a little good news for your wet morning commute. a freeway on-ramp is back open in oakland after a tree toppled overnight blocking the whole thing. i'm christie smith, i'll show you what it looks like coming up in a live report. plus, we'll take you up to the sierra to see all that snow that's piling up. a live report coming your way. a faster, cheaper high-speed rail project. live in san jose with the latest update from the new head of the project including a plan to electrify caltrain tracks. a live look outside, soggy start to your wednesday, march 14th. we'll help you get through it. this is "today in the bay."

good morning to you. thanks so much for starting your day with us. 6:00 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everybody. i'm jon kelley. time to check in with meteorologist christina loren here to tell us the sky is falling. but that's good news. rain and snow all over the place. >> make sure you grab your umbrella out the front door. by california standards we usually don't see a stretch of wet weather that lasts this long but we're talking about rain today, tomorrow, all the way through the upcoming weekend so at least for the next six to seven days. keep that in mind. you will have opportunities to get outdoors and we will time that for you. but as a result of all of the rain coming down, the saturated ground and all those whipping winds, we have a lot of aftermath out there that you'll have to navigate around this morning. speaking of which, let's go live to oakland this morning where christie smith is out there. we had a downed tree. 70-footer. huh? >> reporter: good morning to you. all morning we've been showing you pictures of the tree being

cut up out here in oakland. we're near coolidge avenue, 580 eastbound, the on-ramp. but i have some good news to report. that is in the last five minutes or so they got the on-ramp completely open. they cut up the tree and just pulled all their equipment out of here. so both lanes back open. but i wanted to show you what it looked like when we got here about 4:00 this morning. there was a big 70-foot tree that had toppled over completely, blocked both lanes of the on-ramp here to eastbound 580. this was a 70-foot acacia tree. when we got here the chp had the area blocked off to make sure no one could try to get on the on-ramp. caltrans came out, had a six-man crew that got to work on it, brought out a wood chipper, some chainsaws and took them about 90 minutes but they have got the entire thing cleared out of here. before they left i was talking with one of the workers and he said when it rains like this after it hasn't rained in a while, they just get busy, busy, busy and they expect to leave

here and probably go to another call that's just the way it is. for more on how the roads are looking, i'll turn it over to mike inouye. >> good morning. now that that's clear we have really no other icons to show you in oakland -- which is great for the morning commute. coolidge avenue again has completely reopened after that tree christie showed you cleared. saturated soil the reason that -- one of the reasons that 70-foot tree fell. looking for more reports as folks hit the roadway. a live look at toll plaza, the rain is a factor on all your bay area roads this morning especially north of 92. slick conditions and wind advisory for the bay bridge, richmond bridge, be careful on off-ramps. as more folks hit the road we'll seen even more incidents. we've seen a lot of single-car spinouts. a deadly incident on the peninsula overnight.

on 101 near 3rd avenue a car struck and killed a man. all southbound lanes of 101 were closed for about an hour as chp got there to investigate. all lanes are now back open. we're happy to report no other injuries have been reported and no word yet on what the man was actually doing out on foot on the freeway. 6:04 right now. two people are in the hospital this morning after a pair of violent incidents within minutes of each other in san francisco. around 3:30 this morning police were called to the area of larkin and ellis. they found man in his 20s shot once. he was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. in a separate incident police found man in his 40s stabbed at 7th and steven s est around market street at 3:15. police say his injured are life threatening. oakland police investigating an officer-involved shooting that took place around 9:00 last

night. at this point we don't know what led to the shooting but oakland police tell us when officers approached a man, he had a gun and actually a shotgun there and officers then shot the suspect. he is expected to survive. no officers were injured. the high-speed rail project that offered an add benefit to caltrain. lawmakers want to electrify now the tracks as part of the $100 billion plan. "today in the bay's" stephanie chuan joins us live. >> reporter: the new head of this high-speed rail project spoke to hundreds in mountain view last night. he had updates, including the plan to electrify caltrain which right now runs on diesel. it is a pretty popular idea locally. assemblyman jerry hill from san mateo made a huge public push saying the electification of caltrain could be ready by 2019,

costing $120 million and they plan to pay that with local funds. >> i think for people to see their families, for people to get to work, definitely for business, i think ultimately whatever the price tag is will help the economy far more than it will ever cost us. >> reporter: but that cost is great for the bullet train project so far estimated at $98 billion. the head of that project didn't give too many specifics last night but he did talk about plans to break down the 520-mile line into much smaller segments so crews can finish them faster hopefully and maybe even lighten the price tag. the california high-speed rail authority is expected to release a final business plan with details on costs and rider estimates that should be out in the next couple of weeks. after years of lobbying and voting, the 49ers finally cleared to break ground on a new stadium in santa clara.

