it's already been quite a winter. we got it started in a big way december 19th. remember that saturday snowstorm that dumped 16 plus inches of snow on us? seemed like some of it was still on the ground when we were hit with another weekend storm. the january 30th system dropped six inches here. last night was another four inches of snow in town. and we're not out of the woods yet. bob ryan is in the storm center to tell us what to expect next. >> not by a long shot. i'm afraid it's looking more and more likely that this will be a very, very big snowstorm for the washington area. i hesitate to use the word "crippling" but it does resemble that. back into february when we had the winds also and all affecting much of the east, already you can see winter storm warning out

around us. winter weather advisories out. here is where the storm is taking shape. it's in texas, but already drawing in a lot of ocean moisture, the gulf of mexico. it will take a track toward the coast and from every indication reforming right off the virginia capes. a primeite to bring in a lot of atlantic moisture with a lot of vertical motion also in the atmosphere. i've increased the chances now, almost 90% chance, almost 100% of a major snowstorm. it will be starting here perhaps as early as mid morning, but more likely during the afternoon friday. tomorrow is a fine day. i've increased the chances now to 5 0/50 in some areas to see perhaps more than 24 inches of snow out to the west and north of washington. details when i join you. >> thanks, bob. the threat of another storm sent a lot of people looking for supplies.

others thinking about safe guarding their houses. whe airlines are taking steps to minimize travel headaches. jackie benson has more on the preparations being taken. >> first some new information. virginia's governor declared a state of emergency while homeowners throughout the area scramble to protect their houses from snow damage. >> if you don't clear the snow when you can and it turns into ice, it become as treacherous, dangerous condition. >> reporter: experts say homeowners should check around their house and fix blocked down spouts and drains before more predicted heavy snow leaves them with expensive property damage. >> because we already had snow on the ground, to clear any snow away from doorways. >> reporter: with december's record snowstorm being followed so closely by predictions of another mammoth snowfall, many homeowners are concerned their roof can't take it ymore.

>> there is nothing to worry about. if your home has been built to code and using standard practices of construction, the roof is designed to hold that weight. >> reporter: as for shoveling snow off the roof -- >> in this area with what we are expecting to get, there is no need to do it. it's dangerous and there are way too many risks of falling. i don't recommend it whatsoever. >> reporter: that is a good thing. in some places, shovels are getting tough to find. at hardware city in kengsington, maryland, the shelves were empty of snow shovels. many have literally worn out their snow shovels this winter or want to add a backup. >> this is the second shovel phenomenon. we are out of shovels. we sold out two days ago. >> reporter: airlines are issuing advisories for the weekend. us airways and united are waves fees ahead of the storm.

if you are planning a trip out of town, hopefully to somewhere warm and snow-free, tomorrow looks like it will be the best day. back to you. >> thank you, jackie. crews started pretreating roads in the district tonight to try to get ahead of this weekend's storm. mayor adrian fenty said money concerns will not stop the full arsenal from keeping streets safe. >> we definitely will go over budget for this year, but we will have whatever resources are necessary. >> the mayor says money may be shifted to help. there is also federal funding available to help pay for snow emergencies. the parts at the center of toyota's massive recalls are arriving at dealershipes a cross the washington area tonight, but it may be a while before all toyota owners can get their gas pedals fixed. there's taking a toll on the

company and its employees. craig melvin has more on this story. >> reporter: here it is. this is what drivers, dealers and toyota have been waiting on. mechanics can probably get it in in about 30 minutes and get on the pedals about 30 minutes. some local dealerships will start tomorrow. such a small fix for what's become one of the biggest problems in the history of toyota. >> that will be installed into the pedal and that will correct the friction problem. >> reporter: fitzgerald is one of the largest area deerships. wednesday they received 100 of these reenforcement plates and are expecting thousands more and they can't get here fast enough. they've gotten so many calls from worried toyota drivers, they set up a phone bank to answer them. they hired additional staff to repair the gas pedals and spent much of the day trainingthem. >> the parts quantity coming in every day will be add gate to

the customer demand coming in the door. >> reporter: wednesday on capitol hill, the country's transportations that clear. >> if anybody owns one of these vehicles stop driving it. take it to toyota dealer. >> reporter: the ought other maker helps this fix helps their sliding stock. last wednesday stock shield for $87 a share. today nearly $73, down 15% in a week. >> we are not selling like we were before this negative press came out. >> reporter: this sales manager says while some customers are confused, scared and angry. toyota salesmen are feeling it. >> we have other cars to sell, as well. >> reporter: allison is a loyal toyota customer who drive as rav4. she believes the cars are find and the brand will be, too. >> if we look at what tylenol

