So everything will freeze tonight. We are talking about the problems with ice. I do think the roads will be a problem once again tonight and then again tomorrow morning. But guys these temperatures they dont even tell the whole story. The wind chill is the big deal. Well talk about that coming up in a minute. Todays winter blast created some tricky situations for School Bus Drivers across our region. Our storm team 4 by 4 00 found buses struggling on the slick roads. In Prince William county. And a frightening ride for those students. A frustrating one for hundreds of thousands of others in fairfax, arlington and other Virginia School districts. The twitter hash tag, closefcps or close Fairfax County public schools, is still trending in our area right now. It was actually trending worldwide this morning. We gathered some of the post on the nbc washington Facebook Page and they were shared hundreds of times. News4s Mark Segraves is live in falls church with more on the frustration and some apologies from the School Officials. Reporter well thats right. You know many of these School Officials in the counties here in Northern Virginia have apologized for their decision to open today. But not Loudoun County. Theyre not going that far. But like the other counties they are acknowledging they could have done things differently today. Theyre deeply sorry for the concerns this has caused. I think we do owe an apology for the decision we made. Reporter this mornings snowstorm made it extremely difficult for students and teachers to get to school. Traffic is just dangerous, and its awful in my state. Theres a lot of snow and maybe schools should be closed today. I think i should be able to stay home because its not safe for all the buses to be driving. Because somebody could get hurt. Reporter many students took to social media to blast the schools decisions to open today. While arlington and fairfax counties all made official apologies, Loudoun CountySchool Officials stopped short of apologizing in a letter to parents. Obviously, the forecasts were off, and conditions rapidly changed. We made what we thought was the best decision possible given the factors before us. In retrospect we could have made a different decision. Unfortunately, we cannot go back and redo what was done. One question on the minds of many students and parents who missed school today, will this count against their School Attendance record . Now, many of the School Districts have decided that students will be excused from school today if they didnt show up but they havent made a decision about faculty and staff. Some of them could actually lose a days pay. That decision has yet to be made. Coming up at 6 00 well tell what you this all means for tomorrow mornings commute and school and remember if any schools are closed or delayed, you can get it first if you get the news4 the nbc washington app on your phone. Reporting live in falls church Mark Segraves news4. Thank you, mark. The roads arent far behind schools in terms of frustration. Were watching conditions closely now as the sun begins to set. Well let you know if there are any problems if youre headed out and about tonight through our nbc 4 washington weather app. Right now, news4s chris gordon is live in Montgomery County where Police Worked 100 crashes today, and some side streets are still covered in snow chris. Reporter well tonight were monitoring the evening rush hour here along river road and as you see, traffic is light. River road is clear of snow. Its still a little bit wet. What you see is cars coming from the district into Montgomery County and the situation tonight is very unlike this mornings heavy snow which made driving dangerous. Montgomery county Police Report more than 100 accidents due to the snowy weather. My drive here was i came from Baltimore City and i probably saw about eight wrecks cars turned around. A lot of people going fast. And tons of people going slow. Reporter this is what i270 south through gaithersburg looked like. Cars driving at 12 Miles Per Hour. A lot of people chose metro rail but driving here to the grovener strap metro station was a challenge. Pretty sloppy. A lot of the roads hadnt been plowed as well as they should have or could have been. Definitely a lot of snow in kind of the right lanes where maybe it was shoved off. Definitely lanes you couldnt drive in. Did see someone stuck on a hill. Reporter this cell phone video shows bad traffic and Road Conditions along old georgetown road between huntington parkway and battery rain. Metro buses operated on a moderate snow schedule which means they kept to main roadways causing delays. The longest delay we found was one woman traveling to work in bethesda from laurel maryland. So you your whole commute isnt even over and youve been at it for for seven hours. Reporter i think you get the award. Thank you. Reporter it is a good thing she has a sense of humor. She says her car broke down last week so she had to take the bus. Her daily commute usually the commute takes a half hour. Today seven hours. Now, if you remember the old saying misery loves company, you will love the story that i have for you on news4 at 6 00. A woman behind the wheel of her car commuting from laurel to rockville for almost four hours. Thats coming up on the 6 00 hour. Thats the latest live along river road in bethesda. Chris gordon news4. And youre rockin that hat, chris. Nice job. Heres a live look outside Reagan National airport, where things are running smoothly now. That wasnt the case earlier when arriving planes waited on the tarmac for more than an hour before