stunning! snow and ice everywhere. the road to the observatory impassable. closed and too hazardous. it looks like they are in tahoe. kristen: from the snow and hail to the wind and rain, we have every angle of the snow covered for you. our crews are spread out across the bay area to show us what things are like where you live. first, let's go to abc 7 weather anchor spencer christian, who shows us what it is like next. spencer: you can see how far-reaching the various types of precipitation are. lower elevation snow and hail, maybe even see a couple of lightning let me take you closer to the north bay here, where you can see it is snowing rather heavily in parts of lake county, even in northern sonoma county, now moving into northern parts of napa county. . we have areas of snow. dropping down to under 2500

feet, because the air is very cold associated with this storm. everything right now appears to be moving out of napa county into solano county come around fairfield, cordelia, we have heavy downpours, widespread rain, where roads are certainly wet. the evening commute is underway already. down on the peninsula, san mateo, redwood city, we have them moving across the way toward hayward and of course mount hamilton. snow is continuing to fall. this storm is still a level 2 storm on the exclusive abc 7 storm impact scale. brief downpours, gusty wind, snow and hail, isolated thunder and hail pure this forecast animation, notice as we go through the evening hours, it does not let up. we get breaks in the areas of rain and snow moving onshore, but this is still a really significant weather system, and we continue to see wet weather

and hazardous road conditions into the late evening hours. i will have more little bit later. kristen: thank you, spencer. . this monday turned into a snow day and the east bay mount diablo. snow closed down roads and a couple of parks. abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley was up there as well as in walnut creek, where there was plenty of heavy rainfall. hey, leslie. leslie: a little bit of all that, kristen and dan. my to -- my photographer and checked things out on diablo, never thinking we were going to encounter as much snow as we did after we got to the 2000-foot elevation. [laughter] >> snow! >> it is really fun snow! leslie: around noon, the snow fell fast and furiously. last week's snowman melted as

new family memorized crystallized for those who made it up here. >> making a snowman. >> it just so happened that we have never made a trip to see snow, and we were actually planning to do that as we can, we were going to yosemite, and then the road closed, so we decided to stay home and see if we couldn't find some snow here today then. we were in luck. leslie: treacherous conditions appear on diablo, with the snow coming down. in fact, i was told a van had slid off the road. they are trying to block things off to traffic to make it safe. >> we went up to the top, the snow was getting a little bit sticky, so we came down a bit. the kids made some snow angels, made a little snowman, a snowball fight, and it was a cool day. leslie: this family from clayton made a last-minute decision to grab their snow gear and make some memories. >> we have not gone up to the snow in a very long time, so this is very fun day today, and

excited that i did not have to go to school. leslie: farther down the mountain, a slide from earlier in the winter along the north gate road in the park got worse with today's rain with more of the roadways clain toheakland zoo closed down today and for tomorrow as winter weather is wreaking havoc on roads, morale, and finances. >> you know, since we had the sinkhole that opened back again, we have enclosed five days and five nights, so we are not out of it yet. this is just hard on all of us. leslie: oakland zoo $50,000 to $70,000 a day, they told me, each time they are forced to close. still rain continuing off and on here this afternoon. there were reports in the last 20 minutes or so of some hailstorms nearby here in walnut creek and in martinez, followed by right now blue sky and

sunshine, welcomed weather 2023 in the east bay peer dime leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. dan:dan: ok, leslie, thank you so much. the north bay saw its fair share of rain today. take a look at this video from saint therese, -- santa rosa, where it is pouring. liz kreutz spent the day chasing it. hi, liz. liz: the rain and weather has been on and off here in the north bay today. we have really heavy rain this morning, even hail, and it just stopped for the sun came out at one point, we saw a rainbow, and then it picked up again. right now, you can see it is dry, but this pattern is not over yet. more rain is on the way. north of the golden gate bridge, commuters monday morning faced a wet and rainy drive. in sonoma county, this video from santa rosa fire shows the roads in the city's oakmont neighborhood covered in hail. >> we have seen pretty

