go as low as 1500 feet. this does include the hills of the north bay, the east bay and also for the south bay. now as i take the watches and warnings off, which you'll notice on the radar, widespread coverage of rainfall from the north to the south bay. we're only picking up a little rain/snow mix starting to occur across mt. hamilton. for those in the northay doing traveling on 101, that's where it is coming down the heaviest. and in throughout napa and sonoma valley. it looks like a pretty good chance for saturday morning, snow flakes, a wintery mix in san francisco, a 74% chance. livermore, a 70% chance and san jose, 68. new flakes touching ground would abere ard. record setting temperatures cong our way.we

'll talk about 20s and 30s and whe wivrrho arrive and who will have the best chance and heaviest amounts of snow coming up. very well, jeff. as jeff mentioned, snow or not, it is going to be cold. in some places dangerously so. the freezing weather applies to pets and pipes over the next 24 hours. people are worried about their cats and their cabernet. those vineyards are very susceptible tracy. >> reporter: not all vineyard operators are really worried about the bill chill. for some of them, their vines are weeks away from showing any sign of growth. but right now is a terrible time for vineyards that aren't on flat land like this one. >> see that? so if they get frozen, they'll be completely brown in two days. and just be dead.

>> reporter: al wagner is concerned about segments of the vineyard because of how dry the soil gets on the hillside the vines that bloom tend to bud early. this is called bud break. >> the buds as they push out of the caps are susceptible to freeze damage. >> reporter: the temperatures could be enough to kill the crop. 60 acres of hillside vines. crews are working to prune the buds and hold off growth, but he doesn't know if it will work. >> all you can do is cross your fingers? >> yep and have next couple of sleepness nights. >> reporter: small animal hospital veterinarian kelly cunningham says this is the way all cats and dogs should spend cold nights, inside a warm home. >> it's necessary to come inside. anything less than 40 degrees could be dangerous for them. >> reporter: they don't have to look as fashionable as carlos the cat but an extra blanket or heating pad could make a difference. if your regular routine is to

leave your pet outside when you go to work, change your routine. >> their water can freeze and they can be left without water all day. two, a lot of those guys can get cold feet. their feet can sometimes even get frost bitten. >> reporter: now, over here, you can see the irrigation system for this particular vineyard. this time of year, most of the vineyards actually manage to dump out all of the water in the system to avoid frozen pipes and broken valves. he managed to do that in case any of the vineyard operators who didn't might be facing big problems coming up. nbc bay area news. we can certainly see it's raining in napa tonight. and we want to see your weather pictures. you can e-mail photos to weather pic at nbc area.com or you can join our facebook page to post

pictures. >> a missing man and evasive wife and new brick patio in the backyard. police in novato say it adds up to a possible murder case. relatives are talking about the couple in question. >> reporter: neighbors tell me they haven't seen dale smith for a month. the next door neighbor filed a missing person's report because his wife evelyn started acting strangely. she was vague about his whereabouts and donated his truck to a local veteran's group because she said, quote, dale always used to support the veterans. now if you look behind me, investigators are in the process of removing a body from the smith's home. >> this is just freaky. i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: in this quiet novato neighborhood, a body is discovered in the backyard of

dale and evelyn smith's home. >> it's just sad. it's just sad. >> reporter: no one has seen 74-year-old dale smith for months. one neighbor even says by the end of september, his wife evelyn started referring to him in the past tense. >> she didn't neighbor with anybody really, kind of kept to herself and walked the door four or five times a day around the court. never really talked to anybody. but just seemed a little odd always. >> reporter: the smith's next door neighbor filed a missing persons report two weeks ago telling police she grew even more suspicious after evelyn built a barbecue pit in her backyard but never barbecued. >> looks like it's 4 feet down. >> reporter: a team of fbi agents and novato police officers found the body beneath the barbecue pit and questioned evelyn. >> she didn't provide any location. >> she's very concerned about this. >> reporter: the 55-year-old has hired an attorney and hasn't

been home since her house turned into a crime scene. >> this is a pending investigation right now. >> reporter: and while authorities investigate, dale's family wonders what happened to him. his sister contacted nbc bay area news saying, we hope his cause of death can be positively determined and if evelyn was involved, that justice be served. if she was not involved in his death, she has still broken laws regarding the reporting of a death. and neighbors tell me that dale smith had been battling cancer for years and had been in poor health. investigators just attained a search warrant and they are inside the smith home looking for clues. they say the body could be removed in the next couple of hours. it will then be taken to the coroner's office and an autopsy will be performed. live, elise kirchner. nbc bay area news. walnut creek police say they are investigating a break-in at the home of one of teenagers who

drowned in a canal accident last weekend. the home of matthew miller was ransacked while his family was away from the house making funeral arrangements. miller and his best friend, 17-year-old gavin powell took an inflatable raft in a canal on saturday and rescue crews found their bodies the next day. the california public utilities commission is looking into regulations and penalties in connection with the natural gas pipe lines prompted by last september's explosion in san bru bruno. the commission will start the process of setting new rules for the safe and reliable operations of pipelines in california. a federal investigation into pg&e's record keeping up to the san bruno blast found the utility did not keep adequate records and had no way to verify the condition of many gas pipelines. one of rule changes would require utilities to report pressure spikes on pipelines.

