and give you snowfall totals 12 to 20-inches in the metro area. oddly enough lesser amounts to the north and mountains. and a good band in to southern maryland. lesser to the northern neck and the coast. we'll come back in a few minutes and i will give you the bull's eye, where we think it will be and that will be even more than the 12 to 20-inches. get ready for an historic storm. some area schools and colleges are already cancelling weekend activities because of the weather. in maryland all activities this saturday and sunday at importants county and anne arundel county schools are chance cancelled and catholic university and the district and george mason in fairfax will be closed on saturday. and saturday classes at montgomery college in johns hopkins university are also called off. you can find a list of closings and cancellations at the bottom of the screen throughout the newscast. because of the storm, the university of maryland cancelled the campus wide commencement ceremony at the comcast center. university officials say they will do everything they can to make sure those individual college graduation ceremonies can be held on sunday, as scheduled. they will make a decision by 8 a.m. on sunday morning. so many were out preparing for the storm, filling up shopping center parking lots. sometimes before dawn. >> and for good reason. some of the most coveted items, snow removal and shovels. shovels were sold out by noon in this store. and we have more on the hot ticket items. audrey? >> how are you doing. >> doing good. >> at the giant grocery store in falls church, it was all about snow supplies and snacks. >> i always have to have something sweet after i eat and i will be stuck in the house and i figure i need plenty of sweets. >> reporter: it will take more than bonbons to weather this storm. >> bread, eggs, orange juice. >> it's been out of control. out of control business. >> reporter: it is a good thing people came early. >> absolutely. we are well staffed. won't find any problems. we are good to go. >> we will probably be out of commission for four or five days. >> people will take time to catch up on a movie or two. >> we have neighbors and will go in and out and visit and no big deal. keep ourselves occupied. >> what did you buy, ham potatoes, everything. >> a storm this big can only mean one thing at this house. >> can i take a peek in your cart. i see tackry mix, a couple of cases of corona. what's going over there? >> having a party. i enjoy the snow. it is great. thank you. bye-bye. have a merry christmas. >> i guess she'll drink her cares away. whatever it takes. that is audrey barnes reporting. >> here's a reminder of what you should do to get ready for the storm tomorrow. make sure you have enough batter are is and a have alternative heat sources in case of power outages. cover windows and spaces around the doors to keep drafts at a minimum and we will have plenty of digging out once the inches come our way. locate shovels and snow removal equipment now and make sure they are in working order. spread salt or kitty litter before the snow begins and once the snow starts to fall, shovel periodically to keep the walkways clear of snow. final weekend before christmas is usually busy at the local airports and the holiday storm isn't going to make things easier. armando trull is live at reagan national airport with more on what you can expect. armando? >> well, in fact, airlines are already making some changes. the following airlines, airtran, continental, delta, united and u.s. airways are allowing passengers to change their tickets without the usual fees if they are coming from cities affected in the northeast including raleigh and charlotte to the south. of course washington, d.c. and new york and boston to the north. at ronald reagan national airport, a last-minute scramble to escape before the big snow hits. >> reporter: do you realize it will snow here in a few hours. >> i know which is why i'm trying to get out of here as soon as possible. i already missed my flight once so i am happy i got on another flight. >> it seems not even the kids don't want a white christmas. >> it is uncomfortable and warm is much better. >> reporter: at this point very few flight delays or cancellations at reagan, dulles or bwi airport and work crews are standing by to deal with the snow when it hits later tonight. >> once the precipitation starts to come down, we have people and equipment that will be here that can be deployed at a moment's notice and if it is a heavy snowfall it is possible we will plow continuously. >> the metro system moves more people than our airports and it is also getting ready for the big snow tonight. metro says it has hundreds of workers ready to spread tens of thousands of pounds of rock salt and de-icer and plans to operate on normal saturday schedule from 7 in the morning until 3 a.m. on sunday. >> their responsibility is snow removal from our station entrances, train platforms and parking facilities. our