a stretch of southbound 101 shut down in the south bay. new details about the fuel spill from an overturned tanker. >> people wake up to smoke and flames at a townhouse. why firefighters couldn't save one unit. >> an nbc bay area microclimate weather alert. we're live in the sierra with a look at how much fresh powder is falling. >> we have a lot on the way. more rain moving into the bay area as we speak. we're talking about the potential for flooding in your neighborhood. even though you may not be one of the parts of the bay area that usually sees the heavy rainfall, it's coming in heavy tonight. i'm going to time it out to your doorstep. >> in the aftermath of yesterday's rain, before tomorrow comes in we still haveto deal with slick roads. some incidents are related. >> we have a live look outside downtown san jose with ominous beautiful clouds or a little of both. thursday, february 27th, this is

"today in the bay." a very good thursday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm scott mcgrew. we have an update to breaking news, parts of highway 101 in morgan hill still closed, more than a dozen homes evacuated while officials clean up several thousand gallons of gasoline. it spilled when a tanker overturned. the truck was hauling the gas headed southbound on highway 101 when a car slammed into it near tenant avenue. christie smith is live from tenant avenue. christie, when are these lanes going to reopen? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, scott. earlier we had reported that possibly one lane of southbound 101 would reopen by 6:00 this morning. here it is 6:00 and obviously that hasn't happened yet. you can see emergency vehicles there in the distance. that's where the crash site is. this is where an overturned

tanker is just past tenant avenue. there is a lot of work to be done after a vehicle lost control on slick wet roads. it's still raining this morning. went across the southbound lanes into the center divide and hit that big rig tanker truck carrying gasoline that flipped toward a ditch. it was carrying about 8,000 gallons of gasoline. 4,000 spilled. 14 homes were evacuated as a precaution. i'm told the closer you get the more you do smell gasoline. hazmat crews are also dealing with the spill. >> there is a drain about 50 to 70 feet south of the spill, and the spill was viewed going into the drain. unknown amount. >> reporter: right now there is a second truck that was brought in trying to offload all of the fuel that was on first one that

flipped over. how long that will take, that is unclear. the tanker truck driver went to the hospital we're told complaining of pain. no one has been cited. the cause is under investigation. we heard possibly 10:00 a.m. at this point the latest information that the chp gave us there is no estimated time on when all of the southbound lanes will reopen. recording live in morgan hill, risty smith. >> we check the commute with mike now. we have a look. >> there you go, christie talked about all of the southbound lanes being closed. northbound is your major commute direction but we'll show you what we're talking about. overall the main look at the bay area looks fine. pretty predictable for us. watch the slick conditions. this is where the close jury, through morgan hill down to san martin. head over to monterey road, monterey highway as your alternate. that opening time at 6:00 a.m. not happening for any of the

lanes, possibly 10:00 a.m. that's seklation. the northbound side we see slowing around cochran and building up at dunn. now we have a slowdown because of all of the flashing lights, are a distraction on the northbound side. that's causing additional slowdowns. then smoother drive up in toward san jose toward that 85 split you're fine. slower drive at times, curtner, to highway 87. 101 slows with the burst starting to crack in. we warned you about spin-outs, lower traction. there are damp roadways, we had a spin-out. no major injuries but spin-outs likely at the clover leaf because of slick conditions. the dumbarton bridge, as well as the san mateo bridge, an east west connector. the bay bridge has the wind

advisory and we have metering lights on. pretty tard here down the berkeley curve. approaching but no incidents at the maze. back to you. >> an update to breaking news in the south bay. investigators combing through what is left of a townhouse complex after a fire in san jose. the flames put 8 children out of their home. >> the homeowners themselves noticed the fire and each one of the units were able to evacuate. prior to firefighters' arrival. we did have 18 people living in this apartment building and of the 18 people there are ten adults and eight children who will be displaced. >> one town shom destroyed. two others badly damaged.

