good morning bay area. let's get up and get going. this is abc 7 mornings. rain and wind are a recipe for a dangerous commute. that's exactly what we've been seeing as the storm moves through the bay area. good morning and welcome to you on this thursday, march 1st. never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. do want to welcome alexis back. >> thank you. >> she's right here and lovely to see you. >> thank you so much. good to be back. >> busy. >> very busy. >> ease on in, no. here's a look at live doppler 7. mill valley, kentfield. san rafael. down 101 or heading along 580, you've got a moderate shower putting more ponding or standing water on the roadways. you can see hayward to union city right there. 880 and 238. that's going to head over towards pleasanton and dublin. an increase in the intensity of your rain. look at that. more rain coming our way.

in fact, you can see it on the camera here in san rafael. some of that moderate rain falling now. a quick look at the accuweather 12-hour planner. steady rain through noon and potential thunderstorms from 4:00 through 7:00. here she is. >> here's a look at the southeast bay as well. this is 280 and 17. reports of hydroplaning and flooding reports at 280 and 87. matt keller will have more on that in a few minutes. let's go to the sig-alert. in the pleasanton area. sounds like a box truck or big rig hauling fruits and veggies overturns at bernal avenue and 680. we're launching sky 7 as soon as i have their picture clear, i will bring that to you and we'll have another traffic update in less than ten. alexis, thank you. you it's a tough drive this morning. let's continue storm korj and head to the south bay. >> matt keller joins us live from san jose. matt? >> reporter: good morning, reggie and natasha. this is a reality for a lot of people this morning. you're going to be sitting in the dark. let's turn the lights on.

show you what's happening here in this neighborhood that's near the west gate mall in san jose and, west san jose. this neighborhood is without power. they have about 700 customers without power and the rain is starting to pick up here as well. of course, it's going to be very dangerous out there as you're driving. look at northbound 280 at northbound 87. the connector ramp there. a police car was in the middle of the lane because of the major flooding. no real backup now. but as traffic picks up, you can expect cars to stack up on northbound 280. speaking of that, this acura suv ended up on the sidewalk and came to rest on a hill in front of the vista park apartments on capitol expressway on vista park drive. a driver started hydroplaning and spun out. a white pickup truck was also involved. both drivers were shaken up but doing okay. then stayed at the scene. you've been listening to alexis all morning long. a lot of spinouts like this all around the bay area this morning. so be extra careful out there on

the roads. we've seen pg&e trucks circling the neighborhood here. they're trying to get the power restored. reporting live in san jose, matt keller, abc 7 news much. matt, i'm going to jump in here. no surprise, you're seeing some of those outages there in san jose. that's one of the areas that pg&e is focusing on right now because we're looking pretty good as far as the bay area overall is concerned. but those outages are concentrated in the south bay. they tell us there's about 1,370 outages in the south bay. mainly in san jose and the santa cruz mountains. as i zoom into our map here, you can really see that yellownd and those orange spots on the map. only 15 outages reported in the east bay. none in the north bay. a lot of the outages focused in the santa cruz mountains this morning. back to you guys. thanks, jessica. despite the storms, east bay water managers don't think mother nature will be helping much this season. >> this is deceptive. our reservoirs are close to 100% full. that's because of last year's

rains. this season, east bay rain levels are actually only 44% of normal. we may need conservation measures again. they will wait until spring to assess the situation. >> be able to better tell our customers, do we need to do more than conserve as a way of life? do we need to request voluntary conservati conservation? >> last year was a lot of rain, of course, most of the reservoirs were filled up pretty filled. this year hasn't been so much rain so it's been kind of low. >> it could get worse. snowfall in the sierra is just 20% of normal. with the storm here, we want to make sure that you are prepared and have abc 7 news app handy to get up to the minute weather forecasts and live doppler 7. we have upgraded it so you can customize wherever you need. the mercury news reports oakland mayor libby schaaf may face consequences for giving advance warning about the immigration sweep.

