>> there are only t lanes this morning going southbound. amy is live for us with the issue today at the bridge. amy. >> reporter: hi, good morning. it looks good now, so truly, the early bird is going to get the worm. going to get rewarded. no back-up yet, but we expect that to change and that it should be a rough commute coming from marin into san francisco and that's the direction you're looking at right now. we are in marin county looking into the city. this is the traffic going in and the problem's going to be that they are used to having four lanes during the kmorng commute. this morning, they're only going to have three. here's a look at what's the blame. the movable median barrier is broken. they don't know why. so they can't convert and change the current three lanes to four like they usually can. they hope to have it fixed by this afternoon, so hopefully you'll have a norm evening commute, but what a rude awakening back to real life after all the vacation, all the

holiday time, 2017 off to a rough start here for marin county computers, they're going to be dealing with rain and one less lane. reporting live from the golden gate bridge, amy holly field. >> thank you. for the rest of us not driving on the golden gate bridge, the first commute of the year is just plain old wet. >> that's true. jessica castro in fremont for us in morning. how's it looking? >> reporter: good morning, guys, little jealous of your nice dry studio this morning. in fremont, the rain is pretty light right now. i'm going to have any photographer ian show you around a little bit right here. very light rain but it was a really wet drive all the way from san francisco as i came down here in morning on 880 to 680. it was raining the whole way. it's also definitely cold out here. you'll want to use your heater this morning. the good news is i left so early, not too many cars. a lot of people still in holiday

mode. there is snow on mt. hamilton in santa clara county. it can make the drive out there pretty tough. take a listen to some folks that we spoke with. >> it's really cold, i'm not used to but i could hardly feel my hands right now. >> fun snowball fight and we were supposed to, like, look in there but it's closed. so we had a snowball fight. >> reporter: so pretty fun out there but fact che-- it can be dangerous. you can't make it all the way out there on caltrain. you'll want to be careful driving in that direction. as for the commute this morning, the rain has been pretty light in the last five minutes or so, came down a little heavier about 15, 20 minutes ago so we'll keep watching. going to talk to some folks coming out here starting their morning commute. looks pretty good right now. in fremont, jessica castro, abc 7 news. >> looking great out there, jess. thank you.

in the sierra, chains are required because conditions are dangerous. drivers started to spin out. it's now open again and several inches of snow have fall skpn there is much more to come. national weather service issued a winter skorm warning. some areas could see more than 3 feet of snow this week. >> with all the rain we're seeing, officials are hoping the first snow will bring some good news about our drought. officials will take readings from the snow this morning. california gets a third of its water from the snow pack. it's too soon to know whether we've gotten enough rain and snow to move closer to ending our five-year drought. the snow pack is usually at its deepest around april 1 so weather watchers won't know with certainty what kind of wet season it has been until then. >> and you can always track our rain and snow with the abc 7 news app. we have live doppler 7 there any time you wish to view it. enable push alerts on the app to get weather advisories right on your phone or tablet. starting today, access to

san francisco's main water supply will be shut down for 760 days. you should not notice a difference in your water. katie explains why. >> reporter: hidden in the sierra nevada, an 18-mile-long mountain tunnel streams water to the bay area. imagine for a moment. >> walking through a mountain and the walls are granite. the lined portion has concrete on the sides so if you think of driving through a tunnel, it looks more like that. >> charles sheehan says the nearly 100-year-old hetch hetchy system shows some wear. >> we noeltsed some deterioration of the lining of the tunnel. >> reporter: they're cutting off the flow to inspect the tunnel. >> you have the possibility that that lining deteriorates and starts to crumble and fall down. >> the 60-day shutdown is twice as long as usual inspections but the sfpuc says --

>> we've got it covered. we've got lots of reservoirs. >> reporter: five reservoirs have been in service for a few weeks. the 2.6 million people serve bid hetch hetchy shouldn't notice a different at the top. this inspection is different, though. it determines the fate of the mountain tunnel. >> to see if we can rehabilitate the tunnel in future years or if we need to build a new one. >> reporter: the shut tun ends in early march, then the sfpuc will make a decision in the coming months. in san francisco, katie, abc 7 news now to the 49 efrz where the search for the new general manager and head coach officially underway. >> it's what's become an annual event for the 49ers. ceo jed york held a press conference yesterday announcing they are looking for a new coach. this is the third year it's happened in a row after firing chip kelly. they've reportedly scheduled interviews with josh mcdonnell, kyle shanahan, and anthony lynn.

