reduce water by 20% or face a fine. new details about the new drought restrictions in the south bay, next. plus will repairs hold on this peninsula creek or will those incoming storms cause the waters to flood once again. we do have potential for flooding. a lot of rain moving in as we speak. that means slippery commute shaping up. a lot more rain on the way in the coming days. we'll time everything out to your doorstep, coming up. >> with those changes coming in, we'll use live cameras. how that wednesday morning commute is shaping up right now. >> a live look outside from the south bay. the calm before the storm, perhaps, coming our way. we certainly need it 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 begin with that microclimate forecast as we give you a live look at san jose, san francisco, and san mateo bridge.

expect raindrops during your morning commute. but that's nothing compared to what you'll see when you drive home later today. the first of two storms bear down on the bay area. >> this morning, we have team coverage, christie smith has a look how the peninsula is bracing for rain but let's start with meteorologist christina loren. she joins us live in the weather center. >> good morning. today's just the beginning of a series of storm systems moving into the bay area that are going to impact us as we head throughout the next seven days or even longer. so we do want to make sure that you're ready for that heavy rainfall, flooding is likely as we head through the next couple of days. what we are working with, we have light to moderate rain showers across the bay area, moderate rainfall on the way as we head throughout the evening. you see that yellow batch over brentwood, we are going to see the entire bay area covered in the yellow and orange as we head throughout the second half of the day. that's what we're focusing in

on, already seeing locals making preparations for foenpotential flooding. christie smith, live from palo alto. local, definitely, they're not taking this lightly, are they? good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that's exactly right. easier to prepare for a storm than fix things when you're standing out there in the rain and that's what's go on here along the peninsula. this is one of the sandbag stations run by the santa clara valley water district, stocked up with more than 25 pallets here full of sandbags. a pile of sand here, too. and also, empty bags. one of six stations that they're running between morgan hill and palo alto by the district. there are also 17 more in cities that run across the south bay and in east palo alto, also the san francisco creek looks to be in good shape, not too high now. but the city's done quite a bit of work to repair damage and

increase flood protection they're the gardens neighborhood. december 2012, storm-related issues caused flooding here. staff have been clearing out storm drains and cleaning out pump stations. all on storm ready status, they're on call 24 hours a day in the event of emergency. and back here, live, i wanted to show you at the sandbag station along embarcadero road. it isn't raining but one thing we did notice, it's windy here. just the flags up there, knocking around against the poles. that's one of the first things we noticed, a couple of drops on the windshield, but nothing substantial but sounds like we're in for quite a day. i'll send it back to you. >> that's right. only just begun. great note. showing the wind because it's that wind, really gusting that will impact commuters. probably more so than the rain, at least for the next couple of hours. we have changes coming in. as you can see, the next batch of rain ready to move onshower

has heavy pockets with it. throughout the next couple of hours count on that heavy rain to continue to ramp up. we're also expecting some thunderstorms later on today. the best chance for this is between 10:00 and 7:00. keep that in mind, especially over the higher elevations. if anything happens, we'll keep you updated all over nbc bay area facebook page, our dotcom page and personal page, mike and i will be all over those today. stop the clock at 1:00 p.m. heaviest rainfall at that point. it will continue to 5:00 p.m., showers will let up. another heavier round on friday. i'll dive into that forecast next. check the drive and say good morning to mike inouye. >> good morning. we're going to show you our network of skycam, use to our advantage this morning over the east shore free freeway. right now the overcrossing, there's a gas station on west side, denny's on the right, on the east side, looking at traffic flow. looking the surface street and freeway so far, they're dry but that commute building and so is

that rain and the radar. looking at maps and we'll see the area at the same thing marked with arrow, coming down from berkeley, plan for the build to continue at bay bridge. toll plaza has cash lanes filled in. over on the left side of your screen, north bay, 101, see the green highlighting, that's where we'll see on our maps from time to time, road weather index with the weather system, you may have wet roadways or a chance of slicker conditions. that continues out of san francisco along the coast. daly city, the areas where you have heavier fog, you have the drizzle starting early. we'll get slicker roadways with 280 and 101 fine along the peninsula. easy dprifb across the san mateo and dumbarton. 880 slowing through oakland and hayward because of the build. farther east, dublin, report of a crash in that west 580 around the camera, el charro, just the top of the screen, i didn't see it last sweep but i'll sweep

