Temperatures so low,er in there was liquid, ice quickly formed. The icy roads caused by a water main break, but tonight the slick conditions could come from a wintry mix. So we want to start our coverage with storm team 4 meteorologist lauryn ricketts. Wintry mix definitely right. You know erika, temperatures, 24 right now. That is it. Weve got plenty of clouds, so we may have to bump off, shave a few degrees off the daytime high. Still below freezing as we continue into the afternoon. Due to the cloud cover. But boy, is it chilly this morning with a lot of places reporting temperatures in the single digits. In fact dulles airport, broke a record from 1989. They made it to 9 degrees today. The old record in 89 . 10 degrees. You can see the radar right now, nothing going on. It may look like a little bit of snow in the shenandoah valley. Itso evaporating before it hits the ground. A little bit of lakeeffect snow, thats not what were going to see overnight tonight. Were going to sleet and freezing rain, but its not going to be from the lakes, from a whole separate system. We have a Winter Weather advisory outlined in purple. A storm watch in the blue. Both of those go until early tomorrow morning. Mainly because of the icy conditions that were going to see. Your friday looks good, once we head after midnight is when well start to see some problems. Well time out everything and let you know what to expect for this messy winter weekend coming up in just about 15 minutes. Guys . Thank you, lauryn. Another advisory if you dont have to, dont go outside. Because we have you covered. We sent justin finch out there instead to brave the bitter temperatures. This is really working for you, huh, justin . Hey there, good morning, bitter indeed. Were overlooking one of 18 vdot stations now in ready de tuesday to get the roads ready for the wintry mix coming in this weekend. They, like all of us, trying to get in front of the brutal cold. Before wiping off your windshield, you may have to shake off some ice. This frosty brush at this mclean gas station, a reminder of what may await drivers as temperatures struggle to rise you got to slow down, you got to be careful. Ive been driving a long time. Chopper 4 above an icy obstacle to the a. M. Rush, virginia outer loop beltway lanes closed by the dulles toll road, after an overnight car fire froze over. It took crews a few tries to salt and treat the roads. Vdot crews have been at work since tuesday prepping roads ahead of a wintry mix forecast. Drivers could see trucks working late tonight. The timing is great, it comes after rush hour, so we wont have trucks intmi before sunrise, we found drivers running through their cold weather drills, keeping tires inflated and gas tanks at least half full. As good as they treat their cars, theyre also taking care of themselves. Keeping warm with coats and coffee before a coming week of celebrations. Happy about the holidays, but not about the cold. Tell me how many layers you have on . I have a bunch of layers, a lot. And back live, salt stacked and brine on standby for tonight. Were told again you may see vdot trucks on the road tonight and into the early morning. If you see them and hear the pinging of salt on your windshield or car, that is a signal youre too close, youre asked to hang back as the crews get to work for us. Back to you. Thank you, justin. This dangerous arctic punch is affecting people in a large part of the country. Temperatures are well below freezing from the midwest to the midatlantic. In indiana two children died after they fell through ice on a en girl, were outside playing before dinner in the town of jasper. The boys mother saw them in the water. But by that time it was simply too late. And they died at the hospital. You can stay on top of the conditions out there. And you can set weather alerts at your home page on the nbc washington app. Just make the change in the settings and that way you know exactly whats going on here. New criminal charges against the man charged with taking an Assault Rifle into a d. C. Pizza restaurant and opening fire. Edgar welch just made another appearance before a federal judge. Welch told investigators he believed fake news reports about comet ping pong. So he drove to washington to take action. News4s Mark Segraves has been in Court Watching the welch case every step of the way and joins us live outside the federal courthouse now. Good morning, mark. Good morning, barbara. This is the fifth time that edgar welch has appeared in a d. C. Courthouse. Its the second judge and hes on his second attorney. Thats because prosecutors moved superior court here to federal court. For the first time today welch, through his attorney entered a plea. Not guilty on all three counts. Welch is facing 35 years in prison. This all began when welch went into comet ping pong on connecticut avenue with an Assault Rifle, saying he believed fake news reports that children were being held in captivity there. He fired the weapon at least three times. There was a standoff, he finally surrendered to police. Welch has not made any other comments in court. His attorney did tell reporters when asked about his state of mind, that welch does understand the charges against him. The attorney did make two motions, or not actually motions today, but requests of the judge. One, she said shes upset that prosecutors did not alert her that additional charges were being brought against her client. He had, she had to learn about that through news media. Then she said she believes there were protocols violated when a New York Times reporter interviewed welch inside the d. C. Jail. And she asked theud sure in the future that no one else gets to see her client without her knowledge. Welch is being held without bond, hes back in federal court next year, early january. Thats the latest, reporting live from u. S. District court, Mark Segraves, news4. Orange line trains are running normally after a fire