get out of town. but we... just got here. when a bank helps you get and stay ahead. that's the bmo effect. ♪ bmo ♪ right now at 6:00, we are tracking a new storm making its way into the bay area. just look at that green on the radar. it is already making the roadways slick and ponding. a busy commute this morning. mike is tracking issues on the road. to the skies, delays in the skies, we're live at sfo with the latest holdup during this busy holiday travel week. this is "today in the bay."

here we go, wednesday morning. another rainy one for you. i'm marcus washington. >> no kidding. i'm kris sanchez. laura garcia has the morning off. hopefully her plans are indoors. we'll get to the microclimate weather alert. taking a live look this morning, conditions are slick. our photographer is roaming the roadways this morning. don't worry, though, mom. he's got both hands on the wheel. that's a dash cam. we have live team coverage. mike is monitoring the roadways. ginger conejero saab is looking at the potential impact at sfo. we want to start with where the storm is right now. cinthia, you are covering for kari. it looks like it's pretty much everywhere. >> yeah, it's starting to gain intensity as the morning has gone on, and starting to push through, mainly towards the coastline and through the mountains. so those heavier rain rates over scotts valley, down through santa cruz, i was looking at the models showing me that they were projected anywhere from about 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour. so let's give you a little

closer look here. if you have any neighbors in ben lomond, they're seeing heavy rain, and also into the inland areas, san jose picking up on some rain, milpitas and through the east bay shoreline to san leandro, getting a heavy cell. it continues to push into parts of san francisco, san bruno, and toward the marin coastline. we're looking at areas over stinson beach, point reyes. we have a flood advisory for marin county through at least 7:30 this morning. it could get extended as we see the rain rates dump a lot of rain. turn around, don't drown. it just takes a little rain on the roadways to move your vehicle. and moving the vehicles along is mike inouye. where are we head to go check on issues this morning? >> where it's not moving, the bay bridge toll plaza. it's moving, visible movement. lighter volume, but the rain and

metering lights and volume of traffic focused on the bay bridge toll plaza. you're going to need to slow down in areas like 880, the nimitz, heading south past the coliseum. the traffic is a lighter volume. you can go at a higher rate, but i wouldn't visit because of traction, visibility and the need for increased stopping distance. wet roadways, puddling and ponding in the oakland area, along the peninsula. it's tough most places, including the santa cruz mountains. we're watching out for all of our friends. i'm going to hand it back to you. >> thanks, mike. i know you will keep watching the impact on the roadways. our team coverage continues with "today in the bay"'s ginger conejero saab live at sfo. ginger, i know they're already expecting another day of ground delays out there. >> reporter: that is true. good morning, marcus and kris. the faa listing a probable ground delay or stop program on its website already this morning, that makes it the third day in a row that sfo will see

impact to its flights because of the weather. now, we want to just give you a quick look here at what the airport looks like inside. last hour we were outside. there are several lines here, lines to drop off your bags, to check in, and also to go through security checkpoint. but i would say at the 5:00 hour, the lines were a little longer than they are now. so they seem to be moving still kind of swiftly, the wait times under ten minutes to get through security. but we spoke with passengers who took the necessary changes in their morning schedules to make sure that they get here on time. >> woke up around 4:00, left today, flight is around 7:30. so got here on time. definitely with the weather and everything, you've got to plan ahead. i was able to get here on time, so now i can chill and hang out before the flight. >> reporter: not a bad idea. plan ahead of time. and we're seeing that tip, that

sfo spokesperson shared with us yesterday, he says book the first flight out to avoid possible delays. now, it's an early start to the day, but the plane is typically at the airport the night before, and the faa does not start delaying flights until 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. after 8:00 is when today's probable ground delay is slated. now, yesterday we saw the number of delayed flights build as the day continued, from 97 at the start of the morning to over 160 before noon, up to 340 towards the end of the day. the good news, average delays, according to flightaware yesterday, were an hour, and that number was actually down to 15 minutes in earlier morning travel. now, transportation secretary pete buttigieg, along with faa administrator, spoke about the holiday travel season as a whole. they said cancellations are inevitable, but they say delays in the system are primarily caused by weather and operational delays, and not the shortage in air traffic control,

