good morning, i'm marla tellez. i'll explain the financial boost that could extend the traffic to the south bay coming up in a live report. a rainy start to your tuesday, february 15th. this is "today in the bay." good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. strait up 6:00. i'm brent cannon. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we'll get you started with meteorologist christina loren with a look at the hour-by-hour forecast on this rainy morning. good morning to you. give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination this morning as we have slick conditions and a little bit of lingering activity right now. mostly a lot of the activity is pushing off to the east, east of san jose now. a little bit pushing to the east bay. and as we head through the next couple of hours the showers subside. the big-time rain for today is expected later on this afternoon into this evening. at 5:00 p.m. this is when we are expecting the really strong line

of showers to push onshore in the north bay spreading south between 5:00 and 9:00. at 9:00 p.m. you may hear pounding rain overhead. then the whole thing clears out of here heading through tomorrow morning, but there's more on the way. we'll break down the entire forecast coming up. we'll get you to work on time with mike inouye. good morning to you. good morning, christina. yeah, the traffic on the road now is sure to see more. 40 miles per hour near antioch. that's a big deal. we'll zoom in to show you the extent over to love ridge. we are still holding up the yellow chiclets. that's great news because we typically see things dip down to 20 right about now. this is a light flow especially on a rainy day like today. we expected more folks to hit the roadways. the east shore freeway is holding up with nice speeds off the cartinas bridge with no rain or wind advisories, just wet roads hanging out there. so watch the on and off-ramps approaching the maze. a smooth flow through oakland. we'll move down to 880 with the earlier accident still on mission boulevard, but all the

lanes are just clearing past mission. that's better news. back to brent and laura at the desk. plan to cut dune on your commute time? it will get a big boost. >> b.a.r.t. will get more than $100 million in federal funding for new service to the south bay. and "today in the bay's" marla tellez is live in fremont where the current b.a.r.t. line ends but the new construction could begin. marla? >> reporter: brent and laura, well, it is starting to pick up here at this b.a.r.t. station in fremont. it is hard to tell, but i can assure you that since we arrived before 5:00 this morning there's ban been a slow but steady flow of commuters. all i have spoken to this morning and told about this san jose extension, they all like the idea of this station becoming the gateway to the south bay. now, this could happen because the federal transit administration is recommending the project get $130 million in federal fund for an extension to san ohio save jose. the recommendation alone is a

huge milestone in a five-decade long quest for the extension to move to the south bay. this would move here to this station in san jose. it will also include a station in milpitas. it will help those who live in san jose and commute north for work, but also people who live in the east bay, for instance, and want an easy way to get to downtown san jose. >> i think it is a good idea. there are a lot of things to do downtown. people can't get to it if they don't have a car or any other form of transportation. i think it is a really good idea. >> reporter: currently san jose the light rail is the mass transit option for commuters near capital. the next step before anything else can happen, the $130 million recommendation must pass through congressional republicans. if approved construction could begin next year, but the line would not open until 2018. and by then b.a.r.t. officials

predict almost 22,500 people to use the san jose extension every weekday. live in fremont this morning, marla tellez, "today in the bay." thank you, marla. 6:03 right now. a couple detainees from guantanamo bay may have a new home in the east bay. today the berkeley city council is expected to decide whether to invite two detainees who have been cleared of wrongdoing to relocate in berkeley. the city would invite a russian ballet dancer and an algerian top-rated chef that would live with local berkeley families. a nonprofit group would help them find work. president obama will meet with tech business leaders on thursday to talk about green jobs and technology. the meeting will be private. the president will stay overnight before moving on to oregon on friday. and we just got word that the president will also hold a press conference for 8:00 this morning

our time. nbc news will have a special report coming up during the "today" show in a couple hours. egypt's military is running the country this morning, but it is about what is next. a member of a committee appointed to amend egypt's constitution says the new document is going to be temporary. he says radical changes will not be made right now but restrictions on freedoms will be removed. and the new constitution will only be used until democratic rule is established. neen meantime, iranian leaders are calling for the execution of two leaders of anti-government protests. this is the amateur videoof yesterday's protests posted on youtube from iran. it shows iranian security forces using tear gas on protesters. dozens of demonstrators were detained and one person was shot and killed during the protests. a live report from cairo on all the unrest in the middle east is coming up. meantime, the debate continues over how much credit the bay area should take for helping those protests along. scott mcgrew is here with no doubt that twitter and facebook