schaaf gave the public a heads-up about the sweep over the weekend, which some people argue breaks federal law. fox news reports the department of justice is looking into whether obstruction of justice charges can be filed. on tuesday, i.c.e. director thomas homan criticized schaaf for what he says was a reckless decision. he says it shielded dangerous criminals at the expense of public safety. schaaf is confident her actions were fully legal. an 18-year-old high school student in concord has been arrested for allegedly bringing guns to school. alejandro cortez was taken into custody at olympic high school. police went to campus after a tip about an armed student. officers found him with two loaded hand guns. he had been previously arrested on a weapons violation and admitted to being in a gang. proposing age restrictions on buying guns and suggesting due process is less important than seizing weapons. the president made the

statements during a free wheeling bipartisan meeting with some senators. he says the best way to handle them is to take away the guns first and then worry about due process. one way to do this, he says, is to raise the minimum age to buy guns. >> you have to look at the age of 21 for certain types of weapons. i mean, some people aren't going to like that. you have to look at that very seriously. i think we're going to have a vote and i think it will be successful vote and i will sign it. the nra contends that raising the purchasing age would infringe on the rights of law abiding young people. a man is accused of posing as an uber driver and sexually assaulting female passengers. governor jerry brown has a $600 million problem. the new budget issue actually saving you money. here's a look at the storm impact scale for today. it's a 2, moderate. we have soaking rain developing right now and the possibility of thunderstorms, localized gusty winds, soaking rain and even

hail during the evening hours and watch out for the gusty winds all

it's 6 cron 09 now. in a rare move, they've

suggested a tax increase on gas blowing a hole in governor brown's budget. the board of equalization normally rubber stamps the increases but they refused to do so. they didn't want to raise it so soon after it went up 12 cents in november. a finance department spokesperson said that the revenue loss will be reflected in less money for roads, highways and maintenance. check out foothill boulevard. pleasanton near the alameda county fairgrounds. we have moderate rain right there. 680 will slow down as puddles develop. same thing along the dublin grade towards dublin boulevard. we've got some moderate showers developing along the cold front that's near guerneville. this is all heading to the northeast of santa rosa. pen grove, petaluma. you're about to get another round of moderate rain. let's talk temperatures. a mild morning. 50 in the sunset and pea trer

owe hill. ferry building, sunny side. we've got 49 in richmond, san leandro. palo alto, 48 right now and santa clara. 52 in petaluma. david city at 50. here's a look at half an inch of rain into san francisco. you can see puddles there. if you're out and about, it's going to be wet and breezy all day today. if you like the rain, great day to exercise. if you're headed to the sierra, i wouldn't. not until tomorrow or saturday. the best chance is sunday. i know you can't wait that lock. we'll talk more about that coming up. busy day on the roads. just double checked. we're up to 40 incidents now. a lot of those are crashes and spinouts. it is a treacherous morning. you definitely want to give yourself extra time. new sig-alert. westbound 580. they've updated the location over 205. they were thinking it was a little closer to grant line road. it's further east of there.

just checked, tracy to dublin. overall, not terrible. hopefully we can get that cleared shortly. a quick check of the toll plaza, it is wet and windy. and those metering lights have been on for about an hour this morning. we're about to formally introduce you to the newest member of our abc 7 mornings family. >> he's cuter than anyone in this studio right now. >> abc 7 was the first as well to report about these broken call boxes in san francisco. i'm joy bauer, and as a nutritioni i know probiotics can often help. try digestive advantage. it is tougher than your stomach's harsh environment, so isurivies a hundred times better than the leading probiotic. get the digestive advantage.

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>> announcer: the storm impact scale. today's storm is level 2. that means moderate rain. gear up before you go out and drive safely. track today's storm any time on the abc 7 news app. download it now. both hands on the wheel because we're talking about wind on top of rain and it is going to be impact your commute this morning. here's a look at some of the bridges right now. much more on the conditions and some serious snow in the sierra. that's in just a few moments. this morning, we have an update on the red fire emergency call boxes that you see all over san francisco. a few weeks ago, abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez noticed towels and tape covering some them. the city's -- they conducted hearings on why they're not working and what it will take to bring them back online. only 87% of the 2300 emergency

call boxes are currently working. some were built in the 1860s. the city does not want the boxes gone. instead, they're looking into retrofitting them using wireless, radio-based or cellular communication at an estimated cost of $5,000 to $6,000 per box. if there's something where you live that you want us to look into, let us know. add the #abc 7 now to your social media post to get our attention. for a complete list of contact options, you can go abc7news.com. heads up if you're taking b.a.r.t. to avoid the rain. fare inspectors will begin to cite riders without valid tickets or clipper cards. the inspectors will ask for proof of payment. they'll be using devices that scan paper tickets and clipper cards. up u. up until now, they've been handing out warnings. now, fare violators will be fined $75 each time they're caught. the fine for minors is $55. this morning, we're so happy

