we hope to make it worth your while. i'm garvin thomas and he's rob mayeda and he'll tell you about the rain. >> i'm just the messenger. for your outdoor plans, plan for the morning because we have some rain coming back in. the other chilly start, 20s on the map like we had earlier this week, 30s and 40s outside, brief sunshine and a weather system approaching the coast, we'll get mostly cloudy skitz into the afternoon and by the afternoon you'll start to see the rain move back into the bay area, light to moderate at times, maybe a little bit heavier in the south bay as a lot of this energy swings into central and southern california overnight tonight into tomorrow so temperatures will be in the 40s to low 50s in the north bay, right around 1:00, mid-50s briefly in the south bay and as the rain starts to fall out it will cool down, temperatures before 5:00. we'll let you know how much the rain will stick around for your sunday forecast in a few minutes. >> thank you very much. a strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake near alaska sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of

miles to the alaskan and canadian coastline overnight. the quake struck around 1:00 this morning, 60 miles west of craig, alaska. the tsunami warning was issued from alaska to the northern tip of vancouver island, canada. some areas were seeing small sea level changes. the quake was widely felt but as of now, there are no reports of any major damage. also new this morning a man is in critical condition after being found lying on the side of the road in santa rosa. police found the man lying unconscious in the roadway on the 1400 black of peterson lane just after 9:00 last night. he had serious wounds to his head. it's unclear what caused his injuries or if he will survive. there are reports a white car with two men inside leaving the area. police shut down sections of the roadway until 3:00 this morning in order to investigate. not just one family but an entire community has lost a loved one, 19-year-old alyssa

byrne was found dead in the snow in south lake tahoe yesterday morning. last night, hundreds of people gathered at byrne's alma mater, casa grande high school in petaluma to remember the young woman. many left candles, notes and flowers. the teenager who graduated in 2011 disappeared in south lake tahoe where she was with friends for new year's. >> she was the kind of person that just lit up the room right when she walked in, it breaks my heart to see it gone. >> you see it on tv all the time, you never think it will happen to your family. when it does you get a hole in your heart. you can't replace family. >> byrne was known for her love of sports especially lacrosse, which she played at high school. after graduation she coached a youth team and many of her youth players and their parents were at the vigil as well. byrne's family says alyssa taught them to live life to the fullest and not take anything for granted. they say she would have been

humbled by the outpouring and support in her hometown of petaluma. several restaurants in petaluma were planning fund-raisers to help support the serve effort. the money will go to the family for funeral costs and other expenses. pongo's is donating 15% of its sales. petaluma is a close-knit community. her kids know alyssa and wanted to do something to help. >> this is my worst nightmare coming true for another mom so i get very emotional being a mom of three kids, one of them is 16 and twins that are 13, so i just hope that they can hang on to any hope that they have, and whatever we can do to help, we're going to do it. >> here are some of the dine and donate events taking place, later today beyond the glory is donating 10% of its sales to the family, pongo's kitchen & tap tomorrow from 5:00 to 8:00 and mi pueblo from 5:00 to 9:00 on

monday. the byrne family is still asking the question what happened to alyssa new year's eve. how did her body end up in a snowbank? it was discovered a half mile from the music festival but in the opposite direction of the hotel where she was staying. as of now investigators say they do not suspect foul play but haven't determined a cause of death. her friends are now questioning the sheriff's department theory of how she died. here's "today in the bay" monti francis. >> it is with deep regret we announce the discovery of alyssa byrne. >> reporter: a high snowbank obstructed searchers for three years until a utility worker in an elevated truck saw the body of alyssa byrne. for her friends it was the worst news partner. >> everyone's warned about, everyone's parents warned us out before we left.

