now at 5:00 a.m. straight up. down to the wire, the latest prediction in the race for president. and a miserable finish. the redskins end a bad season on a low note. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. it is monday, january 2nd, 2012. it's going to take us a while to get used to saying that. today you'll notice a big change, and by tomorrow it will really feel like winter. we've been really spoiled. we had such a nice mild december. reality check, tom. back to winter-like weather. the coldest air of the winter so far will be arriving by this time tomorrow morning. prepare for that. for students and teachers that are off to school this morning, you need to layer up a little bit. we do have temperatures around the region right near 40 degrees in the metro area. right now under a partly cloudy sky. that's a live picture from the city camera. partly cloudy. 40 at reagan national. we've got a wind out of the northwest gusting to 15 to 20 miles an hour. it does feel chillier than that. it's a little bit colder farther to our west and north down into the mid-30s in much of montgomery county, fairfax county. prince george's county is 40, so is much of western maryland, northern neck, and eastern shore. out in western maryland and northern west virginia, it's near freezing out there. brace yourselves for a big winter storm coming in. they're going to have upslope snows in western maryland and northern west virginia. up to six inches of snow developing there later today. sunrise at 7:27. temperatures around the metro area and much of the region, except out of the mountains, climbing into the 40s. out where the big winter storm is happening, only around freezing the rest of the day. we'll look at your evening planner in ten minutes. here's a look at traffic. carol parker joins us this morning. good morning, carol. >> good morning, tom. thank you. keep that big winter storm away. keep it where you said it was going to be. the beltway, smooth sailing. enjoy it because tomorrow things will look entirely different. let's check the bridges. over at the sousa bridge, we're moving right along. woodrow wilson bridge, no accidents, no incidents to report. and the 14th street bridge wide open. eun, joe, back to you. >> carol, thanks very much. 5:03 now. there is a lot of uncertainty this morning for republicans as the iowa caucuses near. the presidential hopefuls will be campaigning hard today, trying to win over iowa's many uncommitted voters. who are the favorites now? news 4's angie goff joins us live in the news room with the latest. angie, good morning. >> good morning. and happy new year to you, eun. on this eve of the iowa caucuses, republican candidates make the final pitch to pull in the uncommitted voters. the latest poll numbers from the "des moines register" show romney as the front-runner with ron paul right behind him. don't count out rick santorum. he's in third, but if you count gop voters surveyed the last two days of the four-day poll, santorum is tied with mitt romney. in fact, 41% of caucusgoers say they have yet to be convinced who to vote for. >> i want to take a closer look and see what he is really truly about because i'm not satisfied with other candidates right now. >> we're constantly bombarded with candidates, phone calls, mailers, everything you can imagine. >> gingrich, who's in fourth place in the polls, says he is encouraged by that 41%. right now the race is wide open. political experts say a win for everyone doesn't guarantee an easy road to a nomination. on the other hand, an upset in santorum's case could mean a boost in places he's been polling poorly and campaigning hard. south carolina. >> angie goff live in the news room this morning. angie, thank you. virginia's attorney general is considering his stance on changing the state's ballot access laws. ken cuccinelli believes that virginia needs to modify the law but making the changes before the upcoming primary would be unfair. virginia requires candidates to collect 10,000 signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot. newt gingrich, rick perry, and four other gop candidates filed a lawsuit challenging that law. and president obama is not going to let republicans get all the election attention in iowa. the white house says the president plans to host a video chat with democrats across the state as republican caucus results come in. his campaign says mr. obama will speak to supporters in various locations in iowa via a web program called adobe connect. new from overnight, iran says it successfully test fired a long range missile during a naval exercise today. the iranian navy says it test fired an anti-radar missile over the weekend. this comes after iran also announced it successfully produced and tested nuclear fuel rods for the first time. the news is a snub to western countries that want iran to stop its nuclear program. the u.s. and other western powers have proposed new sanctions that