today, it's been dropped by half a foot. abc7 news is live now from the delta with this story. laura? >> we're in sacramento this morning for meeting of water managers there are no prayers but strong calls from leaders of local agencies. >> the drought is real. >> from northern california water managers are sounding an alarm. >> we can wait and take another survey in february, in march. but we're headed into a possible year that is worse than 1977.

>> governor jerry brown has not declared a drought yet in california but did form a task force last month. >> the need being assessed now. we'll meet again on thursday. that is impact as well as what needs might be. >> inincluding res voirz like followsa. just sitting at 18%. little snow pack above, no rain in sight. >> it's serious. >> david guy is with the northern california water association. >> we're seeing now is this inflow. bottom line is that state has to take this seriously. >> some water districts impoets posed mandatory measures on customers many others are expected to

follow suit. >> conservationists calling delta water a biological oversight for fish. latest survey shows there are fewer fish than ever in the delta. the same year the sate began exporting water the population of delta smelt dropped 90 fors%. fishing enthusists blame water exports as the cause of the water quality and habitat conditions. >> from lack of rain to too much cold, every state in the u.s. had one city hit below freezing today most due to that nasty arctic blast. at least 17

blamed on severe weather since last week and a hindering crews fighting flames and ice. is a freeze warning for parts of florida. this is wreaking havoc on air travel, too. 2000 flights were cancelled today. a huge mess. at sfo a number of passengers are feeling impacts >> we're they've had 18 cancellations. that is better than yesterday, they had some people arriving here witness with more bad news. this

is the backage area, they're kept in groups the mcdonalds got on a flight but bags arrived in san francisco. >> we just got here, they're waiting here. they've been here sometime. >> christy spent 24 hours from new york via washington, d.c. and she got on a plane without her bag. >> in past days thousands have been stranded and some used their carry on as a pillow. these friends from australia had been trying to leave the new york city since saturday morning. and did last night. >> what can you do but laugh?

>> getting things back to normal at some airports will take a few days so crews already left stranded themselves. >> when a flight cancel that's puts a plane, a crew in a place maybe they weren't intended to be. >> we had the trip planned out. now, it's just turned upside down. >> for those with wag bags airline suggests calling first before just showing up. >> hundreds of amtrak passengers including from the bay area who spent night on board three trains have arrived in frozen chicago. california zephyr headed from bay area to illinois. two other trains already asks stuck

>> the snekt a fire bombing in san francisco made a brief appearance today the judge appointed a public defender to represent him. police arrested him on friday after he called them and claimed to have ignited a gasoline container on new year's day. >> a hotel owner was in court today facing charges he killed a ped december stren on new year's eve. the 69-year-old is accused of striking an elderly pedestrian. the judge ordered him in the to drive while this case continues he is the o.owner of another building on hooid street. >> take a look at photos of a serial bank robber. police

released these fashion mags today saying the suspect appears to be a woman but could be a man in disguys the robber targeted five banks with most recent just yesterday. >> she's gaining confidence she's been able to pull off five robberies and get away with it. but we're trying to prevent her from taking it to the next level. >> and $11,000 reward being offered to lead to an arrest. >> this is why two agencies are working on plans to protect it. you've seen the army of vehicles trying to park in in that area. muir woods located in southern marin county. >> we're about two miles above.

it's quiet road now but not on the weekend. problem it's very popular. the county board got involved. if in one spot a good portion of the world will pass by. >> it's pretty chill. >> a million people a year, actually. >> from farrell islands. >> they worry it might be too popular.. >> i think john muir would be apalled what's happening today >> one reason why this resident spoke to the board of supervisors this morning. they lasted a letter about plans to manage the sometimes teeming

masses. a large parking area is off the table. there is reservations plans in the works >> would you have come if you needed a reservation? >> probably not. >> the county will ask for a study that will look at how many people are too many people? >> one thing has to be taken into consideration is what's happening to those trees the park sfts is charged with protecting. >> locals would like to cap visits at 750,000 people per year but this is a money making venture. price of that, cars and buses cause collateral damage by clogging roads >> you can't raise in a tree. >> thomas is a volunteer and says yes, it gets busy but never crowded. >> i think anything we take away from the public doesn't help

them. this is one treasure. we should make sure it's protected. >> and protection must be negotiated. apparently. from muir woods, wayne freedman abc7 news. >> we have late word of a u.s. military helicopter going down and there are fatalities >> we have good news in the fight against cancer. death rates are down. the number one reason for the decline. >> and if only it's true. shaking your way to losing weight? >> and buying a mattress. michael finney on the secrets to getting a good one.