>> reporter: friends say alyssa liked to wander off by herself and the road where her body was found lies between the horizon hotel where she was staying and the concert venue. >> at this time in their investigation, they do not see any outward signs of trauma. >> reporter: the douglas county sheriff's department says it's likely alyssa was among the many concertgoers who decided to walk back from the concert because the line for the shuttle buses was too long. it contradicts a statement from one of her friends who investigators say was the last to see alyssa alive. he said he ran into alyssa at the hotel after midnight new year's day and she was intoxicated or under the influence of some drug. investigators say alex was probably mistaken but they haven't completely discounted his story. >> it's possible did she go to the casino, return to the event and come back, that's a possibility. those are theories we'll look into. >> byrne's friend micah alex is

sure he saw alyssa at the hotel between 10:30 and 12:00 in the morning on new year's day. investigators say the tweets alyssa sent earlier in the day referencing a fallout with a friend do not appear to have factored in her death. the autopsy could take up to a month to determine the cause of death. new details this morning in the chandra levy murder, more than 11 years after the modesto native vanished the case takes another twist. the modesto bee says prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangled in a secret session for nearly two hours yesterday discussing information that could undermine a prosecution witness and possibly change the outcome of the trial. in 2010 a jury found ingmar guandeke guilty after attacking her on a washington, d.c., park, in 2001 and killing her. initially it centered on gary condit who levy interned for at the time of her disappearance.

condit was never a suspect in the case. javier garcia, 26-year-old lucas anderson and 21-year-old deangelo austin are accused of breaking into the mansion of ravi kumra last november and killing him. the men are also charged with beating his ex-wife during the invasion. the two were still living together though divorced. in the courtroom yesterday neither suspect acknowledged the other in any way, all three men are scheduled to enter their pleas on february 4th. a fourth suspect who is charged with being an accessory after the fact, 22-year-old raven dixon, was not in court. much more ahead for you on "today in the bay." coming up, new details about what may have sparked that massive refinery fire in richmond. plus flashy ads are dangerous distractions. new research on what may be causing drivers to lose focus on our freeways. ♪

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police want to you take a close look at these surveillance photos this morning. they believe the woman seen here stole a credit card from dominican hospital in santa cruz, then wracked up a big bill at various stores in capitola including target and coach. she made thousands of dollars in purchases. if you recognize this woman you're asked to call the capitola police department. victoria turns out isn't the only one with a secret. man from santa cruz is behind bars for violating the terms of his probation. police responding to a 911 call say they found 47-year-old conrad smith arguing with his mother. smith was also in possession of women's underwear and wearing women's panties. he has a long history of stealing women's undergarments including a 2011 conviction for taking bras and underwear from an apartment complex laundry room. the probation ban smith from possessing women's underwear. smith was booked into santa cruz county jail for resisting arrest and violating probation.

he's expected to be in court on monday. they deliberately hid millions of dollars, that's how the state attorney general describes the scandal surrounding the california parks department. new report says the highest levels parks administrators were afraid lawmakers would cut the department's budget if they revealed a secret fund exists, apparently started in 1987 by a former deputy director. the money was kept for more than a decade growing to as much as $29 million in 2003. the park's director who was fired last year continues to deny she knew about the money, none of which was stolen or misspent, just hidden. they battled the fire but did they also start it by accident? a new federal investigation says firefighters may have ignited that massive fire at chevron's oil refinery in richmond back in august. chevron says its firefighters have responded to a report of a small leak in a 40-year-old pipe. investigators now say where that pipe failed the line appears to have been punctured from the

outside. the damage could have happened accidentally as firefighters tore away the insulation. we've got lots more ahead for you on "today in the bay." coming up a local case with national implications the loophole a bay area man has uncovered in the carpool lane rules. and here's a live look out at the embarcadero, clouds thickening up as we bring rain back into your weekend forecast, we'll look at that and how much rain you can expect this weekend when we come right back. (woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime--