this morning. That happened during the morning commute at the Landover Metro station. Prince georges county fire was called in for a fire underneath a car. The fire was extinguished and passengers got off the train safely. But firefighters arrived. Metro moved the train from the station to a rail yard. Right now, some people in Stafford County dont have any water, because of a water main break. This happened around 6 00 this morning near the intersection of Jefferson Davis highway and coal landing road. Crews are still there working to repair the significant break. People in mostly the northern end of the county are being affected by that water main break. Meanwhile, a devastating fire has left a family of f homeless this morning. This happened on Sea Island Court in Silver Spring, just after 1 00 a. M. News4s Megan Mcgrath has more from the scene and the challenges that firefighters have had to face because of the frigid temperatures. Well just a terrible situation, a family of four had to flee their burning home on Sea Island Court last night. Go out into the cold. You can see behind me here, the ice that has formed on the house salt of the freezing temperatures out here and the efforts of the firefighters. They believe that the fire started in an upstairs bedroom. That family tried to get a handle on the fire themselves, but just couldnt. When firefighters got here the house was pretty well fully involved with flames shooting from the rooftops, so extensive damage here. And because of the extreme temperatures, firefighters say it was a very, very difficult fire to put out. Singledigit temperatures and we, obviously used water to gh so those conditions are pretty treacherous. The smoke detectors inside the home did work, and they alerted the family. Everyone was able to get out without injury. But an extensive amount of damage was done here. In Silver Spring, Megan Mcgrath, news4. Thank you, megan. A warning from alexandria police, they say you should be extra vigilant when youre using your phone outside. Police say in the last few weeks, more than a dozen people had their phones stolen. Police say that in those weeks, that this is what happened. The thefts were happening around the Braddock Road Metro station, most of the people were talking on their phones or using them in some way at the time. A few who had them stolen were in the process of selling their telephones. Today, president obama will hold his final news conference, of 2016 before he and the first family leave for their holiday trip to hawaii. This as the white house why it kept details about Russian Hackers under wraps before the election. Meanwhile, president elect donald trump continues his thank you tour. Nbcs tracie potts has more from capitol hill. In four years were going to win it by even more. President elect trump reveling in victory overnight in pennsylvania, and asking along with some democrats, why did the white house wait so long to act on Russian Hackers trying to influence the election . Whether you attack us by meek or mouse, its an attack. So it does require a response. Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings. President obama, in a new interview this morning on npr. We need to take action and we will. At a time and place of our own choosing. Nbc has learned the Obama Administration warned russia, including president vladimir putin, not to interfere. This could only happen with the approval of the highest levels of the russian government. Intelligence sources believe putin personally directed the use of hacked emails. Going public because they didnt want to appear political and thought Hillary Clinton would win. They didnt want to be criticized for putting their hand on the scales. In retrospect, it certainly seems as though it was a mistake. At a thank you Party Last Night for donors, someone who was in the room tells nbc, clinton did not mention trump. But did take credit for standing up to putin. Tracie potts, nbc news, washington. Honoring an american hero, the two days of memorials planned for john glenn. A look at how members of the public will get a chance to say goodbye today in ohio. And the shipping rush is on, today is one of the last days retailers will be offering Free Shipping. The reason the rush to get them to your door on time. A look today thousands are expected to pay their respects to an american hero. Right now, receipt mains of john glenn lie in state inside the ohio state house. Nbcs jay gray is in the Buckeye State and has more on the memorial for the former astronaut and senator. These are the men who had the right stuff. A fighter pilot. Astronaut and statesman. John glenn was an american hero. But his home and heart were in ohio. Where crews have prepared the state house for thousands of visitors expected to pour through the rotunda later today. To pay their respects as his body lies in state ahead of a weekend memorial. He was a pioneer, the First American in orbit, but always it seems, down to earth. A trait he shared with congress after returning from his first historic flight. As our knowledge of this universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. Glenn continued to push the envelope and search for knowledge his entire life. Returning to space at 77 years old. Astronaut Steve Robinson was on that mission. He savored the whole thing. And he didnt make a big poetic deal about it at all. John glenn was the most honest, and straightforward and Clear Thinking individual you can imagine. And icon, honored and columbus, ohio. In 2010, he was led away from his home in handcuffs. This morning hes waking up in a halfway house. Just yesterday, former Prince Georges County executive jack johnson was released from prison. After doing time for a public corruption scandal. He pleaded guilty to shaking down contractors for large sums of money. News4 captured exclusive video of his arrest six years ago. His wife, leslie, was also arrested for hiding evidence. In