again once we get off of the shot. i'll make sure nothing in the lanes. there's a build out of livermore. >> thanks so much, 6:05. just into the newsroom, delays of two hours and 45 minutes at san francisco international airport the delays, we understand, are all due to wind. nbc bay area follow-up, if you live in the south bay, get ready to change how you use water. officials are telling nearly 2 million people they must cut back their water usage by 20%. "today in the bay's" bob redell live in santa clara valley water district. how are they going to enforce this? >> reporter: a couple of ways. good morning, one through fines. but in order for those fines to be put into place, you're water company would have to get permission from the public utility commission, puc, and that has not happened yet. permission to set the water fine tables, these rates, and as you can imagine, this vote came down

last night, valley district board, santa clara valley water district board, it's been too soon for that to happen. another way through higher water bills. you would be charged more if your usage were to go over a certain amount. that's still to be determined. last night the board here at santa clara valley water district mandated 2 million customers roughly here in the south bay cut back their water usage by 20%. this is a mandatory 20%. this is not voluntary. this would be the most stringent of restrictions since 1992 drought, which means you will see new rules regarding, let's say when you can water your lawn. you can be restricted to nighttime. and either on odor even days. you might not be able to fill up your swimming pool if it's empty or running low on water now the district called for the cutback because the ground is so dry, reservoirs, as well we're aware of very low. rain infrequent. and don't expect restricts to

end soon. district has told nbc bay area 20% restrictions would be in effect until the end of the year regardless of how much rain we get. >> we're not expecting to get better either, because the water sheds are so dry and it would take a good eight inches of rain to see any measurable run-off in our local reservoirs. >> reporter: if you have a second to look at your tv screen, here are some ideas how to meet that 20% cutback, avoiding a higher water bill. turning off water when brushing teeth, you might not be aware, but that saves ten gallons of water, leaky toilet, that adds up. save another 15 to 45 gallon of water by washing only a full load of clothes. and those ten-minute showers, cut them back to five, still get clean and save water in the process. reporting live here in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." 6:08. ahead on "today in the bay," a little boy killed by his beloved

pet. and now, his parents are suing the chain that sold it to them. why they say petco is responsible for their son's death, next. and trimming trees ahead of incoming storms, where pg&e crews are in overdrive this week. and a live look outside, bay bridge, blu beautiful glistenli lights. we'll check in with christina monitoring the radar across the bay area.

today's top stories. water officials in the south bay now telling nearly 2 million people, you must cut back water

by at least 20%. the move by the santa clara valley water district now paves the way for possible fines and higher water bills. these changes do have to be approved by the state. >> one of the men who pleaded guilty to beating giants fan bryan stow is back in court today for a detention hearing. marvin norwood would have been released because of time served but in federal custody on weapons charges. if convicted, he could get ten years in prison. asiana slapped with a half million fine in response to the crash at sfo. asiana failed to help family members of crash victims. this is the first time an airline ever punished for breaking u.s. law requiring prompt and generous assistance to loved ones. a san diego family suing pet supply chain petco after losing their 10-year-old son to rat bite fever, a disease they never

heard of. the family says their son caught it from his new pet rat. a real eye opener. the family says rat bite fever, what is that? they never heard of. devastated over the loss of their son, especially over something they thought could never luhurt him, his pet rat. his grandmother obliged taking the boy to asan diego petco and purchasing the rat may last year. two weeks later aden was dead. he woke up with a fever and severe stomach pains, he could barely walk, he was taken to the hospital on the 11th. died at 1:00 a.m. on the 12th. the family decided to sue the chain after the san diego medical examiner's office found rat bite fever killed the 10-year-old. the rat was sent to centers for disease control which confirmed the rodent carried the disease.