did play a role. >> reporter: sure. youtube as well. i just saw an egyptian music video about the protest on youtube. checking twitter this morning, that google exec is asking people to come to egypt on vacation to support the economy. we caught up with the founder of twitter and asked him what he thought about all this. >> we have people who are talking about their life and what's going on around them socially. we have people talking about youth events, we have people organizing social movements and talk about what's happening in the government and what's happening around their world. but every single tweet is different and people are using it in different ways tweet by tweet, which is awesome. >> mean while, secretary of state hillary clinton is going to call for countries to keep the internet uncensored. you recall this is not the first time she has done such a thing. clinton made history as the first government official to make a policy speech about internet freedom shortly after china was caught red-handed fooling with google's access to that country. secretary clinton's husband,

meanwhile, the former president, will be in town on friday giving his own speech to a tech conference in san francisco. but that has been closed to reporters. brent? thank you, we have a major car seat recall to tell you about now this morning. christie smith is live now with more on this nationwide recall of more than 700,000 car seats. and we want to check in with christie to see which ones they are. >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. according to the company there's already been nearly 150 complaints about this but thankfully no children injured. the problem is with the harness, the locking and release button. it sticks and sometimes does not lock, meaning your child may not be secure in the seat. so the derailed juvenile group recalled nearly 800,000 child safety seat restraint systems. these were made between may of 2008 and april of 2009. and they are sold nationwide at places like target, walmart and costco. registered owners should contact the company to get a small tube

of lubricant to fix the sticking problem. the costco, maxi cozy and first restraint systems included in the recall are certain alpha omega, onboard ts, mico, inspira, avenue and uptown brands. if you have one of these seats you have to provide the company with the entire serial number on the seat. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." thank you for the update, christie. we have an important deadline for parents to pay attention to this morning. parents with sick children have until the end of the month to enroll their children in more affordable health insurance. this is under the new rule set down by federal health care reform and new california law. after the deadline children with pre-existing conditions will still be covered, but it could cost up to double with a charge to healthier children is. this morning health care experts at the oakland children's hospital will present coverage options for bay area parents.

the event kicks off at 10:00 this morning. all right. the time is 6:08. let's go to christina to take a peek at the forecast. >> good morning to you. well, we've got more rain on the way for today. some light scattered showers anticipated for the first part of the day. you can probably get away with heading off to work without the umbrella. you want to keep it handy for your drive home because we are expecting a lot of rain heading through this evening. possibly upwards of two inches in the north bay. we'll see a lot of rain come down along the peninsula, one to two inches. then somewhere between an inch or inch and a half in the south bay and east bay. we are talking about a lot of rain and localized flooding as a possibility heading through tonight as most of the precip takes precipitation comes down over the course of five hours. that will make for tomorrow morning's commute very, very dangerous conditions. give yourself plenty of time today and tomorrow. and the rain stays with us all the way throughout this week. rain each and every day. you'll notice that our overnight lows are dropping towards that breezing level.

well, we are going to pick up a lot of moisture depending on how cold it gets, especially in the agricultural areas. the possibility of the freeze is there, so we are watching this closely heading throughout the next few days. i'll give you more information each and every day. back to you. all right, christina. we'll take it to antioch where we see the colors change over. i like to see this above the traffic near the antioch bridge. you see the slow drive now westbound slowing right around hillcrest. and speeds are dipping down to 23 as you come down to horizon street and elle street. this is the typical pattern, i'm not happy about it, but there's nothing crazy on highway westbound. it is a typical build up through pittsburgh and bay point. steeds are dipping down to 50. 50 throughout livermore out of the altamonte pass. a wet commute for 580 through livermore. into the south bay, no major issues there. the north mission up at 680 cleared. the accident off south mission on southbound 880 is also

clearing. there's just activity on the shoulder now, but all lanes are open heading down to milpitas via 880 into fremont. that's a smooth flow here. a live look at the chopper over the east bay. this is where 580 and 880 come together. so far a smooth drive from the north bay. past the golden gate fuel at the bottom of the screen, you are close to the toll plaza with a backup in the cash lanes. no metering lights yet. 6:11. and clothes are on the list of things getting more expensive. we'll find out why coming up. the tale of two budgets in washington this week. one for this year, one for next year. the latest is coming up. and the highways could get very slick with all the rain. bob redell will look at how to handle your car when it is skidding out of control coming up. a live look at the bay bridge this morning. a drizzly start to your day this morning. be careful heading out the door. we have slick roadways to tell you about.

we'll keep you abreast in the morning commute and in the morning's forecast. it is 6:11.