substantial amounts of hail. it present something that is fun to look out also safety concerns for us. liz:liz: those concerns include downed trees and power lines. firefighters responded to a tree branch that fell onto a power line,. causing the branch to become elect five >> we have seen powerlines, -- powerline, causing the branch to become electrified. >> we have seen down. liz: raffaella and his dog lucas took a break when the rain started to pour. >> then it is superhot, come on, make up your mind. liz: despite the confusion, he is thrilled to see it. you are thankful for? >> i am thankful. liz: during a break in the afternoon, folks came up to fill up sandbags, getting ready for the next set of storms on the way.

>> the first of storms darting tomorrow and lasting through wednesday. liz: pg&e says prepare for the potential power outages. >> we want customers to know we are doing everything we can to get the power back on. we know that it is important. liz: back here live, you can see how strong the current here is at the santa rosa creek. house for the power outages, pg&e says about 10,000 people in the north bay right now without power. the largest people without electricity is in the large area of marin county, and with another round of thunder sums on the way, pg&e is are mining folks to charge up your cell phones while you can and get those flashlights ready. . live here in santa rosa, liz kreutz, abc 7 news. dan: good advice. thank you. liz mentioned power outages are a problem in the north bay. here is a live look at pg&e's outage map to see how the rest of the bay area is faring. this is in real-time. more than 13,000 customers still

don't have electricity, and the majority are in the north bay, where neay 10,000 customers without power right now. in the south bay, more than 3000 are in the dark. remember, you can keep track of the current conditions and access the same our weather -- the same live doppler 7 our weather team uses. it is available on the abc 7 bay area app, download it wherever you stream. kristen: five people have been killed in shootings. three of those deadly shootings in east oakland happened in a span of less than three hours friday evening. . investigators not believe the shootings are connected. this outbreak of violence happened despite extra officers on the street. >> through the we, we have increased our patrol measures come our violent crime operations team came in to get some extra coverage. we continue to use our strategies. kristen: oakland's homicide

total is now at 17 for the year. police say five other people were also wounded in several shootings as we get. arrests were made and some of these crimes, but they are asking you to come forward if you have information that will help investigators. while all of that was happening on the other of town in oakland friday night -- doughnuts in the middle of west grand avenue near the bay bridge toll plaza. some people even hopped on the back of the truck during the stones. public safety is something we are always monitoring with our abc 7 neighborhood safety tracker. it is a tool you can explore yourself to see how these crimes break down in neighborhoods over time and compared to other cities. it is all part of our abc 7

neighborhood safety tracker. dan: the effort to find dj intensifies. this rain and snow is good news for our drought, but you should not expect your water bill to reflect it for a while. dan: what made the music die in oakland? for just $15 a month? it's because we sublet our ads. ♪ this is now a jack in the box commercial and this is the new mint mobile shake. that's right, we even sublet their name. really, everything's for sale. want more from your vitamins? get more with nature's bounty. from the first-ever triple action sleep supplement. to daily digestive support. to more wellness solutions every day. get more with nature's bounty.

get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. ♪ ♪ get exclusive offers on sebefore the xfinityels. 10g network we didn't have internet that let us play all at once. every device? in every room? why are you up here? with speeds like this, i can't even dream of what he'll be able to do. get xfinity internet for just $25 a month with no annual contract during our limited time launch celebration. you have no idea how good you've got it. huh? what a time to be alive. introducing the next- generation 10g network. only from xfinity. you go by lots of titles. veteran, son, dad. -it's time to get up. -no hair stylist and cheerleader. so adding a “student” title might feel overwhelming.

