right now at 5:00 a one-two puchblg for the bay area. powerful winds downing trees and power lines creating difficult conditions for firefighters. we're live with a look at the overnight damage. the it's a message of unity. it's a message of getting things done. that's what he'll be talking about january 20th. >> just over 24 hours from now, the united states is going to have a new president. inauguration day plans being finalized. what president-elect biden says he plans to do on day one. and prepared to remain comfortable at home. the reason why the bay area's stay-at-home order is not expected to be lifted any time soon. "today in the bay" continues right now. welcome to my little corner of my home. good morning. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has some time off. we will check the weather here.

i could wake up, i know laura, she was reporting it at her house as well. the windows were banging. >> yes. i mean, there's all kinds of stuff out there knocking around, with these kinds of winds that we've seen. take a look at this flag in san francisco. it is being whipped around and we've seen gusts there reaching 54 miles per hour. it's going to stay windy through at least the next several hours but then gradually calm down later this evening. it will be a touch cooler for this afternoon, and we're getting ready for some rain this weekend, but once again, that high wind warning continues for areas above 1,000 feet until 10:00 this morning. we'll talk about some of those top wind gusts and what's ahead. mike, how is it looking right now for the morning commute? >> well, kari, actually our maps together traffic and weather tied, so the yellow on this map you'll see a full screen, north bay and then all down all sides of the bay, that highlighting shows you where there are gustier winds, that will be a nuisance for you driving. you can't drive because of the wind that took down some debris,

some trees and lines over here, highway 9 around skyline there in that curvy section, that's one area to watch. we have more coming up. back to you. >> that's right. that's exactly what we're talking about, mike. bay area certainly waking up to downed trees, power lines, as you mentioned, even some wind-whipped fires overnight. in fact, we just checked with pg&e, who told us there are power problems as well. the largest outage right now is in oakland, affecting 6,500 customers. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in the south bay this morning with a look at some of the danger there, and the damage. bob? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. we know there have been a few wildfires throughout the bay area, but they're under control. a lot of trees down, only one house that we know of that's been damaged. we're here in downtown los gatos. you can see the united states flag is behind us blowing pretty good out here. we have some wind. this was the scene south of here earlier this morning in the hills above los gatos. a lot of branches and debris, this is down on black road

before beggs road. a large tree came down and partially blocked the road. i saw new video we weren't able to get online but fire department or someone was out there cutting that tree into pieces to clear the roadway. the national weather service has us under a high wind warning until 7:00 this morning and advisory until 6:00 tonight. the agency has recorded wind gusts throughout the bay area, ranging from 54 miles an hour, that was in san francisco, to listen to this, 97 miles an hour up in sonoma. those are wind gusts, not sustained winds. firefighters are concerned this could lead to wildfires like this one last night, before 10:00 in milpitas on country club drive in the hills there. the winds did spread it to two acres before the fire department was able to put out this fire. several people were evacuated from their homes as a precaution. >> yes, i think there's a fire captain banged on the door to get out.

and smell so bad, the smoke, and it's really, really weird, you know, the smoke is really bad. >> reporter: this is the video of the alameda fire department. one acre of mulch and debris were smoldering or on fire. firefighters have a handle on it. reminder even in january, the conditions are there for wildfire activity. reporting live here in los gatos, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you, bob. final preparations under way for a transfer of power unlike any in american history. here is a live look at the nation's capitol and the mall. hard to see, but there are thousands of flags that will line the ground all for the americans unable to travel to d.c. because of the pandemic. "today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us live outside of the capitol. tracie, what are you hearing about a possible final wave of

pardons? >> reporter: well, we could see as many as 100 from president trump. we're also hearing this morning that your new senator alex padilla will be sworn in after the inauguration tomorrow, replacing vice president-elect kamala harris. she and president-elect biden will be here in washington today to continue the inaugural activities. they're both speaking here tonight. tonight, from the lincoln memorial, joe biden will deliver his final message as president-elect, before his highly anticipated inaugural speech tomorrow. >> it's a message of unity. it's a message of getting things done. that's what he'll be talking about january 20th. >> reporter: biden's team says he's start signing executive orders on day one, creating a path to citizenship, ending the national emergency at the border, rejoining the world health organization and the paris climate agreement, and reversing the ban on trance gender people in the military, a ten-day blitz of immediate actions to address the nation's most urgent needs.