which accounts for less than 10% of flight delays. now, earlier this month, aaa projected this year's holiday travel will be the second highest since 2000, with a total of 115 million americans traveling year end, 7.5 million are expected to fly through the airports between this saturday and new year's day. we're several days away from that, but i'm told here by people at the airport that it is definitely busier this week. they say forget getting here two hours in advance. get here three hours in advance just to make sure, and with the weather we're seeing that might just be the tip of the day. >> we need those tips for the travelers out there. thank you so much. of course we're tracking this wet weather all the time on our free nbc bay area app. you can scan the code right there on your screen if you haven't already downloaded it. if you haven't, you can also look it up on your app store. you can sign up for those alerts. that way you'll get those alerts

sent straight to your phone. you can also modify it to what's going on in your neighborhood. 6:06 now. to decision 2024, and those big developments in the race for the white house. colorado banning donald trump from its primary ballot. state supreme court justices made that ruling yesterday determining the former president violated the constitution with the events of the january 6th capitol insurrection. justices cited a provision in the 14th amendment saying no one can serve as an officer of the united states who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the u.s. the court did put its decision on hold until january 4th in order to allow time for any appeal. some of trump's gop challengers are already speaking out, and in some cases coming to his defense. >> we don't need to have judges making these decisions, we need voters to make these decisions. so i want to see this in the hands of the voters. >> they're criminalizing politics, and that's what trump is facing. >> the attorney representing

voters who filed suit is now praising that ruling. the trump campaign is calling the decision completely flawed and is already vowing a fasttrack appeal to the u.s. supreme court. new at 6:00, new data showing the exodus of people leaving california that started during the pandemic is now slowing down. the state department of finance says that california had about 37,000 fewer people in july of this year compared to one year ago. now, that's dropped about one-tenth of a percentage point, and that's also compared to the net loss of about 100,000 people between 2021 and 2022. and the loss of nearly 300,000 during the first full year of the pandemic. about 39 million people currently call california home. back to our microclimate weather alert, and taking a live look at daly city, where our photographer's dash cam is showing us what the drive is like along the peninsula, tracking that wet weather. i think we should turn those windshield wipers on a little

higher. it looks pretty sloppy out there. >> yes, it does. good morning to you. we are looking at some of those heavier cells pushing through, parallel to san francisco and the san mateo coastline. what you can expect throughout the day is this rain is going to get heavy as we go through the morning commute. we could also be seeing some of those rises on the creeks and the streams. we do have that flood advisory in marin until at least 7:30 this morning, and those drains could be pretty saturated by now as we've seen a lot of leaves, some of them might not have been cleared in time, but you can still get to it when we get a little break in the rain later this afternoon. the coast is also going to be a spot that sees not only the rain, but some gusty winds at times. we just passed that high tide mark at 5:58. the chance of seeing above normal levels will continue as we go through the day. also a chance of thunderstorm activity. you might have heard a little thunder roar over the santa cruz mountains as we're seeing the

heavier cells push through the mountains. ben lomond through scotts valley in that heavy rain right now. it's pushing through areas of 101 for morgan hill into san jose. i'll give you a closer look around the rest of the bay area coming up. mike has a look at gas prices. >> we're going to start today in contra costa county, concord specifically, $3.79 on grant street right off 242, right off the freeway. san jose's national petroleum features $3.82 as their best billboard at 7th and keys. and then let's look at the peninsula for the last price, in burlingame at a&a gas on broadway. thank you for all of your familiarity with gasbuddy.com. on the roadways, we're looking at wet roads, a word of caution, lower speeds, leave extra time. more blue showing up on the road weather index, puddling and ponding. the green highlighting means damp, wet roads. so even the speed sensors are green. a typical backup, the backup not

forming yet, but we see more traffic flow and rain on the lens. conditions are tough in the south bay. we still have wet roadways and active on the richmond side of the san rafael bridge. back to you. a warning now for last-minute holiday shoppers. while a gift card might seem like a good idea, experts say not so fast. coming up, a new scam that's leaving cards empty before you even check out. are you old enough to remember pigs in space? how about cats in space? it's coming up. out to the futures this morning, that involves space and cats, and actually a little money coming off the table. we've set record after record on the stock market. and a ticket to paradise, san jose's spartans are avoiding this week's wet weather. where the winningest bay area college football team this year is waking up this morning. keep it right here.

another one in the books. but we're just getting started. everything going well? oh yeah. let's take a look at this knee. because it's the work behind the scenes, that truly matters. [ physical therapy staff discusses results ]