but what if a school could be there for all of you? career, family, finances and mental healt it's coming along. well, it can. national university. supporting the whole you. dan: you might not believe this,

but that is interstate 80 at kingvale in the sierra. it is an absolute wide-out or the freeway is closed between applegate all the way to the nevada state line. that is about 80 open, but chaie required on all vehicles except four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires. kristen: you may need to reconsider travel plans if you are heading to yosemite this week. the park will be closed until at least wednesday because of wintry conditions they are. look at that. plenty of snow there as well. the recent storms have transformed the area around half dome into a winter wonderland, i think. dan: it literally is. it is absolutely stunning. as pretty as it is, it can be a little inconvenient because of power outages and every thing else. but the good news is can it certainly helps the drought. kristen: it certainly does. spencer, things got interesting today, too. spencer: that is one way to put it. with the lightning strikes and

hail, no longer higher elevation snow, it is now low elevation snow could look at live doppler 7. you can see we have still got some stormy weather. some of these pockets of downpours are fairly widespread, but where it is falling heavily, it is truly falling heavily. over our east bay, hayward have got some steady rainfall and heavy downpours obviously slowing down the traffic that has built up now, going to the afternoon or evening commute. moving on to sho bay, there is some is gusty out there. gusts to nearly 30 month an hour in san francisco, oakland, 33 miles an hour, so along with the cold and the snow and the hail, we got gusty winds. partly sunny skies, san

francisco, 49 degrees, mid to upper 40's in oakland, palo alto. 50 at half moon bay. blue sky over the golden gate for now, but trust me, pockets of precipitation are moving this direction. other areas mid to upper 40's with santa rosa, concord, and livermore. a live look toward the golden gate, emeryville, these are the forecast had last we continue to see periods of showers, downpours, the next storm arrives in the morning commute, early in the morning around 5:00 a.m. or so. snow levels will be down to about 2500 feet or lower. we are still close to a level 2 ranking for our current storm on the exclusive abc 7 storm impact scale, but it is weakening, more likely a level 1 into the evening hours, more periods of showers with downpours, gusty winds, low elevation snow, and icy thunder and hail.

see snow expanding into the north bay hills, another area of fairly steady rain, it looks like a little bit of a break from this storm developing, or it is winding down for 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, that next storm sweeps in, bringing a widespread area of steady rain a downpours pit overnight lows in the mid to upper 30's, inland, 41 degrees around the bay shoreline. highs tomorrow generally in the low to mid 50's under windy conditions. and over in the sierra, storm warning affected to 4:00 a.m. wednesday, several additional feet of snow likely to humility. here is the accuweather 7-day forecast, a level 1 storm tomorrow, brings range the snow and hills. -- rain to the hills. sunny and milder thursday and friday come and next weekend, rain. right on cue, rain returns. [laughter] kristen: thanks.

one person had to be pulled to safety after driving into standing water this afternoon in the east bay. our cruise caught a bmw sitting in a couple feet of water just off interstate 680 eight a tow truck driver pulled the car out, but water pulled from the van. no word of any injuries. dan: a heavy downpour put downspouts to the test this afternoon in sunnyvale. check out all the water there. we also spotted strong winds pushing the rain across the street. a lot of puddling and local roads, of course good now to oakland, where cars made their way slowly down skyline. the drains could not keep up with all of the rainwater. all of this rain has had positive effects on some of the state's main reservoirs, even though officials say reservoir levels have seen major improvements, we are not out of the drought yet, unfortunately. abc 7 news reporter zach fuentes

has more on why the improvements do not mean it is time to stop conserving water. zach: it was a rainy monday at lexington reservoir can the rain adding to the reservoirs, not just here but others throughout the state. >> california statewide is at 131 percent of average precipitation. what that means is a lot of our reservoirs have had the opportunity to improve significantly, compared to last year or the year before. most of our reservoirs are fairly close to full. zach: the january atmospheric rivers that helped boost at reservoir levels allowed to department of resources to allocate more in santa clara county could this month, they got 35% more, compared to 5% last year. >> we were thankful to for that water we got in our local reservoirs and state reservoirs as well, but we were really hoping that that rain would continue all the way through spring. zach: until we know how things pan out, not just this spring but in the years to come, we

cannot safely say we are anywhere close to being out of the drought. >> one wet year will not come anywhere near to filling all of our what water stora it is similar for the colorado river system, which is very important for southern california. lake mead and lake powell, those reservoirs are so large that one what weather will not fill them up. it takes multiple wet years to regain what we have lost in the past decade or two decades. zach: for now, water agencies say the conservation efforts have to stay in place, including the drought surcharges that many retailers have imposed. >> drought surcharges have been put in place by some of our retailers to get people to reduce their water use, because there was a lot less water, so we needed people to do that. that is something the retailers can take into consideration, once our board makes it is as on what we are doing moving forward as far as a ground emergency. zach: for now, keep up the conservation work. >> doing conservation efforts now, just make that a way of life. zach: in the south bay, zach fuentes, abc 7 news.

kristen: they plan to build student housing in berkeley has been put on hold by a court. the park is berkeley's campus. it has become a spot were on house people have lived. friday, an appeals court ruled construction cannot be moving forward until an environmental impact report has been addressed. they failed to consider loud, noisy student parties, something neighbors call a long-standing problem. attorney thomas help in the lawsuit that led to the project been put on hold. >> if you are going to do something as a government, which you see is, that causes significant environment to impact, you need to look at alternatives to that proposal that would reduce those impacts, and uc simply did not do that. they refused to do that, even though my clients asked them to do that. kristen: governor newsom today denounced this delay.

last summer, protesters took on police in an attempt to cu construction at the park. -- to stop construction at the park. in a statement to abc 7 news, uc berkeley says it will appeal the decision to the california supreme court. dan: coming up next, more time to do your taxes. the irs giving majority of californians more time to file this year. kristen: looking at the true origins of covid. a new report of the possible source of the pandemic. >> a crypto scam crack tractor

my wife's name is joy. we've been married 45 years. i'm taking a two-year business course. i've been studying a lot. i've been producing and directing for over 50 years. it's a very detailed thing and the pressure's all on me. i noticed i really wasn't quite as sharp as i was. my boss told me about prevagen and i started taking it. i feel sharper. my memory's a lot better. it just works. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

dan: you just got a little more time here the irs just east end of the tax deadline for a majority of californians, including people in every bay area county, due to weather-related disasters. this is the second time the deadline has been extended, as people try to recover. the new deadline is october 16. california has also extended the deadline for state returns to make 15. kristen: president biden's effort to extend student loan debt for millions of americans goes before the supreme court tomorrow. the program was announced last year, giving up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness. has been on hold as legal out, after a lawsuit by two borrowers in republican i led states argue the plan is an illegal abuse of power. the biden administration

they have the power after national emergency like the covid pandemic. it is unclear how the justices will rule. dan: 7 on your side's michael finney is here. michael: california has a new scam tracker for crypto investors. the california department of protection and innovations as these scams in this tracker are based on consumer complaints. the tracker is searchable by company name, scam type, and keywords. i will post a link on our website, so you can check them out. toilet paper is not being spared by inflation. research firm nielsen in iq the cost of tp has gone up 7%. nielsen iq is following the trends for most consumer goods, the consumer price index shows a market basket of u.s. consumer goods and services rose a record

-- i should say almost 9%. the 12 months ending last june, and prices continue to rise. if you are a dish satellite subscriber or have a prepaid wireless plan with boost mobile, you may be experiencing some trouble today. dish owns boost and is the victim of a cyberattack that has brought down dish's main website, apps, and customer support systems. for days, this has been going on, with satellite customers reporting a multi-day outage. get this, people can't even pay their bill. dan: no kidding. kristen: thank you, michael. michael: sure. dan: bringing the blues back to oakland. the effort to restore negative music history, sacrificed in the name of progress. kristen: radio listeners are showing support for a missing dj, last seen in san

