moisture scattered around the bay area. locally heavy downpours. you can see us wet over much of the north bay. we have downpours moving to the east bay near concord and rio vista. look at the pinks and yellows, indicating areas of mixed precipitation with snow in the higher elevations especially near mt. hamilton. snow level downs to about 2,000 feet right now. so the storm ranks 1 on the storm impact scale. now through tomorrow morning, it will produce showers, brief downpours, a chance of thundershowers, and of course some rain and snow mixed at elevations above 2,000 feet. here is the forecast animation, starting at 5:00 this afternoon. notice how widespread the snow is up in parts of the north bay and northern sonoma county, i should say. and parts of lake county and parts of mendocino county and the higher elevations. going into the evening hours, we'll continue to see that pattern widely scattered. mixed precipitation above 2,000 feet. we have lots of cold air moving in right now. early tomorrow morning, just

after midnight, notice how widespread the snow will be in the higher elevations because the air will be quite cold. if we get enough moisture content moving through, that means snow, of course, in the higher elevations. i'll have a closer look in a few minutes. dan and kristen? >> thank you so much. let's get right to laura anthony live in the east bay at mount diablo state park. >> where there is snow falling today. laura? >> well, dan, this is one of those if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes situations. here we're at the picnic area. this is just below the summit here on mt. diablo. just a few minutes ago, it was completely white here. but the way things are going, there will be snow flurries. then things will get wet. snow melt. so it's just been like that all day. you can see, though, it's cold. it's windy. and we understand there is more snow to come. this may be just a preview of coming attractions near the summit of mount diablo, where the snow came fast and heavy

just after 3:00. the promise of snow and the flurries that preceded it were just enough to lure some up the mountain early to check it out. >> the beautiful snow in the bay area. we're coming to see it here. >> it's just starting. you haven't missed anything. >> that's cool. >> i was looking at my weather app, and it said around 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. i thought oh, no, it's going to snow before that. >> in preparation for the snow, the rangers shut the gate at the 3,000 foot level across the road that leads to the very top of the mountain. >> more now! >> it's really coming down. >> it's coming down now, isn't it? >> closed for cars, but the public could still walk up. what do you think? >> we like it. we don't get to see this very often. >> so you drove all the way up here to check it out? >> yeah. we just live in walnut creek, and we heard there was some snow to see, so we came up to see it. >> i think it's beautiful and really unique. >> did you bring your sled?

>> no, we don't really have a sled. >> that was a dumb question, huh? >> yeah! >> and we're back here live. let's show you the quality of the snow. it's actually more like slush. not quite sledding weather yet. but like i said, you don't have to wait ten minutes. you can wait like two minutes and the weather will change up here. you can see it's starting to come down again. it's wet and it's heavy. but if this continues overnight, as we've seen in past years, dan and kristen, it may be time tomorrow morning to bring the sleds up here. live on mt. diablo, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> sounds like a good idea, laura. thank you. interstate 80 is closed in the sierra, though. a blizzard is blowing snow all across lanes in both freeways. both sides of that freeway, of course. it's created whiteout and dangerous driving conditions. 80 is closed between applegate and placer county to the nevada state line in both directions. caltrans is holding highway 50

traffic in meyers and echo summit for avalanche control. now the placer county sheriff sweet tweeted out this video from their station in north lake tahoe writing these blizzard-like conditions are why i-80 is closed right now. >> and the snow is really coming down. here is live look at our heavenly mountain resort. several lake tahoe area ski resorts are closed because of a blizzard warning, as we said. this is a web cam video from kirkwood showing the conditions earlier today. it's really intense in the sierra. kirkwood is closed as well as squaw valley and alpine meadows. >> the ski willing be great once that's done. back to the south bay, where rising water is a real concern. >> the spillway at the uvas reservoir is overflowing and causing uvas creek to rise. that's already causing the evacuation of a nearby rv park. >> david louie joins us live with the details. david? >> well, kristen and dan, we're standing along the road here at

watsonville and uvas road outside the thousand trails rv park. this has become a de facto rv park because some of the residents had to evacuate. the waters at the uvas radar had to rise. it's at 103% capacity. they open up the spillway and then into uvas creek. this is sky 7 video that shows you how high the water levels are in the uvas reservoir. and because of that, all that excess water goes down into the valley where these rvs are parked. they decided to self evacuate last night and get out of harm's way because they only have one bridge that allows them access to get in and out of the rv park. some of them found a refuge at a nearby rv parks, but others had to park here along the side of the road. let's talk to one of the residents to talk about the rising water. >> it was right up close to the bridge, a couple of feet away,