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good wednesday morning. 6:14. here is your heads up that you might be sprinting to get into the car this morning in areas such as redwood city, san mateo, half moon bay. we're talking along the peninsula from south city south. we are looking at pockets of heavy rain pushing through, 280, 101, and into parts of berkeley, oakland, and into marin county. we are going to see the rain stick with us for the rest of

the morning commute and possibly into the evening as well. i'll guide you through hour-by-hour coming up. you just showed the active radar right over the san mateo bridge. here is the san mateo bridge, and we have that rain falling on the lens and on all these folks. now, the traffic volume is quite manageable, the conditions do demand you slow down a bit. we're showing where that is and that's pretty much around the bay right now. good morning. very happy wednesday to you. another day, another record. the dow closed and will open at a record high for the fifth straight session. a genetics testing company tells the state of california it's going to lay off 238 workers, they trade as nvta. it's been a trouble for a while. the stock is down 98% from its peak, as opposed to nvidia, the chip company is up 206% just this year. the irs says it will forgive more than a billion dollars in penalties and interests if you

pay taxes you owe from the 2020 and 2021 tax years now. the irs says it had trouble reminding people to pay back taxes during the pandemic so they're making this one-time offer of forgiveness. the price of bitcoin has been rising so much that bitcoin miners have been firing up their high-powered computers and that's putting an enormous draw on the nation's power grid. a company calculates the mining of one bitcoin uses the equivalent electricity as 474,000 visa card transactions. speaking of studies, a study of insurance claims by lending tree found that tesla drivers get into more crashes than any other car brand. you're saying to yourself, yeah, there are a lot of teslas on the road. it's the most popular car in california. they took that into account. this is per 1,000 miles driven.

the top three are tesla with 24 accidents per 1,000 miles, then ram trucks very close behind and subaru. pontiac and mercury are at the bottom of the lights with the safest drivers. it may be a bit of stereotyping. i suspect the average mercury driver is a bit older, maybe, and more cautious. the data doesn't speculate why they're so safe. there's just data. toyota, by the way, maker of the second most common car on california roads, not even in the top five. carmakers did not comment on the study. and nasa has successfully beamed a video signal a longer distance than any time in history, 19 million miles from a space probe very far away back to earth. now, ask yourself, if you were making this historic transmission, what would you send? watson, come here, i need you. or maybe this. ♪♪

>> i like how it says, this is a test across the top, just in case the aliens come across it and say, what are they trying to tell us? what is the message the earthlings are trying to give us? the reason it's a cat, i understand, is because when nbc was first trying out its television transmissions, they used felix, the cat, the cartoon character. so apparently cats are a part of video testing. who knew? >> not me. >> yes, very important historical moment in space travel and it's this cat. >> they're, like, that's their five-star general? their defenses are not purr-fect. >> very nice. new at 6:00, a new warning for last-minute holiday shoppers considering gift cards for family and friends, be aware of gift car draining. scammers physically take the

card from the shelf, copy the details, return it to the shelf, and then drain the money once it's been loaded at checkout. oftentimes you may not realize that it's even been tampered with. the federal trade commission says gift card scams totaled nearly $230 million last year. it even affected laura jarrett who purchased gift cards to give the colleagues, only to find out the funds were gone. >> from the naked eye, these do not appear to be tampered with at all. >> not even a little bit. all the seals look fine. it says on here, if tamper evident, don't purchase. i checked it before i checked out. everything looked good from the outside. >> the easiest way to avoid the scam is to not buy a physical gift card, but experts recommend buying from displays closer to the register or behind the counter. also, check the balance and spend quickly to reduce the risk. there was one store where i did pick up a gift card and they had the display ones out, but i didn't get the card until i paid for it.

they had it in the cash register. >> that's good. >> i asked for receipts for everything. all right, really just one thing on the minds of most san jose state football players right about now. >> you know what it is? aloha, mahalo. >> yeah, the spartans are in honolulu getting ready to play in the hawaii bowl. they're going to take on coastal carolina on christmas eve. the spartans just missed out on playing for their conference championship this season, but i think hawaii is pretty much a nice consolation prize, right? [ laughter ] >> forecast, let's talk about that. it's going to be 79 degrees and sunny. >> that is fantastic. i bet some of those guys haven't been there before, so to go as winners -- >> i think going there, you're a winner, period, no matter what happens in the game. >> don't forget to eat your