there will be a series of meetings in san bruno. the chauncey bailey trial will stay in alameda county. lawyers argue that the two men associated with the black muslim bakery couldn't get a fair trial because of widespread publicity. they say the killing was ordered because the writer was going to expose the bankruptcy. they are charged with two other murders. a deal for the livermore mom accused of having sex with two teenage boys, she pled no contest to four felony sex charges. 67 other charges against her will be dropped. hobbs will be sentenced to five years in state prison. when she gets out, she could face ten years of parole and will have to register as a sex offender. hobbs was arrested after the mother of one of boys reported finding a nude photograph of

hubs on the cell phone. she is the mother of three children herself. governor jerry brown was making rounds at budget commit hearings, ez leaning on democrats to cut on spending and criticizing republicans for signing no tax pledges. both sides should allow voters to weigh in. >> this is drastic stuff. this is not garden variety. i believe there's a reason why in the recent past you have not been able to get an honest budget, because it's too painful. and it's so painful that i don't think you want to do it on your own. let's check in with the people and hear what they have to say. >> it has been a long time. some estimate as long as 40 years perhaps since the governor of california has come before the legislature to try to convince lawmakers to pass a budget that closes a budget shortfall. the state has a $26 billion gap to fill. plus, still ahead at 5:00, the terror plot that may have targeted a former president. coming up, they are supposed

to be a gate way to universities, but a new report on bay area community colleges shows they may be anything but. plus, they may have been with you for years, but new bay area technology is helping both men and women get rid of those varicose veins on your lunch break. a wild winter blast currently moving into the bay area. winter weather advisories are up for the hills of the east. the south and north bay and it's a cold rain right now. it's cohink it's cold now, wait ldow, wait until you see what we have coming your way this weekend. it's unbelievable.

there are new revelations

tonight over a possible terror plot after an arrest in texas. this story is making headlines across the country and around the world. nbc bay area's raj math tha is here to fill us in. >> the fbi has found concrete evidence, notebooks belonging to a college student which indicate he's been planning a personal jihad for the past several years. the 20-year-old is accused of planting u.s. bomb attacks, fbi agents arrested kma cha lead aldawsari, charged with attempted use of weapons of mass destruction after ordering unusual amounts of chemicals from a company in north carolina. suspicious about the order, the company contacted the fbi. court papers say aldawsari identified dams in california and colorado as attempted targets along with the dallas home of former president george

w. bush. booster ignition, finali finalistoff of "discovery." nearly three decades of service, this is the most traveled space craft in history. six astronauts were aboard, went up on the 11-day mission to deliver supplies to the international space station and drop off a humanoid robot. "discovery" will likely end up in the smithsonian after the mission and replaced by two other spacecrafts, "endeavor" and "atlantis." >> there is civil war in libya. rebels rule the east while moammar gadhafi controls the capital in the west. but for how much longer? by phone today on state tv gadhafi rambled that osama bin laden is behind the revolt and

al qaeda is drugging the young libyan protesters. foreigners, including a cousin of mine who managed to get out of tripoli are describing a chaotic scene at the airport, people shoving and climbing over each other to get on airplanes. a lot of foreigners have made it out to libya to nearby boats in the island of malta. prices of gasoline around the world continues to rise and airline tickets, the cost of airline tickets will also rise. back to you, jessica. typing our health watch, they are bumpy and bulging and blue. we're talking about varicose veins, while you may have lived with them for years, new technology is helping patients get rid of them in just minutes. maryann tells us about this and it's a lunchtime treatment. >> it is, believe it or not. traditionally patients used to turn to vein stripping to get rid of unsightly veins but that meant a lot of swelling and a day or two in the hospital. now doctors are using radio

frequency to seal up painful varicose vein. the procedure is not just women who are benefitting. >> reporter: bill played for the new york yankees when they won the world series. nicknamed big bill he also played for the red sox and other teams. lately the former outfielder's legs aren't what they used to be. >> i think my legs were injured because of the sports that i was playing, football and baseball. >> reporter: bill's varicose veins disrupted his blood circulation making it more difficult to walk. he recently underwent the venous closure procedure. >> this is a procedure is a minimally invasive procedure which is essentially painless. can be done in 20 to 30 minutes and patients go home the same day. >> reporter: unlike painful vein stripping requiring anesthesia,

