Wednesday has brought some big-time weather woes with it, this leap day Feb. 29th.
Morning, friend. Let's jump in:
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When it comes to weather hot spots take your pick today:

There's a kick-butt storm over places like Minnesota that Bob says: "has everything today."
There are tornado concerns right now in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee.
(See where these could crescendo this afternoon.)
And:
A blizzard may hit some of your fellow viewers starting in Minnesota, with the winter storm warnings extending all the way to New York and Boston.
Ummmm. Could I just have some sun please? Wow!
You can bet we will be all over this.
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Tune in for the video we are getting in right now from apparent tornado outbreaks overnight:
In Missouri, the path is 6 to 7 miles long in one county.
So, bottom line:
Lots of damage and some injuries - and it’s not over yet.
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You can hear the confusion and fear in the voices on newly-released 9-1-1 calls from the Ohio high school shooting.
We’ll have those on the show, as 3 students have now passed away at the hands allegedly of a fellow student.
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Our Country Votes:
Mitt Romney wins.
It was a decisive win in Arizona.
He won in Michigan too. But check out how close Rick Santorum was in Romney’s home state.
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Now the focus goes to Super Tuesday, and you'll see right here how high the stakes are.
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What’s in a number? The Dow closes over 13,000 for the first time since 2008. Will this restore confidence on Wall Street and Main Street?
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Watch your pictures! A loophole supposedly gives app developers access to all the photos on your iPhone! Mommy!
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More on those stories this morning. I've been waiting to read your tweets on Twitter. I'm @RobinMeade there.

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras

Winter '11-'12: "I'm not dead yet!"

A major storm is churning out the heavy snow and rain across the Four Corners this morning, and it is about to eject it's energy into the Plains and Upper MW. The storm itself is over Utah now and should end up centered over Nebraska by this afternoon. A strong jet stream south of the surface storm will help to add energy and tighten up the circulation allowing it to strengthen into a blizzard maker. Winds late this afternoon will get over 40 mph, the snow/sleet will pick up in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Eastern Minnesota.

The snow will total 6-12 inches by tomorrow morning and with a little extra juice off of Lake Superior, the Minnesota arrowhead may get close to a foot and a half of the stuff. It’s on to the Northeast by tomorrow afternoon, with winter storm watches posted in parts of New England.

Below the winter part of the storm is some warm air. Severe storms will fire up late this afternoon in the Mid Mississippi valley. Some of these could produce tornadoes in Arkansas and Missouri late today as the warm and humid air meets up with the jet stream and a dry line.

See you out there starting at 6am ET on HLN.

*Follow HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Blizzard • Weather

Robin's ramblings for today:
Big jewelry only looks gaudy on OTHER women.
So true isn't it?
You ready for Tuesday? Because it’s coming full steam ahead.
So let's peek at what's waiting for you when you join us today:

New information about the student suspected of opening fire on a school cafeteria in northeastern Ohio, killing two students and injuring three others.
His family says he has impressive grades and has been doubling up on classes to graduate early.
But do descriptions from his fellow classmates match that?
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Survivors of the attack in Chardon, Ohio are giving new accounts about the surreal scene of firecracker sounds and kids running to hide.
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It was a wild night at the track. While you were sleeping, the Daytona 500 finally finished after a 2-hour FIRE DELAY.
Check out the winning moments.
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The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to lie?!
Why would that be? We’ll turn to the scientific types for answers.
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Our Country Votes: It's primary day in Michigan and Arizona. In Michigan, it looks like a dead heat between Romney and Santorum.
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We are on blizzard watch today: for the upper plains it could go from bad to worse when this system gets its legs today.
Bob will show you where the blizzard watches, blizzard warnings, and all other weather woes are landing today.
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Another hike in gas prices:
They've gone up 21 straight days as of this morning.
And we’re not talking fractions of a penny overnight.
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That story and others are fresh from the oven when you join us.

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras

Did ya stay up for the Oscars?
If you didn't, no worries: we have ya covered with the big moments right here.
Keep reading...
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On the show on HLN this morning:

Somebody tried to poison U.S. troops at their chow hall in Afghanistan.
And the group claiming responsibility says it has to do with the mistaken disposal of holy books.
More on how word got to authorities in time so that no U.S. troops were poisoned.
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Did you guess it?
The big winner at the Oscars was the black and white silent film, "The Artist."
Join us for the biggest moments, like Meryl Streep acknowledging that a lot of people were probably thinking "her again?!" when she won.
And get this:
We have two folks you know from Project Runway to dish about the gowns you will and won't be seeing copied in time for the prom. Fascinating!
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Yes, apparently there was a Sasha Baron Cohen moment for the Oscars, even thought they tried to make sure there wouldn’t be.
Check it out.
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With a 19th day of gas price increases...wonder how soon $4 or $5 gas will be the norm?
I can tell you this: We are up 30 cents from a month ago. A month!
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How is the weather looking in Florida today? Because for the first time ever, the Daytona 500 was postponed a day because of rain.
Tune in to Morning Express with me, Robin Meade, for Bob’s pinpoint outlook on this afternoon’s forecast. Hopefully, they can race!
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A World War 2 vet says no one helped him as he was carjacked in broad daylight, and had to crawl on his hands and knees to get help.
And surveillance video backs up what he says.
Watch the tape with us to see what you would have done.
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Airlines raise fares again.
By how much?
On HLN, we’ll have that.
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Thanks and see ya then.

In case you missed it:

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras

Fridays are so busy in my world! How about you?
In the news:
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No relief at the pump this morning.
Tell us about the prices in your neck of the woods!
We will also look at what the President is saying about what we can do.
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The man accused of being 'the honeymoon killer' had his murder case thrown out of court.
That's even though prosecutors say he talked about life insurance.
so where does it leave the bride's family??