protein. the fruit is delicious. >> we'll be cheering them on. today we have a soggy day in san jose, but it should start to clear up as we go into christmas eve and we can spread some positivity outdoors. for now, i want you to hunker down in the santa cruz mountains. we're looking at a heavy line of storms that's stretching from the mountains, and sort los altos hills, so as you're making your way into the south bay, you're looking at pockets of rain pushing through the area. let's get a closer look. ben lomond down to felton, even into scotts valley, you're tapping in on some moisture that's around 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour. so heavy downpour here from san jose to morgan hill, also picking up on rain on the radar. let's move toward the peninsula, because as the storm approaches the bay area mainly from the coastline moving inland, we're seeing heavier pockets from woodside, palo alto, up toward redwood city and san mateo. it continues as we move through

the central bay bridges, all into marin county as well, even into parts of richmond. but notice here, if i give you a little bit of a wider look, you might be staying dry from vallejo over toward brentwood, livermore, as you're only seeing some of that dense cloud cover move in. but there will be some activity for just about everybody. follow this timeline here. as we take you through the midmorning hours, we're looking at pockets of heavier rain for the peninsula, down into parts of the east bay shoreline. some of that rain will start to push through the east bay as we go into lunchtime this afternoon. i don't see the storm clearing until we get into at least later on tonight into thursday. it's also going to be very gusty at times, so not only watching those holiday decorations, but watching yourself on the roadways, watching things come down, possibly tree limbs, as we're getting a saturated ground as we've entered our fourth day of this storm. how much rain could we tap in over the next couple of days? we're looking at maybe 1 to 2 inches left of this rainfall, especially for the coastline of marin and down through the san

mateo county coastline, down into the central coast. overall, san francisco over the next couple of days, you're going to need all of the rain today, watching out for the potential of thunderstorms. we'll start off with a cloudy start tomorrow as the storm system pushes through, but we should stay dry for at least the next five to six days before we track our next storm system that could come about next wednesday. while we get there, we are going to drop down temperatures a little and back down into the upper 30s and those 40s for christmas eve and christmas day. mike, those roads are very wet this morning. >> it's just wet, i can describe it and show you. we have the backup at the bay bridge. typical backup, the typical areas. lighter volume, but slower driving. you should drive slower, even though the lighter volume is there, because look at the radar. it's coming through the north bay, 101 is going to get hit, bay bridge has already been hit, going to get more.

along the peninsula, it's pushing east across the san mateo bridge now. back to you. 6:23 right now. from your toilet to your tap. yeah, the idea may be a little closer than you think. coming up on "today in the bay," california just approving a plan to provide the new option for drinking water, and the boost drinking water, and the boost it's getting from environmental (♪♪) (♪♪)

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applauding the controversial move by state regulators allowing wastewater to turn into drinking water. the new rules approved yesterday, water districts will have to follow district rules for treating that water. and it will be up to each water district to decide whether or not to do it. our raj mathai spoke with the director of nonprofit studying the benefits and potential uses for recycled wastewater. she calls the decision one that the time has come. >> public acceptance is very important, and what the studies show is that public acceptance the growing. >> now, this has been a plan more than a decade in the making, but california now becomes the second state after colorado to make that move. we have a lot more ahead, including a microclimate weather alert. cinthia and mike are tracking the forecast and the commute as the next round of rain comes in right during the prime of it.

plus, i'm bob redell. we're live in the south bay, where we're finally getting that rain that cinthia has been forecasting. the warning from chp for people the warning from chp for people trying to get into [narrator] covered california is a free service from the state that's already helped millions of people like you get and pay for health insurance. with financial health to lower the cost of health coverage, you could get a quality health plan for less than $10 a month. every plan covers preventive care, doctor visits, emergency care, and more. if you have questions,

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right now at 6:30, tracking the latest storm. rain already falling across much of the bay area. but pretty soon it will become heavier. we'll track the timeline. the weather causing issues

on the roadways and in the skies as well. we have live team coverage, including the expected delays for holiday travelers. this is "today in the bay." thanks so much for joining us on this wet wednesday morning. i'm kris sanchez. i'm in for laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. we are in another microclimate weather alert. one of our photographers has been roaming the roads this morning as the rain starts to pick up. you can see video from inside that car, dash cam, of course. you can see wet roads out there, rain still coming down. >> looks pretty sloppy. i can see some of those roadways, they're ponding a little bit, as this storm system just has barrelled through the coastline and is starting to push a little east. let's give you a closer look with our satellite and radar. i'm talking about heavy spots along highway 17, so from the lexington reservoir down into santa cruz, you're looking at those spots in the red and the orange. rain rates there anywhere from

