tonight your flowers may freeze. >> i don't like the cold that much and i don't think my orchids will like the cold that much. >> reporter: with freezing cold temperatures on tap, the folks at float nursery in the north bay are bringing some plants indoors. and for the frost-prone plants that must stay outside -- >> you want to cover everything. >> reporter: a special spray and a frost blanket are a must. >> frost damage can, you know, some plants, depending upon the amount of damage, some plants don't survive. to a lesser degree they won't be as attractive for a while. >> reporter: area plumbers are busy covering pipes. they say a little foam insulation and a few zip ties will prevent big headaches once the frost hits. >> without that, the pipe can freeze, the water inside the pipe, and it expands and will split the pipe and you'll have a leak in the middle of the night.

>> reporter: and just because fido has fur doesn't mean he doesn't need help staying warm. vets say pets should be kept indoors until the deep freeze passes. >> hypothermia affects dogs and cats just like it can affect people. although the dogs and cats are smart enough to try and get warm within their space, they'll try and huddle down in a little space and get under leaves and so on. it's really not very efficient. so they need our help. >> reporter: now, i'm back here live where you can see i'm watering this plant, i'll give the citrus plants a little water too. that's because nursery experts say that you have to keep all of your plants hydrated because the frost toends move very quickly through dry soil and down to the roots of a plant. again, the time to be taking the precautions is right now because i tell you that chill is already settling in. reporting live in the north bay, i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> all right, thank you very

much. wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago we were talking about this unusual heat that we were having? here's chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. jeff, just how cold is it going to get tonight? >> we are looking at some isolated 20s and certainly some 30s. most a certainly there througho the northst bay where we saw jodijod ic jodism -- jodi hernandez. 50 in san francisco and 51 in san jose. livermore at 50. not only the coldest air of the season but of the year a we are currently under one of the most widespre freezing warnings we have seen in the past year. under that freeze warning the north bay and also the east bayn where temperatures will be dropping into the 20s and the 30s and we have a freeze watch all the way through thursday morning as that is expected to be some of the coldest weather here throughout the bay area. i'll take you from the curre timeline into 11:00 p.m. tonight and we'll see 30s in the north bay and, once again, that is where it is expected to be the

coldest as this arctic blast continues to sink down across the bay areaur here are a few highlights of this extremely cold weather. once again, 30s by 11:00 p.m.ar tonight. coldest air over the north bay and thanksgiving looks to be the coldest. i'll let you know how cold it will get then coming up. >> wow, what a change. all right, jeff, thank you very much. well, snow plows are still working overtime in sierra. so are pg&e workers. high winds knocked down power lines and left hundreds of people without electricity. interstate 80 was also shut down for a time. for drivers, snow chains are the name of the game. one store estimates that it is selling one set of snow chains every minute. we're going to have a live report from the snow zone coming up in just a few minutes. some people are calling it the most hopeful news in the 30 years since the start of the aids epidemic. and a bay area company is in the middle of it. nbc bay area's business and tech reporter scott budman is here with all that news. >> reporter: this could be the

latest weapon in the fight against aids. a pill sold by a bay area company that a study says could lessen the chance of people getting the hiv virus. we talked to people earlier today as the news came out. from the biotech lab to san francisco's lgbt center, the news spread quickly. >> these are very exciting times for hiv prevention. >> reporter: the drug truvata already used to treat aids may help protect gay men from getting the virus in the first place. >> from a scientific point of view and from a public health prevention point of view, i think it's just good news flat out. yeah. it's pretty impressive. >> reporter: the studies show if taken faithfully cut the risk of hiv infection by up to 73%. it's the latest good news to come from foster city-based gillead science, which sells truvata and has been fighting

aids for years. >> we're very gratified by the results of the study and we certainly hope that if the drug is eventually used for this purpose, that it can help significantly reduce the risk of acquiring hiv infection in high-risk patient populations and maybe help stem the tide of the hiv epidemic. >> reporter: the centers for disease control and prevention wander more research needs to be done and the pills should not take the place of common sense. but a potentially huge piece of the prevention puzzle may soon be in place. >> having this new tool for hiv prevention just tells us a world without aids is very close. >> reporter: a big barrier here is cost. the pills cost from 5 to $14,000 a year to take. they have programs in place in developing nations to cut those costs down to 39 cents a day. they can expect pressure from advocacy groups here in the u.s. to bring those costs down

domestically as well. this can help gay men. why only gay men? that's the group that's been studied so far. we're told studies involving other groups are taking place as well. lisa. >> thanks, scott. the white house says president obama is outraged about north korea's artillery attack on a south korean island. at least two people were killed and ape others injured. north korea fired onto the island near a disputed border area after warning the south to stop military drills. that is the most dramatic confrontation between the two countries since the end of the korean war. steven bozworth arrived in beijing today where he strongly condemned north korea's actions, but he said the u.s. is still committed to negotiate with the communist nation. >> we strongly believe that a multi lateral diplomatic approach is the only way to realistically resolve these problems. we are very committed to continue to work at that in