flowing through. they took -- the bridge got taken out last and then the waters on the side tributaries are all full. all of the sudden a lot of water coming through that. >> made you nervous? >> well, yeah, it makes you nervous, yeah. >> that is definitely understandable. that's why some of these rvs are now parked along watsonville road here in order to stay out of harm's way. the good news is the water district tells us the water is starting to recede at the uvas reservoir. so that means less water will be coming down in the spillway that means the area where these rvs are normally parked will not be flooded out. so they are going to be watching this situation very closely, and of course we're going to be watching it as well as more rain comes through whether or not the reservoir levels are going to fluctuate or not. we're live near morgan hill, david lewis, abc 7 news. niles canyon closed again this afternoon after some large boulders fell in the roadway.

you can see the closure and spill from sky 7. caltrans brought in heavy equipment to clear the large rocks from state route 84. the road is closed between fremont and sunol. no collisions or injuries resulted from those falling rocks, but as you can see, it's something to be contended with. live doppler 7 is the most popular story right now on our website and the abc 7 news app. if you want to track the rain, click the blue live bar at the top of the app. you can also check the weather conditions where you live and enable push alerts to get the latest news as it happens. developing news today, a helicopter crew searched for a young coupe federal the bay area who went missing during a camping trip. crews found no sign of the two who left san francisco and went to the mendocino national forest six days ago. 18-year-old maia herman-kitami and 21-year-old carlos hernandez jr. were reported missing last friday. and to add to their families' worries, a snowstorm hit the area over the weekend. the couple's last contact with their family was a text on

january 30th. hernandez's family says is the two were well prepared for the conditions, but may not have enough food. we'll have a live update on abc 7 news at 5:00. a five-car crash is blocking all but one lane of westbound interstate 80 in berkeley. this is what it looks like from our emeryville camera. you can see the big backup that it's caused in both directions there are ambulances on the scene as well as fire trucks because there are injuries. this is a live look right now. several ambulances were called to that scene, which is just south of the university avenue exit. you can see traffic on the eastbound lanes slowing as those drivers pass the scene carefully. to tow trucks have been called to clear the wreck. teachers in oakland will announce the result of their strike vote. members of the oakland education association voted four days whether to authorize a strike against the school district. >> lyanne melendez is live at that meeting in oakland at oakland tech where we're waiting

to hear the results, he wilyann. >> they just gave the results, dan. 95% of union members voted to strike. now the union members said that no strike date has been decided, but if they don't get what they want from the school district, from the oakland unified school district. that will go on strike by the end of the month. now even though teachers voted to strike, it doesn't mean that they will automatically walk out tomorrow. there is a process that they have to follow. both sides are waiting on a fact finding report, and we should have the result of that report in about ten days. then the district can either make changes to what they have offered or impose its last offer. it then sort of becomes a take it or leave it situation, and that's when the leadership will decide to take action. and here's what both sides told me earlier today. >> so it will be up to the leadership of the union to decide, you know, what is the

best time. if necessary. obviously, the district has an opportunity to respond, but at this point we're not optimistic. >> we'll take the recommendation that the commission comes back with, and we'll hopefully sit down. and if we haven't already come to an agreement, come to an agreement at that point that both sides are happy with. >> so you make another offer, possibly. >> possibly, yeah. >> and both the union and the district are getting ready for a strike. they have been getting ready. the school district told me that they will be hiring substitute teachers, and have told people at the central office that they could be reporting to a school to teach or to help out. the dispute, again, is over salaries and class sizes. now the last time teachers here went on strike was back in 1996, and it lasted 26 days. and i remember back then that it was over pretty much the same

issues as they are debating this time around. again, to wrap things up, union members here in oakland voted. 95% of them voted to strike. i'll see you at 5:00. i'm live from oakland, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> thank you. if oakland teachers do go on strike, it will come nearly a month after los angeles teachers walked off their jobs. the first strike there in 30 years. more than 30,000 teachers hit the picket line on january 14th, demanding higher wages, smaller class sizes, and more support staffing. the walkout lasted six school days with negotiators reaching an agreement on all the key issues. holmesburglized and homeowners think they're being targeted. >> i mean, if your home is violated, that's your whole world. >> what police are doing to put an end to the crimes. plus, if you're thinking of heading to pebble beach, keep this in mind. the golf balls just aren't on the course. why they're a danger. that's coming up.

and the lunar new year kicks off tomorrow. what's behind some of the symbolism and the traditions of the celebration. let's take you down south for a look at live traffic on 101, as you can see on this wet monday. it's moving slowly in the southern direction. not so bad going north.