>> now to a microclimate weather alert. a live look at san jose, the san mateo bridge, today cloudy, mostly calm. right now the bay area is between two storms, one moving in, the other moving out. let's start our coverage with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning to you. i want to show you the radar now, we don't have a lot of activity but enough to get your roadways nice and slick up in the north bay. and at this point we're seeing the heaviest shower activity in the south bay. give yourself extra time. the aftermath from the system yesterday, although our winds are really starting to subside at this point. we have more heavy rain on the way as of tonight in combination with that gusty wind. now that the ground is saturated you want to travel cautiously. if you live in one of the areas across the bay where trees go down when we get rain and

everybodiy wind. we've got you covered. it does look like it could get dangerous across the bay area. we stop the block for you from 11:00 p.m. to 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. heavy pockets of rain moving on shore. you head throughout saturday you'll be able to get outdoors, more rain on the way through next week. we want to bring in anthony slaughter because as i can tell you right now there is an additional three inches of rainfall on the way to san jose, 2 1/2 knew palo alto and maybe three inches additionally where you are this morning in los gatos. good morning to you. >> yeah, good morning, christina. in the last half hour something remarkable. when we got up here around 3:00 we saw lightning. in the last half hour, folks running across, without dogs, i mean it's remarkable. we must be by a gym or something. the good news is the bam before

the storm with this next system but we had winds gust up to 66 miles per hour. that can bring down trees. we haven't seen any down but the next round is expected to be if not just as intense, more intense and with the ground saturated now with the next incoming storm conditions could deteriorate quick hi as we head to the overnight showers so as you head through the day make sure you're ready for conditions to start going downhill. get your home ready as well. flashlights for the house in case power goes out and check the storm gutters around your house. we'll be out here tracking it all morning and evening. keep it here on nbc. back to you >> great advice, always a good idea to prepare. back to you for now, scott and laura. >> thanks, folks. keeping an eye on the sierra as well. a live look at king va

lake-effect snow e off 880. bob is going to have a live report in about 10 minutes. >> the nbc weather team keeping a close eye on the storms. we'll have team coverage during the evening as well as the largest storms arrive. tomorrow morning we'll of course keep you up to date on where this storm is and what's happening on the roads. >> new this morning three people dead, three others seriously injured after a small plane crashed on the hawaiian island of lanai. we don't think -- the plane crashed before midnight. minutes after taking off from the airport. the maui news reports that members of nawy's planning department were on the island earlier in the day, they may have been aboard the plane. >> new video to show you of a high speed big rig crash caught on camera in pasadena overnight. initially three big rigs and suv

driver collided westbound on the i-34 freeway near the transition to the 210. 30 minutes later a fourth big rig crashed through the scene, jumping up a hill and landing on a transition road. two people in the fourth big rig are injured but not seriously. >> still ahead "today in the bay," we'll take a new look at nutrition labels and what's going to change. >> an update on the overturned tanker in morgan hill. >> we take a live look out at the bay bridge. i know we've got lots of weather people and reporters all over the bay reporting on the storms, we'll have lots of updates.

taking a live look at your radar this morning. still lit up we still have light showers moving on shore but we're done with the heavy stuff, at least for the next 12 hours. it will be moving back by this evening, i'm going to time out for you coming up. >> with a little break in the rain you still have the wind to contend with over the bay bridge. we have slicker conditions. i'll warn you about a couple of incidents for the south bay. >> in the meantime here is a look at today's top stories. investigators trying to pinpoint the cause of a fire in the south bay that forced 18 people including eight children from their homes overnight. it happened at a townhouse complex on chenoweth avenue near oak grove high school. one townhome destroyed, two badly damaged. no one was hurt. >> all lanes of southbound highway 101 in morgan hill are

shut down, a tanker carrying gasoline overturned ne eed near avenue. 14 homes in the area are evacuated as a precaution. no word yet on when crews can have the highway back open. >> nutrition labels could get a new look. the fda will propose larger, bolder print. serving sizes would also be more realistic. >> back to our microclimate weather alerts. a look at downtown san jose and fremont as well. >> let's check in with bob redell checking out the sierra snow this morning. he's up on the way to it up in kingvale this morning. i would think that chains required on 80 this morning, bob. >> reporter: absolutely. starting at myyak back from where we're at. good morning. we came up overnight and this storm was well under way.

