from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." good wednesday morning, 4:30 i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. top story, the weather. two strong storms head for the bay area. take a look outside now. san francisco, fremont, san jose. right now windy across the bay area, and the rain already starting to fall. but this is just the beginning. let's turn things over to meteorologist christina loren. the storm seems to be speeding up? >> yeah, we have a lot of rain coming in, just in time for your commute. rain is moving into the bay area an as you can see, the front is impacting the entire bay area,

excluding the south bay, we're getting rain shadow for the time beingen that's going to change. the heaviest batch in the east bay, along the east shore, that's where you want to take it easy. of course mike and i tracking showers as they come in and how they impact your morning drive, speaking of which, let's get right over to him. >> good morning. you were talking about it coming in all at once, vertically along that. so looking at peninsula, the west most bridge is the golden gate bridge. we're not seeing rain here, but as radar showed you, it's eking around the north bay, san rafael, richmond as well. the roadways so far just fine. it being a wednesday we shouldn't have too bad of a commute. we've had a hefty flow of track, starting monday, some folks had that vacation week last week. san rafael, commuarrow for 101. registering a roadway index says you will have wet roadways and that may be the case through

richmond, eastbound 80, a crash reported in the noncommute direction. we'll watch the roadways starting to get wet right as folks hit the roadways. we're still short on water. water officials in south bay telling 2 million people, you have to cut back. what were once voluntary reductions of 10% are going to become mandatory cutbacks of 20%. the move by the santa clara valley water district paves the way for possible fines, higher bills and stricter rules regarding water use. the changes still have to be approved by the state. wry n right now reservoirs are so low, the next storms won't improve drought conditions. >> not expecting to get better either because the water sheds have so dry, and it would take a good eight inches of rain to see any measurable run-up in our local reservoir.

>> this is going to last a long time. the mandatory water cutback is in effect until the end of the year, no matter how much it rains. >> caltrans officials are hoping today's rain will help them figure out how water's getting into the new eastern span of the bay bridge. officials take shifts on and under the bridge looking for leaks. during the last big storm, officials saw water dripping down. the water could lead to corrosion on the bridge. coverage of the two major storms continue all morning long. we'll check back in with christina loren in a bit. also head to nbcbayarea.com for the latest as well as live interactive radar. san jose firefighter accused of selling drugs could face more charges this morning. mario questis arrested, accused of selling drugs to an undercover officer. but investigates are looking into claims he had a sexual

relationship wit a 27-year-old boy. prosecutors charged him with three counts of drug possession and sale but there have been no charges in the alleged sex crime. he has not entered a plea to three counts of drug procession and sale. several monterey county police officers and officials charged with bribery, embezzlement, conspiracy. stemming from an alleged scheme to steal impounded cars. the king city police chief, who retired in september, the acting police chief, a sergeant, and officer arrested in connection with the alleged scheme. investigators say the four impounded cars of immigrants, many whom did not have money and did not speak english. they'd take the cars to the impound lot owned by the acting police chief's brother and keep a percentage of the cars brought in. the pimp accused in a las vegas shooting which killed three will be sentenced in a different case.

harris faces a minimum of ten years for a 2010 sex attack on 18-year-old woman at a las vegas condo. a jury found him guilty last september. harris could get the death penalty in the las vegas strip shooting. investigators say he shot oakland native and rapper kenny cherry jr. and caused a chain reaction crash which killed a taxi driver and passenger. officials will dedicate a memorial garden and a plaque in honor of two police officers who died in the line of duty a year ago today. gathering at city hall to remember sergeant lauren butch baker and detective butler, killed while investigating a sexual assault suspect who shot them at his home. the families of the fallen officers are still struggling to cope. >> i just -- i miss my best friend, he's my hero, and coming home, talking about work and at the dinner table. >> the suspect was later killed

by police after door-to-door search. baker and butler the first santa cruz police officers killed in the line of duty. >> police found the man who intentionally, they say, drove his car into a crowd, killing one person, and injuring two others. anthony reynoso arrested yesterday for the murder of eric vallejo. the two men got into a fight ten days ago at capital flea market and it spilled on to nearby streets. he drove his car into a crowd, killing vallejo. investigators believe the incident was gang related. another person was arfted for being an accessory after the fact. crews on the transbay center dug up more than just dirt. they found human remains, believed to be of native-american descent. found on mission and first streets 60 feet below ground.