today five senate committees question biden's cabinet nominees, under a massive military presence at the capitol. >> this is three times the number of guardsmen we'd normally have. >> to all the people of this country, you will be in my heart forever. >> reporter: first lady melania trump sharing her final message to the nation, her husband hasn't been seen in a week. sources familiar tell nbc news president trump could announce dozens of pardons and commutations as soon as today, while working on his impeachment defense and a red carpet sendoff. tomorrow, he becomes the first president in more than 150 years to skip inauguration, saying good-bye to a city and a nation lit with the glow of democracy. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. a live look at the lincoln memorial, victims of the pandemic will be honored in d.c. a lighting ceremony will be held

to remember those lost to covid-19. the presidential inaugural committee is asking cities and towns everywhere to join in by illuminating buildings and ringing church bells in a national moment of unity and remembrance. levi's stadium among the bay area landmarks lit up exterior and interior lights and video boards will be gold from 5:30 to 11:00 p.m. a nice tribute. ahead of tomorrow's inauguration a presidential debate of sorts over travel restrictions. president trump is ending covid travel restrictions for air travelers from europe and brazil. the restrictions require a negative covid test for anyone flying into the u.s., and it would be lifted january 26th, but the incoming administration is already vowing to keep the restrictions in place. last night, joe biden's press secretary tweeted "with the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international

travel." state health leaders today will try to update us on the fight against covid, not clear if this is going to include an update on the stay-at-home orders, but the bay area really in no shape to be meeting the criteria to have the order lifted. the projected four-week icu capacity remains below 15% for the region. now, there is some good news. covid positivity rates around the state are slightly lower. on january 8th, it was 14%. it's now 12.2%, the first real drop since october. happening today, oakland is boosting its protections for workers who get covid-19. councilmember also hold an emergency vote to extend paid sick leave benefits. state and federal benefits expired in december, meaning workers who get covid will be protected if they need to take time off. if approved, the extension would take effect immediately. restaurant owners and workers struggling to make it in the bay plan to gather later

today in oakland, but the event has less to do with current closures than celebrating the changing of the guard in washington. organizers plan to welcome the incoming biden-harris administration. they say they're enthusiastic about the administration's stimulus proposals and they support biden's fair wage plan which would hike the federal minimum wage. let's get you back to kari this morning, who is monitoring all these high winds we've been talking about, some fires and of course the power outages as well. kari, what do you see out there? >> we're still looking at some high wind gusts. i can still hear the winds roaring right now. i wanted to show you some of the top wind gusts that we've seen since this all began. as we look at the t wind gusts, they keep getti higher and higher. in the mayacamas mountains east of cloverdale we had a wind gust, get this, 97 miles per hour. this is just unbelievable, this wind event coming with some high wind gusts elsewhere across the

bay area, even san francisco getting 54-mile-per-hour gusts, so this is something we'll be watching over the next several hours. we're watching that as well as the fire damage, as we go into today. as we head over to you, mike, you really have to be careful driving across the bay area. >> you do, kari. chp gives their standard warnings about bay area bridges, golden gate, bay bridge, san mateo bridge. we have a highlighted light yellow around the bay and today that signifies the gustier winds along the san francisco peninsula, down through san mateo and along the coast. i do want to take you down to a familiar area for folks, motorcycle riders specially know alice's along the curvy stretch there in woodside, that's got trees and debris down. slowing started for the tri-valley for traffic but also we'll talk about the altamont pass coming up. back to you. >> all right, thanks, mike. we'll check back with you. 5:10 right now. taking a stand ahead of inauguration day. still ahead on "today in the bay," the new ban facebook just

rolled out aimed at reducing the threat of violence. plus air travelers access to covid tests like never before. new machines rolling out at major airports including here in the bay area.

good tuesday morning. it is 5:13, and we are still under this microclimate weather alert. we are going to feel temperatures today about ten degrees lower than yesterday but

still it's going to be very warm for this time of year. we'll talk about what's going on, those high winds and some rain in the forecast, that's coming up in a few minutes. and the wind kari is the biggest impact upon where you're driving. we have trees and wires down in some spots. the oakland camera was moving around quite a bit but the last couple of minutes it took a breather here but i see the bay bridge camera shaking a lot from emeryville as well. we'll talk about what you'll experience on those spans, coming up. and the business and tech headlines this morning, checking the futures, i would have expected not a lot of movement planned ahead on wall street, but we are seeing a move upwards or at least expected on the open. this is after one of the major banks turned in very good numbers. janet yellen testifying before the senate today for her position as news treasury secretary. sign of the times in response to inauguration day facebook banning weapons-related ads at least until friday. the suspended ads are for weapons accessories, this would

include things like hollisters. facebook already bans ads for actual weapons, including ammunition as well. the social media giant expanding its ban this week out of what it calls abundance of caution. political ads this week also banned. happening today, berkeley may soon be going more green than ever. councilmembers will ask the city manager to look into the possibility of banning the sale of gas-powered cars by the year 2027. dealerships would have to transition to selling electric only vehicles. the ban would not apply to trucks or used cars, and it would jumpstart governor newsom's similar initiative by eight years. well it's time to get your tickets or get those tickets ready. after all, $1.5 billion is up for grabs over the next two days. we have two days to hit pause on lotto mania but tonight's mega millions jackpot will reach $850 million. tomorrow's powerball jackpot is

