22News at 4: Digital Edition 2/20/26

Hey, happy friday. I'm nick Oresko and thank you for joining us for 22 news at four o'clock. We'll get to your top stories in just one moment. First could be a tricky evening commute out there. Depending on where you are, we have some snow and a wintry mix falling across western massachusetts. With more on that, let's bring in meteorologist brian lapis. Yeah, you said it. Things are more or less happening as we expected. The good news here is that the temperatures are at about at the level that the road treatments are working pretty well. So if you have places you got to go to this afternoon, this evening, you should be able to get there. Just give yourself a few extra minutes. Let's take a look at traffic. In fact, we can talk about it right now and actually, uh, 91 southbound is running slower than usual in this mount tom area. And this is often a spot where the snow accumulates a little bit more than other spots and it can be a little slippery here. So keep that in mind that I 91 through Holyoke is a little slippery or at least a little slow. And we've also got slow going here on the mass pike eastbound coming out of Blanford and heading into Westfield. Other than that, no major problems, but obviously the weather is going to slow you down a little bit. As I mentioned, we're close to freezing. This is good news for road treatment. 33 Greenfield 32 North Hampton and Westfield 34 in Springfield and even in the Berkshires were in the low 30s. So again, extra time is the key here as we move into the evening hours. A little bit of everything falling right now. Snow north and west or north and east of Springfield and North Hampton and then in Hamden County to the east and also Hamden County to the west. We've got some sleet and freezing rain falling. There is a little hole in the precipitation here back off to the south and to the west that will be arriving around 5 30 ish. We'll track what's in store for us this this evening and this weekend with the 22 new storm team forecast. Two police officers are recovering after they were assisting in a fire in Munson Thursday afternoon. Munson fire crews were called to 2 75 Silver Street after reports of heavy smoke in the area. You can see the entire roof of that home is burnt and has substantial damage. This is video from earlier today. The aftermath of that fire now due to the lack of water supply in the area, tanker trucks from regional departments were brought into shuttle water. Two months and police officers were taken to the hospital for medical evaluation due to smoke inhalation. The cause of this fire remains unknown. Continuing coverage now on the Massachusetts State Police troopers charged for the death of Enrique Delgado Garcia. The department says all four of them have been suspended without pay. They're accused of committing reckless acts during training exercises culminating in the unauthorized competitive boxing match on September 12th 2024 that led to Massachusetts State Trooper recruit Enrique Delgado Garcia's death the next day. Well this week marks one year since a man says he intentionally set fire to his home in Waterbury Connecticut to save himself from decades of what he calls captivity at the hands of his stepmother. Police say the man whose name has not been released told officers he had been locked in a small room since he was 11 years old. On thursday the man's conservator filed a claim to potentially pursue a lawsuit against the Department of Children and Families. Now this is a procedural first step and means the man has the option to move forward with any kind of lawsuit against D. C. F. The man's stepmother Kimberly Sullivan is denying all accusations. She will be back in court March 12th. The Supreme Court handed a major defeat to President Donald Trump this morning ruling the bulk of his tariffs are illegal. The decision invalidates trump's expanded use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and imposing tariffs on nearly every country. The Supreme Court states that the U. S. Has no special authority in matters of economics or foreign affairs and ruled that the act does not authorize the president to impose these tariffs. President trump repeatedly warned that ruling against him would spell economic disaster. No disaster on the roads, but you could run into some snow covered roads this evening. Brian. Yeah, there was on my way into work. I saw a spin out, tow truck involved, got slowed down and I thought of you this morning. I heard the pellets of sleet pitter pattering on the windows pitter patter. It's our friday. Let's take a look at the situation here on the big board. The winter weather advisory continues until seven o'clock tomorrow morning for all of western massachusetts. We've got a 22 new storm team weather alert as well. So again, our clouds and radar showing a mix here. Some snow over Hampshire and Franklin County, snow, sleet and even some freezing rain and rain in Hamden County. So it's a mix. It's a potpourri as it were. There's a little hole in the precipitation back here off to the north and to the west that will get in here late afternoon, early evening, but we're still expecting some patchy freezing drizzle and there will be occasional waves of light snow, sleet and rain here right through the evening hours. Case in point, here we are at seven o'clock, a little batch of snow and sleet showers, nine o'clock around of snow. There'll be a period of snow say between about nine p.m. And midnight tonight and then after midnight things dry out. There may even be some thinning of the clouds. Watch out. Everything is going to be icy with overnight lows in the overnight lows in the twenties tomorrow morning, mostly cloudy and then these occasional flurries and light snow showers will be with us throughout the day. Little to no accumulation, but little to no sunshine either. This is four o'clock here tomorrow afternoon. High temperatures approaching 40 degrees here tomorrow afternoon. And yes, even some light snow showers are possible here tomorrow evening. Something to keep in mind if you've got evening plans for tomorrow and we're still tracking the potential for some snow sunday into monday. We'll update on 22 news at five. The majority of the Holyoke mall reopened today following a fire late Tuesday night. The mall posted a statement to social media saying the food court, however, will stay closed. They say contractors will continue working on deodorizing the center and there will be faint odor pockets as the air conditioning continues to stay on. Restaurants and store hours may vary and guests are being asked to contact the mall directly to confirm hours before visiting a popular coffee and donut chain is making sure customers hands stay warm while sipping on ice beverages. Starting today, Duncan will give customers who purchase any iced drink and iced coffee glove for free. The limited edition glove is available at participating Duncan locations across the country. The glove will be available while supplies last tonight on 22 news starting at five o'clock pothole season is underway and tonight what risks they pose to your car and what local cities are doing to mitigate the issue. Plus, we'll hear from a local lawmaker about the recent Supreme Court's recent ruling regarding tariffs and Elms College will host its ninth annual black experience summit tonight. How the college is highlighting black history. Brian, big news. Nick Adam Stremko is going to be in the 22 new storm team weather tracker on the news on TV tonight, so you don't want to miss that. And traffic right now is a little slow on I-91 southbound here, more than likely due to some slush on I-91 and limited visibility. The pike also in the hill towns in the area of Blanford and Russell is also running slow eastbound. You can see actually we're in pretty good shape east of the river on the mass bike. Bottom line is the wintry weather is slowing things down. Take your time. You should be able to get where you got to go. More snow on the forecast here over the weekend. We'll show you on 22 news starting at five. Brian, thanks. We have updates all weekend long at W. W. L. P dot com. The free 22 news app and always on 22 news plus. We'll see you tonight after the Olympic hockey game.