archaeologists determined the remains belonged to a native-american, but no other information available. the native-american heritage commission will determine how to handle the bones. skyline high school in open after a gas leak forced the school to close, for the second time in as many weekans students and teachers sent home after someone smelled gas. officials found a valve on the roof of the school had been turned on and left open. it had been used to control the gas supply to a former science room but it's no longer used. the school was closed for one day last week after a construction crew accidentally broke a gas line. san francisco's schools will keep problem kids in school instead of suspending them and sending them home. board of education commissioner heaney introduced that policy last night, and board member as agree. students rallying against that suspension policy, saying suspensions only cause at-risk students to fall further behind. one student who was sent home

for what the district called willful defiance says suspensions make success feel impossible. >> i've been through a history of suspensions, expulsions and this is my fifth year of high school now, and feel like if i wouldn't have good suspended before i would have graduated on my second day. >> san francisco unify agrees to the change, los angeles was the first. the program in san francisco will begin next school year. 4:38. officials will meet to figure out the best way to get thousand of fans to and from levi's stadium. the committee will hold its first meeting today. board members hope to find a way to offer fast and efficient service to the stadium before it opens later this year. meeting is open to the public held at 10:00 at the vta headquarters on first street in san jose. let's check the weather. i suspect we'll be checking it a lot today, as rain moves in. good morning, christina loren. >> good morning. not just today.

take a look at your seven-day forecast at the bottom of your screen. that shows you, as we head through the next seven days, rain chances. we really need this rain. look how rich this moisture ises as well. looking really good right now. to accumulate a quarter of an inch of rain over the next three hours in the north bay, you can see front starting to move into the bay area. i set the radar back three hours. over the past three hours is when the rain started ramping up you want to give yourself extra time to reach your destination safely. heavy pockets along the east shore, not a lot of rainfall in the south bay. that's all going to change as we progress throughout the day. and in combination with the showers coming in, we're also getting gusty winds you want to travel cautiously. watch out for debris on the highway. if you have a high-profile vehicle, hold on tight to the steering wheel. wind straight out of the south against the prevailing wind direction which is typically out of the northwest.

talking about the 60s, bring the jacket, umbrella, carry it with you throughout the next couple of days. what you'll notice, thunderstorms in the forecast. talk about that coming up in my next report, where we have the best chance to see thunder boomers and what it means for the day. it's going to be active here. i'll talk about that coming up. here's mike inouye. >> looking forward to thunder boomers, cool. east shore freeway, we don't want thunder or boom, boom on roadway. looking with taillights away, going over the overcrossing. parking lots on either side, roadways are dry but the rain is coming down into the area. so we'll watch that. at the top of the screen, green haze there. crash at albany approaching the area, i swung the camera around, didn't see it, but i'll still mark it until chp clears it out of there. richmond, you see green over the highlighting there, that's where the roadways may be slick. a mist, a drizzle, radar showed activity through the area. as far as camera showed, nothing

dramatic. antioch as well, the westbound community that's moving to the left, the arrow marks the commute direction. coming off of the antioch bridge, the bridge has opened after the closures. road crews in the area are picking up early because they are expecting rain as it comes in as well. looking toward the dublin interchange, west 580. you have a crowd starting to build out of the altamont pass. >> thanks so much. 4:41. tornadoes a 10-year-old boy dies after bitten by his pet rat. why his family says petco is to blame. cars at risk of turning off at middle of an intersection. the latest recall.

one of the best things about covered california is that millions of people will qualify for financial assistance. it's important to remember that the lower your annual income, the greater financial assistance you will receive. enroll now at coveredca.com.