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says it's 100 calories a serving. that's right. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. my world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon...creamy cheese... [ whispers ] 100 calories... say it again... [ whispers ] 100 calories... ma'am, hello? ma'am? [ female announcer ] find progresso light for a great price today at your local safeway store. welcome back to the broadcast, 7:14 is the time. looking at the skies and the streets of san francisco this saturday morning a few people getting out before the rain comes. when is that going to happen? rob mayeda will be here in a couple of minutes to let you know. too bright and too dangerous, that's how drivers describe digital billboards. 2006 virginia tech study found when drivers take their eyes off

the road for more than two seconds it greatly increases the risk of an accident. recent swedish study says drivers look at digital billboards for about two seconds. the federal highway administration says they do not pose a danger but many drivers say they do. >> you see it flashing in front of your face it throws you off when driving and try to pay attention to the road and all the crazy drivers. >> digital billboards have been around since 2007 when the fha gave the green light to install them. 30 states including california allow the digital billboards. if you get caught it's a heavy fine driving in the carpool lane alone but a bay area man says he wasn't really alone and this is where it gets legally tricky and this case could have national impact. "today in the bay's" jean ellie has it shows. >> reporter: jonathan freeman wants his day in court, in october he intentionally drove by himself in the carpool lane

and got a ticket. >> it took me ten years to get a ticket. >> reporter: but he says he wasn't really alone. he had his corporation papers along for the ride. >> family foundation. i got papers here for a person and he just yelled at me and said you need two persons in the car. i said i got them. >> reporter: under the law a corporation is a person, the carpool lane sign says two persons must be in the car. freeman says he's just taking advantage of corporate power. >> i'm just taking the power and rushing the power and using it for my service for driving in the carpool lane. >> it's a little bit more of a stretch. >> reporter: usf law professor robert talbot sees the road freeman is going down but says the intense of the carpool lane law is to get cars off the road and freeman is steering away from the intent of the law. >> the court might say well it says person, and a corporation is a person, so that will work for a carpool lane, but i doubt

it. >> reporter: freeman is hoping to take his case well beyond a marin traffic hearing. he wants it debated in a higher court. >> to turn this legal definition on its head. >> reporter: he's got the ticket he hopes will shift the conversation into high gear. jean ellie, "today in the bay." >> no more free parking on sundays in san francisco. starting tomorrow all meter also operate seven days a week. most sunday meters will operate from noon to 6:00 p.m. there will be warnings for the next three weekends, full enforcement will take place at the end of the month. >> this program allows congestion to be relieved, parking more available and businesses to thrive because park something more available for people coming to san francisco to shop. >> one positive, the one-hour time limits will increase to two-hour parking for all meters in the city.

time to get a we can check of your weekend forecast. rob mayeda is here to do just that. >> good morning, garvin. off to a pretty cool start this morning. to give you an idea of how cold the week has been i'm only saying mid-30s and low 30s in the coldest spots this morning as opposed to the 20s we had earlier this beak. we've got clouds spilling in at least some hints of sunny breaks to come there in san jose right now, some clear skies off to the east but the clouds continue to roll in. one of the reasons why we're in the 40s across the south bay, but into fairfield, 31 chilly degrees this morning, 34 in santa rosa, 39 in napa, not much wind right now though you'll notice later on the winds picking up out of the south during the afternoon from 10 to 20 miles per hour. some of our weather headlines for you today, rain coming back in, we wish we could keep those 60s from yesterday's highs into today's forecast, but we're going to see a cloudy and cooler day today. rain changing over to showers and now it appears a little more quickly than we thought for sunday so the second half of the weekend is looking better for seeing some sunshine and outdoor

plans and we'll stay dry to start the work week and turning windy and cooler once again approaching wednesday. right now the radar is dry well off to the west, you can see over my shoulder there a little bit showing up but the main system itself just a few hours away, and a lot of this energy is going to kind of split and move towards central and southern california so during the day today you'll notice maybe some sun early, the rain comes sweeping on in as we go into the evening and then the system will kind of pivot and start to move to the south. you could see how the rain is wrapping up to the north bay overnight and into tomorrow morning as some north winds pick up, that will help to clear out our skies, dry things out for sunday afternoon, a trend that will take us into monday with just some partly cloudy skies, things looking dry to start the work week. rainfall totals we're looking at maybe up to a half inch in some of the wetter places but you can see nothing like the systems we had a few weekends back, we're measuring rain by the inches, so this will wet the ground at times but nothing too heavy expected out of the system as we head through the afternoon and