to welcome alexis back from maternity leave. >> thank you. >> feels like you've been gone forever. >> i know. trying to log into my computer, remember all the passwords. >> did you have millions of e-mails? >> at least. the traffic alert folder had, i think, almost a thousand in there. >> for sure. what a morning to come back to work. >> is your husband jealous you have another man in your life now? >> no. because it's his too. here's my little boy. this is what i've been up to the last four months or so. >> connor. >> he looks just like my husband. nothing like me. >> good thing your husband is cute, because so is your baby. >> thank you. he's getting so big. i can't believe it. we've had a great time, wonderful maternity leave and feels good to be back. it's a little tough saying good-bye to him this morning. he was awake at 2:30, of course. had to wake my husband up -- >> woke him up. >> hand him over and get out the door. >> congratulations and welcome

back. >> thanks. i couldn't have picked a busier day to come back. take a look at the roads. several issues to get to. live doppler 7 on the traffic maps and take you to one of the current sig-alerts. this is northbound be 680 at bernal avenue. this is a box truck hauling fruits and veggies. lost control. likely hydroplaned. we've seen that this morning. that is blocking the two left lanes. that's the lighter side of traffic. however, we're seeing delays on the southbound side as well. we are launching sky 7. so we should have a better view of that soon. also, san jose, northbound 101 at 880. just past here. de la cruz, we had an earlier crash on the shoulder. it is slow moving through the area. this is how the traffic cameras look this morning, mike. >> sopping wet also. you can see from the eastern side of the san mateo bridge, that yeah, we've had about third of an inch to half an inch here. please be careful. plus you've got winds coming out

of the south at 30 miles per hour. that's also going to pull up the steering wheel a little bit. just like the ponding on the roadways. moderate rain and showers today. the showers and thunderstorms developed this afternoon. there will be a chance tonight and pretty much through saturday. we'll be dry for sure monday and into tuesday. let's take a look down in the south bay. you can see some moderate rain, anchor road and 880 and heading right down towards the willow glen neighborhood and into the santa cruz mountains where the winds have been faster. the rain has been heavier, about an inch and a half there. take you up. there you can see, color coded in white and blue. the snow line already to the west of blue canyon and getting pretty close to plasterville. it's going to drop through the day. here's the cold front. the next round of moderate to possibly heavy rain in the north bay at 7:00. heart of the bay by lunch. into the east bay and the south bay by lunch and then moving out by 2:00. here's your chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. best chance of snow this

afternoon and evening will be in the north bay mountains and diablo and possibly hamilton will get a chance overnight and through saturday. so by the time you head home from work today, 2/3 to 1.25 inches possible. 2 to 3 feet of snow in tahoe. another foot tomorrow and another 4 inches on saturday. all right. here's my seven-day forecast. goes from a 2 moderate to a 1, light, for friday and saturday. let's talk about the toyota tahoe report. all that snow up there, alexis. >> oh, yeah. such good news for the skiers and snowboarders. it's going to be tough to get there. winter weather advisory in effect until 4:00 tomorrow morning. you're not advised to travel unless you have to. this is going to do great things for the base totals though. squaw alpine, 36 -- 18 po 59 at north star. chains are required on 80 and 50. if you're going to be traveling on 80, that is between gold run

and 7 miles east of truckee. chains between kyburz and myers. sugar bowl, sierra and tahoe and kirkwood with healthy base totals. those will only improve the next few days. back to you. this is really scary. please listen to this. there's a new warning out for anyone using ride sharing services like uber and lyft. authorities arrested a man who lured women into his car by posing as their uber or lyft driver. nicholas morales is now facing 27 felony counts, including sexual assault. authorities say the 44-year-old would wait outside of clubs in beverly hills and the surrounding areas late at night and then he would drive up to women who appeared drunk asking if they requested a ride. 30-year-old carla weston mistook him for her uber driver. >> i fell asleep and i woke up, we were parked somewhere in a drivewa driveway. he was just banging my head against the seat. >> she was not alone. police say that for more than a year, morales kidnapped and