official word came last night. the santa clara city council made it official with a 6-1 vote in favor of the lease, budget and terms of the $1.2 billion stadium project. a new 68,000-seat stadium will be built near great america's theme park off of highway 101. the 49ers will kick off at 2014 season in that new home. campbell police are worried there could be more potential victims of a nanny accused of victimizing at least eight children. 41-year-old john walker is in jail facing 14 counts of lewd acts with children. th investigators think there is a good chance there are more victims. walker's being held without bail. if you know anything about the case, call campbell police. it is 6:07. we have a warning this morning for people with smartphones. the oakland police department says there were two separate iphone robberies yesterday and one of them was at gunpoint. police are urging people to be alert when using the phones out

in public. there's also a campaign getting under way on san francisco's muni system to warn riders of the same crime trend. 6:07. we have rain and wind in the bay area this morning. they have snow and wind in the sierra. brian hickey is live in blue canyon to show us how things are looking up there -- don't look up, brian, it will hit your eyes. >> reporter: it was right as you said wind. you've got some power there this morning. just don't say that word again this morning. right off the soda springs exit, interstate 80, the cars looking more like marshmallows this morning. broughtny yardstick here and it is indicating somewhere between six and seven inches of snow that fell since last night but add that to the foot and a half or more that fell yesterday and you get some very snowy conditions here in the sierra. how about that shot? it is just coming down up here in the sierra this morning.

that gives you an indication of what we're dealing with here this morning. luckily the wind hasn't been too bad so it is not making whiteout conditions but obviously a lot of snow can come down. it is a warmer storm though. this morning chain controls were at king vail, they've since lowered it down to 5,000 feet. if you've ever hiydroplaned on water, watch out. watch out for slush if you're heading to the mountains but further at the top where we are it is obviously very wintry, cold and snowy and the skiers and snowboarders are going to be loving this. i don't know if you have heard the forecast, but by sunday we could see as much as six feet of new snow out of this latest storm on top what have fell yesterday. so it's on. >> it is really coming down out there which is great to see. it will be interesting to check back in and see how it

accumulates up there. we need it. >> great for snowboarders, great for snow cones. let's check in with christina loren to tell us about a lot of rain in this area. >> it is a warmer system, but because it is a warmer system it is packing a lot more moisture. so the difference in your snow levels, we're talking about six feet of snow above 7,000 feet versus to to three feet above 6,000 feet. so, yeah, this is a warmer system but we've got another one on the way. another cold system not packing as much moisture but that's going to bring your snow levels back down. talking about snow levels here this weekend potentially down to 1,000 feet. yeah, it is going to get very interesting around here. right now we're still on the warm side of this system. temperatures in the upper 50s this morning. your radar shows you we're still getting a nice dry break in san jose but your highways are slick so take it easy. starting to really ramp up the action though along the peninsula. look at this batch of rain that just developed here around the pacific.

this is around 15 minutes away from daly city. petaluma just had a really active cell pass through. as we head throughout the second half of the day the heavy rain will be concentrated in the south bay. in the north bay you'll get a nice dry break. as you make your way home from work at 5:00 p.m., showers will start to lighten up a little bit and you will be able to get outdoors places like san jose, fremont, livermore. tomorrow morning we stay mostly dry but heavy rain is on the way tomorrow night, friday morning another system, saturday into sunday. we have a lot more to talk about in my seven-day forecast. it is in my next report. first let's talk to mike about your drive. >> highway 4 we have slowing from antioch, clamping down through the city limits. things starting to dip there as well as 680 bottom left of your screen toward concord. general shift as far as traffic

flow goes. livermore, disabled vehicle should be pushed from lanes but it was in lanes causing more slowing. live shot now we have for oakland, 880, trucks traveling northbound for their commute past the coliseum, southbound really picking up volume. noi more rain coming and the camera shakes because of the winds. a line look at the bay bridge toll plaza where we have the wind advisory for the wind itself. congestion starting for cash lanes oakland heading into san francisco and heading away from there, westbound 80 reports of some flooding right at the maze, your fast lane. use middle lanes if you can. a little less water builds up there, if you can. 6:12. still to come on "today in the bay," a couple of strong earthquakes hit japan overnight. details coming up.