did in the '80s, i think they'll be okay. >> reporter: late today, another possible problem for toyota. there have been about 100 reports that there is something wrong with the brakes on the prius. they are investigating those claims. craig melvin, news4. >> thank you. a group of ten americans could learn as early as tomorrow whether a judge in haiti will charge them with child trafficking. the group is being held in a jail in port-au-prince. the missionaries from idaho were stopped in the process of moving 33 haitian children to an orphanage. secretary of state hillary clinton made her first comments about the case calling it unfortunate. a poster who says he gave the group permission to move the children says they acted with a good heart but didn't complete the required paperwork. president obama's chief of

staff apologized to the head of special olympics for using the word "retarded" to describe a liberal activist. rahm emanuel has joined an effort to remove that word from everyday speech. he made the comment last year. today he met with tim shriver, ceo of the special olympics. shriver said emanuel told him he was sorry for the pain his remark caused people living with disabilities. still ahead, a deadly shark attack in florida. firefighters in the district rushed into an apartment filled with smoke and carried out three young children. >> a final good-bye to tai shan. >> winter olympics is trucking snow in. >> what's ahead in sports? >> wizards trying to get back on track. virginia cavaliers corralled the wolfpack in theouth florida bulls thunder into verizon

center.

a man attacked by sharks along the south coast of florida died. he was kite boarding in an unguarded area near west palm beach when attacked. a group of sharks encircled the man. he was reportedly bitten several times and was unconscious when pulled out of the water. he later died at the hospital. the death of a virginia tech student was officially ruled today a homicide. the state medical examiner released the finding, but did not reveal the cause of death. morgan harrington's body was found last week on a farm not far from the arena at the university of virginia where she was last seen in october. she was attending a concert when

separated from friends. no arrest made. >> in this incident, it was not a cliche. >> ultimately that's the best outcome i could have asked for today. >> those folks are talking about the rescue of three young children by firefighters from a smoke-filled home in the district. those children remain in critical condition. they were asleep in a second floor condo on naylor road southeast when the fire broke out. the father left for work leaving a neighbor to check on the children who were home alone. surveillance video shows the neighbor kiss covering the fire. she called 911 and firefighters were on the scene within two minutes to rescue the children. coming up tonight, a retired homicide detective who cannot get the unsolved cases out of his head. he is back on the job.

>> bob has more on another big one headed our way for the weekend. >> later, we'll tell you why th

cold cases can haunt law officials when they retire. one official in montgomery county is volunteering two days a week in an effort to provide

closure for the families of victims. joe krebs has our report. >> reporter: this woman was 32 years old when she was murdered. here body was discovered october 3rd. >> i remember responding here that evening with detective bond. >> reporter: bob phillips was sergeant bob phillips. >> there was blood on the doormat. i remember that. >> reporter: she had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. >> she was not covered up, but she naturally sunk into the english ivy. hard to see. >> reporter: her case is one of dozens that former detective bob phillips has been working for years to close. >> i actually started before i

retired in 2000. took it upon myself to start. >> reporter: after he retired he volunteered to go through old case files. the county got a grant to pay him for two days a week. he looks for patterns in evidence. when he finds something he passes it on to the two active duty cold case detectives. >> our priority with the cold case is the physical evidence. with the dna data bases, the convicted offender data bases, the way they are now, you have a high likelihood of identifying an offender. in quite a few cases where we have identified suspects of these families, they've been appreciative that we didn't forget about it. >> reporter: bob phillips never forgets. >> i guess we have open homicides of elderly women. one in the bethesda area, one in

the silver spring area. those constantly stick in my mind. >> reporter: two women were killed 24 years ago. >> we can't overlook the lyon sisters from 1975, two young girls, 10 and 12 years old, who turned up missing walking home from wheaton plaza. >> reporter: clearly the work for bob phillips is not finished. he may be retired, but he's not quitting. >> i still enjoy it. i still have the desire, the energy. i have no thoughts at this point about not doing it. >> reporter: joe krebs, news4, washington. it's hard to think about a snow shortage with all the snow we are seeing, but that's exactly the case they've got in vancouver right now where there isn't enough snow on whistler mountain, home to the olympics

ski and snowboard competition. organizers are trucking the snow in. it's being loaded on to trucks 150 miles away. hauling snow wasn't in the olympic budget and it's proven to be very expensive. same pattern. it's interesting we get an el nino tends to be warm and wet, but not snowy in the northwest and south. here we are, more snow coming our way. outside tonight, no pocket of melting continues. as it will tomorrow. tomorrow is a delightful day. a lot of sunshine. sort of a weather-maker kind of day. old-timers of new england, we call it. our current temperature here in washington is 33 degrees. 33 around washington. teens to our north. there is the cold air. there is the warm air. look at brownsville. 65 degrees right now.

