right lane, right in this area for you. we'll head out to the beltway. things look fine. no problems to report all around town. let's zoom into the outer loop and take a live look at colesville road. all lanes are open. road conditions are good from 95 all the way to 270. we'll zoom back out to the beltway and take a look in the southside of town. route 4, route 5, route 301 from upper marlboro, you will be fine heading up to the beltway. a quick look at travel times. if you're planning to head on the inbound side of 66, 7100 to the beltway, it is 10 minutes. the beltway to the toll road, 13 minutes. coming up in my next report, another look around town at 5:09. back to you guys. >> chinese president, hu jintao wrapped up his visit to washington with a visit to capitol hill. >> then he'll head to chicago. last night, president obama hosted a state dinner for hu and some 200 guests at the state dining room. during his stay, some trade deals between the countries have been announced. 9news now reporter surae chinn joins us live from the national zoo with another big announcement. good morning, surae. >> reporter: well, yes, we get to keep the pandas. may shong and taye extend their stay. this is as close as we'll get to seeing one of the furry friends. president obama made that announcement last night. >> under a new agreement, our national zoo will continue to dazzle children and visitors with the beloved giant pandas. [ applause ] >> five year, $2.5 million extension replaces the ten-year agreement that expired last month. i meant to say ten ten. one was sent back to china under the loan agreement as we know, the pandas symbolize much more than bringing people to the zoo and research but it is an international diplomacy maneuver between the two nations and back here at the zoo, around 10:00, chinese officials and the zoo officials will gather here to put it in writing and make the deal official. at 10:00. back to you two. >> this is good news that mom and dad are staying but the agreement doesn't give the zoo everything it had hoped for. >> right, may shong and tien tien are about middle-aged. they would have liked one or two new pandas or replace the ones we have to increase the chances of having more cubs here. in the last ten years, we've only had one. that's tai shan in the last decade. >> all right, surae reporting live from the national zoo. while you slept, new evacuation orders as flooding spread to over more of australia. >> the country's worst flooding in decades has spread further into victoria state this morning. emergency officials say residents who don't evacuate could find themselves surrounded by floodwaters for at least three days before help could arrive. the flooding is expected to continue into next week. >> lots of kids in missouri and kansas will probably get the day off from school today. the snow started falling in kansas city last night and many places could have at least half a foot on the ground this morning. now, what does this system have in store for us? howard has been telling us. he'll go into more detail at 5:14. >> one of the children prince george's county firefighters pulled out of a home early yesterday has died. 9-year-old kimberly hernandez was found in the dining room close to where the fire started. crews rushed to the scene on 40th avenue and brentwood around 4:00 a.m. three adults and -- three adults and two children made out on their observe. kimberly and her 13-year-old sister were trapped. the 13-year-old is being treated at baltimore's hyperbaric chamber. investigators say the fire was accidental. maryland governor martin o'malley officially started his second term wednesday. and it appears he will be wielding the budget ax frequently. >> in times of adversity, such as these, the people of maryland do not make excuses. we make progress. >> tomorrow, governor o'malley will reveal his proposed cuts to the state budget. he slashed $576 billion in spending in his first term but there is still a projected budget gap of $1.3 billion. it is time to check your money on wall street. investors are hoping record earnings after the bell from ebay will help the markets to recapture two-year highs today. stocks pulled back yesterday after goldman sachs reported a sharp drop in profits. homebuilder stocks also down on news that 2010 was the second worst year for building homes on record. checking the numbers, the dow stands at 11,825. end of the day down 12 points. nasdaq was off by 40. the s&p 500 was off by 13. the owner of wtop and wfed has sold the washington radio stations. bonneville international says it is selling 17 radio stations to hover broadcasting for $505 million in cash. wtop is the most popular and profitable radio station in the washington area and it ranks second among all radio stations in the nation in revenue last year. here is an extreme way to downsize. a guy named jay is showing his house off on youtube and the house is just 65 square feet