plus, rick santorum picks up two more primary wins but is he cutting into mitt romney's lead at all? we will take a look coming up. give you a live look outside the embarcadero. can you see those clouds, some misty rain falling in the area. snow in the sierra, rain all over the bay.

welcome back, everyone. 6:15. meteorologist christina loren says it is a very busy week for the rain and snow in the sierra. >> we've been waiting for this. i've had such a boring winter so far. now, all the action is coming in at one time. all week long we've got rain in the forecast. all the way through sunday. some days are going to be a little bit more difficult for outdoor activities than others. this morning, not a great day for a drive. as you can see, we have a lot of

light and moderate rainfall come down over the greater bay area. the south bay is the driest section but a big batch of rain is headed your way as we head through the next half-hour, hour. by about 7:15 we are talking about slick conditions across san jose and showers coming down. you can see where the bulk of the moisture is right now pushing on to the peninsula. all this yellow getting ready to push over montero as we head through the next hour. we'll continue to be active for the first part of the day. by noon today showers will lighten up at least in the north section of the bay area. we'll get a little bit of a break in the south bay as we head throughout tonight. so periods of rain for today. by tomorrow another system rolls through. this one packing a lot of moisture. we're not expecting it until tomorrow afternoon but it is going to continue to dump rain on the bay area all the way through friday morning. then it gets very interesting. a very cold core low originated in the gulf of alaska will create a big difference for us. we'll get a colder system so not as much rain but stormy conditions with all that cold

air moving in. we'll still have a nice warm air mass in the bay area. the cold air mass and the warm collide and we just get an explosive atmosphere. we are watching for the potential of strong thunderstorms and hail as we head through this weekend. monday into tuesday, things start to change. cloudy conditions by monday. on tuesday, it will be clear but a very, very cold start tuesday morning could lead to a deep freeze. we are watching that for you. we'll keep tracking those showers all morning long. 6:17. let's check your drive. to the south bay, the rain kind of light on the south bay and that's why traffic is reporting pretty light as well. it is wednesday, lighter volume, much lighter than on tuesdays anyway. after the time change this weekend we're seeing a little bit later commute as well. watch out. just about 7:30 things are really going to pack in all around the bay. wet roads north of here but 101 shows some slowing over the last few minutes. 87 also showing blips. the commute is starting down here. further south we do have an issue. looking los gatos.

bay shore freeway, highway 101 without any slowing between the city and the peninsula. we have a nice smooth drive over the water as well. san mateo bridge no wind advisory this morning but gusts can catch you on the high rise. golden gate bridge relatively steady this morning. nice easy drive. wet roads further north through napa we have a couple of issues over highway 12 right around fremont drive. still reports of a lot of flooding. a number of cars that got in the standing water and that's the case from orchard avenue at dry creek road as well. looking to the other side of the bay, bay bridge toll plaza back-up forming, slick roads. wind advisory for this bridge as well as richmond-san rafael

bridge, that's 580 across the water. flooding reported in many spots through oakland just off of the maze as well as 580 at harrison. be careful out there. lower those speeds. this morning -- just hate hearing stories like this -- a tragic scene unfolding in the state of washington after police say a toddler accidentally shoots and kills himself. "today in the bay's" marla tellez is following this latest overnight news. just such a sad and heartbreaking scene. >> awl. yeah, this investigation is under way in tacoma, washington. police say a 3-year-old boy was left alone inside a car at a gas station. they say he crawled out of his car seat, found the gun and then accidentally shot himself. the boy was pronounced dead at a local hospital. this morning, japan getting rattled by a couple of strong earthquakes. the first, a 6.8 hit in the northeast region about 170 miles off the coast. the second, a 6.1, shook up the tokyo area within the last hour. the u.s. g.s. says neither

