congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. right now on "nbc bay area news tonight," we are under a microclimate weather alert. rain, thunder, wind, and snow in the sierra. we are tracking it all. plus -- roads in san francisco closed by protesters calling for a cease-fire in gaza. this wasn't the only protest, though, in the bay area. also, a lot is on the line tomorrow night. the final senate debate, and you can watch it right here on nbc. which candidates should we be looking out for? also --

>> and i think there's a lot that can rub off to some of our younger guys. >> guess who? the panda is back. yes, pablo sandoval at giants spring training in scottsdale. can he really make this team? good evening and thanks for joining us on this presidents day holiday. i'm raj mathai. a lot of kids are off of school this entire week, and a lot of families are on the move. we begin tonight with our microclimate weather alert. on and off storms at times intense, and we're not done yet. the bay area getting a good soaking, a mix of showers and sun throughout the day. some of the rain came with thunder, and at one point the national weather service warned of potential waterspouts and severe weather. you can hear it there. the wind also an issue. cal fire posting this video from near the crystal springs reservoir on the peninsula in

san mateo county. we're also seeing some flooding. this is on mark west station road near windsor. sonoma county firefighters say the water is about two feet above the roadway and continuing to rise. let's bring in our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. happy monday to you. i see some lightning icons here. what are we seeing right now? >> so the atmospheric river that hit us this weekend, that's moving well to the south. i think we've seen the worst of what we're going to be in for kind of already moved in and out. but this area of low pressure that's lingering offshore, that's going to keep some scattered thunderstorms in the mix. our doppler radar shows a few scattered showers right now. this line offshore i think over the next few hours would redevelop, and we'd get into some more hit and miss rain as we head through tonight. >> so by maybe tomorrow night are we kind of in the clear or even longer? >> we should start to see things beginning to move out slowly as we head through really tomorrow night and also as we move into

wednesday's forecast. look at these totals, though. i mean it really varied on where you were. only three-quarters of an inch in san jose. look at santa cruz mountains, 5.65. 1.28 in fremont. up towards calistoga, 4.22. santa rosa, 3.26. when it comes to that forecast, i think the worst has moved on out. so through tonight, some spotty rain. tomorrow, some scattered rain, thunderstorm chances. wednesday it's going to dry out for the day. look at this. thursday we get some sunshine coming back in. >> this has really picked up seemingly the last few weeks. where are we compared to last year? >> so at this point, i really think the spot that is seeing numbers that rival what we had last year is up into the north bay. so santa rosa, for example, they've seen over 20 inches of rain, and it's really on track with where we've seen last year. so some huge numbers up towards the north bay. that's the one spot that has seen weather just as strong as last year.

but some other places not doing as good. concord and livermore, they're running a deficit of about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. that's not very much. it's totally doable to make that up, and we do think that could be possible to make up. speaking of making up and potentially some more rainfall, as we look ahead, our next system friday into the weekend is going to linger offshore. and i do see at this point we could see some coastal totals maybe going over a half inch. but it's one of those systems where as it moves down the coastline, it's going to bring us some varying totals because of that movement down the coast. >> okay. you're a busy man. we'll see you shortly, jeff. some weather-related storm damage now, road damage. this is niles canyon road between fremont and sunol. have you seen that? it's shut down because of a section literally collapsing into the water there. it crumbled into the creek this morning. it's an important thoroughfare used by about 14,000 vehicles a day. caltrans will reassess the damage tomorrow morning.

we're also seeing more power outages because of the wind. nbc's sergio quintana is in rohnert park with what's happening in the north bay. >> reporter: here in the north bay, the wind has been the persistent issue that people have been having to deal with. but there was a strong burst of storms that passed through the area around 1:30 or so. that storm system was predicted to produce waterspouts off the coast and very strong winds here. it did slow down freeway traffic for a while, but it didn't cause any serious issues. for the most part, there has been some flooding in some of the rural areas, but that's mostly because of rains from the last couple of days. and those are localized flooding in areas where people are kind of used to that already. so it didn't produce any serious issues. now, there have been some power outages because of the wind. pg&e crews have been pretty quick to react to those and have already restored power to some of those neighborhoods that have been affected. in rohnert park, i'm sergio