getting to the gate. Airport officials tell us tonight Reagan National is running at alltime record levels. And all 44 gates are assigned to airlines. Coming up on news4 at 6 00 tonight, well hear from one of the passengers stuck on one of those planes. Also tonight, metro buses are going to operate under what they call a moderate snow plan. That Means Service along most roads will be operating. But some routes may be detoured to keep the buses off the more hilly terrain and the narrower streets. Metro Officials Say you can also expect some bus delays so they suggest riding the rails, if thats possible for you. All those commuters are now starting to head home in the district. Today was the first test of the citys snow response under the new mayor. And for some it was a rough commute this morning. News4s tom sherwood live downtown at 14th and pennsylvania to show us how thibs are going now. Tom . Reporter jim, maybe some of those folks didnt come to work or make it to work or maybe gone home early. This is 14th street usually very busy going to the 14th street bridge and virginia. But its not busy tonight. It wasnt the storm of the century, but it was worse than officials expected. Emergency crews made their way through city streets. But all around town the morning commute was bad for those driving and for many of those waiting longer than normal for the buses. We would have liked a smoother commute. So we made the best decisions with the information that we had. Reporter bowser was overseeing her first snowstorm as mayor when surprisingly stronger and colder than expected. And the net effect of that is that the salt does not is not as effective. It takes longer for it to work. The forecast was 1 to 2 inches and its closer to 3 to 4 inches. Reporter mayor bowser said schools stayed open because classes are important. She toured much of the district driving herself to normally busy barracks road. She knows other mayors are judged harshly on snow response. I think its important the government gets the basics right. We pick up the snow clear the trash, that we provide Public Safety and safe and quality schools. So clearing the snow is a major part of what cities do. Reporter across the anacostia, neighbors were helping out neighbors. But business at union town cafe wasnt so good. Philadelphia native, tanya pope wondered what the fuss was about. Its not going well. But its to be expected. Im not from here so im not used to this grinding halt. With a couple dustings of snow. And thats what you guys got. Reporter but you have to remember shes from philadelphia so what does she really know here in the District Of Columbia . Coming up at 6 00 a serious story. There are serious concerns about the homeless as the temperatures drop here in the city. Live in Downtown Washington tom sherwood news4. The federal government stayed open and many of our local work remembers now headed home right now. It was a big day at work for republican leader john boehner. The 114th congress got under way, and he held off a tea Party Challenge to win reelection as speaker of the house. With this first snowfall of 2015 we are also seeing a return of a tradition here at news4, the pat collins snow stick challenge. And an assortment of hats too. This time around pat got his challenge started by talking to a guy with a very familiar name. Reporter here to make our first measurement of the 2015 weather is pat collins. Reporter pat collins. Where are you from . Im from minnesota, eh . Reporter compared to minnesota, what is this . This is a nice dusting. Reporter yeah this is sort of like Easter Sunday in minneapolis. Early summer. Early summer. He doesnt need a hat. Pat is back in his favorite snow spot in northwest washington and we have to ask, was that a legit pat collins, patrick . Reporter there were some people including some of my very own colleagues who didnt believe that guy was pat collins. So i have his card. Take a close look. What does it say . Read it and weep. Patrick collins. That case is closed. Now, coming up the first pat collins snow stick challenge of 2015. Ill tell you how you might be able to get one of these. Coming up on news4. Jim, wendy, you believe me, didnt you . We did. All along. Always. Got to go with pat. Thank you. Well see you in a bit. Thousands of people in northwest d. C. Have been without power all day long after a manhole caught fire in the Dupont Circle area. Right now, pepco crews are busy trying to make repairs. News4s shomari stone joins us live from 14th street and New HampshireAvenue Northwest with an update. When do they think it will be fixed, snow shomari . Reporter a couple hours at least. It is a total mess on 18th street northwest and New Hampshire avenue. Take a look across the street. You can see pepco crews working, trying to get the power back on. D. C. Police have blocked off the street. They have up orange cones now, and theyre trying to get the power back on. Lets roll some video just to show you what caused all of this. This all started when a fire sparked out of this manhole at 18th and New Hampshire this morning. Three feeder failed causing other cables to fail and the lights went out for thousands of customers. Pepco says 6,100 customers are without power in the Dupont Circle area. Keep in mind one apartment or condo building could be considered one customer, and those buildings have hundreds of units. Hence, why there are thousands without power. Lets come back out here live. I am now joined by stacy and dooley. You live in the building. First lets show across the street there. That is the imperial house. Hundreds