we are deeply saddened by the family's tragic loss. the health and safety of people and pets is always a top priority, and we take the family's concerns seriously. the cdc says rat bite fever is infectious and caused by two different types of bacteria. you can catch it by handling an infected rodent, the bites and scratches are the most common cause of transmission. pregnant women, children under 5, those with weakened immune systems are discouraged from handling the pet rats for this reason. rat bite fever can be fatal if left untreated but nipped in the bud with antibiotics. the chain says it's in the process of investigating the pankey family's claim. back to you. >> a tough loss. thank you. a woman in los angeles is suing sprint after her personal photos wound up in the wrong hands the woman turned in her old phone for a new phone, she says she was told the old phone would be completely wiped of its

contents. the phone shipped off to a refurbishing center where an employee found intimate pictures and allegedly posted pictures to her facebook page. sprint says it's investigating. general motors has added nearly 1 million more cars to its recall over an ignition switch, the saturn onion compact, chevy hhr suv, pontiac solstice and saturn sky sports car can suddenly shut off especially if the driver uses a heavy key ring. sometimes the key turns itself off. several people killed as a result. apple wants another day in court after found guilty of fixing ebook prices. the company appealed tuesday saying the verdict would stifle innovation. part of the punishment is apple has to have a full time court appointed supervisor at headquarters and we have heard reports the engineers and executives there do not get along with their court appointed monitor. time to check your forecast at 6:15. we give you a live look outside

at san jose. oh, isn't that a beautiful sunrise with the lights glistening? more rain on its way, the first of two storms hits the bay area. people everywhere are certainly preparing. >> caltrans officials hoping the rain will help them figure out how water's getting into the new eastern span of the bay bridge. officials will take shifts, both on and under the bridge, looking for leaks. during the last big storm, officials found water dripping through some bolts, and caltrans says that water could lead to rusting of the bridge. pg and e ramping up the tree trimming program to prevent downed power lines. video of crews, sawing off limbs from trees leaning on electrical wires along arlington. >> rain here means snow in the mountains. >> it was so bad in january, we really wanted the snowfall. we really need it. you had a few patches here and

there. mostly dirt to look around at. but everything's going to change. in fact, after the last round of snow, we have some really good looking totals right at the base. we're excited. we bring in brian hager, he joins us live from squaw valley. how are you preparing for incoming snowfall? what do you have going on up there? >> good morning, christina. we're excited about the snowfall. a lot going on this weekend with opening of snow fest. we have firework, live music, big party on the deck. and mardi squaw on saturday, getting ready for mardi gras. snow couldn't fall at a better time. >> if you want to shred the nar, talk what they're expecting for today and tomorrow at squaw. but keep in mind the big-time weather makers on the way to tahoe on friday. so this weekend's choice conditions. maybe you've got wednesday and thursday off, temperatures up

there going to be chilly. noefl coming in, make sure you have chains ready to go just in case. radar right now, as you can see, just starting to get active up in the tahoe area. rain for now, going to turn over to snow above 7,000 feet. as we progress to the next couple of hours. want to show you completely different story here in the bay area. that rain is just training in at this point. watch out for slick conditions along the peninsula, 280, 101. mike's going to be here to tell you how your drive's shaping up. this bodes for a slow commute. south bay, first showers and slick for the very first time this morning as well. that steadier rain developing and moving in. in combination with that rain, gusty wind out there. you want to travel cautiously. watch out for debris on the roadways. let's take you into the rest of the day. stop the clock at 1:00 p.m., heavy downpours through the north bay. continuing to see that all the way through 6:00 p.m. tonight. showers will start to deteriorate and we're going to see a nice evening out of this. what i can tell you, tomorrow

looks dry, then heavier round of rain moves in on friday. take it right to the futurecast for the long rain, you can see the heavy batch of moisture moves in friday. rain all day long on friday. into your saturday, then a break on sunday whitmore rain into next week. see that on the seven-day forecast. we need it, which is why we're excited about. let's check on the drive. >> we have the slow drive here at bay bridge toll plaza, you cannot get away from that. metering lights turned on at 6:00. and you know what? a steady build, toll plaza full, coming off the 880 overcrossing and berkeley curve. low clouds hoover around, not a big deal as for as visibility. on our live shot as well, dublin, we have a slower drive developing here out of the altamont pass. dry roadways but in this dublin camera, we have this crew on the shoulder and in the backup, i don't see flashing lights, but there is some incident.

