>> yuk. not what we wanted to see. not at all. >> reporter: has it been a snowy winter? >> no. we didn't get much snow at all. very minute compared to other years and really nice. >> reporter: we're out in northern garrett county, maryland. this is asa king, expert snow measurer. asa, how are you enjoying the snow in the middle of april? >> i don't know. it's pretty good. >> reporter: did your mom make you shovel the driveway yet? >> no. >> making any snowmen or snowballs? >> no. the snow is not sticky. >> we have our official measurement. take a measurement in your front yard and tell us how much snow you have here. okay? >> about 4 inches. >> reporter: excellent. job well done. >> reporter: all right. so he had 4 inches of snow in his yard and up here in western garrett county as we saw in the first part we were only about 1500 feet up, just 2 inches of snow. now we're at 2800 feet above sea level and here it's a whole lot more in the 5, 6, 7 inch range. i know it's not a pat collins yardstick but this is as good as the weather department can afford, doug. >> chuck, i will ask you this one question. i did not wear my nbc coat all winter long. is this the first time that you have put on this coat? >> sadly, yes. we had 2 inches of snow all winter in washington. they had 6 inches in april up here. how cheated do i feel? >> no kidding. amazing. we were talking about that. the lack of snow across our area and now for us just the cold air. right now talking about cold air where chuck is he said 32 degrees. fortunately the roads are doing okay. look at these numbers though. 43 right now at the airport with winds at 14 miles per hour out of the west. that puts our wind chills in the mid 30s and then you add a wind gust of 22 miles an hour. you have the rain out there. it is nasty out there this evening. it's going to stay that way. 43 in leesburg. 46 in fredericksburg and toward patuxent river. the warmest spot today average high of 69. the warmest area 51 degrees right now. the current wind gusts across the region upwards of 20 to 30 miles per hour across the area. those winds will continue at least for about the next hour or so and then will die down a little bit. we'll let you know a little later how long winter is going to try to hold on. if you lived here in 1984 you remember this crime that gripped washington. a mother beaten to death in her northeast neighborhood. today a judge is hearing new evidence to determine if those convicted in the case should get a new trial or be set free. pat collins is outside d.c. superior court. pat? >> reporter: who do you trust, cliff yarborough of 1984 who gave a long, videotaped statement detailing the murder of katherine fuller, or the cliff yarborough today who said that statement was all a lie? and that the cops made him do it? cliff yarborough is one of the men doing big jail time for the murder of katherine fuller some 27 years ago. in fact, he gave a videotaped statement implicating himself and others in the crime. but today in court under oath cliff yarborough said detectives forced him to confess and his relatives say they suspected this all along. when you saw him on the stand today what was your feeling? >> proud because the truth is coming out. that's all -- for 25 years this is what we've been trying to do, get the truth out. >> it'll prevail itself. they're all going to get out. i promise you that. >> reporter: on the stand cliff yarborough says detectives threw him around, hit his head on a table and held him over a toilet to get him to talk. he said they spent hours rehearsing what he'd say before they taped his statement. i was scared, yarborough said. i'd do pretty much whatever they wanted me to do. yarborough and seven other men convicted in the 1984 murder of katherine fuller. katherine fuller, 48 years old, the mother of six, attacked in an alley behind 8th and a streets northeast. she was beaten. she was robbed. she was sexually assaulted with a metal pole. the case dominated the news for weeks. now, some 27 years later, questions about whether they got the right man. defense lawyers working with the mid-atlantic innocence project says there is evidence someone else might be responsible. defense attorneys say most of the witnesses have now recanted their testimony. that at the time cliff yarborough talked he was just 16. that he had an i.q. of 69 1/2, that he could only read at third grade level. he was scared and vulnerable. >> my brother was 16 years old. we'll see what's going on. >> reporter: the hearing is almost like a retrial. a judge will decide whether to stay the conviction or whether to throw it out. it could take a couple weeks. live in northwest, pat collins, news 4. george zimmerman walked out of jail last night in sanford, florida. he is free on $150,000 bail and now sanford's police chief is officially set to step down as outrage over the shooting death of trayvon martin continues. nbc's kerry sanders is live in florida for us with the latest details. kerry, what is next for zimmerman now that he's free again? >> reporter: he is free and has to return here where there is a trial. as you know justice moves slowly so he may not actually be seen for up to a year before the actual trial. there will be an arraignment but his lawyer says they will just file the paperwork. he will not show up here. a big reason is because when he came out of jail he was wearing a bullet proof vest under his clothes because they are fearful he has been targeted on twitter and other internet sites. there have been calls all day, people feeling they need to kill him. so they're treating this as if it is a very serious threat. if they just think are hiding anger behind their key boards they're not going to accept that as simply somebody spouting off. they fear it really could be an issue. so he has gone into hiding and is wearing an ankle monitor. that is hooked up to gps so the sheriff's department can track his every movement. even if he leaves the area to go visit his brother in virginia they will know where he is at all times. he has been given permission to leave the state. >> what is the martin family saying about his release today? >> reporter: they are extremely disappointed and did not support the whole idea of him getting bond. they say they understand the system which allows somebody to post a bond and get out because you haven't been convicted of a crime yet. in this particular case they're like well we don't think it is right but they are willing to accept this is the