evening. highs today mid-50s in san jose, maybe by lunch time we'll see as the rain starts to fly. temperature also come down during the afternoon so a cool day, low 50s around the trivalley and into the delta and for the north bay 40s and 50s for the highs. you'll see winds kicking up into the afternoon and evening. we'll see rain at times for today into tomorrow morning, very early tomorrow morning, i think in the afternoon we're going to dry out. clearing and cool, mostly sunny and then wednesday, that system coming in is going to be a very blustery one. notice the temperatures after wednesday dropping off. cold system which of course means more snow in the sierra so the snowpack will continue to build. >> more frosty windshields. rob thank you very much. still lots ahead on "today in the bay." coming up the weapons used in some of the nation's deadliest mass shootings but california's crackdown isn't keeping them out of the state. the restrictions coming up in our reality check.

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she is a symbol of strength and courage for the small town of newtown, connecticut. former arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords met with local and state officials in newtown yesterday and also met with the families of the victims of the deadly shooting that took the lives of 20 students and six staff members at sandy hook elementary school three weeks ago. next tuesday marks the second anniversary of the tucson shooting massae which left give fords partially blind and par liszed. six people killed in that shooting including a 9-year-old girl. jar jar jared loughman was sentenced to life. a gun show is being shown by the westchester collectors at the stanford plaza hotel, 40 miles from newtown.

stanford's mayor says the timing of the event is not right only three weeks after the sandy hook shooting. he's organiencouraging organize reschedule the show. >> when you think of gun shows, this is not your typical gun show. >> the captain says the show mainly attracts weapons collectors and westchester has put on the show for seven of the past eight years with no problems. police will be in there in force to make sure every law is followed to a "t." as the debate over guns continues, a measure is looking to be reinstated. sam brock shows us why california's assault weapon ban while arguably the toughest in the country might not be that restrictive after all. >> the chair will administer the oath of office. >> reporter: congressional members had barely raised their right arms thursday to start the

new session, and ten bills dealing with gun control were already filed, some echo gun laws already in place in california, like a ban on most firearms described as assault weapons. >> there is no question of a doubt that california is the most gun controlled state in the country. >> reporter: yet despite arguably the toughest laws in the nation i was able to sit at my computer google ar-15 california and come up with a website i can put ar-15s deemed "california legal." we asked the codirector of the criminal justice center robert weisberg to explain the phenomenon. >> the problem with most assault weapons bans is that it's really, really complicated. you need a ph.d. in weaponry sometimes to understand what weapons are covered and what aren't. >> reporter: to break it down for the layperson, this is an ar-15 variance available at your

local gun shop, it's legal because it contains a bullet button that can't be triggered with your finger. you have to use a tool or a pen. these restrictions on easily detached magazines and pistol grips are basically the only things that separate the legal guns from the illegal ones. >> it isn't that it's hard to get around the characteristics. these characteristics, when the law was passed, were determined to be the ones that the legislature wanted to control the most. >> reporter: so as people across the country from l.a. to new york swoop in to buy semiautomatic weapons ahead of federal action. >> gun sales have gone crazy in the last two, three months, ammunition again, you can't get it. >> reporter: it's worth noting even a federal ban might look a lot like california's, which is to say there are plenty of ways around it. >> i don't think you're going to have a perfectly successful law in this regard unless you make it far more draconian than i think is politically feetible.

>> that was sam brock reporting. much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up he tried to do the right thing in the wrong way. we hear from the family of the man charged with murder in the killing of a suspected burglar. plus passengers take action in their own hands, what they say forced them to duct tape this man to his chair on board a flight to jfk. your new light creamy potato with bacon & cheese soup says it's 100 calories a serving. that's right. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. my world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon...creamy cheese... [ whispers ] 100 calories... say it again... [ whispers ] 100 calories... ma'am, hello? ma'am? [ female announcer ] find progresso light for a great price today at your local safeway store.

good morning, welcome back to the broadcast. time is 7:29 on this saturday morning, just take a minute if you don't happen to be right now and look at your screen, that is a beautiful shot of an early morning sky in san francisco, over san francisco bay. take another good look because it's not going to stay that way all morning. thanks for joining us. i'm garvin thomas. meteorologist rob mayeda has a little bit of rain in the forecast. >> the rain may have to cleanse some of the smoke we see there in the distance.