sounds like a minor crash in the middle lanes. you see headlights are gummed up. sometimes it looks like that if traffic. moving smoothly. things gumming up approaching el charro. we see it on the approach and that's backing up toward highway 84. folks going to bail off early, sending more folks through pleasanton and livermore, and that's an issue. join us with 680 in sunol but the major surface out of livermore, more traffic at least the short period while they clear this from the roadway. dublin interchange deb brie but that will provide a break to clear off the 680. debris north 28 past downtown, clear from the roadway quickly. north bound 101 at 680, light volume of traffic now for wednesday. but some folks may have been scared off by reports of rain coming in. we have a good commute out of the south bay and up the peninsula. look at green here, pacifica,

san mateo over from half moon bay. reporting more roadway index spots where that rain might be slicker conditions north of 380. issue for our maps. live look here, palo alto, again, 101, drive so far, university, moving steadily at the limit towards san mateo with no problems highway 92. north bay, southbound side of 101. curve at terra linda, moisture's in the air, don't see a sign of rain right here in san rafael, but north into novato we have that report of the road weather index shows green as well. 6:21. ahead on "today in the bay," accidental million airs, coming up how a northern california couple stumbled upon buried treasure. one of our coffee mugs lakes it it on "late night," why it was featured on seth meyers' new show. live look. sun coming up over the bay area. almost looks like a postcard out there. rain's coming as well.

much-needed storm headed our way. christina's got a look at when those storms will open. hey! hi! ladies, how are you? let's taste some wine. ♪ ♪ seize your vacation with a southwest airlines sale.

go to southwest.com, where our lowest fares are now available as low as $69 one-way. book now at southwest.com and carpe vacay. ♪

welcome back. here at 6:24, the bay bridge toll plaza begins to fill up. the rain is on the way. it's already hit certain communities. take a look at forecast and traffic coming up. >> nbc bay area got a shout out

on late night with seth meyers. >> or a mug out. our own nbc bay area mug, a special appearance on the desk part of the new "late night" from decision. meyers will have a different mug from different nbc stations every night sort of a subtle way to include local communities. lives are forever changed, northern california couple went out for a walk, stumbled across buried treasure. >> incredible story. the find could be the largest discovery of gold coins unearthed in the united states, the man and woman were walking on their property in the sierra foothills when they saw something poking out of the dirt. it was on of several old, rusty canisters. inside the canisters, 1400 gold coins dated from the mid to late 1800s. at the time they were buried, their value 28,000. now they're worth about $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 a kruger ran or maple leaf or american eagle. these are stories, history in your hand. >> the couple says it will sell most of the coins on amazon. others will go to private collectors. >> about a third of the coins are said to be in pristine condition. most were minted in san francisco. the biggest collection of gold coins dug up before this found by construction workers in jackson, tennessee, in 1985. those had a face value of 4500 but told for $1 million. 6:26. two bay area traditions poised for a comeback in the sky. >> ultimatum issued to afghanistan. what president obama is demanding ahead of the dramatic troop drawdown. beloved painting from the most well-known graffiti artist

nearly stolen in new orleans, how neighbors came together to save it. >> the sun comes up and mist comes down. live look outside at the san francisco this morning. trans-america pyramid blinking there. rain headed our way across the bay area. first of two storms headed to the bay area. we will check in with meteorologist christina loren, she's got a look when those storm doors will open, how hard, how long, and what your in store for with the morning commute as well. a look at your day's news ahead.

ultimatum ahead of a troop drawndown in afghanistan. what president obama wants and how soon he wants it to happen next. >> we've activated doppler,

widespread rainfall into the bay area, first of a series of storms, potential for flood, lightning, hail. we'll sort everything out for where you live, coming up. looking at fremont. burst of traffic, folks heading into the work, the report coming up as well. doppler activated. so is the new york stock exchange. kids on the market. used to be the belief when kids are there, going to have a good day. we'll see how they fare on this wednesday, february 26th. this is "today in the bay." that dates back a long time. we've been together a long time. good morning, i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. president obama is giving the president of afghanistan an ultimatum, sign an agreement to ensure american troops are safe there or all of them will leave afghanistan by the end of the year. "today in the bay's" tracy pots live on capitol hill with the

latest. good morning. >> good morning. by all of them, talking 34,000 american troops now in afghanistan. the plan was to bring most home but leave 10,000 after the war ended at the end of the year to work with the afghan security forces and keep an eye on the taliban and al qaeda and cure our interests in the area. the problem is they can't do that without a security agreement and that's sitting on the table in afghanistan for some time. president hamid karzai refuses to sign it. he wants the next administration to deal with it. but their elections aren't until april, we don't know how long after that it could be before that security agreement affecting our troops would be signed. the pressure now on from president obama. he said sign it or we can't guarantee you we can leave people there to help secure the country. u.s. needs time, we've got thousands of people and tons of equipment, they've got to figure out how and when to split it up, how and when to get it home and

