A major winter storm with heavy snow, high winds and bitter cold temperatures entered our area from the southwest and it could drop more than 1 foot of snow in some areas. Before it arrived it already caused school closures and travel delays.

The storm is expected to drop 9 to 16 inches in Philadelphia and along the I-95 Corridor. One foot or more is also possible in the Lehigh Valley, the Jersey Shore and parts of Delaware.

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday through early Wednesday morning for the entire region outside of the Poconos where a Winter Storm Advisory is instead in place.

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• Storm Timeline & Expected Snow Totals
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"It's a major snow storm," said NBC10 First Alert Weather Chief Meteorologist Glenn Schwartz. "Many areas are expected to get over 6 inches, plus wind, plus cold. The worst of this storm will be late Tuesday and Tuesday night."

Temperatures and the wind chill dropped Tuesday morning into the low 20s.

The First Alert Weather Team says the snowfall should begin to move into some parts of the area around 9 a.m. on Tuesday and then expand with most of the region seeing snow by noon. By 8 a.m. snow already fell in the far western parts of the region.

The snow should get heavier throughout the day leading to a messy evening rush.

Snow Timeline:

7 a.m. to 9 a.m. – temps drop into the 20s

9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – snow begins, 22 degrees

12 p.m. to 3 p.m. – snow gets heavier, 22 degrees

3 p.m. to midnight - heavy snow, wind, 16 degrees

Midnight to 8 a.m. - snow tapers off, frigid, 8 degrees, wind chill -10 degrees

Dozens of schools in our area including Philadelphia parochial schools closed in preparation for the snow. Philadelphia Public Schools and other districts scheduled early dismissals -- Philly schools will let out at 12:30 p.m.

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The Weather Service warned of heavy winds and hazardous driving conditions throughout the day as the storm moves up the East Coast.

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There were also more than 100 flights delayed or canceled at Philadelphia International Airport.

The snow is just the beginning of the winter blast as temps should remain below the freezing mark for the rest of the week as another polar vortex blasts the region with windy, bitter cold.

While the snow will move out Wednesday, the bitter cold will remain with morning temperatures in the single digits. Wind chills in Philadelphia should be below zero the chills could dip to -20 to -25 in the Poconos. The high will only be in the teens.

Bitter cold with lows in the single digits and highs in the 20s should continue on Thursday and Friday and there's even the chance of some light snow on Thursday.

By the weekend, conditions won't be as frigid and temperatures will rise into the 30s.

The Philadelphia Flyers apparently aren't content with just selling hockey merchandise at their arena or in sporting stores. Now, the team is going mobile.

• WATCH: Philly Restaurant Week gets underway

The Flyers have created a self-contained merchandising vehicle which will serve as a "store-on-wheels," offering fans a variety of exclusive Flyers Reebok apparel and novelties at events and locations across the Philadelphia region.

Features of the mobile store include a 40-inch LED TV and outdoor, waterproof speakers capable of airing Flyers video highlights and games, halogen lighting, and a number of display cases with LED lighting.

Read more about this story at PBJ.com.

A strip mall caught fire this morning.

Crews responded quickly to the fire at the strip of stores at 407 Baltimore Pike in Morton, Pa. that broke out shortly after 6 a.m. Monday.

As SkyForce10 hovered overhead a short time alter firefighters could be seen going onto the roof of the building but no flames were visible.

There were no reports of injuries.

The strip of stores contains a dialysis location and a nail salon.

An audit has charged a Philadelphia gun buyback program, which provided grocery gift cards in exchange for weapons, misused more than $450,000 in grant funds from the federal government.

Philadelphia Safety Net (PSN) received $800,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Justice to run its “Goods for Guns” program from July 2010 through March 2012. The program would hold events where Philadelphia Police would collect guns and, in return, Philadelphia Safety Net would provide $100 grocery store gift cards.

The DOJ’s inspector general audited the program and found 62 percent – or $479,183 – of the grant moneys were used for either "unallowable, unsupported and/or unreasonable" expenses.

According to the audit, PSN’s Executive Director Raymond Jones, the organization’s sole employee, gave himself a $85,065 pay increase over a two year period. The increase brought his total salary to $287,565, which was higher than the organization’s board of directors approved, auditors say.

