keeping our eyes on the skies and out on the ocean because high tide is coming. we'll show you when to expect it. and as my friends are hinting, the volume of traffic not so much as the volume of water. we're watching all these alerts popping up on my sensors. also a look what flooding is causing in other parts of the country. find out where this is happening. plus president obama will end don't ask, don't tell in a few minutes. we will bring you the signing live. it is 6:00. you are looking at a rainy bay area. it's wednesday, december 22nd, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm marla tellez. brent and laura are off today. christie smith and kris sanchez are live out in the elements this morning. we start with meteorologist rob mayeda to find out how long the rain is going to last.

rob. >> well, this morning we've been watching that rain slowly heading out of the bay area. i'll show you the temperatures first hour by hour. most of the bay area heading right to the warmest part of the day, 2:00. we'll see mid to upper 50s today, but we'll see sun breaking through the clouds. one of the changes we're already seeing this morning is some of heavy rain has moved on but over san francisco and heading to the east bay, bay bridge, golden gate bridges getting hit by pretty good rain. we'll talk more about this system that is slow to leave the bay area and our next storm coming in for the weekend in just a few minutes. back to you. several homeowners across the east bay are cleaning up after getting soaked. >> today in the east bay's christie smith is live in oakland this morning where a tree fell into a house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. we've been talking about more rain coming our way. fortunately it hasn't hit us just yet. i wanted to give you a different angle on this tree we've been talking about this morning. this is a 75-foot pine tree that toppled over and landed right on the roof of this home, damaged the one next to it.

there were about five people home inside at the time in the living room. two of them sitting on the couch, had an extremely close call because the branches were basically right next to them. i wanted to show you this too. you can see that it really did hit the roof. this is the spark arrester from near the chimney. now, the homeowner says that, you know, for her it was really scary because it sounded like an earthquake or a plane. >> it was very, very frightening. i just kind of held my head and was like "please make it stop" you know, like what is this? >> reporter: now, inside the damage is done. again, it's not just her house but the one next to it. you can see the cleanup still going on. she said she had plans to go away for the holidays but probably not going to happen now because she's got to wait for the repairs to happen to her house. also wanted to mention that if you do live in oakland, the

public works department just put out a notice that 14 fire stations are giving out sandbags to homeowners who need it. now i'm going to turn it over to kris sanchez who istandiis stang in pacifica. >> reporter: we're getting a little break in the weather and it is very welcome because no one likes being soggy and the folks here have been soggy quite a few days now. we're watching for a couple of things. the rain, of course, is one of them. some bacterial contamination on area beaches and also high tide. let's start there. we're expecting high tide between 10:00 and 11:00 this morning. nothing is too remarkable. a little more than six feet, maybe some 10-foot waves. however, that coupled with the rain that we're getting, and we have gotten in the last couple of days could be a problem. clearly rain and high tide makes the folks at the pacifica cliff apartments a little nervous. they have been evacuated in the past because of the waters that pound away at the foundation under their building. no evacuations yet this morning, but clearly some nervousness

over there. if you are one of those folks who likes to watch the spectacle of the sea during a storm, well then make sure you watch from a safe distance because there has been some bacterial contamination. the department of health shut down four beaches here in san mateo county because the water that comes when we get lots of rain overwhelms the sewage system. some of that sewage finds its way onto bay area beaches as well as the roadways and sidewalks. if you come into contact with e. coli, you could get a belly ache and perhaps even a rash. we've seen that in the past. again, we're getting a bit of a break in the weather and we are very excited about that, but we'll keep our eyes open for you an let you know what happens when the rain picks up again. in pacifica, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." let's check in with mike. mike, of all the no commute to speak of probably, of all the times to get a storm. >> exactly. i guess it's a good time, i guess, i guess for the folks who are here at the bay bridge toll plaza. the big issue, the volume of traffic picking up a bit but the

volume of rain has been consistent to a little heavier the last hour or so and that's why we see a lot of water spraying up behind the cars. allow space for stopping distance as well as letting that water kick up and not landing that muddy water on your win shield. no metering lights yet. this bridge moving a little slower but the high wind advisory cleared from the bay bridge. we have the giolden gate bridge also with rainy conditions but no major delays from san rafael down into the city. the san mateo bridge also will have slick roadways in spots, especially getting off of that freeway. highway 192 clear as far as incidents go as well as the dumbarton bridge. not really getting hit by rain. we do have slowing antioch westbound highway 4 started around 4:30. it's below 20 miles per hour at the 6:00 hour. livermore showing a little more traffic than yesterday so we do have some commuters out there. maybe that midweek token check-in but it's holiday light for the most part. back to you. new video into our newsroom at 6:05 this morning.

