>> alan: we're experiencing a break in the storm for now. but freeze powerlines are still coming down all over. thousands of pg&e customers throughout the bay area are in the dark this evening. and look at the sierras. this is a live caltrans camera looking at highway 50. the snow is coming down, and chain riermtz are -- requirements are in effect on 50 and 8. leigh glaser is here with more on the rain. >> leigh: very impressive rainfall totals from the system that moved through. some lightning strikes right now. live doppler 7hd, north bay, you can see on the radar that most of the activity is starting to

thin out, but all the way up towards the cobb area, we have been seeing lightning strikes. so santa rosa, reporting light rain. the coast, you can see this orange developing here. most definitely some lightning strikes there. also, starting to see some rain in the north bay. and take a look at what's going on between morgan hill and gilroy. very heavy rain making its way through this part of the bay area. 4-hour -- 24 hour rainfall totals. oakland close to an inch and a half. a new daily rainfall record. over an inch for san francisco. logan, 3 1/2 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. >> alan: let's go to oakland. you checked out a weather-related problem, including a big tree that

crashed in a home in the sheffield village area? >> reporter: the rain has finally let up. take a look at what the storm has left behind. there were four adults, a baby, and two dogs inside this house when the tree came crashing down. they're all feeling very lucky no one was hurt. >> it was really, really loud. souped -- sounded like loud thunder. >> reporter: his friends were sitting on the couch in the front room and heard the crash. >> thank god they're alive and not injured, because there's a branch that's about eight feet long and that big around just sitting on my living room floor. like it clean fell through. >> reporter: the tree came smashing down on to the roof, into the chimney, and on top of this car. these are the photos from the inside. the hole in the roof and the smashed television set are the least of boyd's worries. >> imagine that happening

before, and i knew as soon as i heard that noise, a tree was coming down. i didn't know where it would land and basically hoped it wasn't landing on me or my friend. >> reporter: the day's rains also brought wet roads. rock slides. and raging waters. but if there was a bad day for nate boyd and his friends in oakland, it was good day for the u.s. jeer logical stream observer, enif the only way to observe the creek was by dangling in the air. >> a good day to be in your line of work. >> actually, yes, and it pays the bills. >> how much sediment he sees in the water helps geologists know if there were be enclosinged storm -- clogged drains. >> the more it rains, the more i have to come out here. >> not an easy job at all. as for the folks inside this

house, no one was hurt. where they will be spending their night tonight and where they will be spending christmas, they're not sure, and they have today's storm to blame for that. reporting live in oakland, abc-7 news. >> alan: trees are coming down all over the bay area. emily green sent us these pictures of human -- huge limbs blocking the street. earlier this morning, high winds knocked over a tree and a power pole just south of point reyes on highway 1. flooding was a problem for drivers in mill valley near the highway 101 offramp where the chp pushed one driver out of the road. pg&e crews had to cut up a tree to clear a roadway. i the wind was too much for a large tree in hillsboro. iscrack -- crashed down and did

damage to a nearby house. crews had to block off a section of the roadway. and in redwood city, rain flooded an entire trailer park on east bay shore road. on the peninsula, sfo is using the break in the rain to make up for night delays from yesterday and this morning. flights are still running about an hour behind. and the weather isn't the only hassle. b.a.r.t. is running behind schedule because of a problem that briefly shut down the transbay tube. we're live in west oakland station. >> reporter: the problem began at 1:45 p.m. that's when a b.a.r.t. train operator spotted smoke in the transbay due. we were at the embarcadero station, and we saw some haze coming out of the tunnel. it was noticeable an hour after fir reported. million crews were dispatched to the access point to the transbay

tube. the problem appears to be with an insulate for. for 50 minutes the entire tube was shut down. b.a.r.t. has since re-opened one side of the tube so one instead of two tracks are operating. riders can get to either side of the bay but at it taking longer. some home had to wait an hour. >> it's not the commute time or anything, so it's not important. you just have to go with the flow. >> life happens. just be patient spend -- patient spend joy is. >> the crews found what appears to be preliminarily an insulator problem. it's a piece of equipment that holds the electric third rail that supplies power to the trains. it separates it from the ground, instance rates it from the ground. and so this insulate for has what they believed prim nearly is mineral buildup. >> reporter: the only line in operation going to and from san francisco is the pittsburg bay

point lines, riders are advise to add 50 minutes to their trip. live in oakland. lillian kim, abc-7 news. >> alan: it's been a busy weekend in washington. ahead, the senate debate that could yield a major foreign policy victory for president obama. a long-standing sports record has been tied. the chance are you haven't heard about the amazing feat the uconn women are ♪ [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute.

