next at 5, the biggest storm of the season is now starting to hit. from the coast to the mountains and from the north bay to the south, get ready for dangerous wind and heavy rain. plus, people living in san mateo county are now getting orders to evacuate. santa cruz county already has those warnings, but too many are ignoring them. >> meanwhile, a blizzard warning is in effect for parts of the sierra. yard sticks will be needed to measure all the know they are going to get this week. we have reporters fanned out to bring you all of the developments kich developments. >> announcer: this is abc7 news. and we begin with a look at live doppler 7. you can see our strong storm now bearing down. it is bringing dangerous winds, possible flooding and snow. it is part of the atmospheric river taking aim at the state which you see in animation here. here is another look at the

storm gathering strength off the coast the people are being evacuated from two counties. this storm is serious. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm ama daetz. we have live team coverage with reporters in the south bay and east bay as well as our weather team. beginning with meteorologist sand yeah patel. what's the latest? >> the latest is the storm has the potential to do serious damage across parts of the bay area. look at live doppler 7 now. this is just the beginning. this is the lighter stuff right now. as we get closer radar view here, north bay will see steady rain across the region around the higher elevations of lake county near our radar site. you will see around mt. saint helena mixed precipitation as the cold air is trapped there. francis san francisco it the east bay light to moderate rain. oakland, pacifica avenue, trestle glen road seeing steady rain. slippery roadways. into the south bay as well

around the santa cruz mountains, mount hamilton is seeing snow. as we take a look at the wider perspective, it does have that atmospheric river connection with thunderstorms just off the northern california coast. it's a strong level three storm tonight, tomorrow, moderate to heavy rain. 1 to 3 inches at the lower elevations, hills 3 to 6 inches. that's why there is potential for the winds to do damage. heaviest rain later tonight 10:30 across the central bay midnight heading into the east bay and south bay. a look at the warnings. here is drew. >> and when that heavy rain moves through we have a concern for flooding. we are under a flash flood watch until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. for the north bay, isanta cruz mountains, the threat is there for debris flows over our burn scars. watch that very closely. can you feel the wind increasing? it is getting breezy if not gusty this evening. gusts close to 40 miles per hour along the coast, around the bay area 25 to 30 miles per hour right now. so a high-wind warning. we will begin at 7:00 p.m.

tonight for the entire coastline. that includes san francisco and solano county. wind gusts 60 to 70 miles per hour are possible. for the rest of the bay area we are going to feel this wind as well. maybe not as high as 70 miles per hour, but we could see wind gusts 50 to 60 miles per hour. so we are likely going to see isolated power outages. here is that blizzard warning in the sierra. until 2:00 a.m. friday, look at this, 5 to 8 feet of snow, wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. that is going to create whiteout conditions. when we come back, we will take a closer look at the storm in the full forecast. >> thank you very much. now let's head to santa cruz county. one of the areas under vaccinati evacuation orders because of what this storm is likely to do. chris, county officials that you just spoke with, what are they saying? >> reporter: hi, dan. yeah, for those in the evacuation zone the county says if you haven't already left, now

is the time to go. they are preparing for a very dangerous night here in santa cruz county, and they are even preparing or, rather, even trying to get a helicopter to assist with rescue operations. tonight the san lorenzo valley braces for one the area's biggest storms in years. >> i am worried about getting blocked in or power being out for days at a time. being stranded in the mountains. that's my most -- that's my biggest concern. >> reporter: michelle mckay and her daughter kathy dropped by one of the temporary evacuation centers? skrauz county. the feeling of having to leave home too familiar after a devastating fire season. >> a scary feeling for a lot of us. the uncertainty of everything is the worst. >> reporter: countywide nearly 5,000 residents have already been ordered to evacuate. with the rain moving in, officials are concerned about the risk of debris flow and flood from the czu burn scar areas. >> the storm that we feared is