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burglaries. >> this is a story you'll see only on abc 7. >> it's a complete violation of their safety all around. if your home is violated, that's your whole world, right? >> over $1 million in stolen property the last year. >> in 2018, we had 22 burglaries, which is a lot for us. go back to 2017, i believe we had seven. so it's definitely an increase. >> these are the suspects atherton police are searching for in one recent break-in. >> they're pretty covered up in the surveillance video. so we wish that we had somethng where we could definitively say this person looked like this. >> the burglaries have taken place between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. some residents hope putting signs outside their homes might help. >> i was getting some signs for my gate that just say that my house is alarmed. >> there are 2,500 homes in atherton. the police department and the city is ready to go inside at least 2,000 of the homes. they have keys in case any of the alarms go off. according to atherton police,

63% of the homes burglarized did not have their alarm systems on. commander wade is looking into a connection between residents requesting ride sharing services to sfo and then being burglarized days later. >> there have been a couple of instances where people were going out of town and did use ride services. >> uber officials confirm they're willing to cooperate with police and added last september, we announced address an nonization where the exact pickup and address would be seen after the tip. meanwhile, they're asking residents to stay vigilant. in atherton, liz pena, abc 7 news. back to the cold weather. the snow falling around the bay area. >> carlos salcedo is live in santa clara county with a closer look tonight. carlos? >> hey, guys. well, it's not snowing where we're at. we actually had to come down the summit just to get better cell

reception. it's been raining on and off for most of the day here. in the foothills, the higher you go, the better chance of seeing fresh powder. we want to show you the pictures we got when we were on top of the summit. this is how conditions looked like when we got to lake observatory at 4200 feet. a blanket of fresh powder made for a winter wonderland feel. now further along the summit, the intensity of the snow picked up. now we didn't see many people on the roads. snowplows work nonstop to clear the winding roadways around the observatory. >> came down, started coming up pretty good right around 9:30, 10:00. and we get snow a couple of times a year up here. so this isn't the most i've ever seen. forecast holds true, it might be. >> that's joe haley there who works at lake observatory. he says snow up here is not rare, but when it happens it's always quite the spectacle to see. now conditions beautiful with

the snow, but dangerous as well. roadways very narrow, very slippery because of the snow. so it's best to avoid the area if at all possible. reporting live, carlos salcedo, abc 7 news. >> carlos, thank you. our chilly weather didn't keep anyone away from the coast today, though. abc 7 news was at san francisco's ocean beach where this man went for a run on the sand during a break in the rain. why not? other people were bundled up as they went to check out the waves. now winds were whipping and waves were crashing for much of the afternoon along the san francisco bay. abc 7 was at the st. francis yacht club where the stone seawall was taking most of the beating. boats inside the st. francis and other protected marina seemed to be weathering the brisk winds without any real significant problems. >> it's intense out there today, but nice. we need all this rain. it's good stuff. >> it is fun to run in the cold, windy weather. i love watching other people do it. >> much better that way.

>> we love watching you do it, spencer. >> i do it on the treadmill, where it's warm. here is a look at live doppler 7. it's anything but warm around the bay area right now. in fact, as you can see in the bay areas, with the white and pink coloring, we have snow and mixed precipitation in many of the elevations in the bay area and pockets of rain showers moving through as well. in fact, we've dwt very active weather right now south of san francisco down into the peninsula. in the santa cruz mountains, many locations showing snow right now. over in mt. hamilton area, it's been snowing for the last several hours above 2,000 feet. let me move back out and give you view offer stuff going on. here is a live view from mt. tam. mostly cloudy skies cloudy skies. it is 49 degrees in san francisco right now. also upper 40s in mountain view, san jose, morgan hill, half moon bay. 51 in oakland. that's our warm spot. here is a live view of the western sky from emeryville. quite cloudy looking westward right now, and it's getting chilly in some spots. 43 at santa rosa.

