clayton sandell, abc news, minneapolis. >>> and that powerful storm clayton was talking about is heading east, with blizzard warnings in at least five states. >> our coverage continues with accuweather meteorologist ava dinges, who is tracking the storm. good morning, ava. >> good morning, vinita and mike. minneapolis saw about 17 inches. that led to the metrodome collapseling. the storm system lifting off to the north and east. the snow is ending anywhere from ohio back towards the west. it's not over just yet for the great lakes region. harsh air is going to kick off the lake effect snow. kind of a deja vu from what we saw last week. that includes a snow belt in northern ohio, into upstate new york. and combined with the wind gusts, as high as 38 miles per hour. it's all this cold air that's going to be sparking the lake-effect snow. that will be problems in the midwest, as well. single digits from iowa to chicago, it may not get above zero in the afternoon. this cold is reaching in the southeast. 19 degrees to start off the day in atlanta. now, back to you, vinita and mike. >> thanks.

abc's clayton sandell has more. >> reporter: on the day after christmas, the sounds of sleigh bells are being replaced with the chirping of cash registers. shoppers are out in force expecting good deals. >> if it's not half off, i'm not messing with it. >> reporter: they're finding it on everything from electronics to toys to clothes. jennifer suarez found a bargain. on jewelry and a leather jacket. >> a necklace, a shirt and a jacket, all for around 52. >> reporter: and all 50% off? >> yeah. >> reporter: for retailers, the numbers are finally heading in the right direction, after a dismal drop two years ago. this year, sales are expected to reach $451 billion. >> the consumer felt confident enough to step up their shopping this holiday season. >> reporter: here in southern california, where it's sunny and warm, shoppers are hitting the malls, but on the east coast, i's a different story. the blizzard has threatened to >> if there keep millions away from stores. wasn't a blizzard, i'd be shopping. >> reporter: get news is, some of the best deals can be found online and out of the cold.

we're going to kick things off tonight with clayton sandell who is minneapolis tonight. clayton, that video is incredible. >> reporter: it is, dan. you know, the minnesota vikings were hoping to clean up against the new york giants in a game here today, but instead, like much of the midwest, they're cleaning up after a monster storm. it was a touchdown nobody wanted. the roof of the metrodome in minneapolis. taken down by 17 inches of snow that slammed the city. nobody was hurt. today, workers cleared away that snow, shoveling in wind chills of 21 degrees below zero. giants players stranded in kansas city overnight will now play the minnesota vikings in detroit. thousands of fans in minneapolis for today's vikings/giants game were the losers. >> now we're going home. >> reporter: chris made the trip with eight girlfriends. she's out $500. >> really big bummer, you know. i wish they would take us to detroit, but i don't think it's going to happen. >> reporter: she's hoping to get back home to sioux falls, south dakota, where today, whiteout conditions brought visibility t

clayton sandell is on the story tonight. >> reporter: on this day after christmas, the sounds of sleigh bells are being replaced with the chirping of cash registers. shoppers are out in force, expecting good deals. >> if it's not half off, i'm not messing with it. >> reporter: and they're finding them. on everything from electronics to toys to clothing. jennifer found bargains on jewelry and a leather jacket. >> a necklace. a shirt and a jacket. all for around $52. >> reporter: all 50% off? >> yeah. >> reporter: for retailers, the numbers are finally heading in the right direction. after a dismal drop two years ago. this year, sales are expected to reach more than $451 billion. >> the consumer felt confident enough to step up their spending this holiday season. >> reporter: here in southern california, where it's sunny and warm, shoppers are hitting the malls. but on the east coast, it's a far different story. blizzards slamming eastern states threatens to keep millions of shoppers away from stores. >> if there wasn't a blizzard today, i'd be shopping. >> reporter: the good news is, som

clayton sandell reports from minneapolis. >> reporter: it was a touchdown nobody wanted. the roof of the metrodome in minneapolis. taken down by 17 inches of snow that slammed the city. nobody was hurt. workers cleared away that snow, shoveling in windchills of 21 degrees below zero. giants players who were stranded in kansas city, will now play the minnesota vikings in detroit. thousands of fans in minneapolis were the vikings/giants game, were the losers. >> now, they're moving it to detroit. now, we're going home. >> reporter: christa made the trip with eight girlfriends. she is out $500. >> really big bummer. i wish they would take us to detroit. but i don't think it's going to happen. >> reporter: she is hoping to get home to sioux falls, south dakota. whiteout conditions brought visibility to near zero. high winds and heavy snow also crippled iowa and wisconsin. and frigid air stretches far and wide. 29 states are being pounded by a system from the great lakes to the gulf of mexico. residents of the twin cities started digging out. we found richard myer, shoveling h

clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> a lot of good deals out there. once this weather gets out of here in the northeast, those malls will be packed up for sure. >> there were so many concerns before this holiday period about how many people would shop and it sounds like it could be one for the record books. it sounds like i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

