on abc 7 news, the strongest winter storm of the season begins to bear down on the bay area. fighting water with water. the new way san francisco crews are trying to prevent flooding. and how a group of burglarers got inside a north bay gun store. live from the kgo tv broadcast center. this is "nbc 7 news." >> just take a look at the size of this storm system. live doppler 7 hd showing rain across much of the bay area right now. hello. i'm eric thomas. thanks for joirn us for this early edition and we are on the storm watch today. the worst of the storm is yet to come but already it's leaving its mark. trees are toppling in the east bay.

roads are treacherous for those not slowing down. drivers are reminded if you're using your windshield wipers you need to use your headlights as well. look at that. slick roads. let's take a live look at conditions outside. this is our san rafael camera. the area will get a drenching tonight. our meteorologist is tracking the storm with live doppler 7 hd. drew? >> we're talking about drenching downpours beginning to move into the bay area. busy tracking the downpours right down on the street level over much of san francisco. look at this. the pops of red you see on your screen around sunset, moving into the marina. this is very heavy rain about to cross the city of san francisco. these pockets of yellow you see in the east bay from emeryville as you go into berkeley as richmond. heavier downpours. even downpours in the north bay as well. san rafael around 101, this are

heavy rain showers. look what is waiting in the wings. live doppler 7hd, huge shield of moisture is offshore. it's going to push onshore in the next several hours. on our storm impact scale, three. strong storm. we're going to look, go hour by hour, playing saturday night what you can expect where you live. >> drew, thank you very much chbl let's see how the bay area is preparing for this blast of winter weather. abc 7 news reporter is live. >> the wind gusts are so strong they really do have to hold on to my hat or i might never see it again. want to show you the water and how choppy it is. it's making it difficult for boats out here. we are getting pounded by wind and rain as this massive storm sets in. tourists take soggy selfies by the golden gate bridge. not a allowing the rain to ruin their trip. >> coming out here today it's pretty windy. as you can see i was trying to get a few pictures.

struggling. >> reporter: a storm is bearing down on the bay area. packed with high winds and heavy rain. a flash flood watch is in effect throughout san francisco to prepare. public utilities crews are doing something they've never done before, installing temporary flood barriers to protect billings in the mission. >> this used to be a waterway. we built over it and water still flows here naturally. low lying area so it's prone to flooding. >> reporter: spokeswoman jean walsh say if these gates do the trick they will order more for the next storm. the white ones are dpiled with recycled water to weigh them down. red ones are ever i s ars are e moved. in the east bay high winds knocked down a large tree blocking the road near lafayette elementary school. it took a couple of hours for crews to clear it out of the way. strong waves hit the coast of pacifica where there's high surf, choppy water, rocks boats

back and forth. there are sandbag locations throughout the bay area so people at home can do their part to deal with a very wet weekend. on a nice day you usually get a view of the city, but not today. all i'm seeing are gray skies. eric, i told you earlier how i had to hold on to my hat or it might fly away, guess what, i let go and it's gone. you can probably see the trees behind me whipping around. reporting live, alisa harrington, abc 7 news. >> we'llrder you another one. thanks a lot. pg&e has more than 200 crews spread out around the bay area to handle outages. here's our live look at sfo, rain and winds have delayed more than 230 flights and canceled 68. average delays range from half hour to more than two hers.

there are 15 delays in oakland airport and 11 at san jose airport. developing news in pacifica where the city issued an emergency order to tear down another coastal apartment building at risk of falling off a cliff. el nino fueled storms have eaten away at the cliff side. abc 7 reporter picks up our team coverage live there. sergio? >> reporter: eric, you can see that the parking signs have already gone up in this neighborhood, warning people that the construction vehicles are going to be coming in here this week. that's because just this afternoon the city of pacifica has announced its plans to demolish it. according to the city manager the ongoing storms and faster roading cliffs behind this property pose too much of a safety risk. so beginning monday fences will go up around this two-story building. tuesday city sponsor crews will come in and tear it down. these buildings have been at risk of erosion for years. the building next door 330 was

demolished by the property owner last month but according to the city of pacifica he has declared bankruptcy and cannot move any faster to demolish 320. so the city of pacifica has taken it upon themselves to do it. all afternoon we've been seeing people come by to look at these precarious properties. >> right now to see my wife and my nephew. so to show him like what's going on right now, that el nino is doing right now. >> reporter: patrick costa used to live nearby and he remembers delivering pizzas to the former residents of this building. he said it's sad to hear the building will soon be coming down. and also earlier last month 310 just down the way was also evacuated. the city of pacifica has since been trying to help the residents and that building relocate. reporting live, abc 7 news. >> thanks, sergio. a tree snapped off at the