44 at petaluma. upper 40s at napa, fairfield and concord. and this is the view from the east bay camera. quite cloudy in most locations. mixed precipitation continuing in the higher elevations through tomorrow morning. cold inland valleys in the next few mornings. it will be drying out wednesday and thursday. rain will return on friday. our current storm ranks 1. still a storm of light intensity, but it will produce brief downpours. showers. there is a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms with this system, and of course the rain/snow mix above 2,000 feet. forecast animation starting six thank evening. this pattern i've just described will continue. scattered showers moving through. pockets of heavy downpour, and of course snow in the higher elevations above 1500 or 2,000 feet. so snow levels coming down quite low because the cold air that's moving into the area. but the moisture content is going to dissipate a bit. we'll see showers returning to

the coastline, but early morning hours during the morning commute, be on the lookout for slick spots, black ice and wet pavement because of the rain that we're having right now, and the snow as a matter of fact. rainfall totals by 10:00 tomorrow evening will be only at about a tenth of an inch or lower in places like san francisco, over at concord, up into the north bay. but a quarter to a third of an inch in most of the remainder. upper 20s and low 30s in the north bay valleys tonight. mainly upper 30s in the remainder of the bay area. high temperatures tomorrow only in the low 50s. upper 40s on the coast. and we still have a winter storm warning in effect for the sierra until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. and snow is falling heavily there, and still accumulating, up to 10 feet in some spots. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. tomorrow a chilly day, especially in the morning hours. mixed precipitation continues. it's also the start of the lunar new year. colder mornings on wednesday and thursday, although those days will be mainly sunny and dry. showers return on friday, and there is a chance of showers through next weekend.

very unsettled pattern. >> all right. thanks, spencer. okay. an about-face for a bay area native turned super bowl star. we'll hear from the former woodside high school star, just ahead. and here is a look at the san francisco skyway on this drizzly, raw monday. as you can see, it's moving a little bit slowly. cars coming at you are trying to get on to the bay bridge. get on to the bay bridge. it's mov sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested. because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. shshow me homecoming. nature's bounty. baby sloth videos on youtube. amy, do you uh mind giving someone else a turn? oh yeah i made myself a little comfortable here. i got a pizza for amy! yes, that's me! xfinity lets you search netflix, prime video, and youtube with the sound of your voice.

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what a difference a year makes for super bowl most valuable player and pay area native julian edelman. the former star at woodside high in college of san mateo received his mvp trophy this morning from nfl commissioner roger goodell. ten passes for 141 yards, by far the biggest offensive star in the game. dominated by defense. the honor is proving to be quite

sweet for edelman, who missed last year's super bowl with an injury and then was suspended for the first four games of this season for performance-enhancing drugs. >> i learned that, you know, you just got to move on and you got to keep on working. and you got to work your way out of it. and that's what i tried to do. >> the 32-year-old edelman has been part of five super bowl teams in his nine-year career, winning three of them. so you can say he's doing okay. the game is being called the most boring super bowl ever, and the record set by the teams reflect that. the 16 total points were the fewest by both teams, while the 13 points scored by the patriots were the fewest of a winning team. the rams broke a record for futility with eight consecutive drives ending with a punt. it wasn't a thrilling game. and while the halftime show did not set any records, critics say it was much like the game, boring. the usa today called it, quote, flavorless. >> well, a record number of

people were expected to call out sick from work today. according to a survey, the workforce institute says the day after super bowl is known as super sick monday. the survey estimates that 17.2 million people may miss work today. there are the obvious reasons people don't know up like hangovers or fatigue from staying up too late. that's more of an issue for the eastern time zone. not too late for us. others may be faking it, upset their team lost, or maybe because the patriots won again. i suppose in l.a. we're seeing a lot of that i bet. on midday live, we asked what you thought about the halftime show. >> we've got a lot of votes. we kept the voting throughout the day open on abc7news.com/votes where you can dial your vote from the worst to the greatest. >> what do you think? the worst is -- right now we're kind of not at the worst. sort of in the middle. maybe a little worse than ever. >> i don't think we're going to get to the greatest ever. >> it's more meh. >> that's a good word.

it's perfect. >> don't forget you can join reggie and me weekday lives from 11:00 a.m. to mid noon right here on abc 7. hopefully you won't find us meh. >> the weather is a little meh today. weather around the bay area from a low snow to slides. spencer will be back with the forecast. the president set to give his state of the union address tomorrow. most lawmakers plan to bring a guest. why pennsylvania congresswoman why pennsylvania congresswoman or pcalifornia phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours.