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you can beat it! ♪ visit youcanbeatit.org or call 833-422-4255

to ask for medication to treat covid-19. man: i'm not slowing down anytime soon. that's why i take osteo bi-flex every day. it's clinically shown to improve joint comfort in 7 days,

and continues to improve over time. kinda like us. osteo bi-flex. because i'm made to move. >> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: the whereabouts of popular radio host jeffrey vandergrift are still unknown. dan: he is commonly referred to as jv. he has been missing since thursday night after posting a message on social media. kristen: abc 7 news reporter leanne melinda's has more. leanne: it was a somber show as his on-air coworkers weighed and following jeffrey vandergrift's disappearance. >> it is so incredibly difficult, difficult for all of us, obviously. laynne:

risk, after saying "thank you for a wonderful life." since then, there has been no communication from him. >> same thing for credit cards, banking statements, there has been nothing. lyanne: police spoke briefly about the case this afternoon. >> our investigation involves trying to see any for the usage of electronics, his electronic funds, and we are not disclosing any of the information that we may or may not have found. lyanne: vandergrift about being openly diagnosed with a severe case of lyme disease, which often gave him brain fog. >> brain fog is his inability to , you know, for member things. you just don't feel quite right. lyanne: the bay area lyme foundation says they feel grateful to jv for speaking out about the disease. >> and made it easier to bring

about it to his audience, and it is real. lyanne: his fans tuned in this morning, hoping to get more formation about his whereabouts. . >> on keeping hope alive>>. >> jv, if you are out there listening, we love you, buddy. lyanne: police say he was lusting near his apartment on king street. in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. kristen: if you're struggling and looking for an ally, you can get started by going to abc7news.com/takeaction. we have a list of resources and information on mental health and other topics that include dan: the man accused of explosion in the sunset district pleaded not guilty could darron price pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and other charges. physical searches of price and his property and monitoring of his electronic devices.

authorities claim a hash oil per lab price was allegedly running out of his home because of the explosion, killing his wife and severely burning her caregiver. kristen: in effort for santa clara county residents to expose -- to dispose of unwanted firearms. it calls for improved messaging and incentives to the program that allows people returning guns 24/7 at the. county sheriff's office. >> the numbers are clear, and just in santa clara county, gun violence is more than one and $1 billion, annual cost, and these often leave many of our neighbors paralyzed and disabled. kristen: gun buyback programs often are $100 cash with questions asked. when a 26 assault style rifles and seven ghost guns were turned

in at events last year in morgan hill. dan: in the meantime, calls f in the berliner hearing of last november's mass shooting at eight lgbtqia+ nightclub colorado springs. a handgun use to kill five people at club q appeared to be a ghost gun. those do not have serial numbers and do not require a background check. today on our 7:00 a.m. streaming newscast, club q's owner matthew haines told our colleague, reggie aki, that more needs to be done to address these. >> surrendering a weapon is not an easy thing, and what he did with these ghost guns as he pulled off all of these parts, all mail order parts, basically assembled a gun. you need special equip it to do that here you need special

calibration as well could we have huge holes in all of our gun laws that, number one, allow you to build guns, that allows you to get by any of the gun laws that are currently on the books in colorado. so clearly, and there have been so many of these cases, we see that there is somebody that has exhibited mental issues or somebody that has exhibited threats in the past, and we still just don't have strong enough laws to keep the guns out of the hands of the wrong people. dan: last week, a judge ruled there is enough evidence to hold the suspect without bond and bound him for trial. he is expected to be in court in may to enter pleas to more than 300 charges, including murder and bias-motivated crimes. kristen: taking oakland back to its blues music roots. ♪ >> ♪ baby, let's

kristen: 10network we didn't have internet that let us play all at once. every device? in every room? why are you up here? with speeds like this, i can't even dream of what he'll be able to do. get xfinity internet for just $25 a month with no annual contract during our limited time launch celebration. you have no idea how good you've got it. huh? what a time to be alive. introducing the next- generation 10g network. only from xfinity.