trunk in the oakland hills just before 11:00 this morning. the tree blocked a driveway but did not do any damage. you can see -- you can use the free abc 7 news app to trap weather powered by el nino and enable push alerts to receive breaking news information. we also have resources to help you plan for these storms at c abcnews.com. police say speed and wet roads led to a fatal car crash in the east bay. we were in san ramone where the force of the crash left a car in pieces. witnesses say just after noon the driver lost control and slammed into several trees. the driver was killed. no one else was hurt. police in berkeley are on a lookout for a man who attacked and raped a cal student near campus just after midnight on etna street. the man grabbed her from me hind and dragged her off the sidewalk and sexual assaulted her. the search is on for a group

of men who grope into a gun store and stole a number of firearms. police released this surveillance video showing the car backing into the independence armory around 7:00 this morning. four burglarers with their heads covered ran into the store and grabbed all they could. the car is a 1990s model light green honda accord with primarier or a white colored driver's door. arc bc 7 news was in san ramone where police investigated a break in in an islamic center at the building on camino ramone. the burglar busted through a glass door using a rock and stole donation bins with hundreds of dollars inside. islamic leaders say they have a good relationship with the community. they hope it was just someone looking for money. it is super saturday. ahead a look at the latest primary and caucus results. and the communication last night for oakland police. also coming up on abc 7 news, wheel watchers in the bay area get a shock to get on the show. find out how you can get a chance to spin the wheel.

we need to be ready for my name's scott strenfel and r i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. during storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. learn how you can be prepared at pge.com/beprepared. together, we're building a better california.

wras used by oakland police officers are working again after a brief outage last night. abc 7 news has learned the radios went down for 11 minutes friday night and around 11:30. this is video of the oakland communications center. the department says officers had to use cellphones to communicate with each other and with dispatchers. the cause of the outage is not known. there were long lines for voters in kansas today. one of five states with primaries or caucuses. republican leaders in wichita actually ran out of ballots and had to visit a kinko's to print off 3,000 more.

ted cruz won big there claiming most of the delegates. votes are still being counted in maine, louisiana, kentucky, and nebraska. we're keeping on top of the most powerful storms this season. here's the latest on the storm's path from live doppler 7 hd. you see the vivid yellows there andrew will let us know if our entire weekend is going to be a workout. also, good-bye bargain shoppers taking advantage of one of the most

(hi, this is jennifer.) i will be out of the office until monday and won't be checking voicemail during this time. i'll reply just as soon as i get back to work. sail with princess cruises, the number one cruise line in alaska. sail to alaska from san francisco. 10-day fares from just $1099. call your travel consultant or visit princess.com princess cruises. come back new.

abc 7 news was along the oaklandes shoe rare for the annual white elephant sales that takes place in a 96,000 square footwear house packed with rugs and coaches but it also features exotic knickknacks and curios from bygone eras. the proceeds benefit the oakland muse museum of california.

last year they raised $2.5 million. if you're a "wheel of fortune" fanatic or like to solve puzzles, it may be your weekend. we were at grayton resort hosting the "wheel of fortune." many dreamed of being on the show for years. >> i remember watching it with my grandmother, my mother. >> i love to go. i grew up watching the show and i would love to try out. >> we used to all sit around and watch "wheel of fortune" as a family and solve the puzzles. >> the wheel mobile will be at gray grayton tomorrow. details are on abcnews dorm watch "wheel of fortune" weekday evenings at 7:30. finally, eric, a strong storm finally brings why spread

heavy rain. street level we go, live doppler 7 hd. four minutes it arrives in berkeley. in seven minutes, piedmont. seeing heavier downpours over san francisco. the pops of yellow and orange, that's the heavier showers that have developed. we where seeing a heavier band of rain in the peninsula. right now san mateo, redwood city, you do notice pmoving in quickly. pops of yellow and orange. the next half hour the rain will intensify. also seeing pockets of heavier rain in the south bay. majority of the south bay right now is light showers at this hour. we're all seeing gusty winds. look at this. wind gusts currently out of the south right now. 47 miles per hour at half-moon bay. 44 in novato. in our storm impact scale, this storm is very strong storm. just in the initial stages of