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live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. check out live doppler 7 showing where the rain is right now. several areas are getting some snow. that will be kind of the purple. and look at the green, though. those are showers. a winter weather advisory is in effect. and 2 to 4 inches of snow could fall above one thousand feet. we could possibly see snowflakes at sea level. that's how cold it is. the marin county sheriff's department posted this picture showing snow on mount tam there, a dusting of white. it was taken from west point ininin mill valley looking towards muir woods. here is video from the summit of mt. diablo, where you can also see some snow. the road up there is closed to the public at 3,000 feet. earlier this morning, the rain caused a lot of problems for

drivers. from mud slides to floodling, abc 7 news reporter matt keller has the story. >> nothing like standing in a heavy downpour on a monday morning. the rain drenching fremont around 5:00 a.m. one driver found out just how dangerous the rain can be. a mudslide caused a crash on niles canyon road just a few hours before 9:00 a.m. the major artery was blocked for three and a half hours. caltrans crews cleaned up the road and everything was back to normal just after 6:30 a.m. in the santa cruz mountains, we drove up highway 9 and spotted beauty and this beast, a huge cleanup of a mudslide that miraculously stayed off the road. up on highway 35, both directions were closed off because of this giant sinkhole. a caltrans alert system message said it could be closed for a week for crews to clean up the mess. flooding on the road was also a major hazard for commuters. during a live report for abc 7 mornings, my photographer ian and i discovered the flooding on

the connector ramp from highway 87. that is closing that in both directions. oh, we just found the flooding. >> in saratoga, matt keller, abc 7 news. spectacular sight today in yosemite. san jose residents jenna and debbie heard a rumble, then grabbed their cell phone to get this video of a pretty major rock slide. jenna told us it wasn't too far from curry village, and no one was hurt that we're aware of. but it was a spectacular image. now your accuweather forecast with spencer christian. >> another live doppler view of our active storm. we've got pockets of showers, some of them locally heavy, but mainly scattered light showers, and mixed precipitation, including some snow in elevations above 2,000 feet. that's the picture right now. that will continue to be the weather picture overnight with the storm ranking 1 on the storm impact scale. there is even a chance, a chance of an isolated thunderstorm or two and that rain/snow mix above

2,000 feet. overnight lows will be quite low in the north bay where temperatures will drop into ukiah, lakeport, cloverdale. napa will see mainly mid to 30s and upper 30s to about 40 near the bay and the coast. tomorrow's highs mainly low 50s. even just a few upper 40s on the coastline where it will be breezy and chilly. and of course the chance of mixed precipitation continues through the day tomorrow. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. tomorrow also marks the beginning of the lunar new year. the next two morns, wednesday and thursday, mainly clear skies, but it will be really cold with low temperatures dropping below freezing in many inland valley locations. and then the dry spell ends on friday as more showers move in, and it's likely we'll see showers through the weekend as well. dan and kristen? >> okay. >> spencer, thank you. viewers have been sending it's their pictures of snow, rain, and rainbows. lots of them. post your pictures on social media using the a#usin#usin#usig

news and you might see your pictures on air or online. calls have been growing for governor ralph northam to resign over the racist photo in his year book page. >> the governor is vowing to stay in office. serena marshall has the latest. >> dan, kristen, a confusing 72 hours. northam saying first he was in that photo and then wasn't. but through it all remaining defiant he is not going to step down even as there are near universal calls by his own party for him to do so. protests intensifying. 24 hours after virginia's democratic governor ralph northam refused to step down amidst fallout from this picture on this eastern virginia medical year book page, showing two one in block face, the other in a kkk robe. >> and that's a very high standard. and so i think that's why we have called for the resignation. >> the calls to step down not just from republicans, but within his own party. virginia's two senators, the naacp and more than a dozen key

democrats from hillary clinton and joe biden to a slew of 2020 contenders. >> this is hurtful, painful. it's a betrayal. >> if he decided to heed those calls, his lieutenant governor, justin fairfax who would become the governor today parsing his words. >> the governor has to make decisions in the best interests telephone commonwealth of virginia. >> but fairfax was missing from this presser where northam apologized for the photo. >> i am not and will not excuse the content of the photo. >> but reversed course on whether he was in the 1984 picture. >> i was appalled that they appeared on my page, but i believe then and now that i am not either of the people in that photo. >> but northam did admit he has appeared in back face before. >> i had the shoes. i had a glove, and i used a little bit of shoe polish to put on my cheeks. >> dressing up as michael jackson and doing the moon walk during a dance contest that very same year.