caltrans has been out here, you can see where the plow marks are, plowing the roads but they also do have chain requirement. this is eastbound 80. any travel really from between nyak to reno. trying to get to tahoe and across the donner summit you need the chains. we've had snow. all morning long we've had a good dumping before i had a good 2 to 3 inches of snow out here on of course with the plows out that's not something we've seen much of lately. this winter has been so dry. they have been out here trying to make the roads passable, tahoe, to enjoy the snow and perhaps to get one last shot at the ski slopes. though some have given up on this winter altogether. >> did you write this year off pretty much? >> yeah. there's no snow. i didn't want to go up. it's not worth going up.

>> reporter: this is a pretty picture seeing all of this snow. we desperately need it as you're well aware. we're in a drought, the third year, coming off the driest year in record, 2013 but this snow is nowhere near enough to make an impact. that's what the department of water resources is telling us. when they do their third snow survey of the winter that's when they go and measure the snowpack, they will do that at echo summit along highway 50 heading into south lake tahoe. when we were there about a month ago when they did their second survey they measured about 18 inches. usually on good years that snow is well above their head. we know it's not there right now. will it be better than it was a month ago. most likely. they were at 29% of normal what they need and the water resource

managers are concerned because the snowpack normally provides the state of california a third of its water supply through runoff, through streams and creeks and whatnot. reporting live in kingvale, "today in the bay." >> they were talking about yesterday that these -- it's going to last throughout the year into 2015 before we get back to normal. >> whether we like it or not. the deficit we're running we still have to conserve 20%. i can tell you right now it's looking promising. the entire month of march looks good. they are so urging that 20% reduction. you're helping the farmers throughout the date when you conceive. we need the snowpack. the snow is coming down. we want to bring in colleen moore live from squaw valley. i bet you're excited about this snowfall. what do you have going on for

people today into the weekend? >> yeah, we're really excited. we picked up ten inches in 24 hours here at squaw. we have 10 at alpine so it's going to be a fun day. it's still snowing and we expect snow to continue the next few days. >> the snow that's coming down it looks fluffy. it's not the wet snow. what would you say as far as the quality of the snow you guys have. how is the grooming going? the riding more specifically? >> it's been great, you know. and this new snowfall is going to help us, upper mountains should be riding great. we recommend get ready and come up. it's going to be a great day today. >> thank you so much. yeah, you hit the bull's eye, it's all about the upper mountain today into the weekend. that's where you get the best snowfall. some of that snow will stick around and more on the way. you'll notice on the seven-day

forecast we're keeping showers in the mix, even in the bay area as we head into next week. everything is looking good. we still urge that you conserve that water, after all we really need to help out. people in fresno, bakersfield, where we feed the world that's where they need to water us. they need it in the central valley. this is what we're working with. showers are light. it's enough to cause a slow commute. and do account for the showers yesterday. any ponding or puddles. everything is looking pretty git. temperatures in the 60s. it's not going to be too cold a. good day to open up the windows. that sind is going to fick up as well. we'll look at air quality. this is what's on the way as of 11:00 p.m. that will continue to 11:00 a.m.

tomorrow so. 12 hours of steady rain could produce flooding. look at these totals. upwards of three inches here in san jose. mike, you were with us last evening and it was pretty rough out there. people need to be prepare forward what could be a tough commute tomorrow. >> that's right. let me clarify. i was in the studio and you were out in the elements so thank you for covering that. i take it easy here by my pretend being outside scene. >> this is westbound 580. you see the water on the road. there you go, taking it easy around that bend. we're watching slick conditions. this area where we're seeing a similar drive. not a problem. easy drive building out of livermore into dublin from the westbound direction. see the glean blocks, you fairly see them, that sour traffic and weather tied together with that data. just like you saw on the live shot. no problem for 680 through sunol. starting to build south on 680

into fremont. here in the south bay north 87 at skyport at the off ramp. the parking lot at the san jose international airport there is a spin-out there. be careful. that's not a major problem as far as speeds past the area. we have a gentle build for north 87, the second burst as well as 101 northbound. you see the second one kicks in on schedule. here is 85, 285 to show slower speeds. south of here, san martin, all the way to san martin. and the overturned tanker, the northbound side, very slow up into the area. north of morgan hill. a smooth drive along the peninsula no. problems for the bay bridge toll plaza. a nice drive down the east shore. back to you. >> mike, thank you.