there are watches going up now. there continue to be as we go through tomorrow, around us, winter weather advisories in the northern plains. there is the storm maker right now. getting its act together. heavy rain falling through parts of texas. this is the rain around dallas. that is rain in oklahoma city. look at the moisture, yellows coming into new orleans. dew point into the 60s in some areas. that's almost some of that really springtime kind of moisture coming in, but nothing around us, nor will there be tomorrow. overnight tonight, we've got the clouds in on us. those clouds will move out dpradly as we go through the nighttime hours. tomorrow, high pressure coming in. drier air. we may see clouds in the morning, a lot of sunshine. here comes that storm as we go through tomorrow. we'll begin to see some increasing clouds. there you can see that band of precipitation moves into the cold air. snow breaks out by friday midday

into southwestern virginia. it will probably be around us as we get into the friday evening rush hour. that storm as it moves through georgia but off the north carolina coast friday night and saturday from every indication does become a major, major storm. everything coming together with terrific vertical velocities. the cold air over us. even you folks into southern maryland, while that boundary of sleet, snow will be hard to pin down until we get closer could be a really big snow producer once again into southern maryland, too. again, you will be much closer to that boundary. more melting going on tomorrow. temperatures into the low 40s with the sunshine. then the major storm comes in and everything is continuing to look like it will be something that is really going to have a major impact here. with the winds increasing, the heaviest snows midnight friday until mid morning saturday.

then it still lingers on a little bit into late saturday. with the pattern we have, we could be looking at another smaller storm but more snow on tuesday. potential is there for 12 inches to more than 18 ines. that right now would be the general thing to plan on. >> talking about the heavier snow, not that powdery light stuff? >> not what we had last saturday. this would be heavier and equivalent to the december snowstorm in its magnitude, but more winds. >> thank you, bob. coming up, a surprising fireworks display for people all over the city. >> tai shan's big move to china.

i don't want to say completely unexpected, but i think a lot of hoyas fans are shocked by the outcome of this game. when georgetown meets south florida in the biggest win in school history, you know things did to the bode well for the hoyas. just four days after beating duke, georgetown ran into a buzz saw in the bulls. they slowly stuck with it. jack the bulldog knew it. first half, tied at 12-12. working off the screen. hoyas looking good here. austin freeman hits the three and fouled at the four-point play. georgetown up by nine at halftime. the second half an entirely different story. austin freeman sloppy with the ball. this kid is legit. he is averaging 35 over the four-game winning streak for the

bulls. more stampeding from the bulls. oh, wow. great pass on the alley-oop. finish by mike mercer. they come back from 11 points down to the bulls to stun the hoyas. >> we are going to go back and watch the tape and see what we can improve. that's the same answer as far as everything. >> i'm amazed at our team. this is the best win in our school history in basketball. to beat an outstanding team like georgetown, i have no idea if they were enjoying duke or looking at villanova, i have no idea. >> stan heath a happy man tonight. gw falls to charlotte. mason loses to georgia state snapping their seven-game winning streak. in charlottesville, uva regains its share of first place after completing the season sweep of nc state.

lots to be happy about in charlottesville. first half down by six. driving and dishing to mike scott for the dunk. that is pretty. uva up by seven off the nc state miss. scramble for the loose ball. what a dunk that was. that was sweet. cavaliers get the win 59-47. they are in a first-place tie with duke in the acc. almost exactly two weeks away from the nba trade deadline, that is when you can sure that wizards' president ernie grunfeld will make serious changes to the roster. wizards have the second worst record in the eastern conference. thank goodness for the nets. losing at madison square garden tonight are the wizards. spike lee in the house. second quarter, wilson chandler turns it over.

earl boykins gets it ahead to nick young. he has 15 points. that led the wizards. four quarter, another collapse. nate robinson makes his way through there. he led the knicks 23. flip saunders puzzled. they loseagain. >> not pretty. thanks. a couple celebrat

washington's favorite panda is spending his last night in the united states. tai shan will be sent to china tomorrow.

today was the last day to catch a glimpse of the 5-year-old. tai shan seems to be oblivious to the admirers. his mother and father are both due to return to china the end of this year. >> fireworks at national park caught a lot of people by surprise. the nationals wanted to determine the best spot to send off fireworks for next season's friday night fireworks series. police and fire officials were on hand. last summer fireworks were temporarily suspended when some of the

this couple has been married 80 years. they first met in florida in 1928. maddie atkins is the older of the two. she is 103. she says the key to marital success is to treat your husband like you want him to treat you and make sure you have two rolling pins, one for the dough and one for his head. ni