here and the time to act is now. >> reporter: the county's emergency operations center says deputies have been going door-to-door since yesterday asking residents in the burn zones to evacuate. unfortunately, they expect only 25% to comply with the order. so for the rest of them, some last-ditch words of advice if they encounter debris flow. >> grab your fisherman and literally r literally uphill. go upstairs. get on the roof. if you can't do that, get on top of a table. >> reporter: in scotts valley residents stopped by the local ace hardware store to stock up on the essentials in the event of a power outage. >> you think twice. we live here in the mountains. >> reporter: with many people expect today ride out the storm the shelves were bare. >> tarps, lanterns, flashlights, extension cords, all those kinds of things. we are running low on everything. >> reporter: and we're coming to you live tonight from one of the

evacuation centers here in scotts valley. the county is warning residents to expect power outages. we are told that pg&e crews are already stationed on highway 17 to prepare for tonight's storm. also, a 30-person team from marin county has arrived here to assist with seven and rescue efforts overnight in the event of mudslides. we're live in santa cruz county, chris nguyen, abc7 news. back to you. >> on the peninsula, evacuation orders in effect for parts of san mateo county. sigh the four impacted areas highlighted-the map. previously they were under an evacuation warning. cal fire says there is a high risk of mudslides and debris flows in the burn scar areas of the czu august complex fire. a temporary shelter is set up at pescadero high school. crews are going door-to-door to make sure residents in the

affected zones know about the evacuation order. >> white house canyon road, gaz as creek road, butano cameron area and loma mar. those are under the evacuation orders. unknown who is still in the area that, you know, was impacted by the fires. we are trying to go to every address we can get access to give notification. >> let's show you a live look at san rafael. you can see it is raining lightly there, but -- it is pick pg up and has been for the last couple of hours. mountaintops in sonoma county are seeing snow already. the geysers there are at 3,000 feet. this is going to only intensify as the afternoon and evening progresses. farther to the north heavy snow has shut down highway 101 from cummings to just past leightonville in mendocino county. the chp said several big rigs stalled in the northbound direction.

>> the east bay, many prepping for the rain and wind while others are setting their sights on beating the storm to enjoy a lot of snow in the mountains. >> leslie brinkley is live from walnut creek with that story. leslie. >> reporter: yeah, like you said, 7 feet at donner's summit. more at higher elevations. out here in the east bay we are told to expect some street flooding, parking lots overflowing certainly by midnight tonight. >> fair warned is fair armed. >> we may put a accident in the drought. >> that's right. >> reporter: john fuller and his wife julia assembled some hefty sandbags it take home at this county-run site at heather farm. >> when it hits really heard it's like a river in our driveway. >> so we're out there actively clearing out those storm drain systems so that we're prepared to make sure that everything flows right. >> reporter: county public works crews say they are ready on standby for any problems that

crop up overnight. up on mount diablo weekends of 70 miles per hour are expected with this storm. the snow level will rise above the peak through the night, but there could still be a dusting of snow visible by dawn wednesday. the snow prospects have skiers in a frenzy. >> upwards of 100 inches, 8, 8 1/2 feet by this weekend. once the reports came out, we've had a flurry of reservations, people walking in, long lines of people trying to get gear to head up. >> we are leaving this afternoon. we should be up there before the snow arrives. >> i just hope i stay warm, i guess, and if i need to stay there a couple more nights, school's online and everything. >> we have a cabin to stay in. we have reservations to ski. so we are helping for the best. we are actually really excited to, you know, stay bundled up and see a snowstorm that hopefully we will remember forever. >> reporter: all of that sounds great, but remember, roads are

treacherous. routes up into the tahoe area into the mountains are likely to close counsdown. the question is when that would happen. if you can, your best bet is to hunker down, stay inside and let this pass. in the east bay, i'm leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >> all right. thank you so much. and you can access live doppler 7 on demand on your tv. our app is available for apple tv, android tv, fire tv, and roku. still ahead tonight, the changes in the state's vaccine priority list and what they mean for you. plus, the bay area man now making a public appeal. he is hoping for the gift

