Going to work its way in for the weekend. Well talk about that in a moment. In the North Carolina high country, its a different story, the snow up there will continue through the day. Eyewitness News Reporter dave faherty has been up in the high country and just blustery snowy conditions continue. Reporter you can probably see it on my lense right there. Its actually blowing sideways. Let me wipe it real quick so you can see me a little clearer out here. The snow started around 8 00 this morning in the North Carolina high country. This is the fifth day in a row school because of all of this snow that weve gotten in the North Carolina mountains. Take a look at some of this video. This is video i shot on the way up to Beach Mountain this morning. You can see the snow has been light so far. But its coating some of the elevations. The main roads like highway 321. Highway 105 are wet but in good shape in Beach Mountain, residents are reporting as much as 15 inches of snow thats fallen this week. We saw several folks digging out this morning ahead of some very cold weather expected tomorrow. About the importance of the ski industry and this weekend. Having these big weekends, holiday weekends, makes up for a lot. The resorts, the rentals, everybody associated with it, this is a big weekend. This is what they need to try to bounce back. Reporter and the d. O. T. Right now is working 12hour shifts trying to keep the roadways clear. This is actually a secondary road here in the North Carolina mountains. You can see its snow covered. The main roads though leading up to the ski resorts, i didnt have any issues this morning. I was in two wheel drive. So thinking about coming up. Probably a good weekend. A lot of snow on the ground. Reporting live from beach mo all right dave. Thank you so much. We want to give you live pictures from North Charlotte where the snow is falling. This is right outside the channel 9 studios. And you can see the snow coming through the trees right now. But as meteorologist keith monday mentioned, this is not going to last too long, in fact this is the kind of snow youll because were not going to see it much longer. Look at this snow right here. This was shot at gardnerwebb university. This was just over an hour ago. You can see some of the snow sticking to the grass there. Eyewitness News Reporter greg suskin told us theyve seen some sleet while covering a story in lancaster South Carolina. And they sent back this video here in the last 45 minutes. Over night d. O. T. Crews treated interstate bridges with salt brine, were only expected to get some flurries today. But they want to make sure that nothing freezes on the bridges. We will get an update from the d. O. T. On the preparations this afternoon. We have breaking news in North Charlotte. Chopper 9 sky zoom arrived to the scene of the house fire here as crews were pulling up to the scene. The homeowner told us the fire was started by an electric heater. The fire at the home on dearborn avenue off statesville avenue started just before 10 30. And you can see the flames shooting out of the side of the home. Also that thick smoke billowing it took crews less than 30 minutes to put out the flames. No one was hurt. Its been well over 24 hours since crews put up traffic cones and shut down boulevard. Water is seeping through the road and freezing. In the last ten minutes, we learned it should reopen soon. Eyewitness News Reporter jenna deery is live at the scene with jenna . Question. Yet. I got an email with a spokesperson from charlot water ten minutes ago. And i was told crews will narrow down the leak location and schedule the repair to minimize the impact on drivers. That statement doesnt say exactly whats going on with that leak right now if its been sealed and contained in the mean time i asked that question and im waiting to hear back now. Weve also been told that crews were trying to get down into the ground to know exactly what it is that they are dealing with. And have a better idea of how long it would take to fix it. The estimated time we were until 4 00 this afternoon. Weve now been told that lane closure should reopen soon. The lane was shut down yesterday morning after crews were crashing into each other as drivers swerved to avoid the wet patch on the road that has been freezing over. Ncdot tried to seal the road from getting water on it. But that didnt work. So now charlotte water is trying to find the source and fix it before Winter Weather and cold temperatures arrive over the weekend. Now, drivers are still able to get on to the onramp at i 277 and the lane is closed right now. But as soon as it reopens, well keep you updated online. Reporting in east charlotte, jenna deery, channel 9 Eyewitness News. All right jenna, thank you. Today marks two years since a snow storm shut down charlotte and the surrounding communities for several days. The city saw close to 8 inches of snow. The National Guard was called in to help drivers who were forced to abandon their cars along the interstates. Ten people in North Carolina for your neighborhood when youre on the go this weekend. With our wsoctv weather app. Itll give you access to radar and hourly forecasts in the palm of your hand. Download it for free for apple and android. Breaking news in mount holly, new at noon, state environmental regulators just issued a major permit that will allow duke energy to drain the coal ash pit that sits near the source of charlottes drinking water. Its a landmark ruling for the retired river bend steam station. The state hopes itll serve as a template for the safe removal and closure of coal ash ponds across the state. North carolina has a law on the books requiring