he made his position clear when he was asked why he should not be dismissd. >> i own this football team. you don't dismiss owners, and i'm going to do everything that i can to get this right. >> as for who he hires first, a general manager or a head coach, york says they will be flexible. he made it clear to the two do have to get along as the niners search for a new staff, the raiders are scrambling for a new quarterback. >> when we go and come back next year strong. >> it's a hard road but there's always hope in a raider fan. >> that's a good way to put it. cautious optimism there for raider nation. matt mcgloin went down with an injury on sunday. it's unclear if he's going to play in houston. they signed free agent garrett gilbert who has never thrown a pass in the nfl. if mcgloin can't play, gilbert would back up rookie connor cooke. you can watch the raiders kick

off wild card weekend right here on abc 7. coverage starts at 1:30 on saturday. it's 4:36 now. authorities may be closing in on the shooter who gunned down 39 people in an istanbul nightclub over the weekend. turkish police sources say the gunman is known to authorities. they're not releasing his identity yet. they say he arrived in us tan ball in november with his wife is two kids. at least a dozen people have been arrested, including his wife who claims that she did not know he was a member of isis. as soon as today, president-elect donald trump could share inside information he claims about whether russia hacked the u.s. election. he announced that he knew things about the attack that others didn't and would be revealed today or tomorrow. mr. trump's press secretary says that he won't necessarily reveal anything confidential and will instead talk about his conclusions of the classified report. mr. trump has scheduled an

intelligence briefing on the hacking for midweek and senate republicans are expected to hold a hearing on cyber threats thursday. >> as for his transition into the white house, we are 17 days frat inauguration and mr. trump expected to nominate lawyer robert light highser as trade representative. just a few more positions to fill in the administration's senior team. this morning, china is shrugging off this twitter jab by mr. trump for not doing more to stop north korea's nuclear the future president tweeted yesterday that china takes money and wealth from the u.s. but won't help north korea. a chinese senior officil said this morning, china is convening multination talks to convince pyonyang to give up its nuclear program and its efforts were clear to see. things are back to normal at u.s. airports following a computer outage that caused major delays. take a look now at the gridlock at airports yesterday.

here's the reason. the u.s. customs and border protection processing systems were out for four hours. this affected inbound international travelers, so they had to be processed by a much slower method. some passengers just off very long flights were understandably frustrated. this was the last thing they wanted to deal with. >> lines were completely chaotic. there was no system to who got through fast and who had to wait two hours. >> they herd you into one line, then another line and it was just chaos. >> that looks awful. authorities don't know the exact cause of the disruption but they say at this point there doesn't appear to be any malicious intent. now, your accu weather forecast. >> let's talk about temperatures real quick. little milder than this morning. and that puts us about 47 in many areas in san francisco to ocean park and the financial district at about 49, 49 in richmond and palo alto, union

city, santa clara, pleasantton, you can see some light to moderate rain on highway 4 from discovery bay all the way over towards concord, down 680 through 24 to renda and then down 580 along the east bay shore. quick downpour on the san mateo bridge. exercising today, you want to try to stay inside. now, if you're going to be on the water, it's going to be breezy and wetter this afternoon. same thing on the roads, ponding on the roadways this afternoon so watch out for downpours during the ooesk drive with that ponding and our gusty winds, the fastest winds, 20 to 40 miles per hour, those are going to blow right during the evening commute. mid 50s today, mid to upper 50s tomorrow with that heavier rain coming in and then cooler and dryer on thursday. how about an hour by hour look at that wet weather. that's next. here's alexis. >> yeah, it's been a couple weeks since we've really had a full blown weekday commute.

i think we're going to see a heavy commute today. i do want to zoom into san francisco. we have a solo spinout crash northbound 280 just before you get to see sara chavez. again, just an example, you really want to slow down and take it easy this morning and we're already feeling it out of the central valley. 47 minutes the first drive time to flip over. just 15 minutes and northbound 85, between 101 and cupertino, still in green at about 16 minks. we'll check on those soggy traffic cameras coming up next. thank you. this used to be a rare sight. next, why dolphins are suddenly flocking to our waters and the puzzle scientists are trying to solve also, dangerous weather sweeps across the south, what millions of people are in for today. >> keep tabs on live weather and traffic where you live.