♪ going to the bank without going to the bank... that's a step forward. with chase quickdeposit on your smartphone, you just snap a picture, hit send and done. chase quickdeposit. take a step forward and chase what matters. ♪ we just keep on keepin' on ♪ ♪ keep on

good morning, everybody. 6:14. a live look outside at the hp pavilion in the south bay. you'll notice the streets wet. we are seeing more rain moving throughout the area. we'll track that in just a bit. new this morning, with all the rain on the road today and more rain on the way, we thought it would be a good idea to show you some of the tips from the experts on how to keep control of your car when it hits the high water spots.

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live with a unique demonstration. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. here at the alameda county sheriff's office and regional training center in dublin. this is the wet road course. they have the water flowing on this which they didn't need given the wet weather we have been having, but we wanted to come out to show you today just how easy it is to lose control of your car if you are not paying attention. if you have bald tires, that's another reminder. we have bald tires on this car. and i have deputy carrie hanson, who is in the passenger seat with me behind the wheel. have you notified your next of kin yet? >> yes, i have. >> reporter: here's the demonstration of what not to do if you lose control of your car. and you use this course to train your colleagues as well, right? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: i'm going to take a hard turn. i didn't get it to spin out.

maybe i should -- okay. what did i do wrong there? >> well, basically when you started to lose control, you stayed on the accelerator. and you steered away from the skid. you want to turn into the way that the rear-end is going on the car. >> reporter: let's see if i can do it the right way. i'm going to take the turn. >> get off the accelerator and slowly apply pressure on the accelerator to get yourself moving. >> reporter: what do you find that people have a tendency to do, put their foot on the brake or put on the gas? >> when people lose control of the car, they slam the brakes on or stay on the accelerator. you are going to become out of control. >> reporter: you are saying it doesn't take much to get out of control. if you are in a straight line, you go out at 20%? >> 20 degrees you are going to lose control. if you let the car control itself, the vehicle wants to go forward. so as long as you do the right things and don't panic and steer into the way that the vehicle is

skidding, you can gain control of the car. not only regain but maintain control of the vehicle. >> reporter: and your advice to people out there in the wet weather, or perhaps people have forgotten what it is like to drive in the wet weather, it has been a month. >> slow down. number two, give yourself the extra distance between your car and the car in front of you. >> reporter: deputy hanson, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> reporter: laura, what do you think? >> i think it is crazy she got in the car with you. stop! >> she is going to jump out of that car. i certainly would. don't try this at home or on the roads. >> i did not know we were going to get a sideshow on top of everything else. many students are accepted to the california university

system meaning some have to travel farther from home. san diego state university is one of the campuses to turn away qualified local students. in the past students turned away from other state campuses could pretty much count on being given priority at their local campus. 15 of the 22 state schools including san jose state and san francisco state typically hold non-local applicants to a higher academic standard which helps the local kid. well, the fear is that the other universities are now going to follow san diego's states lead and local students may not be able to count on getting into their local university, they have to go some place else. two fights occurring in washington today. congress has to keep government running this year while battling over the president's budget for next year. unless congress acts money to run the federal budget runs out march 4th. the house votes later this week on cutting $61 billion from what we are spending this year. and the pentagon is worried. >> the damage done across our

military from that reduction would be magnified. >> cuts of that level will be detrimental to america's national security. >> president obama's new budget is up for scrutiny in several hearings today. he wants to cut excessive spending. republicans call the budget patronizing and full of tricky math. meantime, an enormous find for chef ron. a judge in a lawsuit show nod mercy in this at all. >> it is at least $8 billion or as high as $17 billion. however, this is an ecuadorian judge, and chevron feels the judgment against them is unenforceable. it steams from an environmental disaster that was caused by the company texaco as it sought oil in ecuador years ago. texaco made the settlement years ago with ecuador and then