the toxic material be removed from river bend by august 2019. Todays permit is a major step toward making that a reality. Wall street has rebounded after a horrible thursday. Right now the dow jones is up nearly 250 points. And the nasdaq is up more than 56 points. Wall streets recent struggles despite the federal reserve, raising their key interest rate, Mortgage Rates are dropping. Investors are looking for safer places to put their money. Which is part of the reason for the drop. This will help the Housing Market in charlotte. Today at 5 00, Eyewitness News anchor john paul investigates what realestate agents are saying about the outlook this spring. Local officers shot and killed a man over night after they say he lunged at them with a knife. The other major case the man is linked to that may have had police on guard. Plus cases of zika virus continue to grow across the u. S. How long it could take before vaccinations are ready for the public. Our snow is all ready winding down. Ill show you in ill show yo over night the World Health Organization said possible zika virus vaccines are at least 18 months away from large scale trials. Yesterday members of congress met to review president obamas 1. 8 billion request for zika virus. The biggest concern is for People Living in more tropical parts of the u. S. Like puerto islands. This is a really unprecedented phenomenon with each passing day the evidence that zika virus is related to microcephaly gets stronger. Officials are warning pregnant women to not travel to a place where the virus of spreading because of the Health Effect that impacts a babys head. 15 companies or groups will for vaccines. Today more Highway Patrol training to start work in the area. This is the second round of new troopers joining the force this week. We were in monroe as a new wednesday. The Highway Patrol is dealing retire. The shortage increased crash response times and prevented troopers in the area from campaigns. The graduation is in carey but many of the troopers will work in our area. Tomorrow children will have an opportunity to get free dental care in North Charlotte. Dentists will be at the Family Dollar on sunset road from 10 00 to 1 00 and then at the Family Dollar on Beatties Ford from 1 30 to 4 30. And treatment. Snow falling in neighborhoods from the metro, meteorologist keith monday will break down how long theyll last and have a closer look at the storm were tracking on monday. Plus after a local officer shot a man to death after they the other shooting that same man the steady snow we saw in uptown from the charlotte tower cam less than 15 minutes ago is all ready slowing down. We told you it wouldnt last long. Meteorologist keith monday joins us in a moment to track which neighborhoods are seeing the flakes now. A deadly officer involved shooting we brought to you as breaking news on daybreak. Killed a man after they say he went after them with a knife. Eyewitness News Reporter joe bruno just spoke with people officers. Reporter i spoke to the people who live in the house where the shooting happened last night around 8 00 p. M. They say yesterday was the first time Elijah Jackson visited. Jackson. Police say he was cutting himself inside a bathroom in police say they found jackson covered in blood and he refused to put the knife down. Investigators say police shot and killed him after he lunged at them. This isnt his first runin with the law, channel 9 was on scene after a neighbor shot elijah and his brother caleb. No charges were filed. Deputies told channel 9 at the time the two brothers threatened to kill their neighbor and the shooting was justified. Caleb is shaken up after being inside the house during the shooting. He says elijah has a history of thing the officer needed to use deadly force. Thats not what we called 911 for. Not so that a man was killed in our house last night. We called to see if they could help us in a situation with a man who has an obvious Mental Health disability. Reporter meanwhile, the two officers are on paid administrative leave which is standard for Police Involved shootings. Joe bruno, channel 9 Eyewitness News. Four conservative republican president ial candidates will be part of a faith and family forum in greenville South Carolina. Donald trump and john kasich will skip out but kasich will campaign in other parts of the state. Last night ted cruz and ben carson answered questions during a forum at winthrop university. Voters told us they walked away with more clarity. I feel more informed. Either i think we are moving forward. It did not make them think less of candidates not at the forum. Hillary clinton campaigns in South Carolina today. While Bernie Sanders campaigns in minnesota. They debated each other last night and tried to appeal to minority voters. Im running for president to knock down all the barriers that are Holding Americans back. If elected president ,ly do everything i can to expand Social Security benefit not just for seniors but disabled veterans as well. The democratic primary is february 27th. The republican primary is a week from tomorrow. Tonight the mother of one of the columbine shooters is sitting down for her first interview. 