northam spent the day out of the spotlight, meeting with administration officials. but one person not joining the talks, his lieutenant governor. serena marshall, abc 7 news. dan? >> thanks very much. president trump is preparing to give his state of the union address tomorrow. members of congress each get to invite one guest. some democratic lawmakers are bringing transgender military members. the president is trying to ban transgender people from serving in the military. peninsula congresswoman jackie speier told abc 7 news she's bringing air force staff sort logan ireland. >> even while he was in the service and had surgery, he was able to do his job. and that's what america's all about. >> speier also says democratic lawmakers plan to wear white to signify women's suffrage. the czech republic is the latest european union nation to recognize juan guaido as interim president of venezuela. arguing that venezuelan

president nicolas maduro's reelection was illegitimate. the move follows similar action by germany, spain, france, sweden, austria, denmark, and britain, as well as the u.s. and most south american nations. guaido is the head of the opposition-led national assembly and declared himself as venezuela's legitimate ruler two weeks ago. the faa is now investigating what caused a small plane to break apart in midair before crashing into a house in orange county. the twin-engine cessna fell from the sky shortly after takeoff yesterday, then slammed into a house in yorba linda, killing four people inside as well as the pilot. debris from the plane rained down on the neighborhood, some of it damaging other homes. no one else was hurt. the pilot's name has yet to be released. all right. ringing in chinese lunar new year. the food and what you can expect in year of the pig. >> stay with us. >> stay with us. more at at&t, we believe in access. >> stay with us. more the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world.

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. well, tomorrow is lunar new year. it's a chinese holiday filled with tradition and wonderful symbolism. >> yes, it is. >> she agrees. >> we have some experts to take us around chinatown to show us what all the wonderful traditions mean. >> hi, my name is roy chen and i'm from chinatown community development center. i'm here to show you the traditions and festivities during lunar new year season. this is time when families give to kids red envelopes lucky money. this is the year of the pig,

which represents prosperity. during chinese new years you can see a lot of oranges, tangerine, kumquats, and in chinese tangerines is called gum, but it also means gold. it's a way to bring a gift to a family member when you're visiting, to offer good luck. and flowers represent new birth or new beginnings. the new year's eve dinner is important to have a whole fish and a whole chicken to eat as a way to honor all the animals and the abundance from the earth that nourishes us the rest of the year. so these are says my balls, and they're really important. the circle represents the rolling of good luck. the more sesame seeds on these, the more wealth that will come into your family. and the other important paste try represents a flourishing or blossoming of prosperity or wealth. many folks are getting ready for tomorrow where you're not supposed to eat meat. you're supposed to eat a vegetarian stew. and it's a way to really start the new year off by cleansing your body. happy lunar new year.

gong hei fat choy! >> gong hei fat choy. that's how you say it in cantonese. and this is the year of the pig. you can't miss all the pig figures around chinatown in san francisco. the pig is the 12th of all the zodiac animals. it represents fortune and wealth. each zodiac animal is associated with certain traits. >> the year of the dragon some people specifically want to make sure that their child is born in that year, and will wait because they want to have that baby. >> people born in the year of the pig are said to enjoy life, plus they're energetic and enthusiastic. >> wonderful. well, it is heading to the gym. is that part of your resolution in 2019? 7 on your side's michael finney will have some tips if that's part of your new year's plan. and a warning for millennials. millennials. the growing healt it's a deal so good, it will make everyone a fish lover.

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research shows that college graduates feel far more confident than high school graduates that they could afford an emergency expense of a thousand dollars. it also found that most white americans say they can manage their housing costs while blacks and hispanics are far less confident. even so, about six in ten americans describe their personal finances as good. most of the rest say they are in poor shape financially. well, it's never too early or too late to head to the gym to reach your fitness goals. >> it's true. whether you're returning to the gym or going for the very first time, how do you decide on a gym membership? >> well 7 on your side's michael finney has helpful tips. >> this is the time of year when gyms fill up with people who are determined to get healthy and in shape. figuring out which gym and the contracts themselves is not easy. bay area consumer's checkbook has been looking into that. and executive editor kevin brasser joins me now. how do you know if you should even join a gym or just go for a walk?