still ahead "today in the bay," dire look at the statewide drought. we'll show you the startling new pictures of the state reservoir. >> let's take a live look outside, sun rising over the bay area. more rain in the works. we'll check with christina. she has been setting all of that radar for us as another storm headed our way.

as we continue to watch the

weather with our microclimate weather alert you can see the winds have started to pick up again. it was incredibly windy yesterday. the rainstorm yesterday really a welcome sight as well as we take a live look at fremont this morning. statewide drought conditions do continue to cause alarm. we didn't really get enough rain to make a dent. >> peggy bunker is here in the studio with the answer. >> i hate to be the bearer of bad news about this. we saw all of the rainfall yesterday. it looked promising but only one inch totals in areas we're looking at a major rain deficit and dire drought conditions. we got word from the drought monitor about the situation in california. they sent us a map to thlt the situation. i'm going to show you that in a minute. let's look at a few before and after pictures which will show you a lot of the story. lake shasta here in august 2012, you see the bridge where you drive north to south into lake shasta. you see the boat docks on surface area of water.

look at this. how much of the bridge is revealed, the base of the bridge. you lose all of that surface of water. boats are sunk down. we take you to folsom dam, this is august 2011. a lot of surface area of water. 97% full in 2011. look at what 17% looks like in 2014. a lot of land exposed, a lot of water gone. back to that map we told you about, this is from a drought monitor that looks at situations here. you see the dark, dark red there in the center of california. that is severe drought conditions. they listed this this morning. the red around is it extreme drought condition, then it goes back from there. this is their highest category of lack of water, 100% of the state is in a drought situation. yesterday california committees approved about $700 million for a drought relief plan. most would accelerate repsyching projects and target communities

that have no water. the the plan will be headed to the floor for a vote that vote will be important to helping out some of the communities that aring so impacted by this. and that basically is a lot of the state. >> that's right. thanks so much, peggy. >> still ahead, the cabin of a flight filled with smoke. you can hear the frustrated flight attendant to get people off of the plane. >> a car slams into the side of a house in campbell. how a quick thinking neighbor nabbed the neighbor before he tried to run away >> back outside, this is a look at the bay bridge toll plaza. you can see the sheen on the road. mike inouye is going to be back, in fact, we have a team of folks covering the storms.

>> a busy stretch of 101 shut down overnight by an overturned tanker and oil spill. new details about the cleanup next. >> a live look at san jose. you can see the sun starting to

come up, all of the clouds, the calm between the two storms, we'll have your forecast in just moments. >> in the meantime we take you live to new york city this morning. there is the opening bell i-shares doing the honor there. we also have a look this morning lattice doing the honors there. markets off and running, so are we with a look at storms heading to the bay area on this thursday, february 27th, this is "today in the bay." >> good morning. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. an update to breaking news from the south bay, we're still waiting to find out what caused a fire that destroyed three town homes and forced 18 people in the rain. the fire started behind a four-unit complex in san jose about 12:30 this morning. crews had to call for backup twice before they got the fire under control. the fourth unit may be livable but people there say they had to

stay somewhere for the night. >> still no word when crews will reopen the lanes of southbound 101 in morgan hill. a tanker carrying gasoline overturned spilling gas all over the roadway. this happened after 1:00 this morning. all lanes of southbound 101 are still shut down near tenant avenue. 14 homes in the area evacuated as a precaution. christie smith will have a live update. right now let's check in with mike inouye. tell us the impact of the commute. >> with the full closure on one side of the freeway let's see how it affects the major commute. most of our viewers closer to the bay, we're looking here and typical map we show looks pretty good. nothing unexpected. but the full closure that's here with the chopper. we're over the scene. the live shot in here we have the closure at the top right of the screen that would be