up to $730 million. this is the first time both games have simultaneously had jackpots over $700 million. good luck to you. don't forget your friends. trending this morning, vending machines that don't offer air traveler ace soda or snack but a covid test. >> the health company wellness for humanity rolling out more machines to airports in major cities like new york, los angeles and, yes, san francisco. oakland airport was among the first to get the vending machine, which offers saliva tests, provides prepaid shipping labels for results in two days. it offers rapid testing that takes about 15 minutes as well. kits cost around $150 which is a lot of quarters. >> you bring your change belt. >> i would not have pictured going to a saliva test vending machine, if you asked me last year. >> that would not be one of the things i'd prefer to do.

kari, when i was driving to work, i was driving over those my kids call them gum balls, somebody twitter me and tell me what that tree is called but those little crunchy things. >> what? the gumballs? >> they fall off the trees look like little spiky balls, the gumball tree. >> okay. >> my neighborhood they are blown all over. people in other areas have much more serious problems but that's my problem. >> absolutely. we've seen video of damage in the yard, stuff being knocked over as well as trees being brought down so that's the result of all of these high winds that we've seen today, and we still have up until 10:00 when this high wind warning will be allowed to expire, but it's for all of these areas shaded in head. the valleys are in a wind advisory, meaning some slightly lower winds but still could cause some damage around here. we're looking at high winds waking a lot of people up. let me take you through the forecast because more of those

things may be falling off the trees with winds at about 25 to 35 miles per hour even going into lunch time. during the evening higher winds will shift toward the north bay but we'll gradually start to see the winds calming down tonight so maybe you'll be able to sleep better tonight as we go into the next 24 hours. the winds once again will start to calm down. as we look at what's going on, we have the strong area of low pressure nearby, that with high pressure also created the wind gradient, the pressure gradient that we had, and so as we go into the weekend, there will be an area of low pressure, but this time it could bring us some rain. looks like a weak storm system coming in, some spotty off and on rain, but it's going to be much cooler and then a better shot of rain between sunday and monday, and this one looks pretty good at least for some sierra snow and much cooler temperatures, but we so desperately need this rain. i wanted to quickly show you how our reservoir levels are doing and the uvas reservoir is only

at 12% of capacity and we're seeing 18% capacity at the coyote reservoir. so our reserve soirs are very low and we haven't had enough rain. we're going to see some showers in the forecast, but it's just going to go from very warm and windy to cool and wet as we go into the weekend. so a lot of changes ahead. let's head over to you, mike. what's it looking like right now across the bay area? >> well, initial gloss of the tri-valley where we show you sunol and the altamont pass and livermore shows typical slow spots for 84 and 580. we'll zoom out to the altamont pass road the one, the closure out there out of tracy headed toward dyer, because of the smoke from the fire and the landfill that's in the area as well. that smoke is blowing to the east and looking at wind blowing a lot of other things like trees and debris across road ways. the light yellow highlighting shows you throughout the north

bay and peninsula. we'll show you a live camera from palo alto. the camera is shaking from time to time, too, it doesn't often happen. the wind will catch you from time to time, we're looking at trees down through woodside, as well as parts of los gatos and scott, i do believe your kids are right, i think that's called the sweet gum tree with the spiky pods. >> sweet gum, all right. i'm googling during the commercial break. so next on "today in the bay," "nbc bay area responds." >> companies are running background checks on employees and job applicants. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. we'll show you how to see your background check next. and you noh our team is always on social media. you're going to hear from kris sanchez in just a moment, as she's covering the inauguration for us in d.c. she posted video last night right after she arrived in our nation's capital, calling the city eerily quiet. follow kris' full inauguration journey on facebook, twitter and instagram and of course right here on "today in the bay."

it's 5:20 right now.

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tomorrow's historic inauguration part of our latest "race in america" conversation cofocused on racial equality. in the midst of our national racial reckoning the bay area's own kamala harris is headed to the white house. >> jessica aguirre spoke to her niece mena author of "ambitious

girl" which centers around her family. >> what really moved me about that when i read that, because that was such a nod to what has just happened in this country. [ cheers and applause ] [ horns honking ] >> but while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last. >> i were talking to my grandmother about this today, she would say it's ridiculous we're still having firsts. that is not aspirational. it's like what needs to happen. it's about asking why, why have we still not elected a female president? >> meena is in washington for inauguration day and her book goes on sale today as well. >> good for her. hiring is slowly rebounding, meaning workers are finally landing some interviews. >> but if you're rejected, consumer investigator chris chmura says you do have rights. here's how to exercise them. >> when you apply for a job or a promotion, the boss might look at more than just your

