue of a map trapped in a massive mud puddle. And hes serving time in fair income tax county fairfax county. Now a man who led guilty to terror charges is suing the fbi. And taking a live look outside this morning, it might be a little chilly out there, but were about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than we were yesterday. Lets just start with that. Tom will be back to tell us how warm exactly it will get. Take a look at this video of a plan being rescued from a deep mud puddle. This happened in Southern China yesterday. Firefighters had to put down wooden planks to get to the man. He says he fell in the hole while just out taking a walk. New this morning, secretary of state john kerry has landed in switzerland for critical meeting on iran. There are just days left for a deal over the iran nuclear program. Were working to get you details as they a rise out of the meetings. The deadline for a basic familytram work is the end of this month. And we would have yet another battle between the president and congress this time over the budget. The house passed a budget bill in a Party Line Vote yesterday. It balances the overall budget within ten years, but it means major cuts to programs democrats champion and it says up another attempt to repeal the president S Health Care law. The white house was very critical of the bill. Senate republicans still working on their version of that budget. Weather and traffic on the 1s now at 4 41 as we take a live look outside. If you can get past the crowd, its 54 degrees here in tenleytown at this early hour. Yes, youre seeing correctly, that little temperature bug on the screen, 54. Thats about 20 degrees warmer happen it was this time yesterday morning. Right now getting showers and a little bit of lightning Northern Neck of virginia tracking off to the north and east passing in to Southern Maryland maybe clipping southern st. Marys county. Metro area, just cloudy through the morning, but have your umbrella ready and keep up with all the weather with your storm team 4 app. You can see the radar and well be near 50 degrees between 8 00 and 9 00. Just have the umbrella ready. Probably wont be needing it this morning in the metro area. Roads will stay dry for the morning. Hovering near 50. And then jumping into the 70s this afternoon. Dry roads in the metro area for the afternoon. Rain arriveing tonight. The timing is all coming up at 4 51. Melissa has an update. We have a road closure here, Silver Spring elsworth avenue between fenton street and colesville road there is some Fire Department activity. Youll see some closures in that area and have to work your way around that. Again still have this construction northbound gar ten city drive and westbound 50 right lane blocked. Montgomery village avenue at 355, that road work still in play. Wide look at things, no problems. 270 at shady grove now cleared. You might have thought with all the snow days kids might fall behind. But think again why some experts say they dont hurt as bad as you you you think. And is security taking a back seat to convenience . Why the it tsa Precheck Program is coming under scrutiny. And just coming if this morning, new graphic ads aimed at getting people to quit smoking. Well show you how the Campaign Hopes the commercials will help. 15 before the hour. Want to show you video here of an attempted robbery in northwest d. C. Police say the two men here didnt get away with anything. You can see them trying to use a screwdriver and crow bar on something. Possibly an atm here. This is at a gas station on missouri avenue. Were told after failed kicking and pounding the men decided to just drive away. The fdi facing a lawsuit from a man serving time in fairfax counter. Zachary chesser pleaded guilty to trying to join a terrorist group in somalia. He says the fbi wrongly took his infant son at the time. He was arrested with the baby at the airport and says the fbi told his mother that he and his wife planned to raise the boy in jordan. His mother is also in the lawsuit. She has full custody of the boy right now. If you use the tsa Precheck Program, are you now one of a Million People taking part. But now lawmakers are calling the problem or i should say the program a problem. A security risk. Tracie potts is live on capitol hill where the challenge is coming up in congress. Good to see you, tracie. All right good morning. Lawmakers want to know how a convicted felon with murder and explosives convictions ended up in the fast lane at the airport. That program is typically reserved for people who have had background check they give information in advance and may an 85 fee to be able to get in that fast lane for five years. But at a congressional hearing yesterday, lawmakers asked how this happened. This person also were told was a former member of a Domestic Terror Group and tsa only found out about it after a whistleblower gave that information. In response tsa is saying it was one error in a program that is very complex that they have been rolling out, that the person didnt apply to the program, it was part of a random selection. You can see that theyre randomly selecting people based on backgrounds sometimes to go through fast lanes. They also say there is lots of other security that we dont see. But lawmakers want to st to make sure that when people are selected to go through those fast lanes for convenience, that people who could be a danger or risk on the airlines arent getting through, too. Tracie potts, thanks for joining us. In news 4 your health, a new ad campaign is hoping to motivate your friend and family to quit smoking. These ads are from the cdc and will feature graphic images and stories from former smokers. It hopes that the real life stories will act as a scare tactic. And we have to warn you, some of the images youre about to see are tough to watch. It was devastating to me when i found out that i could lose high central vision. Who every thought that smoking could do Something Like this . That comment these images the cdc says its the point of the campaign is to really make you think twice about smoking. The ads start airing nationwide next week. Were learning this morning that powdered alcohol will not be sold in maryland. Alcohol wholesalers and distribute tors have agreed to a voluntary ban. Can there are fear has it could be snorted or abused by minors. Tors have agreed to a voluntary ban. There are fear has it could be snorted or abused by minors. The Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau says its considering a plan that would require lenders to only loan you money if theyre sure you can pay it back. The cfpb is looking at prevention and protection. Lenders could prevent a problem by verifying your income and borrowing history up front ensuring that you wont have a problem with the loan. Or they could