will cut iran's oil revenue. south korea's president says the korean peninsula is now at a turning point. in a nationally televised speech, president lee myung-bak said that peace is a priority and there is a window of opportunity for better ties with the north. meanwhile, north korea's new leader made a public appearance on new year's day. state media showed photos of kim jong-un making a military inspection. kim jong-un succeeded his father kim jong-il, who died on december 17th of a heart attack. he was 69 years old. you can look at the redskins season as a disappointment, or you can look at the bright side. the redskins now have the number six pick in this year's draft. the 34-10 loss to the rival eagles locked up the pick for the redskins, who struggled on offense and special teams against the eagles in the season finale. rex grossman threw yet another interception, his 20th on the season. and then graham gano had a field goal blocked, the fifth of this year. despite the hardship, head coach mike shanahan said he is optimistic. >> we got a lot better this year on defense. i think we got a lot better on offense. after four games, we were kind of playing the way i wanted to play. we lost a lot of those players over the last five, six games. we did a good job moving the football. there's a lot of positives that go with it, but we've got to have good free agency, good draft to build this team. >> it's the fourth straight year the redskins have finished last in the nfc east, and 5-11 is the worst record of shanahan's career. hopefully, that means it can only go up. >> yesterday you saw just about everything the redskins can do wrong, they did wrong yesterday. redskins can find a little comfort in the fact the rival cowboys won't be making a trip to the playoffs either. cowboys lost to the giants 31-14 in a shot for the playoff spot. eli manning came through in the winner take all game with nearly 350 yards passing and three touchdowns. the giants will get home field advantage when they take on the wild card falcons in the first round of the playoffs this coming weekend. >> our producer matt, who is a giants fan, said it's not a cha-cha, it's probably a salsa. >> that's good to know. we want to get that correct. we do indeed. it's 5:08 now. ahead, a rescue at a maryland state park, a man saved by his welcome back. it's 5:11 on this monday morning, the second day of january 2012. right now we're in the 30s in the suburbs and rural areas to near 40 in washington, southern maryland and near the bay and northern neck. now the view from space. over the last 12 hours, showing quite a bit of cloudiness in and out early evening last evening. now the clouds are begin to go break up a little bit except shenandoah valley and points west. most locations are cloudy. snow showers just begin to go move into far northern west virginia, and those will begin to move toward western maryland and north central west virginia later today. it can get up to six inches of snow there. here locally throughout the day we'll have clouds in and out, a blustery wind. already have winds gust to go around 15 to 20 miles an hour this morning. they'll stay blustery this afternoon with clouds racing through. we'll reach the mid-40s by the end of the day and turn colder by later this afternoon and tonight. blustery wind through the evening. temperatures down to near freezing by midnight tonight, and then much colder weather moves in tomorrow. we'll look at that, the rest of the week and weekend at 5:21. carol parker is with us this morning with traffic. good morning, carol. >> good morning, tom. that wind is wreaking havoc with hair. if we could get that out very quickly, that would be helpful. around the area, the beltway on 270 looking great. we do have an incident to pass along in falls church. an accident at graham and quincy. all lanes are blocked in both directions. police are on the scene. 66 outside the beltway moving well. 66 inside the beltway looking great. joe, eun? >> thank you, carol. it is now 5:12. 38 degrees out there. ahead on "news 4 today," the likely cause of death of dozens it's the perfect time to find great deals on the 4g lte devices you love. like the droid bionic by motorola for $199.99. or the pantech breakout for $49.99. our lowest price ever. get the technology you love, on the network you deserve. and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. il, any luck finding a car? not yet. i want to buy used but how do you know what you're really getting. check out carmax. all their used cars are guaranteed. that's where henderson found the one for him. way to go, henderson. finding the perfect car is easy at carmax because each car is carefully selected, inspected, thoroughly reconditioned and backed with a five-day money back guarantee so come find the one for you today, at carmax. way to go, neil. good morning and welcome back. a hiker is safe after being rescued in a maryland state park. the