saying i can't wait for 2020 to be over, but hopefully, you know, '21 will be much better. >> don't we hope. now at 5:00, people fed up with the dangerous weather causing these public safety power shutoffs. the latest rounds impacting hundreds of people. we have team coverage of the outages. >> all this week, abc7 news is focused on the new way to holiday. how the pandemic is changing holiday shopping this year. welcome to monday, october 26th. >> first we're checking in on those dangerous fire conditions. meteorologist mike nicco with our look at the day ahead. >> let's look at what's going on right now and how long it's going to last. here's our look at our current winds up in our higher elevations. we have 56 in saint helena, 55 in mount diablo, 57 in the east foothills, in santa clara valley.

dangerous winds there, even in the lower elevations, 37 in fairfield. down to 20 in concord. 30 in napa. 22 in novato. 27 in san francisco. look at the peninsula, 25 to 31 whether you're in san mateo or sfo. a noisy night out there, there will be a lot of debris on the road, so drive around that and be careful. our lower elevations, still in the red flag warning until 11:00. higher elevations until 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. the winds will subside for most of us after 11:00, it's so dry and the winds will below wind advisory criteria, but still fast enough to have that high fire danger. reggie? >> that breaking news is in the east bay, high winds are now blowing. you're looking at what happened in concord after a tree toppled bringing down power lines on birchwood court late last night.

contra costa county firefighters responded to similar calls reporting either fallen trees or downed power lines. this morning nearly 107,000 customers throughout the bay area are in the dark. pg&e shut off power to reduce the risk of wildfires while we see some of the strongest winds. this is the utility's map that shows where the outages are right now. we're looking at a bunch of purple triangles, that indicates the location of a public safety power shutoff. most areas will not have power turned back on until tomorrow. many homes and businesses are without power in the north bay. we'll take in with lauren martine martinez. >> parts of mill valley are in the dark. there will be a resource center opened at 8:00, a place for snacks, and a place to charge your device. in sonoma county, 24,000

customers will be losing power. yesterday we heard from residents that say they're growing frustrated over another shutoff. >> it is just getting awful tiring, you know, going through this. it's getting awful tiring and i've lived life and have not seen anything like this in the last three years, since 2017. >> like mike nicco mentioned earlier this morning, the period of concern is from 7:00 to 10:00 this morning where winds are expected to be strong. reporting live from mill valley, lauren martinez, abc7 news. >> thank you. the dangerous fire conditions also stretching across the east bay. the contra costa county put out this detailed map which are the areas at highest risk for wildfires. there's a stretch running from richmond down to el cerrito and

another one on highway 24 corridor that covers lafayette and morinda. amy hollyfield has more. >> good morning. outages are scattered here. we're in downtown lafayette. the businesses behind me are dark. some of the homes in this area do have power. i checked on the pg&e website, some addresses and some businesses in moraga don't have power. it's hit and miss around this area. fire crews are ready to go in the event this wind sparks a wildfire. so on the ground and in the air they do have resources ready to go. contra costa firefighters say they can call on two helicopters. they're based at buchanan field, they can be up within an emergency -- within minutes if the weather is cooperatincooper course. if it's too windy they can't go up. but those helicopters can drop

180 gallons of water on any flames if need be. so they are ready to go just in case. >> the wildland urban interface in this country and all over is a high threat zone. >> it depends on how close the fire and water source are together. but with the helicopter, especially a light helicopter like this, you like to have a close water source so you can make a lot of drops. >> if you are headed out today, keep in mind, especially right now, it's so dark and those intersections need to be treated as four-way stops if the lights are not working there. take everything with precaution. just slow down. it is really dark out here and windy and cold. don't forget your jacket. this is not the hot, dry wind that we've been used to the last few months. it is very chilly out here. reporting live in lafayette, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> thank you. we'll continue checking in with

you throughout the morning. a hotel in berkeley is opening. they planned to close over the weekend because of slow business but people looking for a safer place to be began calling for reservations, so the owner reopened. they have a special $90 rate for evacuees. the hotel will stay open for as long as people need a place. >> the oakland zoo say they may have to close today and tomorrow. the zoo is currently without power. there are backup generators for animal facilities but the decision would be made for guests safety. the zoo will have their decision on whether to open or not at 7:00 a.m. we have information on our website on how to make your phone battery last longer. find that and other power outage resources at abc7news.com. we're coming up on 5shg:07. looking at neighborhood temperatures before we get back