of living space. it is almost like a closet. he has a mini sized everything, dining room table, sink, refridge rater. he does have a loft. the video we haven't doesn't show a close-up of the bathroom but we're guessing there is no tub or double sinks. >> it looks like a dollhouse. >> could you survive that way? >> i don't know. >> the republican leadership in the house follows through on an election promise. >> plus it appears last weekend's closure was just the beginning for metro riders who use the foggy bottom station. >> doctors report another thrilling accomplishment for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. you're watching 9news now. a quiet day today. colder than yesterday and some snow on the way tonight. we start on the weather computer showing where you the winter weather advisories are. they're up north. the peeningish purplish areas, winter weather advisories. out west, with very a winter storm warning in southern ohio going out toward kentucky and parts of indiana where they're seeing enough snow to dos that. this storm will weaken. the snows coming out of st. louis toward indiana. it just won't have the umph so to speak when it gets here tonight. it may drop an inch or so of snow in the metro. lesser amounts south. higher amounts an inch or two up toward the pennsylvania border. temperatures in the upper 30s this morning. around 40 midday and stay there with a 5:00 p.m. temperature of 39. we'll detail this more with big weather in five minutes. here's monika samtani with timesaver traffic. >> we're going to fly south on the bw parkway this morning. coming in from baltimore through laurel and all the way to the beltway, your lanes are open. a nice commute early this morning. in my next report, we'll take a look at virginia roads at 5:17. jessica? >> thanks, monika. making news now at 5:09, a disturbing story about what went on behind the doors of a philadelphia abortion clinic. >> this is sickening. prosecutors are accusing dr. kermit gosnell of murdering one woman and seven babies which he operated for more than 30 years. they report it is nearly 300 pages long. it outlines squalid conditions, a student working as an anesthesiologist and employees with no training. eight others including the doctor's wife have also been arrested. republicans made good on one of their campaign promises. the house voted yesterday to repeal president obama's healthcare reform law. the bill was split along party lines and the bill stands no chance in the senate which is still controlled by democrats. more good news in the recovery of representative -- arizona representative gabrielle giffords. less than two weeks after she was shot through the head, giffords stood up yesterday with help from hospital staff. and giffords is expected to be moved to a rehabilitation center in houston by weeks' end. she had no help from the hospital staff. did it on her own. >> unbelievable. there is another winter storm headed our way. >> howard will let us know what we'll see on the ground this time tomorrow at 5:14. >> plus, the wizards try to win their first road game. highlights at 5:23. then digging for change is too difficult for your first cup of coffee, starbucks is making it easier to pay. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. more of your favorite tv shows...as always. breg akinlocal news... emergency alerts... in the lmpa of your hand. higquh ality hd... tv3d . more oichces than ever. thute fure of broadcast tv? it's hd...3d...mobile tv. technology, not regulation from washington d.c. check out what's next. visit thefuture.ooftvrg. check out what's next. hi, i'm joe kennedy, and i want you to meet a friend of mine, courtney. courtney's mom, elaine, had to quit work to care for her sick daughter, who's been fighting leukemia for half of her short life. there are millions of families like courtney's, who are having a tough time making it these days. folks can't pay their bills, and staying warm just isn't possible. let us remember, at this particular time, that kindness counts and that there's still room for a gentle response to those in need. so i want to thank the people of venezuela and citgo petroleum for their generosity. we'll have our differences, but they were the only country, and the only oil company, to answer our call to provide heating assistance to the poor. if you need help staying warm, give me a call at citizens energy, at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold. 5:13. welcome back to 9news now. howard bernstein is here with our weather first. we had a really nice, mild day yesterday. very pleasant. >> i know. we'll take those any time we can get them and january especially when we've got an arctic blast coming for the weekend. >> we saw what was happening in kansas with the storm going that way up -- half a foot. >> six, six and a half inch totals in parts of missouri. we won't see that. snow lovers, i'm sorry, this is not the storm for you. look ahead maybe tuesday. maybe tuesday will be something to concern yourself with or get excited about. even that could go over to rain. that's just the next best potential. this is a little potential. your momslikeme.com bus stop forecast, we've got partly to mostly cloudy skies out there. most temperatures are running in the 30s. we may find one or two spots in the upper 20s out there. with your sunrise at 7:23. sun setting at 5:17. today, a little bit of sun this morning. 