you're going to have to see this. a home collapsed into a river in arizona. you can see it all unfold on video. it's on its way, i can tell you that. the home slides into the river in littlefield and floats down the river near the beaver dam. here we go. at least three other homes were destroyed. fortunately no one was hurt. widespread flooding has hit the area hard. forecasts are calling for more rain over the next few days. let's go to southern california. people evacuated in san diego. floodwaters started creeping in yesterday. rescuers carried infants through high water. more than a foot of rain has already fallen across parts of southern california since friday. a little closer to the bay area, people in bakersfield trying to drain water. they used pumps and more than 15 industrial trucks to try to clean up some of the floodwater.

the city is scrambling to expand drainage pipes for this storm. a whole town is evacuated in utah. there are concerns a dam may not hold up. soil eroding away from the outside of the dam near rockville, utah. we will, of course, have a lot more on the storm coming up. rob will have his updated forecast throughout the hour and more live reports from around the bay area and southern california coming up a little later. you can sign up for severe weather and breaking news. e-mail alerts as well at nbcbayarea.com to stay on top of this. one pit bull found, the other still running around. san jose animal control officers will continue their search this morning. two pit bulls attacked a woman in her driveway on monday night as she was trying to get something out of her car. the dogs bit her in the arm and hip. a neighbor across the street heard her screams and threw rocks and bricks at the pit bulls. the dogs just ran away.

animal control officers caught one of the pit bulls last night in a neighborhood about a mile away from monday night' mauling. >> the descriptions appeared to be consistent with what the witnesses said, so we do believe that this is one of the dogs. >> animal control says it will quarantine the pit bull while it searches for the second dog and their owner. this morning a south bay police officer is in danger of losing his badge for good over a secretly taped beating. now, this is a cell phone video of the alleged beating of a san jose state college student recorded by a roommate. this was some time ago, you may have seen this before. the san jose city manager is moving to fire the officer for what she says is unnecessary force. the police department recommends the officer be suspended without pay. now, the grainy video appears to show the officer striking the student more than 12 times with a baton. tonight san francisco police will hold a vigil to remember one of their own gunned down in

the line of duty. today marks four years since officer brian tavara was shot and killed by a suspect wanted on a felony warrant. he was just 28 years old. tonight's vigil will be held at the police station at 8:00. today bay area lawmakers will call for the power to shut down the party on party buses that are so popular with people in their teens and 20s. assemblyman jerry hill will introduce a law to hold bus companies accountable for keeping booze out of the hands of anyone younger than 21 on the bus. the bill comes after the death of a burlingame teenager who drank on a party bus, then got behind the wheel of his car and crashed. his mother will be there today when the bill is introduced. right now party buses don't fall under california's public utility commission alcohol laws for transportation companies. good morning, it's 6:09. we want to get a check on the wet weather out there. going over to rob. >> good morning, rob.

>> good morning. actually we're seeing some improvement over the last hour. you can see most of the moisture is actually getting out of the bay area. we'll take you into san francisco, one of the spots still seeing rain, but notice that line of showers. pretty intense a half hour ago but it's fizzling now. it spills into oakland in the form of lighter rain. the roadways still wet mainly from the rain that fell overnight. you'll notice here on the futurecast, notice the trend. things are drying out this afternoon. we should see sun and clearing today. the next couple of days we should catch a little bit of a break from the rain. mid to upper 50s for most of the bay area. as we show you the north bay, high the in the mid-50s for petaluma. now let's take a look at that seven-day forecast. things are improving, the sun is coming back out. thursday and friday looks pretty didn't as well. you know what, this corresponds to the arrival of the newest member of our nbc bay area weather team, so christina lauren joins us now. again, we've had some improving