authorities are investigating a helicopter crash in england that killed four u.s. military personnel off the norfolk coast. the helicopter was on a training mission when that accident happened this, is video from near the site. >> we have a major health headline tonight. cancer deaths are down sxechl perts say it's because fewer people are smoking. american cancer society says americans have 20% lower risks of dieing from cancer now than 20 years ago. researchers say it's attributed to people giving up smoking in the 70s. lung cancer makes up one fourth of the cancer deaths. >> first lady coming to san francisco this month for a fund-raiser. the event will be at the fairmont january 31st. tickets starting at $500

a table for ten costing $32,000. money raised going towards democratic congressional campaign committee. >> governor jerry brown wants to take a quarter billion dollars from california cap and trade program and spend it on high spreedspeed rail the system faces a lot of hurdles before it can get rolling the $215 million could give a boost. >> to make sure we're connecting inland empire and central valley. if we can get new streams in to help fund that, that is a good thing. >> for me, i'm not sure if that is a thought process or one of those throw out and see what happens. >> some oppose spending money generated by carbon trading on rail. >> tonight new york authorities

are cracking down on a disability fraud ring. 100 retired police officers have been rounded up and arrested. prosecutors say the men pretended to have post traumatic stress disorder and claimed it on the terrorist attacks. >> four company as agreed to refund consumers millions because of false advertising. you may have seen the commercials claiming to lose weight by sprinkling a powder on food. makers will refund customers $26 million for making bogus claims. ftc reached settlement was lean spa and almond beautiful cream. >> in business news, apple says

it made $10 million in app sales last year. co-founder of twitter has a project announcing details of the search engine called jelly. letting users ferret out information. what makes it different? it awill yous people to use images and uses new algorithms. >> so many creative things out there wow. new year may have you thinking about buying a new mattress. >> do you know which is best? >> this is something to try. can be one of the toughest purchases to make. there seems

to be a blowout sale going on somewhere. courts put two dozen mattresses through tests to help you find just the right consumer reports put 24 queen sized mattresses through tests smchlt have inner springs. others, foam. >> it's a matter of personal preference. so make sure you're comfortable. >> the key is how well it supports you. and this test checks for support when you sleep on the side. your spine should northbound a straight line. >> people sleed on their side or back. we want to make sure that is going to support the body in which you sleep. >> other tests check how firm mattress is, whether it's overly

bouncy. in the end, it's this i eight duel air but it is expensive. 650s frdz costco almost as good. nova form serafina gel memory phone. inner spring mattress preferred? serta's i series sold at sears. which ever you're considering it's good to try before you buy. some retailers will give you several weeks to return or exchange if you don't like it but rules vary from store to store. usually a return will cost something. so make sure you

x >> it's good sleeping weather when chilly outside. >> easy for you to say. >> we're nice and warm here. >> you should be here.. >> i should come back. a beautiful view with low clouds out there. and looking south, it's clear. i'm fine. don't worry. clouds passing through pacific northwest getting rain and snow. so there is some weather. the sun has gone down. it's 57 in san francisco. 58 oakland. 57 san jose

cloudy now. a chance of snow thursday and saturday. it does not look impressive. 53 napa now. low 60s had in concord and livermore. go to my twitter page. sprinkles, drizzle possible thursday morning. looking at a slight chance of rain saturday that system looks stronger than thursday. here is the deal. right now, dry, partly cloudy. stronger system coming in tomorrow night. here is what is going on. computer animation with rain around you kiea. thursday morning commute you may run into spotty drizzle or

sprinkles. we're looking at signs of perhaps another slight chance of rain saturday. rest of the bay area into 40s so cloud cover keeps temperatures up. partly cloudy skies. you take a look at the next niners team forecast as they take on panthers there is a 40% chance of rain. if niners can handle freeze, i think they can handle possibility of rain. our possibility of rain is maybe sprinkles thursday. and then, it's back to dry, mild weather.