southbound 101 coming down in toward tenant. look at that. all of the crews on scene. there is a full closure because of the fuel tanker. sounds like there is a fuel spill. about 4,000 gallons. we are showing that full closure. the northbound side slow. there is a second tank wer the red rig, they there are to -- there you go, the remaining fuel you see the hose connected. that will take time. for safety take looks like they closed the entire freeway to keep folks from passing by. we don't want anything to mess with that. also fish and game on scene because of the potential hazmat situation. you see the tanker in the dirt, there is a drain about 70 feet away. the weather may be playing a factor. there is the full closure of 101, as you come off of the freeway at tenant just to the north of the scene. we'll show you on the maps. the major commute heading to the area not affected. it's northbound up to the area out of san martin through morgan hill. we're talking about the

southbound closure, the northbound out of san martin, that is the issue there. the rest of the bay we have slicker roadways. lower the speeds, north 87, slowing as well as north 101 up toward the airport. north 85. it's out of lanes and no major injuries. looking at south 680, coming off of the dublin interchange. out of livermore and into dublin, the typical pattern for the tri-valley. across to the bay we're seeing the san mateo and the dumbarton bridges. wind advisories so keep that in mind. we'll take a live look at the approach off of the san mateo bridge. we've seen the camera shake, not that problem now but watch that high rise. the backup at the toll plaza is there. back to you. >> thank you, mike. >> we have an nbc bay area microclimate alert in effect as we give you a live look outside, san jose on the left. san francisco on the right.

yesterday's storm was a little appetizerment tomorrow will be the main course. let's check in with meteorologist christina loren. are we going to be hungry for this one? >> we are definitely ravishly hungry. three inches in los gatos yesterday. if that's an appetizer i'll take two, please. i can tell you we have a lot of rainfall on the ray but that's a hefty total for 24 hours in los gatos. up to two inches in petaluma and cupertino. over an inch in san francisco and walnut creek so. more rain on the way. i think really the bigger component from this next storm system also we have heavy rain coming in but this is packing even more wind than that which came through last night. in addition to that we're also talking about the potential for thunderstorms to develop as we head through tonight into tomorrow. so let's talk about what we expect. live radar tells the story of the day. showers starting to break apart, starting to let up. i can tell you right now you're

going to find pockets where you have to use your windshield wipers. good idea to give yourself extra time. temperatures right now are looking pretty good in the 50s headed to the mid-60s. in fact, we're going to stay in the 60s, not a lot of cold air with this storm system but a lot of moisture. we threat clock run, the new totals on top what if we accumulated, additional 2 inches on the way to santa rosa. 2 1/2 inches in palo alto. more rain on the way for the weekend but it's not going to be a total washout. i'll help you get around the showers and get outdoors, the weekend is so close now. back to you. >> that would be our dessert then. >> thank you. new details into our newsroom action we've learned a problem with the air conditioner caused the cabin of a delta plane to fill with smoke as it landed at the oakland airport. >> leave all of your belongings and get off this aircraft.

go. we cannot breathe back here. go. >> the dark video was taken by a passenger. you can hear a frustrated flight attendant trying to get people off the plane. the plane didn't have to detour but firefighters did meet it on the runway. everyone made it off the plane okay. fire investigators have not revealed an exact cause, an airline spokesperson tells us they believe the smoke came from an air conditioning pack. >> a campbell man under arrest accused of trying to kill his family with his car. it happened yesterday in southwest campbell on west mont avenue down the street from west mont high. anthony mcsherry's two kids and mother were in his acura he sped through a fence and slammed into a home. after the crash a witness said he got out and ran but a

neighbor caught him. others helped rescue the mother and children. the two in the home were not injured. mcsherry is charged with attempted murder and driving under the influence. >> still ahead, gunmen seize government buildings. new details on the overnight power grab next. >> we take you back to the overturned tanker in the ditch. another one throughout to try to unload it. this is morgan hill area. southbound 101 completely closed.

we continue to follow breaking news with live pictures, this is over southbound highway 101 near morgan hill. the tenant avenue exit where an overturned tanker has dropped thousands of gallons of gasoline. there you see it there where it actually happened early this morning in about i think 230 hour or so. it's definitely snarled traffic as now they are not only trying to clean up the mess out there, they have got to eventually take that tanker away as well. hazmat situation ensues, several homes were evacuated. we've got a crew on the scene.