>> this is the thing. well live in a nice area here where the weather is usually pretty nice. you don't need to join a gym to get into shape. a lot of people join gyms because they think the financial commitment of paying someone every month to get in shape will finally be the incentive they need to get into shape and stay into shape. the problem is the entire fitness industry really thrives on these kinds of good intentions. not just fitness centers and gyms, but also exercise equipment manufacturers that is another way to stay in shape. you can buy something for your home for really only a couple hundred dollars or find it for free. a lot of people trying to give away their exercise equipment they don't use anymore. >> right. they often forget they have a contract. >> it's one of those things, you get the bill, and it's on your credit card statement every month, and you say well, i didn't use it this month, but next month. next month i'm going to get in shape. so, again, it's these good intentions that really waste a lot of money. a lot of people waste a lot of money on gym memberships they

don't use. >> how do you find the gym that's right for you? what you're saying, a lot of it seems to be social, right? people want to make friends? >> that helps. and these days some of these boutique gyms, which really offer one type of exercise like cross fit or one type of class, they are relying less on these auto payments every month than really high fees for the classes they offer. some of the boutique gyms are charging $30 or more a class. what they're doing is people are joining these gyms because they feel like oh, it's easier to kind of keep track of what i'm doing if it's only one exercise. kind of a common vocabulary, the same people are in the class as opposed to a large scale gym where a lot of people like large scale gyms because it lets them kind of remain anonymous. they want to go and they want to work out and get out and not have to interact with a lot of people. where as these boutique gyms, it's more of a kind of socializing activity which helps. i mean, it helps if you have a workout buddy or other people

who keep you accountable to keep going to the gym. >> how much should you pay? how do you know if you're getting a good deal? >> it depends. i can tell you the fees vary dramatically from place to place. we at checkbook evaluated local gyms not just for qualities but price. a lot has to do with if they have indoor swimming or tennis, the fees tend to be higher. even gyms with similar equipment and facilities found really big price differences. some are charging 10, $15 a month and others more than $80 a month. and the really high-priced gyms aren't necessarily seen more favorably by their customers as the places that are low cost. so you really do need to shop around. our advice is try out several gyms. most of them will give you workout passes. you can work out for free a couple of times. work out when you think you're going to want to use the place to really get a sense of how crowded it is, whether or not people are working there are helpful, whether it's clean, whether stuff is working, whether you like the classes

they offer and they're available it really does pay to shop around and try before you buy. >> kevin and his crew have put together an amazing report on this. you can access it for free. just go to our website, abc7news.com. we'll give you all the details. kevin, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, michael. cancer is fueled by obesity are on the rise, especially among younger americans. a new study by the american cancer society found the risk of cancer is increasing in young adults. those include cancers of the pancreas, kidney, bone marrow and gallbladder. the risk for these cancers appears higher for millennials than others. well thousands, thousands of golf balls the pacific ocean. >> and it's not all fun and games. the i-team's dan noyes takes youunder water off the coast of pebble beach to examine the problem and what's being done to clean it up. and coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00, snow in the bay area. the timing of when this blast of winter is going to hit. another layer to the nfl and

how it handled the colin kaepernick situation during super bowl week. what happened to a mural of the quarterback not far from where the game was played. and it's text time. so what happens if you don't file? 7 on your side's michael finney explains two scenarios. one where you're supposed to get a refund and a return, and another where you owe money. that's all coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00, but we'll be r

coming up tonight on abc 7,

at 8:00 it's the bachelor, followed by the good doctor. and stay with us for abc 7 news at 11:00. if you're a golf fan, you've heard of pebble beach, of course. as the pro am kicks off this weekend, a potential danger to wildlife is lurking beneath the water of the monterey bay national marine sanctuary. >> it's actually been there for 100 years, and it's now just coming to the surface because of the curiosity of a teenaged girl. >> i-team reporter dan noyes has a remarkable story. >> reporter: pebble beach is where the rich and famous come to play golf. it sits directly on to the california shoreline, just steps from some of the most environmentally sensitive waters on the west coast. but look below the surface here, and this is what you'll likely find. thousands of golf balls. >> seeing the sea floor completely covered in trash, it was a straight shot to the heart. >> reporter: the carmel coast has been part of alex webber's life since she could walk. her dad took her diving for the first time at 15 and she was stunned what she found. >> it was incredible how we