very good wednesday morning to you. taking a live look outside. this is from along the peninsula in palo alto this morning. calm before the storm, shall we call it? it's making its way through the bay area kicker than expected. we'll check in with christina with a look at the forecast. president obama drawing the

line with afghanistan, either sign an agreement to make sure troops are safe or all are coming home. the u.s. plans to leave thousands thousands of troops in afghanistan when the war end but the president ordering the pentagon to withdraw all 34,000 by december. the plan would have required 10,000 troops to stay, keeping an eye on the taliban and al qaeda. the u.s. officials say that cannot happen until the security agreement is signed. >> i can't ask young men and women to serve in a country that protections afforded by bilateral security agreement. >> afghanistan's president has indicated he may leave the decision up to the next afghan president, set to be elected in april. general motors adding more than a half million cars to its recent recall issue for problems with ignition switch. the company says number of people killed linked to the problem has jumped from 6 to 13. for that and the rest of the news before the bell, morgan brennan live at cnbc world

headquarters. good morning. >> good morning, scott. futures are higher, that's after a choppy day of trading on tuesday. investors weighing a drop in consumer confidence and today we're looking for data on new home sales and learnings from lowes, target, jcpenney. the nasdaq slipping five to 4287. meanwhile, gm, adding nearly 600,000 more vehicles to a recall to fix ignition switches that can shut off the engine and cause a crash. the automaker adding saturn ion molds, chevy hhr suvs and skycars from 2006 and '07. the problem linked to 31 crashes and 13 front seat death. delta revamping its frequent flyer program. passengers earn sky miles on

ticket prices instead of how far they fly. members without elite status get five miles for every dollar spent while elite passengers get $11 per mile. want to get away from the rain? christina's going to tell us where it is, when it's going to fall. >> hi. good morning. happy, happy day to start off wednesday. it's nice and wet out there. it's falling all cross the bay area. i'm showing you radar. what you need to be prepared for are slick highway conditions and we are focusing on this rain starting to develop. so thanks for waking up with us every morning. today, tomorrow, big weather days, and friday as well. what we're working with now when it comes to your wind speeds. speeds are strong, especially south bay. what we typically don't get up to 21 miles per hour but that is the case. watch out for debris on the highway. talking. atmospheric river moving in today.

showers have started but the main event will hold off until 9:00 a.m. we told you to expect wet commute. what we couldn't count on yesterday at this time were the thunderstorms that are expected as of this afternoon. it's going to be an active day across the bay area with thunderstorms expected as early as 10:00 a.m. as we get daytime heating. stop the clock for you. shower activity throughout the day today, that's going to continue until 4:00 p.m. showers start to let up. as we head through 5:00 p.m., overnight, re-sidual activity. looking to see a clear afternoon thursday before hit again with a more potent storm system. i want to show you your wind as well. it's going to be strong today. if you have loose objects in your backyard, tie those down, bring in anything that could be damage from the wind. talking about 40-mile-per-hour wind gusts even here in san jose. i want to focus in on the friday system coming up.

back to you. >> took your advice, brought everything in yesterday. southern california families suing petco, the family says their 10-year-old son died last june from a bacterial infection known as rat bite fever. the family claims he got the infection after bitten by his pet rat purchased by petco. the lawsuit claims petco should have known about the rat's health and did not test for the disease properly. the petco is saddened by the boy's death and looking into the claim. asiana airlines slapped with 500,000 fine in response to the crash at sfo. in an unprecedented move, the department of transportation says asiana failed to help family members of crash victims. this is the first time an airline has been punished for breaking u.s. laws requiring prompt and generous assistance to loved ones. >> the passengers, after the crash, were brought to a holding

area and they just went home. when they got home, they had no information, hey, can i get treatment? where do i get treatment? how do i get back home? where do i -- how do i get a flight? when am i going to get my stuff back that a left on the plane. asiana said it provided extensive support to the passengers and families following the accident and will continue to do so. jason collins, first openly gay athlete to play in any major sport, will take the court in honor of matthew shepard. shepherd brutally murdered in wyoming 16 years ago, one of the most horrifying attacks on a gay person in history. his death led to changes in hate crime legislation. tonight, the brooklyn nets will face the trailblazers in portland and colins will wear the number 98. 98 refers to 1998, the year that matthew shepard was killed. the former player won 46 on his debut sunday because it was the