protect against defaults with affordable repayment options and limits on how much you can borrow in a year. You can check the nbc washington app later today for more on the potential changes. And you can save money on your Car Insurance just by getting married. A new study by insurance quotes. Com finds your marital status again dergender and age affect how much you pay for Car Insurance. A married 20yearold average pays 21 less than a single 20yearold for that same policy. Hawaii is the only state where Insurance Companies are not allowed to factor marital status into their rates. A 20yearold man pays more than a 20yearold woman. As for ages on average Car Insurance costs drop every year until you turn 60 years old. Not for me. How can it i miss that equation. Well, get on it. Coming up on 4 51. Snow days dont hurt student progress. Follow me here on this one. Researchers at harvard were able to compare weather data with student test scores. It seems the number of canceled school days because of snow doesnt hurt childrens reading or math scores. Progress was affected on days when it snowed and schools stayed open but there were fewer students in class. So actually missing a school day because of snow didnt have much of an impact as much as sitting in class and doing nothing on a snow day or having that disraks. By the way, there are other reasons to get mired besides lower Car Insurance. This is true. But when i added my husband to my Insurance Plan it did drop 10. Congratulations. Were hitting the jackpot today with our weather. It will be much milder. And dont have any rain here locally. But there are some showers farther south and east that will be tracking through over the next couple of hours. But right now its all dry and much milder. It feels so great. It does finally feel like spring. Its near 50 degrees in washington. And our nearby suburbs. Yes, another round of applause thank you very much. And we thank the southerly wind for this as we have it into the low 50s North Central virginia. Mans 52 in Prince William county warn tonren ton at 52. Front royal at 55 degrees. Its in the 40s north and western suburbs. Here is the timing on the rain. East of i95 between now you lieu 10 00 this morning. So if you live in Southern Maryland anne arundel, calvert, charles, Northern Neck have your umbrella ready. But the district and points west should stay dry. Might be a few sprinkles around noontime but most of the shower activity will be east of i95 through the day. Then its this evening when well see showers and thundershowers beginning to move into the mountains. Then they track farther east and by 8 00 some showers and thundershowers coming right into the metro area from the west and sweeping on through. Dont anticipate any severe weather. But our first thunder and lightning of the season so far with some rain that will continue overnight as it does gradually track part to the east. So for the day ahead, a rapid warming from near 50 where we are now all the way into the 60s by noon mid70s by midafternoon. Just a delightful day. And those showers east of i95 through the morning and midday. Then overnight rain some thunder and lightning, all this ending early tomorrow morning, sun back friday afternoon, highs low 50s. So back down we go. Chilly day saturday. Up near 50 on sunday. There is a small chance of a passing shower on saturday. And then dry weather after that and mild again as we headed into next week. Looking pretty good on our main roads. 95 in maryland bw parkway, everything rolling along quite nicely here. Top of the beltway being looking good. Beltway at Central Avenue no problems there. Thats rolling along. Inner loop and outer loop. 66 at jermantown road, no issues there. Do want to reemind you of this krach. Crash. 672 at beech grove lane shut down because of an accident that happened there. Probably about an hour ago. So again, a reminder that this is shut down. A lot of folks use this area just to get into the washington area. So wanted to mention that for you. Back at 5 01. Weather and traffic always on the 1. Cheers to virginia. Why the Wine Industry is celebrating. And surprise the special home coming for a maryland air man who just returned there afghanistan. We have video of a maryland airman who got a surprise as he returned home from a mission in afghanistan. Reallyen thinking that he is just heading to bible study. Jeff coverdale is back from his third deployment. He spent five months in afghanistan and is thousand back with his fiance katie. I think were having shall audio trouble, so well just give you the short version. There he is. I think weve got it. Missed it. Coverdale and his fiance are due to be married in colorado a august 8. Congratulations to them and welcome home. Grape growers are producing a surplus of wine in the Common Wealth of virginia. Governor mcauliffe says there was a 17 increase in wine grapes last year compared to 2013. They grew about 8,000 tons of grapes in virginia. A good problem to have. Exactly. You may also soon be eating world class food will southwest d. C. Developers at the wharf are in talks with top chef alums like mike isabella. Theyre encouraged to open new restaurants. The its just part of the 1 billion first phase which is expected to open in 2017. Wonderful. We welcome them. Stay with us. News 4 today continues right now at 5 00 a. M. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to news 4 today. Tom and melissa keeping a close eye on weather and traffic for you this morning as always. Lets start with tom and your weather headlines. Much milder this morning. Thats the big headline starting off early on this thursday morning. We also have showers on storm team 4 radar. Some flashes of lightning in the southeastern part of virginia and around the virginia capes. Right now theyreir there around tidewater, its raining pretty hard. And there is a little bit of light rain far southern st. Marys county Northern Neck also getting light rain. That is quickly tracking off to the north and east. Story for us much milder. S its a much more pleasant morning. Were near 50 in the metro area. 40s north and western suburb. Climbing into the 50s shenandoah valley. This mild air will continue to move on in. But this morning, youll need a light jacket. It will be on the cool side. Then a short sleeve afternoon. Showers and thunder looking likely tonight. Coming up the hour by hour warming temperatures for the day ahead. How is the commute . Right now pretty good taking a big look at the beltway. Everything rolling along nicely for us. Beltway at new hampshire, again inner loop and outer loop rolling well. No major problems. 66 here into and out of town, nice and green. Lots of movement. 95 northbound southbound in virginia also looking good. Wanted to update you. 672 at beech aggressive lanegrove lane, road