rail transportation personnel are also getting our rail equipment ready. we will be loading our de-icing equipment. >> now, metro also tells us that they expect the biggest part of the service that will be impacted will be buses because that will depend on how well roads and streets are cleared of snow and ice, especially those side streets and as far as the airport is concerned, the best advice we can give you, check with the airline on their website to see what kind of cancellations there are and of course we will have a lot more from ronald reagan airport coming up at 6:00. tool trial, back to you at the information center. >> thank you for that. in virginia, governor tim kaine is already declared a state of emergency. that declaration allows the virginia national guard and state agencies to help local governments respond to the storm. vdot crews began to report to work at 3:00 p.m. and they are starting to load salt trucks. pretreatment of problem spots like ramps, bridges and overpasses started last night in to the morning and crews will be back out there after the evening rush. crews are prepping highways in maryland also. a spokesman says trucks are spraying salt brien solution to prevent it from sticking to the roads. the governor has not de-- declared a state of emergency yet but he may have to depending how much conditions deteriorate over the weekend. >> let's check on the evening rush hour. patranya bhoolsuwan is in the 9 news now traffic center ahead of the storm. >> no snow on the ground yet but a lot of traffic. a lot of people are trying to get the last-minute errands and shopping done. a good idea so they can stay home tomorrow but it is not making the drive easier. on the beltway very heavy. on the outer loop, we are tracking a 30-minute drive and on the inner loop, a map for realtime traffic accident. an accident not a good time to have it. route 7. that's blocking the right lane. so a mess going up to river road. let's take 395 in virginia. tracking our traffic delays in both directions. seeing northbound and southbound. no accidents here just sheer volume. and finally 66 westbound no surprise here. a lot of traffic tonight. no incidents of accidents. that's a good thing and right now you are taking metro, vre or marc and everything is on time. guys, back to you. >> things are moving pretty well tonight but how about tomorrow? if this ends up being one of the top ten worst storms there may be no way crews can keep up. bruce leshan has more on the district's prep. bruce? >> reporter: anita, mayor fenty told me this morning after signing the marriage equality bill, that tomorrow might be a good day to stay home and cuddle up with someone you love. these are the kind of storms that test a politician's leadership skills. >> blizzard of ' 96 was right. >> if you have been here a while there are certain storms you will never forget. >> have you seen a snowplow. >> a snow what who, do they have any. >> dc was packed with 21 inches of snow and the mayor barry pleaded to the federal government for help. take the blizzard of ' 79. the superintendent waited until noon to close the schools. >> all of you kids are stranded here? >> yeah. >> reporter: do your parents know that school's out. >> no. >> reporter: but the city is far from alone. in 1983 the feds called workers in and sent everyone home in to stopped traffic, just hours later. >> reporter: did you get out of work early. >> we don't know if it was worth it or not. >> reporter: of course there is no place more beautiful in the snow than washington, d.c. president's day weekend, 2003, one of the biggest storms ever. an average of nearly two feet. >> kind of cool to be able to say i skied down the national mall. >> reporter: the mayor knows the pressure is on to keep the streets passable. the city has hundreds of shiney trucks standing by and 40,000- tons of salt. >> snow is like trash. everyone deals with it. it is an issue that will affect every citizen in the district of columbia. >> reporter: might be a good idea to gobble some hot chili and a half smoke and prepare for the worst. >> are you here for 2003. >> yes, i was. >> reporter: were you stuck in your neighborhood forever. >> yes, i was. >> of course the deadliest storm in dc was the knickerbocker storm of 1922, 28 inches of snow fell. it collapsed the roof of the knickerbocker theater in adams morgan. 