this is done during lunch. a surgeon closes the big veins causing the unsightly bulges. >> the radio frequency of the catheter seals the veins shut. >> reporter: this is a photo of a patient's leg before the procedure. you can see the dramatic difference one week later. once the dysfunctional large vein is sealed, blood can flow more effectively through the other existing veins helping to improve patient's circulation, without major down time. >> the procedure took a little over a half hour. and i had no pain. >> reporter: bill sen na hopes once it heals, he'll be able to call this treatment a major leak success. that was marianne favro. it is a little wet and it's about to get chilly.

>> jeff? >> some people are saying, rain, huh? two weeks ago we had record setting heat. a very cold rain from the north bay all the way down to the south bay. if you're doing any traveling on the highways or the bridges, it is extremely slick out there. we already saw the crash on the bay bridge earlier this afternoon. you want to take it extra slow folks with the cold rain, plenty of slick spots and some of the heaviest rainfall has been coming from san rafael across the golden gate bridge into san francisco over the past two hours. we take you down here to the south bay. snow starting throughout the mt. hamilton region as we are expecting sierra size snow totals across parts of the south bay. that's right. winter weather advisories here for the north bay hills, 2,000 feet and above, looking at 2 to 4 inches give or take there. for the east and south bay hills, generally 2 to 4 inches at this point. meanwhile, it's cold out there. we have plenty of 40s and low 50s.

look at this, isolated pockets right now in santa rosa. if you thought it is cold today, it will get colder. record-setting cold by this weekend. as we head into tomorrow, we're looking at rain and a wintry mix and wind at times as the cold front continues to push down to the south with the coldest air we have seen in years in some cases. as we head throughout friday, temperatures in the 40s with a mix of rain and some snow and throughout saturday a.m., that is the best chance for some snow flakes at sea level. let's look at the future cast to 11:00 p.m. rainfall stays consistent. that is the case right through 6:00 a.m. at this point and then as we head throughout 11:00 a.m. on friday, isolated pockets of rainfall. as we head throughout friday afternoon and evening, that's when we'll start to see the snow levels really begin to bottom out. who will get the most snow? right now mt. hamilton, 6 to 9

inches and los gatos for saturday morning. saturday morning our future cast models picking up on a wintry mix throughout the east bay. anywhere near the highway 84 and vineyard avenue corridor, look for the chance of snowfall saturday morning. other percentages for saturday morning for snowflakes, san francisco, yes, 74%. san jose, 68. a little bit less in napa. not looking at much in the way of accumulations, but if you hold out your hand you might get a snowflake in there and it might be interesting for you. temperatures will struggle to get into the mid-40s at this point as we'll go with 44 in dublin, 46 in livermore. san francisco, well, 15 degrees cooler than you should be for this time of the year. and that's the case over here towards concord and fairfield. and right up to the north bay as well as temperatures will be in the low to mid-40s.

more on the weather channel on cable any time and on the seven-day forecast, a wintry mix possible for tomorrow. but the best chance of sea level snow will be saturday morning from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 in the morning. sea level, the lowest level. then sunday and monday, we dry out and get sun. >> look at that. 74% chance in san francisco. i like our chances. they are not bad. >> jeff, thank you very much. >> it will be fun to watch. still ahead at 5:00, how much would you pay for a really nice handbag? coming up, see what you need to buy the most expensive purse in the world. repares for changes aattention.a year after the death of one of its trainers. we're back in two. re

it's a bit disconcerting but a new report finds most of the students who seek a degree from bay area community colleges

don't actually end up getting one. a new report published by sa sacramento state shows only 31% get a degree and only 23% transfer to a four-year school and 28% of white students transferred and more than twice the rate of latino students. bay area numbers are similar to the state average. exactly one year after one of the trainers was killed by a whale, seaworld is prepared to put the trainers back in the water. today marks the anniversary by the trainer drowned by an or ca. they will begin limited work starting with small medical pools. they say spending millions of dollars on safety upgrades, including under water vehicles whales withul psing isbee it lights and noises. we'll be right back with the world's most expensive purse.

okay, check it out. you're looking at the world's most expensive purse. price tag, almost $4 million. it is certainly bedazzled. encrusted with pink and yellow diamonds, inspired by fairy tales. the dubai based jewelry design house has created bras made of diamonds, including the ones seen on the victoria's secret models. so far no word on if anyone has purchased the purse. >> just a tiny bit out of my price range. >> the first person that pays for the latte with a credit card and not cash. >> at 6:00, new revelations about the drug agent arrested in

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