17 years after sues son dillon and his friend killed twelve classmates and a teacher. She thinks of the victims and their families everyday. And i keep thinking constantly i thought how i would feel if it were the other way around and one of their children had shot mine. I would feel exactly the way they did. I know i would. I know i would. Watch tonights special edition of 20 20 to hear what happened inside her home leading up to the shooting and the warning signs of a child in crisis. It starts at 10 00 followed by Eyewitness News at 11 00. Meteorologist keith monday tracking how long well see snow today and extreme cold and another threat for Winter Weather in Severe Weather center 9. This view from the speed way kithara. I was going to show you this because it had flakes on it. That was a few minutes ago. And now its gone. This is drying out very quickly. You may find a few flurries later this afternoon. But this is moving out quickly. Check out live Early Warning doppler 9. Well take a tour of where its snowing. Far south you may find a few flakes from pineville through ballantyne toward matthews. Concord. Mount pleasant still some light snow toward 49 to rich field down 52 through albemarle through oak borrow, ansonville, still some snow. Stuff holding on west of the chapel area. And down to wingot and marshville. Maybe a brief coating on the grass southward through wadesboro and rockingham. Give it another two hours and all of it is out of here. You see in the future cast data, theres goes the batch of snow eastbound. You may find a few flakes, a sprinkle left over in the afternoon. The clouds break up. We get back into more sunshine. In the mountains there will be snow that continues up there through the day today. Another half inch to an inch will fall this afternoon and over night tonight, we may pick up another inch of snow. Weather advisory continues in the mountains through the night. We cooled back to 30 with the snow. But areas in the west warming in lincolnton. Up north we didnt get much snow at all. You stay right about the freezing point. Boones at 32. Its been all week since youve been waiting to get back to the freezing point. The numbers will go back down today. 40 degrees in charlotte. If we can get a few breaks in the clouds. We can make the low 40s this afternoon. The mountains will be close to freezing. Were looking at a cold blast entering the picture. Ending at 38. A cold day. Breezy as well. For valentines day plans through tomorrow night, layers are a good idea. Sunday morning were at 13. So this is the coldest air. We didnt get this cold during the week. The next blast will make it feel much colder through the weekend. But it does stay dry. Sunday morning. Lots of sunshine on the future cast data. But as the next storm rolls in snow showers start in the mountains late sunday night and early on monday morning. An opportunity for wintery mix. But notice how things transition back to rain. Back to the west. Thats going to be likely our pattern as we wind our way through monday into tuesday. There may still be an issue with wintery weather briefly monday morning. Well watch it closely through the weekend. Stay up to date with the forecast with our wsoctv weather app. Stay tuned with john and vicki through the weekend. Theyll let you know for the potential for wintery weather into monday morning. The rest of the fiveday forecast shows a warming trend. Monday afternoon, rain shifting in from the winter mix in the morning and 50s on tuesday. If we see icy travel early monday, it wont last long. But the time line, monday morning on the roads, thats the concern. 50s, exciting. Maybe 60s by the end of next week. Of course. Thats how it works around here. Its been four months since historic flooding devastated some areas look like it happened just i didnt do. Today at 5 00, Eyewitness News is going back to the flooded areas. Some victims are still out of their homes. Still struggling. Its a mess. You dont know who to trust. Where to begin picking up the pieces. We are asking if they are getting the help they need today at 5 00 on channel 9 Eyewitness News. And heres a look at the carolina education lottery. Lina Kannapolis Police are looking for the person who broke into cars, parked outside a fire station while crews the crime happened sometime early thursday morning at the station on florida avenue. Three or four cars that belonged to First Responders were targeted. The person used an object to break the windows out and rummage through the cars. City Officials Say they are looking into security upgrades to prevent it from happening again. This womans family here is thanking people for calling in tips that led police to her suspected killer. Laura ellenburg died in this hit and run crash in Chester County early monday morning. Yesterday the Highway Patrol identified stevie as the suspect who they say drove away in his tractor trailer. Hes in jail in charleston on unrelated charges now theres a warrant out for his arrest on the fatal hit and run charges. Troopers got tips after releasing pictures of the purple tractor trailer that broke off at the scene. Channel 9 spoke to ellenburgs daughter last night. She described ellenburg as a loving mother and grandmother. Bring her mother back, shes grateful the suspect is in custody. Search and rescue crews in florida discovered the bodies of two people after a small plane crashed into the gulf of mexico over night. A witness saw the plane go down off the coast last night around 7 00. The u. S. Coast guard began searching for any survivors and found the bodies of a man and woman within a few hours. Airport Officials Say the plane was over due and is registered in texas. The faa is investigating. Federal investigators have launched a second search for a wreckage of a massive shipping vessel that sank in october. The ntsb says the twoweek expedition for el faro will begin in april. Investigators hope to locate the black box. The ship after losing engine power and getting caught in a category four hurricane near the bahamas. 33 people were aboard the ship. S as you said, we would see coming up at 5 00, the focus is on the phone ringing you cant d