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Those new glow-in-the-dark Nike sneakers are out, as of this morning.
But you should see how police in riot gear had to break up one angry crowd!
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Are you the kind who doesn’t like diet drinks. but you don’t want all the calories of the leaded stuff?
How about a mid-calorie fizz?
Apparently one of the big soda makers is jumpin' into that.
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Big weekend – Academy Awards and the Daytona 500 On the red carpet: hear from the nominees about who they think they can take in the fight for an Oscar. Cute.
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And the video you’ll be talking about all day -- a pharmacist uses pepper spray to scare away a would-be-robber - but it wasn’t people pepper spray.
It was BEAR pepper spray.

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras • Uncategorized

A storm jumping off the Rocky Mountains and into the Plains today will be a pretty big deal. Spring-like temperatures on the East and South side, Winter weather on the North. This storm has more confusion than the cast of ‘Jersey Shore’ in a Calculus class. It already has the snow going in the Dakotas and Iowa with winter storm warnings posted, looking for 4-8” of snow there today. Next up is the Chicago metro area for this afternoon. It will begin as rain later and then switch over to snow in the evening hours, and pick up in intensity. 6-10” is what I am thinking by tomorrow am, along with some thunder in the mix there. Lower Michigan and into Detroit will see the same thing happen, just a few hours later.

Under this storm the air will heat up for February. I’m looking at temps 15-20 degrees above the average from the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic Ocean. With this warmth and humidity boosting north from the Gulf, severe storms will develop in the Ohio valley to Georgia this evening and overnight tonight. Isolated tornadoes are a possibility here.

Windy conditions are back for the almost everybody East of the Rockies, disrupting air travel.

Dynamic weather over the next 36 hours!

*Follow HLN Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Weather

You have got to see this video... Para-gliding is an extreme sport where daredevils use just the wind and a specially modified parachute to glide wherever they want to go. It's the closest thing to flying you're ever gonna see!! Jean-Baptiste Chandelier has been paragliding since 2004... Take a look at one of his amazing videos below:

Urban Side from Jean-Baptiste Chandelier JB prod on Vimeo.

Follow Morning Express sports anchor Carlos Diaz on twitter: @CarlosHLN

Posted by: Sports Anchor Carlos Diaz
Filed under: Sports

Morning... thursday is connected to friday. And let's be grateful for that!
Come join us in your jammies and all as you get ready this morning:
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Brand new:

A guilty verdict for the former college lacrosse player, accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Yeardley Love.
And, jurors already decided how long they think George Huguely should be behind bars.
You'll hear how her family was able to make the courtroom understand their pain, at the loss of a daughter, at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.
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The four republican candidates sat at a table at this latest debate.
But being at arms length from each other wasn't the only thing that was different.
See how they answered questions regarding the issues most important to you.
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Who's been sleeping in your bed?
Apparently more adults than you might think admit to sleeping with a teddy bear.
But why?
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Look for the apps you download to be clear about their privacy policies soon.
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Police in one Texas town set up a trap to catch a thief – who was stealing food out of the refrigerator...
And you'll probably be surprised by who they caught!
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See you!

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras

Severe storms have stayed away from the South over the last few weeks, but like a crazy rant from Charlie Sheen reemerging, it's always just a matter of time. A juicy air mass is edging northward from the Gulf Of Mexico early today will set the groundwork for severe storms to develop later this afternoon in northern Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina today. Some energy from a large scale trough will get the instability going this afternoon and a warm front lifting in the vicinity will be the trigger for the storms. I think the main threat today will be damaging wind gusts, but with some speed shear in the mix we could see an isolated tornado late today too.

The other story is the constant barrage of wind, rain and snow from the Northwest into the Rockies. The jet stream is positioned right over the area allowing for Pacific moisture to slide into the area. Heavy snow in the Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado mountains will pile up to around 10-20 inches, and the winds will scream to 80 mph at times. It'll be a bumpy ride in a plane over the Rockies today, no doubt.

Just a heads up for you!

Follow HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen. Sample tweet:

Anybody giving stuff up for Lent? At first I thought 'coffee'. impossible. So, the cream in my coffee instead. And throwing beads.

— Bob Van Dillen (@BobVanDillen) February 21, 2012

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Weather

Morning team! Just had a thought. we all have so much for which to be grateful. Maybe it's material comforts, maybe it's our abilities, or maybe today it's something as taken for granted as your sense of hearing. No matter the situation... isn't there so much in life for which to say "thanks"?

I'm grateful for so many things, including our team that prepares the news with you in mind, and... you! Yepper I'm so thankful you start your day here.
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This morning:
New from overnight:
An american embassy is on lockdown after violent protests outside.
It comes even though apologies went out over the handling of a holy book...
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New in syria:
The violence in the city of homs has claimed two of the few voices getting info from inside... to the outside world.
Now, will the death of two western journalists further cut off the world from what's happening in syria?
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Get out the gloves.
It's been like 27 days since the last Republican debate... but that ends tonight!
But this debate stands to be vastly different from the ones preceding it:
It’s the first time rick santorum comes to the debate as the one to topple.
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They cut off Adele at the brit awards?
She's like the biggest vocalist and grammy winner for them right now... yet the producers of the awards show there cuts her off.
Well you'd think Adele had lost her voice again... because she went to... well... let's call it a certain sign language.
NOW who's rollin' in the deep?
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Mike Tyson is going to host a one man show in vegas, you gotta hear this one.
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The stock market rises...
And President Obama sings the blues... really, he's singing again
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Ha! see u soon.

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras