f0 now at 11:00, a potentially history making storm is slamming the sierra tonight, and the last thing you should do is try and check it out ourself. >> i can't see the car in front of me, right? if there is a car. think your last job interview was stressful? the candidates vying to be oakland's top cop faced everyone in town tonight except for the person doing the hiring. and the guy accused of stealing enough booze to fill a city bus did a pretty poor job of hiding the evidence. from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. hello, i'm sara donchey. >> and i'm paul heggen. we're tracking the storm bringing rain and windy conditions to the bay area and flat out blizzard conditions to the sierra. >> yes, this is truckee tonight. the storm has really ramped up in the past couple of hours. it really is only

getting started. obviously snow on the ground. >> right. >> freezing cold. >> and it's just going to intensify tomorrow. the heaviest snow will actually fall 24 hours from now, and it will just be adding up between now and then. >> this is clear why everyone is told to stay off the roads. that should be no surprise to anyone. >> right, and if you see this and think oh, it looks like the start of a great ski weekend! no, no, no! near whiteout conditions at kirkwood today. already reports of 145 miles per hour gusts at the top. >> i don't think that's conducive to carving down the hill. >> no, stop the lifts early. other resorts are doing the same. sierra tahoe has already said they'll be closed tomorrow. so let's talk about what's going on with the system. we've been talking about it for days as it headed our direction. now it's here and will be hanging out the next several days. let's go back to the monitor and look at the live feed from the central sierra snow lab. they have

their web cams. four different cameras looking four different elections. the cameras looking into the wind are covered in snow. those looking downwind, you can see the flakes whipping by. the blizzard warning is in effect through 10:00 a.m. sunday in all of the purple shaded areas. we're talking one to four feet of snow above 3,000 feet in elevation. above 5,000 feet, the amounts range from 5 to 10, even 12 plus feet. plus the wind. mentioned the 145-mile per hour gust atop palisades tahoe. now, around the bay area, there's a wind advisory can kicking in at noon tomorrow. there's also a high surf advisory with 15 to 20-foot waves expected at the coast. we have rain. it's light to moderate. locally heavy downpours, but they won't last long enough in a particular spot to lead to significant flooding threat with this particular storm

system, but it will certainly be inconvenient for the morning and afternoon commutes tomorrow. but the main focus is all that snow flying already. and the worst of it will be tomorrow into tomorrow night and saturday. >> so the message is clear. don't. >> don't! yeah, do not even try it. the roads will be closed. yeah, that's the upshot of all this. >> all right, now we know. the storm is expected to be so powerful across the sierra this yosemite park is also telling people to get out. >> yeah. >> leave. >> the park is expecting several feet of snow. officially closing in just under an hour at midnight. all visitors are told to be out no later than noon tomorrow. but where will they go? >> that is a fair point. that's why you've been saying for days not to even try it. we have a reporter up in truckee where chp is warning people to stay off the roads and staffing up to save the people that just won't listen. >> reporter: well, you can see

the snow coming down here in truckee. it's been on and off all day. but this is just the beginning of what's expected to be a very large storm coming through this area through the entire weekend. you can see i-80 right here behind me. this normally a very crowded road, right now not a single car on the freeway. that is actually exactly what chp officials say they want to see. we got the chance to ride along with a chp officer earlier where he told us how they're preparing for the some and what they're doing to keep people safe. officer chris patton knows this portion of interstate 80 like the back of his hand. he's been a chp officer in truckee for 17 years and seen his fair share of big snowstorms. that's why he's taking this weekend's storm seriously. >> we're on high alert right now basically. the storm is coming. it's on the verge. it's on the other side of the

hill coming this way. >> reporter: officer patton is one of hundreds of officers that will be patrolling the roads during this storm and doing his best to keep drivers safe and moving. >> if we're not getting any calls, we're constantly driving this freeway. when we see a person stuck, we assist them. i've had luggage packed in my patrol car and people stuffed in here. we get them off the hill and to safety. >> reporter: he says it's not uncommon for drivers to get stuck or slide off the road. >> like right now, snow is blowing, and i can't see the car in front of me if there is a car. >> reporter: officer patton says the best thing people can do is not drive when the weather gets bad. but of course he knows some people have to. that's why officers have a variety of tools at their disposal to help. >> we have push bumpers. like a

big rig, for example. if it gets stuck on the hill, we can give them a nudge and get them the traction they need. >> reporter: and for those of you that frequent this area, you know there's always a possibility that cal trans could shut down the freeway if conditions get too bad. that is a possibility that it could happen here this weekend if the forecast is accurate. but chp officials say they actually still patrol up the interstate even when it's closed just to make sure no one is stuck up there. they say they're prepared for the storm and just hope everyone stays safe. >> kelsi and her photographer are staying up there through the weekend, so look for their reports through the weekend. police say they've nabbed the arsonist that torched a pair of teslas in soma last weekend. security cameras caught him in action. the owner of one car was visiting from washington state and had to drive home in a rental. he told us tonight police think the

suspect is linked to seven arson cases. staying in san francisco, supervisor aaron peskin may be the next to jump into the crowded race to unseat mayor london breed. he said tonight he's thinking about it. he has until mid-june to make up his mind. and in oakland there's a new crop of candidates vying for police chief. the job has been open for a year now, but they're having trouble getting the attention of the hiring manager. the mayor opted not to attend tonight's forum where the candidates introduced themselves and laid out their visions for the first 100 days. our andrea nakano was there and and people what they want to see in the new police chief. >> reporter: the public forum to meet the police chief candidates was held at city hall while the four candidates, from all over the country, joined in on zoom. those at the meeting say they liked the transparency of the public

meeting, but mayor thao refused to attend. merlin edwarders has lost count of how many times he's been in the city hall chamber. an oakland resident for 66 years, he's looking for just one thing in the chief of police. >> if you're going to bring a new police chief in, are they as good as or better than what you had. and if they're not as good as or better than what you had, then these are not the people you want. >> reporter: he is a supporter of former chief armstrong who was let go about a year ago. he says the city has been without a chief for far too long and appreciates the police commission's transparency to truce the candidates to the public. >> the citizens of the city should have an opportunity to know who they are, where they came from, what are their qualifications, what they can do to improve the issues we have in the city. and the question becomes can they do something about it? >> reporter: mayor thao disagrees. in a letter to the

police commission, she wrote the public process narrows the field of potential candidates that are not willing to go through a public hiring process. and puts the candidates in an awkward position with their current employers. police commissioner peterson defended the commission's decision to hold the public forum. >> as oaklanders, we deeply value integrity, transparency and the power of community engagement. >> reporter: three candidates are from new york, cincinnati, and texas. the only local is back on the commissioner's short list for the second time. all of them emphasize creating partnerships with the community to combat crime. >> for the city of oakland, they're just not the right fit for oakland. as a matter of fact, one of them was rejected before. so why bring him up again? >> reporter: the police commission says it will forward the recommendations from the

four finalists to the mayor friday morning. a cop intentionally crashes his cruiser to prevent an even bigger disaster down the road. and one woman didn't know just how smart her dog was until they were in a really scary situation. and someone tried to get away with enough booze, stolen, to line a bus bench. plus. >> do i look like a snowman yet? >> we could not send kelsi to the sierra without showing you this.

what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i approved this message.

tonight, two very big fires burning in the texas panhandle have merged into a million acre mega-blaze that's killed at least two people. the death toll could grow. while containment is only 3% tonight, lower temperatures and even maybe some snow are starting to help them out. when a tesla driver was speeding the wrong day down a utah highway, a cop put his own life on the line to stop it. the officer says he did it to prevent the tesla from causing

an even bigger crash. he has since been released from the hospital, and the tesla driver wasn't hurt, but was arrested on suspicious of driving under the influence. back in the bay area, police say a man who stole almost 60 bottles of booze did a bad job of hiding the evidence. when they pulled him over last week, he had 14 bottles in his backpack alone, another 44 strewn about in the back of his car. it was enough to line this entire bus bench and stock a full bar. police believe it came from multiple stores. a lot of people think being a journalist is a glamorous life. i assure you not really. especially when you draw the short straw and have to cover a winter storm. like a cnn sports guy who was drafted in december to temporarily switch to the weather beat. >> mark, how you feeling out there? >> reporter: again, the same way i felt about eight minutes ago when you asked me the same question. can i go back to my regular job? >> no! and this is a classic. in