>> but it's so pretty. >> makes for a nice filtered effect for the morning but we will see rain later on, 30s and 40s outside. the clouds coming in helping to keep temperatures up around the south bay this morning, speaking of the clouds we're starting to see light rain off the coast west of ukiah. that will come in around lunch time today, 1:00 approaching the north bay into the midafternoon and evening. starting to see moderate periods of rain briefly before things start to swing away from the bay areas, as we wrap up the weekend. highs today not in the 60s. mid to upper 50s south of san jose, upper 40s to low 50s from san francisco northward. much cooler day but as we've been hinting at sunday looks much betd ter. we'll talk about how the weather will shape up in the next few minutes. >> cooler, but it's getting better. a strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake near alaska sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles to the alaskan and

canadian coastline overnight. the quake struck around 1:00 this morning, 60 miles west of craig, alaska. the tsunami warning was issued from alaska to the northern tip of vancouver island, canada. that warning was canceled a short time later, as some areas were seeing small sea level changes. the alaska earthquake information says the quake was widely felt but as of now, there are no reports of any major damage. not just one family but an entire community has lost a loved one, 19-year-old alyssa byrne was found dead in the snow in south lake tahoe yesterday morning. last night, hundreds of people gathered at byrne's alma mater, casa grande high school in petaluma to remember the young woman. many people left notes, candles and flowers. the teenager who graduated in 2011 disappeared in south lake tahoe where she had gone with some friends for new year's. her body was found four days later. those who knew her said she was one of a kind and her death is a great loss to the community. >> she was the kind of person that just lit up the room right when she walked in, it breaks my heart to see her gone. >> you see it on tv all the

time, you never think it will happen to your family. when it does you get a hole in your heart. you can't replace family. >> byrne was known for her love of sports especially lacrosse, which she played at high school. after graduation she coached a youth team and many of her youth players and their parents were at the vigil as well. byrne's family says alyssa taught them to live life to the fullest and not take anything for granted. they say she would have been humbled by the outpouring of love and support in her hometown of petaluma. several restaurants in petaluma were planning fund-raisers to help support the search effort. the money will go to the family for funeral costs and other expenses. pongo's kitch be & tap is one of the restaurant is donating 15% of its sales. petaluma is a close-knit community. her kids know alyssa and wanted to do something to help. >> this is my worst nightmare coming true for another mom so i get very emotional being a mom of three kids, one of them is 16

and twins that are 13, so i just hope that they can hang on to any hope that they have, and whatever we can do to help, we're going to do it. >> here are some of the dine and donate events taking place, later today beyond the glory is donating 10% of its sales to the family, pongo's kitchen & tap tomorrow from 5:00 to 8:00 and mi pueblo from 5:00 to 9:00 on monday. the family of the man accused in the san jose vigilante case says he was trying to do the right thing. luis hernandez stood before a judge to hear the charge murder. he shot and killed the man he suspected as being a serial burglar, chris soriano new year's eve. police also say hernandez tried to sop soriano when he spotted

him at the complex, that is when the gun went off. hernandez remorsefully admitted to the shooting saying he only wanted to make a citizen's arrest. >> reporter: your reaction the word vigilante is being used? >> i see it as trying to help those that can't help themselves. >> a lot of jurors are not going to be sympathetic with the victim here. they may say you rip off people at your own risk. if you want to be a thief and a burglar you're going to run the risk that someone is going to take deadly force to stop you from doing that. >> former prosecutor steven clarke says the jury might go for a manslaughter conviction, not murder. hernandez's family says if police were proactive about the burglaries, the shooting may never have happened. passengers aboard an international flight bound for the u.s. subdued an unruly passenger with duct tape after he allegedly threatened to choke a female passenger next to him