waiting is not going to produce any guarantee we can leave people there after the end of the year. >> dpexactly. >> governor jan brewer tweeting about the controversial bill that would allow some businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians. late last night, brewer tweeted out, i assure you, as always, i will do the right thing for the state of arizona. #sb 1062. that's the bill on brewer's desk. insiders say she's going to veto it, she does not want to do anything that would jeopardize arizona's economy. big businesses, including apple, have come out and said signing that bill into law would hurt arizona's economy. brewer is expected to meet with people on both sides of the matter today expected to make a decision later this week. time to check the forecast. a live look at san jose and san francisco this morning. might see rain during your

commute. you're going to feel it when you drive back home. >> flightaware.com reporting delays of 2:45 at san francisco international. we understand mostly due to wind. in the meantime, let's check in with christina for your forecast. >> good morning. scott, laura, everybody at home, gusty wind this morning. in combination, we have slick conditions from showers coming through. san francisco, sfo, reporting flight delays due to strong winds. the wind is not going to relax any time soon. we'll see that wind intensify as we head throughout the day today as this front continues to move in. tapping into the atmospheric river and just getting started. widespread rain showers. only place we're not getting the rain the north bay. south bay starting to get the first heavy downpours. for the most part heavier rainfall located over the peninsula. but it's all getting ready to move towards daly city, south san francisco, millbrae throughout the next half hour.

keep that in mind. as we continue throughout the morning, we'll continue to see showers intensify. by this afternoon, we acoupe late heating and have that moisture instability, a chance for thunderstorms. some could be strong enough to produce brief, heavy downpours, pay sized hail possible and we could see gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour driven by stronger cells, if they do develop. the best chance for that looking at 10 to 7:00. making your way home from 3:00 and 5:00, heavy rainfall. 7:00 hour, that's when we're expecting showers to let up a little bit than will continue to trend overnight. a break for thursday. and more potent system packing stronger winds and heavier downpours moves in on friday. i'll time that one out coming up. check your drive, see how we're doing so far, mike inouye. >> so far, so good. wednesday, lighter flow than

yesterday around the bay. live shot here. san jose north wound 101 north of 680, clouds are around the shot but no water on the roadway yet. we'll show you the south bay. slowing at this spot on the maps, arrow indicating volume increases here toward the airport. green blotches there, wet roadways registering on the road weather index. our friend at the desk everybody 17 was okay, clouds, mist, but roadways dry a few minutes ago. but one or two minutes ago, we talked to executive producer joe, he said 880 at montague, sprinkles on the windshield. conditions are changing now. watch for slicker roadways continuing. tri-valley, slower drive, 680 past sunol, south bay. but that's the volume. we have west 580 at airway or approaching, earlier crash which has cleared, backed up toward north livermore, which is standa

standard. we have the consolidation of the backup. fas-trak lanes and lanes off the right off the berkeley curve. other lanes looking clear. meeting lights are on. >> blue angels expected to fly at the fleet week. this is video of the jets flying a few years ago. they had to cancel last year's fleet week because of the government shutdown. representatives will be in oakland at noon while the blue angels will perform over san francisco in october. they'll actually operate out of the oakland international airport. into downtown san jose, in talks to bring back its once annual fireworks show for the fourth of july. the santa clara county board of supervisors has approved a request to explore the possibility of bringing it back. one supervisor says the show would help cut down on illegal fireworks in the city. event scrapped in 2009 because people ran out of money.

you used to host that. >> year after year. >> huge tradition. >> spectacular. >> let's hope it's back. >> 6:36. we'll tell you why a neighborhood banded together to save a piece of graffiti art from being taken down. [ sports announcer ] here's another one, alyson dudek.

