you're waking up to the rainwin. on this friday you're waking up to the rain, wind and another round of storms pounding the bay area. this as we take a live look outside from san rafael. rob is watching a sweeping pattern moving a lot faster than yesterday. plus, rising anxiety with rising creeks and rivers. lots of the bay area under a flood watch. this is only the beginning. how long will it last and how will it impact your morning commute? gear up, "today in the bay" starts right now. a good friday morning, thank you for joining us. i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's see when it's really coming in rob mayeda in for kari this morning.

>> unlike yesterday, the south bay will see a fair share and right now moderate rain across the north bay and some heavier rain crossing the peninsula coastline around half moon bay as we track the rains at times and flash flood watch continues through 6:00 sunday and new this morning a wind advisory posted for the central bay and south bay hills. gusts of 45 miles per hour. that's for 2:00 today. for the morning, rain filling in and winds increasing towards noon and a much cooler day and highs in the mid up toer 60s and chance of thunder as well as you approach the afternoon and the evening commute. >> that wind might have helped take out one of our cameras here. looking towards the peninsula side and eastbound is what we're concerned with. moving and few red-lights. over the high rise is just fine. somewhere between the high rise and the toll plaza reports of a car that crash under to a center divide there and the sensors don't show any slowing and i don't see any problems, but i'll continue to scan it. i did see what looked like a

traffic break, but things are pretty calm right now. we'll track this and the update from chp. back to you. we're staying on top of the weather as the traffic and the weather coming down in the north bay. >> yes, it is. cheryl hurd has been tracking that storm since last night. >> reporter: the rain has been constant, pouring at times. >> this does not look good. >> reporter: michael has been monitoring the creeks adjacent to his home along sony point road. >> another foot or two higher it is going to run over in that field and making a bigger lake. >> reporter: a flash flood warning was issued in the north bay. >> usually the rain over a week or so straight then you have a problem or so. but this is kind of off and on but i've never seen it this full. > >> reporter: that's why local

battalion has been monitoring local streams and creeks in the area. >> we look at radar to see what kind of rain is coming. >> reporter: with all the ground saturation, the creeks and rivers can handle just so much water during one storm, but with multiple storms on the way, the petaluma fire department is ready just in case flooding becomes a problem. >> we can absorb little bits of rain when the rivers are really high and the system will handle that. but if our systems are full and we have another rain event coming, then we're going tahave problems. >> reporter: nbc bay area news. one of the way to combat that flooding san francisco hoping a new flood control system will work as the storm moves in. city workers put up a wall of plastic blocks set up around the mission district. they're weighed down with recycled water and the barriers are expected to stop the movement of flood water. the city's testing those barriers out and if it all goes well, more are going to be placed around the city. 4:33. all the rain is prompting city

leaders to open several pop-up homeless shelters at least through monday. so much rain on the way that the city human agency is working with other agencies to provide more beds. pop-up shelters will operate at five locations include glide memorial church and in addition to shelters that are already open until the end of the winter season. weather concerns also triggered school closures today. in the far north bay four schools are closed. monte rio union and guerneville and harmony elementary and salmon creek charter school. >> meteor also rob mayeda is going to be back with a timeline for the full weekend ahead. right now at 4:34 happening later today hundreds are expected to attend today's funeral for nancy reagan. >> the former first lady will be

buried next to her husband at the ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley. nancy reagan died on sunday of congestive heart failure. she was 94 years old. and an anniversary today also happening. japan remembering one of its worst disasters. one of the worst in recent memory. the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. 18,000 people were killed. today's japan emperor and empress are joined by the prime minister to remember the victims at a memorial in tokyo. the five-year anniversary of that catastrophe. 4:35 right now. want to check the forecast. memorable storm coming our way, as well, with some heightened risk of flooding in the north bay. let's check in with rob. >> we've seen playing that yesterday and this morning and light to moderate rain up and down throughout the north bay and finally seeing some of the rain crossing over the peninsula hills and we think just in time for the second half of the morning commute around the south bay and you can see the heavier rain totals right over half moon