caused any damage or injuries. though the initial quake caused a very small tsunami that happened to be near the region that was hit last year with a tsunami that killed thousands. leon panetta landed in kandahar, afghanistan, the scene of course of sunday's shooting rampage that killed 16 afghan civilians. he is meeting with president hamid karzai today. meantime afghanistan's defense minister took to the microphone today strongly condemning the shootings by the u.s. soldier. he called the rampage regrettable and deplorable. he did, however, acknowledge the country faces an even bigger issue and that's the fear the taliban could capitalize on this incident. laura? >> thank you for the update, marla. 6:20. the results are in this morning. rick santorum won 2 of tuesday's 3 primaries. mitt romney won hawaii but placed third in both mississippi and alabama. santorum won both of those southern states. the results mean the republican race will continue into april or

beyond. it is likely no candidate will clinch the delegates needed to secure the nomination before the primaries end in june. santorum hinted he thinks it's time newt gingrich dropped out of the race. >> the time is now for conservatives to pull together. the time is now to make sure -- to make sure -- that we have the best chance to win this election. >> in a statement romney congratulated santorum and claimed delegates from mississippi and alabama put him closer to the nomination. 6:21. alameda county making an appeal to the governor to save a state law that saves animals' lives. would you pay $5 to watchdv alrd own? we'll talk about that coming up.

it's 6:24 right now. state and local lawmakers are fighting to save shelter animals. they rallied in the east bay and sacramento yesterday in support of hayden's law. it requires animal shelters to keep stray or abandoned animals for at least four to six days before putting them down. governor jerry brown wants to shorten that to just three days to save the state money that reimburses the shelters. animal rights groups say it actually wouldn't save any money because governor schwarzenegger suspended those payments three years ago. san francisco's iconic fairmont hotel has been sold for

$200 million. the sale came after hotel owners failed to win the city's permission to convert part of the property into condos. the owners said the switch to condos was necessary to keep the hotel afloat. according to bloomberg, the 591-room luxury hotel in the city's knob hill district was bought by a los angeles based real estate developer. walmart has a deal for you. pay $5 to watch movies -- movies that you already own. scott mcgrew, that doesn't sound like a deal. >> it doesn't, does it? they call it disk to digital. basic idea is for a $5 firm movie fee walmart will make it so you can watch movies you bought on dvd online. the motivation here is walmart wants to keep selling dvds at a time when fewer people are using dvds. 40% of dvds sold, sold at walmart. you take the dvds you already own to walmart. $5 a movie. the clerk there takes note of the movies you own and authorizes the streaming of

those movies to various digital devices using silicon valley's voodoo. this is a company that walmart bought recently. so now the company says you can watch it on your lap tap or xbox. but of course laptops and xboxes already play dvds in the first place. can you also watch on your ipad but only if it is connected to a network. other news -- one of the big dangers at high-tech companies is losing your true believers, those with you from the early days back when your company was about changing the world, not necessarily making money. this morning, a former google employee has posted his resignation letter to the internet saying the google that everybody talks about where employees are encouraged to take 20% of their time and work on their own projects, that kind of thing, no longer exists. instead, he says it's focused on making money and catching up to facebook. the former employee writes, "the google i was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. the google i left was an advertising company with a wingle sore pratt mandated

focus." a jerry maguire letter this is not. after all, every cop is in the business to make money but it is resonating among employees this morning. back to you. >> thank you, scott. 6:26. still to come on "today in the bay," there is a push to get caltrain running on electric. details are coming up in a live report. and we're busy in the storm center tracking some significant cells this morning. take a look at this one getting ready to hit hercules in the next ten minutes. we'll continue to pinpoint these showers and tell you when you might get a break coming up. a drive through the south bay, 101 but a new incident at 280. this may be weather related. we'll have that coming up. ♪ [ male announcer ] aggressive new styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the new c-class, with over 2,000 refinements.

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good morning. i'm christie smith live in oakland where the rain just won't quit. the ground so saturated it caused a tree to topple over on a freeway on-ramp. i'll tell you where things stand now coming up in a live report. oakland police shoot a man armed with a shotgun. details coming up. a cheaper price tag, faster

timeline and electrifying electri foggy start to your wednesday morning. thanks so much for joining us. 6:30 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm jon kelley. to talk about that soggy start, let's get right to meteorologist christina loren to tell us about the wet, wild wednesday. >> let's keep the ill lit rations going. you're adding more moisture. take a look at all that rainfall coming down along the peninsula, marin county just getting hammered right now.