system working. you have to remember they started out at the very beginning feeling nobody was paying attention to them, that the system was failing them. then a special prosecutor was called in and there were charges. so they may be unhappy but they say they're very thankful things have moved to the point it has. >> so much criticism leveled against police and the chief. what is next for that department? >> reporter: it is certainly a department in turmoil. the police chief is stepping down today. he had been in the position for ten months. and was really a well respected law enforcement officer long before as a member of the sheriff's department so it was not easy. some members of the city council are not happy that he is being they say forced to step down. they thought there was going to be an independent review and investigation before he was pushed into this situation. it was his department that initially investigated this. some people accused them of botching the investigation. they actually recommended to the state attorney's office that there should be charges. it was the state attorney's office that concluded based on florida's stand your ground law that no charges could be filed. then of course the governor appointed a special prosecutor and they decided there would be a second-degree murder charge. jim? >> nbc's kerry sanders in sanford, florida. thank you. there are new developments in the secret service sex scandal. today the number of agents accused of soliciting prostitutes during the mission in colombia rose to 12. six people have lost their jobs and the chairman of the house homeland security committee is predicting that number is going to go up. the committee sent secret service director mark sullivan a list of 50 questions. it wants them answered. this is what it considers the most important. >> did any of those foreign nationals have access at any time to any information of any type that could have compromised the president of the united states. >> the committee wants to know if any white house staff members were involved. the white house says it has already been investigated. breaking news in prince george's county where police say the person responsible for the murder of act rhett livist lenn is connected to other murders. jackie bensen is live with new details. >> reporter: this information is chilling because the murders just appear to be so random. all of them related to robbery. a 17-year-old kid walking home, a hard working cab driver doing his job. a community activist just trying to help people. police say they all had the awful luck of encountering 26 tyrone lewis and being robbed by him. police say the crimes go back to 2005 and in one case he had an accomplice a man named calvin walker. police say the startling information came to light during the investigation into the murder of alexandra community activist lenny harris whose body was found in a well in the oxon hill area many months after he was reported missing. >> our informationrom detectives talking with people involved in the lenny case which led to other people. they've been working since january and were able this morning to get the warrants. you know, with that information, we just don't go out, run out and act on it. we have to corroborate it and run it, you know, that little bit of information leads to other information which becomes a big ball of information. we were able to corroborate it and obtain warrants. >> reporter: police are looking into the possibility whether the two are responsible for other crimes. reporting from palmer park, maryland, jackie bensen news 4. we're just getting started. what happened when singer jennifer hudson took the stand today in the trial of the man accused of killing her mother and brother? also tonight a new twist in the plan to bring slots to prince george's county. and new guidelines that could help migraine sufferers prevent the debilitating [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ he is a former presidential candidate and vice presidential nominee. john edwards is facing decades in prison for alleged corruption and coverup. erika gonzalez has more on what happened today in court as that trial got under way. >> wendy, the stakes are high for edwards. as a matter of fact, a conviction could land him in prison for the next 30 years. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: john edwards walked into a greensboro, north carolina courtroom today with his daughter. edwards is accused of receiving almost a million dollars in illegal campaign contributions and using the money to hide and provide for his then pregnant mistress rielle hunter. >> this particular section of the federal election law and the definition of a contribution has never been challenged in this way. >> reporter: the defense says the former senator never touched the money much less put it in a campaign fund but former aide to edwards andrew young is expected to testify that edwards himself set up the hush fund. edwards claims it was young that kept a lot of the money. >> i think a central theme in this case is going to be one admitted liar against another admitted liar. >> reporter: attorneys anticipate the trial lasting a month with edwards possibly taking the stand to defend himself. the big thing that is at stake here that is in question, the federal election commission regulations in the 2008 election cycle state that an individual could only donate $2300 to any candidate for a primary election and that presidential candidates were prohibited from accepting contributions over that amount. wendy, jim? >> all right. singer and actress jennifer hudson struggled to hold back tears today when she testified at the trial of the man charged with killing three members of her family. she was the first witness to take the stand in the trial against william balfour accused of killing her mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew in 2008. he is the ex-boyfriend of hudson's sister julia. prosecutors believe he opened fire on the family because he was jealous of julia's new boyfriend. while testifying today hudson's voice broke when she described how she felt when her sister said she was still going to marry him. julia also testified saying balfour was even jealous of her son. balfour has pleaded not guilty. as many as 40% of migraine sufferers could benefit from preventative treatments. according to the american academy of neurology. it released guidelines today suggesting migraine sufferers use prescription drugs to prevent migraines or reduce their severity. also some over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, adville and an herb also prevent migraines. they say fewer than a third of patients are using the drugs and the patients should talk to the doctors about their options. doug's back with a suntan. we know you did not get it here yesterday. >> no, no. maybe i got it on saturday. 