bay spreading over san francisco and oakland here in the next hour. we have rain at times and this rain coming down in the north bay has to be watched as we have around the napa river at st. helena. forecast to go a foot above flood stage. this is going to cause additional flooding to the primary and secondary roads there around st. helena and napa. these gusts will pick up close to 45 miles per hour. for the east bay hills and south hills and san jose included in that wind advisory and the tri-valley, as well. widespread rain and then things transition and the scattered showers and a chance of thundershowers heading into the afternoon. a cooler day, too, highs not in the 60s. but you can see mid to upper 50s as it moves through the afternoon and watching out for thundershowers and potential for small hail later on this afternoon. mike? >> the timing in the south bay is when that commute really kicks in. we'll track that. right now we see the effects on

the flag right there. fremont moving out purperpendicr to the flag there and smooth drive on the roadways. smooth drive as far as our food sensors go and our green highlighted and wet roadways on the peninsula and no major concern, but we do get patches of damp roadways throughout oakland, dublin and over here through pleasant hill. >> mike, thank you. weather and politics on tap next. we'll be right back. got a tip for nbc bay area's investigative unit? call 1-888-996-tips or e-mail theunit@nbcbayarea.com. nbc bay area, we investigate.

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4:40 right now. we are in a microclimate weather alert this morning. the rain already coming down pretty hard in the north bay right now. that system will spread throughout the bay by the time you most likely head throughout the day. live look in san francisco. beautifully illuminated. >> shimmering. >> it is. especially for friday. rob mayeda has really been tracking this storm for a few days now and he has his complete forecast coming up in moments. a new voice joining the chorus at hunter's point in san francisco raising questions about the safety of the radiation cleanup. a former radiation technician said it can't be trusted. vicky nguyen joins us now with

this latest revelation. >> he worked on and off as a radiation control technician. he said at first he was proud of the work and that all changed in 2009. he claims tetra tech the contractor overseeing the cleanup did not properly test soil samples for radiation. altering computer data to pass ought policiy radio active dirt as clean. he was also ordered to get rid of hundreds of samples from areas that may have been contaminated. submit samples from areas that have already been cleaned. we first exposed concerns about radiation and tetra tech has been awarded $300 million in cleanup contracts, but so far the company has igneared our requests to explain what's going on. see our full report and a slide show of the area smith says he thinks he needs to be retested for radiation. all online right now at nbcbayarea.com. and just click on the

investigations tab. if you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call 1-8888-996-tips or send us an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com. new developments in the conflict over apple and the fbi. the rain just keeps on coming down. a series of ostorms striking the bay area today as we take a live look right now from san rafael. it's going to be a lot more quickly moving through the area. that's what rob says bringing flood alerts and warnings along with it. updates after this break.

we are in a microclimate weather alert right now. the north bay tried to try out after three inches of rain in some places yesterday. everybody getting a piece of the action. >> the rain just stayed over the north bay all day long. amazing rainfall totals and in adigz the rain we're tracking gust y wind. a wind advisory coming up. if you travel places like the golden gate bridge, right now you see the wet roadways there in san francisco and we can show you the map and the wind advisory kind of highlights the south bay and you can see towards san jose and tri-valley and san francisco and down the peninsula and into the santa cruz mountains. we could have wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour as this storm system comes through a little bit later this morning and we're starting to see, obviously, the rain in the north bay and the rain intensity now picking up on the west side of the santa cruz mountains. this will spill into the south bay as we head through the second half of the morn oing commute and there you see