The audit said there was a conflict of interest with the board since Jones’ sister served as chairperson and did not conduct day-to-day oversight of the organization’s activity.

Jones reimbursed the organization for a portion of the funds used, but the DOJ audit said he still owes $3,389 used to pay for a parking ticket, hotel stay, gas, clothing, restaurants and cash withdrawals.

In addition to the compensation, the audit says PSN spent $29,750 in rent on a building that was used once a month and did not properly account for $13,947 in utilities used.

Despite the allegations of misused funds, PSN did hold gun buyback events and collected 2,871 guns. However, the organization could not account for 280 gift cards which were not traded for a weapon.

Jones talked with NBC10 in March 2012 about his program. At that time, he said his program had helped remove 1,000 guns from the city's streets.

The audit said PSN was lacking in internal controls meant to prevent these issues and recommends making 11 changes including to “remedy” the unallowable, unreasonable and unsupported costs.

The Philadelphia Safety Net’s website has been taken down and its phone line disconnected. A request for comment by email was not immediately returned.

But in a written response to the DOJ’s audit, Jones said he suspended the organization’s operation until a new board of directors is elected. He also said he’s provided the DOJ with all documentation accounting for expenses.

Jones disagreed with the findings about his compensation saying that his duties not only included the work as executive director, but also as grant manager, public relations director, office manager and outreach coordinator.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

The son of a Philadelphia Police officer was only steps away from his Southwest Philly home when he was shot and killed execution-style, according to investigators.

Jahmeer Jett, 19, was just feet from the front steps of his home along 6200 block of Gray's Avenue when he was approached from behind and shot at point blank range right before 6 p.m. on Friday, Philadelphia Police Homicide Capt. James Clark said on Monday.

"[He's a] really good kid. He works and he's also a full-time boxer. He's working to be a professional fighter. Never been in trouble a day in his life," Clark said.

Jett was hit by several bullets in the back. He was taken to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and pronounced dead.

Clark said the shooter, whose identity remains a mystery to investigators, fled the scene on foot.

"Nothing was taken. From witnesses, no words were exchanged, he just ran up on [Jett] and fired several times," Clark said.

The captain made a plea for the public's help in helping to identify the teen's murderer. Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Police's Homicide Unit.

Jett's death was one of six total homicides reported in the city over the weekend including a woman being killed over purse in Northern Liberties Sunday night.

It was like clockwork.

Every weekday, Will Entriken would stand on the platform at SEPTA’s Meadowbrook station in Montgomery County waiting for the 7:53 a.m. West Trenton-bound train to arrive. But, despite being there on-time, he says the train was always behind schedule.

"It was literally late every day and usually by 15 minutes or more," said Entriken, a software developer.

Frustrated by Train No. 330’s tardiness, Entriken considered writing a letter to SEPTA complaining, but figured an empty complaint would be futile. So he created an app, using data from SEPTA, to check the train's actual arrival against the published schedule.

"I wanted to write a letter saying ‘your train has been late every day for the past month, please update the schedule and just move it back 15 minutes,'" he said.

That was October 2008.

Since then, the 29-year-old has expanded the app to collect SEPTA regional rail location data, every minute, for 13 regional rail lines – providing, what he says is, a more realistic train schedule for both SEPTA and its passengers.

"The reports can be used as a recommendation for SEPTA to update their timetable and it can also be used by passengers as a more realistic schedule of when the train will get there," he said. "In other words, if you were going to tell your friend to take the 330 train, you would say "the train is scheduled for 8 a.m., but you don't need to show up until 8:12 a.m."

Entriken says he then sends reports to SEPTA proposing changes to the regional rail schedules.

"You don't even need to tell the conductors, they can keep driving the trains as they do today. The only difference is the passengers, who will get a better idea of when to show up for their train," he said. "It's only a few minutes here and there, but in one year it adds up to a whole human life's worth of time saved from waiting at the station."

Jim Fox, SEPTA’s Chief Control Center Officer, calls the app "a nice little tool," but says there are a number of factors that go into adjusting the schedule. SEPTA shares rail lines with Amtrak at some points, and there are points where several lines converge and merge.