about an inch to an inch and a half per hour. so please be careful of that. we could be seeing some of those creeks and streams start to fill up and move fairly quickly. make sure you're aware of your surroundings. we're also looking at heavy rain that's pushed from the coast into parts of san mateo, redwood city, palo alto, and just extending itself into parts of marin county, the shoreline, parts of oakland as you make your way over the bay bridge. at this hour i'm just looking at some light rain picking up from bodega bay into parts of santa rosa, petaluma, and down through novato. but it will continue as we go throughout the day. the heavy cloud cover is sticking to the interior east bay for now, but everybody should tap in on some of this rain as we go through the early morning hours into this afternoon. it's going to get gusty, so you need everything, the wind breaker, jacket, rain boots. just about all the rain gear you can get. it will start to dry out as we go into thursday. we'll guide you through that. we need to guide drivers

through what's going on in oakland. >> we're looking at wet roadways, let's take this full screen. you see the glow of the lights but the smooth flow. you have time to get where you're going because traffic volume is lighter today. speeds are okay. watch those conditions. be aware of those conditions. more puddling and ponding where it's blue on the western side of this map. we're looking at the most slowing through richmond and the bay bridge where the metering lights and backup fills the toll plaza. we have slower spots than you might think because of the conditions. along the peninsula, look how much it's been hit. and then we saw the rain marching across highway 1, 9, and now highway 17 there's a crash cleared to the shoulder northbound just north of the summit. more of an issue is the radar. look at the activity. as we're looking at traffic slowing on highway 17, i think it's more the conditions than the crash itself, which is off the shoulder. we're going to check in with bob

redell. the radar shows all the activity. i think you can give a better report, you're in it. yeah, good morning to you. yeah, it really started coming down within the past 20 minutes. we're on the main street bridge over highway 17 in los gatos, brake lights are your commute direction, northbound 17 into silicon valley, traffic definitely picking up, not abnormal for a wednesday morning commute. remember, you can see those roads are wet, so just because the speed limit is posted as 50, 65 miles an hour, doesn't necessarily mean you should be going that speed. you want to go that speed if the conditions permit. that's the warning from chp. chp also reminding people as they're heading into work this morning, do not be in a rush. these roads are slippery, potentially dangerous. give yourself extra time so you're not speeding to get to your destination. >> chp does get a lot of phone calls regarding crashes, especially when you're driving

too fast and crashing, solo spinouts, those are our number one crashes, especially during rain. >> reporter: and we've been hearing this from cinthia this morning, the national weather service warning that this morning's rain could cause local creeks and streams to rise rapidly, and possibly cause some flooding. that's a hazard people north along the peninsula in belmont are unfortunately familiar with. richard pace, who we spoke with, lives in a neighborhood that saw mudslides earlier this year during some of those storms. >> anybody that lives on this block is always in danger of slides. i've got sandbags now, you can see white up there in the corner of the property, sandbags, i've got a drain up there. i sandbag around that drain just to make sure water doesn't come down the hill. >> reporter: as we see more of this rain come in during the

morning commute, it's possible we could see some puddling, and if you see some major puddling, especially in some low-lying areas along the road where water collects, if it's a large puddle, don't necessarily assume it's shallow. chp advising, turn around, don't drive through it. reporting above highway 17, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> we know some of those puddles are in potholes, so watch out. thank you very much. here is a live look at sfo where we expect more delays this morning because of the weather related ground stoppages. if so, this would be the third day in a row. conditions led to 160 delays before noon yesterday. the average wait time, over about an hour. between saturday and new year's day, 7.5 million people are expected to fly nationwide. we have a lot of ways to get you the latest information about the rain. nbc bay area app is a great resource, it is free, and you

can scan the qr code on your screen to find it or look us up in the app store. get the latest up to the minute weather updates right to your phone. you can customize it for where you live or where you're headed. we are following breaking news this morning. this is out of the east coast, where a philadelphia-based tv news crew has died in a helicopter crash. the two victims, the pilot and camera operator. the affiliate, wpvi, so far not releasing the names of those two. both are said to have worked with the station for years. the crash happened last night not far from philadelphia as the chopper returned to its home base following an assignment from the jersey shore. the cause is still under investigation. happening today, san francisco mayor london breed will be among the people welcoming the city's first inspector general overseeing the san francisco sheriff's department. terry wiley will be formally introduced at a department board meeting later this morning. the position was created to look

