>> the worry grows for a missing mother as friends begin to wonder if she's still alive. this just two days after her son killed his sister and then turned the gun on himself. >> a fire destroys a home in the north bay and poses a risk. why crews say it was what was inside the home that made it tough to fight. >> reporter: got to have. we're live in san francisco with the people who are out here waiting rain or shine to get their hands on the new ipad. we'll take you here live. >> we give you a live look outside at the golden gate bridge. it looks fairly dry but

meteorologist christina loren says brace yourselves, the rain will be coming. it's friday, march 16, "today in the bay." >> good morning. it is 4:31. >> lots to get to this morning. we're talking about the forecast. want to check in with meteorologist christina loren. when's the storm coming in? >> it's coming in right now in time for the morning broadcast, wouldn't you figure. so as we head throughout the morning hours we're going to see these showers move on shore, san francisco get ready. about 15 minutes out from a batch of rain. look what's headed our way as we head throughout the second half of your day. we're talking heavy downpours, possibly thunderstorms and very gusty winds. we'll let you know how many cities will pick up we're talking maybe two inches of additional rain. so a lot to go through. first, mike has an incident in the east bay. >> fortunately it sounds like

it's not weather related but again, we watch for the smaller incidents turning severe. this is eastbound 80 right around richmond parkway. sounds like the off ramp affected by shubt clear in minutes. it's where the construction in the area around hercules, has not happened because of the rain. we'll give you a live look and show you what it's like at the toll plaza. things are starting to dry out. we'll watch and track it during the morning commute. >> thank you, mike. >> this morning friends praying a 52-year-old mother is found alive and hopefully soon. >> martha gutierrez has been missing since wednesday night when her son an iraq war veteran killed his sister and himself. friends of 11-year-old lucero, police say her older brother abel gutierrez shot her, then

killed himself. police say there is evidence at the scene to suggest their mother is injured or even dead. >> martha would be here if her daughter was gone. martha would be right here. >> neighbors and police say gutierrez recently returned from serving in iraq and may have been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. >> so very sad. a dangerous situation for napa firefighters as weapons and ammunition go up in flames. the fire starting in the garage of a house on mustang road last night. it quickly spread to the rest of the house. firefighters had to keep their distance as they fought the flames because ammunition stored inside was exploding. the homeowner a man in his 70s did get out safely. the home, a total loss. tenants of an oakland building where a car caught fire will have to find a new place to stay. the manager of the complex on adams street said damage to the

electric system made the property uninhabitable. the manager says it could take up to 90 days to fix the electrical system. >> it's 4:33. a warning to watch for falling trees as the forecast continues to call for rain. we're learning more about the man killed when a tree came down on highway 13. it's an update to a story we brought you yesterday. we learned the victim is 19-year-old berkeley student kevin lacanlale. he and three passengers were on the side of the road after hitting that tree. that is when a second driver hit him and careened into lacanlale, killing him. keep an eye on trees that may be in danger of falling. >> the historic santa cruz beach boardwalk is being threatened by the wet weather. the river has changed its path and is eroding the sand underneath. bulldozers are being used to

build a berm. a wooden staircase has already collapsed. we'll be tracking the storm all morning long. check out nbcbayarea.com and our facebook page for the latest information. >> there is a new push to remove san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi from office. the sheriff pleading guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment to avoid a trial on charges of bruising his wife's arm during a new year's eve argument. now a group fighting domestic violence is calling on mayor ed lee to remove mirkarimi from office. >> isn't that really what it's about, trust. it's not whether you can carry a gun, it's not whether you can -- how much money you can spend to keep yourself out of jail. it's about trust. >> mirkarimi will be officially sentenced on monday. san francisco d.a. telling the chronicle he will ask to address the court at that time saying he has concerns about mirkarimi's plea. >> it is 4:35.

a judge may decide to release a report on the pepper spray incidents at uc davis. the judge indicated he plans to deny a request to keep the report under wraps. the campus police union wants it sealed saying it contained confidential information about the officers involved. the judge could release the report this morning or stay his decision for two weeks if the union wants to file an additional appeal. >> a question, ready. >> i think so. >> brace yourself for that i-frenzy. the ipad going on sale in a few hours. >> customers are lined up outside apple stores to get their hands on the third generation model. bob redell is live at the downtown san francisco apple store. what's it look like out there? >> reporter: that's what everyone is hoping to get their hands on in under 3 1/2 hours when the store opens. looking at the new ipad, what makes it different is that it's got better resolution which

might be hard to tell on our shot here. it's got a faster processor and allows you to dictate your e-mail. there is a good -- under 100 people here outside the store on stockton off union square. some have been here since around 9:30 last night. you've been here since midnight. why stand out in the rain on a friday morning? >> well, i heard on twitter that the orders were getting backlogged, that they weren't going to be able to be delivered on the same day. >> reporter: you've got to have it now because? >> i like to make apps for the ipad. you know, you can for $100 become a developer and maybe whatever app you want. you can i couldn't tell for yourself. >> for business. >> yeah. and pleasure. >> reporter: best of luck. stay dry. the rain's kind of let up. you've been out here since, let me guess, probably -- >> 1:30.