98 people died, 136 people were trapped. so i think i'm going to skip the movies tomorrow. the mayor will have a news conference coming up at 5:30. we'll have the latest on dc prep after that. >> we look forward to that information. other than staying off the roads if you can help it, there are other things you can do to help keep road crews on their job and helping them to do it faster and easier. move vehicles off of snow emergency routes and keep them off. park in driveways or off-road locations if possible. if you have to park on the street park on the even numbered side and by law most area residents are responsible for removing snow or ice from the sidewalks in front of their homes. we will be on at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning with the latest weather and traffic conditions and of course any closings. we will be on the air throughout the day and the weekends a necessary. and be sure to log on to wusa9.com throughout the storm. you'll find links to our winter weather forecast, radar as well as latest news forecastings, closings, all of it will be right there on our home page. go right there now and check it out, wusa9.com. an historic day in the district as bruce mentioned. mayor fenty signs the same-sex marriage bill in to law. president obama and other world leaders work in to the night, but still no sign of a deal in the climate change talks. i'm charlie d'agata in copenhagen. the story is coming up. our biggest storm since 2003 is on our doorstep. i think i'd better bring in the cushions here from the patio. looking at good snows in she shenandoah valley. going to envelope our area the next several hours and now a live shot of the vdot in alexandria. and oh, they are going to be loading up with salt tonight. we will come back and break out the bread-0-meter and tell you where the bull's eye is coming up. on wall street the stocks ended up 20 points to finish at 10328. the nasdaq jumped 31 an the s&p climbed 6. the dc woman convicted of killing her four daughters has been sentenced to 120 years in prison. her name is banita jacks and back in 2008, authorities found the decomposing bodies of her children in the family's southeast row house. today the judge sentenced her toe this mandatory minimum of 30 years behind bars for the murder of each child. a virginia man was convicted today on indecent exposure charges. eric williamson argued he should be free to be naked inside of his home but prosecutors say he made a point of making himself visible to people outside of his house. the case spurred debate whether a person should be subject to arrest for exposure inside of his home. williams received a suspended jail sentence and no fine but still intends to appeal. mayor fenty signed an historic bill today legalizing gay marriage. numerous supporters were on hand for the ceremony at all souls church in northwest dc. congress has final say on the matter but that did little to dampen the enthusiasm today. >> it is sanctuaries like this that we will look forward to celebrating the marriages of loving gay and lesbian couples in the district of columbia. i can already hear the i dos echoing in the halls [ applause ] >> supporters don't expect congress to touch the law and gay couples may be able to wed in the district as early as march. opponents still plan to fight the bill. the countdown is underway they are the senate to pass health care reform before the christmas holiday. democrats have within one eye on the clock and the weather, too. and the other on the head count as they attempt to round up the 60 votes they need to pass the legislation. a lot of the effort focuses on nelson, he wants tough restrictions on abortion in return for his vote where republicans are united in their opposition to this bill. president obama says nations have made a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough at the climate conference. but the agreement says no overall emission targets for rich countries. >> reporter: there's been plenty of talk, but no comprehensive deal to control global warming. president obama held two tense meetings with the chinese premier who is the u.s.ing over allowing american press to take pictures. >> this is a joint conference. my guys get in or we are leaving the meeting. >> reporter: the sail mate between the u.s. and china over lowering carbon emissions shut down negotiations. china ' senior refusing to let inspectors in to check on compliance. without it the two biggest polluters walk away without promising to cut emissions. it's been two weeks filled with dischord here in copenhagen. in the end they tried to come to a more modest proposal. the so-called copenhagen accord would provide $30 billion to help poor countries cope with climate change and cut green house emissions in half over the next 40 years. >> it is horrific, a lot of us didn't expect much to come out of this process but what we have seen has been disastrous and we are horrified. >> reporter: one leader said it would take a miracle to get a meaningful deal in copenhagen, with hours left, faith is fading. charlie d'agata, cbs news, denmark. >> speaking in copenhagen, president obama said the u.s. and russia are also close to new arms control treaties. you are mighty calm for a man who has a huge storm. >> i don't want to instill fear. >> knocking on the door here. >> if you follow me on twitter you would have known to get your kids home earlier. >> if we didn't, we have to let that go. >> i know. come on. >> we will in the future, but, you know. >> we are lucky. we are getting the kids home today opposed to