quintana, nbc bay area news. coming up in a few minutes, we are live in tahoe. how much snow and when is the best time to go? the sierra getting hit just in time for ski week. our other headlines tonight, hundreds of people blocking traffic in san francisco today during a march for gaza. protesters gathering at civic center plaza this morning before marching down market street and ending up blocking parts of 101 right there in the city. the chp says hundreds of protesters were blocking lanes this afternoon. >> there's, you know, so many community members here today that aren't just palestinian, people from all walks of life. we have health care workers, artists, writers, people here coming out today to demand that our government stop this. >> organizers say the presidents day protest was meant to put pressure on president biden to help broker an immediate cease-fire. there was also a cease-fire protest at san jose state today.

the university says a guest speaker was presenting in sweeney hall when a group of demonstrators moved into the hallway. they say some kind of altercation took place between them and a faculty member. according to a flyer from a student group, the speaker was a jewish studies professor. the presentation was canceled. thankfully, though, no injuries and no arrests. well, a follow-up tonight in an investigation we've been following closely. dozens of vta cars sitting idle on a lot for a year. those cars are finally gone. a san jose parking lot filled with dozens of vta priuses and vans. our investigative unit broke the story of the south bay transit agency, vta, neglecting this fleet for nearly four years, wasting taxpayer dollars. now take a look at that same lot. after our story, the agency, vta, started taking action. we reported last week that vta

has been slowly moving the vehicles out to prepare them for auction. today we passed by and saw that it's nearly empty. you can watch our full story and more from the investigative unit. our website, nbcbayarea.com/investigations. also tonight, we're learning more details about the president's visit to the bay area this week. air force one scheduled to land at sfo wednesday afternoon. this visit is part of a three-day campaign swing through california. mr. biden will fly to l.a. tomorrow. then on wednesday, he's coming here to the bay area. his schedule includes two events in san francisco. one of them is co-hosted by speaker emerita nancy pelosi. then on thursday, he's going to head to los altos hills for another fund-raiser. tickets for that los altos hills event range from $6,600 to $100,000. after that, president biden will be heading back to the white house. well, have you voted yet? two weeks from tomorrow is the california primary, and here's

something that doesn't happen very often. a senate seat is up for grabs in california. tomorrow the final debate before the primary. 27 names on that ballot for california senator, but only the top four candidates will be at that debate. representatives adam schiff and katie porter from southern california. representative barbara lee from oakland. and former baseball star steve garvey, who is the only prominent republican on the ballot. and they are literally setting the stage down in southern california. the debate is tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at universal studios in hollywood. our sister station, nbc los angeles, is hosting the debate. one of the moderator, the chief political reporter for nbc la, conan nolan. >> last debate before the march primary. remember the top two finishers go on to the november runoff. so remember this is historic. the last time this seat was open was 30 years ago, and california and a lot of other states, once

somebody gets elected, they're going to be there for a while to build up seniority. it's not very often we have a vacant u.s. senate seat, which is why there is such a dynamic race taking place. >> our political analyst, larry gerston is here. 30 years was the last open senate seat. that's a long time. >> it's not that unusual. when you get in in california -- >> you stay in. >> they keep you there. you know what? it's tough staying there because in this state, it's so diverse, it's pretty easy to get some people mad. but someone like dianne feinstein, 30 years she held that seat. >> tomorrow night, are we looking for any explosive moments here? what are the one or two big takeaways or things we should look out for, or is this going to be everyone on their best behavior? >> we're always looking for explosive moments, and they happen when we least expect them. look, as you said, it's two weeks out. everybody's got to mind their p's and q's. a person like adam schiff is probably not going to do anything too daring.