to our fire threat. mainly mid 50s throughout our east bay inland neighborhoods. check out mount diablo, 41. you can see the cooler weather is there and that's what will settle into our valleys the next couple of nights. the breezes will keep the atmosphere turned over, that's why we're mild this morning with mid 50s to low 60s. when you step outside there are pockets of colder weather like where amy was, but not as cold as it's going to be the rest of the week. let's talk about your commute. i've been looking at some of the cross-breezes across our bridges, they're getting up around 30, 35-mile-per-hour gusts. if you're on an east/west road or bridge, it's going to be a tug at the steering wheel turning you one way or another. you have to be careful with that. plus there's debris on the roads from the winds chiccing stu ingt of the trees. let's talk about the humidity. at higher elevations, less than 20%. we could do even drier than that

in the lower elevations. look at danville, 5% relative humidity. 26 in san francisco. 35 in mountain view. about as humid as it gets. when we talk about the dew point, that's how the temperature has to cool in order for it to become saturated. it is so dry out there that everybody this morning is waking up very high or extreme conditions. we'll get rid of the high after the lunch hour in the santa cruz mountains. it's still in the east bay and up in the north bay. as we head into the overnight hours it will shrink in the east bay with still extreme conditions in the north bay through about 3:00 tomorrow. we are not out of the woods yet. let's switch gears right now and talk to sue about the morning commute. >> good morning. we'll take a live look back at the bay bridge. no metering lights. traffic is flowing nicely. the winds are affecting your commute this morning. as mike mentioned, the debris flying all over.

when i drove in this morning over the waldo grade, it definitely is blowing with leaves and a tug on the wheel, that's what happened. so be careful of the debris. we have a high wind advisory on the bay bridge, highway 13 in the oakland hills,,,,, bridge, altamont pass, all bay area bridges affected. we have slow traffic with roadwork on 880 near 23rd. that's due to be picked up at 6:00 a.m. this morning. >> all right. thank you. this morning there are growing concerns that american hospitals could become overwhelmed with covid-19 patients as the number of cases surge in many parts of the country. california has more than 906,000 cases. 17,000 deaths. nationally the u.s. has more than 8.6 million cases and 225,000 people have died. here's elizabeth schulze. >> this morning new milestones

in the coronavirus pandemic. the u.s. surpassing 225,000 deaths as the seven-day average for new cases hits its highest level on record. last week 20 states in puerto rico set new record highs for daily cases, 16 hitting record hospitalizations. in el paso, texas, the number of new covid cases tripled in two weeks. medical workers setting up outdoor tents to house new patients. >> we're at a point in which the health care system is overloaded. >> reporter: el paso county under kcurfew can nonessential traffic banned after 10:00 p.m. in illinois, a top doctor getting emotional. >> we are reporting 3,874 new cases for a total of the start of this pandemic.

in new jersey, this woman lost her husband, rob, due to covid. >> the numbers are increasing and it will not get better before it gets worse. >> reporter: in some parts of the country images like these from ohio alarming officials. and some kids in utah are saying they will not get their kids tested in an effort to keep schools open and sports running. >> they're encouraging each other not to have their children tested. >> frequent testing allows rapid identification of children with covid, this containment reduces the rapid spread. >> reporter: the latest surge in covid cases is not just in the u.s. new cases are also hitting records in parts of europe as new lockdowns and restrictions are put in place. elizabeth schulze, abc news, washington. coming up, the countdown to election day. the bay area wasting no time casting their ballots. the stunning turnout so far this year. and the pandemic is changing

how we are shopping for this holiday season. the new trend that's emerging. and the grand plan to distribute a covid-19 vaccine and why the trump administration considered giving mall santas priority. all right. before we get to those stories, but i can't say i expected this. because it was easy. to fight these fires, we need funding - plain and simple. for this crisis, and for the next one. prop 15 closes tax loopholes so rich corporations pay their fair share of taxes. so firefighters like me, have what we need to do the job, and to do it right. the big corporations want to keep their tax loopholes. it's what they do. well, i do what i do. if you'ld like to help, join me and vote yes on prop 15.

a fan-favorite venue ever since they got gig-speed internet. xfinity gives them the ultimate home field advantage. it's their 12th man. protector... hey, amy? want to grab a seat? julie, we're live. it's game on with gig-speed internet from xfinity. start him, sit him, trade him. simple, easy, awesome. get started with xfinity internet for $19.99 a month for 12 months. plus, learn about gig-speeds from xfinity. click, call, or visit a store today.