only spare jersey the nets had with them on the road. giants and a's square off in scotsdale for the team's first spring training game. opening day more than a month out for the orange and black. we know who will be the starting pitcher on march 31st against the diamondbacks. lefty, madison bumgarner. bruce bochy wanted to check that box off in the pitcher's career. hudson scheduled to pitch the opener april 8th. nick cunningham returned home from sochi to a hero's welcome. >> usa! usa! usa! >> that's cool, right? >> yeah. cunningham went from sochi to munich to chicago to denver before finally arriving at sjc around 10:00 last night. the 28-year-old did not come back with a medal but plenty of memories to tell his family and friends. also he got stuck in a elevator

with johnny quinn but busted out. >> good sized crowd. ahead on "today in the bay" a real-life pot of gold. a couple strikes it rich out for an afternoon stroll. got to go walking there. here, a walk in the park. palo alto, 101, moves smoothly. i'll give you the update and eat crow for the east shore.

welcome back to you. drizzling out there but rain is on the way. christina's keeping an eye on the radar, mike on the speed sensors. we'll have all kinds of reports coming up. lives are forever changes. a northern california couple out for a walk stumble across buried treasure. >> imagine? why can't we walk on these paths? >> maybe we should. >> the find could be the largest discovery of gold coins unear unearthed in the united states. the man and woman, who didn't want names released, walking on their property in the sierra foothills when they saw something poking out of the dirt. one of several old, rusty canisters and inside, 1400 gold coins dating from the mid to late 1800s. at the time, they were buried their value was $28,000. now worth $10 million. >> people have brought us gold coins, rare coins, one here, one there, worth tens of thousands of dollars.

but nothing, nothing of this magnitude. they're not just pieces of gold like the cougar ran or maple leaf or american eagle. these are stories, history in your hand. >> at the time they were buried -- >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> at the time they were buried. >> i told you that part. the couple says it will sell most of the coins on amazon, and others will go to private collectors. fascinating story. >> 28,000 what was 18 whatever -- >> that day. >> that's an amazing amount of money at any age. >> the history of it. >> i buried it around here somewhere. there's a tree, i remember a tree. >> can't trust me with the remote control for the tv, yeah, all of the gold coins. i lost this as well but i admitted i have to eat crow. here, the east shore freeway. the crash i couldn't find, i did find. now it left the scene because we

found. the taillight section getting off of there, across the freeway from the golden gate field area. the area i've circled there was an incident and now it's gone. we have green highlighted north of richmond, also el sobronte. smooth drive approaching the bay bridge. that will change. the south bay moves smoothly. rain shadow, that mean we don't have rain yet, yet. ahead "today in the bay," from voluntary to mandatory. south bay water officials telling customers to cut back even more. what could happen if you don't, coming up. >> live look outside. r san rafael. area bracing for rain and wind. team coverage after the break.

one of the best things about covered california is that millions of people will qualify for financial assistance. for example, if you're a single person making less than $46,000 a year, or a family of four, earning up to $94,200, you may be eligible for premium assistance. the lower your annual income, the greater financial assistance you will receive. get answers, and get covered. find out if you're eligible and enroll now. at coveredca.com. jan brewer tweeting about the anti-gay bill currently on her desk. what the arizona governor's now

saying. >> good morning to you. i'm meteorologist christina loren. lots of rain, lighting up the radar like a christmas tree this morning. this is going to make for a slow commute. but the rain will intensify. we'll tell you how much we're expecting where you live in moments. preparing for the storm, what some bay area cities are doing to make sure their communities are safe. >> you know what the storm means, wet roads. how that affects your commute. building the tri-valley a bit. mike, taking a look live outside at the bay bridge. we'll watch oall of the drizzle traffic. wednesday, february 26th. this is "today in the bay." good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we've got a live look at the golden gate bridge this morning. parts of the north bay already seeing some rain. and looking at san jose, where the rain is expected to