he wants to keep his spot. the others scrambling for that second spot. remember, we have the top two. >> the top two, two weeks from tomorrow, the top two could advance. >> so it could be schiff/porter, schiff/lee, something like that. then you've got steve garvey, the republican who came out of nowhere and is leading the pack as far as republicans go. >> is he is a viable candidate? >> it is possible. here's why. republicans are about 24% of the state. garvey is by far the best-known of them. so he could get the lion's share of the republican votes, forgetting the other ones. in the case of schiff, porter, lee, they're going to split up about 46% of the other votes. so who knows? i think that garvey's got a good chance to get to the number two or number three spot. >> we talk about steve garvey. i remember him as a baseball player. what has he been doing in the

last 10, 15 years? anything politically? >> and that could be a big problem. he might have swung the bat well, but he hasn't been very involved in politics. he's been very low key. so he's had a problem defending that posture. now, he said, well, i finally figured out how important this is. i want to serve the state. he's been very, very vague when it comes to talking about policy positions, which is probably a result of the fact he's somewhat of a novice. but still so popular in southern california. as a dodger and a padre, they loved him. i think he carries a lot of that good will with him. >> barbara lee here in the bay area, polling-wise, she's been lacking. does she need to really do something special tomorrow night? >> it's got to be a combination of her doing something special and somebody really falling. probably the one that she would set her sights on would be katie porter, who is further behind schiff. but it's going to be tough. it's tough because, number one, she's from northern california.

she doesn't have the same kind of support, if you will. >> it's just the population base essentially. >> that's right. we're a much smaller area. the second thing is there's a question of age, and she's up there, in her late 70s. when we talk about this age issue, which haunted dianne feinstein, it could also fall over into lee as well. >> we're looking forward to this debate. the final televised debate with all four major candidates before the primary on march 5. thank you, larry. let's move on now. don't forget tomorrow night you can watch that debate right here on nbc bay area. an hour-long event begins at 6:00 p.m. then we'll have our post-debate newscast and analysis right here at 7:00. all right. up next, more snow in the sierra. our snow whisperer -- yes, we have a snow whisperer. he's going to join us near south shore with what to expect during the ski week for all the kids. >> and the panda is back. the fan favorite returning to the giants, but is he really going to make the team we?'r

democrats agree. conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. ...our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. mr. garvey, you voted for him twice... as your own man, what is your decision? garvey is wrong for california. but garvey's surging in the polls. fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. stop garvey. adam schiff for senate. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message. you can make money the hard way as a bullfighter

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welcome back to "nbc bay area news tonight." for thousands of bay area kids, this is winter break. no school this week. for many families, it's a trip to lake tahoe. tonight the tahoe area is under a winter storm warning. yeah, this is video from dodge ridge resort off highway 108. this is near twain heart ski

resorts. here's the skinny. the storm should clear at least partially by wednesday, and then maybe some sunshine in tahoe by thursday. how about that? here's a live look now at the conditions. this is interstate 80 near soda springs, and the roads look fairly clear. traffic is moving. let's bring in our snow whisperer kevin cooper from near the south shore. he's the executive director of communications at callie pass resorts. coop, take it away. >> i'm looking at snowfall above me right now. it's a beautiful thing. this has been an interesting system. it's been coming in in waves. anywhere from 14 and almost 24 inches at the summit right now. it just continues. like we just mentioned, we're looking at snow going through tuesday and wednesday, really setting up march and really setting us up for the season. >> looks like an epic week later this week. this is a pivotal week, i believe, for business for the

tahoe resorts because it's ski week for so many bay area families. this could make or break some of the business season for you guys. >> absolutely. this is the beauty of it. we're getting the snow coming in. you're going to be challenged a little bit getting over the sierra, coming over i-80, highway 50, you're going to have a little bit of a challenge. but once you get here, you're going to have a good time. we're now experiencing lake level snow. so a lot of those operations, the snowmobiling outfits, cross country outfits, are going to be able to be open and operate. it was really slow getting into it, but now the resorts are open at 100%, and they're looking good. so wherever you go, when the temperatures drop, the snow levels will drop. you're going to have a good time once you get here. >> in terms of concerns here, avalanche, people skiing out of bounds, are we under any sort of avalanche watch in the next 24 hours? >> absolutely, raj. right now it's a challenging time, right?

we've had the temperatures flex up and down over the last 24 hours, so they're going to flex up and down over the next 72 hours. that's going to be the challenge. so if you go to the sierra avalanche center, today was considerable. tomorrow i believe you're going to see high, above, near, and below tree line. that's just not in the sierra avalanche center. that's down in the eastern sierra as well. if you're getting into the back country, be prepared. have your gear. make your ingress, egress plans. ride with a friend. >> well said. best days to come up, are you thinking thursday and into next weekend? >> absolutely. this next weekend is going to be fantastic. china peak, dodge, bear valley, if you're coming up towards kirkwood, north shore, you're going to have a great time. the resorts are open 100%, and this is the best snow of the season. >> coop, are you ever in a bad mood? i want to see you in a bad mood one of these days.