heavier rain lining up on the south bay as the storm system comes in for this morning. hour by hour, we're expecting widespread heavy rain at times from about 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then changing over to maybe a few sunny breaks and some scattered showers. as we head into the afternoon. you can see another wave of intense showers coming in, looks like right on top of the evening commute. so, for today, a mix of some rain and wind for the morning. cooler temperatures, too. you'll look at highs in the upper 50s to low 60s and the risk of thunder increasing as we move into the afternoon. highs in the north bay in the upper 50s and tri-valley upper 50s to low 60s. the rainfall projections here in the falls another inch to two inches of rain and as we move through the weekend, look at those rain totals, again. another bullseye for the north bay. another two to three inches of rain. this is the map that stands out this morning. 30 to 40 inches of snow in the sierra. winter storm warnings straight up through the weekend. tough travel here. mike, the sierra, look at all that snow coming down through sunday evening. >> save that for matter.

looking over here towards the east bay. oakland 80 and that moves smoothly and we may see this camera shaking because of the wind that rob is talking about. so far we're steady. gusts south of here. the san mateo bridge. dublin the area with the wind farms and the wind mills and not a problem, though. 580 westbound over towards the altamont and easy light drive friday and palo alto shows a nice, easy drive, as well. back to you. >> thanks, mike. we mention new developments in the battle ongoing battle between apple and the fbi. now, jessica alba is coming under fire. >> that's right, her company. for that and the rest of the news before the bell, we turn to landon dowdy. welcome back. we missed you a few days. >> sam and laura, good morning to you. let's get a quick check of your markets. a strong open today with all three indexes in the green and that comes after yesterday's choppy trading session that saw the dow and s&p 500 come off their lows that closed flat as

the european and central bank announced its decision to expand rates. the dow ending down five points to 16995 and the nasdaq down 12 to 4662. the battle between apple and the department of justice becoming increasingly hostile and a new filing the doj says it has been false and corrosive and the company raised technic logical barrier that stand in the way and apple responding that the doj is so desperate that it has thrown all decorum to the wind. and jessica alba's honest company under fire from "wall street journal" from being dishonest. a lab report said it shows the company uses an ingredient in the laundry detergent that it said it did not use. the company denies that claim and that it has its own internal and external tests to prove just that. sam and laura, back over to you. >> i don't believe there is a dark side to the dark angel.

thank you very much. 4:48 right now. happening today, san francisco's new tobacco rules officially get signed into law. that includes raising the minimum smoking age from 18 to 21. mayor ed lee expected to sign that legislation today and the bill was approved earlier this month. it goes into effect in june. state lawmakers also following in san francisco's footsteps. just yesterday they approved raising the smoking age to 21. now, the bill heads to the governor's desk. governor brown has not said whether he will sign it or not. san jose police staffing crunch is reaching crisis levels. the department is now instituting mandatory overtime to ensure minimum staffing levels are met. chief eddie garcia says he may cancel the next police academy class due to low enrollment numbers. that mandatory overtime policy takes effect on sunday. powell street station is

headed towards the $7 million makeover. here's a look at some of the upgrades. b.a.r.t. directors approved the plan yesterday. the money will be used to upgrade the station's ceiling. that station is 43 years old and for years crews have been removing asbestos from the ceiling leaving gaps there. now smoothed over and new lighting. we saw a whole color spectrum before. that project starts in june and will will last about a year. the dog whisperrer under investigation for possible animal cruelty. this is from an incident on his tv show. he used a live pig as part of a training session with a dog that had previously attacked two pigs. and the dog bit the pig's ear. animal control tried to talk to him, but he was out of town. the show's network defends milan saying the clip was taken completely out of context. he has 24 hours to get in touch with authorities. it is 4:50 right now.

