Transcripts For WCAU NBC 10 News At 9am 20150118 : vimarsana

WCAU NBC 10 News At 9am January 18, 2015

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 wan

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