and screamed the plane was going to crash. he became unruly when he had too much to drink. he was not charged with a crime. a former mortgage broker from oakland is on a mission to make a big difference in the lives of tens of thousands of american troops in harm's way. mike taibbi has his story. >> reporter: you won't see aaron nearborn in the pentagon commercials but what he's been doing for two years in this vast unheated warehouse in oakland, california, provided crucial supplies for thousands of men and women in uniform, trauma kits, ballistic eye protection and tarps to repair ripped tents, spare parts for special forces unit's failing generator that would have taken months for the regular supply chain to provide. >> it powers their communications, their intelligence, their daily operations, everything. we're literally able to ship it

to them within 72 hours. >> reporter: it all started when one of nearborn's marine pals deployed to afghanistan and asked for needed items. word got around through e-mails and website there was troops direct that could bypass the usual military red tape and get you what you and your unit needed pronto, like large sotherboard who told us that nearborn shipped plumbing supplies for clothes washers and hot showers >> it was nice to take a hot shower after the weather started getting a lot chillier. >> reporter: there have been scores of thank you e-mails saying they had saved lives but in a way he's been a sort of don't ask, don't tell quartermaster. >> we've never picked up the phone and called the pentagon, here's what we're doing and how we're doing it. >> reporter: they've never picked up the phone and called you. >> no, they have not. >> reporter: nearborn is on duty 24/7.

>> we don't know what the next request is going to be. >> reporter: 15 tons of supplies already shipped, more on the way. mike taibbi, nbc news, oakland. much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up, turning the bridge into a work of art, how crews are adding hundreds of thousands of lights to the bay bridge. plus the man who led de la salle football team to its 17 state titles is hanging up his whistle after more than 30 years. [ mom ] dear chex cereal, i just had to write. you can't imagine how long i've been searching for something like this for my family. i'm amazed you make so many great flavors that are gluten free. my guys are crazy for chocolate chex and honey nut chex. for me, it's cinnamon. it means a lot to be able to give them something that's good for them,

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good morning, welcome back to the broadcast. 7:39 is the time, of course looking at some iconic figures in san francisco, alcatraz island, coit tower. change in the weather this afternoon, rob mayeda will be here in about five minutes to give you the full forecast. it's the end of an era for an iconic high school football in the east bay. after more than three decades and 151 game winning streak

"today in the bay's" lawrence scott looks at the legacy and future of football at the concord catholic school. >> reporter: at de la salle high school the markers are everywhere as to the mission of an institution that excels in education and athletic achievement. the football program a shining example of excellence for decades and after over three decades, bob ladouceur and the de la salle steps aside. >> it is a ending for me and somewhat of a beginning. it's everything, it's been my life, and people ask me what am i going to do now? i really, i really don't know what i'm going to do now. i'm going to be here teaching and i'm going to be here helping in any way that i can. >> reporter: and there's something important to note that you get a sense of when you're here on the campus of de la salle, with all of the success of the football program over the years, the display of that

success is very understated. nestled behind the gym a small hallway houses a trophy cabinet. they're actually a bit hidden, more prominently on display great teams and standout players like amani toomer and aaron taylor, standup people for having spent time in their formative years with an extraordinary coach. >> i've enjoyed every minute of it and i couldn't have asked for a better career or a better life and most important i couldn't have asked for a better school to work in. >> reporter: for california's all-time winningest football coach, the grass was never greener than it is at de la salle and the impact he made on countless individuals knows no bounds. >> i have absolutely no regrets, if i had to do it all over again i'd do it exactly the same. thank you. >> reporter: in concord, at de la salle, i'm lawrence scott. new this morning, the "new york times" is reporting lance armstrong is considering publicly admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career.

armstrong wants to persuade anti-doping officials to let him resume his athletic career competing in triathlons. this past fall he was stripped of his seven tour de france titles for doping and barred for life from competitive cycling. his attorney says armstrong has not been in contact with the u.s. doping agency. still ahead on "today in the bay" is a project that will alter a bay area landscape when you'll be able to see the bay bridge transformed into a light display. and a weather pattern around the bay area will to be altered, from san rafael, we have clouds spilling in and some rain developing, coming back into the forecast, how long will that stick around this weekend? we'll let you know the forecast when we come bagt rook. right back. [ female announcer ] pillsbury crescents on their own are fantastic