>> why? >> the hat on my head. i'm -- the ipads i get are not for me, they are for people who hired me through the service. >> reporter: how much you making? >> enough. >> reporter: 50 buck as pop? >> it's more than that but -- we don't like to be too pub wlik the pricing on things like that. it's a market place for people to hire people for simple tasks. >> reporter: best of luck to you. and there's also going to be protesters here around 8:00, at different locations throughout country, these are people who are upset with the work conditions in china where a lot of these apple products are made and out here demanding better working conditions for the people putting these things together. bob redell, nbc bay area news. >> we wondered if we can get a task rabbit person.

>> probably find somebody. >> what about the forecast? standing outside i think you better have an umbrella handy. >> yeah, you know, it's funny because we're going to watch these showers come down on all of those people waiting in line this morning. take a look what's headed their way, moderate showers on the way to san francisco. as we head through the next half hour or so, mill valley right now getting your first action of the morning. take a look what's headed our way throughout the day today. we've got a lot of rain, potential for flooding, thunderstorms, really tricky forecast for today. but what i can tell you is we're going to wait until the second half of the day before this moves into the north bay so. for us in san jose, wait for the rain, it is on its way. but we're not going to see it probably until tonight. 55 degrees in oakland, 55 in concord. we stop the clock at 9:00 a.m., starting to get showers up in the north bay. san jose stays dry, we continue the stop at 9:00 p.m., no longer dry in the south bay.

look how much rain will come through between the hours of 7:00 and 11:00 tonight. we could be talking about two inches, it just depends where the heaviest bands end up. we'll continue to find this out. i'll let you know what you can expect for the weekend. tomorrow is st. paddy's day. you'll want to bring your umbrella. we have a lot to talk about. first, mike has an incident this morning. >> we're going to give you that accident you told them about last time. the accident now a past situation. the accident has cleared now eastbound 80 at richmond parkway. the freeway hasn't really slowed as a result. and no slowing in the opposite direction down to the bay bridge. 18 minutes. richmond bridge, bay bridge, no wind advisories but christine is talking about changing conditions especially later in the day. then we continue to watch areas like the one i circled where four trees reported down in the morning the last two days, more around bay area.

beware it could happen again because the trees and the rain continue to be affected by the system. heading out eastbound 580 may slow. folks heading to the sierra, one of the reason this is afternoon. bring those chains. that will play a factor if that's where you're heading. and let's get a live look. the golden gate bridge, a sheen on the roadway there is and we have a nice smooth drive out of the north bay. visibilities fine now. but again, the slippery roads and the off ramp could may a factor. so be careful. back to you. >> thanks, mike. new details coming out about the accused gun man behind the shooting spree in afghanistan. how the soldier's lawyer is responding to rumors he was upset about marital problems before the shooting. >> plus, democrats on the offensive after letting republican candidates take their punches president obama swinging back.

we'll have that next. >> and businesses looking forward to st. patrick's day this weekend. why this year's wearing all of the green could have people spending more green. >> you know who i am, mo green. i digress. for your news, weather, and traffic updates check us out onk search nbc bay area news. b

>> welcome back. we give you a peaceful look over

san francisco. it's early so it's kind of dark out there but not going to be peaceful for long according to meteorologist christina loren, rain getting ready to dump all over the bay area. grab an umbrella. the time 4:44. >> the attorney for the army staff sergeant accused of gunning down 16 afghan civilians says marital problems did not play a role in the shooting spree. >> decorated professional soldier, never been in trouble of any kind before, very happily married, despite rumors to the contrary. >> the soldier was serving his fourth combat tour and his attorney says he saw his friend's leg blown off a day before the rampage. u.s. military officials are planning to move the soldier to the u.s. nbc news has learned that the soldier's name will be released today. >> president obama and vice president biden officially begin their push this week for re-election. they are taking shots at the

republican candidates pointing out their differences in philosophy. vice president biden telling auto workers in ohio republicans would have let them go bankrupt. president obama lashing out at republicans' promises of cheaper gas. >> start acting like we've got a magic wand and we'll give you cheap gas forever. if you just elect us. they dismiss wind power. they dismiss solar power. they make jokes about biofuels. they were against raising fuel standards. >> if he wants to represent saudi oil and algae i'll be happy to he want american oilnd a american jobs and we'll see this fall who the american people want to elect. >> president obama has more campaign events scheduled today in chicago and in atlanta. >> wall street hopes to continue its winning streak today for a check of the markets we turn to jackie deangelis. good morning. >> good morning to you. the futures are pointing to a slightly higher open now as we

look ahead to consumer sentiment and cpi data later this morning. the major u.s. indices continued their rally and hit new highs. this supported by positive corporate guidance, financial stocks extended their gains. the dow ended the session higher for the seventh day up 59 points to 13,252, the nasdaq ended higher up 16 points to 3,056 and the s&p 500 closing above 1400 for the first time in four years. ending up eight points to 1403. americans are planning on spending mayor green a little more than usual this st. patrick's day weekend according to consumer spending firm big insight. americans will spend $39 on the holiday, $4.5 billion. only about 12% of americans are of irish decent yet 54% of the respondents plan on celebrating the holiday, the highest number in the survey's 9-year history. back over to you.