2013, a weather reporter in milwaukee went viral after standing in a snowstorm for hours and being very honest about how it felt. >> i've been here since what, 3:30 this morning? it's now, i don't even know what time it is. i'm exhausted, i've run out of things to say. it's snowing, and it sucks here! >> welcome to real milwaukee! >> kelsi just got back to her hotel after spending all day out there with her photographer jim. >> do i look as bad as you do? >> turn around! yeah! >> these are big snowflakes! >> do i look like a snowman yet? put my hands out. >> hmm, yeah, i've been there. i've had to do that job in

other markets, and it's tough. the thing is, what people don't realize is when you do a live shot, you don't just stand out there for the 15 seconds you're on tv. you're out there for hours. hours! >> right, and if you're lucky, you have a nice warm live van to go back into, or at least a news vehicle. >> yeah, that's a small, teeny, tiny usually kind of dirty area. >> exactly. depending on the photographer you work with. i will not cast any aspersions on jim's cleanliness or lack thereof. but here's the snow flying at donner summit. this is the cal trans camera on 80 eastbound. you can barely see the surface of the road, and the camera is shaking adds as the winds are gusting. the snow is going to add up because this is going to last for so long. we're talking 72 to 84 hours of total snowfall. a foot to foot and a half on top of what's already accumulated by tomorrow morning. then it really intensifies tomorrow and tomorrow night. by the time the

sun comes up on saturday, these number, i've said it before, but it's like the snow equivalent of monopoly money. it doesn't seem real. six to seven feet of snow. and it will continue to snow through the first half of the day on sunday. so don't even think about traveling that direction. we have a winter storm warning for inland mendecino county and lake county through 10:00 a.m. on sunday above 1,000 feet in elevation. especially friday night into saturday, one to four inches of snow there. clear lake at 1500 feet elevation. up to 2500 feet, 5 to 15 inches of snow with wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. for most of the bay area, it's light to moderate rain. gaps between the lines of showers with the off and on rain becoming more intense towards late tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. this is going to be the heaviest rain associated with the cold front that's going to be driving

across the bay area. but the downpours, when they're at their heaviest, they'll be brief. so that limits the overall flooding potential. back to off and on showers saturday. not an all day washout, but dry breaks tough to pin down. have an indoor alternative ready for outdoor plans, even on sunday when the showers become fewer and farther between. they'll still be out there. at least hit or miss shower activity for the second half of the weekend. cold as well. let's add up the rain through the weekend. we're talking about amounts despite the long duration of the system, not that much rain. an inch to inch and a half on a widespread basis and stretched out over several days. you'd have to double or triple them to lead to a significant flooding threat. there might be a flooded intersection here and there, maybe standing water on roads, deeper puddles here and there, but this is not going to be a damaging event for the bay area. much more threatening for the sierra. now, we'll have some gusty winds associated with this. a lot of information about to appear on the screen

here, but basically the thing to know is all the red shaded times, 10:00 a.m. tomorrow through 4:00 p.m. saturday, this is when the winds are at the strongest. 35 to 45 miles per hour gusts possible, but that's not strong enough for widespread power outages. sporadic power issues the worst we're looking at. let's look at the seven-day forecast. it is an active one over the course of the next several days. we have the wet weather tomorrow and saturday. lingering showers on sunday. still going to be cold. and then monday, maybe dry. but that still remains to be seen. another round of showers late tuesday into wednesday. maybe by the end of next week we'll catch a few dry days in a row, but that's a long way down the line at this point. all right, straight ahead, conference showdowns and local college basketball. and the warriors rolled up its sleeves for work in new york. looking to deliver a seventh - it's so fun to watch jessica in this space.