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a full-court press is underway tonight to get 200 million more vaccine doses in the united states. president biden saying the

federal government is working on buying those additional doses to be delivered sometime this summer. it would double our nation's vaccine supply and be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million americans by fall. >> that is certainly good news. meanwhile, the state announced a change in way the coronavirus vaccine will be distributed moving forward. abc7 news reporter lyanne menendez. >> reporter: you know age matters, right? this was a compromise between those who were advocating for teachers and law enforcement to get vaccinated, and those who are not quite 65, but are still at a higher risk. >> reporter: two groups, health care workers and people 65 and over, are currently being vaccinated in the state. california's health secretary dr. mark ghaly. >> and it's no small feat to get 2.5 million californians vaccinated in seven weeks. >> reporter: but even he admits not enough people are getting the vaccine because, in part,

there is a shortage. so today dr. ghaly announced changes to the way the vaccine will be distributed. after that first group has been vaccinated, the expectation is that in mid-february these are the people who will get the vaccine. first responders, food and agriculture workers, and teachers and school staff. san francisco's school board president gabriella lopez says that gets them one step closer it reopening schools. >> just to make sure when we are in the space, they are -- there is no risk. >> reporter: here is the big change. after they are vaccinated, the tier system as we know it will basically go away and eligibility will be based on age. >> transmission rates, if they do go back up, that we create a protection, a bubble around those most vulnerable. >> reporter: we know that the virus is most deadly if you are older, but the persistent issue remains the lack of vaccines. desperate to give out that first

dose to as many people as possible, federal health officials are now considering extending the period between the first and second dose to six weeks. >> right now we are trying to hit the marks of three to four weeks afterwards, but if we get recommendations to adjust, we will definitely do so so we can get vaccine out in the most efficient manner possible. >> reporter: also new today was the announcement that california will eventually hire a third-party to help allocate more doses to sites that are administering the vaccine. so, let's talk a little bit about that third party. we don't know who it's going to be. the state has not even decided. you know, dr. ghaly has said they are implementing things as they go. they learn from their mistakes, what's working, what's not working. so they hope this third party will help expedite things. in the newsroom, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> the state also announced a new site where you can give your information and they will let

you know when you are eligible for the vaccine. how will that work? >> well, it's called my turn. they announced it today where people can sign up to be notified when they are eligible to make an appointment with their providers. san francisco already has that. it's called get notified. but that redundancy is always a life saver. the other good thing about my turn is it will help track those who have yet to receive a second vaccine dose. so they'll let you know. >> all right. sounds good. thank you so much. >> and abc7 news is monitoring the covid-19 vaccine rollout in california with our vaccine tracker. it also shows you when you might be able to get the vaccine in california. find it on our home page at abc7news.com. still ahead here, that level three storm now starting to hit. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel with the latest on this rough weather coming in.

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getting ready for the worst in san francisco. we spotted a couple of homes in the west portal district where residents placed sandbags in front of their garages it try to keep the water out. the coming store is affecting the fight against covid-19. the vaccination site at city college closed at noon today and will be closed through thursday. testing sites around the city also shut down early today because of this bad weather. let's bring in abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel. we are expecting a pretty rough time. >> yeah, absolutely. and sandhya is tracking it and has the latest. sandhya. >> yeah, i would hold off on hitting the roadways if you don't have to between tonight and tomorrow morning. that's when the worst part of the storm is expected. right now the rainfall on live

doppler 7 is mixing in with the wintry mix as you notice. it's snow over the higher elevations. mount hamilton, lake county hills. i want to take you in where we are seeing pops of oranges and yellows. that's moderate to heavy rain heading into towards la hand a at 5:38, san jose at 6:06 p.m. as we look at the santa cruz mountains they are seeing that wintry mix of snow and rain. and as we look at santa rosa they have been seeing some heavier rainfall picking up aren't petaluma hill road, stony point road. street level here, the winds are gusting out of the south 30 mooirls in san jose, 29 in half moon bay. higher elevations, hawk way 36, mount diablo 41-mile-per-hour winds. a strong level three storm. 1 to 3 inches at the lower elevations, 3 to 6 over the hills, wind gusts 70 miles an hour, strongest winds over the