>> thank you. >> a michigan community cleaning up after a tornado ripped through the area. the twister was reported in the town of dexter which is near ann arbor. officials say more than 100 homes were significantly damaged in the town and surrounding area. a total of 13 homes were destroyed there. that's a mess. the tornado part of the storm system which packed hail, heavy rain. so far we're happy to report no injuries have been reported. >> wow, they were hit there. want to check our forecast now. the storm coming our way. >> storm coming our way, the same system will likely wreak havoc in the midwest toward the middle of next week. these systems move from west to east across the united states. so this one is a mean system packing a lot of energy. it's not only going to wreak havoc for us, it's going to head across the u.s. and dump rain. you can see the heaviest of the

moisture is coming down but it's actually amplifying. look at that convection, boom, all of that, we have a lot of rain on the way as we head throughout day and it's just starting to get active. so in san francisco you might find showers as we head through the next few minutes. we're looking good, 55 in livermore. we don't have showers at this point but boy, we've got a lot of rain on the way. it looks like this. we stop the clock at 11:00 a.m. we meet back her for the 11:00 a.m. broadcast we'll track showers in san jose. 9:00 p.m., the heaviest of the rain in the south bay. look at that, after passing through santa rosa and napa, potentially bringing two to three inches of additional rain to the north bay. so you want to take it easy out there. we haven't had much drying out so it's not going to have anywhere to go. flooding is likely. saturday a little break, then

sunday more rain. rain through tuesday, first day of spring we get a break. >> 4:49. safety concerns have shut down a nuclear reactor on the california coast indefinitely. the generating station is north of san diego. inspectors turned off reactor 3 after discovering a water leak. it later found tubes had become so frail tests found they could rupture and release radioactive water. traces of radiation did escape. there was no danger to workers or neighbors. >> still ahead we answer the burning question, where do you get best pizza. it's here in the bay area. we'll tell you which chain won that award. >> plus, a much-needed win for the sharkses as a key player returns to the ice. >> a first-of-a-kind car dealership opening in the south bay. we'll let you know why this is

so unique. >> no, none of those cars are on this cartoon. i'll show you what's going on as the rain comes in.

>> welcome back everyone. a live look outside from the south bay this morning. a little calm before the storm. there is another one headed our way, series, in fact. a pretty wet weekend. we'll check your forecast. >> the san jose sharks hoping to keep their playoff dreams alive as they took on the predators. martin halve lick back, he has been without an injury. predators had a 1-0 lead in the third period until joe thorton scores. the game goes to a shootout. that is good enough for the sharks to bag the victory. one more look. >> nice. >> 2-1. >> they take on the purdue boilermakers. >> why are you excited? >> i'm a gael. they hope they can rely on past experience. they still have seven players on

the team from 2010 and made the sweet 16 should i remind you. st. mary's fans will have viewing parties. we're going to have one here in the south bay, i'll put a list on my facebook page. >> right in the newsroom. >> we're having one. i don't know what you mean. go gaels. 4:27 pacific. >> you are a little biased. >> full disclosure. >> i'm cheering for the gaels now. >> you went to school there. mike inouye. what's happening there with the traffic? >> first i have full disclosure, my school, not in the tournament. we have a tradition, not year. the north bay, westbound 80 right around the american canyon exit. we had a disabled rig in the lanes for a period of time. looks like from the chp report

all activity cleared. westbound 80 is fine as you approach highway 37. coming down into vallejo approaching the carquinez bridge. both bridges clear of wind or fog but of course conditions will change. we'll get you a live look and see how things are shaping up for the south bay. the headlights coming toward us, approaching, 880 to the left, 17 to the right and both reporting a smooth drive but again, as the rain comes into the area over the morning and especially the evening hours. we'll watch that as that affects your commute right now so far so good on the freeways. back to you. >> mike, thank you. speaking of automobiles a unique car dealership opening up here in the heart of silicon valley. coda opening its first dealership in santa claire. the first has been sold and gone to a redwood city man. he'll pick up his car this morning. it's an all electric vehicle

manufactured in benicia. the dealership we're hearing is the first all electric dealership in northern california. >> here's good news for you. pizza fans, you won't have to go far for the best pizza in the nation. >> because you find it right here in the bay area. what is it? >> pizza my heart. >> won the international pizza challenge in las vegas. the first u.s. pie to win this prize since the contest started in 2008. pizza my heart did win best in the west. that qualified the restaurant for the top prize in vegas. the pizza scoring high on get this, crust, sauce, cheese, and overall taste. >> that's the pie. the chain opened its first restaurant in 1981 and now 21 locations around the bay and monterey and now it's world famous. >> run by good people. >> i can eat pizza any time of the day.

we're following the aftermath of that gilroy murder-suicide. an iraq war veteran kills his younger sister, then himself. and the mother is still missing. we'll have a live report. >> and another h pg&e&e. pg&e. e settlementhe utilityas to pay.