82 on saturday. and then yesterday all over. my goodness. right now we're struggling to have a wind chill of 39. >> yikes. >> how about that? what a difference a day makes. you think it's april, we've seen a very warm winter. spring is starting off incredibly warm. we're done right? not so fast. mother nature put it on the brakes a little bit and giving us a little more winter chill out there across the area today. take a look at this. a very dreary picture as you look outside right now and you've got plenty of clouds, showers moving on through. even some moderate rain at times coming through the area. 45 degrees is the current temperature. humidity at 81%. winds out of the west-northwest at 10 miles per hour and the winds gusting over 20 miles an hour and that really makes for a very chilly afternoon. look at these temperatures. 43 in frederick. 43 in gaithersburg. 45 in manassas. these are closer to average low temperatures for this year. our average high today? 69 degrees. we are 20 degrees cooler than that for a high temperature today. simply amazing. look at the wind chill. 36 in frederick. 39 in washington. 39 in manassas and 37 degrees, a wind chill in the third week of april. incredibly cold atmosphere. that's why some areas are seeing some snow. back toward the west and even a few snowflakes in some of the grapple we've talked about mixed in in some of the area during the day. a lot of you have seen rain and not just rain but abundance of rain. st. mary's city at 2.25 inches. st. michaels in southern maryland 2.5 inches. for the belvoir with over 3 inches over the last 48 hours. we needed the rainfall. most of you say yeah the rain is great but bring it with warmer temperatures. rain and cold air? doesn't make for a very nice day. storm 4 radar still showing the shower activity across the region. once again a few moderate showers are now associated with this band as it's making its way off toward the east. behind it, it is snow. back through western maryland we saw chuck bell a little earlier. some locations picking up over 6 inches of snow. in the laurel highlands here back toward pennsylvania, over 13 inches. one report of 18 inches of snow and once again even that area did not see a lot of snow at all for the winter. this might be the biggest snow in the entire winter for them and here we are in spring. cold air, making its way in on the back side of the storm system. the storm will move up to the north tomorrow. i still expect fairly chilly temperatures tomorrow. i also expect a peek or poke of sunshine and that should help temperatures to move back to the 60-degree mark tomorrow. on wednesday, a lot nicer. we'll see a lot more sunshine and very nice weather. high temperatures back to where they should be this time of year. high around 68 degrees. now tomorrow morning moistly cloudy, damp, breezy and cold. 34 to 40 with wind chills in the upper 20s in some locations. tomorrow afternoon mostly cloudy, breezy, and cool with more sunshine late. temperatures 57 to about 62 degrees. here's the next couple days showing we will get to 68 on wednesday. 72 on thursday. that's going to come with a pretty good chance of showers. maybe a thunderstorm on thursday. and then temperatures on friday still around 66 degrees. so if you look at the average high there we still have about the next 3 of 4 days below average after a week we saw above average temperatures last week. >> it sort of all balances out. >> it does. >> the earth is always shifting and changing. >> okay. thank you, doug. >> we feel better. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 tonight, up next, how your next trip to starbucks can help a need. >> liz crenshaw reports on four rules you need to know. it's going to help prevent those unwanted robocalls from disturbing your day. there is a member of the wizards whose passion growing up was something other than basketball. he got a chance to relive that dream here in the district. plus, coming up at 6:00 if you're planning to book a vacation, now is the time to do it. tell you how to get the best bargain on spring travel deals. yes, it is still spring. always nice to live out a childhood dream and there is a wizards player doing just that. >> the dream wasn't actually playing in the nba. that's the amazing part of the story. another rough season for the wizards. kevin serafin is one of the bright spots. the french big man has quickly developed into a player who will be part of the wizards' future. it's his past though that is the most interesting. >> life as a professional basketball in the nba is a pretty good gig. for the wizards center kevin seraphin it wasn't even his first choice. >> he scores with a left hand. >> reporter: a native of french guyana on the northern coast of south america grew up chasing a different career path than the one he has found success in today. the leif of a firefighter. >> for me it's amazing. that's why i want to do it. i want to be a hero. >> it all started when kevin was a bystander to a horrible accident. >> i was there and then i saw accidents. >> reporter: the experience left a lasting impression and he committed himself to enroll in his town's fire training. last week was a walk down memory lane. he spent the day with new recruits at the district fire training academy. while there he got a first-hand look as the next crop of firefighters prepare for the job he thought he had. oh, how things turned out different. >> to do what they do. >> on the hardwood he's known for his ability to drive the lane and finish strong at the hoop on this day. serafin did a little different type of driving. i think it's fair to say the big man could use a little practice. >> hey, for real. >> reporter: proof by his off road experience in the fire engine simulator. in the end it was all for fun. >> that was cool. because i used to do the same thing. >> reporter: on this day he even took the time to share a couple words of wisdom. >> so i just tell them to keep going. >> reporter: as for drawing any similarities between battling in the paint and fighting fires -- >> no, except you have to be at