of units in there. They dont have power. Whats going through your mind right now . Its just going to be a cold night. Reporter and little dooley here. Hopefully he can get some heat. Hes going to stay warm. He has on a little sweater. And i want to thank you for joining us. And hopefully the lights come back on as soon as possible. Live here near Dupont Circle shomari stone, news4. Bob mcdonnell reacts to his prison sentence while attorneys start their appeal. Some of the judgments i have made during the course of my governorship myself my family and my beloved people of virginia for that i am deeply deeply sorry. And a teenager killed by that train during yesterdays commute. The news4 iteam is learning why he may not have seen or heard that train coming. A lot more Team Coverage coming your way on a very busy tuesday. Big news from the redskins to the weather, and that historic prison sentence for Bob Mcdonnell. Stay with us. Y. Well the winter blast has made roads treacherous all over our region. Chopper 4 shot this video of a serious crash early today on northbound i270 in bethesda. Four vehicles were involved and three lanes were temporarily shut down. With roads expected to remain slick through the night, highway officials remind you to slow down and give yourself a lot of extra time. Now to the conclusion of what virginias Current Governor calls one of the most difficult periods in the commonwealths history. Former governor Bob Mcdonnell was sentenced to two years in risen today for public corruption. Our Northern Virginia bureau chief, julie carey, was there as mcdonnell spoke just after the judges ruling, and shes learned an appeal is already in the works. Jules . Reporter well thats right. Another dark chapter in Virginia Political history, written at this federal courthouse today. As Bob Mcdonnell becomes the first former Virginia Governor to be sentenced to prison time. But no sooner was that sentence handed down than mcdonnell his lawyer and supporters say their fight for vindication will go on. A stonefaced Bob Mcdonnell leaving court. His twoyear prison sentence far lighter than family and friends had feared and well below the recommended six to eight years. The former governor and his attorneys promised an immediate appeal. I want to thank the court and judge spencer for the mercy he dispensed to me today. I also want to say that i disagree with the verdict that was rendered by the jury in this case. And that we intend to file our appeal. Reporter mcdonnell and his wife were convicted in september of multiple public corruption charges for trading the influence of the Governors Office to businessman Jonnie Williams in exchange for more than 170,000 in gifts and loans. Mcdonnells defense team called 11 Witnesses Today to testify on his behalf to ask the judge for mercy. They included former democratic governor doug wilder. Judge James Spencer told spectators he had read all 400plus letters that mcdonnells friends sent to the court. Said spencer, a price must be paid a meaningful sentence must be imposed. Prosecutors said the lower twoyear term sends a strong message to public officials. That no one is above the law, not a highpublic official not even the highest public official in the state. Reporter as the sentence was handed down there was a gasp in the courtroom. The former governors estranged wife maureen, sobbed in the front row as she sat surrounded by the couples children. Other relatives also wiped away tears, but outside, Bob Mcdonnells sisters say there is some relief in this lower sentence. It certainly could have been worse. Were veryudge spencer for showing their mercy on him and taking into account all of the good that he has done. And will continue to do in the future. Were standing behind bob 100 . We believe in him more than ever. And well be successful on the appeal, we pray. Reporter now, the judge instructed Bob Mcdonnell to report to the bureau of prisons on february 9th but his attorneys are hoping to keep him free pending appeal. His wife maureen, mcdonnell is scheduled for sentencing at this same courthouse february 20th. Coming up on news4 at 6 00 why some are crediting former governor doug wilder with helping to win a lighter sentence for the former republican governor. Reporting live from richmond im julie carey, news4. Julie, thanks. Doug joins us now, and the story is not over. Wind chills are coming. Yeah thats going to be the thing now. Snow came early this morning and caused people headaches this morning. When you wake up tomorrow and step out the door youll have headaches of a different kind. Were talking about wind chills tomorrow in the Single Digits at times. Lets take a look first off and show how things are now. Towards the airport, where we saw a few delays earlier today, not too many right now, at least in our airport. 31 degrees with wind chill also 31. What does that tell you . Were not seeing any wind. The winds are calm and those will start to kick in overnight and into the day tomorrow. Current temperature, 31 in d. C. 28 in winchester. 23 in the gaithersburg area. So we are well below freezing right now. And that means were going to see a very quick changeover to ice out there on those roads. So watch for ice early tomorrow morning. I really think were going to have a lot of problems with the roadways especially the secondary roads. Temperatures down around 22 stepping out the front door. And even tomorrow afternoon, cold and windy with a temperature of around 24 between 5 00 and 7 00. So once again tomorrow morning, give yourself a lot of extra time heading out the door. Now, s