showers will lighten up. i'll let you know when. but christie smith is live in oakland. rain showers just started. we have a lot more on the way and we're already dealing with significant aftermath. what do you have out there? >> reporter: good morning to you. we have been standing on this corner here in oakland since about 4:00 this morning and i can tell you that the rain has not let up at all. the reason why we came here is that the ground was so saturated that a 70-foot tree just toppled right over on to this freeway on-ramp, 580 eastbound at coolidge avenue. that happened about 2:50 this morning and the chp was out here blocking the lanes making sure that no one tried to get on the freeway. then caltrans came out. they brought a six-man crew. they told me -- i was speaking with one of the supervisors and he says basically in these situations, the phone rings and they bring out everyone they can to try an remove these trees. they got a six-man team out

here, brought out chainsaws, wood chippers. they got one lane open, then a second lane open. so everything back to normal now but one of the things that he told me was, when it gets like this, they just seem to move from incident to incident. so for more on how the roads are looking, i'll turn it over to mike inouye. despite the overnight rain and things like the tree down and flooding, we're relatively calm on the roadways but a lot of stuff. i can see how those crews are very busy. to the bay bridge, not far from where christie is. wind advisory for the bridge itself. the approach is moving all right. over to the south bay, 7:30 is when a bulk of traffic has been hitting because of the time change, we've seen a little bit later commute. reports of a spinout for the south bay for slick conditions down in the south bay.

lower speeds, folks. that heavy rain and wed roads may have played a role in the deadly accident on the peninsula as well overnight. one, possibly two cars struck and killed a man on 101 near 3rd avenue in san mateo about 12:30 this morning. the highway patrol shut down all southbound lanes for about an hour as they investigated and waited, unfortunately, for the coroner to arrive. all lanes are now reopened. no other injuries were reported and no word on why that man was on the freeway. in oakland, police are investigating an officer-involved shooting. it started with a confrontation between an officer and an armed man wanted by police just before 9:00 last night at 90th and cherry streets. officers shot that man. he was taken to a hospital and is listed in stable condition. no officers were hurt. caltrain could soon be getting a jolt. lawmakers want to electrify the tracks as part of the high-speed rail project.

>> reporter: the new head of the high-speed rail project spoke to hundreds of people in mountain view last night delivering the latest update. dan richard saying that the high-speed rail authority would spend about $750 million from the state to help electrify the existing caltrain tracks in the next few years. richard also talked about plans to break down the 520-moil line of the bullet train into small segments so that crews may finish it faster, maybe even cut down the price tag which right now stands at about $98 billion. commuters we spoke with are split on whether the bullet train is worth that much. >> they got like 100 planes a day going from the bay to the los angeles area. why do we need a train. i don't see nobody with the money. we're about to go in bankruptcy so i don't know where they get that money to do it. >> there are times that you just have to find a way to raise the money and i would rather cut

from other areas and make sure we can actually put people on the train than not. >> reporter: as for the electificatielect f electificati electification, it is expected by 2019 at the cost of $1.5 billion. half may be paid for by high-speed rail funds. local city leaders admit that the process of electrifying these tracks may damage city infrastructure and city streets and they are waiting for details to come out in a plan expected next week. live in san jose, stephanie chuang, "today in the bay." campbell police are convinced there may be more victims. john walker has been arrested. they say he cared for a number of kids at his home or child care centers since 2002. investigators think there is a high likelihood more children were victimized. >> the children who reported

this were obviously strong and did the right thing and we really are encouraging any other children or families who might have information regarding this investigation or other incidents to come forward. >> walker's being held without bail. if you know anything about the case, call campbell police. an 8-year-old boy recovered this morning after being shot in what police are calling a case of road rage. shot spotter picked up the gunfire near interstate 80 monday night. a man tells police he may have cut off another driver as he took the hill top driver exit there. he says that driver followed him and his family to birmingham drive where that man made a u-turn and then opened fire. a boy was hit. we're happy to report he remains in good condition this morning. his family was not hurt. the gunman got away. the sierra getting buried again today under more heavy snow. this is what it looked like last night. right now still coming down. good news for skiers in resorts who spent most of the winter fairly dry.

we just saw a live shot from up there. it is really coming down a lot more heavy than it was in those photos. >> yes. >> so much by sunday ghb fact that means so much rain down here, right? >> yeah. you know what else? we've got some interesting things happening when it comes to these systems. right now a warmer system is moving onshore. yesterday snow level was at about 5,500 feet. this morning it's jumped back up to 6,500 feet and the higher elevations will get the freshest powder. we'll see more of the slushy snow below 6,000, if we see any. as we head throughout the day today it will be active for the first part of the day. showers deteriorate a little bit for this evening into tonight. we've got some really active cells moving through hercules, you just had a really active cell pass through there. watch out for very slick conditions. rain coming down so hard, pounding on the rooftop.