into misconduct allegations and deaths while in custody. wiley is a veteran alameda county prosecutor. he lost to pamela price last year. as part of his new role, wiley will oversee san francisco's two jails. 6:37 right nowment we are in another microclimate weather alert. taking a live look across the bay area, and you can see wet roads, wet skies, just wet out there. but how much rain are we talking about that has fallen over the last few days? forecaster cinthia pimentel is here. we've soon sprinkles, a downpour, how much are we talking about rain-wise? >> we've been talking about this, since sunday it started. it was light at first. some areas have seen over 4 inches of rain, the santa cruz mountains, and that's really good and bad for whoever may be in the line of the storm. but we were off to a slow start this season, now picking up on some of those rain totals, even through santa rosa, over 4 inches of rain, and more is on

the way. these totals will be very different and we'll update them as we go into the afternoon and into tomorrow as well. san francisco, just about 2 inches of rain. as we made our way east and south, some of that rain total started to become a little less, especially toward antioch, just under 1 1/2 right now, and san jose, typical rain shadow effect where we've measured less than 1 inch of rainfall. we will be updating these water rain totals. it started october 1st and runs through july 1st. we are still at a deficit from santa rosa, oakland and down through concord. now, as we look at the satellite and radar, we are picking up on very heavy rain from the santa cruz mountains, towards parts of mountain view, so just be careful with that. we'll guide you through the rest of this morning commute, especially if you live along the coastline where it's expected to get heavy. mike, it is all about the rain on the roadways. >> absolutely. we're on the richmond side of the bridge, just calming down.

a lot of rain came across the span and from the san rafael side. it's affecting novato, we continue to watch for reports of puddling, ponding or flooding. none reported for 37. look at the blue creeping over the north bay into tiburon and san francisco, and across toward oakland, the rain has pushed through this area. lighter volume of traffic, so you've got time. kids, if you happen to be up right now getting ready, make sure you're ready early because it's going to be really congested around the schools. watch those local roadways, puddling, ponding, plugged drains are likely the culprit because of leaves that have fallen. a smooth drive for most bay area freeways. sudden slowing near the dublin grade. i'll check that out and let you know if there's a continuing problem. the radar, the same map you were looking at, you can't really see the green speed sensors, it's the rain along 280 and 101. be careful. >> good to know, thanks, mike. making big strides toward saving planet earth. the bay area city getting a top

environmental score, and what's happening there to improve sustainability. donald trump kicked off the ballot in colorado. how that i know the importance of taking care of myself. how are you doing between practices? i feel pretty good. surrounding myself with a great team. de'aaron we're going to take a quick look at your knee with ultrasound. everything is looking great. but not just for me. for them.

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good wednesday morning. it's 6:43. we are under a microclimate weather alert, as some heavy rain has pushed on through the bay area. so i'm talking south san francisco, if you're headed to sfo, you're looking at delays through burlingame, san mateo,

and over the central bay waters. up toward the east bay, richmond and the commute over the richmond-san rafael bridge is also soggy at this hour, as more rain pushes through marin county. we'll talk about the outlook hour-by-hour coming up. on the peninsula we're looking at the palo alto camera. rain on the lens, on the roadway, kicking up off the cars. we do see a smooth flow of traffic. that's the key. the issue is the conditions rather than the volume right now. a shakeup in the race for president, with a major decision from the colorado supreme court. >> scott mcgrew, president biden's presumed opponent, donald trump, will not be on the colorado ballot, and i had to say, wait, what? >> i think we all did. this was a real shocker. the colorado supreme court ruled trump was indeed part of an insurrection against the united states -- that's interesting, i don't know what happened there. the constitution says those who

engage in insurrection can't run for office. the state high court says trump cannot be on the ballot for the primary in colorado, therefore wouldn't be on the ballot in the general election, either. trump's team immediately said that it would appeal to the united states supreme court, the final arbiter of all these sorts of questions. the colorado court put a stay on its ruling so that trump could make that appeal. we're dealing with two supreme courts here, colorado supreme court has the last say on anything involving colorado law. the u.s. supreme court has the last say on federal law and the u.s. constitution. and the argument that trump led an insurrection and the fact that it would disqualify him from the presidency has been made in a number of states, but this is a federal question. there are a number of legal hurdles to make that argument. first you've got to rule on what happened on january 6th was an insurrection under the 14th

