ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - February 3, 2026

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Eyewitness News at 5am - February 3, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, live coverage from your local newsleader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. 5 a.m. still trying to climb above freezing. Good morning. Carolina. Welcome on this Tuesday. It's February 3rd. I'm Joel Brown. And I'm Anna Rivera. Thanks so much for joining us today. Right now, we are first alerting you about some light rain for tonight along with some possible light snow for tomorrow. Yeah, another cold front on the way. So tonight, roughly 10, 11 o'clock, we could see some light rain tomorrow night. This could end as a little snowfall for some of us. We'll talk more about that in my forecast. Our crews are riding around this morning, tracking road conditions across the triangle after this weekend snowstorm, what you need to know ahead of your morning commute. And right now, Johnston County is under a temporary water shortage advisory. What residents are being asked to do? The sentencing for Raleigh mass shooter, Austin Thompson, begins today what we can expect from that hearing. on a Tuesday morning in time for a first check of weather and traffic together. Meteorologist

Kualin Murphy is here and just a few seconds ago I heard you use the S word again. Say it. Snow. Yeah, I did. We could see a little snow late tomorrow night. Not tonight. We're all good. We could see some rain tonight. But today we're going to climb up freezing. How about that? Yes, yes, yes. This morning we still have some icy areas out there. Your first alert to conditions that could be a little tricky for some of you early on. Temperatures are below freezing right now. Now we're in the 20s, teens for some of you to the west. Feels like temperatures are the same. We have a really light wind this morning. That'll be coming in from the south later this evening, and we'll have more of a breeze later on today, too.

Here's a live look into downtown. We have partly cloudy skies right now. We're going to be partly cloudy into the next hour. And then as we head towards 10 o'clock, clouds will increase. We'll be at 35 degrees, 40s for highs today. Some of you approach 50 around the sandhills. But dry through the afternoon, 6 o'clock, mainly cloudy skies down to 43 degrees. Some decent weather if you're heading to the Keynes game as well.

Definitely not as cold as this weekend. 43 at 7 o'clock when that puck drops. And then afterwards down into the 30s, we'll have some spotty isolated rain by 7 p.m. Nothing too heavy for you by any means. Tonight, our next front is on the way. It's still well west of the mountains, but it's bringing those clouds ahead of it.

This evening, though, I mentioned that spotty shower chance. It'll be pretty isolated overnight. Then tomorrow morning we'll see some rainfall. As we head into the evening hours and the front starts to push through, there'll be enough moisture. This is tomorrow evening and night. So note the timestamp there. We could see a mix or a little snowfall for.

for some of us as well. The bottom line with this is light rain develops tonight. Increased chances to end as light snow mix Wednesday night and Thursday morning. These totals will not be comparable to this past weekend or the previous weekend. Minor accumulation concerns with both ice and snow potential.

A winter weather advisory hasn't been issued yet, but it's possible weather service issues one. Regardless, again, minor impacts with this system Wednesday night. After that, we'll have a chance to warm up a little bit more into the weekend. And we'll talk about that coming up in just a few minutes. Right now we wanna check the roads,

weather and traffic together. Anna, back to you. Quaylon, pretty quiet right now. Our crash counts sitting at zero and of course traffic is still really light. Let's take a live look at the DOT cameras right now. This is US1 and Carrie Parkway. You can see traffic is barely there at this point. Good news is this major highway, it looks clear as well. Now let's take a live look at our storm chaser driving around in Durham. This is Charlotte Street. And these are going to be those issues that still persist in your neighborhoods, those side streets, very icy conditions and still covered and that's why a lot of the schools have decided to make changes to their plans today again thousands of kids across the triangle will be home from school again today

wait county schools will be back to remote learning today but durham public schools will be closed for a full list of those school closures across central north Carolina head over abcc eleven dot com and now let's head over to bianca holman who's tracking the conditions at wake forest high school bianca what's it looking like there hey good morning anna's like you said the schools are learning remotely today and it's because of this because of many of the school's parking lots many of the schools parking lots are still snowy they still have snow in them they still have ice in them this is one of the parking lots kind of their gravel lot where maybe students park out some extra teachers park at and you can see it has not been cleared

now this is a street right on the side where there's the bus depot so you can see that it's pretty icy and if you think about it high school students some of them are driving may not be as experienced drivers so that's something that school districts have to consider. It's all types of drivers and buses headed into these schools in some of these more rural areas. And then down, many people know that Wake Forest High School has that parking deck. And the top of the parking deck, they actually have this yellow tape up to where you're not allowed to go into it. So you can see here right in front of you, this is where they typically have extra parking and such. and it says do not enter.