tomorrow. we will show you the video in a second. here we go. snow tomorrow and we have lightning bolt in there. that is not a mistake. we could see thunder snow and we often do with storms of this intensity. maybe an early flurry on sunday but i think the bulk of the storm shuts off saturday night late. monday rather cold and maybe a snow shower just before the game. temperatures again in the mid- 30s. all right. the bread-o-meter. last night 7.5 and what will it be today, a ten. an historic storm is on the way. this will be close to 2003 and ' 96. we may use the "b "word although it may not fit the criteria it may be a blizzard. by tomorrow windy and cold, four to eight inches. this is just in the morning period. winds increasing northeasterly at 15 to 25 and gusty. some blowing and drifting of the snow. breezy and cold in the afternoon. an additional four to six inches. temperatures fall late in the day. highs 25 to 32. winds are more northernly at 10 to 20 and gusty. we showed you this earlier at the top of the snow. 12 to 20 inches. a big band is extending in northern st. mary's and call secret county. sometimes you guys get cheated. not this time. the bull's eye is through dc, either side of 95 with 15 to 25 inches of snow possible. i have to tell you, tomorrow morning between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. we could see rates of two to three inches an hour. phenomenal. to the shore we will see two to six inches. a little rain tonight and it will kick the snow during the day as cold air wraps an the system. we are not going to beat the knickerbocker storm, and probably not the storm of 1899. but 18.7 that was the president's day storm in february of ' 79. of course ' 9617.1. and so we are looking at the potential, maybe not surpassing these two. we will be close but the storm number seven comes in at 14.4 inches both in 1958 and 1936. i think that one we can beat and that is number everyone. satellite picture radar combined. look at the storm and the moisture. a classic storm. we have gulf moisture, cold air in place. it will track off shore and tap the atlantic ocean, as well. this caused a lot of flooding last night and today in the southeast. let me show you video from the east around asheville. take you to the mountains of north carolina they had all kinds of snow today and will get more tonight. asheville will see six to 12 inches in the mountains. go to the computer. here's where we are now. there's snow cop developing. looks like it is overhead and it is, but it is not reaching the ground yet. it is to the south and the west of us. show you live doppler. a good handle on this. you can access it -- access it via the web at wusa9.com. maybe a little mix or rain to extreme northern neck and southern maryland. you will kick the snow tomorrow after 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. the rest of us will see snow develop. also not quite to hagerstown. let's go back to the computer and i want to talk about headlines. nor'easter on the way. heaviest snowfall will be between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. temperatures will fall all day. in the 20s by afternoon. looks like well to the south and east, as we mentioned might start as a rain or a mix but will go to snow. everybody gets snow at some point in time and blowing or drifting snow is looking likely. so, next seven days, 32 tomorrow. snow, thunder snow, maybe a flurry on sunday and then 35. 36 on monday for the game. cold, maybe a snow shower but not a storm, though. temperatures will moderate, low 40s on wednesday. and 44 on thursday with some rain and we really don't want rain after the big snows. if you remember in 2003 we had massive flooding. in 2003 and 96. for christmas, partly cloudy for santa and temperatures in the upper 40s but should be enough snow to land his sleigh. >> some of that will stick around. >> i think we can pretty much guarantee a white christmas. you only need an inch of snow for a white christmas. >> so a very white christmas. >> yeah, i think it will be. coming up a major infant car seat recall. and a new report finds the number of kids with autism has gone up dramatically in the last four years. ttffbxwf/ welcome back. talk about the calm before the storm busy there but flights are getting in and out. different story tomorrow as we are expecting, as topper says, an historic storm, a historic snowstorm for the dc area. we will be following it live at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. right now we have a consumer alert about a large recall of baby car seat carriers. nearly 447,000 borel infant car carriers are recalled after reports of the child restraint handle coming loose. it involves safety first, costco, eddie bauer and disney branded car seat carriers sold 2008 through this month. if you have one of these seats contact dorel for a repair kit. a traffic stop led to a major drug bust. police displayed the items seized in centreville. the large amount of cas