assaulted victims. allegedly using a firearm in at least one attack and a knife in another. what can you do? authorities say this is really important. you need to always ask the driver who you're here to pick up. there's also a license plate on every smartphone app when you sign up for the vehicle to pick you up. you need to check that license plate number against the car picking you up. >> yeah. >> take the precautions. >> i can see why people do that. it's easy to get in. prepare yourself for a very up close and personal look at the blue angels. >> also, unforgettable flight with a chimpanzee helping the pilot out. this great video has a greater message behind it. rob marciano has a look ahead on "good morning america." >> good morning. coming up on gma, hope hicks resigning from the white house. as president trump goes head to head with his attorney general. jared kushner facing new trouble over his business dealings. our entire political team joins us this morning with the very us this morning with the very

we're back on this soaking thursday morning. not too hef antioch: about a third to half inch around the bay. we're still climbing. steady, light to moderate rain. still moving south across the neighborhoods on live doppler 7 hd. you can't escape it during the

morning commute. that's incredible, right? the blue angels training at their winter home in el centro, california. some spectators got very close. and when you do this, the consequences, you get a mouthful of dirt. one person was blown off their viewing ladder breaking their camera. the blue angels will be here for fleet week the first week of october. >> definitely up close and perm. oakland unified it taking on the issue of lead in drinking fountains. parents can follow the results. chp trying a new tactic to find who is shooting bb guns at at that buses. more than 2 million americans affected and it's actually a bit of a deja vu. i will explain next. it is a wet and windy commute here this morning. taking a look at conditions from sky 7. they are in the hayward area. 880 and jackson street.

we're seeing a lot of hydroplaning this morning. a lot of flooding and we had t

we have one to two fires a day and when you respond together and you put your lives on the line, you do have to surround yourself with experts. and for us the expert in gas and electric is pg&e. we run about 2,500/2,800 fire calls a year and on almost every one of those calls pg&e is responding to that call as well. and so when we show up to a fire and pg&e shows up with us it makes a tremendous team during a moment of crisis. i rely on them, the firefighters in this department rely on them,

and so we have to practice safety everyday. utilizing pg&e's talent and expertise in that area trains our firefighters on the gas or electric aspect of a fire and when we have an emergency situation we are going to be much more skilled and prepared to mitigate that emergency for all concerned. the things we do every single day that puts ourselves in harm's way, and to have a partner that is so skilled at what they do is indispensable, and i couldn't ask for a better partner.

now, i am not a certified meteorologist, but i'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the storm has arrived. no matter what live shot we use this morning, it's not looking great. >> the bay bridge toll plaza looking backed up at 4:30 this morning if that's any indication. a live lock at the roof camera, yep, it is slick out there. so watch out. >> that's right. we're going to take you to the richmond-san rafael bridge and as you can see, it is slow going there. you can see some ponding on the road there as folks are trying to get to work this morning. good morning on this thursday, march 1st. >> never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. thank goodness, we do have a certified meteorologist, that would be you, mike. >> put a sailor suit on you and call you captain obvious. it is dangerous in some spots. let's turn it down here. let's show you what's going on. there's been a lot of ponding on the roadways because of the soaking rain we've had. we've had one round and another round is developing right now.

we'll morph to thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening hours. gusts up to 40 miles per hour. so it's a 2, moderate on the storm impact scale. you can see the moderate pockets from vallejo through richmond. across the richmond-san rafael bridge, mill valley, san rafael and san francisco, south san francisco. half moon bay, a couple of stronger cells off the shore there. they're coming at us from the southwest to the northeast. you can get some heavier rain also. you can get light rain as it intensifies. it becomes showers with the potential for locally gusty winds. gusty downpours and even some small hail during the evening commute. how about the morning commute? here's alexis. >> not fun. a live look from sky 7. they're headed up 880 towards 7th where we've had several crashes this morning. you can see a lot of rain coming down. we have a couple sigalerts to talk about.