"We have to be careful when we make two or three minute time adjustments to make a train hit a certain station to meet a customer’s preference," Fox said. "It’s a very delicate balancing act and you usually only have a few minutes of wiggle room either way to get a train to merge into that main line of traffic before you get to other trains trying to get through there."

Fox says the agency has a committee which analyzes the train performance and takes all factors into account when considering making changes to each regional rail line’s schedule. Those changes happen several times a year.

Short-term or temporary construction projects could delay trains, but Fox says they wouldn’t necessarily adjust the schedule – knowing about the construction project.

SEPTA and Entriken also use different ways to measure what makes a train "on-time."

The transit authority measures the amount of time it takes a train to get to Suburban Station in Center City from its end of line point. Arriving more than 6 minutes late will classify a train as behind schedule.

"Whether it’s three or four minutes late at a certain station, or even six or seven minutes late at a certain station, a lot of times that train will make up time in route…," Fox said. He says SEPTA’s goal is a 91 percent on-time performance rate. Currently, the regional rail lines are running at just under 93 percent.

Entriken’s app calculates the amount of time it takes for a train to get to each station. He says that is more important to the rider because not everyone takes a train to SEPTA's measuring point.

SEPTA has been welcoming developers like Entriken to create apps riders can use for several years. They’ve opened up data feeds and held "hack-a-thons" where a group of developers create an entire new application over a day or weekend.

Michael Zaleski, SEPTA’s Director of Emerging & Specialty Technologies, says the response from developers has been great. Speaking specifically about Entriken’s app, he and other SEPTA officials have ideas how it can be refined to offer more features and tools and plan to discuss the improvements directly with him.

As for planning your commute using the current app, SEPTA says it’s good for guidance, but that it should be your only source for train information.

“It’s something you have a look at and sort of have a general gauge, but conditions change every day…so just because it says it’s four minutes late, it may not be or there may be a situation when it’s later than four minutes,” Zaleski said.

To try Entriken's SEPTA Regional Rail Independent On-Time Performance Report, click here.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

Four people, including two Philadelphia Police officers, are recovering after a car accident on City Avenue.

Investigators say a police vehicle collided with another car shortly before 9 p.m. on the 6200 block of City Avenue.

The two officers as well as the two people in the other vehicle all suffered minor injuries. The officers were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania while the two other victims were taken to the Lankenau Medical Center.

Investigators have not yet revealed the cause of the crash.

Also on NBC10.com:

• Boy Struck by Car at Intersection
• Car Collides With NJ Transit Train, Driver Injured
• Funeral for Teen Struck by Car
   

A memorial scholarship, a fellowship and an endowed fund have been established in the name of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) pediatric doctor Melissa Ketunuti, who was found strangled, her body burned in the basement of her home one year ago today.

It was a crime that shocked the region. Ketunuti, a 35 year-old native of Thailand, lived alone in her apartment on the 1700 block of Naudain Street in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of the city. She was found by police with her hands and feet bound, rope around her neck, and her body in flames, on January 21, 2013. Police said they believed Ketunuti had been strangled and then set on fire.

Ketunuti came to the United States from Thailand in 1995 to attend Amherst College. She graduated from Amherst in 1999 with a degree in neuroscience. She continued her education at Washington University in St. Louis, and later transferred to the Stanford School of Medicine.

A scholarship win in 2005 afforded Ketunuti the opportunity to spend 10 months in Botswana where she did research on HIV. This trip, friends said, fueled Ketunuti's passion for international medicine.

Melissa's college roommates from Amherst established The Melissa Ketunuti Basselier Memorial Scholarship last summer. The scholarship was created to help international students with a financial need and an interest in science.

Ketunuti's longtime friend and Amherst College roommate, Manisha Pai said she hopes the scholarship will "honor Melissa's memory and help continue her passions for science, medicine and the care of children in Africa."

Ketunuti had worked at CHOP for five years, having first served as a resident in the Department of Pediatrics. She was in her second year in CHOP's pediatric infectious diseases fellowship program when she was killed. Following the fellowship, Ketunuti had planned to return to Botswana to help children with HIV and AIDS.