♪ entresto is the #1 heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists. it was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. paper being crumpled or high blood potassium. more paper being crumpled music: “i wish” by skee-lo boom!

sound of paper balls landing in bins office workers cheering music stops why do we shoot baskets with paper balls? for the same reason we play scratchers from the california lottery. because a little play can make your day. logo scratches on dan: as we wrap up black history month, we are continuing to look at the people trying to preserve black history across our region, today, we take you to west oakland, where there is a push to remember the area's ridge blues history. kristen: abc 7 news anchor

julian glover takes a look. >> mississippi, chicago and they forget about the west coast, our contribution to this whole culture of music around the area. it is very important. julian: the executive director director of the west coast blues society, it is his mission to honor the rich history made on west oakland 7th street in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's, a culture still rich with businesses, like the supper club, that earned oakland the nickname of harlem of the west west. the picture of 7th that earned s title of harlem west. >> 7th street, you did not have to go what we called downtown. it had clothing stores, all the clubs, the nightlife. julian: the nightlife on 7th street was so illustrious, it regularly drew some of the biggest names in blues, jazz,

and r&b -- >> aretha franklin sneak down and open up for bb king. she was a favorite there. julian: despite the fledgling businesses on 7th street and its cultural significance, the music would eventually be silenced by a number of local and federal policies under the umbrella of urban renewal and neighborhood redevelopment. these policies that were billed as "help" and folks that live in these areas like west oakland actually displays for them in other ways, too. dr. brandy summers is an oakland native and professor of geography. dr. summers: oakland was being blinded. >> many areas are malignant, threatening the vitality of the entire community.

dr. summers: what that means is the government can come in and take over and take away. the assumption is you just have to find another ways to go. julian: dr. summers points to a trifecta of public infrastructure projects that changed west oakland forever, starting in the mid-1950's with the construction of cyprus freeway, that forced hundreds of families to move and dozens of businesses to shutter. dr. summers: especially with the cypress, which is now mandela parkway, you saw this division between the eastern part of west oakland and the northwest part of west oakland, and it created this divide along 7th street as well. so you have broken up the true fabric of the neighborhood. julian: by the late 1950's, the movement of oakland's post office force businesses on the south side of the street to move, like the breakfast club, which would eventually reopen across the street as esther's orbit room. the project claimed 12 city blocks and forced more homeowners to sell their homes below market rate.

the magnitude of the mass displacement captured by this unforgettable photo of a surplus world war ii tank used to bulldoze homes. dr. summers: something likely 7th street post office commit is huge, right? but the idea is it is an industrial corridor. julian: case in point. dr. summers: exactly the belief is that there is greater good for the city and the region then there was for the neighborhood. julian: by the 60's, -- the 19 60's, the bay area rapid transit system, b.a.r.t., broke ground in oakland, dealing a final blow to businesses on that block. >> that was a deathknell. b.a.r.t. would go through everything. every 45 minutes, a b.a.r.t.

going through, so they went out of business. kristen: look for julian's story and how oakland will honor the rich history of blues this summer, had to our website, abc7news.com, or download our 24/7 bank streaming app and click on this story. dan: over the weekend, hundreds of people came out to celebrate black history month and the black experience of history and culture. kristen: you may have watched the black joy parade live on our website or on the abc 7 bay area streaming app. >> can you hear it? [crowd noises] >> having the best time out here. kristen: abc 7 news anchors kumasi aaron, jobina fortson, and julian glover the festival in oakland. the rain could not dampen the joy for all ages. >> the fact that we'll get to come together as one and celebrate how amazing it is, so i am happy to be here. dan: a great day, and in case

you missed it, you can watch the black joy parade in its entirety on our website, abc7news.com, or on the abc 7 bay area app as well. kristen: getting creative on were raising awareness on going green. the one-of-a-kind effort for students to help it become a tradition. dan: that is coming up, and also, what is truly to b ♪ "pop muzik" by m ♪ corn chicken... ♪ ...corn chicken... ♪ ...corn chicken... so... get out. right. okay. mhm. my $6.99 popcorn chicken is back. only at jack in the box. wait. you're a night manager and mom and birthday cake baker? so adding “and” student might feel daunting.

national university is here to support all your “ands.” national university. supporting the whole you. (box thuds) (water boils) (packet tears) (tea bag clanks) (water pours) - listening to people that drink bigelow tea is so important to my family, because making that perfect cup, it's the reason we do what we do hi, guys! - hi! - hey! - so what are you guys drinking? - constant comment. - when i'm drinking bigelow tea, it's just a moment for me. it's just me time. - that's what a cup of tea is. - it is. - a moment for you, someone you love. - aw! (customer sighs) - it tastes really great. - yes! it was always bigelow tea - wow! that's what my family hopes for. cheers. - cheers. (bright upbeat music) in order for small businesses to thrive, cheers. they need to be smart... efficient... agile... and that's never been more important than it is right now. so for a limited time, comcast business is introducing small business savings. call now to get powerful internet for just $39 a month, with no contract, and a money back guarantee. all on the largest, fastest, reliable network.

from the company that powers more businesses than anyone else. call and start saving today. comcast business. powering possibilities. ♪ "pop muzik" by m ♪ ♪ ♪ my $6.99 popcorn chicken is back. only at jack in the box. dan: a new government report is

out about the origins of covid-19. u.s. energy department now believes the pandemic most likely started from a laboratory leak in wuhan, china. that is according to a classified intelligence report provided to the white house and some members of officials who read the report tell the "wall street journal," the energy department made its judgment with low confidence, but it is a change by the department which was previously undecided on how the virus started. >> whether it came from a level came from an animal is that the chinese were very slow in alerting the world to it. it only came out from bits and pieces, from scientists and doctors within china, and by then, it was too late. dan: the energy department now joins the fbi in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a chinese lab, however, several other agencies still say it was likely the result of a national transmission. kristen: abortion rights advocates are bracing for

decision anytime now from a trump appointed federal judge in texas. the ruling could force off the market and abortion pill used by millions of american women. you cfs professor and public health scientist dr. chopard yet -- dr. bush mo pavia -- usha upagaya joined us. it is part of a to drug regimen, right? >> that is right. they are about 97% effective together in ending a pregnancy, and the medication, the inmbcon ioat over 99% success r. so the one at particular case, the plaintiff argues that it was approved two decades ago with a flawed fda process. can you tell us what you know about that? dr. upadhyay: sure.

let me be clear, this case is not based in any medical evidence. it is not based in any science, and it is -- it will -- it does not aim to protect women's health. mifepristone has been researched for 20 years, and it is extremely safe. it has -- there's over 100 publications documenting its safety and its effectiveness. kristen: all right, so if it is taken off the market through this ruling, how long before it could get back on the market? i assume the argument is, the approval process, it would have to go through the process again? dr. upadhyay: yes. i think there are several ways it could play out. i think that it will disrupt access to this essential medication. i think it will harm patients who need to have an abortion, many, over 50% of all abortions are done through the abortion pill, and it will significantly disrupt access to this medication.

kristen: she says it is too soon to say how the judge closing decision might play out here in california about 12 eighths have filed a separate lawsuit claiming the fda is too restrictive when it comes to the abortion pill. dan: shipments of toxic rates for from a trail to rio mint and east palestine, ohio have resumed after being pause for an investigation. a total of 38 cars derailed in the february 3 incident, including 11 caring hazardous materials. solid and liquid waste from the site is now being shipped to specialized localities. the epa determined the air quality in east palestine's normal pit of the ohio epa is also installing water monitoring wells at the crash site to determine whether the groundwater is contaminated. kristen: who needs a car when you can drive your tractor to school? [laughs] [loud engine noise]

a group of high school students in orange county, virginia are ditching their cars for john deeres, as part of writing your tractor to school day. student organizers say they hope to keep the tradition going -- >> we thought it would be a good idea to drive our tractors to school just for fun. without it would be a good idea to get everybody we could and really make a name for ourselves. >> it is part of who they are, right? they are getting people to show, like maybe back in elm, they did show and tell days, right? they are showing their peers what they do outside of school. kristen: there school principal says he rode being his own tractor to show his support. future farmers of america is an organization for students featuring agriculture and leadership. dan: that is outstanding. let's update the forecast for you. kristen: abc 7enr christian is h more. spencer: we have had some pretty wild and wacky weather. here is a look at live doppler 7 .

you can see rainfall scattered across the area. lots of snow, especially in the mid to higher elevations, the north bay, half-moon, down to clearlake, knoxville, down to the northern part of napa county, mount st. helena, we have snow in the mid to high elevations, an area of rain that is fairly steady right now, some downpours on the peninsula, over toward mountain view, sunnyvale, and over in the east bay come along 580, we have got some downpours. it is windy out there, 25 to nearly 35 miles an hour across the bay area. most of the day, this has been a level 2 less intense, it is going to be a level one storm. we are talking pocket the showers, brief downpours, windy conditions at times, low elevations, and an isolated thunder and hail.

starting at 5:00 p.m., notice not a lot of activity between 5:00 and 8:00. later tonight, we get more widespread snow developing in the high elevations with pockets of rain moving on shore just before midnight. 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, as the morning commute is really getting underway, that is when our next wave of stormy weather, pretty energetic storm, moves in. we have a winter storm affecting the sierra until 4:00 a.m. wednesday. lowe's tonight, mid to upper 30's in, about 40 and the shoreline. l -- 30's inland come about 40 in the shoreline. dan: it is amazing. a student doing something his school has never seen before. kristen: we will introduce you to the k

presidents' day in a volvo mild-hybrid vehicle.

kristen: coming up tonight on abc 7, "jeopardy," "will approach in," "the bachelor "wheel of fortune," then "the bachelor at 8:00. a kindergartner took home the top prize in his elementary school's spelling bee, competing with kids twice his age. reporter courtney carpenter from our sister station in houston caught up with him about his success. courtney: zachary is a bright

young student, no doubt about it, but he also has a great sense of humor pit you will likely last when you hear what is word is. this is zachary, a six spelling bee champion, the youngest ever at river oaks elementary school. zachary: i was very was ready for the next one. courtney: no one expected a kindergartner to win, nor did they expect zachary to and up the runner-up of the districtwide competition, but that is exact what happened. zachary: my favorite part was when i won. the district courtney: his teacher and classmates cheering him on the hallway. >> it was a very proud moment, you. he is just a great kid, and it was so fun. the whole class really enjoyed supporting him. courtney: he has more to cheer

for. zachary is heading to the spelling bee next month could his key to success? zachary: my mom and the dictionary taught me, webster, and then sounds on the computer. courtney: then he spells it and write the down to his parents say he started reading when he was about three and half years old you he's got a big vocabulary, but his favorite word -- zachary: cowlick. courtney: why is that your favorite word? zachary: because it sounds funny. courtney: he is kind, inquisitive, and making his parents very proud. >> for may, the most important thing is that he has fun up there, and along the way, he learned a lot of things, like how to stay calm under pressure, asking the right questions to get to the solution, i think that is really an important express for him to apply later on in his life. courtney: in carpenter, abc news. kristen: that is incredible.

that is it for abc 7 news at 4:00. abc 7 news at 5:00 is next. before the xfinity 10g network we didn't have internet that let us play all at once. every device? in every room?

why are you up here? with speeds like this, i can't even dream of what he'll be able to do. get xfinity internet for just $25 a month with no annual contract during our limited time launch celebration. you have no idea how good you've got it. huh? what a time to be alive. introducing the next- generation 10g network. only from xfinity.

>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> bay again today as some of our higher elevations have scattered rain and help falling across most of the area. more wet weather is in the forecast and we are tracking it tonight. >> thank you for joining us. the sun began peeking out late this afternoon for some areas, but that does not mean we are done with the rain just yet. >> we have team coverage with dustin and leslie sneaking out the snow -- seeking out the snow. >> but we service and yeah. >> we have the widespread active weather across the bay area today. now it has turned very scattered in