would kei and pick up 2500 golf balls and two weeks later we go out and pick up another that 00 to 3,000 golf balls. >> as alex picked them up, she wondered just how many golf balls was there? >> the more we researched, the more we discovered it's a completely foreign topic. no one has ever looked at golf balls under the ocean. >> she sent me an e-mail saying she had read some of the scientific articles that came out of my ph.d work. >> alex teamed up with marin researcher matthew to determine how big the problem is. >> it's so rubbery. why don't we put together a report and try and publish a scientific article of your own that actually states the scope of the problem, the intensity of the problem, and what we can do about the problem. >> with matthew overseeing her research, alex went to work collecting golf balls in the ocean and on the beach near three coastal golf course, carefully sorting them by their condition. >> we start with something like this, obvious lib the polyurethane shell and the gloss. and as that breaks down, it

loses the gloss, it loses the paint, it loses the shell. >> over time, the balls roll around on the ocean floor and break into pieces. >> this rubber band that was in this golf ball, there is 275 yards of it. ad that will continue to unravel, and it will get tangled up in the kelp, and it's buoyant so it sits on the surface of the ocean. >> alex found the balls had been deteriorating for decades. pebble beach has been a golf course since 1919. >> and so it's not the problem of golf balls are constantly being hit into the ocean and refilling these spots. it's that there is 100 years of golf ball pollution out there, and that that pollution is continuing to wear down. >> that waste could potentially impact wildlife, including fish, the california sea otter and endangered species, sea lions and coastal birds who may eat tiny pieces of plastic. >> there is not a lot of study done on the chemical compounds that are in golf balls and how that might affect organisms that are consuming this teal,

because, againtil alex had really discovered this problem and looked into it in really great detail, no one had really studied this problem and its potential affects at all. seriously, how do you think this happens? >> after two years of work they published their scientific paper that concluded most of the balls came from pebble beach. they found more than 35,000 in the water right off the golf course. when alex added those balls to the same ones collected by the monterey marine sanctury and pebble beach corporation, the total found went up to more than 50,000 golf balls. 50,000. >> since then i think we've collected approximately 20,000 additional golf balls. >> pebble beach says it's taking action. >> the fact that there were so many accumulated right offshore in certain locations was certainly new to us, because unless somebody dove in that area and brought it to our attention, we didn't know. >> pebble beach is now telling caddies and golfers to make sure their golf balls stay on the course and out of the ocean. they've also worked with the

monterey bay national marine sanctuary and monterey aquarium to identify key areas to clean up. >> we now have a collection plan to go 18 times this year to 11 separate locations. so almost 200 separate dives and pick up golf balls that are accidentally hit into the ocean. >> the marine sanctuary has agreed to work closely with the golf course to make sure the cleanup is done right. >> we're going to be looking over the shoulder the whole time. >> the sanctuary protects 276 miles of california coast. >> it's been very interesting to get to the bottom of the golf ball issue and realize that there could be other areas on the coast too that we need to take a look at. >> alex will be heading to uc santa barbara soon to study marine ecology. she is excited to see her hard work turn into action. >> golf courses should be responsible for picking up these balls. >> the california coastal commission tells us plastic golf balls into the ocean is not acceptable. they're looking at all options to clean them up and to keep it from happening. for the i-team, dan noyes, abc 7

news. >> one person making an impact. >> absolutely. and a young person too. cool. >> thanks for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. >> stay with us. abc 7 news at 5:00 starts now. >> came down, started coming up pretty good around 9:30, 10:00. >> oh, it did. the bay area gets a rare taste of winter snow. >> and all the rain has some people in the south bay moving away from rising water. >> a bay area couple goes camping in northern california and doesn't return after getting caught in the storm. oakland teachers overwhelmingly say they're ready to go on strike. what's the next step in their contentious negotiations with the school district? >> live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. you have to say that three times. >> right. >> the bay area is getting hit with a real dose of winter. peaks are seeing snow right now, a there and could be even more on the way. thanks for joining us. i'm kristen sze. >> and i'm dan ashley.

this is something that we rarely get to see in the bay area, snow right here at our elevation. you're looking at flakes falling this afternoon atop mt. diablo, and more could be on the way. >> and how about a live look from our east bay hills camera. we've seen ominous clouds all day long. you can see it's windy up there as well. >> yeah. and let's take a live look now at the bay as you look out at dark and broken skies. let's go to sandhya patel. sandhya, there is a winter weather advisory tonight for the entire bay area. >> dan, it is for the higher terrain. and the reason why is we're seeing that wintry scene. let me show you live doppler 7 and we'll talk about where it is snowing right now. we get you into street level as we move across mt. hamilton, graveyard road. the snow will continue to accumulate above 4,000 feet. snow showers over mt. diablo. as we take a look at the lower elevations, see iing rain showe

around danville boulevard. let's track this moisture.