you can see a slick

would you cross a street? would you cross an ocean? would you go if you could use your knowledge to teach someone and, in the process, maybe learn something yourself? life is calling. how far will you go? peace corps. it is 4:44 and not a lot of traffic so far. we assume a lot of people will be making their way back to work this morning. if you take photos or video of the weather, we're expecting to see quite a bit of rain over the

next few days. we would love to see those pictures. second it to us and we will post it here on online. this story is all over social media. we want you to take a look at your screen because you're going to show you an outburst on a flight bound for sfo. the man was apparently upset because passengers on either side of him were talking to each other. this happened on sunday just 40 minutes after the united plane took off from australia. flight attendants tried their best to calm him down. >> once the flight attendants intervened and tried to deescalate ef deescalate efrl, he used ho homophobic slurs toward the flight attendants. >> he grabbed drinks off the beverage cart. passengers were rebooked on a flight yesterday. the man was arrested, questioned, and not allowed to enter new zealand. no word on where he flew next a memorial continues to grow one month after that deadly

inferno. abc 7 news was at the site yesterday as people placed flou flowers and mementos. the fence around that perimeter is now filled with christmas decorations. >> i feel almost like i have an obligation to push on, because they didn't have a chance to. all the victims. so, that's the way that i am sort of dealing with it. >> the alameda district attorney is still determining if any criminal charges will be fired. deadly weather is moving skros the south right now, putting millions of people in the danger zone. severe storms are a major concern today. >> reporter: tornados, flooding, and deadly storms sweeping across the southeast. blaring winds blasted through cities south of dallas. in parts of mississippi, the wind overturning a tractor trailer and ripping up this roof. that same severe weather system

packed six inches of rain. heavy downpours turned yards into ponds. >> tgs completely submerged. it is not passable. >> reporter: and drenched parts of alabama facing a flood emergency. law enforcement asked residents to stay inside. in alabama, four people were killed when a tree fell on their mobile home. >> and parts of the south are bracing for more rain, specifically georgia where the heaviest rains with are expected today. meanwhile in the northern plains, heavy snow brought near whiteout conditions and an arctic plas is still on the way. >> is it bad that every time i hear arctic blast, i go, phew. >> i know. we can deal with a little rain. little rain. >> and as they have in the southeast, they need it just as badly as we do. i was driving through there over the holidays and some of their lakes are down 10 feet so they're in a pretty bad draught also. here's a look at what's going on at home. moderate rain right near mountain view. you can see heading right across

the salt flats there at 447, palo alto, men low park, some moderate downpours right now, considerably lighter as you head into the south bay but it is wet as it is across the north bay right now. steady light rain this morning but we've got all this humidity to the south, this low coming in from the west, look where they join forces, right on top of us this afternoon and evening and our storm impact scale is at 2, moderate to heavy rain this afternoon and evening. here we are at 7:00 and you can see another wave rolling through at 9:00. north bay through the next couple of hours through noon, you can see the yellows and oranges and reds taking over neighborhoods by 4:00, all the way through the evening commute, even some reds in there and by 10:00, it starts to clear out a little bit in the north bay but it will take until the morning hours for the south bay to clear out but then another batch of

some light rain is moving in behind that. 2/3 of an inch to 2 1/4 in the north bay by 7:00 tomorrow morning. weekend storm could be even stronger. alexis. >> okay. boy, the last couple weeks were nice on the roads, weren't they? didn't even have the metering lights flipped on last week. maybe just one day for about an hour. today, all of that's going to change as the majority of folks head back into work today. so we've got a soggy commute for you, not too bad yet at the bay bridge troll plaza but i'm sure wear going to have those metering lights flipped on. zooming in just a bit, this is what mike was talking about. orange and yellow, heavier stuff between 101 and 180 to the palo alto and fremont areas so heavier downpours, really want to slow down and drive for conditions is i have a couple minor issues out there. >> alexis, thank you. this is troubling. scientists are looking into

a rise in porpoise cides in the san francisco bay. bottle nose dolphins are viciously attacking their smaller cousins, and one more bottle nose dolphins are being spotted inside the bay. in fact, sf gate.com reports more than 400 were seen. they rarely swam north of santa barbara. now they're being seen as far north as mendocino. warm waters are luring them north. the san francisco library wants thousands of overdue books, tapes, and dvds back. tapes? is that still happening? >> get them back. >> those must be really overdue. coming up, the big break it's offering starting today also some new advice for obese women who want to have children. the impact their weight may have on youngsters even years after they're born plus a dramatic collision on a california highway. we're going to hear from the hero who helped save the driver. right now, though, this morning's tech bytes. >> in today's tech bytes, taking car infotainment systems to the next level.