chevron bought texaco. a lower amount may be on the table now. apple says this morning it finished a big investigation into fox con, the enormous factory in china that makes everything from iphone to ipad. you will recall a number of workers had jumped to their deaths at the company. the apple ceo steve jobs says fox con is, quote, not a sweat shop. apple this morning further did tailing the effort it made sending tim cook to the factory to help factory managers retrain counselors and ending several instances of child labor. fox con is about the city of oakland, it is that many people. >> wow, thank you, scott. everything is getting more expensive these days and experts say to get ready to shell out more for your clothing. clothing prices have declined the last ten years but that

trend is about to end. the demand for goods is on the rise. companies like levi's and top labels are going to be affected. labor costs and the price of raw materials are going up. cotton has doubled in price over the past year. a typical men's dress shirt that costs about $80 is now expected to cost $88 by the end of this year. >> good thing i have a sewing machine. you are going to be looking good. >> because you have so much time to fire that thing up. i'm going to have a big patch here. >> it is for the economy. >> why do i have a zipper over here? i don't know. i would like something, too. >> maybe something with a little frill. okay. we are looking good. i'm going to start with the extended forecast. this is what the big weather story is. we have rain that is not letting up for quite some time. the rain is expected heading through today. the bulk of the moisture from

all of the systems that are passing through the bay area headed throughout the next several days, we are expecting the moisture today and tonight. possibly flooding with up to two inches of rain in the north bay. and then we keep these shower chances in the mix all the way throughout this weekend and the beginning of next week. and our temperatures are going to drop into the 30-degree range depending on how much moisture lingers after we have all the systems pass through. we do have a threat of a freeze on our hands heading through the weekend. i'm looking mostly saturday night into sunday morning. so we'll keep watching that for you. right now it is really early to tell. when you forecast more than five days out it gets difficult. we'll watch that for you each and every day. low pressure, this is the big system bringing us the next round of rain. this is what has passed through yesterday, kind of rip rindy-dinky. we want to second you possibly

to new york, maybe we are going to send you to texas. we'll talk about what's happening. "today in the bay" is teaming up with american airlines to make you feel like a red carpet celebrity. all next week, this is next week, we'll give you a secret word. once you see it, go to nbcbayarea.com. click on the contest button and fill out the form. five prizes that i'll break down for you. airline tickets and a hotel stay at either the tribeca film festival in new york, the dallas international film festival or los angeles. also offering two sets of our own local tickets here in san jose with two nights at the hilton. be sure to watch next week for the word of the day. right now the word of the day is traffic. good morning, mike inouye. good morning, christina. right here we are going to follow one of the worst commutes from time to time. right now we are seeing the slowdown here. we are following this suv with a nice flow of traffic. the red car indicates speeds

below 20 miles per hour heading westbound out of the altamonte pass. we have an overall drive time creeping up to 20 minutes now. 45 minutes on average. the bulk of the slowing is coming in and through livermore. dublin and pleasanton, look at the difference in time there passing by airway boulevard. up to the speed limit getting closer to the dublin interchange. a new incident here on highway 4 in antioch. we have a slow down because of a disabled beer truck in your second lane. so some of my friends have to say watch out for the slowing. we'll move to the maze ending with a shot of the smooth flow approaching the bay bridge. here's a live look at that coming up. we have a backup flowing but no metering lights yet. back over to you. 6:24 right now. some of the a's report to spring training today. find out why hopes are especially high heading into the next season. i love america,

i love my pet bald eagle brock, my bison sara, i love my pick-up with the custom constitution paint job... i celebrate jury duty... i love america so much, i'm making an all american jack combo two jumbo patties, with melting cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles, plus fries and a drink for only $4.99. i've celebrated every american tradition...except one... spring break cancun yo!!!!!!!! try the all american jack and enter to win an all-american spring break for you and 10 of your friends.

the oakland a's start spring training for the 2011 season today. expectations are pretty high, too, with a solid pitching staff in place. pitchers and catchers practice in arizona today. position players report on sunday. the first full squad workout is set for monday. starting pitchers for 2011 include trevor cahill and brent anderson. the a's also have a new trainer to avoid some injuries that could really plague you throughout the course of the season. the giants are back at work this morning. their pitchers and catchers reported to camp yesterday, but for fans the party certainly continues. the world series trophy makes another stop in the bay area today. it is going to be in palo alto at the plaza. you can see a piece of the giants' history at 4:00. you can also get your picture taken with the trophy. 6:27. san francisco wants to get rid of the cleanup bill for an annual tradition. we'll find out why coming up.

♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪

the next, you start one feeling bit off.fine. the moment you feel run down or achy, nip flu-like symptoms in the bud, with oscillococcinum. get oscillo and feel like yourself again. oscillococcinum, nip it in the bud.

a live look out at the golden gate bridge this morning. traffic is picking up a little bit. and you can see out there by the sheen on the roadway that it is slick out there. be careful before you head out the door. is your child's safety seat really safe? i'm christie smith. we have a major recall to tell you about coming up in a live report. and tension in tehran. we have a live report from the middle east on the new uprising spreading. it is tuesday, february 15th. this is "today in the bay." >> good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. i'm brent cannon.

>> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we have a rain system moving across the bay area. let's go to meteorologist christina loren to keep us ahead of the storm. you want to be two paces ahead of mother nature, and this morning we have slick conditions, but it is not that bad. right now i can show you we have light scattered showers pushing through the south bay. a little bit of action happening in the east bay. but overall the activity is dying down. we'll see a nice lull from the rain showers as we head through the first part of your day. and then a stronger round of rain on tap for the latter portion of this evening into tonight. we'll time it out for you. as you can see here, moderate rain indicated by the yellow in the north baby 5:00 p.m. that will interrupt the smooth commute tonight. 9:00 p.m. we have widespread rainfall coming down across the bay area. most of the heavy rain clears by the time we wake up tomorrow morning. we'll break down the extended forecast for you with the rain pattern continuing.

here's how well we are doing on the roadways. good morning, mike inouye. here in antioch we have a big problem. we are talking about don't drink and drive. the beer truck is still in the middle lane here at somersville causing a big backup out of antioch. love ridge is where we see the volume pick up. that's one portion of highway 4. then heading over to willow patch road, we have reports of a buckle in the roadway. midday we'll probably see some road construction crews out there, but so far the drive into concord and that portion out of bay point is looking all right. here's a live look out there. we'll show you the volume of traffic at the bay bridge. the backup is going past west grand avenue. and the chopper is over there at 880 at 92. a typical buildup there on the bottom of the screen. just a slow drive transitioning to the san mateo bridge. 6:32 right now. we have a consumer alert for you this morning. more than 700,000 car seats are being recalled because they could put your child at risk.

christie smith is live with more on the nationwide recall. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you. you know, this is the kind of thing that you really struggle to keep up with as a parent, but it is very important. in this case the issue is with the harness locking and release mechanism. it can sometimes stick and not lock, which would put your child at risk for not actually being secure in the sit. this has the durell juvenile group recalling more than 800,000 child i have acy safety seats made between 2008 and 2009. they have a center front adjuster. if you have one what you should do is contact the company for a tube of lubricant. that will apparently stop the sticking problem. the company says there has been a number of complaints but fortunately no injuries to children. so here's what to look for. the costco maxi cozy and safety first restraint systems on certain brands like alpha omega,

elite, onboard, ts, vantage, priority, avenue and uptown brands. you need to provide the entire serial number to the company to go ahead and get the tube of lubricant sent out to you. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." good to know. thank you. >> two oakland teenagers will be tried for murder after the beating death of a san francisco man. a judge refused to reduce charges against the two teens yesterday. 18-year-old domenick davis and 18-year-old novante drummer are accused of punching a man in downtown oakland causing him to fall backwards to hit his head on the concrete. he died several days later and defense attorneys argue that the teens shouldn't be charged with murder because they had no reason to believe that punching him would lead to his death. 6:34 right now. this morning democratic lawmakers are warning that if tax hikes are not extended some programs could take a hike. this could mean the end to small

classes of kindergarten through third grade as well as many other public programs being cut across the state. this could save the state $13.5 billion. governor jerry brown has already proposed $12.5 billion in separate cuts. his goal is to close the estimated $26 billion budget deficit in the next year and a half. an east bay city could soon become san francisco's dumping grounds. pittsburgh is talking to san francisco about dumping the city's waste in the keller canyon landfill. san francisco hauls between 400 and 500 million tons of trash to that landfill in alameda county every year. now the contract is up in 2015 and pittsburgh wants the new contract. if both sides agree trash could be brought into oakland by barge and then trucked to the landfill. the city of pittsburgh will make a million dollars per year on that deal. a valentine's tradition is leaving san francisco with a broken heart this morning.