5:14 on a noisy monday morning. look at sutro tower being pushed around by the 30-mile-per-hour, 40-mile-per-hour, 50 50-mile-per-hour gusts. 60s by noon, 70s by 4:00. the higher elevations will still be breezy but not as bad as this morning. the winds at the 6:00 hour have the potential to ramp up to 40 miles per hour. towards noon, down to the 20s and 30s. we're not out of the woods yet. as we get to 6:00, we're seeing the calmness take over. most of the fast winds in the valleys will be in the napa valley during the overnight

hours and in the sunol grade heading towards tomorrow morning. we'll have those faster winds in the hills through about 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. we're not the only ones in the fire danger. at least four states including us red flag warnings today and tomorrow. reggie? >> thank you. new developments on the pope fire in rural napa county. cal fire says that wildfire is fully contained. it started on friday and grew to more than 60 acres. because of our high fire danger crew also remain at that scene for the next few days. a driver in petaluma is accused of driving and intentionally hitting into a firefighter. petaluma fire crews were responding to a medical call at a shopping center on north mcdowell boulevard yesterday morning. a avril thompson began asking questions. when he was asked to leave he got into his car and drove towards the firefighters hitting

one of them. they arrested thompson and the firefighter was not seriously hurt. president trump plans to make three campaign appearances today with rallies across the battleground state of pennsylvania. president trump's democratic challenger, joe biden, has no events planned. biden's running mate, kamala harris, will appear on "the view" at 10:00 on abc7. >> with eight days to go until election day, more than 1.7 million bay area residents have voted already. california has mailed ballots to every registered voter this year because of covid-19. in order to count mail-in ballots they have to be signed, dated and post marked by election day which is november 3rd. in los angeles, more than 50 black cowboys rode through the streets of compton on horseback to encourage people to vote. the cowboys wore leather jackets and ten gallon hats as they delivered their votes to the ballot boxes yesterday. they call themselves the compton

cowboys. they're part of an organization that uses horseback riding and equestrian culture to make a positive impact on inner city youth. this week on abc we're showing you the new way to holiday. so we're looking at holiday traditions and how they'll be changing because of the pandemic. of course holiday shopping is a tradition for a lot of us. retailers could use our help right now, but they don't expect to be very packed, not in the actual stores this year. one expert tells liz kreutz there's a new trend emerging. >> i like to say we're trying to flatten the curve of holiday so we're not having those big crowds. >> reporter: something else is people are trying to be more mindful of how they shop. according to jill, people want to reward companies that are taking care of employees during the pandemic and they want to shop at businesses that stand for their moral values. >> 4 in 10 want to shop with minority owned businesses.

>> all week we'll be showing you more information about this including liz's full report which airs tonight on abc7 at 6:00. a public service coronavirus ad campaign funded by millions of dollars in taxpayer money is getting yanked. it would have offered a vaccine deal to santa claus performers, his friends, how about that. according to the "wall street journal," a top trump administration official wanted santa performers to promote the benefits of a covid-19 vaccine in exchange they would have had early access to a vaccine before the general public but the department of health and human services said the plan is going to be scrapped. >> santa's vip. >> it's tough to talk about santa on the news. i prefer not to. >> okay. let's talk to mike. hi, mike. >> hi. we'll diverge from that subject for now and talk about the weather once again. we're looking from sutro tower,

clear conditions out there. our fire danger is highest right now through about 11:00. then we'll move it out of the lower elevations and put it back up in the higher elevations where it's going to remain through at least 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. calmer and much cooler nights ahead. not necessarily tonight but watch out wednesday and thursday morning. temperatures in the 30s and 40s everybody where. no tricks, all treats this weekend. it looks like a nice weekend. the last couple of halloweens we had the threat of wet weather. not in this case. that's a positive byproduct of what we're dealing with. look how progressive this jet stream is, going from honolulu up to nearly the arctic circle, but once it gets up there, it loses that humidity and it comes down and it downslopes off the mountains and gets drier. we're in the bowl of the driest air we're going to have this go around. that's going to allow temperatures with the sunshine -- we still get less