So again, one of the other many reasons why that the schools, the students are remote learning is because many of their parking lots have still need the sun to hit it to clear out. And so we'll continue taking a look at many of the other schools in Wake County around the area and keep you posted. Back to you.

Yeah, Mother Nature should help out today with some temperatures above freezing and some wind. Thank you, Bianca. Now to the water woes in Johnston County. The county issuing an advisory about a water shortage after the recent winter storm. Johnston County residents now being urged to avoid using water for non-essential reasons. The county also asking people to check for plumbing leaks on frozen pipes. Some residents telling us they're already seeing issues with their water at home.

A low water flow. Some of them didn't even have water at all. I have one of my workers that I work with over there. All his house didn't have any water because everything froze. You know what I mean? And especially with this time, they can't get no warm showers, no preparing food, no meals and stuff like that. They got to opt out to go in somewhere, especially in these conditions. The county expects the problem to be fixed within 24 to 48 hours.

Happening today, the Raleigh teenager convicted of the worst mass shooting in the city's history will learn his fate. Austin Thompson's sentencing hearing is set for later today at the Weight Justice Center, and we could hear some emotional testimony from family members of the victims. Tamara Scott live at the courthouse in downtown. Raleigh this morning with more on what we can expect. Tamara, good morning. Hey, good morning, Joel. Yeah, two weeks ago, Austin Thompson pleaded guilty in order to avoid a trial. Today, his sentencing is expected to begin. And so today, during the hearing, is expected to hear the emotional testimony from family members of the victims before Thompson learns his fate. Thompson was charged with

killing five people in the Heddingham neighborhood in October of 2022. Among the victims, a Raleigh police officer and Thompson's older brother. Now he pleaded guilty to 10 counts. Five of those were first degree murder charges. Others include attempted murder, assault with the deadly weapon, and assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm. Now in the three-page filing obtained by ABC 11, it states Thompson pleaded guilty to all charges to spare the community of a trial and inflict more trauma. It goes on to say that he hopes what comes out during sentencing brings peace as much as close enclosure as much as possible. As of now, a motive for his actions back in 2022 remain unknown.

Now, under state law, he will be sentenced to life in prison, but it will be up to the judge to determine if he will be eligible for parole. Back to you. Okay, Tamara, thank you. And this morning, nine people are facing a total of nearly 70 charges after allegedly running an illegal nightclub in Northeast Raleigh. According to the state alcohol law enforcement division, undercover ALE special agents visited Blue Vibes on Atlantic Avenue several times

during a month's long investigation. agents say they found several ABC violations, including the sale of alcoholic beverages without permits. Eight people were arrested on January 23rd and a ninth person was later arrested during a search on January 27th. All nine defendants have posted bail. Their next appearances in court are set for later this month. All right, 508 now and straight ahead what eyewitness news is learning about a Duke University professor who appeared several times in the newest Jeffrey Epstein files. And Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton now agree to testify before Congress in the Epsons. investigation. We'll walk you through what we know. And we are tracking potential for some rain late tonight. Today's going to be cloudy, though, and pretty nice. Temperatures of the 40s this

afternoon. And then rain chances go up late tonight and Wednesday. Could end as a little snowfall late Wednesday night. We'll talk more about that coming up. This is first alert weather from ABC 11. I witness news. And it's Tuesday morning 511 the time. A live look from RDU. We have partly cloudy conditions out there. Good morning for flight. It's nice to see the progress of limited AC spots around the jet bridges this morning. Clouds will continue to increase through the day, but that's not going to start to stop the warm up. Temperatures will climb to near 50 in the sand hills today, mid 40s in the triangle, mid 40s to the north as well. And we're going to see 40s and 50s across the state. A lot of melting happening today. Tomorrow, an alert possible day. We're going to see some cold rain. And then by Wednesday evening and night, could end as a little snow, colder Thursday, Friday back to the 40s. Full seven day is coming up. A reminder. Be sure to download that free ABC 11 app. It's a great way to stay up to date. on current conditions. Plus, you can always check first alert, Dapunette and the 70 forecast. All right, Kuala, thank you. The winter weather blast came with its share of health and safety risks. WakeMed says it treated nearly 100 patients for injuries related to this weekend storm.

So here's the breakdown. Nearly 40 people had to be treated after falling and hurting themselves. 27 were injured in sledding accidents and two people were treated for cold exposure. Happening this week, a NASA ambassador will be in Chatham County to host the the Artemis II space launch program. The free event will highlight NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission. The event will be held Friday at the Chatham County Library. It's right off a highway 87 in Pittsburgh for 1 to 2 p.m. And make sure you stay around for Good Morning America.

