dylan dreyer is back with us this morning. she is driving along i-81 in western virginia. and dylan, here we go. talk to me about what you're seeing. >> reporter: well, i am still seeing nothing but white. that has been the case since earlier this morning. the snow started in christiansburg, virginia, where we started off this morning at 5:00 a.m. and since then, the snow has not stopped. we are in and out of near whiteout conditions. we're not dealing with a lot of the wind yet that we'll see as this storm inches closer to washington, d.c. the storm will strengthen off the mid-atlantic coast. that's why we're going to see more wind, up to 60-mile-per-hour gusts possible. so, luckily, we're not seeing that blowing, drifting snow right now, but you can see that the roads are certainly snow covered. a few plows have gone through. so, people are moving along fine. there have not been a lot of cars on the roads. so, that's made our travel a lot easier. we are just going slow and steady. want to point out that the bluemobile that we're in is a very heavy vehicle. i've had some

dylan dreyer knows exactly when they're going to lose the signal. let's see if she gets out of the bridge because i have some tech-nerds questions for her. dylan, are you back from the bridge? >> yes. we are back. can you see me? >> yeah, i can seeyou. you look great. let me ask you. because i am a little bit of a nerd. tell me about the technology in this vehicle. we've got a camera facing forward and a camera facing you. i see you repetitiously behind you in a monitor. what kind of a technological vehicle are you in? dylan? no? we lost her. see, this is what happens. we see you perfectly, dylan, i see you, but i can't hear you. sorry. thumbs up, though. sorry we missed her. i have to tell you, how cool is that technology? let's wave at each other at least, yeah. dylan, thank you so much. we got everything in. >>> turning back to 2016 politics. there she is. 2016 politics after a break. >>> bernie sanders poll numbers rising, hillary clinton's seem to be dropping. how the clinton campaign is responding to that and a lot more. next here on "msnbc li

let's go to dylan dreyer, who is out and about. dylan, where are you and how are things looking for you? >> hey, jose. we are in queens, one of the outer boroughs of new york city, for those who don't know. and it's not great. you know, we drove through the height of the storm from roanoke to washington, d.c. and new york city, and we hit bad road conditions. now the sun is out and this is the slowest we have had to travel, mostly because the side streets are just so jammed with snow. there's no place to put the snow. if you look out front, you can see that the cars are still buried in snow. ones that are want, that have gotten out, then they're all stuck in traffic because it's monday and since things for the most part in new york city area are up and running, well, now the deliveries start again. >> uh-oh. dylan, i hate to do this. this happened to me last week with you. i lost your audio. i apologize to you, but that's what happen s on live tv when you're covering the story from all angles including automobiles going through are

nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer joins us. we're talking about the midwest. we'll be talking about the south and we will certainly be talking about the east. >> the snow we're seeing from ohio to kentucky to tennessee has nothing to do with the bigger storm that's going to hit over the weekend. this is a quick clipper system. it's produced a couple of inches of snow. clippers tend to produce two to four inches of snow, then they move on. that's exactly what that storm is doing. this is what we are watching for the weekend. sure, doesn't look like much right now through the northern rockies but this will dive to the south and eventually pick up some moisture from the gulf of mexico, then turn into this possible nor'easter, oespeciall on saturday. in washington, d.c., including baltimore, too, we do have blizzard watches in effect because we are likely going to see some white-out conditions when you factor in strong winds and heavy snow. thursday night this whole thing starts to get its act together. we'll see some storms through the south. storms friday throug

dylan dreyer there on i-81 making her way to d.c. good to see that 18-wheeler in front of you taking it nice and slow with its emergency flashers on. jay gray also in virginia, roanoke, virginia, specifically. jay, what are you seeing there in roanoke, sir? >> reporter: craig, we're seeing snow and we have for the last several hours here. it's picking up in intensity. and dylan talked about the crews out on the roadways. you can see them behind us here stopping to gas up and clean their windshields, make sure that they're safe as they get back out and try and scrape the snow and ice away as best they can. 500 vehicles used to try and make things passable here in virginia over the last 24 hours. officials saying if you don't need to get out in it, obviously, do not. here's the situation here right now, snow that's been falling and will continue through saturday evening. in some areas, they expect 30 inches or more. it hasn't stopped since it started around 5:30 this morning. so, not hard to believe it could accumulate like that. the n

nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer is closely monitoring the storm. but first let's check back with nbc's gabe gutierrez in nashville, tennessee where a different storm system is making things tough there this morning. right? >> reporter: that's right, jose. even within the past hour we've seen this weather change a bit from -- started off as freezing rain, then it moved to sleet, then we got some snow. now it is back to light sleet. there is a winter storm advisory here in effect in the nashville area until 7:00 p.m. eastern time. as you see behind me, the trucks here at the tennessee department of transportation have been busy all morning, actually threw the overnight hours. officials here in nashville say they have about 8,000 tons of salt here in this area and they've been pretreating the roads since yesterday with brine. this winter storm has impacted many states. missouri has seen several inches of snow. just to our north in kentucky we've seen a few inches of snow, as well as georgia. there has been several of the northern counties there in geo

luke russert and dylan dreyer, steve kornacki and cal perry. first to meteorologist bill karins. bill, where do things stand now? >> now they're starting to blossom. they're getting bigger. we're getting more rain, more thunderstorms, even snow around kansas city. one area in nebraska got surprised last night, eight inches of snow. they weren't expecting that much. these will eventually combine and become our nor'easter. the southern one will bring us our severe weather later on today. and this is the one that's going to be our greatest concern. let's go in here first off and show you the enhanced risk. we think there could be isolated tornadoes this afternoon into this evening. from baton rouge to new orleans, jackson, also to the mobile area. this is the area we're going to be watching this evening. that's the first real big threat, possibly lightning threat with the storm. now let's talk about the storm with the storm because this is where it has the potential to be historic, especially this pink and brighter pink from the mountains through maryland near d.c. that's where we c

dreyer. we were there for the 40th anniversary of the polar plunge. it's not just jumping into freezing water. it's to raise money for the fantastic athletes of the special olympics. more than 5,800 people from all backgrounds all over the world including lady gaga and her fiance, the star of "chicago fire," taylor kenny, they took the plunge for the second time. the cast from that great tv show was there as well. so the goal was to raise $1.5 million, so far the event raised nearly $1.4 million. if you'd like to donate or take the plunge next year, i won't be plunging but i wish you success. thank you so much for watching this hour. we'll see you back here tomorrow. up next, andrea mitchell reports. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials.

let's check in with dylan dreyer in new york, in the borough of queens where yes, a lot of people are asking that question. what is it looking like for you there, dylan? >> well, tamron, you know, the thing -- the difference with new york city is the fact that new york city is back up and running. schools are open. and there are a lot of boroughs surrounding the city that are still snowed in. we are on one of the main roads in queens right now, but all of the side streets, you just see people digging and digging and digging and trying to get their cars out from all of this snow that has been plowing them in. you know, 26.8 inches in this area is no joke. the second biggest snowstorm ever to hit this area. if we look ahead, we're on a two-lane road, but it's difficult when our truck, the blue mobile, runs into a truck like we're about to come up to. you kind of have to share the road, and a lot of side streets, two-lane roads becoming one-lane roads. we're going to see a lot of improvement because temperatures will be getting above freezing today and tomorrow, as temperatures get close