than 11 hours. it's enough. winds coming off the mountains and subsiding into the valleys, compresses and heats. that's why we're looking at mid 70s to upper 70s. near 70 at the coast. tonight you can see those areas of shelter in youcaip rosa and the rest of us are in the 50s. we'll be under this air mass until at least thursday. 70s and 80s, barely 80 for highs. you can see the marine layer comes back friday. temperatures back to average and a quiet weekend other than setting our clocks back. we get that extra hour of sleep, kumasi. >> happy about that. this morning stunning video of the harlem ballet company dancing to bach that will give you goosebumps. ♪ so the dance theater of harlem company created this combination of ballet music in the streets of new york city. all the ballet dancers as you

can see there are wearing masks. the backdrops include various landmarks. >> they also shot at city college, which is down the street from us. it's funny, it's the beautiful background where you see the female dancers. everyone who has watched that, they asked me is that paris? no, it's harlem. >> it is beautiful. so are they. the director of the dance theater of harlem says the videos are a reminder of the importance of the arts especially now when many public performances are on hold because of the pandemic. i will say, that's what i miss the most, just beautiful performances, music, art and dance in person. >> me, too. i do, too. so many performers are waiting for that paycheck. let's get that vaccine and let's go see shows again, please. >> exactly. coming up next, the 7 things to know this morning. plus coronavirus is no

trick. many cities across the u.s. putting a ban on trick or treating. the changes to halloween. and as we fight the coronavirus pandemic, california is mandating face masks to stop the spread. that's why abc7 wants to remind you to wear a mask for you, for your loved

here's 7 things to know this morning. we have dangerous winds. we're in the heart of the most challenging weather right now with gusts up to 40 miles per hour in santa rosa. i've seen gusts up to 50 miles per hour and 60 miles per hour across the north bay and the east bay. nothing has changed. still a red flag warning until 11:00 for lower elevations, 5:00 tomorrow afternoon for our higher elevations. and the winds will be dangerous through 11:00 for all of us. number two, firefighters have been really busy putting out fires all night long. this is new video from interstate 580 n 0 near regatta boulevard. fires were reported in castro valley and healdsburg. all of the fires were contained quickly. tens of thousands of east bay homes and businesses are

without power now because of the public safety power shutoff. high winds are pounding the region now toppling trees as you can see here and power lines. number four, the north bay was the first place where the electricity got cut. some people are so frustrated after they lost their power a lot sooner than they expected. one restaurant says they didn't even have time to clean up. number five, pg&e is opening more than 100 community resource centers across the state. they open at 8:00, all the stations have bathrooms, wifi and charging stations. number six, we're following your monday morning commute with first reports of an accident westbound highway 84 just before little valley road. you can see the red sensors there. a car into a ditch. also beware of trees down. this is especially on 580 westbound near coolidge blocking the slow lane. and number seven, the senate is expected to confirm judge amy coney barrett to the supreme court today. the final vote is scheduled for 4:00 this afternoon.

the coronavirus is putting a damper on halloween plans as cities around the country are banning parades and trick or treating or strongly discouraging them as cases continue to surge. here's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: in this morning's "gma" first look, halloween and the coronavirus. >> we don't want door to door trick or treating period. >> reporter: el paso in the midst of a coronavirus surge tamping down halloween plans. the city seeing close to 11,000 active cases. beverly hills approving an urgency ordinance banning trick or treating, restricting giving candy, treats or toys to anyone not in your household. warning rule breakers will be issued citations. >> even though it was a difficult decision, it really was the right decision to make in this day and time. >> so how can you make sure your family stays safe but still has lots of spooky fun? coming up at 7:00 a.m., we'll show you the creative ideas from

parents across the country plus dr. jen ashton weighs in live. with your "gma" first look, i'm eva pilgrim, abc news, new york. we'll be back with another full 90 minutes of news including the creative halloween costume one father made for his daughter. it's a hit for anybody who has had to deal with distance but you can work out anything wowith comcast business.w. get fast, reliable, and secure internet on the nation's largest gig speed network. flexible tools - like wi-fi you control. voice solutions that connect you from anywhere. and expert advice here, here, or even here. be fast. be flexible. bounce forward with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet

and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $300 prepaid card. call or go online today.

