welcome to a rainy wednesday morning. we are issuing a microclimate weather alert. storms ready to slam the bay area. take a look at this live look already. the rain coming down. there have been high winds reported, trees down in some parts. we're keeping track of it all for you. coming on early this morning. >> right now, our radar is lit up as you can see right here. our nbc bay area storm ranger is tracking that rain, as it moves through the bay area. and a good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we're on at 4:00 a.m. this morning, usually come on about 4:30 but we want to help you get ready for the morning commute. it will be a busy one out there. >> definitely. >> kari is tracking the storm. >> heaviest rain is moving

through the bay area and others haven't seen much at all. as we look at our storm ranger right now, we are seeing the heaviest rain moving through the peninsula and parts of the north bay. not so much in the south bay as well as the tri-valley. as we get a closer look at the north bay, we are going to still see that rain moving through, and the yellow indicates where we have some really heavy rain pockets of it, that have been coming down and making things, those rainfall totals really add up. we are seeing it near santa rosa and extending to yountville and bodega bay with the gusty winds picking up. for the east bay, it does get a lot lighter. we are going to see in discovery bay and also in antioch just some sprinkles and livermore it may be dry all together right now. we head over toward hayward, where the rain starts to light headed toward saratoga and the rain, and then we cee jus cruz mountains, redwood city also with heavy rain right now. as i widen out the view and show you what's happening across the

region, we are seeing heavy snow getting going in parts of the sierra and we'll see this continuing throughout the morning. here is a live look in san jose, where the roads are wet but we don't actively have heavy rain coming down. we could see that rain intensify as we go through late morning, as well as early afternoon, and temperatures today will be warmer. a little bit more of the widespread rain moving in by 5:30 to 6:00, so if you're up and about to get out the door early, you are ahead of some of the heavier rain that will be moving in. that's good for you, as you get ready to head out. bay bridge. sig m calling the alert alert. traffic is stacking up westbound away from oakland things jam up there. three of the five lanes across that span have been blocked by a crash involving a big rig and a box truck. no major injuries but the rain is coming down, wind advisory

for the bay bridge, watch the richmond to san rafael bridge as well as the san mateo bridge. the crash on the bay bridge may take up to half an hour to clear. meanwhile, wet roads all along the peninsula and around the bay. guys, back to you. >> thanks, mike. we've seen overnight one of the hardest hit areas with the rain is the north bay. >> "today in the bay's" pete suratos joins us live from the north bay in san anselmo this morning. how is it looking, pete? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura and marcus. it's looking like we're getting a steady amount of rain. we saw it since we've been here for the past hour or so, and as you see in this area that's used to that could change when we see more rain coming in. you see the sand bags in front obviously throughout the day of we'll probably see some more throughout the day as the rain comes down. but we do know that ross valley fire increased its staffing. they have the swiftwater rescue team in place and when it comes to the main concerns, obviously with the rain and with the history here in san anselmo, they're concerned about the

flooding but also concerned about the wind in the area accompanying the rain, and also that can lead to potential power outages in san anselmo. locals who are familiar with the potential or at least the potential of flooding in the area say that they aren't taking any chances. >> on some of the windows we put some plastic wrap in front of the plywood or behind it. we used a staple gun.ar the gut everything seems to be draining pretty good. >> hope the power will have, youutube. >> reporter: take you back outi anselmo. the rain is coming down, steady for the past hour. we know they're expecting about four inches of rain over the next couple of days and the san anselmo river is currently at about three feet right now so that's under the warning levels. of course, we're continuing to monitor conditions and have another update for you in the

next hour. we're live here in san anselmo, pete suratos for "today in the bay." >> they're going to get a lot of rain up there. thanks a lot, pete. north of there, this storm already leaving an impact in sonoma county. look at this, as crews had to deal with a downed tree, this happened near coleman valley road will midnight. it was near the bohemian highly in occidental. the road was cleared in 90 deal with that tree. more than 200 pg&e customers lost power. >> if you look at the pg&e map, the current outage map we have on the screen, you can see so far, there's no serious impact from the storm, but with high winds in the forecast, of course crews are already on standby. >> want to take you live to sfo, where united airlines is getting ahead of the storm. the company issued a travel waiver for flights in and out of sfo today and tomorrow. it actually means you can change your flight at no extra charge.

according to flight aware, about 65 flights at sfo are canceled today, about ten are delayed. you're encouraged to check, of course, with your airline before you head to the airport. >> this is a great way to download the free nbc bay area app, that way you can track the breaking weather alerts as well as keep track of the radar right there on your cell phone. you can track the weather that's headed to your neighborhood, so download that free nbc bay area app. new calls this morning for a full viasbuildings. the ntsb is already investigating. but supervisor katherine stephanie now says she's calling for a full review at city hall. in a series of tweets, she says she wants to look into the actions leading up to the explosion and whether changes need to be made to safety standards and regulations. it is 4:07 right now. the man convicted in a vallejo kidnapping that made headlines nationally is due in court for a preliminary hearing tied to state filed charges. we shot this video after matthew mueller pleaded gimty to federal

charges for the 2015 kidnapping of denise haskins, she drugged haskins' boyfriend, now her husband. muler is serving 40 years for the federal charges but now he wants to act as his own attorney to fight similar charges against him in solano county. it is possible the couple will have to take the stand as part of a cross-examination in this case. you may recall the story made national headlines because vallejo police initially dismissed the whole thing as a hoax. the city eventually atoday in the bay," a brewing battle over a controversial bay area school name, the decision made overnight after parents showed outrage. a north bay family facing criticism for shooting and killing a mountain lion. the new tactic neighbors are trying to convince the property owners to now try. and a live look at our radar, as you can see that rain coming down throughout the bay area. we just saw live shots from san anselmo, and we will continue to

monitor that rain throughout the bay area, with live reports and updates for you throughout the morning. 4:08 right now. you're watching "today in the bay." reynold's kitchens™ has eliminated plastic wrap

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dove intensive repair conditioner. for smooth, touchably beautiful hair. the bay area. and this morning, we are on weather watch as that storm hits the bay area here. live pictures you see here to your left, san anselmo as you can see the rain coming down but oh, in walnut creek, looks like the rain is coming down there as well. we will continue to monitor this throughout "today in the bay" as

well. >> 4:11. new details for you this morning. dixie officially dead when it comes to the name of one north bay school district. it's a story we've been following in detail on "today in the bay." people live in northern san rafael have argued the dixie school district name is offensive. late last night, all five board members agreed voting unanimously to change the name. as our pete suratos explained yesterday, about a dozen new names will now be considered. oakland faith leaders are standing behind the city's teachers, should the strike happen. about a dozen people from different faiths along with labor leaders led a news conference at taylor memorial united methodist church yesterday. the pastor there says he will open the church to some 250 students if the strike takes place. in the meantime, community leaders are hoping the district and the teachers will settle on a contract soon, so a walkout won't be necessary. >> our students deserve counselors, librarians. we want a living wage to keep

educators in oakland. >> pastor anthony jenkins says that he plans to rehabilitate a home on church property to house teachers who can't afford to live in the bay area. coming on "today in the bay," kari issing traing the storm hitting the bay area right now. >> 4:12, heavy rain moving through parts of the north bay and also san francisco with the peninsula and we'll see more of this coming in waves throughout the day. so i'll be tracking that. also a time line of what you can expect throughout the rest of the day, coming up next. >> kari, you showed the radar but look at this live picture of the bay bridge toll plaza. water kicking up behind the cars and water pouring down, the rain actively falling. we have a crash on the bay bridge and approach, both causing problems. you see someone backing up on the bay bridge. we'll check on that, coming there's also growing outrage after a north bay family kills a mountain lion. why they say they had to take

action. san jose - plus radar

ad lib toss to wx and traffic a very good wednesday morning to you. we are tracking the storm hitting the bay area, coming on early for you this morning. look at the radar in the upper right, right there. all those colors. that means a lot of rain already hitting the bay area, impacting us. it's going to be a tough one. very stormy out there, very windy as well, be careful on your morning commute.

>> already two crashes. >> on the bay bridge? okay. so the storm is going to stay around through the morning? >> yes, it's going to come through in waves. if you're not seeing it right now, it may be giving you just a little bit of a break to get out the door, but then as you're driving to work, you may encounter one of those bursts of heavy downpours, and as we get a look at storm ranger right now, where we see the yellows and the reds is the most intense returns, and what we are seeing here on storm ranger shows that we have it parked on san bruno mountain some heavier rain moving across parts of the north bay. we are going to continue to see rain moving through and a closer look at where the heaviest rain around clover dale, healdsburg it will be heavy in the next nuuple of hours and c and parts of sonoma, marin county, it's still heavy there, and then we're headed over toward contra costa county, where just a little while ago, we weren't seeing the heavy rain here, but it is starting to move

in, and may be pushing off toward the east toward antioch and now discovery bay is dry, but you could start to see rain moving in within the next few minutes. headed toward livermore, we are also now starting to see the heavy rain coming down there. we're just a few minutes ago, it was not raining, and it's also closing in on san jose, as we start to see some of the heavier rain moving in. looking at the storm system that will continue to move through, and also heavy snow already coming down in parts of the sierra, and if you are planning to travel there, it's going to be really treacherous, trying to get to some of those resorts, and we are going to see, as we go throughout the day, here we are at 6:00, widespread, heavy rain for pretty much all of the bay area. we're still seeing that through 7:00, and this is the main morning commute, so it's going to be very slow, and make sure you allow some extra time to get there. through 9:00, it does get a little bit lighter. we're not seeing as much of the widespread, intense rain but there will still be some areas

that pick up on some scattered heavy downpours and the potential of even some small hail in there as well. as we go through the 6:00 hour, as you go through the evening commute, some of that heavier rain may be focused mainly on the north bay, while the rest of the bay area just sees some lighter showers coming through, and then during the overnight hour, just kind of off and on continuing through tomorrow as well as we could see more of that rain that will be a little bit more spread out, but we won't see it coming down really heavy all over the bay area. we are in with the brunt of the storm right now, as we get the gusty winds, and the coast and the hills may have those gusts up to 70 miles per hour, that's where we have the high wind warning in effect and the wind advisory in effect for the valleys, where winds may top 45 miles per hour. we're also watching out for the potential of some flooding, some mudslides and debris flows going throughout the rest of the day. looking at our rainfall totals, we could see rain really adding

up in the north bay, the santa cruz mountains, anywhere from possibly over two to three maybe even closer to four inches of rain in spots like san anselmo and then in san francisco an inch and a half. santa cruz mountains over four inches of rain but look at livermore, just a little over half of an inch, so it's going to be very hit or miss with this storm system as to where the heaviest rain sets up and also going to still have the high wind speeds. a getting a very gusty southerly wind picking up to close to 60 miles ho ao in livermore so tha something we have to watch but the winds will start to calm down today. snowfall totals start out with some of the higher elevations but start to lower headed into friday, so we could see still some significant rainfall totals we'll be watching our rivers in spots like the russian river in gu guerneville. friday morning is when we have to watch the river stages and

the napa river in downtown napa will be very close to the flood stage, if we get our current track of the rainfall totals we are expecting. a lot of things to watch here, mike, and you're also seeing some drivers crashing. >> we have two crashes now that we're alerting drivers about, bay bridge, caldecott tunnel. keep the two locations in mind. the bay bridge toll plaza all this rain was pouring d the last ten minutes here as kari has been showing you on the radar and the last thr building. the conditions are really tough here and a wind advisory across the bridge. we've tracked this crash since 4:00 in the morning where they had three out of your five lanes blocked approaching treasure island around the beautiful tower, an ugly slowdown wedded westbound in toward san francisco. from what i hear from chp we are waiting for tow trucks to arrive to remove a box truck. no major injuries but that is an issue until at least 4:30. we're tracking that. toward the caldecott tunnel traffic completely stopped. they've run two traffic breaks,

possibly a third, a crash involving two vehicles but one of them went off the roadway into the bushes, the other one was on the roadway, they had to run a traffic break to clear it. you see the green highlighting in addition to the mostly green sensors for the area, aside from right at fish ranch road. that green means you'll have wet conditions at the very least. you saw the live camera at the bay bridge. we bring on the radar, look at all the yellow activity across the richmond bridge, across that bay bridge, and really coming across through contra costa un are as well, as kari was talking about, watch the diablo range there and along the peninsula, rain hit coming across the san mateo and the dumbarton bridges. i'm calling out the locations because the green senators you're at speed are blending in with the rest of the radar activity. you can go quicker in most areas but watch the speeds, very slick conditions. back to you. >> good advice there, mike. thank you. lots of people this morning still wondering what to make of governor gavin newsom's high speed rail assessment during his state of the state address. the governor did make it clear yesterday that he's putting the brakes on the project. instead of stretching that line

from l.a. to the bay area, he's calling for just the current stretch to be built through the central valley. at the same time he says he's not abandoning the project. >> right now there simple a isn't a path to get from sacramento to san diego, let alone from san francisco to l.a. >> newsom says that its current form, the project is just too expensive and time-consuming, even though his comments makere governor still believes it will be eventually le they killed a mountain n after they say it repeatedly attacked their pets. investigators say the sheep owner's decision to kill the 13-month-old cat was justified, but a north bay conservation group and some neighbors are trying to convince property owners to try a different tactic. they suggest better securing livestock. >> the fact that you know, the livestock weren't secured properly after the first night

is really you know the biggest shame, because that was the solution to all of this. >> zoologists put a radio collar on the young mountain lion four days before it was killed. they hope to map the cat's territory as it separated from its mother. class is in session but it's chilly in an elementary school in oakland without heat. the problem began a week ago at brookfield elementary school. heat was shut off after a gas leak. temporary heaters are in place. the students are getting bagged lunches instead because they can't get hot food. coming up on "today in the bay," nike takes a page out of "back to the future." the high-tech shoes the company is launching and you don't want to miss how they work. our hillshire farm craftsmen

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bridge look at the rain coming down. this is at the bay bridge approach this morning. kari is saying a lot of gusty winds as well. look at the rain along the top, where you see kind of the lighting, you can see it falling at an angle already. it is very slick out there on the roads, already a couple of accidents reported near the bay bridge and on the bridge. mike is keeping track of those. we'll check in with him in moments. 4:26 right now. so if there's one thing the warriors know how to do, it's certainly to close. >> no doubt about that and they proved it again last night against the utah jazz. before the game, klay thompson, steph curry and kevin durant received their jerseys for the all-star game against charlotte. early in the qer the held the lead but it didn't last long. the warriors pulled away, the win 115-108. they've now won 16 of their last 17 games. so high-tech meets hightops.

you know about smartphones but what about smartshoes? the nike is dapt bb is a self-lacing shoe controlled by your phone. a motor inside the phone tightens and loosens your laces. you can download an app that changes the color of the sides and the soles. it will run you $350. >> ooh! >> don't wear those in the rain. >> ouch. ouch to the wallet. coming up here on "today in the bay," a microclimate weather alert. we have live team coverage of that storm, as it is slamming into the bay area. kari is tracking that rain for us right now. >> we are seeing some widespread, heavy rain moving through on storm ranger. it's going to continue for the next several hours and then become more scattered later today. we'll talk about the time line and how much rain we may be measuring here, coming up next. plus it's not only the bay area, the winter whiteout conditions in the sierra, making for a dangerous drive this morning. >> and right now, we're watching recovery, the crash just cleared

off the bay bridge but we have another near the caldecott, you're watching "today in the bay." reynold's kitchens™ has eliminated plastic wrap

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right now, our radar is really lit up. take a look at that. that's what's hitting the bay area and facing the northemorni commute and going to be around for some time this morning. good morning to you and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. we started early at 4:00 a.m. and our coverage continues to get you ready and out the door. we head over to meteorologist kari hall tracking that storm for us. >> we're going to see some heavier rain coming in waves today, and in between some lighter showers, as we get a look at storm ranger right now,