>> protests continue in kiev ahead of a parliamental street approve a new government. last night ukraine's protest leaders named the ministers they want to form the interim government. they have also just named the prime minister as well. protesters already letting parliament know they are not happy with the candidates chose tune represent them. the new government will face the task of restoring stability in a country deeply divided politically and on the verge of financial collapse. >> the expected vote among tensions in the region where government seized local buildings and raised the russian flag. it's across from kiev on the russian border. the moves have escalated tensions in ukraine whose population is divided in loyalties. it's home to a controversial russian naval base. ukraine's acting president warns that any move by russian troops

off their base will be considered a military aggression. >> on the russian side of the border 150,000 russian troops are conducting military exercises while the country's fighter jets are on combat alert. putin ordered the exercises yesterday saying the administration was concerned over what it called massive violations of human rights in the ukraine. russia's show of force prompted secretary of state john kerry to warn any military intervention in ukraine would be a grave mistake. getting very serious. >> it is. 6:42. an update to breaking news, a stretch of southbound 101 shut down overnight in the south bay. we've got new details about the fuel spill from an overturned tanker. >> 18 people woke up to smoke and flames. >> we're tracking another round of heavy rainfall on the way to the bay area. i'll time it out when "today in

the bay" comes right back. a.

new video just in showing an overturned tanker truck closed part of 101 to remain closed for hours. >> the truck was hauling gas on southbound 101 when a car slammed into it near tenant avenue. christie smith live near the scene of that crash this morning. we saw the vehicle that was involved as well. you just spoke to chp about when the lanes might open out there. what do you know? >> reporter: good morning. unfortunately, i wish i had better news for you but when i asked the chp officer he kind of shrugged his shoulders and said maybe one to two hours at best,

talking about just getting one lane open southbound because you can see they still have emergency vehicles out here taking up basically every lane on the southbound side trying to deal with this situation. just on the other side of this, the gas tanker still rolled over. >> we lost her shot but i can tell you you can see the gas tanker rolled on its side. this happened about 2:30 in the morning. southbound 101 near tenant. it spilled thousands of gallons of gasoline. that in itself prompted an evacuation of nearby homes in that area. people were taken to different area, i believe christie is back. are you there? okay. we'll finish up the story here telling you that all lanes southbound 101 are closed at tenant. what you need to do is probably get off at dunne avenue or cochran if you are headed southbound. you have to take the old monterey highway if you are headed south toward the gilroy area. we'll keep checking back on the

story. you see all of the personnel out there because you not only have to take care of all of the gas 0 teen but then move that tanker off so it's going to take time. it's also causing a problem for northbound 101 travelers as well as they are seeing all of the activity this morning. 6:47. more breaking news, investiga r investigators combing through a complex. the flames there forced several families including eight children out of their home. fire broke out before 12:30 this morning at a complex on chin 0 wealth avenue. not far from oak grove high school. one town home completely destroyed, two others badly damaged. no word on a cause. >> we continue our nbc bay area microclimate alert as we give you a live look outside san jose and dublin and san francisco. this is the calm between the two storms, one now moving out of the bay area, the other about to hit tomorrow. >> this morning we have a microclimate weather team in place from the south bay all the

way up to the sierra. our coverage with christina watching the radar. >> good morning to you, scott and laura. today we're sandwiched between two systems. we're getting the remnants of the area of low pressure moving into tahoe, and there is a potent winter storm right on the heels of this one. so we're talking about some really gusty wind and heavy rainfall as we head throughout the next 24 hour period. want to make sure you're ready for that and give yourself extra time because we still have areas of urban flooding, areas of puddles ponding, take it easy out there. let's take you into the future. show you what we're expecting from this next system. it arrives tonight in addition to the heavy rainfall we're talking about with wind gusts you'll notice on the key where you get the hot pink up to 50 miles per hour. our ground is saturated out there so with the heavy rain coupled with the wind it is a concern for downed trees, also we could see mudslides out of this. which is why we want to bring in anthony slaughter this morning.