make it woke you up this morning. we've got more on the way coming into redwood city, stanford and showers are about 15 minutes away from sunnyvale now, a half-hour, 45 minutes away from san jose. so it is going to get worse before it gets better throughout the day today. doppler radar also shows you, take a look at all that moisture now. we could actually see little breaks within those rain showers but now it is just turning into solid green and yellow. as we head throughout the next 15, 20 minutes, count on very slick driving conditions. we'll time these out for you. i've got your seven-day forecast. i'll let you know when you can get outdoors and what's to come with st. patrick's day. reports in the north bay, multiple reports of flooding this morning. highway 12 right around fremont drive, this was the cause of three or four cars getting stuck in the water this morning. dry creek road is where the flooding was near orchard avenue.

ed roadway has reopened but a lot of north bay flooding so keep that in mind. following traffic down along the east shore freeway. that's okay in the commute direction, slowing because of that volume of traffic now about 25 minutes off of the carquinez bridge. westbound heading off there at bay view avenue. there may be two incidents in the area. no major slowing but there is some flooding reported 580 at harrison. oakland, 880 and the shot past the coliseum. look at all those folks on the road. wet, slick conditions. 6:39. coming up on "today in the bay," is clint eastwood stepping into kardashian territory? hang in there. we'll tell you about the new reality show tied to the movie star. secretary of defense leon panetta goes to afghanistan days after a shooting spree by a u.s. soldier. do the killings affect the military mission in afghanistan? we'll have a live report from ♪

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bought em! ( clears throat ) sorry. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay. welcome back, everyone. secretary of defense leon panetta is in afghanistan today, it is a trip that was planned before u.s. soldiers' deadly shooting rampage there. "today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us live in washington to tell us what leaders are saying about if this will affect the timetable in afghanistan. >> reporter: good morning. he is the first high-level official to visit, though it was preplanned, to visit since the shooting of the 16 civilians, afghan residents. he'll be meeting with president

karzai. met with afghan leaders this morning at a base at the former taliban stronghold. taliban has vowed revenge for these killings. there's no mention in the meeting this morning of what happened, nor is he planning to go by the site. but it has certainly sparked a debate here on capitol hill about whether we should be considering getting out of afghanistan sooner. given this and the koran burnings and the growing anti-american sentiment there. but leaders on both side in the senate agree that's not the best move. on the other hand, there are two dozen senators who sent a letter to the white house, to president obama, saying that this war is coo costly, we can't seem to meet or objectives. it is time to come home. not as late as 241014. allegedly this morning there is new surveillance video of the soldier who carried out those murders, walking on to the base, laying down and putting his hands up to surrender. >> such a tragedy there.

thank you. 6:43. 15 minutes of uninterrupted news coming up. mother nature wreaking a little bit of havoc overnight. find out how crews got this off and on-ramp next in a live report. plus, could apple stock double again? someer weool lk a we'll look at their reasoning coming up. gasoline that cleans. chevron with techron. care for your car.

want to check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. we know the rain is coming down. it is going to come for several days. what about the potential for flooding? >> definitely likely. our highways just aren't equipped to receive rainfall at the rate it is coming down right now. we have so much coming down in such a short time frame. it has nowhere to go. so yeah, flooding definitely likely, especially construction

zones, higher elevations. rainfall totals above 1,000 feet, especially santa cruz mountains, upwards of six inches, maybe eight inches of rain. that is a lot of rain over the course of six or seven days. you can see from this live picture it is not just showers we are dealing with this morning. we have fog out there and wind. winter weather driving conditions just about all day long. we are going to see the rain lighten up later on this afternoon but your highways are still going to be nice and slick. really no opportunity to dry out with more rain on the way. two additional systems, very fast moving showers right now. light, moderate rain coming downplayses like vallejo, richmond just got hit pretty hard and concord, ten minutes away from you. south bay relatively dry all morning long but santa cruz mountains holding the showers back. that continues to be the case. but san jose, you will not remain out of the woods for long. those showers are about 15, 20 minutes away. by 1:00 p.m. most of the heavy rain concentrated south of the golden gate bridge on the south