>> never happens, my friend, because i'm always out on the mountain. >> appreciate your time. take care. >> take care, guys. let's move on now. from skiing and snow to baseball and sunshine. guess who's back with the giants? the panda. yes, pablo sandoval. is it 2012 or 2024? sandoval is at spring training right now as a non-roster invitee. he's 37 years old, won three titles with the giants, one with the braves. now just hoping to make the team. this might be the best shape he's ever been in actually. this was the giants' first full squad workout of spring training. it's been three years since pablo last played in major league baseball. last year he played in dubai. >> you know what? he's had a big impact on this team over the years. he's got an infectious personality. he's experienced. he's motivated. and i think there's a lot that can rub off to some of our younger guys too. so, you know, he doesn't want to

hear anything about what his chances are. he's going to go out there, and he's going to play, and he's going to try to force our hand. >> interesting. he could end up with aaa sacramento for the giants. i -- he could end up with this team here. this isn't the first time that the giants brought back sandoval. after leaving the team in 2014, he played again for the giants from 2017 to 2020. let's take a look outside now on this monday night. the bay bridge toll plaza, not much traffic out there. jeff is going to return

you want to see who we are as americans? i'm peter dixon and in kenya... we built a hospital that provides maternal care. as a marine... we fought against the taliban and their crimes against women. and in hillary clinton's state department... we took on gender-based violence in the congo. now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are.

we are celebrating black heritage here at nbc, highlighting the ways our community is honoring black culture and history in the bay area. there's or morning anchor marcus washington. this was at chase center today. marcus had the honor of introducing performers and special guests like former warriors star festus ezeli and hip-hop star rhyme fest. jeff ranieri is back with us. this event was actually supposed to be outdoors at chase center in the quad area. they had to move it indoors because of the rain. >> i'm glad they did. it was coming down pretty good here for parts of the bay area from this storm system that's going to linger offshore through tomorrow. let me show you what that's going to mean in our forecast right now. here's the thing. with the way that things are playing out, i do not expect rainfall to be nearly as

widespread tomorrow or nearly as heavy. now, we will get into some scattered areas of rain and thunderstorm chances, but at 7:00 in the morning, the highest risk would be up towards the north bay. likely not starting of with anything for the east bay, south bay, or peninsula. we'll then get into another wave of rainfall from 3:00 to 6:00 tomorrow evening. then this storm system would start to exit by about 11:30, moving off towards the east. rainfall totals tomorrow, you're going to be happy to see this. only trace amounts to about a half inch. best bet of a quarter to half inch right up there through the north bay. through tomorrow morning, temperatures down in the 40s. a cold start. for the afternoon, jacket expected all the way through the afternoon. upper 50s and also low 60s. on the seven-day forecast, how about that sunshine? i see it through the day on wednesday drying, sunshine on thursday. we'll see more rain chances return friday, saturday, and sunday with a system down the coastline. right now the totals don't look nearly as high as what we just

went through. but we'll continue to update you on this as we get closer to that storm system getting here friday, saturday and sunday. >> get me to that sunshine. thank you, jeff. as we wrap up, mario lopez just getting started with "access hollywood." >> well, tonight on "access," we're exclusively backstage at the people's choice awards with icon winner adam sandler just moments after jennifer aniston presented him with the honor. >> i didn't know they were going to sucker her into this, and i felt bad because i know aniston, she's not the biggest fan of standing up in front of people and talking, but she did it. she was great. she was so funny. >> we also have inside access to harry and meghan's canadian trip. plus, you all know the naked dance at the end of the movie saltburn, meet the song murder on the dance floor is getting

new life after its original rease. coming up tonight in prime time on nbc, a two-hour episode of the voice fantasy league. then at 10:00 -- i'm sorry, that's america's got talent fantasy league. then at 10:00, the irrational, followed by our 11:00 news live and local. that's going to do it for us at 7:00. for everyone here at nbc bay area, thanks for joining us. we hope you enjo we hope you enjo y

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