clayton sandell reports from minneapolis. >> reporter: in northwest indiana, black ice, high winds and six feet of snowdrifts changed roads into parking lots. state troopers had to use snowmobiles to reach stranded drivers who were trapped in their cars in biting cold. joe worrel got stuck sunday night. a tow truck got him out. >> technically i'm still stuck because i can't go back north, i can't go west, i can't go east. so what's left? technically you're still stuck. even though i can move, i can't go nowhere. >> reporter: it's no go for angel too. she's stuck in indiana on her way home from cincinnati. >> one of the last few that got a room and then they were setting up cots in the lobby. >> reporter: in most parts of the upper midwest it is hard to get away from punishing winds, bitter cold, and snowdrifts. the powerful weekend storm dumped a foot and a half of snow across the region, leaving many highways littered with car accidents. traveling by air, you may want to reconsider. more than 1,500 flights were canceled at o'hare airport. >> it's crazy. but there's nothing -- it's the

so clayton sandell leads us off tonight. he is right there in indianapolis, under that sagging metrodome. clayton, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, diane. it is sagging quite a bit. you can see, right there, where the roof finally gave way under the weight of all that snow. and, you know, normally, they keep it about 68 degrees in here for a football game but tonight, as you can see, tonight the actual temperature inside, 3 degrees. it's all thanks to that monster storm which may be done with minnesota but is still wreaking havoc across the rest of the east. the storm continued its slow miserable grind across the country today. from illinois where whiteout conditions made roads treacherous. to indiana where this morning at least 70 drivers were stranded. in wisconsin, they were digging out from under 22 inches of snow. at airports around the region, they're trying to get back on track after a weekend of canceled flights. >> my flight from chicago to cleveland has gotten canceled and it's rebooked for tuesday afternoo

our clayton sandell is there. good morning, clayton. >> reporter: good morning, sam. we know the roof of the metrodome is huge. ten acres of the surface area all covered by about 17 inches of snow. we wanted to know how much all that snow weighed. we asked an engineer to run the numbers for us. he calculated that there was enough snow that equaled almost 2,000 tons or around 4 million pounds. that's an unofficial estimate, but whatever the number, there was enough snow to literally bring down the huss. the house. the game, vikings and giants had to be moved to detroit. but the vikings are supposed to host the chicago bears here next monday night for "monday night football." officials are optimistic they'll have the metrodome fixed. but as can you see from the before and after pictures, sam, they've got a lot of work to do. >> those are incredible numbers, clayton, and incredible pictures. this arctic pipeline of air continueds into the deep south and there's much more to talk about that even into florida, right, george. >> that's right. we've got matt gutman in atlant

clayton sandell takes a closer look. >> emergency, 911. >> reporter: it all started with a mysterious call for help. >> okay. what's the problem? >> this girl is just not waking up. we can't get her to -- >> is she breathing? >> we don't know. >> reporter: eight minutes later police and paramedics arrive to find 27-year-old adrienne martin, an aspiring model, dead. a police report says there were no apparent signs of trauma. martin was found in a house owned by august busch iv, the wealthy former ceo of the anheuser-busch brewing dynasty responsible for those famous beer ads. >> bud. >> weis. >> er. >> bud. >> weis. >> er. >> reporter: her friends tell the local paper she had been dating busch for several months. she divorced another man earlier this year and had an 8-year-old son. >> she was very active. she was always out walking with her son and i just can't believe it. >> reporter: busch's attorney issued a statement saying there was nothing to suggest anything suspicious, calling it a tragic and untimely death. still, reports say when martin was found, it took 40 minutes before a

clayton sandell now reports on the aftermath. >> reporter: the storm continued its slow, miserable grind across the country. from illinois, where whiteout conditions made roads treacherous, to indiana, where this morning at least 70 drivers were stranded. in wisconsin, they were digging out from under 22 inches of snow. at airports s ound the region, they're trying to get back on track after a weekend of canceled flights. >> my flight from chicago to cleveland has gotten canceled. it's rebooked for tuesday afternoon. >> reporter: in florida the governor declared a state of emergency. the cold is threatening everything from citrus crops to green beans. the system is now pushing northeast into canada. but bitter cold will linger. it's also a deadly storm. in at least four states, people have been killed in traffic accidents. and there is new danger. from double-digit, below-zero windchills in places like minnesota. dr. joseph clinton is seeing more frostbite and hypothermia patients showing up in his minneapolis e.r. >> at 30 degrees windchill, skin can freeze in minutes. >> reporter: then

our clayton sandell is in minneapolis where the challenge now is the cold. >> reporter: cold is right, juju. officially minus 8 degrees, but the windchill making it feel like 24 degrees below zero and that is going to make it very tough for workers arriving today to start fixing the roof of the metrodome here in minneapolis. in the meantime, this storm continues a punishing storm to the east. snowy blizzards closing roads across the midwest and reducing visibility to near zero. six people have died as a result of the storm. the next stop for this system? michigan, indiana, pennsylvania, and new york. juju. >> thanks for that, clayton. sam will have the full forecast in just a moment. >>> president obama was working the phones all weekend trying to convince skeptical democrats in congress to support his tax deal with republicans. senators get the first chance to vote on the deal today. it keeps current tax rates in place and renews some unemployment benefits. despite reservations democrat in the house say they will not block the whole bill. >>> the a & p grocery store has filed for ban