even in the rain hundreds of people showed up for the annual valentine's day pillow fight in san francisco. pillows and feathers were flying for more than three hours creating quite a mess. the department of public works says it costs more than $17 million just to clean it up because the feathers were wet and sticky. the city should ask for donations to help try to cover the costs. >> maybe they can just ask for monetary donations. i know it is like a free rider problem, but you would be surprised how many people would pitch in. >> $17 million worth of donations? with budget cuts throughout the city and no one to send that cleanup bill to, officials say it might be time to put the pillow fight tradition to bed. san francisco also brings back a public health campaign promoting female condoms. the city is the first in the nation to encourage straight women and gay men to use the fc two condom. health officials hope the new design makes people more likely

to use them. the health department also wants community organizations to distribute them for free at city clinics. 6:36 right now. >> more to come on "today in the bay," including stunning video of the accident as it happens. we will tell you what happens here and who is behind the wheel coming up. and prep for a world record. we'll tell you how long this couple locked lips in order to try to make history. and a live look outside this morning at the south bay. you can see the dark clouds and also a few breaks. it kind of depends what band you are under if you are going to get soaked at the moment, but christina is watching it all and has an update coming up. switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year.

feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. you gave us the space age... but your savings accounts are stuck in the stone age! earn more commodore with interestplus savings at capitalone.com. that's new school banking, baby! [ laughs ] instead of earning zilch, your savings will be earning three times the national average. three times more? roger that!

go online and sign up at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet?! where to sputnik? [ chuckles ]

the obamaadministration is asking for your advice. he wants more people to enjoy public parks. >> more than 200 people submitted comments to help develop the plan. it calls for more protection of public lands, waters and wildlife. it also increases access to the outdoors for families and children. the program will co-coordinate with the first lady's let's move

program. 6:40 right now. a couple in thailand spent valentine's day setting the world record for the longest kiss. they finally wrapped it up after 46 hours and 24 minutes. the couple were taking part in a kissing marathon that started on sunday with 14 couples. the couples were eliminated as soon as their lips stopped touching. seven of them smashed the previous record of more than 32 hours. the winning couple received a diamond ring and another 3300 dollars in cash. people had to follow them into the restroom as well. the uprising in egypt has now spread to iran wlechlt have an update on what's happening there this morning coming up in a live report. and i'm bob redell live here

in dublin with tips from a professional on how to get your car back in control with the wet weather we have been having. that story is coming up in a live report. cars that park themselves. an unmanned car driven by a search engine company. we've seen that movie. it ends with robots harvesting our bodies for energy. [ engine revs ] this is the all new 2011 dodge charger. leader of the human resistance.

oh, mammothyou are getting a lot of snow heading through out the next few days. this is the sky overhead in san francisco. you'll notice a few things heir. we are drying out for a short time. it looks like heading throughout the next couple of hours we'll see breaks of sunshine. overcast conditions overall today. then the big-time rain arrives just in time for the evening commute. it looks like the north bay will see heavy showers heading through 5:00 p.m.

the showers spread south heading through 9:00 p.m. widespread shower activity throughout the bay area. it looks like we'll see rain all night long. when you wake up tomorrow morning another round of slick conditions to contend with on your way to work. and more rain on the way tomorrow afternoon as well. it is just a very wet pattern setting up for us. it is not really shifting any time soon. so we do need the rain to replenish our water supply for this summer. that's a good thing. when it comes to how much we are expecting, maybe up two two inches in the north bay. an inch and a half in the south bay, which is a lot when talking about a five or six-hour period. localized flooding will be a factor. make sure you tune in tonight. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri will be here to guide you through the brunt of the moisture. here's what to expect by tomorrow. scattered showers, not as heavy as what we expect tonight, but we'll see on and off showers once again tomorrow. the same goes for thursday. breezy conditions continue throughout the day today.