bernal avenue in pleasanton. still cleaning up the fruit and veggie truck that flipped over and hydroplaned. it's blocking the two left lanes. a little bit of good news. westbound 580 out of tracy. over 205, earlier sig-alert has cleared. next traffic update in less than ten. >> keeping you busy. thank you, alexis. there is concern that the storm will topple trees damaged in the october wildfires. >> in sonoma county, ten of thousands of trees have been tagged for removal or trimming. we're tracking the storm's impact in the north bay, amy? >> reporter: hi, reggie. yeah, the rain has let up on us here. it was coming down heavy an hour ago. now we're dealing with the winds. it's picked up. you can see in the burned-out areas in santa rosa. there are so many dead trees here. you can see they're shaking in the wind. these are the trees that they are worried about. they're worried that they are going to come down in this weather.

santa rosa crews have done a lot of prep work for this storm. they have tagged about 10,000 of these trees that are dead or dying. but they are worried that the wind will knock them over today. residents, though, in santa rosa are trying to focus on the positive. they are welcoming this much-needed rain. >> we need it. so, you know, we live in paradise here. the weather is always great. it rains a lot. it's okay. because we know we're going to have sunny days after. >> reporter: city crews will be watching the trees, they're also watching the storm drains. there have been about 1400 they've worked to cover with straw waddles and gravel bags. they don't want runoff from the burned-out areas going into the drains. they'll keep an eye out to watch for the debris and flooding. we saw standing water here at 5:30 this morning because there was so much rain. now that we're getting a break, it's had time to set tol go ahead and runoff down the drains. this break is welcome but we'll be watching the winds.

live in santa rosa, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. thank you, amy. a fedex big rig jack-knifed on southbound 880 in oakland this morning. it collided with three cars. the good news and it's hard to believe looking at this, but no one was seriously hurt. this happened around 1:45 this morning just south of 7th street. all the lanes were blocked. the chp got to the accident and cleared it by 4:00 a.m. the freeway was slick. an investigation is under way to find the official cause. pg and e is urging customers to be prepared. they have a list of safety tips for you. among them, never touch downed wires. if you see a downed line, call 911 immediately. use flashlights, not candles because of the risk of fire. secure outdoor furniture and turn off appliances if you lose power. here's another tip. pg&e september out this tip. store water bottles in the freezer and use them as blocks of ice to prevent food from

spoiling. you can also melt the ice if you need drinking water. safely take a picture or video and post-it online using the #abc 7 now. that way we can finds it and show it on air or online. we do have breaking news. more problems from equifax that could affect your personal information. the company now saying this morning, an additional 2.4 million americans were impacted by last year's data breach. the slight bit of good news here is that the newly disclosed consumers had much less personal information stolen than previously. they only had their names and partial driver's license numbers stolen by attackers. unlike the original 145.5 million americans who had social security numbers impacted. equifax says this morning it will reach out to anyone impacted. they will also provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for these

newly mentioned victims, back to you guys. it's 6:35 now. there is extra security precautions at san jose university following a threat of violence. police believe the threat is not credible but still taking no chances. here's a look at the graffiti found inside a women's bathroom. it threatened a shooting at 5:00 p.m. yesterday. abc 7 was there where we spotted a clear police presence. again, police believe the threat was not credible. police are also investigating a threat against the alum rock union school district. abc 7 news was in san jose where the threat was made on twitter and received in the last day. it's a threat to, quote, shoot up all of the district schools. the district cannot confirm the credibility but it is taking the tweet seriously. only on abc 7 news, we're learning new details about the lengths the chp is going to track down a freeway shooter targeting tech buses. investigators tell abc 7 news at least 20 vehicles have been hit

over the past month, possibly by a high-powered bb gun or rifle. the attacks have mainly happened along interstate 280. so when the buses started taking highway 101 instead, the suspect followed them and attacked them there. the impacts have been severe enough to break windows. the fbi is now also involved and the chp revealed to us a tactic they've started using. >> perhaps a bait bus. perhaps just proactive patrol in unmarked vehicles as well as marked chp patrol vehicles, as well as indiviuals that are -- making themselves comfortable throughout that stretch of the 280 on the side of the road and not even in a patrol vehicle. >> the chp is asking for tips from drivers who may have witnessed one of the shootings. shut down i.c.e. >> happening today, another protest in san francisco against the weekend sweep by federal immigration agents. hundreds of people rallied outside of i.c.e. headquarters yesterday demanding an end to