i wish i can give you a definite answer you're going to need umbrellas. we have high pressure so strong systems come in and just fall apart or go well north of us. we'll wait for rain. i'm abc7 news sandhya patel. >> all right. much of the nation is suffering with subfreezing temperatures look at this. we are enjoying mild weather and gorgeous sun sets. down load information on abc7 news.com/app. pretty. >> had you cold is too cold? how about when an escaped inmate opts for big house over the big chill? >> and new at 6:00 how you can upgrade your wardrobe thanks to a new

covered california is howet californians can take advantage. we can help you get quality health insurance right now. to sign up, call 800-890-7561 or go to coveredca.com. you can also use our website to find loca to find local, in-person help. there's not much time left - open enrollment ends soon. so call 800-890-7561, or go to coveredca.com, and get covered.

in south america a former miss venezuela and her husband were shot and killed and their 5-year-old daughter wounded during a robbery attempt after their car broke down the 29-year-old ask her husband were killed last night. the couple's daughter treated for a leg wound the family lives in the united states and were on vacation. police have arrested five suspects and some are minors. >> security cameras captured a moment a mother in brazil threw her children out of a window to save them after a huge crater formed and swallowed their home. you can see in this video neighbors catching the falling children watch there then, you can see the another mother scrambling out of the window then, everyone running for their lives. no one died but

67 families in the town in northern brazil are out of a home. there, you can see it is just expanding and they take off, running. look at this, >> once again, nobody killed is the good news. >> terrifying. well, police have arrested a man accused of in a series of burglaries in yoga studios the burglaries took place over the past year at sweet basil thai restaurant, core power yoga and a arts foundation gym. police say a 20-year-old stole the wallets and then, made purchases with stolen cards. he is scheduled to enter a plea on thursday. >> back to cold, how cold in kentucky? well, cold enough to keep prisoners from escaping. this man escaped from a facility sunday. wind chill readings 20

below 0. enough for the man to walk into a motel, telling the clerk to call the police. >> said can you call the law on me? i kind of looked and thought he's crazy. >> vick was found to have frost bite. did he have to get indoors his six year sentence well, that is now a little longer. but he's warm. >> right. >> all right. just ahead student experiments. >> coming up high schooler kwoz >> coming up high schooler kwoz goingjennie-o w where every tha where every thursday people ride 10 miles for tacos. we thought wsurprise them with a better kind of taco made with jennie-o ground turkey cooked thoroughly to 165. i feed my kids turkey tacos over regular tacos any day.

i think they are light and they are just fresh tasting. yeah. when i eat well, i feel well. anncr: it's time for a better taco. the tacos tonight were pretty much perfect. make the switch. look for jennie-o ground turkey in a store near you.

to those who've been waiting welcome to covered california. the place to find quality, affordable coverage, and nobody can be denied because of a pre-existing condition. enroll today at coveredca.com.

coming up at 6:00 a jail house interview with a man accused of kidnapping a girl outside of her home the swigs he claims compelled him to do it z we're live on the world's crookedest street homeowners saying enough is enough. >> some high school students did a social media experiment >> the result is fascinating but a bit disturbing. >> students used twitter accounts to find out where they would be. >> they pretended to be psychics, and telling people something only their friends would know they let people in on it. >> we're doing a social experiment here. i'm not a cycle. so... is that right? >> that is fine.

>> be careful. >> yes. thanks for watching. i'm dan welcome to "world news." tonight, the coldest night yet in the polar plunge. all 50 states seeing temperatures below freezing. we'll show you travelers trapped 14 hours on a train. firefighters, out in the arctic cold. from the icy roads, to the polar bear that had to go inside. busted. police and emergency responders accused of lying, scamming about the trauma of 9/11. tonight, some are charged with living it up while claiming they're disabled. and superdieters. the 15% of us who really do know how to lose weight and keep it off reveal their secrets. a good evening, to all of you.