>> fiat, chrysler, and google are collaborating. >> the new system means popular apps could soon be incorporated into more vehicle systems. >> and samsung's new laundry machine combo is loaded, but it can handle four loads of laundry at once. >> you can control the cycles from a smartphone app. no word about the price or when they'll be available and a company in south korea showing off these cool 13-foot robots that look like something out of avatar or iron man. >> they are controlled remotely or by someone sitting inside. there's even incredible video of the robot providing an unusual assist in a wedding proposal. >> maybe the robot can fold the

connection to nature is a right that the trust for public land is fighting to preserve. from boulevards to ball fields and ponds to playgrounds, together we have saved over 3 million acres of land.

a park is a gift that is worth protecting. help support the trust for public land and the gift of parks today. today's storm is level 2 so gear up before you go out and drive safely. track today's storm any time on the abc 7 news app. download it now. 4:54 and a man in southern california is alive thanks to a tv news photographer. look at that. the freelance photographer had his camera rolling when another car crashed into a stalled suv along interstate 110 in los angeles early sunday morning. the photographer put down his camera, wow, and took action. >> grabbed my fire extinguisher

and my flashlght from the back of my car, ran across the freeway. i got met with flachlz and smoke, so took a deep breath, managed to pull his shoulder belt down and rip him out. >> what a scary situation. and here's another look at the crash. you can see the disabled dark colored suv. it didn't have any flash ersz on it so you can understand how that could have happened, right? the driver escaped with only minor injuries. that explosion would have scared me half to death. >> yeah. thank goodness for his fast action >. a new study this morning shows mom and dad being overweight can affect a child's development. children are going to have more difficultly using small muscles like fingers and hands. this is one of the first studies to look at the weight of the father and obesity on the dad's side is associated with children failing social activities like feeding themselves, playing or putting on and taking off clothes. the cause is not clear though the study authors say animal studies show obesity increases

inflammation and that can affect the baby's brain during pregnancy if you have an overdue book from the san francisco public library, you can return it and you won't have to pay the fine. the library says it just wants its stuff back and doesn't want to spend money to replace it. so for the next six weeks, you can haul in your cds, dvds, whatever you got, no penalties, no questions asked. a similar program was launched in 2009 and the library ended up waiving $55,000 in fines. this offer ends on valentine's day with that moderate to heavy rain, let me give you a time frame, especially in north bay, because that's where the possibility of flooding is going to be the great esz. from about 1:30 to 6:00 there and extrapolate that a couple hours into the central bay and south bay and then you'll have it for your neighborhoods. this isn't going to make it in so cal, from about fresno north wards butting t wards but it will be heavy. through 4:00 thursday, 1 to

2 feet possible at lame level, look at that. 2 to 3, maybe even 6 feet on the slopes. if you get there, it's going to be nice. >> yeah, getting there is the challenging part and getting to work can be a challenge this morning too. live doppler 7 on top of our traffic map. everybody dealing with that wet pavement this morning. nothing major yet but northbound 880 just past 98, we've got a two vehicle collision. they both made it off to the shoulder and another problem around american canyon, westbound highway 37 just past that highway 29 interchange, another vehicle lost control and hit that center divide. so, you really want to drive for conditions today and i know it's the first day back for a lot of folks so just slow down and give yourself some extra time. we'll take a look at some drive times coming up at 5:00. police in the orange county community looking for the thief who pulled off this heist. it shows them using a van to ram into a store early saturday

morning and once they'd gone inside, the masked and hooded thieves grabbed dozens of boxes filled with laptops, just 6 minutes to steal at least $250,000 worth of high-tech goods republicans begin flexing their muscles in congress. next at 5:00 a.m. the watchdog group that's about to lose most of its power also, live doppler showing us the latest storms sweeping across the bay area. we are on storm watch. >> i never thought this could be something as big as it is now. >> you're going to hear from a ba

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good morning, north bay. let get up and get going. >> this is abc 7