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>> alan: a rare work weekend in washington. the senate met most of the day to debate a new arms control treaty with russia. the final approval of the

so-called new start treaty is uncertain. david curley has more. >> reporter: after legislative victories on the tax peel and repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, president obama has his eyes on a third prize, his biggest. >> a treaty like start isn't about winning a victory for an administration or the political party. it's about the safety of the united states. >> reporter: the treat y, cutting number clear warheads on each side, would be a feather in mr. obama's hat. do senate democrats have enough votes? >> i believe we do. >> reporter: republicans claim it would restrict the u.s. efforts to build an antimissile defense. >> i cannot support the treaty. i think the verification provisions are inadequate, and i worry about the missile defense implications. >> what are we doing here on a sunday afternoon? >> this was a flawed process and a flawed treaty. >> reporter: the white house is still celebrating the repeal of

the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. >> a great day for this country, a great day for our history. >> reporter: for the first time, gays and lesbians will be able to serve openly in the military. but not immediately. margaret wit was a flight nurse. she was discharged after the army learned she was a lesbian. she would like her job back but she has to late. -- has to wait. president obamaes hoping for another christmas gift from capitol hill, a new start treaty. >> alan: the hotel christmas tree eliciting an appalling -- apology this weekend. this break in the rain is about to end. the accuweather forecast coming up.

>> alan: an impressive record was tied today in college hoops. the university of cnn women's basketball team won its 88th 88th straight game with an 81-50 victory over ohio state. the record matches the record set by the ucla men in the '70s. nationwide, the uconn story is getting a lot less play. >> the uconn women are trying to do a monumental achievement in sports. >> why haven't we heard anything about it? the university of connecticut women's basketball team hasn't lost a single game since 2008. a win today would be their 88th in a row, tieing a four-decade old record set by the ucla men's team.

this time around, few headlines, a stunning lack of interest, some say, from the male-dominated sports media. >> let's not kid ourselves. the coverage for the uconn women is what would be going on the playground with a boy saying, you can't play, you're just a girl. >> nearly four decade after title ix man dated equality in women's athletics,. it's an apples and oranges. different sex, different game, different size basketball, different type athletic. the uconn coach said that himself. >> there's this number 88 out there that really makes everybody go, wow, there's a number out there that no one has ever been able to get to that's not what we're doing this for. this is something that will be judged on its own merit. >> as for the team, the lack of headlines has doning in to diminish their drive.

>> get a win, and then play and make a great game. create a special memory. >> perhaps their dynasty will garner more attention after tuesday, when the might have 89 wins, the longest winning streak in college basketball history, men or women. >> alan: maybe they went too far. managers at an an buoy dab bee hotel now admit an $11 million christmas tree is over the top. the tree is in the lobby of the emirates palace hotel and is decorated with gold, rubies and diamonds. management says perhaps the tree is out of line with the spirit of the sample although united emirates is an arab nation, signs of christmases whether --

are everywhere. >> leigh: the heavy rain this morning, most locations, over an inch of rain in a short amount of time. a nice break right now, and at least throughout much of tonight we will see a break in that heavy rain. it will return now, parts of the bay area, as we head into our monday. let's get right to live doppler 7hd. still some activity out there. you can see just bands of showers, although they're starting to decrease. in the north bay, clearly see something rain for santa rosa, roanoke park. here's another batch of moderate rain, gilroy, and the direction of this band is moving to the south so hollister, you'll probably get hit with some of this rain that's now over gilroy, as it slides south. we'll see a chance of showers offand on tonight. live doppler 7hd has pick up