hales corners, wisconsin. nice pass by alyson dudek. can she hang on to that spot? and she does! [ male announcer ] with the u-verse wireless receiver, your tv goes where you take it, allowing inspiration to follow. ♪ [ dad ] looks pretty good, right? [ girl ] yeah. [ male announcer ] switch to u-verse and add a wireless receiver today. ♪

yes, a microclimate weather alert, a live look from the north bay this morning overlooking san rafael. two big storms headed our way. we'll check in with christina in a few moments.

a painter, the most famous graffiti artist, today neighbors in new orleans are credited with saving one of his street paintings from thieves. this painting, known as umbrella girl or rain girl locally, the british artist painted it on a cinder block wall after hurricane katrina. a crew showed up and put plywood around a fake construction site and two men tried to cut the painting out of the wall with a saw. the owner of the building called police, but the men got away. the painting's still there. the owner's hired security at the site. continuing to create the illegal graffiti. other pieces including some removed from walls have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> impressive piece, too. 6:40 reduce your water use or face a fine, coming up, the new drought restricts in the south bay, and how they will impact your daily routine. will repairs hold on the bay

area creek or incoming storms cause the waters to flood once again? live on the peninsula, just ahead. that moderate to heavy rainfall moving into the bay area right now. we have intense moisture moving our way, in combination with gusty wind, and now we're picking up lightning strikes. we'll show you where in your full force cast. local olympian travels from sochi, munich, chicago, back home to san jose. happy homecoming during 15 minutes of nonstop news, next. hey! hi! ladies, how are you? let's taste some wine. ♪ ♪

seize your vacation with a southwest airlines sale. go to southwest.com, where our lowest fares are now available as low as $69 one-way. book now at southwest.com and carpe vacay. ♪

nbc bay area microclimate weather alert for you, as we give you a live look outside.

this is san jose, dublin, san francisco, right now, rain clouds coming in all over the bay area. here's the weather radar. not just one but two storms are going to hit us top to bottom starting today. that means drivers will be bracing for a wet commute tonight. >> we have team coverage, mike inouye will take a look at your drive. christie smith will see how the peninsula braces you for wet weather. christina loren live in our weather center. how are we looking? >> getting hairier as we speak. you want to give yourself extra time to reach your destination safely. not talking about the rain that's going to put your life in danger unless you rush out that front door this morning and don't take it easy. we want to make sure you're prepared for what's coming our way. we have brief, heavy downpours across the bay area. i wanted to show you the lightning strikes that we are dealing with at this point. i'll show you that in a minute. before i do so, let's take you out live to christie smith live in palo alto this morning where they are bracing for some

potential flooding. how are locals getting ready for all of this heavy rain? >> reporter: well can tell you we saw one man coming out here, filling up his trunk with sandbags. he didn't want to be filmed but he want fod hed to hurry up and home. it has started to rain here this morning. this is a good place to come out and get prepared, if you need sandbags. they've got two piles, two rows here, at least maybe 25, 30 pallets full of sandbags. the station run by the santa clara valley water district, one of six, between palo alto and down towards morgan hill. this one, where we're at, along embarcadero road, and there are others that might need to be filled if you go there. you may want to bring a shovel in case. 17 other stations in cities across the south bay saying they are ready to go for the two

storms moving in. east palo alto, like most bay area cities, bracing for heavy rains we're going to get. they've made repairs to the creek to protect the gardens neighborhood, blooded in december 2012. they're saying that storm drains are clear, pump stations they made sure those are working. staff on storm ready status. what that means they ready to go to response toage emergency 24 hours a day. christie smith, "today in the bay." right now, flightaware.com reporting delays of 2:45 at san francisco international airport. we understand the delays are due to winds. >> let's check in with christina. we've been seeing weather radar with all of the colors translated for us, lots of storms.

>> seven consecutive days of rainfall. no two storm systems are the same. the way that this one is different from the last bout of heavy rain that came through, bay area is the wind and that wind is so strong, like we told you, forcing flight delays out of sfo. as we head throughout the day today, winds are going to pick up even more so, and they will be cranking. want to show you what it looks like now in san francisco, in combination with the rain you see on radar. as you can see, camera is shaking old glory, getting quite a bit of pickup with wind speeds sustained, 25, 30 gusting to 40 miles per hour. this is the kind of weather you don't want to dillydally, give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination safely. when you combine the wind and wet, it makes for a dangerous commute if you don't play it right. wind speeds are picking up, fluctuating 10 to 20 miles per