deportation raids. oakland mayor libby schaaf responded to criticism from the i.c.e. director that her warning allowed hundreds of criminals to hide from agents. she accuses the trump administration of political retaliation by targeting california. let's talk about the winds out there. we've got this wind advisory. an area in yellow that excludes the santa clara valley. winds up to 45 miles per hour are possible and some of the weakest trees could come over and we could have outages. that will last through 10:00 this evening. i've overlaid the winds on live doppler 7. the fastest at sfo and some of the strongest storms towards sfo through half moon bay where we're gusting to 28. some of the fastest winds in santa rosa. the heavier showers on live doppler 7 in petaluma gusting to 14. we've got 21 at oakland and 13 in concord. down in the valleys, it's still breezy. 45 mile per hour gusts in the hills will cause the most

damage. let's talk about temperatures. 45 in los gatos. most of us in the mid to upper 40s in san jose and up in, looks like mountain view and 51 degrees. we've got 50 warned newark, alameda. fairfield at 46 h novato 52. sebastopol and san francisco and half moon bay as well. the toll plaza, ponding on the roads there and check out the flag. it's unfurled. about a 15 to 20 mile per hour wind. the winds faster on the bay bridge, the dunbarton bridge, the richmond-san rafael bridge and san mateo bridge. all of the east-west bridges. watch out for standing water on the roads. mass transit pretty much range all day. wet and windy on the bay water. temperatures won't warm up much. 53 at half moon bay. 58 in san jose. only 50 in clear lake. tonight, much cooler but notice the rain. not as widespread. tonight, through tomorrow and saturday, that's when we get a better chance of thunderstorms with hail and snow.

we'll wrap all that up in the big weather coming you. here's alexis. good morning, mike. got word from the sky 7 crew they are heading home. unfortunately, conditions not great to be driving this morning either. here's a quick check of the south bay. northbound 101 at 880. we did have a crash at de la cruz. that's been on the shoulder for 30 minutes. stop-and-go traffic through the downtown san jose area. you can see all the drops on our camera lens and probably not going fast enough to hydroplane here. we have had report after report much incidents this morning where folks have lost control. hydroplaned and either crashed into other vehicles or hit the wall there. either scenario not great. westbound 580, tracy to dublin. recovering from an earlier sig-alert. down to 39 minutes. antioch to concord in the red now. san rafael to san francisco, you're okay in the yellow at 19 minutes. still have our sig-alert in pleasanton on northbound 680. we'll check on that next. some more breaking news

coming in. dramatic images out of dallas, texas this morning. a water rescue that we actually just watched. a few moments ago. you can see crews pulling this person from an suv. it happened only minutes ago. they just actually cleared the scene. the driver does appear to be okay. dallas has been dealing with a lot of rain the past few days. it's caused quite a bit of flooding. we're dealing with our own rain. a ton of water there in texas as well. back to you. thanks, jessica. first the east coast, then los angeles. now elon musk explains how he can fix the bay area's commuting problems. improbable, unexpected unbelievable. no matter the adjective, you have to see these two brothers meeting for the first time only on abc 7. live at the big board at the new york stock exchange this morning. morning. we are down

>> announcer: today's storm it level 2. that means moderate rain. gear up before you go out and drive safely. track the storm any time on the abc 7 news app. download it now. this storm is touching the entire state, but southern california today. it's going to be particularly dangerous up in the north. look at this. in the north bay, clear lake, 8 inches above 2,000 feet.

that's now through 10:00 saturday. let's head to the sierra. it gets really dangerous. the point is, you shouldn't be traveling in this if you don't need to be. we have a winter storm warning for this area until 10:00. then we've got the blizzard warning from 8:00 this morning to 4:00 this morning. that's when you should not be out traveling. back here at home shall it's been a tough commute this morning because of the soaking rain. let's continue our storm coverage with abc 7 news reporter matt keller who is live in san jose. hey, matt. >> reporter: good morning, mike. you can see they have power behind me. we're at sage mont and hamilton avenue. this stoplight doesn't have power. people have been blowing through this intersection.ot a truck coe and did not stop. very dangerous out here driving with the rain and dangerous because people aren't paying attention. blowing right through. doing 40 miles per hour. right through the intersection. luckily, no one was coming in the other direction or trying to turn in front of them.