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withal come welcome back. the clouds spill in from the west, 7:44 as we see clouds fill in, helping to keep temperatures up at least for the south bay

and along the coast but inland another chilly start to the morning, we've had temperatures cold enough for patchy frost in fairfield and santa rosa numbers starting to come up as more moisture starts to spill in and we will see the temperatures eventually get into the upper 40s and low 50s toward solano county and into the north bay. right now not much wind. later on you'll probably see winds picking up out of the south as the rain flies later on today. unlike the 60s we saw yesterday we're looking at highs in the 50s for most of us today, probably low to mid-50s for the bay area, 40s in a few spots in the north bay, and rain changes to showers later on tonight into early tomorrow, second half of the weekend looks better in terms of sunshine for sunday afternoon, and then drying conditions will take us into monday and midweek some interesting changes coming up in the seven-day forecast. right now the doppler radar locally looks fairly dry. that should change around midday as the clouds continue to fill on in. the system actually kind of doing the splits here, part of it energy going off to the

north, the other half will dive towards central california so as this develops during the day today you can see the rain pushing on through for the evening and changing over from outright rain to kind of scattered showers as we head through overnight hours tonight on into tomorrow morning and then this is one trend the models are pointing at which i hope is correct drying out more of your sunday as things start to shift into central and southern california, that dry weather should stick around monday into tuesday and wednesday a cold and windy system may set up that will drop our temperatures again and maybe bring us a few more showers by the middle of next week. rain projections about a quarter inch so not a lot of rain expected but there may be some times today we get the moderate rain picking up, we could see ponding on the road so watch out for that later on today. mid-50s around san jose, low 50s i think at best around parts of the east bay and we'll see low 50s to 40s across the north bay, so a cool start to the weekend, rain moving in for the afternoon and into the evening, changing over to showers early tomorrow, clearing and cool for monday and

tuesday and we'll see a brief warmup as we approach the middle part of the week and the windy and showery system drops in on us on wednesday and we'll dry out quickly. high pressure will put us back in that pattern of morning temperatures in the 20s and 30s, i think again by the end of next week heading into next weekend. >> chilly again, rob, thank you very much. let's take you back out live, another live look at the bay bridge, what's interesting about that in the morning is what's going to be happening at night n early march the bay bridge will turn into the world's largest light display, right now crews are in the midst of hanging those lights and "today in the bay's" joe rosato got to tag along. >> reporter: on the moonlit night the chilly, wee hours of the morning, workers ascend into darkness, hundreds of feet above the bay bridge. there's no painting, no routine maintenance or repairs going on. this operation is solely in the name of art.

>> honestly the first trip up is a little hairy, but after that, you know, you just get used to it. >> reporter: electrician mike durflinger is among workers strapping 25,000 l.e.d. lights to the bridge cables for the bay lights project. the lights will cover nearly two miles of the bridge using 100,000 feet of wire. >> it's actually exciting you know, part of something that only a handful of people in the world will ever be able to say they've done. >> reporter: the work is done late at night when a pair of bridge lanes can be closed. workers climb into metal buckets, pulled to the top of the cables. >> the cables are anywhere from one foot high to 240 feet high so imagine you're standing on a deck level right now, you have to be about 25 stories up hanging lights. >> reporter: crews are racing toward a march 5th deadline when artist leo villareal's vision of the bridge light display will officially switch on. >> almost anyone can look at it

and have response and we're estimating 50 million people will see it directly over two years. >> reporter: on december 5th crews successfully power ed up the first batch of lights. the small test sparked big anticipation of what's to come. >> from day one when the design came you always think about the moment and every day you get more excited, i'm sure when it comes on it will be unbelievable. >> reporter: the 25,000 twinkling lights will be controlled by software programmed by villareal. he describes it as a piece of fine art taking cues from its environment. >> the movement of water, traffic, any kind of movement is what i'm taking inspiration from. >> reporter: organizers say the work is 40% done. now, as crews scale the frigid night far above the flowing traffic, there's a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. in fact, 25,000 of them. joe rosato jr., "nbc bay area

news." >> can't wait to see that. still ahead from "today in the bay" from the bay area to mars, how local research ares are working on the next way to explore the red planet. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. your new light creamy potato with bacon & cheese soup says it's 100 calories a serving. that's right. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. my world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon...creamy cheese...