hour. you could get tagged by a strong gust though it's nice and calm. this shows you how unstable the air mass is that's coming into the bay area. lightning strikes, they're a few hours away from moving into the san jose area. expecting most activity over the santa cruz mountains. we could see pea-sized hail, gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour and rain rates of one inch per hour. you don't mess around with thunderstorms in the forecast. long range, a bit of a break as we head through thursday but by friday rain returns. even as we head through next week, seven-day forecast, talking about rain chances for monday,wednesday. this is what people have been praying for, especially farmers. it's good news. it just not a great thing when it comes in at once. mike inouye. >> same thing for the drive. not a good thing when everybody tries to come in at once but

that would be by definition the morning commute. bay bridge toll plaza, two things, lanes fill in. also the water on the road and the lens, getting the sprinkles here at toll plaza. there's a little bit of sheen on the roadways. lower the speeds down the east shore freeway, around the berkeley curve and sharper curves like overcrossing. no problems on the approach. san mateo bridge as well. folks making their way over. there's a sheen here as well. christie smith on the other side, palo alto, rain starting to come down by her, and the sandbags. slower drive developing because of the morning commute and green highlighted, traffic and weather tied together, radar that had been hovering over the area, activity has deposited on the roadways. you will have slicker conditions. there was a stall reported on the san mateo side. the foster city side i should say. highway 1 an issue through pacifica and san francisco all morning. watch for lower visibility and

slicker conditions. patches of green through the south bias rain continues to travel in, we'll get wet patches. 101 and 87 bulk of the slowing through the south bay. trafing north 85, more company toward highway 17 as well. tri-valley, earlier crash has cleared, things are evening out toward the dublin interchange. folks through pleasanton and sunol, a smooth drive into fremont. 6:50, nbc bay area follow-up. officials say people must make significant cuts to water usage or pay the price. the water district considering what rules to pass to get people to conserve but changes are coming. bob redell live outside the santa clara water district. what kind of rules are we talking about? >> reporter: could be very many different rules to cut back on the mandatory 20%. something the santa clara valley water district voted on last night.

a mandatory 20% cutback to help us save water here in the south bay for those 2 million customers. one possibility you could see soon, they haven't established this yet, that would be restrictions on how much and when you could water your lawn. for instance, you might only be able to water the law once the sun sets during nighttime, either on odor even days. another way that you could see your being forced to cut back a swimming pool if it needs to be filled or running low on water they might put the kibosh on that until the levels get up. how are they going to enforce this? a couple of ways. one could be fines for violating new water usage rules. for the water company to fine you, they first have to get approval from the puc to put the fine schedule in the plate. that has yet to happen. you could see higher water bills. >> the water providers could put a limitation on water use.

if you go ov that use, you could pay a higher price. that's a possibility. >> as i mentioned, the board here at santa clara valley water district mandated the 2 million customers cut back usage by 20%. that's the most stringent restriction since the 1992 drought. now the district has called for the cutback because the ground is so dry, reservoir so low, and rain infrequent. speak of the devil, we're getting it right now. but of course it's not enough. they don't expect restrictions to end any time soon. the 20% mandatory restriction will be in effect until the end of the year, regardless of how much rain we were to get. one district person telling us that they would need a good eight inches of rain to see any sort of significant run-off into the reservoirs. right now this isn't enough. live here in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you.

breaking news. coming into our newsroom this morning, two passenger terminals at port miami in florida evacuated as you look at live pictures, after some sort of substance was found in a bag at one of the terminals. this is an important port, it's where a lot of the cruise ships come in and out of miami, florida. again, two terminals evacuated. it's an on substance, trying to figure out what is. haz-mat is on the scene. into san jose firefighter could face sex crime charges a week after he was arraigned on three drug charges. arrested, accused of selling meth to an undercover officer but when he was arraigned last week, investigators were still looking into claims that he had a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old boy. prosecutors went ahead and charged him with three counts of drug possession and sale. but there have been no charges in the alleged sex crimes.