every way possible. >> the u.n. and china are siding with the u.s. and have called for calm by all parties. a san francisco college student whose deportation was temporarily halted by senator dianne feinstein is back in the bay area and speaking out about his experience. 20-year-old steven lee returned to san francisco this weekend after spending months in a detention facility in arizona. feinstein intervened last week when immigration officials were just days away from putting lee on a plane to peru where he has no family or friends. now the city college of san francisco student, lee was born in peru after his parents fled china and the family moved to the bay area eight years ago. customs agents showed up at his home in september and arrested him. >> i couldn't ask any questions. they didn't tell me anything. they just searched me. threw me in the car and

handcuffed me. >> lee's lawyer said officially he was only given a 75-day extension but she's hoping i.c.e. customs agents will let him continue his studies. police have issued a so ool alert after a racially motivated attack on a child. on friday morning police say two teens on bikes approached an 11-year-old boy near an elementary school and hit him withn object and told him to go back to his own country. police only have a vague descriptiowiof the suspects. they are asking anyone who might have seen what happened to give them a call. rough weather claimed a life this morning off the sonoma county coast. high seas overturned a small fishing boat, sending five people into thept water. the accident happened about a half mile west of arched rock. the five people aboard that vessel were crabbing recreationally. a line got caught in the propeller, stalled the boat and

waves overturned the vessel. a good samaritan fishing nearby was able to get them to the coast guard. one of the passengers, a 60-year-old man, died shortly after. the four other passengers were treated for hypothermia. we'll update you on the story throughout the night. and this news now coming into nbc bay area news. a jury has found a neighbor guilty of torturing a teen. that teen who was held captive in a central california home for more than a year. it was a jury in san joaquin county which found anthony waders guilty on numerous counts including aggravated mayhem, torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment of 16-year-old kyle ramirez. the teen was held captive in the tracy home of wader's neighbors. ramirez testified that he cut him, lit his pants on fire and beat him unconscious. that happened between the years 2007 and 2008.

we will find more about his sentencing next month. in fact we are understanding now that he will be sentenced in january. well, ahead tonight, trouble in toyland. a leading research group gives his assessment of the risk to your children. a rare occurrence in the medical world. why some patients are finding it so hard to get their prescriptions filled. san francisco says no way to a new campaign by a company. company. what has c ity leaders so upset. it

just before the holiday shopping season begins, a safety report on the most popular toys.

the folks at the federation of public interest research group released their annual trouble in toyland report in washington today. and again, concerns over age-appropriate toys. small parts are among the top safety issues, but more and more experts are worried about hidden dangers. >> we're also concerned, though, about the many thousands of toxic chemicals that are on the market today without premarket testing, without premarket safety testing, without our knowledge of their health effects. >> the group is urging the consumer product safety commission to increase its focus on chemical hazards in toys. san francisco city leaders are fuming over a cigarette marketing campaign that features one of the city's most popular neighborhoods. san francisco city attorney fired off a letter to tobacco company r.j. reynolds telling the company to extinguish its new break free adventure campaign.

the company is selling a limited edition box commemorating the haid ashberry neighborhood. he said it is exploiting the image to target young people. a spokesman says the campaign is marketed toward adult smokers. doctors, pharmacists and patients are struggling with a nationwide prescription drug shortage, which experts say is the worst they have seen in three decades. some chemotherapy patients have been told to reschedule their appointments for when the medication becomes available. the shortages are caused by manufacturers who can't keep up with demand. there are production delays, ingredient shortages and tough competition from other drug makers. not just cancer drugs are involved. hospitals say pain killers like morphine are also scarce. there are 150 drugs on the fda's shortage list. >> i'll tell you what's not scarce today, rain. >> yes. we had it this morning. yeah, the cold air too. there's not going to be a

shortage of that over the next 48 hours. not only the coldest air of the season but all year long here, at least widespread. let's go ahead and look at our winter blast. we had the rainfall, as lisa mention mentioned, this morning. that has all pushed to the south so in its wake what we're finding is plenty of temperatures right now already in the 40s and also some widespread watches and warnings across the bay area. we're still tracking some extremely difficult weather to travel in here across the sierra with anywhere between 3 to 6 inches of additional snowfall for the sierra. that's also where winds are gusting between 40 to 60 miles per hour. that's also where we find nbc bay area's mike who has been weathering the past couple of storms. mike, how is it looking up there right now? >> reporter: well, right now, thank goodness, it's okay, the snow has moved out. let me just show you the kind of snow left behind. look at how light and fluffy that snow is. that's how cold it is right now. the problem with the cold is

that underneath this snow is the snow from last night, which was wet and heavy and very hard packed. that right there is what the highway patrol is saying is going to be a danger not only tonight but into tomorrow for anyone traveling the sierra. it's a danger that we use cell phone technology to show you up close. from spinning tires to just spinning out to spun out right in front of us, this is a look at a sierra travel day so treacherous, one described it this way. >> nasty. definitely nasty. >> reporter: nasty because early this afternoon another cell of heavy, even sideways snow dumped on the sierra. >> this is painful. i'm about to get back in the car. >> reporter: during this snow i took out my droid phone to shoot video and show you what it is like to try to drive on interstate 80. watch. this suv slid, spun and careened. seconds later we witnessed this

car spin on a steep downgrade near whitmore. between the driver's seat we also passed this car stuck in a snow bank and this big rig stuck. >> what's it like driving out there? >> terrible. you've got to watch out for everybody else. >> reporter: but even before accidents like this one, look at this. we drove through near whiteout conditions. >> just snow, it's starting to get a little treacherous. >> reporter: so treacherous, the chp is warning anyone traveling into the sierra this thanksgiving week to be careful and to take it slow. >> so whatever your distance is or you think you're safe, you need to multiply by three times that and maybe you've got a safe distance between you and the car in front of you. >> reporter: now back here live, it's not all bad news. in fact there's a really big positive and that is if you're one of those skiers or snowboarders, look at how light and fluffy that is. that right there is pure powder. that's what could be attracting a lot of people up here this

weekend. but as you heard, the big thing is take it slow because things are very slick on the interstate, even though the interstate is open to all traffic. back to you. >> you're reporting all across the bay area. thanks, mike. our snow warrior up there in the sierra. he always has a great way of putting things into perspective. this winter storm warning will be expiring as we head throughout tonight, but despite that with all the snow we just saw on mike's live shot, it's going to get icy and stay icy all the way through the thanksgiving holiday as temperatures are going to act like a big freezer up across the sierra. also speaking of cold temperatures right here across the bay area, 49 in santa rosa, 47 in san mateo, 50 in livermore. this is where we should be at 7:00 a.m. in the morning here across the bay area, so temperatures about 15 degrees below average today. for tonight our freeze warning in place for parts of the bay

area. for tomorrow, a cold start with 20s in the north bay. we're still tracking rain in our seven-day forecast. the rain we had this morning has pushed to the south so all this cold air has easily pushed in throughout entire northern california. so cold air stays with us. as we head throughout wednesday, thursday and also for friday's forecast. so we'll be under this cold snap with some of the coldest air not only of the season but of the entire year with the freeze watch that's all the way in effect as we head throughout the thanksgiving holiday. here's a quick look at the litany of watches and warnings. the freeze warning for the coldest spot in the north bay with 20s, the east bay with 30s and then we have our frost advisory right around the bayside communities tonight with 30s expected. then we also have our freeze watch here into thursday morning for the entire bay area because of how cold it's going to stay right into thanksgiving morning. starting off tomorrow, north bay cold, temperatures in the low 30s here. as we look here throughout the

east bay and the south bay, low to mid-30s as well. let's get you quickly into our numbers for tomorrow. 48 in morgan hill, 49 in gilroy, 47 in livermore, 48 in dublin and it's going to feel a lot colder out there, folks, with the dew points extremely low with this dry air. 50 in san mateo, 49 in richmond. these mid to upper 40s from fairfield right into the north bay. all right, morning time on the weather channel on cable. a quick look at our seven-day forecast has it dry for thanksgiving. but that will be our coldest morning of the week when we could have mid-20s throughout parts of the bay area. >> i'm dreaming of a white christmas. thank you very much, jeff. well, let's go back up to the sierra for just a minute. a northern california landmark has an out of state owner with the sale of the squaw valley ski resort. squaw valley gained a national profile when it hosted the 1960 winter olympics. the new owner, colorado's ksl

capital partners, also owns the vail mountain lodge and san diego's hotel del coronado. no one is saying the sale price but they plan to make $50 million in capital improvements over the next three to five years. free checking that's not really free, and that's not all. coming up, why you may want to double check your bank statements closely these days. dental records from aruba, if the recently found jaw bone is not that of natalee holloway, whose is it? mation about the when. plans can on about the where and when of that royal wedding.

well, consumers are noticing more fees on their bank statements these days. a recent survey by bankrate found that fees have gone up across the board this year on everything from monthly service charges to atm use.

the number of americans enjoying free checking has dropped from 76% to 65%. and to keep an account that pays interest, the average minimum balance required to avoid fees has soared from about $500 to nearly $4,000. the banks argue they're passing on increased costs due to tougher federal regulations. an emotional roller coaster for the family of missing alabama teenager natalee holloway. a jaw bone found on an aruba beach did not belong to holloway. the jaw bone was found by tourists near where she was last seen alive back in 2005. there are hundreds of archaeological sites on that island and investigators suspect it may have been exposed by wave erosion. the teen was last seen leaving a bar with joran van der sloot who is currently in prison charged with killing another woman five years to the day of holloway's disappearance. well, coming upg ha ahete d. oywedding has a date. we'll tell you what it is when we come back.

well, the suspense is over and now the royal planning begins. prince william and kate middleton will marry on april 29th in london's westminster abbey. the historic london church was also the location of princess diana's funeral. the couple chose the venue because of its intimacy and historic royal connections. the two are also taking an active role in planning all the details, including the guest list. now that the beatles music is for sale on itunes, their top-selling song may surprise you. it's not "hey jude" or "yesterday" or request"in my li "let it be." "here comes the sun" by george harrison is the best-selling

individual beatles track on itunes this week. >> that's a fun song to sing. here comes the cold. >> we're showing our age. >> i guess we are. nightly news coming up next.