numerous lightning strieghtz off -- strikes off the coast. heavier rain picks up in the mid-week time period. tuesday night and wednesday, and then after that, nice break heading into thursday and friday. a break in the action. we are going to see a few breaks, overnight temperatures are dropping and some clear patches. and 50s in the north bay, and 46 for livermore. this was the story this morning. you can clearly see on the map, the jet stream just right over the bay area. we're right here, and throughout the course of the morning the heavy rain just moved flight over the bay area. the last few frames, the jet stream now is starting to sag towards the south, which means we get a break here, and all of this is going push overnight into southern california, as we head, though, into monday night and tuesday, all of this is going to push back up, and

that's when he'll definitely get into more periods of heavier rain, and more widespread rainfall in the bay area. you can see a few scattered showers, actually kind of a dry evening for much of the bay area. it will be monday when she showers start to intensify. you can see by 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., the rain bands picks up, could be heavy at times, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, and then in afternoon, wave and wave of moderate showers. the high sierra storm watch still in effect until 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. snow totals starting to come down a little bit two to three feet above 7,000 feet. eight to 16 inches near lake level. traveling tonight, getting a quick start on the holiday travel, los angeles and san diego and the snow will be pieing up in tahoe. highs tomorrow with the showers, could be heavy at times,

mid-to-upper 50s across the interbay area. here's my accuweather seven-day forecast. getting a better handle what's coming up. tuesday, slight break. heavy rain tuesday night. wednesday. that break thursday and friday. christmas day right now looks wet. >> alan: the sun will come out some day. thanks, leigh. on to shuvment if you -- on to shu. if you tried watch the raiders, you couldn't. >> mike: tim tebow, his first nfl start in the black

>> mike: the raiders hosting the bron knows a must-win situation. a good day to have a run game in the rain and mud of the black hole. tim tebow making his first career start, and oakland's first offensive play, ford, taking it first, great call, and turns on the jets, 71 yards in a her ry. 7-0 raiders. tebow will not be denied. rushed for 78 yards. game time. in the first, more from tebow. lloyd hauls it in and stays inbound. great catch. 14-7 denver. now in the fourth, raiders up three. campbell throws one out to reece, and the wide receiver turned fullback makes a man miss

and has all sorts of green, or mud in front of him. he goes 73 yards. puts the raiders up 30-20. later in the fourth, 32-23 raiders. campbell rolls right, throws left to mcfadden. d-mac barrels down to the one. 158 total yards on the day. michael bush's second rushing td of the day. the raiders with the 39-23 victory. >> the niners lost thursday night. that means the rams and the seahawks heave to lose to keep their playoff hopes alive. that's right, playoffs at 5-9. the worst division in the history of the nfl. matt cassel back in the saddle after an appendectomy last week inch the fourth after st. louis cut it to 20-13, jones from two yard out. chiefs stay in the driver's seat and the 49ers stay alive.

kansas city up 27-13. falcons doing the niners a fav as well. matt ryan hooks up with jenkins. atlanta wraps seattle, clinching a playoff spot. the niners are just a game back. eagles and giants battling for first in the nfc east. manning four, td passes, this one to nix. michael vick would lead the eagles back. hits maclin, spins into pay dirt. game time. ten seconds left. giants forced to punt. instead of kicking it out-of-bounds, they tick it to form cal star jackson. he bobbles it. scooches it up, his -- hesitates, finds a seevment are you -- finds a seam. are you kidding me? he scores. eagles take the lead in the nfc east. >> college women's hoops, uconn

women going for their 88th 88th straight win. hays, two of her 26. uconn up 12. in the second, miya moore. she had 22, and it's 88 straight for uconn, 81-50 the final. look to break the record tuesday against florida state. stanford's kyle vanber berg going for a victory against tennessee. >> alan: we tell you about the source of an unusual light in the sky tomorrow

>> alan: we have more weather coverage ahead at 6:00. the for rest service has declared an avalanche warning in the sear. a the east coast city that is making a serious run to wrestle away the america's cup race from san freafnls join -- san francisco. if the weather cooperates you will get to see this year's only total lunar eclipse. the first time this happened since 1554. during a total lunar eclipse, the full moon pass through the shadow create by the earth. some indirect sunlight will pass through and give the moon a ghostly color, probably a reddish brown. so take a look at that. that's it for us at 5:00. thanks for joining us. we'll be back at 6:00. world news