it's dangerous because it's raining and people are not paying attention. the cause is unknown at this time. the driving rain may have been a factor in that. at one points, 3400 customers from scotts valley to redwood estates were without power. that has been updated. pg&e outage map shows the number less than 500. of course, driving in this rain is dangerous. check out what happened in san jose around 4:30 this morning. this is on capital expressway at vista park drive. a driver said she started hydroplaning and spun out. the acura suv ended up on the sidewalk and coming to rest on a hillside next to an apartment complex. a pickup truck was also involved. both drivers are okay. you can't say this enough, though. slow down, be careful and make sure you're aware that there are stoplights that are out here. seems like more people are blowing through the light than stopping and treating it like a four-way stop. >> all of us marvelin

blowing through there. high lead levels in school water taps. the east bay times reports that the new clean drinking water policy requires the district to test all of its schools and early childhood centers for potential contaminants including lead. the results will be posted publicly. the water taps contain levels higher than 5 parts per billion will need to be fixed or replaced. best buy is cutting costs by closing a chain of poorly performing stores. >> they plan to close all of the 250 small format mobile phone stores. best buy opened the stores more than a decade ago before the iphone came along. they account for 1% of best buy revenue. they will close by the end of may and try to retain as many workers as it can. state assembly worker melissa melendez leaving future -- the legislature can increase tarkss a 2/3 vote and

the governor's sipgt. last year, a housing tax vehicle registration tax, cap and trade tax and gas tax were all approved. melendez says the people of california are being used as an atm. a live look at the stock exchange. we're down about 90 points. meghan markle and me too. the royal bride-to-be speaking about topics once taboo among the royal family. markle is already shaking things up. the 36-year-old is tackling topics like sexual harassment, rape, workplace abuse and gender equality. >> so many campaigns. me too and time's up. there's no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them. women don't need to find a voice. they have a voice. they need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be

encouraged to listen. >> it's great to hear her so candid. >> royal protocol calls for family members to avoid political controversy. markle and prince harry have decided to commit to make a difference in the world together. we're counting down to the 90th annual oscars here on abc 7. >> let's look at the dolby theatre as the sun comes up. as you can see, there's three people there. it will be much different on sunday, of course, as celebrities walk the red carpet. there it is. 900 feet long. they rolled it out yesterday. there's a covering, as you can see, keeping it from the elements. they are expected to have rain like we are tomorrow and saturday. but sunday's forecast is clear. so the gowns should remain a-okay. >> sure. we can catchall the excitement of the oscars exclusively here on abc 7. our complete coverage begins sunday at 1:30 p.m. with on the red carpet. at 3:30, the opening ceremony and at 5:00 p.m.

the academy awards with host jimmy kimmel. dion lim will be reporting live tomorrow. elon musk says his company could build a new b.a.r.t. tunnel faster and cheaper than b.a.r.t. can do it. he tweeted that the company can complete the project for one tenth the cost and one fifth the amount of time estimated by b.a.r.t. b.a.r.t. is going to spend $100 million to study this issue. it could end up costing as much as $15 billion to build it. >> two men living 3,000 miles apart recently discovered they are family. this morning, they're together in the bay area. >> abc 7 news at san francisco international airport for a touching reunion that you'll only see on abc 7. rick mcpride lives here in the bay area. jeff clark lives all the way over in north carolina. they recently found out they are half brothers. rick posted on social media, he has been looking for jeff clark and that is what ultimately brought them together.

>> i have been talking with them on the phone. we did one face time call and we seem to have a lot in common. >> it's also your birthday. >> yes, sir. >> great birthday. >> i'm a birthday present. >> best one ever. >> over the next week and a half, the two will spend time getting to know each other. they have one more mission. to find a sister they know is somewhere out there too. this is adorable video. a baby chimp sky high after being rescued from poachers in the democratic republic of congo. >> take a look at the screen. that is muse a, being flown away from trouble recently. during the flight the chimp moved around the rescue plane. took a little nap and throttled the plane at one points. also enjoyed some grooming time. he's doing well in his new home apparently. he's being treated for intestinal parasites but he's in

good spirits. >> that was amazing never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. here's mike nicco. >> we if from adorable to this. san rafael, an inch and a quarter. you can see how slow the traffic is on 101. let's go down to 101 and 88 in san jose. it's also raining here. about .2 of an inch of rain. you can see how slow the traffic is moving. raining and then stormy. breezy is the constant all day today. showers and thunderstorms. a chance through saturday and each successive chance lowers the snow level from 4,000 today to 2,000 saturday. we just had a moderate shower. there it is showing up. livermore heading up towards vasco road. if you use that cut through or the altamont pass, it's about to get heavier. we just had one roll across piedmont, oakland and also the caldecott tunnel. that's heading up 24 towards orinda and moraga. you can see heavier showers