conditions. it looks like we're going to take a look at -- well, first the seven-day one more time and now let's bring in -- okay. >> live television. >> now you know it's live tv. how about that. >> third time's a charm. >> a homecoming for christina. you have family here in the bay area as well and you forecasted all up and down the state, so california is home for you, isn't it? >> it is home. since i've put in so much time here, i'm pretty accurate. well, i like to consider myself accurate. and i think that's the most important role of the human in the forecasting process is getting it right. so great to be on such a great team. >> it will keep you awake, for sure. i'm moving over to weekends. i'm staying within the family but good to have you aboard. we've been watching the radar all morning and probably watching patchy fog the next couple of days as well. >> yes, but don't worry, especially the ladies. he will still be on on the weekends so you can still catch

him. they probably want to give us the hook because we're standing in front of the seven-day. >> let's send it back to you. >> of all the days to have two meteorologists on staff, this is the day to do it. >> welcome, christina. another california girl. i love it. the time is 6:12. an embarrassing mistake has one celebrity sporting an eye patch. find out what he did coming up. plus bob redell is headed to the north pole. he made a stop in alaska. we'll find out what he found coming up. and president obama is set to sign a bill that will make military history. you're going to see it live. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike inouye. ♪

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welcome back. at 6:14, now we're taking you live to the white house where president obama is about to make history by signing the don't ask, don't tell repeal act any time now. it's supposed to happen at six:15. >> it's not every day that you see history being made. let's tune in for just a second here. i am just overwhelmed. this is a very good day. i want to thank all of you. especially the people on this stage. but each and every one of you who have been working so hard on this, members of my staff who worked so hard on this. 66 years ago in the dense snow-covered forest of western

europe, allied forces were beating back a massive assault in what would become known as the battle of the bulge. and in the final days of fighting, a regiment in the 80th division of patton's third army came under fire. the men were traveling along a narrow trail. they were exposed and they were vulnerable. hundreds of soldiers were cut down by the enemy. and during the firefight, a private named lloyd corwin tumbled 40 feet down the deep side of a ravine. dazed and trapped, he was as good as dead. but one soldier, a friend,

turned back. and with shells landing around him, amid smoke and chaos and the screams of wounded men, this soldier, this friend, scaled down the icy slope, risking his own life to bring private corwin to safer ground. now, for the rest of his years, lloyd credited this soldier, this friend named andy lee with saving his life. knowing he would never have made it out alone. it was a full four decades after the war when the two friends reunited in their golden years that lloyd learned that the man who saved his life, his friend, andy, was gay. he had no idea.

and he didn't much care. lloyd knew what mattered. he knew what had kept him alive, what made it possible for him to come home and start a family and live the rest of his life. it was his friend. and lloyd's son is with us today. and he knew that valor and sacrifice are no more limited by sexual orientation than they are by race or by gender or by religion or by creed. that what made it possible for him to survive the battlefields of europe is the reason that we are here today. that's the reason we are here today. >> that was a poignant story president obama just told us in regards to the don't ask, don't tell act when he is set to sign.

people in japan are bracing for aftershocks after a 7.4 earthquake hit the southern part of that country. so far it appears that nobody was injured, but it's not clear how much property is damaged. people who live near the coast were initially told to evacuate because of tsunami warnings. those warnings have been lifted. so far two aftershocks have hit the island. the first was a magnitude 5.6, second 5.4. meantime on the korean peninsula, south korea going through more military drills on land and sea. naval officers say the three-day drills are routine, but some fear the training exercises could raise already high tensions in the area. the drills are done in eastern waters which unlike the yellow sea are not disputed. so the north has no cause to retaliate. apple is taking a bite out of profits from wikileaks apps. apple unplugged the app that allowed iphone, ipad and itouch

users to download things from wikilea wikileaks. the $1.99 app was removed monday night just three days after it went on sale. he said he sold $1,000 worth before it was sold. apple says it violated developer guidelines. the future of the spider-man musical teetering on the edge this morning. producers cancelled today its matinee performance after this fall injured a stunt man during a performance on monday night. he went to the hospital after falling 30 feet. this is just the latest accident for the $65 million show. it has been plagued by money issues. fourth accident, in fact. the show is supposed to return to its normal schedule tomorrow. zsa zsa gabor's husband will be eyeing an eye patch for two weeks after he mistook nail glue for eye drops. his publicist says the prince accidentally glued his eye shut

yesterday morning. he told the doctor it was dark in the bathroom and he grabbed the nail glue by accident. he calls the accident stupid. >> so top that, mike. >> just a note for folks, don't do that at home. let's look at the south bay where we do have a report and a clarification. first of all, a report of flooding comes into chp. this is southbound 680 at bariessa road. i saw a little slowing and thought it might be related. that slowing cleared up and then i checked with rob and christina and they said almost no rain coming through the area so that shouldn't be an issue. then the chp said they're checking it out. i haven't heard any follow-up. 101 does show a little slowing here but not a major issue. the volume of traffic, we'll get a look at that at sunol and 680 coming down into the south bay. from time to time you see the glowing lights and some water on

the roadway kicking up but not as much as at the bay bridge. still, the water is kicking up behind the cars and the last of the rain traveling through the area for the time being. we don't have any metering lights yet but they'll probably be turned on in five minutes. yesterday they were only turned on for an hour with no major backup. today we'll probably see a little backup but probably short hef liv short-lived as well. >> we're going back live to the white house where president obama is set to sign the don't ask, don't tell repeal act any minute now. >> we will continue to watch this. if he does , hll wwie e wak t i live. in the meantime we'll take a short break.

welcome back. keeping up to date on the rain which is now kind of leaving the bay area. we still have wet roadways this morning but most of the action has moved on. let's go hour by hour. some rain at times for the morning but the main event now in the rear view mirror. in fact we'll see sunshine

today. the showers completely shutting down ratlater on this afternoon with dry weather, patchy fog. the only concern we'll have the next couple of mornings and then the rain does come back in as we approach the upcoming weekend. marla, back to you. >> thank you, rob. we are going to head back live to the white house and listen in to president obama, who is just minutes away from signing the don't ask, don't tell repeal act. let's listen in. >> general james cartwright, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs and deputy secretary william lynn, who is here. also the authors of the pentagon's review, jay johnson and general carter hamm, who did outstanding and meticulous work. and all those who laid the

groundwork for this transition. and finally, i want to express my gratitude to the men and women in this room who have worn the uniform of the united states armed services. [ applause ] i want to thank all the patriots who are here today, all of them who were forced to hang up their uniforms as a result of don't ask, don't tell, but who never stopped fighting for this country and who rallied and who marched and fought for change. i want to thank everyone here who stood with them in that fight. because of these efforts, in the coming days, we will begin the process laid out by this law.

now, the old policy remains in effect until secretary gates, admiral mullen and i certify the military's readiness to implement the repeal. it's especially important for service members to remember that. but i've spoken to every one of the service chiefs, and they are all committed to implementing this change swift lly and efficiently. we are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done. >> you're listening to president obama speaking live from the white house. in just a minute, any minute now he's going to sign the don't ask, don't tell repeal act. the time now is 6:27. oakland puts hold on a plan for people to set up indoor pot farms. find out why. only six of seven defendants will stand trial for a rape in richmond. see what will happen next. plus, more live reports on the storms that are dumping all this rain on the bay area. and a live look outside at the golden gate bridge toll

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>> reporter: i'm kris sanchez in pacifica, where high tide is coming in. we'll tell you what that could mean coupled with the rain we're seeing headed our way. good morning, i'm christie smith. the ground is saturated across the bay area. this is what happened in one east bay neighborhood. coming up, we'll tell you what the city of oakland is doing to help homeowners prepare. plus a live report from southern california where flooding is causing a lot of evacuations. and a live look at president obama. he's live at the white house this morning. he's about to make military history. it is 6:30, wednesday, december 22nd, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay."

good morning. i'm marla tellez. brent and laura have the day off. scott mcgrew is doing a radio update for our friends at knbr and will rejoin me in just a few minutes. the rain is the big story today. live reports from both the east bay and the peninsula are coming up. we begin with meteorologist rob mayeda. good morning, rob. >> good morning, marla. we're watching that lane kind of getting out of the bay area. let's first show you our hour-by-hour forecast. we're going to get some sunny breaks but it's not going to warm up a whole lot. it will transition eventually to drier weather but it's active off to our east. you see all the snow flying in the sierra and still some rain heading away from san jose and into san francisco and marin county. rain still flying at times this morning. we are tracking, by the way, a very strong system as we head towards the weekend. more on that coming up in just a few minutes for your full seven-day forecast. marla. well, this morning wind and rain will mean pounding surf and

a chance of flooding for parts of the bay area. kris sanchez is live in pacifica this morning. how are the waves looking out there this morning, kris? >> reporter: they're getting a little bit bigger as we speak and they are heading closer in our direction. it's not supposed to be too remarkable, about six feet, ten-foot waves or so but that coupled with all of the rain this area has gotten the last couple of days could be trouble. although the folks who could be in trouble are the folks who expect to be in trouble because they live in areas prone to flooding. the high tide could be a bit of a problem. also rain and high tide coupled together could be trouble for pacifica cliff apartments. the folks there have been evacuated before as the waters chip away at the foundation underneath their building. also, folks who are hoping to dip a toe into these cold and stormy waters might want to be careful because the department of health has closed four beaches here in san mateo county

because of e. coli contamination. that's a bacteria that makes its way onto the beaches and onto the sand, sometimes into the roadways because the sewer system gets overwhelmed with the high tide coupled with all of the rain that we've gotten the last couple of days. if you are headed out to the beach, you might want to stay out of the water and watch the spectacle of the rough seas from a distance. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." now let's head to christie smith in the east bay where hopefully you're getting a break in the weather as i am here. >> reporter: yeah, i have my fingers crossed. it's been dry for about the last 20 minute. but in anticipation of all this wet weather, the city of oakland's public works department has been working to try and clear leaves out of storm drains across the city. 14 fire departments are offering sandbags to residents. also at two stations on shepherd canyon and also at edgewater you can get up to 20 sandbags and

these huge sheets of plastic to try to protect your property. we're not sure if that would have helped in this case here in the oakland/san leandro hills where a 75-foot pine tree came crashing down on this home. there's a spark arrester here from the roof. you can see where the chimney was. there were actually five people inside in the living room at the time. two of them have quite a story to tell after this. they were sitting on the couch when the branches came crashing through. fortunately, everyone got out okay, but this is the type of thing that happens when the ground is saturated. lots of rain. this is the kind of thing we're dealing with with this storm system. that's the latest from here. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." just seconds ago we got an update on a bart situation. it could be the weather. tell us the hatest, mike. >> the report just comes in and they give a general sort of equipment problem causing a

delay. but again water and electrical systems could be an issue. we'll send it back to you because of developments with the president, i hear. >> okay. we're going to take that live picture right now of president obama. he is signing don't ask, don't tell, the repeal of it, rather. there it is. >> let's listen in. >> the president, of course, uses several different pens, in fact quite a few of them, because they become artifacts of history, so that's what you're seeing here. it's a new pen for every letter

of his name. we can take away that sign perhaps and see that as well. >> talk about an historical moment. >> there you see it, president obama signing the end of don't ask, don't tell. it allows free throw service of gay soldiers, airmen. it will take a while for the pentagon to get that into place but the government says it not going to drag its feet. mike, we were in the midst of talking about bart delays. >> of course the president getting in the way of my traffic report. historic moment, folks. we're looking over here to the bay bridge. while we look at this wet shot i'll tell you about the bart

delays coming out of the dublin/pleasanton station. just some track side problems but you mentioned the rainy conditions and electrical systems for bart could be an issue. i'll let you know. just minor delays heading westbound in towards the dublin interchange and eventually towards daly city. at the bay bridge toll plaza you can see the water kicking off. a lighter volume overall through the east bay makes travel approaching the area very smooth but the bay bridge toll plaza is an example of what we're talking about for the morning commute. even though the rain is easing off, you'll have water kicking up on your windshield so keep that in mind as you hit the roads. we'll send it over to you with that general safety note for the local traffic, and back to you guys. 6:37 now. one defendant in the brutal richmond gang rape case is walking free and six others are headed to trial. six defendants were ordered to stand trial yesterday in connection with the october, 2009, gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at the school's homecoming

dance. all charges were dismissed against the seventh and youngest defendant. five of the remaining defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. one is facing a maximum of eight years in prison. their arraignment is scheduled for january 10th. growing pains in oakland, plans to sell pricey permits so people can set up large scale indoor marijuana farms has hit a snag. the deadline to apply for the $211,000 permit was today. but the oakland city council stopped the process last night. that is so members can take another look at the laws it wrote. the move comes after the district attorney issued a warning that the plan could put councilmembers who approve it in legal jeopardy. >> she is not saying we would be tossed in jail. historically when there have been prosecutions, it has never been against the city government, it's been against the facility. >> councilmembers are downplaying the warning, but

admit changes are in the works and the process is on hold. hundreds of people are interested in buying those only four growing permits. no word, though, yet on when applications will once again be accepted. your time now is 6:39. a live report from southern california on all the rain they're getting down there coming up. and i'm meteorologist rob mayeda. >> i'm meteorologist christina lauren. >> together we're tracking the come around the bay area and to >>come. >> your complete forecast is on the way "today in the bay." y

speaking of mammoth mountain, ten feet of snow in the last month there. you can see more snow flying around the sierra this morning, but most of the rain is scooting away from the bay area right now heading off to the east of livermore out towards tracy. just a few hit and miss showers here around san francisco. earlier some mist but the story is clearing skies. mid to upper 50s transitioning to dry weather but probably patchy morning fog for tomorrow morning and friday morning. next chance of rain rolls in saturday morning with windy conditions as well. the time now six:42. we'll have more news after the short break. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal.

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welcome back. you're looking at a live picture of san jose. th wet and rainy and icky, but rob says it's going to get a lot better. 6:45 now. a homeless couple in merced is being hailed as heroic by saving the lives of four people pulling them from a sinking car. a volkswagen beetle carrying four adults slid in the rain. it went over the curb, hit the water and began to sink. a homeless couple happened to be nearby. the woman called 911 while the man jumped into the rushing creek and helped police pull all four of the people to safety. >> i was scared and the first thing on my mind was, you know, how many people were in the car. >> he told me to call 911 and i'm over here hysterical because i'm hearing screaming in the back ground, the girls screaming saying oh, my god, help me, help us, help me.

>> police say all four of the people inside the car were sent to the hospital with minor injuries. they were treated and released the same night. this morning much of southern california is under a state of emergency as heavy rain continues to pour down in a lot of areas. >> "today in the bay's" john cadiz klemack is live in la crescenta east of los angeles. john, this area was hit by wildfires just months ago. how likely are mudslides now? >> reporter: well, i tell you what, they are really getting ready. the reason for that is because back in february it got nasty. we saw some major debris flows and mudslides and it caused some homes to be destroyed as a result of it. i want to show you where we're located. la crescenta, on pennsylvania avenue right up foothill boulevard. behind me there's a wall here. above that wall on the other side, that's one of the debris basins that they're keeping an eye on. quite a few of them that they're keeping an eye on. they say they're about 75 to 95% clear, which is good news. obviously as the rain falls, the

big question is how hard is it going to fall, how much is going to fall and how long is it going to be falling, because the more it comes down, the more likely we'll see mud slow flows and debris floes in this area. most people are not heeding the warnings. they had to sign special paperwork saying they were staying home. we're keeping an eye on the sky because we understand there is a strong storm cell that's supposed to hit our area right where i'm standing any minute now. i'm john cadiz klemack, i'll send it back to you guys. >> well, rob, when, where, how? let's talk about it. >> by far the worst end of this weather system aiming right on southern can. where that fire was burning to the northeast of los angeles. you can see the bands of heavier showers in that cell john was talking about approaching, leaving downtown l.a. i also want to point out for your travel plans, if you're

heading across the grapevine, snow levels high enough they're staying above roadway level at gorman. the bay area actually catching a break. we had rain earlier. now you can see the south bay starting to clear out. from here we'll see sunny breaks and probably a few lingering showers for the afternoon. even san francisco now misty skies, but most of the moisture is heading off to the east. as we transition to a drier pattern which will get started later today and the showers completely shut down thursday into friday with patchy morning fog. so clearing skies today. i think around the south bay we'll see a few lingering showers for the afternoon. then tomorrow and friday we'll catch a break, but more rain is going to drop on us for saturday afternoon into sunday, mike. those roadways very slick and still some ponding from the downpours overnight. >> definitely. you're seeing the bay bridge toll plaza. so the water still kicking up after the rain left puddles on spots especially approaching the bay bridge and golden gate bridge. i forgot to tell folks the metering lights are on at the toll plaza. yeah, it's not a big deal, no major backup, but you will wait

once you pay your toll. keeping things moving smoothly here, a light commute as well. this is a vacation week for a lot of folks westbound 80. the east shore freeway 20 minutes down to the maze. caldecott no problems. wet roadways continue there. we do have delays, a bigger delay than at the toll plaza. this is coming out of the dublin/pleasanton line. keep that in mind especially if you have an outdoor station. scott and marla, we do have milder delays of very light traffic through livermore, 580 as well as antioch. back to you. a group of bay area prius owners may file a lawsuit against toyota and dealerships today. the group says it's mad about battery failures. it accused toilet toyota of no honoring a warranty of faulty batteries. if you're in the market for a new car this morning, the insurance institute for highway safety released its new list of

top safety picks. tracie potts is live in washington with a rundown of which cars are considered the safest. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: hi marla, good morning. there are 66 cars on the list this year, more than twice as many as last year. the insurance industry saying cars are getting better and better and that's good news because last year there were over 3,000 fatal accidents in california. people need to drive better cars. so take a look at the manufacturers with the most cars on that list. hyundai, kia, volkswagen, audi, both had nine cars on the list. gm, ford, toyota, eight cars apiece. subaru had five. by the way, each one of subaru's cars in those categories made tops in the list. now, missing are any pickup trucks. they didn't test the large ones. the small ones just didn't seem to cut it, according to the insurance institute. there's only one minivan on the list, the toyota ciena. check out the insurance snult's

website for a full list. there's 66 of these cars. these are the cars that pass their crash tests, front, side, rear impact and rollover tests with a brand new roof crush standard. they say that if the car passed their test, it's twice as strong as the federal standard. live from washington, i'm tracie potts for "today in the bay." >> thanks, tracie. nissan delivered the first lease in japan today. nissan says the electric car can travel 124 miles on a full charge. a san francisco man is actually the first customer to get one. he received his car two weeks ago. the leaf is now available in japan and california as well as arizona, oregon and washington. all this morning we've been talking about the wet weather. east bay homeowners certainly cleaning up. there's one situation where a tree crashed into a home. >> today in the bay's christie smith is live in oakland with a look at that damage. >> reporter: good morning to you. well, this is the type of thing

that happens when we've had a lot of rain and the ground is saturated. the homeowner here says that it sounded like a plane crashing into her house or an earthquake. 75-foot tree tumbled over and landed right in the living room. five people were inside at the time. fortunately no one was hurt but two of them had a very close call. this is the oakland hills and the public works department is putting out a message to homeowners that 14 fire stations have sandbags available. if you need larger amounts, up to 20 of them, you can go to their offices over on edgewater near the airport and shepherd canyon in the oakland hills. they're also giving out those huge 50-foot sheets of plastic to try and protect your property from erosion, so certainly something you should know if the rain keeps up. at this point we're having a nice dry spell that i'm enjoying, but i'll turn it over to kris sanchez who's in pacifica. kris, how's it looking over there? >> reporter: well, the rain just started to pick up. that nasty, annoying mist that

makes you think it you can make it from the house to the car, the car to work without getting wet when in fact you will be wet and a little soggy, probably a lot of us frizzy this morning. we're watching for not only the rain but bacteria on our beaches and also watching for high tide, which is expected between 10:00 and 11:00 this morning. nothing too impressive about 6-foot high tide or 10-foot waves but that coupled with the rain that we have been getting the last couple of days and the rain we're getting this morning, that could mean trouble. some of the folks who live at the pacifica cliff apartments are probably feeling a little nervous this morning. we've been evacuated before as storm waters pounded away at the foundation of their building last winter. no evacuations this morning but there may bow tense nerves there. if you are drawn out to the beautiful spectacle of a stormy pacific, watch from afar. don't go into the water, because four of the beaches here have opinion closed because of bacterial contamination. what happens is when we have an overwhelming amount of rain in a short period of time, it overwhelms the system and some of that sewage makes its way

onto the beaches, onto the sidewalks here and also onto the roadways. so if you swim in that kind of water, probably going to get a belly ache, maybe even a rash. so watch it from afar. it's choppy and cold anyway so just spare yours this morning. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." and the man watching it all, rob. what's going on there? >> right now we're seeing the rain in hit and miss areas around the bay area this morning as we show you what's happening actually over in southern california. notice what's happening there. that is wre the biggest punch of this weather system is being found right now. flooding continues to our south, but the bay area, it's interesting, let's zoom in. you can see san jose. notice things are calming down. we have hit and miss showers across the south bay. some misty skies. north bay things starting to clear on out. as we quickly take a look at the forecast, a little rain at times for the morning but then skies start to clear for the afternoon. what's left of the showers as we transition to a dryer forecast, but don't let your guard down.

we'll see more rain as we head into the weekend. in the meantime, mike, we have seen a lot of wet roads. you have to watch out for mudslides in the coastal hills as well. >> definitely, rob. kris was in pacifica talking about that. here the golden gate bridge, you see that the lens still glows because water is still on the lens and that will be an indication that you've got to make sure your windshield wipers are in good condition as well. smooth drive across the bridge but wet roadways. further north we're looking at one lane blocked by a sig alert but that's as you're heading north. so most of our viewers won't run into that. the bay bridge, we do have an issue. the metering lights are on but not an issue for these folks. the wet roadways are the issue coming out of oakland but the metering lights keeping the upper deck moving smoothly. lower your speeds, especially at the off ramps. keep that in mind. no problems off the east shore freeway. just a 20-minute drive off of the carquinez bridge approaching this area. as we look further south, southbound with the taillights around the bend and things have sorted themselves out nicely. we saw earlier slowing

approaching the express lane but now a smooth drive over the hill, clouds are clearing down into san jose where things are calming down quite a bit. further south, much further south just a note if you're heading to l.a., southern california, keep in mind i-5 still open through the grapevine. rob called it the city of gorman but this may be snow so take the chains or watch those reports carefully and we'll try to keep you apprised as well. back to you guys. brent and laura have christmas off, so we're going to do the honors this morning. do you want to take that? >> yes. we're going to introduce you to meteorologist christina loren. she is joining us from miami. she's a native californian too. >> i'm happy to be home, california. definitely would choose california over florida any day. i'm a california girl, happy to be home, and joining one of the best teams i've ever had a chance to work with. >> so as of what, tomorrow? as of monday you will be full-time on the mornings. >> yes, indeed. and so rob, of course, is not

going any wrchlt he's staying with kntv. you can catch him on the weekends. now we've got a really solid weather team. we get to start to mesh together and do the best forecasting in this area. >> are you used to the early morning hours? >> oh, i wouldn't have anything but the early morning hours. >> well, i'm not used to it and i've been doing it like seven years. >> we're so happy to have you here. >> thank you. >> welcome, welcome. don't forget bob redell as well coming up at the north pole. that's tomorrow. >> yeah, live. >> live from the north pole and he's freezing his you know what off. >> no, what? thanks for joining us this morning. >> the "today" show is coming up next. our local news update in a half an hour. have a great day, everybody. ding dong ding, dong

♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, ♪ ♪ throw care away, christmas is here, bringing good cheer, ♪ ♪ to young and old, meek and the bold, ding dong ding, dong, ♪ ♪ that is their song, with joyful ring, all caroling, ♪ ♪ one seems to hear, words of good cheer, from everywhere, ♪ ♪ filling the air, oh how they pound, raising the sound, ♪ ♪ o'er hill and dale, telling their tale, gaily they ring, ♪ ♪ while people sing, songs of good cheer, christmas is here, ♪ ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas, ♪