end of the bay area. we'll continue to see those showers lighten up by about 5:00 p.m. but expect a slow moving drive home as those winds will continue. we'll have aftermath. talking about debris on the roadways, saturated highways, could see more downed trees as this wind wears down those trees in the saturated soil so we are looking for more of that, rockslides as well. we'll keep you updated. let's talk about the good news for the snowboarders. two feet of fresh powder before friday. above 7,000 feet -- kirkwood -- a whopping four to six feet of fresh powder! as we finish the week, that's the good news with all of this. we need that rain to replenish our moisture supply for the summer months. but it's something that may put a damper on st. patrick's day but without a rainbow, you don't get a rainbow on st. patrick's day. christie smith is live in oakland. i've been watching the radar in

oakland, it has been relentless just coming down over you. now some of that aftermath already taking place out there. we had a downed tree earlier, huh? >> reporter: absolutely. this rain is stubborn. we've been standing here since 4:00 this morning and it hasn't let up at all. the ground so saturated that a 70-foot tall tree came toppling over this morning, about 2:50, landed on eastbound 580 on-ramp here at coolidge avenue in oakland. caltrans came out pretty quickly, shut the ramp down and directed traffic away from this as they brought out a wood chipper and chainsaws and made pretty quick work of it. one thing that was interesting, it was so soggy out here, they said their wood chipper got clogged because the tree and leaves were just so wet. but they got it going again and about 6:00 this morning had both lanes back open. but one of the things that they told me before they left is that

they just expect these kinds of things to continue throughout the morning. for more on how the commute is looking, i'll turn it over to mike. first of all, thank you for being out there in the rain to bring us those updates. crews very busy likely all over the place. christie smith's report filed right here, coolidge avenue just off 580. that's re-opened flooding the westbound 580. maybe crews had to go help with drainage there. slower drive 35 minutes off the carquinez bridge and down to the bay bridge toll plaza. we do have opposite your commute heading over to the rich mon san rafael bridge an accident clearing around bay view. haven't seen a lot of slowing there. we do see some slowing at the castro valley y. 580 jams up over toward 238. southbound 280 also slowing. we'll lower those speeds through transitions because slick roadways and windy conditions creating a lot of spinouts. a 21 minute drive from

livermore slowing through pleasanton. slowing south through sunol likely getting hit with slick conditions and maybe gusty winds over those hills as well throughout 680 and the drive. northbound 101 slow here, 85, 87 and a rock across highway 17. something to consider. a man died overnight after being hit on highway 101 out on the peninsula. one, possibly two cars struck the man near 3rd avenue and san mateo about 12:30 this morning. all southbound lanes were closed for about an hour. the highway patrol investigated. all lanes we can report are back open now. also this morning, oakland's police investigating an officer-involved shooting. it started with a confrontation between an officer and a man armed with a shotgun just before 9:00 last night. at 90th and cherry streets. no information at this point about what caused the officer to shoot the man. investigators do say he was

wanted by police and he's expected to recover. two people are in the hospital this morning after a pair of violent incidents within minutes of each other in san francisco. around 3:10 this morning police were called to the area of larkin and ellis. they found a man in his 20s shot once. he was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. in a separate incident, police found a man in his 40s stabbed at 7th and stevenson near market street around 3:15. that victim also went to the hospital but police say his injuries are life threatening. a new warning from peninsula police about a traveling con man. menlo park police say simon gann, one of the notorious gann twins. the palo alto weekly says gann is out on parole and there are reports he's back to his old tricks. gann usually poses as a math expert or business tycoon who needs to recover from losing his passport or wallet. two years ago he convinced a menlo park woman to give him

$1,900. alameda county is backing off a plan to force drug companies to take back unused prescriptions. the board of supervisors has tabled the proposal to make pharmaceutical companies pay for their county's drug take-back program until it hears from drug manufacturers. those companies have already complained the ordinance is unnecessary because people can get rid of unwanted drugs by throwing them out or flushing them. critics say flushing drugs is a bad idea because that contaminates water supplies. a shocking discovery after a high-speed chase south of los angeles. the chp forced this driver to crash his car to end the chase almost an hour after this started. that was in the city of bell. but inside the car was the driver and a passenger and a baby was there in the car seat. chp says the child did not appear to be injured. 6:53 right now. president obama is welcoming britain's prime minister at the white house right now. "today in the bay's" marla tellez is in our newsroom with