the heaviest of the rain and the strongest of those winds. one to two inches of rain likely and wind gusts over 50 miles per hour are very possible. take a look at future weather hour by hour. what we're going to be watching, see this line of showers, heavier showers indicated by the pops of red. that's going to be a cold front. begins to march through the bay area. starts in the north bebe 6:00. by 8:00, it's right over the heart of the bay area. what this will do as it marches through the south and east, it's going to clank our winds up and bring heavy rain. it's between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. as it begins to enter the south bay that we do anticipate the strongest of the winds and the i havest of the rain. watch what happens in the wake of the cold front. the activity quiets down in terms of rainfall and the wind will lessen significantly. future tracker wind gusts, we have wind gusts nearing 50 miles per hour at 6:00. but, boom, in the wake of that cold front, the winds really calm down. it's going to be very short time frame between 6:00 p.m. and qu9d p.m. this evening that we see

the heaviest of the rain and the strongest of the winds. we still have a flash flood watch in effect through this evening, a watch means potential is there across the entire bay area to see flooding. also the wind advisory in effect through 11:00 tonight with the gusty winds. we will be watching for downed trees and possible power outages. the time frame we are looking at, 6:00 tonight to 9:00 tonight for the heaviest of the rain and winds over 50 miles per hour. another storm moves in here on sunday. impact scale, less rain, and less wind. still impactful. future weather shows you not out of the question early sunday morning to pick up isolated thunder shower. made day on sunday, could see a break in the activity. overcast skies. most areas may be dry. denver, washington, another storm system moving in by 7:00, heavy rain and strong winds as we approach the midnight hours. tomorrow, it's still a strong storm and possible thunderstorms. showers all morning. on monday, a break in the activity tuesday and wednesday before another storm system moves in here thursday through

saturday. the strongest happening on friday. really today between 6:00 and 9:00 this evening that is the heaviest of the rain and those winds potentially damaging over 50 miles per hour. >> all right, thank you very much. this is our version of march madness but the real thing is going on right now. >> it is under way. it has begun. not quite as intense as drew but we will check out stanford's regular season finale and mild storm for

good evening.

we have an action coming up here, the rockets taking on the bullss a at the top of the hour. warriors are back in action tomorrow afternoon in los angeles facing the lakers. last game against kobe bryant but we're not clear if kobe is going to play. he's missed three of the last four games with the shoulder injury. lakers, 12-51. abc 7 is live in l.a. right now. sure looks like a 30-point win on paper. that screams of a potential letdown. >> well, this has trap game written all over it. the warriors can set an nba record monday at home but they have to get by the lakers tomorrow. here at the staples center. and of course, when the worst team in the league plays the best team in the league, anything can happen. but i'm going to assume that the warriors will not overlook the lakers. >> tomorrow is a game that you want to come out and play well. have a good start. try to take away any momentum they want to do it at home.

any time you have a back-to-back, taking care of that first one is definitely important. >> every team has talent. even teams that records are bad, they have talent. these guys wouldn't be in the nba if they weren't gifted. and so we don't really look at it like a trap game. we just look at it as a game where we have to be on our toes and be ready. >> all right. 12:30 tipoff right here. kobe is the question mark. and is a question with that am happen string. reporting live from l.a., mike shuman, abc sports. >> we have two games on abc 7 and two postgame shows this weekend. tonight following rockets/bulls, that game will end around 8:00 and see you for the postgame and preview the warriors and lakers. tomorrow, warriors and lakers at 12:30 in the afternoon. after the game will be at 3:00

p.m. stanford wrapping up at number 18, steve kerr's number up on the wall. arizona jumping all over the cardinal early. anderson with a big finish. gabe york, nine threes today. finished with 32 points. michael humphrey for stanford with two of his 14 here. stanford was already down double digits. down 12-25. all arizona after that. caleb looks like somebody locked him in a weight room for a couple of years. ramming it home. arizona cruises 94-62 and now it's on to the pac-12 tournament. santa clara's jarrett brown needed three points to pass steve nash. gets it with a triple right here against byu tournament action. that was about it for the broncos. byu led by as many as 17. nick emory hits the three. 26-9. santa clara closes, brownrich for three. broncos down. but byu ices it inside the kyle davis there.

broncos lose 72-60 to finish the year at 11-20. might be in trouble there.

we're getting a look at how you're spending this this wet saturday. dave perez tweeted this picture took on a canopy. here's a look at wet and soggy conditions on the golden gate bridge. here's noah out and about before the rain. he's prepared. share your weather video and pictures using the

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>> announcer: the following is a presentation of espn on abc. it's been 18 years since the bulls won the championship. you know there were high hopes of course to start the season. it's been disappointing, yes. jimmy butler is back. he's been out a month. maybe he can help turn things around. alongside the former mvp derrick rose whose season continues to get better. rockets and bulls on "nba countdown," next. ♪