37 degrees at 9:00. more clouds by midday. 40ish, northwest winds at 7 and then by 5:00, we're still cloudy. thickening clouds, 39 degrees with an east wind at 4, 5 miles per hour. you see the 30s along the coast. upper 30s here. 32 new york, atlantic city. ocean city at 34. norfolk at 40 degrees. you go inland enough, pittsburgh, 21. cleveland, 19. there is cold air out there. it is only going to get colder as we go through the next few days. 32 for alexandria. manassas has dropped down to 25. andrews and crofton at 33 this morning. reagan national sits at a milder 38. yesterday, they got to 53 believe it or not. dew point is 25. relative humidity of 60%. wind chill this morning, making it feel like 31 out there. the storm that we're watching, out across the middle of the country. you can see the darker blues in northeast oklahoma, southwest kansas, little yellow showing up. little burst of heavier snow. this goes across the ohio river here. across into northern kentucky. we're watching that as it moves off toward the east. the first batch of snow, some will make it into west virginia. as we go throughout the afternoon, we may see a little bit of that reach into parts of western maryland, eastern west virginia and snow showers or snow flurries but the timing, it looks like a better bulk of precipitation if you will, is going to be moving in after dark. by 6:00, we're overcast. it is snowing in pittsburgh and columbus and cincinnati and lexington. here comes the storm. the mountains out to the west will squeeze some of the moisture out. 10:00, starting to snow maybe out through the i-81 corridor. this moves over us by 1:00 a.m. could be warm enough for a little bit of mix to rain even. across parts of southern maryland off to the south. overnight, we'll see the system push through. even by 5:00 a.m., there is a little bit of snow on the back side across charles county, anne arundel, calvert county. this thing is pulling away quickly. so, we're just not expecting a big precipitation event out of this. with perhaps an inch or so. the way it looks now, trace to an inch really across the metro. one to possibly two inches as you get toward the pennsylvania border. north of the border, we do have winter weather advisories, state college, the forecast office expecting two to maybe four inches of snow locally. so, that's where we have more concerns. sorry, know lovers, not too excited about this one. timing could impact tomorrow morning's rush hour. 40 today. light snow tonight. friday, 34. winds pick up gusting over 30. saturday, only 28 after dipping into the teens in the morning. and not much change on sunday. then we watch late monday into tuesday for the next potential storm headed our way. it is 5:17. monika samtani over to you. >> so, if it does come in during the morning rush hour, you know we'll be right here for you to help you out. we'll enjoy this morning. we only have one thing to worry about and that's in bethesda. on the northbound side of route 355 at montgomery avenue that, water main repair work is in the right lane. no big deal. stay to the left to get by. we'll take you around town. first, around the beltway, things look good. let's zoom into 66 on the inbound side, no problems. we'll take a live look in manassas. all lanes are open through centerville and over to the beltway. another look out at the beltway, we'll zoom into 95. a live look in woodbridge, there is a bit of volume from the prince william parkway up to route 123. no incidents to report as you head up into springfield. now a look at your travel times up in maryland. southbound 9 5, 216 is four minutes. 295 to the 11th street bridge is 7 minutes this morning. in my next report, a look at district roads. andrea? thank you, monika. commuter alert to tell you about. it centers on the baltimore washington parkway. maryland congressman is proposing widening the bw parkway to three lanes in each direction from new york avenue to the baltimore beltway. federal highway officials are spending $1 million to study the plan. but greenbelt officials say widening the bw parkway would encourage sprawl and cut into green space. the foggy bottom metro station is open after being closed for work over the holiday weekend. it is not all good news for passengers. while the weekend closing helped crews get started installing three new escalators, a staircase and a canopy, the projects are expected to take a year to complete. metro is assuring riders warning signs will be posted and e alerts will be sent out. a local college coach goes shoeless for a good cause. >> could the wizards reach the halfway point of the season without a single road win? >> before we go to break, it is time for the question of the day. >> a recent survey suggests that 30% of the people who are guests in your home will do this one thing without permission. now, what is it? a, go into your refrigerator? b, look into your medicine cabinet or c, change the channel on the tv. you can leave your answer on our facebook page. we'll have the answer coming up. mary! hey! wow, you look great! thanks! it's this new wish yourself thin program. i just wish it and it happens. it's probably those fiber one bars you're eating. i know they help me stick to my diet. the bars are 90 calories and the fiber helps you feel full. 90 calories and high fiber. so that's why this diet thing is working. but it's weird because my wish for lorenzo came true. [ male announcer ] fiber one 90 calorie bars. hungry no. results yes. 29 at 9:00 in frederick. 34 here in town. we'll see temperatures dip a little bit. then start to recover. by midday around 40. still partly to mostly cloudy. can't rule out a couple of snow showers in the mountains of west virginia. this afternoon in the upper 30s, still 41. snow of moos in tonight. probably after 10:00 a.m. close to midnight here in town. ladies, back to you. thank you, howard. some local college teams hit the hardwood. >> the wizards blow another attempt to get a road win. dave owens ha the highlights in your morning sports. >> reporter: well, good morning. you gotta believe it is mental at this point. the washington wizards go on the road and somehow turn into the washington generals. remember the team that used to get blasted by the globetrotters? wizards losing by an average of 13 points on the road this month but the good news, flip saunders back last night. he missed the day before tending to his ailing mom. this had all of the looks of a streak buster. mckey playing above the rim. and in. washington led 31-19. then the second half, the defense broke down. banks it off the square. part of a 10-2 run then andrew spinning on mcgee here. that's the dagger. wizards lose their 20th straight. 100-87. 20th straight on the road by the way. george mason hosting drexel last night. andrei cornelius with the grand theft. mike morrison might as well jump. 71-47, george mason big last night over the dragons. final stop, au hosting army. jeff jones coaching shoeless involved with samaritan's feet. they collect shoes for children who need it. steven lumpkin was collecting buckets. he had 16 points, 9 boards. au defeats the cadets. that's a quick look at sports this morning. i'm dave owens. have a great day, everybody. >> the nationals are already doing some good work a month before spring training begins. manager jim riggleman and mascot screech showed up yesterday at the new pediatric ward of frederick memorial hospital bringing gifts to the young patients there. good to see that kind of stuff. >> just in case you didn't think picking up starbucks was easy enough, it has gotten easier. >> china and the u.s. announce a deal to keep pandas at the national zoo for five more years. >> monika? >> we'll take a live look, guys in southeast here. south capital street and the suitland parkway. as you can see, very quiet. the district roads are looking good. we'll take a closer look in the district at 5:30. you're watching 9news now. stay with us. tian. welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm jessica doyle in for mike hydeck. thank you for joining us this morning. monika samtani has our traffic in a moment. >> but howard starts us off with the weather first. we have to say good morning to roger highfield. he missed the answer to yesterday's question of the day. we eat on average 25 pounds of bananas. you can always find the answers to the questions on our facebook page at facebook.com/wusa9. click on the morning news tab. and howard's forecast is there as well at wusa9.com. >> we're looking at clouds increasing today. tonight, some snow. but it looks to be a minor event. a little bit of snow. and by tomorrow morning, it should pretty much be over by the time you wake up. looking at today, the day planner. clouds increasing. temperatures will dip a little bit more here this morning. we're covered toward the 40 degree mark as the clouds thicken up as the winds turn northwesterly to northeasterly at about 5 to 10 miles per hour. it won't be as mild as yesterday when we topped 50 in many areas. it won't be bad compared to what's coming this weekend. this morning, you see the breaks we have now. the clouds are thickening. snow already. into parts of northern kentucky and southwestern west virginia. temperatures in the low 30s in many areas. still 38 in washington. at reagan national. 28 in fredericksburg. 33 in southern maryland and 30 at below freezing in easton and gaithersburg. flyin