The CHOP Foundation board establish two funds in Ketunuti's name. The Melissa Ketunuti Endowed Fellowship in Infectious Diseases and Global Health will be used to support other fellows' endeavors in infectious diseases, global health, or related fields of study. A second fund, the Melissa Ketunuti Basselier, M.D., Endowed Fund for Pediatric Health in Africa is administered by the CHOP Global Health Department and would help defray costs for CHOP residents-in-training that are studying global health. Donated funds will be used to pay for medicine treatment, HIV research, pediatric surgery, and research of tuberculosis and related diseases in pediatric populations in Africa.

According to Pai, Ketunuti's parents are in Thailand, and are still grieving the loss of their daughter. With the help of a Philadelphia attorney, her parents receive notifications every time a contribution is made to either of the CHOP funds in Ketunuti's name.

There are three ways to donate to the CHOP funds for Ketunuti:

• Send a check to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation, Lockbox #1352, P.O. Box 8500, Philadelphia, Pa. 19178. Include the name of the fund you wish to contribute to in the memo line.
• Call the Foundation between the hours of 8:30 a.m.  and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at (267) 426-5332 to make a donation via credit card gift over the phone.
• Visit the CHOP foundation website and click to 'Donate Now.' Be sure to select "Other" under "Fund Designation" and type in the name of either Melissa Ketunuti Endowed Fellowship in Infectious Diseases and Global Health or Melissa Ketunuti Basselier, M.D., Endowed Fund for Pediatric Health in Africa.

Members of the public can contribute to the Amherst College memorial scholarship for Ketunuti online by indicating that their donation is for the 'Melissa Ketuniti '99 Memorial Fund.'

Crews across the region are placing rock salt along the roads in preparation for Tuesday’s snow storm. But officials in many Berks County communities say the rock salt is actually doing more harm than good.

Rich Biting, a road foreman in Lower Alsace Township, says he noticed something strange about the salt he was spreading on the roads during the snow storms this season.

“It would just evaporate it seemed like,” he said. "It wasn’t melting the ice at all."

Biting and his crews thought they were treating miles of road with salt only to receive complaints that the roads hadn’t been salted. That’s when Biting realized the salt was actually wet and freezing into giant boulders.

“It was clumping up,” he said. “So we had to bring the trucks back for a couple hours in the shop and warm it up, and hopefully it thaws and beat ‘em with a crowbar.”

Lower Alsacre Township along with 54 other towns in Berks County reported having to use backhoes to get the salt out of the trucks after spending over $1 million on a salt contract. Crews also found large sheets of plastic tarp mixed into the salt.

Officials with the towns reached out to Cargill Deicing Technology, the Ohio-based company that sold them the salt. Officials with the company claimed there was an unspecified issue and that they would send them salt from another source. Until that new delivery arrives however, Biting and other officials say they have no choice but to keep trying to spread the bad rock salt.

“I think they could’ve solved this a lot earlier in the season when they saw this right away,” Biting said. "Or [[they said]] 'let's keep selling it until somebody complains.' Maybe."

Officials with the city of Reading say they will have the defective salt analyzed to see exactly what it is. NBC10 reached out to Cargill Deicing for comment. We have not yet heard back from them however.

 

A car slammed right into a local government building this morning

A driver lost control of a silver sedan at the corner of 6th and Market Streets in Camden, N.J. right before 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The car slammed into the corner of the Camden County services building at 600 Market Street -- the front left side of the car winding up completely inside the cinderblock façade.

The building houses many county services including serving as the office of the county surrogate and at the county social services center.

No word if anyone was hurt.

The investigation into what led to the wreck continued through the morning.

NBC10 has calls into county officials seeking comment.

A child is recovering after he was struck by a car in the Holmesburg section of the city.

Police say the 4-year-old boy was at the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Stanwood Street when he was struck by a car. The car remained at the scene after the accident and the driver will not be charged.

The boy was taken to Torresdale Hospital where he is under evaluation. Officials say he was not seriously hurt in the crash.

Also on NBC10.com:

• WATCH: Burial for Teen Struck on Sidewalk
• School Bus, SUV Collide
• Baggage Truck Crashes at Airport