- this is a look at those clouds right now in real-time, but let's head underneath this cloud layer and take a look at our rainfall... - [narrator] the virtual view studio, part of "morning edition." weekday mornings starting at 5 on kpix.

remember that movie how stella got her groove back? it's like that but for the warriors. >> and this being an election year, if i was a politician, i would say warriors now, warriors tomorrow, warriors forever! >> something like that. >> exactly. all right, about the golden state warriors. aggressive at both ends, and they got rewarded for it. steph loves playing at madison square garden. golden state jumped out to a 14-0 lead. curry scored 11 in the opening quarter. golden state led by as many as 17. fourth quarter magic. crazy shot for brandon. made this lead 9. draymond and steph loved it. kominga spin move, he finished with 25. curry put it

away with his eighth three of the night. curry scored 31, and golden state won their seventh straight on the road 110-99. the dubs are at toronto on friday. pivot to college basketball. the nation's longest win streak? still belongs to the st. mary's gales. huddle up. boys, let's go out and get a 16th straight win. at pepperdine. they're up 19 at the end of the first half. 17th ranked gales won it 83-57 and clinched their first outright western coast conference title since 2012. chase center, usf dons had a home game against the gonzaga bulldogs. tough floater. the bulldogs grabbed their first lead of the game right before half time, and then ran away in

the second. no answers for graham. capped off a 15-0 zags run. bulldogs cruise from there, final of 86-68 beating the dons 29 straight games. how about women's basketball? what a night for stanford's cameron brink at oregon state. 90 seconds left, cardinals up 2. brink grabbed the offensive rebound and put back. the oregon native finished with 25 points, a career high 23 rebounds. third ranked stanford won it 67-63 and clinched their fourth straight outright pac-12 title. and shout out to iowa superstar caitlin clark who declared for the wnba draft. she's 18 points shy of setting the division 1 all time scoring mark, man or woman. if she only played a fifth year. the bay area's new wnba franchise starting in 2025 would have a shot at drafting her.

>> that would be so cool. she'll do great things wherever she goes. vern, thank you so much. a pair of twins from the east bay celebrating their birthday. for one it's his eighth, for the other it's his second. give that boy the bigger slice of cake!

all right, this is cute. exactly eight years ago the ericson family in oakland welcomed a set of twins. they were born just minutes apart. but those minutes really did make a difference. miles celebrated his eighth birthday yesterday. he was born just before midnight on february 28th. today it's his brother walter's turn. he's only 11 minutes younger, but that's amounted to a lot fewer birthdays over the years. >> since my birthday's on a leap year, and that means that i'm only two.

>> they're pretty good at sharing. and they're pretty good at sharing their birthday, but they definitely don't miss out on the opportunity to have their own thing on leap year. >> the family is having a big party this weekend to celebrate both boys. happy birthday to you both. so adorable. >> you know, only 1 in about 5 million people is a leap year baby, but today a dozen so-called leaplings are finishing up their first day of birth. they'll celebrate their next birthday in 2028. when this dog bolted through a car crash, she could have run into the road or through a neighborhood. but where she ended up is making people call her a very smart pup indeed.

what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i approved this message.

so something that kind of comes with the territory of this job is covering scary stuff. you know, we cover negative stuff all the time. we cover scary things. car crashes for one. we've actually seen a few where someone is riding with their dog, yeah, i know, it always makes you just uh. and in this one, the dog sort of disappeared. melissa was driving with her dog aries in

michigan when she got into a crash at an intersection. aries was scared and jumped out the open window. melissa had no idea where she went. no idea. turns out she got pretty far. >> he called me and said she's here. i literally sank to the ground. >> well, here was the dog day care that aries goes to. she ran there, and it's a mile away from the crash scene. >> she knew where to go! >> that's a smart dog. >> melissa said she knew her dog was smart, but she didn't know how smart. i mean, i couldn't even do that. >> so my question is was the dog running for help and knew hey, these people know me and i can get help or was the dog just like i want to go to school? >> either way, navigating your way out of that situation, not advise

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