the serial stowaway is back in a chicago jail this morning. it comes after marilyn hartman twice walked away from a mental health facility in chicago. both times she ended up at o'hare apartment. she is known as the serial stowaway because of her repeated attempts to stowaway across the country, including several attempts including success at sjc. >> or get to where she wants to go maybe. coming up next, flood watch continuing in the north bay this morning as a series of storms come barreling through the bay area. when we're in an nbc bay area microclimate weather alert, we made it easy for you to get the very latest information on your smartphone. click on the bar that says weather alert and that will take you right to what you need to know right when you need to know it. i'm scott budman. that's how to stay informed with the nbc bay area app. happening right now, most of the bay area getting a bit of a chance to dry out before this

next storm system rolls in later this morning. parts of the north bay already receiving rain and strong winds also in the mix. stay up to the minute all day by signing up for our alerts on our nbc bay area app. steph chuang right now up in the north bay where there are still some major flooding concerns. a live report at the top of the hour and also posting updates on oour twitter page.

that doppler ratar. it is pretty intense out there. >> especially around half moon bay, rob. good morning. >> good morning. starting to see the heavier showers approaching the coast here and pretty heavy rainfall rates crossing the peninsula now around half moon bay and approaching san francisco from the south and we will see this gradually move across the

central and south bay right in the heart of the morning commute. so, hour by hour, widespread rain for you this morning and then things begin to change right around lunchtime. we'll change to scattered showers and the potential for some thunderstorms moving in in time for the evening commute. mike? we'll look towards the south bay where southbound 101 moves well away from us. that's what we're keeping our eyes on. the map will show you south of here one crash north 85 at 17 and looks like it will be cleared in just seconds. no slowing there or for the rest of the bay. and the green shows you where you have slicker roadways and the rain coming in from the coast. back to you. >> brace for it. turns out too many bugs are slamming into planes and it's costing airlines a lot of money. >> it apparently slows the planes down forcing the jets to use more. but nasa has a solution. spray them away. patenting substances that act

like nonstick cookware blocking dead insects from sticking to surfaces. maybe we can put it on our cars, too. allows airs to flow more smoothly improving fuel efficiency. airplanes emit 3% of greenhouse gases in america. no word when it will be available for airlines or maybe consumers to use. >> bugs on the windshield or a bug in your inment, is that an expression? something like that. if you want to own a piece of rock royalty. now is your chance to go crazy. >> items formally belonging to the artist prince can now be yours for the right price. his first wife and manager plan to auction off 100 memorabilia items and stage costumes and a classic 1959 gibson guitar. >> opening bid on that guitar, $60,000. no, there's no little red corvette being offered. how about a raspberry beret.

does he know that she's doing that? >> i would think he would be in on this. >> look around the house and see what you can sell. live look outside the bay brim this morning. all illuminated. the rain pounding the north bay. rob is really keeping track of everything. you mention the wind, laura. wind advisories for the south bay and parts of the east bay as a flood watch is in effect for the north bay. complete coverage of what could be a messy commute in the bay area. plus, commuter trains running slower. a live report as riders deal with delayers. and right now we're tracking the radar as you can see heavy rain trying to move into the south bay. we have team microclimate alert weather coverage coming up at 5:00. stay tuned.

a powerful storm with flood concerns mounting and more wet weather is on the way. >> petaluma this morning where the rain has just started to come down, but there is also a flash flood watch and warning. we'll tell you all about it coming up. and that rain that is coming down on steph chuang right now is headed to fremont and that means delays along the ace rail line. i'll show you why. "today in the bay" starts right now. nbc bay area news begins with a microclimate weather alert.

right now heavy rain pummeling the north bay. live look at the golden gate bridge as another round of storms making its way through. the good morning and thank you so much for joining us, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. so much for easing into the weekend. a team scattered throughout the bay area as this wave of wet weather hits and let's start with meteorologist rob mayeda with a timeline of the latest storm. >> a significant change on where the focus of the heavier rain will be. you see it right there west of san francisco and around the peninsula. that's moderate to heavy rain for a change. it's going to aim in on the central and south bay during the morning commute. expect to see the rain and wind increasing through 7:00 a.m. and changing over to scattered showers by noon and isolated thunderstorms could be in play by mid-afternoon with the heating of the day and the cool air aloft moving through. a mess for the morning commute and probably into the evening commute, as well. >> we're looking right now to the evening commute and the high