moving on to the coast. that will head over to the peninsula from san mateo to san francisco. here's a look at what's going to happen from 7:00. you can see moderate showers throughout just about the entire bay moving into the south bay. by the end of the commute, lingering there. through the lunch-hour. why you can see the transition to showers developing across the north bay. those start to come in during the evening commute. you've got to watch out for that. could be more ponding on the roadways. the pink and the white is the wintry mix. rainfall amounts, by the evening commute, about a half inch in the south bay. more than an inch in the north bay. there still will be wetness everywhere for the evening commute. op hopefully not the standing water like this morning. the storm will be a 1 for friday and saturday and dry sunday and monday. here's alexis with an update. >> yeah. we're going to take you back to the sig-alert in pleasanton. this is a semi hauling fruits and veggies that flipped over here this morning. likely, hydroplaning the cause for that. that's on the lighter side of

things of northbound 680 i should say at bernal. that's a sig-alert with the two left lanes blocked. down to 2 miles an hour approaching the incident. onlooker delay. down to 13 miles an hour slow back up to 580. quick check outside. pretty soggy in walnut creek. south on 680 crawling along. the san mateo bridge, we're looking okay here. westbound 580 east of the toll plaza. we're hearing about a collision that cleared off to the shoe shoulder. obviously the incompetent weers going to be on high everywhere. thank you, alexis. the west coast is gettingan eye in the sky thanks to the launch of the goes west weather satellite. this nasa animation shows the satellite itself and then you see there. it shows you the area that the satellite will cover. the east coast already covered by its own goes east satellite. you're wondering what is that. >> that was the burning question. >> geo station air ioperational

environmental satellite. it hovers over one spot on earth. it will enable earlier warnings which could, in turn, save lives. coming up next, the 7 things to know before you go. >> abc 7 news now, we keep up the images and information about

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6:58. whether you're just joining us or headed out the door, the seven things to know. i'll start with the weather. the light rain will become moderate through the commute. it will taper back tght rain in the afternoon hours but then a chance of thunderstorms, lightning and hail and snow level down to 4,000 feet. number 2, with all the weather comes track. i just checked with chp. the latest westbound 580 at lakeshore. solo vehicle crash sitting in the middle lane. that's backing up quickly. yikes. number 3, the weather is making our roads slippery. look at this, rain may have helped cause this crash on interstate 880 near 7th street early this morning. a fedex semi jack-knifed and nearly crushed a car. but we're told the people are okay. >> number 4, lots of crashes in the south bay this morning. this one on capitol expressway

in san jose. be warned. traffic lights are out at sage mont and hamilton avenue and people are blowing through that intersection. number 5, new numbers on bay area power outages. it is getting better out there. 755 without power in the south bay. 90 on the peninsula. 15 in the east bay. number 6, emergency crews in sonoma county on alert because of the storm. last october's fire damaged thousands of trees that could fall in high winds. 10,000 trees are tagged for removal or trimming because of the thomas fire. number 7, the sierra expected to get up to 7 feet of snow through the weekend. chp says stay out of the mountains for the next few days. what a morning to welcome back alexis smith to the couch. >> yeah. >> with a lot of commute problems. >> made it through. oh, yeah. >> good to be here. thank you so much. >> good for connor to see you at your absolute best and busiest. >> my baby boy. i think he's watching at home. he probably woke his dad up nice and early. >> sorry. we're back in 25 minutes

with another news and traffic update. >> "good morning america" starts right now. look at the snow c good morning, america. breaking news, two of the president's closest advisers in turmoil. communications director hope hicks resigns after admitting she's told, quote, white lies for the president, and now jared kushner under new fire for meeting in the white house with banks that gave his family company millions in new loans. all this, as the president's unprecedented public war with his own attorney general escalates to the breaking point. also breaking right now, show of force. president putin revealing a powerful new missile to the world. his ominous words about nuclear weapons this morning. urgent search for a missing mother of two. vanishing from her home while her kids were inside. police seeing signs of a possible struggle. where they found her cell phone and the mysterious social media post before she disappeared. ♪ go big or go home