yeah, it's looking slick out there where you are. what's the best way that people can prepare for all of this additional moisture and gusty winds that we have coming our way. >> reporter: the best thing to do is make sure that you and your family at home are all safe. of course you think about the things and you get rain in the bay area, and we're all used to rain but this system that's coming through tonight is going to be more intense, not just a rainstorm but a really intense thunder storm and several rounds of thunderstorms are expected tonight. this morning even los gatos had strong winds up to 66 miles per hour. and tonight the same thing is expected to happen. and that's going to continue through tomorrow morning. so tonight make sure your storm gutters are cleared around your home, have a backup flashlight, maybe batteries ready to go in case we do lose power. of course as we mentioned overnight winds did gust up to about 60 miles per hour in san or in los gatos, that's about 10 miles per hour shy of hurricane

strength winds. so be prepared. i know it seems overkill but you talk about hurricane force winds, you just think about the images in hurricanes. trees down, power lines down, bill boards flipped over. it's not unusual, even though it's rare, this is something you want to be prepare forward as we head into the overnight hours. back to you now. >> thank you, anthony, great advice out there. the wind gusts come in and they push all of that air with the force and that's what topples trees. let's take it live to bob redell live in tahoe, so this is more good news because we need the snow for our snowpack. it replenishes our water during the summer. what are you working with, bob? >> reporter: well, good morning to you. we're actually here in kingvale along 80. when you and i look at this we see a winter wonderland but when you talk to people in charge of the state's water supply, they see too little too late. yes, they want the snow but it's not enough.

the department of water resources does not think that this later storm will have that much impact on the state's snowpack which normally supplies around a third of the water supply. with runoff through creeks like this one here. and streams and rivers and whatnot. they will get a better sense in a few hours when they conduct their third snow survey this winter season. taking place at 11:00 this morning. we'll be measuring the snowpack at echo summit south of tahoe. a month ago the snowpack was at roughly 29% of normal. they do not expect that number to improve greatly. yes, there will be change but again, they don't expect that to be significant. earlier we spoke with a person who lives in kingvale. he has been here 40 years. he's optimistic that this snowfall will have a significant impact. >> of course. i mean, heaven's listening

right. i mean you know, couple weeks ago we were talking about hardly any. all of a sudden the last three or four weeks we're up 50%. can't beat that. >> 50% from where we were. >> good lord we deserve it. i'm doing a lot of praying. >> for the rain? snow? >> some type of moisture. >> reporter: that man also praying for a four-wheel drive. driving from the bay area to novato, made a stop here not far from where we're standing now to get chains. chains are required, both directions of 80, starting at nyak, is prior to kingvale and you need it as you head that direction looking east into that white blindness, the donner summit. we're hearing the metal chains all morning long on the big rig, trucks especially need them. they are such a danger on the

roads if they don't have them. if you are thinking of coming up to enjoy the snow, it's very lovely and it's mild i must say as well. you will need a four-wheel drive or chains on your tires. >> that's right. if you get them before you get to tahoe they are going to be a lot less expensive. >> gloves so you can put them on. >> definitely. be prepared if you are headed that way. there is a lot more snowfall on the way tonight so making plans to head up there this weekend, probably a good idea. we're going to see the snow fall up in the tahoe area, at least until saturday, late afternoon into the evening. so sunday is your day if you want to be out there skiing or riding your snowboard, that powder, yeah, won't be coming down on you at the same time. it can get soupy when the snow is falling and you're riding. storm totals impressive. over three inches in los gatos, two inches in pet a who that. and we picked up an inch