arrest occurred in gambrill state park. they had to use night vision to find the person in the woods. they picked up the faint glow from the hiker's iphone. once the person was spotted, police used a helicopter to lower rescue crews to the hiker. the hiker was not injured, and his name has not been released. this morning we expect to learn the names of two young people that were killed in a crash as many were still ringing in the new year. just before 3:00 a.m. on new year's day, an suv slammed into a tree at jones bridge road and lancaster drive in bethesda, killing a man and woman and injuring three others. news 4's darcy spencer has more on the investigation. >> reporter: a man and a woman died when the chevy trailblazer they were riding in crashed on jones bridge road in bethesda around 3:00 new year's morning. nate lucas was friends with both of the victims. news 4 is not identifying them until police release their names. >> he was definitely my closest acquaintance. we always used to spend time over at each other's houses. she was cool, like a little sister to me. >> reporter: montgomery county police say the suv was traveling west on jones bridge road approaching lancaster drive when the driver lost control. the two victims who died were front and backseat passengers. three men survived, including the 22-year-old driver. >> for reasons still under investigation, they hopped a curb, went through the chain link fence, and came to rest against a tree. >> reporter: thomas quinn says he came to the scene to pay his respects. he says he was friends with the male passenger who died. >> i just knew him from the skate park and around. a bunch of mutual friends. >> reporter: montgomery county police are still trying to figure out what caused the crash. residents say there have been other fatal crashes here along this road. >> the curves do not look treacherous, and so they're deceivi deceiving. >> reporter: friends say the group had been at a new year's eve party earlier in the evening. it's unclear where they were going when they wrecked. >> it's tragic. it's been just as hard for me as many others. so i can't believe -- it's still hard to believe it seriously. >> reporter: the driver was taken to a baltimore hospital with serious injuries. the two other passengers who survived are 18 and 19 years old. they were taken to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. police are expecting to release the identities of the victim sometime today. in bethesda, darcy spencer, "news 4 today." an elderly couple is in the hospital after being hit by a car that somehow ended up on a sidewalk in kensington. a man and woman, both in their 70s, were walking on the sidewalk in kensington avenue when they were hit. the woman was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. paramedics also transported the driver. she's expected to be okay. the victims' names have not been released. so far no arrests have been made. a howard county man managed to save their horses just before their barn was destroyed by a fire. the two alarm fire sparked around 1:00 yesterday along jennings chapel road in woodbine. it took more than 60 firefighters from three counties to battle the flames. it's unclear how many horses were inside the building when the fire started. no one was hurt. the cause of the fire is under investigation. investigators are trying to figure out what sparked a fire that destroyed a row house in northeast washington. it happened yesterday morning on "m" street near gallaudet university. firefighters say, when they got to the scene, they found heavy flames coming from a middle unit. they were able to stop the fire from spreading. two adults and five cats were able to escape the fire without injury. for the second year in a row, a strange and erie new year's eve phenomenon has struck an arkansas city. dozens of blackbirds fell from the sky and died in bebee, arkansas. last year on the same day, dozens of birds were found dead on the street in the same town. officials suspect that fireworks were a factor last year and could be this year as well. biologists believe birds may become disoriented by the loud noise, which sends them crashing into roofs, windows, and streets. today's a national holiday. that means that banks and post offices are closed. in d.c. parking meters will not be enforced today. schools, libraries, and federal government offices are also closed. in maryland, there will be no parking fees, except for prince george's county's new carrollton garage. schools in howard, st. mary's, and charles counties are all open today. libraries and government offices, though, are closed. in virginia, parking meters will also not be enforced today, and schools in alexandria are open today. libraries and government offices there are closed. >> all right. >> so happy holidays to everybody but those kids. >> and us. >> and us. let's check the forecast. meteorologist tom kierein says big