as that system gets closer to us, we'll really start to see the winds pick up. windy at times for today and tomorrow as well. then by thursday, breezy and rainy. low snow levels anticipated saturday into sunday. we are talking about 2,000 feet. so after that temperatures drop towards that freezing mark. then we'll be worried about the threat of a freeze for our agricultural areas. so weather definitely makes a presence now that we have the long fair stretch. things are certainly changing. we'll find out how things change on the roadways as they always do at this time of the morning. good morning, christie that christina. we'll take you to the map with the approach to the bay bridge toll plaza where the metering lights are on. no major issues for 24 or 580. still a 20-minute drive off the cartinas bridge. we are slowing near the berkeley curve. a live look at the toll plaza shows backups solid for most lanes. the advantage for you coming over from the east bay to the

city. from the peninsula to the city a smooth drive as well. travel times show 280 and 101 off 92. northbound is close to the limit. southbound is also close to the limit with a nice flow of traffic. here's a look at that. this is the 92/101 interchange moving down to the south bay where traffic is moving slowly. northbound is slow through the area. 680 near sunol and dublin a nice drive so far. bob redell is out in dublin. bob, it is a wet roadway out there in many spots of the bay area. you have some notes for folks with wet weather driving, right? >> reporter: that's right. we have the alameda deputy here with us at the regional training center for the alameda sheriff's office. this is the emergency vehicle operations course. and it is polished concrete potentially wet down to show you things like this. it is much easier to spin out in these conditions.

what did you do there? >> reporter: i didn't steer correctly into the turn. >> reporter: that's why we hear about the solo spinouts on the roadways. >> exactly. you want to lift off the accelerator and don't slam the brakes on. and you want to steer into the way that the vehicle is skidding into. >> reporter: so if we were kidding right now -- >> i'm skidding to the left so turn to the left. >> reporter: and you took your feet off the accelerator and applied pressure. >> once i get control of the car, apply pressure to regain control. >> reporter: okay. what advice do you have or the people in this type of weather? >> you want to slow down, number one. also you just want to give yourself that extra room between you and the next drive in front of you just in case you have to make some sort of invasive maneuver. you need the room and time to do

it. >> reporter: this is not only used for deputy-enhanced colleagues, but the average joe can come out here. go to sheriffacademy.com. what do you teach people out here? >> we are teaching defensive driving skills. we get them out here on the skid pad to learn skid recovery and how to learn how to control an out-of-control vehicle. >> reporter: can you make this out of control? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: oh, yeah! that's awesome. nothing like the smell of burning rubber in the morning. laura? >> take it easy out there. sfwlr. >> reporter: go to sheriffacademy.com. >> be careful out there. thank you very much. i know you are perfectly safe. a woman was seriously injured after a sheriff's cruiser hit her. a dash cam from the cruiser shows the whole thing. a florida county deputy drove down a dark road last tuesday.

he said he didn't see the woman weeking her bike across the road. she was thrown onto the hood. the woman was said to be under the influence of alcohol. the florida highway patrol is investigating. that woman is in critical condition. >> it is very difficult to see her in the dark like. that. an italian judge ordered sylvio to court. he says prosecutors are trying to oust him for power. his trial starts on april 6th to face a panel of three judges. all of them will be women. developing news and unrest spreading across the middle east. there are protests in places like jordan, parts of africa and now in iran. nbc's ron allen is in cairo. ron, we understand that correspondents, we do have some in iran, but it has been difficult to get their reports.