now at 5:30, here we go again. thousands of pg&e customers in the dark right now because of the high fire danger and they will likely remain without power until tomorrow. we're live in the east bay where it's dark this morning. firefighters battling several spot fires across the bay area overnight. to prevent these from becoming major wildfires. let's take a live look from our east bay hills camera. gusty winds, dry air, all making

a dangerous combination. mike is tracking the weather. good morning, it is monday, october 26th. >> we certainly saw those high winds yesterday afternoon. we'll check in with mike to see what the winds look like right now. hi, mike. >> hi, everybody. we're firmly entrenched in the most dangerous critical conditions right now and we will be through at least 11:00 this morning. mount diablo, 55 right now. gusts fastser than 70 overnight. in the north bay, st. helena at 32. oakland hills, 25. the oakland airport, 58-mile-per-hour winds. not only do we have hurricane-force winds but we had severe thunderstorm speeds at 58-mile-per-hour last night at the airport. 40 in santa rosa right now, 30 in napa. 26 in concord. 31 at sfo. more than 31 miles per hour in the city. we're waking up to dangerous conditions. here's the red flag warning. continues until 11:00 for most

of us. in the higher elevations it will go until 5:00 tomorrow. even as things quiet down, we still have to look at the higher elevations and keep an eye on what goes on up there. if things develop, it can climb down to our neighborhood. wind advisory until 11:00 this morning. a quick look at today's temperatures, most of us in the 70s. it will be mild with those breezes. breaking news in the east bay, crews are on the scene of a wildfire along eastbound 580 in castro a alley, half a mile west of eden canyon. the alameda county fire department says it came within 50 feet of reaching a home before crews were able to get it under control. thankfully no one got hurt. firefighters have been busy responding to calls of wires and trees down throughout alameda county because of the strong winds in the area. high winds across northern california have forced pg&e to shut off power to hundreds of thousands of customers. >> this event is by far the largest we have experienced this

year, the most extreme weather. >> we are just entering this significant and dangerous risk period. >> we're doing everything that we can at pg&e to reduce the risk of wildfires. >> so that means turning off the power. pg&e says nearly 107,000 customers in the bay area are without power this morning and that is to prevent wildfires from igniting. pg&e posted this map on their website. it shows you where the outages are right now. each of the purple triangles marks the location of a public safety power shutoff. taking a look closer to some of the nak neighborhoods now effected. amy hollyfield is in lafayette. >> hi, reggie. the businesses behind me do not have power. some of the neighborhoods do. some areas of moraga do not. so it's scattered throughout this area.

beware this is what's going on on mount diablo boulevard. it's very dark out here. the only lights you see are headlights and a lot of stop lights are not working. approach those intersections as four-way stops. pg&e believes the psps shutdown should last for two days. so if you have a friend out there who needs to charge their cell phone, invite them over if you have power. some people say they can't wait that long to get the power back. one college student said she will go home to southern california because she's without electricity and wifi in more ag. >> i can't do school without wifi, especially because we are all online so it's impossible because we can't go to in-person classes. so i told my mom and she was like, yeah, let's book you a flight home right away. >> if these winds do spark a fire contra costa firefighters are ready to go on

the ground and in the air. they have two helps on stand-by in concord. they have water buckets on them so they can drop water on the flames. it's very windy here and it's also very cold. keep in mind if you are heading out it's dark and cold. don't forget to grab a jacket. reporting live in lafayette, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> thank you. the oakland unified school district sauce power outages are impacting six of its school, grass valley elementary, howard elementary, montclair elementary, thornhill elementary, king estates. they can do their work offline and report it back to the teachers once they get the chance. pg&e set up more than 100 daytime community resource centers across the state during the power outages. they'll reopen at 8:00 this morning. this is the center in moraga. all centers have bathrooms, hand washing stations, medical

equipment, wifi, you can charge your phone and laptop and you can also pick up bottled water and snacks. some centers also offer electric vehicle charging. we have information on our website on how you can prepare for a public safety power shutoff. everything from making sure your phone is charged to getting ready for extended time without electricity. you can find this guide on abc7news.com. >> we turn to the election. voting ends in eight days. today president trump is campaigning in pennsylvania. democratic vice presidential nominee kamala harris will be traveling to the lone star state this week. officials say 122 ballots were inside a drop box that was set on fire. 87 were saved and processed. >> i sent an urgent directive this afternoon to secure ballot

drop boxes if at all possible, have them inside a municipal facility. >> we should remind you those are extremely isolated events, please do not be discoloneled from voting. the latest abc poll show the the favorability of both candidates remains unchanged since the summer. five people who work closely to vice president mike pence have tested positive for coronavirus. that includes his chief of staff, mark short and his body man. all five are in quarantine and are assisting with contacts tracing. pence's wife karen tested positive yesterday morning and again this morning. the senate is expected to confirm amy coney barrett to the supreme court tonight.