changes in store for us. enjoy today while it lasts. today will seem balmy compared to tomorrow. it really is. temperatures in the upper 430s o around 40 are cold, but that's going to be comparatively warm. near the chesapeake bay and eastern shore, 30 to 40 degrees. fairfax and montgomery counties in the 40s. the mountains of west virginia in the low 30s. they are preparing for a big winter storm situation developing later today. right now no snow in western maryland and northern west virginia, but later today they could get blizzard-like conditions with winds gusting 40 to 50 miles an hour. wind driven snow there, six inches of snow. they could have drifts several feet deep out of the mountains. that will certainly be great for the snow and ski areas out there. temperatures around the region are now in the upper 30s to near 40. by noontime in the mid-40s. wind still gusting to around 25 miles an hour as we get into the afternoon. sunrise at 7:27. sunset at 4:57. with the blustery wind around, we'll be down to the near freezing mark as we get to near midnight. that wind gusting to 30 miles an hour. it will feel like the 20s. then temperatures will continue to drop after midnight. by dawn tomorrow, all the way down to the low 20s throughout much of the region. and then it will struggle to get above freezing briefly during the afternoon on tuesday. winds gusting to around 35 miles an hour tomorrow. even with that sunshine, it will certainly feel cold. the windchills will be in the single digits on tuesday. and then wednesday morning even colder. back down around freeze. mainly upper 30s early afternoon and partly cloudy on wednesday. on thursday, milder air begins to move in as winds shift into the south and southwest. we'll be in the 20s in the morning. afternoon highs mid-40s. on friday should be a bit milder. morning lows upper 20s. afternoon highs upper 40s. even milder on saturday into the mid-50s, and sunday back down to the 40s. but still dry. don't see any precipitation the rest of the week into the he can ween weekend. carol parker has our traffic. good morning, carol. area around the most part is looking good. i do want to mention we have an incident in falls church, graham road, quincy avenue, all lanes blocked for an accident. police on the scene. metro is on a holiday schedule today. they'll open at 7:00. vre and the marc train, no service today due to the holiday. downtown 14th street at new york avenue looking just fine. over in maryland, georgia avenue and veirs mill road, you are traveling without any obstacles. back to you, eun and joe. >> carol, thanks very much. 5:24 now. you'll have a couple of extra hours to get ready for the nhl's annual winter classic with temperatures in philadelphia expected in the 40s, the league pushed the start time back. that will be to lessen the impact on ice. that's not the first time a winter classic has been delayed. last year the penguins-capitals game started in the evening because of warm weather in pittsburgh. you can catch coverage of today's game between the rangers and flyers beginning at 1:00. the puck drops at 3:00. the washington wizards were hoping the new year would bring them the first win of the season, but the boston celtics had other idea. the wizards fell behind by 17 points at the half, and the celtics never looked back, taking the game 94-86. john wall did lead the team in scoring with 19 points, and mcgee with a double double. but that was not enough. the wizards are the only winless team left in the nba. >> the uniforms lo good, though. >> they do. looking good. a singer is under fire for changing the lyrics to a very popular beatles song while performing in new york's times square on new year's eve. ♪ ♪ nothing to kill or die for and all religions true ♪ >> did you catch it? the voice judge cee lo green changed the lyrics to john lennon's "imagine." green said "nothing to kill or die for and all religions true." the lennon lyrics go like this, "nothing to kill or die for and no religion too." green tweeted he didn't mean disrespect for changing the lyrics. some twitter users criticized green for singing the song at all, saying it was hypocritical to sing the lyrics imagine no possessions or greed or hunger while dressed in a full length fur coat and jewels. >> it was a good look. >> it was a good look for him. he has looks that only he can pull off. >> it'sed go egood. it might be a little strange. >> it's hard to mess with john lennon's "imagine" that's such a classic, such a beloved song. we should just leave that one alone. if you had a rough night on new year's eve, just remember it could have been worse. >> some people in denver might have traded places with you. guests staying at a marriott hotel returned from a night on the town to find their room keys, those magnetic things, had stopped working at the stroke of midnight. let's hear it for computers. that left all these guests crashing in the hallways while the g