this morning's headlines. >> reporter: good morning. last night the two leaders were taking in some march madness basketball in bdayton, ohio. this morning though it is all business at the white house. just minutes ago president obama and british prime minister david cameron were treated to a very elaborate ceremony outside the white house complete with a 19-gun salute. this is the second day of cameron's u.s. trip. today they're going to hold a joint news conference and they are expected to talk about the upcoming nato and g-8 summits. the latest in iran and afghanistan. in switzerland officials are investigating a bus crash that killed 28 people. 22 of the dead are 12-year-old belgian students. six others, their parents. group was returning from a school ski trip when officials say the bus slammed into a tunnel wall in switzerland. 24 other students are in the hospital this morning. now to italy where there are a whole lot of empty buses and

stranded commuters because bus and metro drivers are in the midst of a four-hour strike across the country and that has brought the public transportation system to a halt in the middle of the morning commute. workers are protesting government budget cuts. union members fear their industry will be privatized and they say that would lead to wage and job cuts. jon? >> marla, thank you very much. a long-time member of the rock band the doobie brothers has passed away. the drummer died peacefully monday at his home in wyoming after a battle with cancer. friends say he was a fighter and he will be greatly missed. he began playing drums at the age of 12 and joined san jose's doobie brothers back in 1971 after auditioning at bimbo's in san francisco. he was 65. it is 6:55 right now. the "today" show is coming up next. matt lauer shows us what they're working on this morning. >> jon and laura, good morning. coming up on a wednesday here on

"today," a very big night for rick santorum. mitt romney took hawaii but is h grasp on the republican nomination slipping away? and what about newt gingrich? a new twist at nicollette sheridan's unlawful termination trial. is the rest of her case in jeopardy? plus, does spring's early arrival have you sniffling and sneezing? what you can do to get some relief from what could be one of the worst allergy seasons in years. we've got those stories and we'll catch up with oscar winners george clooney and robert de niro as we get started on a wednesday morning right here on "today." jon and laura, back to you. a popular south bay park has been spared from the state closure list. an announcement came today that castle rock state park will receive a $250,000 donation from a local non-profit group. that's enough money to keep the park open for at least another

year. the deal will also open 1,300 acres of park land that's been closed to the public for more than a decade. just last year governor brown announced the closure of 70 state parks including castle rock all due to budget cuts. let's go dance. uc men's berkeley basketball team will play its first an hopefully not last games of the 2012 ncaa tournament tonight. golden bears play south florida at 6:10. if the bears win they make it into the field of 64 teams that make up the ncaa tournament. cal is favored to win tonight. little favoritism here? well, yeah. st. mary's men's basketball team will board a plane this morning bound for omaha. >> go ahead, cheer. it's your school. >> they'll play their first game of the tournament against purdue this friday. st. mary's is the seventh seed in the midwest bracket. they urge their fans to come see them off. go gales! san francisco's outside lands music festival will be

back for another year despite complaints from neighbors august 10-12 at golden gate park. a limited amount of tickets go on sale this friday. people living near the park have complained about the event that it again jats a l generates a lot of noise and music and traffic but it also generated $60 million for san francisco's economy last year. clint eastwood will be a supporting player on a tv show. the show is called "mrs. eastwood and company." it premiers on may 20th on e! network. it will spotlight clint eastwood's wife dina who's been married to the oscar winning actor and director since 1996. it is filmed in the family's hometown of caramel. another positive day on markets after a spectacular day yesterday. scott mcgrew joins us now with all the numbers sglp let's go live to the big board in new york city where the dow

industrials are up again this morning. te to the positive at 13,207 afr a spectacular day yesterday. analysts at morgan stanley say they expect apple shares to be worth $960 eventually. pointing out business is quickly adopting the ipad. you have china and frankly the expectation that when the iphone 5 comes out, lots of people will dump their yucky old iphone 4ss and buy the new iphone 5. you hate to be taken for granted but you know exactly what's going to happen. apple stock up 2.5% on that news. >> wow. >> wow when it comes to the forecast, too. soggy days ahead. >> today we've got a lot of rain on the radar right now. we'll continue to track these showers throughout the "today" show and i'll have updates on my facebook page all day. two accidents in san jose, one a spinout, slick roads. rain is coming and so is the commute. this will be a tough one for san jose and the vicinity. bay brge