they voted largely along party lines yesterday to end the debate. >> this nomination forward and, colleagues, by tomorrow night we will have a new member of the united states supreme court. >> nearly every republican in this chamber led by the majority leader four years ago refused to even consider the supreme court nomination of a democratic president, my colleagues, there is no escaping this glaring hypocrisy. >> the senate will reconvene today to hold the final vote just eight days before the election. coming up all this week, we're focusing on the new way to holiday. this holiday season will be tough because of the pandemic. how to keep your mental health in check. and our former governor, arnold schwarzenegger, on the road to recovery. his update after heart surgery. we'll get to that. first we get a check on our traffic. hi, sue hall. >> good morning, reggie. we'll take a live look at the golden gate bridge, traffic is flowing nicely across the span. it is windy. we have high wind advisories for all bay area bridges at this time and debris down. we have one accident to report to you. it's westbound 84 near little

valley road. a car into a ditch. an ambulance is en route there. a tree down westbound 580 near coolidge blocking the slow lane. we have a sign down southbound 680 at mission boulevard, partially blocking the onra-ram there. be aware of flying leaves and debris and like we mentioned trees down and signs down, too. take extra caution this morning. we have mike with an update on all those high winds right now. >> all right. thank you. appreciate you being in here this morning helping us out. here's our humidity, less than 20% in the higher elevations. it's even drier, look at places like danville, 3% relative humidity. that means of all the moisture that the air could hold at that temperature, it's at 3% of capacity. 30% is about as high as we get, that's in san mateo. we have dew points around zero or even probably lower than that in danville. that's what the temperature would have to drop to in order for it to become saturated.

it's even drier than the desert out there right now. here's our fire index. right now waking up high to extreme in all of our higher elevations, you can see in some of the lower elevations we're starting to get some yellow in there. that's why all of us are under that red flag warning through 11:00. higher elevations, at 1:00, you can see it in the east bay hills, the diablo range and up in the north bay, we'll have extreme conditions. heading into 11:00 tonight, we're still very high in the east bay hills and diablo range to extreme up in the north bay. wake up tomorrow morning, we have high around mount diablo and extreme in the north bay. this event continues to go in the higher elevations until 5:00 tomorrow when it's finally over. if you're heading out now, in the mid 50s to near 60s with windy conditions along the east bay shore, upper 50s to low 60s elsewhere. for your activity planner for today, it's all about trying to

get around the power outages and be safe while you're out and about with those breezes. we'll talk more about that coming up. all right. when you think of tiktok, you think of all those dancing videos, right? there's plenty of other cool stuff, too. check out your daily tiktok. ♪

it provides property tax fairness for disabled homeowners like cynde, stuck living with a broken elevator. nineteen helps wildfire victims, like ellie, one of 24,000 who've lost their homes to fire. and seniors like pam who need to move closer to family or medical care, without a tax penalty. prop 19 limits taxes on our most vulnerable. yes on 19.

but i can't say i expected this. because it was easy. to fight these fires, we need funding - plain and simple. for this crisis, and for the next one. prop 15 closes tax loopholes so rich corporations pay their fair share of taxes. so firefighters like me, have what we need to do the job, and to do it right. the big corporations want to keep their tax loopholes. it's what they do. well, i do what i do. if you'ld like to help, join me and vote yes on prop 15. all right. let's look at what's going on from sutro tower. it's 57 degrees. it's pretty mild in most neighborhoods because of the breezes this morning. most of us in the 50s. as amy has been talking about, it can feel much cooler out there with those winds.

make sure you dress appropriately. the winds are making the atmosphere very uniform. 65 to 66 at noon. 68 to 73 at 4:00. temperatures average if not just a touch above average. as we head into the 7:00 hour, we'll be down to around 60 to 65 degrees. let's talk about the winds. this is at the lower elevations. you can see as we head through the morning hours, we are still going to have some gusty winds. when the sun comes up, when the sun comes up we'll actually have the winds pick up as we head through the morning hours. the atmosphere will overturn, we'll warm the air, it will rise and allow that cooler, faster winds that are in the mountains to come on down. expect a burst of winds around 8:00 to 10:00. then they'll start to taper a bit around 11:00 to 12:00, then really they will accelerate -- decelerate, excuse me, quickly heading into the 6:00 hour. here is reggie.