Ahead at 7 o'clock, Diane Sawyer is live with the new story of the Turpin siblings. Three more siblings speaking out for the first time about what happened to them after they were rescued from their parents' house of horror. Investing is all about the future. So what do you think is going to happen? Bitcoin is sort of inevitable at this point. I think it would come down to precious metals. I hope we don't go cashless.

I would say land is a safe investment. Technology companies. Solar energy. Robotic pollinators might be a thing. A wrestler to face a robot, that will have to happen. So whatever you think is going to happen in the future, you can invest in it at Wealth Simple. Start now at WealthSimple.com. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in a House investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For months, the Clintons held their ground against Republican Chairman James Comer's subpoenas, dismissing his demands for in-person depositions as legally toothless and valid, and slamming the insuffling the insuffeastern. investigation as a political hit job, but after some Democrats said they would join Republicans

in recommending contempt charges, the Clintons have now agreed to testify. Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing and both deny having any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Iwoodist News learning about a Duke University professor who's appeared multiple times in the newest Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department in Washington. Yeah, the new pages contain the name of Fuqua School of Business Professor Dan Ariely, whose research, focuses on behavioral economics. The emails between Epstein and Ariely span almost a decade between 2010 and 2018.

One of the conversations include Epstein arranging for a private Ferrari factory tour for Ariely in 2017. Our news gathering partners at the News and Observer Cone through the files, NNO reporter Josh Schaefer talking to eyewitness news about the email exchange. The professor wrote and asked

if he could help him facilitate some new adventures in the upcoming year. where he might be able to drive a Ferrari sports car. And that is actually facilitated by Epstein. He writes back and says, yes, I can do that. We'll have a private tour. And the professor responds, seriously, this is amazing. Ariely has not responded to our request for comment,

but he did post an op-ed in the Duke Chronicle. The student newspaper was the first to report on this. He says in part Epstein's interest did not overlap with Ariely's research. and he never received funding from Epstein. He goes on to say the contact he had with Epstein was infrequent, largely logistical, and often mediated by assistance. He says he had no connection with his criminal activity and was involved in no financial, professional, or ongoing relationship.

Duke University also commented on the report telling us Duke takes the information released on Friday seriously and is carefully evaluating it. We cannot comment on specific personnel actions that may be taken in response. The Epstein files released so far of yet to show evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Ariely. If you plan to vote in the March 3rd primary election, you must register by this Friday, February 6th. Friday is also the deadline for registered voters to change their party affiliation before the primary. If you miss the deadline, you may still register and vote during the early voting period, which runs from February 12 to the 28th. Got it. Let's take a live look outside on this Tuesday morning.

a downtown rally from the Pendo Sky Camp. 301 Hillsborough Street. You don't want to know where the camera is. If you're like Anna Rivera, you don't want to hear anything about more snow. I don't. You don't. You don't. But Quaila Murphy, she's here to be transparent. Do give us the facts. And she said, you know what? Might have a little white snow tomorrow. Yeah, I mentioned that we'll have a chance for a changeover. It could end in the wintry mix or some snowfall for us. Nothing like this past weekend. Nothing like the previous weekend either. Some black ice this morning. Cloudy Day today. Hides in the 40s.

warm up this afternoon. There will be more melting not just here but statewide today. Also looking at some cold rain on the way could end as a few flakes Wednesday night to Thursday morning and then we have a dry weekend but also a chilly weekend with temperatures still running below average. Here's the next front we're tracking we have some disturbances moving ahead of that front so that's why our rain chances are going up Wednesday and as we head to Wednesday evening still some lingering moisture you have dry conditions after Wednesday night and Thursday and we're dry through the weekend next Monday a low chance for some rain. This morning, your first alert, still some icy roads out there possible,

especially this morning. Those shaded spots will continue to be problematic through likely the end of the week. Here's our live camera downtown Raleigh. Once again, we have temperatures right now in the 20s for most of some teens west around Siler City, Smithfield down to 192. But we're at 30 degrees in Lewisburg above freezing right now on South Hill at 33, right at freezing Roanoke Rapids, 20s from the triangle and south. Much warmer than yesterday, too, by 10 to 15 degrees. So that's a big difference. 31 degrees at 8 this morning into the 9 o'clock hour with mainly cloudy skies, 43 at noon. So definitely more cloud cover around today. Highs, Mitchell up, we're 40s, but we're dry through

the afternoon. I introduce a spotty rain chance later this evening, holding that at 20%. It'll increase later tonight. So this is the evening, 8 o'clock. Notice temperatures above freezing. We're going to have more melting even overnight because the temperatures will stay above freezing. This is 11 o'clock tonight, some rain showers possible. As we head into tomorrow morning, we'll start with some scattered rain. It looks generally south of the triangle at this point and to the east. So morning commutes could be a bit wet. Heading into the afternoon, we bring more of that scattered rain to the north. And then the front starts to move in. So we'll see a transition to a little wintery mix by Wednesday evening.