amendment. then you've got to prove that trump led that insurrection, and there are lots of americans who believe both those things are true. there are two places where the attempt to remove trump from the ballot gets sticky. first, the people who wrote the 14th amendment never spelled out who makes this decision. there's nobody put in charge, so state court judges are asking themselves, do i have the legal power to kick a presidential candidate off a ballot? then, the amendment says any officer of the united states who took an oath disqualifies himself if he leads an insurrection, but never says president specifically. they set out all kinds of offices, but never president. did the writers mean to exempt the president? that's what lawyers for trump are arguing. other news, trump for the first time, addressed his repeated claims that immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country at a rally in waterloo, iowa, last night. it's a term also used in nazi

propaganda. he changed it ever so slightly this time to destroying the blood. >> and it's true, they're destroying the blood of our country. that's what they're doing. they're destroying our country. they don't like it when i said that, and i never ahead mein kamf. they said hitler said that in a much different way. a number of immigrants were apprehended at the border yesterday as the u.s. senate considers major changes to u.s. immigration law and locals in texas and arizona are asking for help. >> border patrol agents, they need reinforcements, troopers need reinforcements. all the sheriffs, we need much more reinforcements. >> more coverage of the crisis at the border and the question of trump's future all ahead on the "today" show. well, a big honor for the city of mountain view, which just received the top score

globally for its work in saving our climate in crisis. the city is one of only 119 cities around the world to even score an a score for its sustainability efforts and commitment to the environment. it came out of the top because it is taking four times as many measures compared to cities not on the list when it comes to planning for the adaptation to things like reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, and protecting local ecosystems. rising sea levels and flooding in that area are projected to rise from 2 to 4 feet by mid century. work is also being done there to bring down gas emission 80% by the year 2050. >> we live on the bay, and we understand that as the climate changes, we have more emissions, we will be experiencing sea level rise. we're looking at engineering

based solutions and restoring a former salt pond to natural tidal areas, so that we can work with nature to be prepared for sea level rise. >> other cities receiving the top grade include san francisco, san jose, oakland, palo alto and piedmont. here is a live look at palisades tahoe in the sierra, and the recent rain means skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy fresh powder. here is video from yesterday where the resort averages 400 inches of snow throughout the season, december typically getting the highest averages. brrr. >> say that again. >> it was really cold there. >> rain here, snow there. it was coming down and they're finally giving us a show. that rain is definitely coming down throughout the bay area. if you have to head out the door for the final days of work before the holiday, we are

looking at heavier spots not only in the santa cruz mountains. the rain has pushed through san jose, campbell, parts of sunnyvale, santa clara under the reds and oranges. you could be possibly hearing the sound of thunder. when you hear thunder roar, go indoors, because that's going to drop a lot of moisture over the next couple of minutes. it's continuing to pummel areas, down through sfo and millbrae, and the mid-peninsula, the bridges around the bay area. those roadways could be pretty flooded by now as that rain has not let up since the start of the show. we are looking at heavy rain through parts of the richmond-san rafael bridge, muir beach, parts of tiburon and mill valley, sausalito. it has been light at times through santa rosa. petaluma and napa just getting into the rain activity. parts of the interior have been socked in cloud cover. the moisture is coming as we take it hour-by-hour.

the rain will let up at times as we go midmorning into this afternoon. we're looking at lunchtime, covered in lots of rain throughout the bay area. very heavy at times. even as we go into the afternoon. but i'm looking at it mostly staying over the diablo range. we could be looking at light rain from parts of 101 through redwood city and parts of the east bay shoreline. we're going to tap in on more rain now through at least when the storm system exits on thursday. we are looking at areas shaded in oranges and reds, about an inch to two in the coastal mountains for marin county through the peninsula coast and the santa cruz mountains. we should start to dry out for thursday, giving everything a chance to seep in. the storm system will push south into l.a. and toward mexico. if your travel plans are taking you there, make sure you're keeping an eye on the forecast. our next storm system won't roll around until we get into wednesday, thursday of next week. not only are we going to tap into rain, but also some sierra

snow that will be very beneficial for the mountains that are off to a slow start compared to what we had last season. so as we take on the models in an extended fashion, it's going to into into possibly next weekend as well, about a half a foot to maybe over a foot of snow up in kingvale, parts of kirkwood looking at about 10 inches of snow. all of this rain and snow, while it is pesky, is beneficial for california. next couple of days in san francisco, thunderstorm chances, breezy today. we will start to cool down those temperatures and see some of that cloud cover return for our thursday as this low pressure system makes its way down the coast. our inland seven-day forecast drops down temperatures into the 60s and some upper 50s for christmas eve and christmas day, and those chilly lows starting back again in the 40s and 30s. we're going back to san jose because we talked about the rain we heard in the studio. the live camera getting hit with fresh rain.