parkside san francisco and walnut creek. even san jose we had an inch of rain. we need the rain and there is a lot more on the way. without much of a drying out period which is why we are on storm alert for you. we have a saturated ground in addition to the heavy rain and what was accumulated, those winds like i said before are going to be whipping later on tonight. to the tune of 50 miles per hour gusts, and yeah, it's the gusts that can take out trees even though we're going to see the sustained winds, battering the loose limbs and branches. what we had because of the drought is a lot of these trees are starting to die out. a lot of them weakened from the dry conditions so we're expecting more downed trees than a normal rain event. we stop the clock at 11:00 p.m., the front comes in, rich moisture continues through 11:00 a.m. so for a 12-hour period and right in the heart of the morning drive tomorrow it is going to be hairy. you want to make sure you give yourself plenty of time tomorrow and really get your mind focused

on what could be very dangerous travel conditions. overall we want to keep you and your family safe. that's what we're here for. >> in fact, the slick roads did cause a problem on southbound 101, we continue to follow breaking news, an overturned big rig. i want to check in with christie smith live in morgan hill. any sign of lanes reopening? >> good morning. i did hear from the chp telling me oneto two hours before a lane may open. you can see the front end of the tanker truck still on its side. basically all lanes still shut down because they have emergency vehicles here. this is a gas tanker that the chp says was hit by a car going at a high rate of speed overnight on the rain slick roads and turned over on its side, it was carrying about 8,000 gallons of regular gasoline, and the chp saying up to 4,000 gallons may have spilled. so they have got hazmat teams,

also a second truck trying to off-load what was left and get the situation cleaned up. i'm told that the driver in the tanker truck had to go to the hospital complaining of pain after this accident happened but the driver in the small car was basically okay and not cited in this incident because it's still under investigation. fish and wildlife out here also because there was a drain nearby and concern that some of this gasoline might go in that drain. i'm also told this is the other part of this story that's important is that when you go down there, there is a real strong smell of gasoline and 14 homes near the freeway. the thousand square foot area evacuat evacuated. 13 of those families went with friends. red cross helping the other family, i'm told they are still out of their homes even that the hour while they continue to clean this up. one to two hours they are telling me now before one lane

can even reopen. that's the latest live in morgan hill, "today in the bay." >> let's bring mike inouye in. certainly good that it's southbound. >> exactly. because that is counter commute. this is the issue. the nissan, that tanker is off the side. the second is pumping the remaining gasoline out of that tanker. want to keep everything safe so they closed the freeway. lots of fire crew there to make sure everything is okay. the spill here and presumably into the dirt as well likely there, fish and game's on scene as well. it takes a special cleanup, they could have a couple lanes remain closed. but christie says chp told her they hope in a couple of hours to have one, maybe two lanes open. right now all are closed. northbound side doesn't look so bad. this is not main part of your commute. this is south as you head south

out of morgan hill, thank goodness it's southbound that's counter commute. monterey road, getting back on at san martin avenue. you saw that sign. approaching the area, it clears once you head past north of tenant and dunn. that is the bulk of the commute but it's extra heavy because of all of that distraction. slicker roads, ask you to slow down. try to get my clicker to work. there is the south bay. typical through the area, 87 and 280 showing a big slowdown with the volume. not a big deal as far as tri-valley. some mild slowing and no problems tomorrow as far as low clouds but again, slicker conditions, watch getting off at freeway speed. overnight wind advisories and holding them for the high rise. hold on tight fwhout problems for drive arers.

they're out of lanes but two in the area may be a quicker transition so keep that in mind. slowing over from the airport to 280. we'll give you a live look. oakland, soupy conditions, a little slowing past the coliseum. the bay bridge toll plaza has the standard backup out of the maze. >> and the slowing conditions continue on southbound 101 near morgan hill. we're telling you about it because it's one of our top stories. crews say it could take a couple more hours before they open any of the lanes near tenant. a tanker carrying gasoline overturned spilling nearly 4,000 gallons of gasoline. hazmat crews are trying to clean up the mess. 14 homes evacuated. >> trying to pinpoint the cause of a fire in san jose that forced 18 people including eight children from their homes. it happened after midnight at a townhouse complex on chenoweth.

nobody hurt. >> that's what's happening "today in the bay." we'll be back with a local update and keep checking the weather for you as well. away gay customers. this morning what she is saying about the decision and the controversy.