a phone conversation, johnson advised her to side hyde some of the money in her underwear while investigators werout side the home. New this morning, you have a few more days to sign up for insurance through the Affordable Care act. The deadline was extended by four days. Apparently nearly one Million People fought to get through to call the Call Center Operators and log on to healthcare. Gov to buy insurance by last deadline. The new deadline for january 1st coverage is now december the 19th. Well its that time of year just before the holidays, comes the shipping crunch time. Today is the deadline for fedexs standard ground service. Its also Free Shipping day. News4 consumer reporter susan hogan takes us inside a very busy fedex facility to show us what the holiday rush is really like. Hey, guys, this is so cool. I am right now at fedex. This is like the heart of the Christmas Season where the packages are coming in. This is the facility here in alexandria. Where theyre going to peak season, which started on monday, see hundreds of thousands of packages come through. So maybe someones little gift is in this box. And its a Pretty Amazing sight. Joining me now is sort of like the santa claus of fedex. Tony. Tony er sight to see. Tell me about the volume were going to be seeing. During the peak season fedex is anticipating another recordbreaking year. Were expecting to double in our capacity throughout the next couple of weeks. Weather plays a huge role. Tell me whats going on right now. Im sure you guys are keeping a strong eye on that. Absolutely. We have to keep track of our weather throughout the whole country. Our meteorologist in memphis actually, we employ 15 meteorologists down in memphis. No competition, chuck bell. So theyre watching it. Right now how do things look . Things look very well. Everything is running pretty smoothly right now. This is really neat. So were going to throughout the show kind of walk you through the whole process as to how these packages go from wherever you ordered them to here and then to your doorstep on time. Thats the big goal, right . Absolutely. Walk us through this, this is really cool. What are we seeing our offload area and our sort facility. The packages go down our sort and will be loaded into vehicles along the sort belt. Those are the offload containers. They just bring them from the truck to here, right . Absolutely. A big operation, isnt it . And were paying extra, so they better get here on time. An update on military medals found at a local goodwill and the search for the person they belong to. More of the harsh weather gripping much of the country, this traffic pileup happened in pennsylvania. Its just one of the issues facing people across the country. At ikea, we believe everyone should be able to afford a welcoming home for the holidays. And that nothing should get in the way of a good conversation. We believe that room for one more shouldnt cost more. Spend your holiday overjoyed and under budget with ikea. Stronger is blasting without risking her bones. Stronger is less pain, new hope, more fight. Its doing everything in your power, and everything in ours. Because we dont just want kids to grow up. We want them to grow up stronger. Make a gift today at childrensnational. Org givenow lets show you some video of a beautiful portland, maine this morning. Where the temperature was 1 below zero. But it felt like 22 below zero. Nbcs blake mccoy looks at how much of the country is suffering the extreme cold. This morning, for so much of the country, the arctic temperatures are brutal. And sticking around. Its cold. Its just terrible out here. The frigid air will combine with more snow today and into the weekend for the northern half of the country. Millions bracing for another messy morning commute. In pennsylvania, i80 is back open after whiteout conditions led to this 59car pileup thursday. In cleveland, demands to clear the snowcovered roads faster. We pay our taxes, we deserve service. While in portland, oregon, already crippled by snow and ice, theyre trying to thaw out. Look out after this school bus was sent sliding this week, kids used their snow day to take out sleds and slide past it. Christmas is just over a week away. With more bad weather coming. Shoppers in chicago are not deterred. What in the world are you thinking doing your Christmas Shopping today . It has to get done sometime and i wont sleep if i dont get something done. So its panic. Its called panic. So did they get more snow in chicago overnight . I think so, yeah, yeah. I mean it is just brutal in chicago. Thats one place i dont want to be during the winter. What exactly does minus 22 feel like . Anything does it f than ive never experienced it. The wind, thats what they have in chicago. We had it here yesterday. It was a mess, brutal yesterday. Didnt want to spend any time outside. Today its a little bit better but the temperatures are still in the 20s. At least we dont have the wind that cuts right through you. So at least thats a good piece of news, but we have bad news in the forecast because weve got a little bit of a wintry mix for tomorrow morning. And moving in just after midnight. If you have plans tonight, aokay, looking good and dry. But a little gloomy if you can see the picture to the right from our tower camera. On saturday, temperatures are rising, so the wintry mix thats moving in overnight through tomorrow morning will turn to just plain rain. Temperatures are going to be in the 40s by noon. So again. That temperature will continue to rise as we go through the day tomorrow. Current temperatures, weve got teens off to the north and west coming through winchester, martinsburg, even through montry county, maryland. Here in d. C. , 24 degrees. A warm 24 degrees. Were headed to the upper 20s for daytime highs. Well keep the clouds around for most of the day. I thought we would squeeze out a little sunshine, but i think mostly cloudy day. But were