higher terrain. flooding on the roadways very high concern tonight. debris flows, mudslides, downed trees, small stream flooding, power outages high likelihood. this is a storm you want to take seriously. obviously, don't mess around with the situation here. p apparently, graphics are not advancing there. there we go. let's take you back a little bit and let's start out with the temperatures right now as you will notice in the 40s. a few 30s showing up around las gatos. here is a look at the timeline. 9:00 tonight heaviest rain in the north bay. around 11:00 p.m. crossing the central bay and into the south bay by midnight. that's when the worst of the rain will be coming through, still some pockets of downpours at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow and then scattered showers will continue, intensifying late tomorrow night as you will notice pops of yellow showing up. in terms of the rainfall totals, you will be seeing anywhere from 1 to 3 inches. as i mentioned over the hills it's going to be even heavier

rainfall. winter storm warning for lake county, mendocino county, higher terrain above two you to feet. snow will daccumulate and it wil be difficult to travel. blizzard warning for the sierra, five to eight feet of snow. i would not travel. gusts 50 to 70 miles per hour with white without conditions expected much temperature in the morning with stormy conditions, 30s, 40s, not as cold as what we experienced this morning. tomorrow afternoon hang on to the rain gear. it's still going to be windy. there will still be showers around, temperatures will be in the 40s and the 50s as we check out the accuweather seven-day forecast. stormy early tomorrow morning with the level three system. strong winds expected as well. level two for your thursday. it's more the impact from additional rain on top of saturated ground by thursday that's making it a level two system. and then as we head into friday some early morning showers, a level one, light showers saturday, still unsettled for sunday with the focus being in the north bay and then a stronger storm is expected

monday, tuesday. right now we are keeping it as a one with wet and windy conditions expected, but that could be changing, it could become a level two. so stay tuned. stay safe. this going to be a rough 12 hours ahead. >> looks like we are in for it. thank you very much. and because of the storm abc7 mornings will start an hour early tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. mike will have the latest storm track. we will bring you up-to-the-minute information about road conditions. when we return, the bay area man hoping t

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finally here for moment, a livermore man and his fisherman are looking for a liver donor to give him a second chance at

life. >> melissa pixcar spoke to the family and got their plea por help. >> we are a real close family. mike's got a great sense of humor and i am terrified of losing my brother. >> i was diagnosed with liver failure on november 14, 2019. and in 2019 i made a determination i needed to lose weight and had gastric bypass. that was hard on the liver, and i had an ongoing liver issues that kind of combined, pushed me over the edge in the liver failure. i'm type a positive or type o positive or negative rcht the experts say get the word out any way you can. i did my best creating a small website. what we are looking for is someone who believes the power of second chances and let mike have a second chance at living a

long and normal life. >> i just want to say that i understand it's a huge ask, you know, to ask someone to go through this. until it happens, i got to remain optimistic. >> hoping that if it's somebody whose willing and able that we can become lifelong friends. if we know who the donor is, because you can do this anonymously, but i would very much like, and i think mike would agree, we would want to meet this person and have a lifelong relationship with. >> an emotional plea and perhaps someone will step up. >> let's hope so. >> yes. all right. that is going do it for us for now. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. for sandhya patel, all of us here, we appreciate your time. we will see you again in a half an hour with the latest on this strong storm coming in right

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and financial help for people who need it. enrollment ends january 31st. tonight, the major promise from president biden late today when it comes to vaccines for millions of americans who are desperately waiting. but how much vaccine and when? president biden revealing his plan to deliver 600 million doses of covid vaccine by this summer, enough to give 300 million americans the two shots required. ordering another 100 million doses from pfizer, 100 million from moderna. and an additional 1.4 million doses sent out to the states starting next week. is it soon enough? governors already reacting tonight, with lines growing and countless families trying to get appointments and the vaccine and unable to find any. breaking news coming in at this hour involving former president trump's impeachment trial. senator patrick leahy, who will preside over the trial, hospitalized. what we're learning right now.