he will be in court today. he's not yet entered a plea on the drug possession and sales charges. several monterey county police officers and officials under arrest accused of preying on residents. the king city police chief who retired in september, the acting police chief, a sergeant, and an officer were arrested in connect with an alleged car scheme. investigator says the four impounded cars of immigrants, many of whom had no money, did not speak english. they reportedly would take the car to an impound lot own by the acting police chief's brother and keep a percentage of the cars brought in. the impound lot owner also arrested, charged with bribery, embezzlement, conspiracy. the man accused of shooting an oakland man and causing a fiery crash on the las vegas spr strip will be sentenced in a different case. facing ten years in prison for a 2010 sex attack on an

18-year-old woman. a jury found him guilty last september. harris could get the death penalty in the las vegas strip shooting. investigator say he shot kenny cherry jr., caused a chain reaction crash that killed the taxi driver and passenger. a federal court hearing for one of the men who admitted his guilt in the beating of bryan stow. peggy bunker with details. good morning. marvin norwood pleaded guilty to the beating of bryan stow after an opening day giants game. he's due in court to face weapons charges after police found guns in the home during the investigation. norwood's detention hearing will take place today. he would have been released last week because of times served but the weapons discovery changed all of that. they found guns and live ammunition hidden in the attic. norwood admitted his guilt in

the 2011 beating of stowe, the paramedic and father of two, stowe suffered major brain damage and continues to struggle with recovery. if norwood is convicted on those weapons charges he could face up to ten years in prison. skyline high school students headed back to class after enjoying most of yesterday outside the classroom. students and teachers were sent home yesterday morning, after someone smelled gas. officials found a valve on the roof of the school had been turned on, left open it had been used to control a gas supply to a former science room but no longer used. this is the second time in as many weeks that school was closed because of gas, the school closed for one day last week after a construction crew accidentally broke a gasoline. what's the best way to get thousands of fans and to from levi's stadium? that's what officials will try to figure out.

vta's levi's stadium transit program committee will hold its first meeting, hoping to fine a way to o. offer fast and efficient service to the stadium before it opens. the meeting is open to the public held at 10:00 at vta headquarter on first street in san jose. bobsledder nick cunningham returned home from sochi to a hero's welcome last night. >> usa! usa! usa! >> cunningham went from sochi to munich to chicago and denver before finally landing last night. the big crowd. he had to drive home to monterey. the 28-year-old did not come home with a medal but plenty of memories and stories to tell family and friends, including getting stuck inside a elevator with johnny quinn. nbc bay area -- >> yes, you are watching "today in the bay."

>> we have microclimate weather to tell you. >> >> yes, we do. >> that's what's happening "today in the bay." that's for sure. a lot of wet weather and strong wind as well. right now though we have moderate to heavy downpours on the radar, wind is playing a larger role. i want to start with that. watch out for gusty conditions across the board this morning but particularly for the higher elevations and across our open water bridges. you can see from the live picture of san francisco, it is definitely getting busier out there. this is what the radar looks like now. and i'm going to tell you right now, we'll see showers intensify throughout the day today. but right now, all of san francisco getting some really heavy downpours and that will continue to be the case throughout the day today. temperatures are going to be comfortable, it's going to be mid-60s but keep that umbrella handy all day long. see how showers are impacting your drive. >> the wind and the rain hitting at the same time. so our camera in oakland, rooftop camera shows the same

thing. wet roadways past the coliseum. camera hit by the wind. map will show you farther south, volume continues to bill coming in south past 238, slowing toward fremont out of hayward. slower across san mateo and dumbarton bridges. green overlay, wet roads to the south bay. 6:59. top stories, asiana slapped with a 500,000 fine in response to last summer's crash at sfo. the department ofs transportation says asiana failed to help family members of crash victims. peninsula preparing for possible flooding over the next few days. several sandbag stations stocked. east palo alto, crews have made repairs to flood prone creek to keep it from overflowing. >> water fishes are telling two million people, cut back on water use by 20%. the move by the santa clara valley water district paves the

way for possible fines and higher water bills. >> you have to drink a fifth less. that's what's happening it "today in the bay." back at 7:25 with a local news update. good morning. all eyes on arizona. governor jan brewer sends out a late night tweet on the controversial bill. criticized for being anti-gay. will she veto it as early as today? record-breaking, extreme temperatures push their way into california with rain. and the deep south with tens of millions ever americans battling the brutal cold. taking the stand, kerry kennedy set to testify at her drunk driving trial this morning. will that help or hurt her case? and welcome home, fresh from their gold-medal winning