>> reporter: yes, iran is a much different place than egypt. in iran the reporters and others are basically banned from going to the areas of the city where the protests have been happening. and it is also very difficult technically to get signals out of there because it is not permitted in some cases and equipment has been confiscated. so you have a much more repressive situation in terms of the media not being able to tell the story. so there have been reports leaking out from observers to give a picture of what's happening. and there have been photographs from the past after the protests after the elections in 2009 that got out that let the world know what was happening. a very difficult situation to keep track of, much different than here in cairo. >> what is the current situation you are noticing there in cairo? >> reporter: well, today we have a holiday, it is a national holiday. so things are quiet, and that's good because it is a day for this country to take a deep

breath and just sort of relax for a moment. it has been very, very tense. the square, tahrir square, is empty. it is back to normal, you could say. traffic is flowing through it again. the protestors have been removed. there were a lot of flash strikes and labor strikes happening all over the country from transportation workers to bankers to doctors to farmers to you name it, everybody is demanding better wages and better working conditions. that has really dialed back today because it is a holiday. there's no sense protesting when things are closed. so tomorrow we will open again and people will be back out there picketing because so many people see this as the opportunity to have a long-standing grievance aired. that's what you are having, people are frustrated feeling now is the time to get their grievances before the manager or boss or whomever. meanwhile, the military counsel is continuing to do its work.

it is trying to rewrite or re-amend the constitution in the next ten days and put up key changes for a vote in as soon as two months, which would be lightning-quick to detail the formation. the military leaders are trying to get things back on track. they are talking about a timeframe to have elections in six months and to hand the country back to civilian rulers. at this point the next six months will rock along with some moves backwards and forwards as they move to a new level of civility. so many people here now who you talk to in the streets are hoping this is the time when they get their own grievance addressed there, their poor wages, so many people earn he below the minimum wage. now is the time to get improvement in those things as well as the broad democracy three freedom things people were

fighting for this time in the square. people are trying to deal with this on a much more practical day-to-day basis. >> ron allen there with an update on what's happening in cairo, egypt. we are hearing protests are taking part in iran and tehran. they could be closing embassies for fear of terror in israel. >> we'll be checking in on that throughout the course of the morning. nbc is slated to have a special report coming up at 8:00. right now we want to check in with scott. >> good morning to you. san jose is growing. we just got numbers from the joint venture of silicon valley. strange statistics that found the region added more than 12,000 jobs last year but almost every single one of them was in high-tech creating what the and lists call in their words a separation of the economy. what was the worst job to be in

last year? government, losing 3%. if you need a temporary job, how do you feel about wearing orange? home depot announced a few minutes ago it will hire 1,000 people as springtime seasonal help in bay area stores. 60,000 people nationwide. home depot gets busier in the swing as the young man's fancy turns to building a new deck. back to you. >> is that what it is? >> you saw people getting snow shovels in the video there, but we are talking flowers, trees and grass. marla tellez is live in free nonlt free month now with our next story. people could ride the rails all the way to san jose some day. >> reporter: that's right, brent. we are at the b.a.r.t. station in fremont. it is a hub of activity this morning right at the peak commute time. now this is the end of the line in the east bay, but soon it could become the gateway to the south bay. this is because a federal transit administration is

recommending a project for $150 million in fund to expand to san jose. this is a five-decade long quest to bring b.a.r.t. to the south bay. the ten-mile extension would run from here in fremont to the district here in san jose. it would also include a station in milpitas. all the compute commuters i have spoken to said it is about time. >> it is a good idea. >> reporter: would it help you personally? >> no, but i could take it to go shopping. >> reporter: really everyone benefits. b.a.r.t. officials predict almost 22,500 people would use the extension every weekday. now, the $130 million recommendation still needs approval from congressional republicans. if that happens construction could begin next year in 2012. but the line would not open until 2018. reporting in fremont this morning, marla tellez, "today in

the bay." thank you, marla, for the update. >> want to get a quick check on the forecast? we'll go to christina. >> you saw the sun shining over marla in fremont. we are seeing clearing. that's the case for the first part of the day. just a few on and off light showers with the bulk of the moisture coming through between 5:00 and 10:00 tonight. make sure you are ready for it. we'll see if you are ready for problems on the roadways with mike. one of the problems cleared from highway 4. here's a look at antioch near somersville. we have a disabled beer truck but the road buckle is reported there. we'll have to see that clearing. that's about it for the east bay. light volume. back to the desk now. a local news update with a check of the morning commute every half

[ male announcer ] 95% of all americans aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's easier than you think, because general mills big g line of cereals is america's number one source of whole grain at breakfast. there's whole grain in every box... ♪ ...from chex... to cheerios...

to lucky charms. so you can get the whole grain you want with the taste y le. get started on the whole grain you're missing with your favorite big g cereals. make sure to look for the white check.