>> mike, thank you. that wind and fire danger has now closed several east bay regional parks. abc7 news was at clairemont canyon reserve yesterday where we saw some people hiking despite the closures. 11 parks are closed through today. people who enter the parks can be cited or arrested. san francisco's response to covid-19 is being touted as, quote, successful compared with other cities across the country. the "l.a. times" is reporting of the 20 most populous cities in the u.s., san francisco has the lowest death rate per capita from covid-19. mayor london breed implemented a shelter in place order more than seven months ago. a doctor of ucsf said if the entire country followed the city's approach there would be 50,000 people dead instead of more than 225,000. he also says people in san francisco tend to follow health rules more than in other places.

last week the city became the first in california to entered the least restrictive tier for reopening. this week on abc7 we are showing you the new way to holiday. looking at how the holiday season and so many traditions that we take for granted every year are affected by coronavirus. specifically mental health and coping strategies for a time of year that's already so challenging for many of us even without a pandemic. here's chris reyes. >> reporter: if we could have a mental health toolkit, what would be on that list to help us get through the days that we're burned out or tapped out? we reached out to one psychologist for advice. >> how do we begin these new strategies to help carry us through the year? >> the number one thing i would focus on is connection and making connection a priority. >> reporter: let's go through dr. carl fleischer's czehecklis. first check in with yourself. >> am i going to work? am i going to school?

am i present, engaged in my relationships? how am i feeling? how bad am i feeling? how worried am i? how angry am i? and to just stop and take a measure of that and see what you come up with. >> chris' full report airs tonight on abc 7 news at 4:00. the mt. diablo unified school district is considering a man to return to in-person learning. here's what the district superintendent is recommending, allowing staggered in-person learning, participation for school activities and let families decide between the hybrid or full-year distance learning programs. the board discusses the plan tonight. classes could resume in january. this is wild. families are finding cratie iv ways to celebrate halloween this year. one father created a zoom costume for his daughter replicating the zoom interface with nine spooky participants. they include photos of his daughter in costumes.

one box as you can see is reserved for the next victim. so if someone gets close enough to her they will appear in the box thanks to an ipad with a front-facing camera taped to the board. we're not really showing the costume here. i assume it's taped to her? i don't know how it works. her dad went all in on that costume. >> it's creative. the next victim the part? >> scary. >> yikes. all right, mike, good morning. >> good morning. let's talk about what's going on weather wise. this is a look from sutro tower. 57 degrees. winds gusting 30 to 35 through san francisco. the highest fire danger is this morning. when the sunrises is when i expect the strongest burst of winds through the elevations. it will be calmer and cooler this week. it will be a fantastic weekend. unfortunately the kids can't trick or treat traditionally

because the weather will be so nice. look at how far the jet stream is going from south to north, from hawaii all the way up to anchorage, grabbing all of that extremely dry air, it's bringing it in our neighborhoods. that's why with the sunshine we're going to be pretty mild this afternoon. not only sunshine warming the dry air but also as it downslopes off higher elevations it will compress and heat. that's why we'll be in the mid to upper 70s away from the coast. tonight it will be coolest in the deepest valleys. our windshield valleys, how about that? if you're shaded from the wind, you will be much cooler than everybody else. we're going to be breezy around oakland, yucaipa, 43. fremont, san jose, morgan hill at 40. it's going to be cooler wednesday morning. now the air is so dry, i don't think we'll have the threat of

frost or freezing temperatures. if we get close we'll let you know tomorrow before we get tuesday night into wednesday morning. those temperatures will warm up nicely from 60s at the coast and 70s for the rest of us. the marine layer finally returns, the humidity starts to uptick friday. temperatures dropping into the 60s and 70s and that's where we say through the holiday weekend. set your clocks back an hour. if you still have battery operated smoke detectors, change that battery. have a good one. >> thank you. former california governor and terminator star arnold schwarzenegger says he feels fantastic after heart surgery. so this is a tweet that the 73-year-old actor turned politician sent after receiving a new aortic valve on friday. the tweet also included pictures of schwarzenegger posing with statues near ohio's cleveland clinic where he had the surgery. schwarzenegger is no stranger to heart surgery. he also had valves replaced in 1997 and in 2018. we're waiting to see who will be the nominees for the

american music awards announced by a big pop superstar herself. ♪ >> all right. dua lipa is announcing who is up for video of the year, favorite song, artist of the year and more at this year's ama's. the ceremony is set for sunday november 22nd and you can watch it right here on abc 7. coming up on gma at 7:00 you can be the first to hear the nominations. new at 6:00, how to do winter dining outdoors. see one way that the cold weather city is still planning to serve customers in the freezing cold. but first we're learning more about the antitrust lawsuit against google and how app