this is 101 northbound. you can see the blur and you can tell traffic is flowing smoothly at that scene. general slowing as that rain traveled through, we saw brake lights here, 880, just heading south of the airport. there's a little build for the volume of traffic at the same time, so that will be a factor. this is ongoing, but only one lane blocked eastbound. i told you i would check on the slowing. there is a crash and a truckload of dirt that is over on its shoulder, dirt, of course, in the rain turns to mud. but overall traffic volume moving well. back to you. >> thank you so much. happening now, a silicon valley giant appears to be sending out more pink slips ahead of the new year. the "chronicle" reports santa clara intel is cutting more jobs, the fifth round of layoffs this year. the chipmakers is eliminating 235 employees at its research and development facility. the cuts are expected to begin on new year's eve and take place over the span of two weeks. ahead, a look at our top

stories, and today's microclimate weather alert. the string of rainy days raising new concerns there on the peninsula. the preparations now under way and one neighborhood hit hard by the recent flooding. plus, delays in the skies. plus, delays in the skies. an update on the expected

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welcome back. we are moving you forward with a look at our top stories here on "today in the bay," starting with this microclimate weather alert. >> we have been checking in with our photographer driving around the bay area, tracking wet roadways this morning. he is now in san francisco, two hands on the wheel, dash cam on. the chp reminding everyone to slow down on their way to work this morning because the roadways are extra slick and there is also concern about ponding on the roadways. drivers are advised to allow extra time to get from one place to another. meanwhile, flood concerns are growing along parts of the peninsula. a steady stream of people filling sandbags at the distribution site yet in belmont. many are worried about flooding or the return of mudslides. part of belmont was damaged last winter when heavy rain led to

mudslides. here is a live look at sfo where we expect more delays this morning because of the so-called weather related ground stops. if so, this would be the third day in a row. conditions there led to 160 delays before the noontime hour yesterday, with the average wait time of about an hour. between saturday and new year's day, 7.5 million people are expected to fly nationwide. and we have a lot of ways to get you the latest information about the rain. our nbc bay area app is a great resource. it's free to download. you can scan the code there on your screen, or you can look us up in the app store and get up to the minute weather alerts sent to your phone. you can customize it for where you live and where you're headed. >> the rain just keeps coming. >> we keep on hearing it here in the studio. rain is always going to be a hot topic, especially when it's falling as heavy as it is over san jose, milpitas and fremont. those areas along 880 that are in the red and orange, you

definitely want to be holding on, both hands on the driver's wheel, and the windshield wipers at full speed. the rain continues to come through the bay area, parts of the peninsula, the central bridges here, san mateo, and it just keeps on nonstop in the bay area. we are possibly going to see some areas that see that flooding continue to be like that, at least through today when the rain tapers off into the afternoon and tomorrow. >> cinthia, you started off with the radar activity in fremont. it's hard to focus on the road when you have trouble seeing the road from the camera. i'm trusting that you have your wipers in good condition. this is just north of tesla. the sign is for auto mall parkway. 880 farther up, we have oakland and a lot of slowing because there are a couple of crashes between the coliseum and the bay bridge toll plaza. smaller crashes are happening frequently around the east bay, so use caution as the rain comes through the area. crossing the bay, it's just slower for safety's sake. >> just slow it down.

>> yeah. >> the "today" show is just ahead. our storm coverage will continue with "today in the bay" on roku and other streaming platforms. you can watch us for your 7:00 a.m. streaming newscast coming up next. you can also see it online at nbcbayarea.com, as well as through your smartphone. >> and that is what's happening "today in the bay." the "today" show begins right now. >> have a great morning. slow it down. good wednesday morning a court decision has good wednesday morning a court decision has a lot of people talking this morning. >> can donald trump be kicked off the ballot it's december 20th this is "today." courting controversy colorado supreme court rules the constitution bans donald trump from banning for president because of his role in the