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register for the 3-day now. (woman) it's just been an amazing, amazing journey. i love these people. ♪ and it's beautiful welcome back to the program. 7:52 is the time. another live look out in the beautiful sunrise in san francisco bay. i want to thank josh keppler our photojournalist, all the beautiful picture he's been providing us this morning. some bay area scientists working with nasa may soon update images by the mars rover. some are thinking it might be a flower, well now while the current mars rover is very cool imagine a new model that could happen around mars. it's something nasa is working on withstand ford university.

"today in the bay's" business and tech reporter scott budman got a preview of what it might someday do. >> reporter: we cheered along with nasa when the curiosity rover landed on mars but imagine a future where, when we get to the red planet or one of its moons, we can explore it much faster with a new rover being called the hedgehog, designed to work in the low gravity martian atmosphere. >> for that we take full advantage of the fact that we have very little gravity and this way we can hop on the surface and cover a lot of distance without having to roll over the rocks as we do traditionally with the mars rovers. >> reporter: a joint project between nasa's jet propulsion lab and stanford university, the hedgehog may resemble a silicon valley special effect, but it is destined to be about the most mobile thing in the universe. >> to enable it not only to hop and take measurements but also to tumble its way to designated locations. >> the theory is the more we

know about mars the faster we or something can visit. mapping the martian surface with the hedgehog rover is still likely 5 to 10 years away but even the project itself has people thinking about what's next. >> i think the ability to dream of the future and not only do that but be able to propose it and when as in the case of the hedgehog be able to develop prototypes and test them is an exciting thing. >> and maybe a futuristic way to get around. scott budman, "today in the bay." >> very cool. still ahead on "today in the bay," an adorable little terrier mix. he's not terrible, no, he's a terrier, he's looking for a new home. ♪ yer always after me lucky charms! whoa. i forgot how good these taste! [ lucky ] ♪ they're magically delicious now all general mills big g kid cereals

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as is our habit this time every saturday morning we have some special guests who stop in and they bring with them a pet in need. your name?

you're with pets in need, lisa simmons. who do we have today? >> this is little malcolm. malcolm is not for the feint of heart. he's very active, young terrier and he would love an active family. >> you wouldn't suppose that by looking at him that he's not for the feint -- maybe i was right when i called him terrible earlier. i take this back. he's a terrier. >> he's a terrier, very friendly and active, great running buddy, smar smart as a whip, would be trainable for just about anything. >> what type of family perfect, kids? >> children would be fine, probably not little toddlers but 5, 6-year-olds would not be bad and -- >> somebody's got to run around. >> absolutely. >> fantastic. lisa, thank you very much. let's hope we find malcolm a home. find more about pets in need on petsinneed.org. lisa thanks for joining thus morning. congresswoman nancy pelosi on the defensive this morning after a photo opp and it's not

just any photo-op. look at this picture showing the historically large number of women in congress, but it's not what it seems. pelosi admitted to photo shopping in four congresswomen because they were running late. pelosi defends the move saying "it was abaccura "it was an accurate historical record of who the democratic women of congress are." she also added it was cold and they needed to get back to work. we have a check of your forecast with meteorologist rob mayeda. >> clouds spilling in and hour by hour the forecast today, rain spreading over the bay area into the afternoon and evening, switching to showers overnight into early tomorrow, second half of the weekend, that looks drier by the time we get into the afternoon tomorrow so some cooler temperatures during the day and then things clearing out to wrap up the weekend heading into monday. garvin? >> thanks so much for making us part of your morning, one programming note, no 5:00 or 6:00 news tonight because of wild card football. the bengals visit the texans at

1:30 followed by the vikings and the packers. have a fantastic morning. ♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪ ♪ over the river and down the road ♪ [ female announcer ] at nature valley, we know nature comes together in amazing ways. that's why we bring together natural ingredients, like dark chocolate with toasted oats, or sweet golden honey. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ ♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious.