right now at 4:30, dangerous and unusual weather conditions. hurricane-force winds atop some of our highest mountains overnight. our team has issued a microclimate weather alert. high winds are leading to fire dangers across the bay area. meteorologist kari hall is timing out just how long it will last. plus an historic week ahead. final preparations, as president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris prepare to take office. the momentum building here in the bay area as many watch the week ahead. and the all new grim milestone california reached in the fight against covid-19 as

the race to roll out the vaccine starts to ramp up this week. "today in the bay" starts right now. and a very good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> even i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has some time off. kari, lovely weekend. laura was seeing dangerous conditions out there. >> yes, so we're getting ready for a prolonged wind event and those winds are already starting to pick up, and it may cause some damage across the bay area, so we're looking at these extremely high winds, very dry conditions, as well as a fire danger as we approach some near record highs again for today. so right now is the time to make sure you're prepared for all of these high winds we're looking at, make sure you have your flashlights, your cell phones charged up, lots of batteries, food and water for the possibility of a few days as well as securing those outdoor items, we may have downed trees under these conditions. a lot to watch for and of course we'll have an eye on that.

let's get a look at how it looks for the morning commute if you are working today on this martin luther king jr. day, we are going to see overall some clear roads across the bay area,eport that was off of mountain house road as well as byron, in that area. we are getting a report of a fire, so watching out for that possibly the beginning of a brush fire that we'll be watching throughout the morning. so a lot going on. we'll have of course more updates to come. scott? >> kari, thank you. we are just over 48 hours away from the swearing in of a new president amid unprecedented security in the nation's capitol and around the country. fearing an inside attack, the fbi is vetting all 25,000 national guard troops set to washington, d.c., for the inauguration. >> so far, there ishaven't been any threats.

tracie potts is tracking it all. >> reporter: in washington, d.c., this morning, businesses are boarded up. the national mall and its landmarks off limits to the public. the inauguration site, the u.s. capitol and blocks around it behind concrete barricades, metal fencing, and an unprecedented display of america's military might. >> we don't want to see fences. we definitely don't want to see armed troops on our streets, but we do have to take a different posture. >> reporter: new video of the capitol riot -- >> where the [ bleep ] is nancy? >> reporter: shows what washington is trying to prevent. 25,000 troops will occupy the city by wednesday. >> even though our inauguration traditions look a little different this year and we still, we're all still together, though. united, united across all of america. >> reporter: 14 states sent the national guard to protect their capitols, after the fbi warned

of possible violence. >> you want to be underprepare. >> reporter: but demonstrations sunday, some of thef people dect to come today because of the fear of the national guard. >> we come in peace. we do not intend to commit violence. >> reporter: as crews pack up the white house, the nation's attention turns to this week, president-elect biden volunteering in philadelphia today, for the mlk day of service. preparations along pennsylvania avenue and at the capitol for today's inauguration rehearsal. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. as tracie points out today is designated as a national day of service to honor the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. of course, due to the pandemic today, many of the events are virtual. tonight president-elect joe biden as she mentioned, vice president-elect kamala harris will host an hour-long economicration. king's son and daughter expected to speak at that event and there will be several performances.

the national civil rights museum will host a virtual mlk celebration on its website. a more contagious strain of covid-19 is now circulating across california, being detected up and down the state, including in santa clara and san francisco counties. we're learning the strain is now being linked to the massive outbreak at kaiser san jose. dozens of employees were infected, including one who died. more than a dozen patients also contracted covid. public health officials are still trying to figure out why it spreads so quickly. >> was there, you know, some change in ventilation or some change in how personal protective equipment was used or some staff turnover or you know, some other condition present? >> right now, research is still being done to find out the mutation, why it's so contagious. health officials say vaccines are effective against it. more details now while the new strain of covid may be new to a lot of us, to experts, not

necessarily. it was first detected in ten mark and also michigan, as early as march of last year. we've also learned it was detected in alameda county in may of last year. this strain was considered rare until about november, when it started to spread. and the u.s. is hitting another grim covid-19 milestone over the weekend. there have been more than 24 million infections of americans since the start of the pandemic. the total death count is expected to hit 400,000. the state meanwhile now becoming the first to exceed 3 million in the threshold. california reporting 432 new deaths as well on sunday, that brings the overall total to more than 33,000. about one person dies every six minutes in the l.a. area. a live look in l.a., which over the weekend confirmed its first case of the faster spread issing uk covid strain. hospitals across the country are stretched incredibly thin.

the number of deaths reported yesterday was noticeably lower. health leaders are stressing a big undercount due to the weekend lag. deaths there are approaching 14,000 and like most bay area counties, vaccine supplies are low. so the counties here in the bay area still trying to work out the kinks and eliminate the could be fusion in this ongoing vaccine rollout. yesterday at santa clara county fairgrounds, some appointments had to be turned away. the county is only allowing people over 75 to get the shot, even though the state allows people over 65. so some people are signing up at the state website, even though they don't qualify at the county level, adding to the confusion and there's a lot of it, health leaders are trying to deal with their own supply, accepting some of them with their own supply are accepting people under 75. meanwhile santa clara county has a new tool to track vaccines. the website has a new dashboard that breaks down the number of doses it receives and in turn are administered by county

health providers. some of the data is still missing. some suppliers get their vaccine from the federal government. new tool is available on santa clara county's website. it's 4:37 right now on your monday morning, martin luther king jr. holiday. a lot of people off no doubt today. taking a live look outside towards the golden gate bridge, you know, we've had some glorious days lately, but on the warm end. no rain in sight and now we're being told the wind picking up across the bay area and that is causing high fire danger. meteorologist kari hall is tracking just how long these dangerous conditions will last. kari? >> yes, so i am already seeing those wind gusts at 76 miles per hour in mt. st. helena. winds are really howling out there in some upper elevations and a wind advisory in effect for some of our valleys, that's the area shaded in the yellow color. in red is where we have a high nd warning, including

elevations above 1,000 feet where we've seen the gusts topping over 60 miles per hour. this may bring down some trees as well as cause power oughtages and this is becoming a prolonged wind event where we're not just going to see this for a few hours but winds gusting for several hours on end and that will continue at least in tomorrow evening. here we are seeing winds very high later this evening. so we'll talk more about this and the fire danger coming up in a few minutes. as you head out on the roads this morning, everything is looking pretty clear across the bay area. we haven't seen any issues, just a potential of a brush fire near mountain house as well as byron. we'll be keeping our eye on that but the roads seem to be pretty clear. i'll have another update coming up in a few minutes. all right, thank you very much, kari. still developing this morning, if it wasn't hell on wheels it's close to it for unsuspecting drivers on the bay bridge, side show activity, reckless driving,

chaos. it turned deadly yesterday when a motorcycle passenger died in a head-on crash. hundreds of motoricals are, dirt bikes and atvs went the wrong way at times, weaving in and out of traffic starting at about 2:00 p.m. and lasting for several hours. the chp also made multiple arrests. some officers were hurt. they plan to release more information on what happened later today. also ahead on "today in the bay," growing outrage, the california traveler who got the covid-19 vaccine while visiting hawaii, and the all new questions being raised by furious mainland residents. plus delivery delays. the all new warning from the postal service, how long it could take for workers to catch up on a package backlog. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 4:42, we are under a microclimate weather alert, due to high winds moving through the bay area. it's also going to lead to a high surf advisory that continues through this evening. very dangerous waves and breakers reaching over 20 feet this afternoon. we'll talk more about what's ahead, as well as our fire danger in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. new this morning, a warning from the postal service, officials say it could take six to eight more weeks before delayed holiday packages are finally delivered. maybe that's why you didn't get that christmas present.

the backups have been caused by high volume and covid related staffing problems at the post office. now to a massive recall may affect your next meal. nestle recalling over 762,000 pounds of hot pockets, due to pieces of glass and hard plastic inside the frozen meal. usda says the 52 box of hot pockets with medium pepperoni made with pork, chicken and beef all pose a choking risk or they could cut your throat. the frozen foods have the best before date of february 2022. a high surf rescue coming up next on "today in the bay." the quick thinking actions that helped save those on board a boat capsizing in the screws harbor. plus preparing for possible power shutoffs, the northern california cities that could be in the dark due to fire danger. we'll be right back.

4:47, a live look towards the bay bridge. you can't see it but the wind is picking up across the bay area, and that's causing some dangers with fires. meteorologist kari hall tracking the current conditions. good morning to you, kari. >> good morning. we just had a wind gust of 81 miles per hour near clayton. these winds are really gusting this morning and it's coming along with some warm temperatures. we were all out over the weekend like wow, this is pretty nice but in the back of your mind,

you have to think, okay, it's not supposed to be this warm and then when we look at where we're headed for today and the record high temperatures, back in 2014, we had some really high temperatures, but remember, we were in the middle of a very bad drought, and so we are approaching that once again as these temperatures reach into the mid-70s for to the record high today is 69 degrees, but we're looking at a high of about 75 today. in san francisco the record is 70 but we're looking at low 70s here as well. oakland, look at that, 76 degrees is what we're expecting today but the record is just 67 degrees, and normal is about 58 degrees this time of year, we're usually getting some rain and much cooler temperatures, and so since it's been so dry, here we are talking about a fire threat, because of the elevated fire danger we'll have with these very strong winds lasting for a couple of days. we have very dry vegetation and so the fuel moisture is one of

those things they use to determine our fire danger, but then we go through our wind speed forecast at noon. we're still looking at some of those winds gusting over 25, 35 miles per hour, some of the upper elevations may continue on with those 70, 808-mile-per-hour 80-mile-per-hour gusts and the peaks of the winds it s this evening and stays gusty in tomorrow. with the high wind event that we're looking at, it's going to be very dangerous and you have to be prepared for power outages. as we go through the forecast, we're looking at our next chance of rain not until about late thursday into friday, and even then, this chance looks very slight. it looks like a lot of the moisture just dries up before it gets here and it could bring in a slight chance of snow for the sierra, but then as we go into the end of the so as we go through this seven-day, check out these

temperatures. we're going from 73 today to 70 tomorrow, as it is going to be still windy. temperatures start to drop off midweek, and then by the weekend, we're only looking at highs in the upper 50s, so a big change from this weekend we just had. let's get you out on the roads with a look at the traffic maps this morning and overall, looks good. i haven't seen any major issues. they were watching a brush fire near mountain house and yron. hang out with us a while longer as the commute is looking good. i'll have another update in a few minutes. with kari warn being high winds, pg&e is warning some californians will the possibility of power shutoffs. the shutoffs are not expected to happen anywhere near the bay area. other good news it's far fewer customers than first expected. if it happens, it will affect customers in narrow portions of

fresno, kern, madeira, mariposa and tolari county, the first time pg&e has had to shut off power in january. new video shows a boat capsizing in santa cruz harbor. it hit a sandbar and capsized by large waves over the weekend. it appears one person was on the boat, able to return to shore safely. the coastguard and harbor patrol got the boat upright and managed to move it back into the harbor. another house lawmaker is infected with covid-19. southern california democratic congressman lou correa announcing his diagnosis over the weekend, the latest to test positive after dozens of lawmakers were forced to huddle together during this month's past violence on capitol hill. he says he contracted the virus before he was able to receive a second dose of the vaccine. local health officials in hawaii say a woman from california received a covid vaccine in their state, making

some living on the islands say they're upset. she was registered through a cdc vaccine administration system that allows fonts get the injection anywhere. hawaii has administered 46,000 of its 154,000 vaccine doses so far. hawaiians are given the first priorities to doses but leftover vaccines will be given to whoever wants them. 4:52, just ahead, stanford women's basketball team on the wrong side of history for a change, and no holiday for the warriors, why today we may learn if the team really has what it takes to contend this year. happening now, another massive migrant caravan headed to the as the nation prepares forbiden. troops in a caravan trying to turn them away. they dispersed nearly 3,000 people. authorities say several people were injured. people in the caravan say they're trying to escape the

violent conditions in their countries which have been hit by covid and hurricanes as well. we'll be right back.

you might not be working today but the warriors will. their task is beating the world champs tonight in their house. the dubs head to l.a. to take on lebron and the lakers. the warriors have been up and down so far this season, which is a lot better than mostly down we saw last year. the lakers on a five-game winning streak with the league's best record. star steph curry admits it's going to be a challenge. >> they have championship confidence and once you get to that mountaintop it's kind of an unreal feeling to try to carry that over into the next season,

no question they'll start off the year well and takes a lot to beat them. >> l.a. is on a winning streak. the warriors are trying to stop a two-game losing streak. listen to this, a stunner for the stanford women's basketball team, not the kind you want to brag about. yesterday's game against colorado undefeated ranked number one in the nation. things stayed close until the very end. colorado taking the cardinal into overtime, where the unranked buffs took control winning 77-72. buffalos have never beaten a top-ranked team. trending this morning a story that truly shows how hard work pays off. this is oklahoma state basketball player dean mitchell, just overcome with emotion, his coach surprised him after working a shift at walmart, the young man did. the coach telling him that's earned a scholarship. mitchell's been working full time to pay for school and his family's bills after his mom lost her job. he still makes it to practice every day. >> wow, good for him.

yeah. a vaccine warning next on "today in the bay." the issue that's now leading to help state health leaders pulling batches of moderna's covid shots from use. plus it's the countdown to inauguration day. a live report from washington, d.c., on the extra security measures being taken ahead of the big day on wednesday. we'll be right back with a lot more news.

right now at 5:00, concern. counting down to inauguration day. a live report on added security from washington to sacramento, as new video emerges from inside the capitol siege. >> these are exactly the same kinds of concerns that have been raised with the uk variant for instance and the south african variant. >> bay bare researchers with a startling discovery. the all new strain of covid apparently spreading through california. and strong winds are ramping up fire danger across the bay area right in the middle of winter. our team is issuing a microclimate weather alert and meteorologist kari hall is tracking the areas of concern, as "today in the bay" continues right now. a very good monday morning to you. happy martin luther king jr. day as well. it's a holiday. i'm laura garcia. >> that's right. good morning, i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has some time off. kari, you were talking about an 81-mile-an-hour gust. that's amazing.

>> yes, and i got a higher one, 83 miles per hour right now in parts of the north bay near the healdsburg hills. those winds are really roaring in the upper levels of the atmosphere, but here in the valley, we're not feeling it so much but you want to be careful about that because our winds will continue to get lower and lower into the valleys as we go into today which may be a prolonged damaging wind event and we've also had some really warm temperatures near record highs again today, as well as the fire danger, so we're watching out for that, and taking a look at these current temperatures, this is where we're starting. this is already above our normal high temperature. take a look at that, it's 70 degrees in santa rosa and it's because of those high winds. let's get a look at your morning commute as you get ready to head out. heads up that chp issued that wind advisory through the altamont pass as well as our bridges, some of our areas that typically get some high winds but overall the commute is flowing fairly well. so i'll have another look at