[what's this?] oh, are we kicking karly out? we live with at&t. it was a lapse in judgment.

at&t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gig-speed internet, but we can't sign up for that here. yeah, but i'm just like warming up to those speeds. you've lived here two years. the personal attacks aren't helping, karly. don't you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something? [ muffled scream ] stop living with at&t. xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes.

you can see most of the state is moderately dry if not extreme. the second highest category of drought and that does clip the north bay. that's why we're having such high fryire danger as we have record dry fuels out there. the trees, the brush, the grasses, they all have limited amount of moisture. that makes them more susceptible to fires. let's see if there's rain into the forecast. early november most models are saying no, still no chance of rain. the fire season will continue longer than normal because the rain season is coming in later than average. >> thank you. not a whole lot we can do over than have pg&e shut off power to people so their equipment doesn't start fires. you're looking at a map provided by pg&e showing the current outages. each purple triangle indicates 5,000 homes and businesses without power. there are large concentrations

of outages across the north bay, east bay, peninsula and south bay right now. you can use our free abc7 news app to track the forecast and the latest on this psps event. we sent this alert last night when we livestreamed pg&e's latest update. our app is free to download from the app store. new details about a lucrative deal between two of the biggest silicon valley companies, apple and google are working together to feature google's search engine as the pre selected choice on apple devices. "the new york times" is reporting that apple receives 8 to 12 billion dollars a year in the deal but now the partnership is in jeopardy. last week the justice department filed an antitrust lawsuit against google accusing the company of abusing its dominance in the online search industry. a 24-year-old created a website to track every broken mcdonald's

ice cream machine in the country. it's called mcbroken and it shows a map of every location in the u.s., the green dots mean it is not. we checked this morning, there are no broken machines in san francisco but some locations in san jose where you will not be able to get your ice cream. so plan ahead. a virginia couple have come up with the solution to safely hand out halloween candy. i need to see this. >> yes. fire it. >> oh, no. >> so this is a smiling socially distant inflatable cat. elizabeth ferguson and her boyfriend matt designed it, built it themselves. the cat's paw has an orange pipe that acts like a candy dispenser. ferguson said they installed it last week to get the neighborhood kids excited about it and because we need a little extra fun this year. they're not firing it. that's a chute where it gently goes down the side of the home with the smiling cat, not firing it like you're trying to do with that candy launcher. this is not the same thing.

not. >> it's close. >> i'm okay with this. >> by the time that candy goes down that roof, i don't know how high -- it's not high, is it? that's just the stairs. if they really wanted it to be fun, they would make it go from the roof. i'll accept this. new at 6:00, how do you do halloween safely? we've heard many tricks in the lead up to this weekend, but we have an exp analysis on what you need to do to stay safe. and we are back with live team coverage on the public safety power shutoffs from pg&e this morning. and we're seeing some damage caused by the strong winds. we have more on that as we're live from the neighborhoods now in the dark.

but i can't say i expected this. because it was easy. to fight these fires, we need funding - plain and simple. for this crisis, and for the next one. prop 15 closes tax loopholes so rich corporations pay their fair share of taxes. so firefighters like me, have what we need to do the job,

and to do it right. the big corporations want to keep their tax loopholes. it's what they do. well, i do what i do. if you'ld like to help, join me and vote yes on prop 15. you know, everybody is saying i can't wait for 2020 to be over, but hopefully, you know, '21 will be much better. >> yes, hopefully. now at 6:00, black joudblack jbo the area. pg&e said with fire danger like this they had no choice but to cut power to thousands of people. here is the current situation. pg&e's map showing the current power shutoffs. each one of those purple triangles representing thousands of homes without power from the east bay to the north bay hills to the santa cruz mountains. good morning on this october

26th. everyone wondering about the dangerous wind conditions. let's get to abc7 news meteorologist mike nicco. >> all right. hi, everybody. let's talk about what's going on. red flag warning, nothing has changed here. 11:00 for the lower elevations and the coast. 5:00 tomorrow afternoon for our higher elevations. we've had 70-mile-per-hour winds, those are hurricane and severe thunderstorm thresholds. most dangerous winds will go through 11:00. from 8:00 to 10:00, we'll see another real strong burst of winds, maybe even faster than what we're dealing with right now, 46 in napa. 43 in fairfield. 30 in hayward. 34 in san francisco. 22 in san jose. up in the higher elevations, 55 in diablo, 36 in st. helena.