And some of that could end as a bit of snowfall for some of you mainly north of the triangle. Here's the latest forecast. So if you're for areas mainly west of 95, an inch or less, we get up into Mecklenburg County, Northampton County, you could end up with around an inch of snowfall, maybe some isolated higher totals. And south and east of the triangle, so of eastern Wake County, Harnock, Johnson County, Samson County, Wayne, Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, a wintry mix is how it looks for you. In terms of ice, this will not be a big ice situation here, a glaze. So less than one-tenth of an inch. Don't worry about major ice accumulation.

So here's the bottom line. Light rain develops tonight. Increased chances to end as light snow and mixed Wednesday night Thursday morning. Minor accumulation. We could see a winter weather advisory issued by the weather service for this Wednesday night. Thursday morning time frame. 36 degrees, the high on Thursday. So colder behind the front.

We're back to those 40s, though, on Friday. Low 40s, Saturday, 41 on Sunday, and then Monday. The high jumps to 50 next week, upper 50s by Tuesday, mid to upper 50s, Wednesday and Thursday. First alert, weather and traffic together. Anna, back to you. Well, Huel and the roads are really quiet right now. We're not saying any crashes. You need to worry about.

Also, traffic really light. Let's take a live look right now at 40 and Rock Quarry Road. The good news is those major highways, they are definitely looking really clear. right now. Let's take a live look though at Storm Chaser driving around Durham. Checking out Stony Brook Drive in the Crowsdale subdivision. And you can see this is going to be the issue. Of course, we've been talking about that melting that we've experienced and then refreezing and then just spots like this that are icy and slick. This is going to be the issue if you are heading out today. And straight ahead, we'll hear how one of the most successful boy bands in the world is making a major

comeback. Plus the King of Pop, moonwalking to the big screen. We'll take a glimpse at the new trailer That Michael Jackson biopic. Keep it here. ABC 11 First Alert Weather on eyewitness news every day. One of the biggest bands in the world has announced a comeback concert on Netflix. Here's ABC's Hannah Bata with this morning's TechBites. In today's TechBites, Netflix will air the return of BTS. The superstar Korean boy band has been on a hiatus since 2022,

but they are coming back with a new album and live concert that will be shown in March. A documentary about making the album debuts the following week. Elon Musk is merging two of his own companies. SpaceX has acquired X-A-I, forming what Musk calls the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on and off-Earth. The move comes ahead of SpaceX's likely effort to go public later this year. And there's a new social media style feed to check out. It's called Ex-Ikipedia, a web app that lets you doomscroll Wikipedia content.

You can choose from certain categories and tap a post to see the full article. Hundreds of thousands of our entries are available to scroll through. Those are your Techbytes. I'm Hannah Bataub. Have a great day. Y'all want to work in a steel mill like me for the rest of your days? No, sir. Yeah, because I show us hell down.

Y'all willing to fight for it? Yes, sir. I need to hear you a little loud. Y'all willing to fight for it. Yes, sir. Oh. Just that beat brings it out of it. That is the official trailer for Michael.

It is now out. Two-time Oscar nominee. Coleman Domingo plays Joe Jackson. And you've got Jafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, and the title role. The film traces the life and career of the iconic performer, and it arrives in theaters April 24th. Now to another one of the most anticipated movies of the year. A new trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now out.

The Devil Wears Prada was a huge hit when it was first released 20 years ago. The film earned more than 300. million dollars worldwide at the box office. About half a dozen of the movie's biggest stars, including Merrill Streep, Emily Blunt, and Anne Hathaway will reprise their roles. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is set to hit theaters on May 1st. And Stanley Tucci coming back, too. I can't wait.

Look at that, Miranda Priestley. Can be good. Back on the big screen. 527 is the time. Right now we are first alerting you about the chance for some light rain for tonight, along with some possible light snow for tomorrow night. Meteorologist Quaylin Murphy has your first, your forecast in our next half hour. or not.