application, resume and interviewing skills. some companies do background checks. we want to show you how to see that background check. first, two things. one, they might not call it a background check. you might see it labeled an investigative consumer report and two, you must agree to a background check. the federal trade comission says the employer must tell new a standalone document that they might use the information to make a decision related to your employment, and must ask for your written permission. nationally, the rules apply when the company hires a third party to do the background check. in california, you also have rights when the company itself looks into your past. here's where you get a chance to see your background check when you're rejected. the ftc says no matter your state if the employer thinks they might not hire, keep, or promote you because of something in the report, the employer must give you a copy. once you get it, look for errors. if you find any, let the company know. california law gives background

checkers 30 days to reinvestigate, then delete anything that's inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified. . >> thank chs. it's 5:25. over the weekend the "today" show's al roker was one of many americans drew inned to their computer refreshing and refreshing to try to get a covid-19 vaccine appointment. it was hard to do but roker will get that vaccine live this morning on the "today" show. >> i'll be getting my first dose of the covid-19 vaccine. i'm over 65. new york state says i'm eligible. all weekend long i was logging in to the computer, finally got an appointment, and so this morning, live, i'll be getting my first dose. we'll talk all about it with a doctor live as i get that vaccine. >> you can watch it happen on the "today" show, just after "today in the bay." 'not easy to get those appointments. i tried for a file for my dad. he's in his middle 80s.

coming up next, top stories we're following for you, including a windy start in the bay area. some communities waking up to downed trees and power lines, as powerful gusts rolled in overnight. the road hazards we're tracking for your morning commute. plus in about 24 hours, president-elect biden will become president biden, and "today in the bay's" kris sanchez will be there to cover it all. coming up, we're live from d.c., on what' being done to make sure that every american stays safe.

right now at 5:30, parts of the bay area waking up to widespread wind and fire damage. trees are down on some roads, while crews are kept very busy overnight, trying to stop whipping flames. we're tracking it all as "today in the bay" continues right now. a very good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm sco mcgttw. marcus washington has time off. kari predicted this, we listened to you yesterday but we were all amazed how true it became. look at that flag behind you. >> yes, this is in san francisco, where winds have been up to 54 miles per hour, and it's still very windy all across the bay area, especially in our mountains. it's going to stay windy through at least the early afternoon hours, and then gradually the winds will start to calm down. you'll notice it will be a

little bit cooler today compared to the past couple of days and finally we have some rain in the forecast. we're going to talk about all of that, coming up in a few minutes. mike, as you're heading out for work this morning, you might want to allow extra time especially if you have to drive across a bridge. >> that's right, kari. we're looking at the bay bridge toll plaza camera, where the flag is also flapping similar to what you showed there, that's across the bridge so that may be an issue for folks driving in, higher profile, larger vehicles. look at the map, shows you there's no slowing necessitated by the speed sensors. the highlighted light yellow there, the north bay, along the san francisco peninsula, all the way down into the south bay, that is where the gustier winds are really hitting a lot of folks, and in places like woodside, it's taking down trees and debris, possibly wires near alice' restaurant. i've got another spot in los gatos but hand it off to you, laura. >> that's right. we want to show folks some of this video. look at some of the damage done overnight as these january winds continue to whip across the bay. we've got crews fanned out

across the bay area, as quickly as this story is developing. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell is in lo gatos to show us problems there and beyond. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott and laura. we certainly felt some of the wind gusts within the past couple of minutes. you can see the united states flag behind me, gives you a sense there are sustained winds out here. we're in downtown los gatos. south of here up in the hills where with your' seeing a lot more wind activity. new video into our newsroom a large tree came down on highway 9 near highway 35. you could see the santa clara fire department there cutting down that tree, using chainsaws. we showed you video earlier of driving down a black road up there, with a lot of debris on the road there. another concern with all these high winds is the concern about wildfires, this is also new into our newsroom, not far from here, this is from just around 3:30 this morning, in cupertino, a small wildfire, this is on the

side of 280 near the wall there on the calvert drive side. it was small. they did have that contained. last night, a number of people were evacuated in milpitas in the hills up there, this was on country club drive, after a wildfire there took off. it spread to two acres. the fire department was able to get it contained, and as i mentioned as a precaution, they did evacuate some of the people who live around there but they have since been allowed back home and in livermore, near livermore another small wildfire off altamont pass road, about one acre of mulch and debris smoldering or on fire but again, the fire department and all the situations have been able to contain the wildfires at least in the south bay and east bay. nothing has spread beyond what i just told you. reporting live in los gatos, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> bob, pg&e is shutting off power in the sierra foothills because of the high fire danger. the shutoffs took effect overnight. there's worry strong winds could bring down power lines, spark

wildfires. about 5,000 customers are affected in counties including mariposa, madeira and fresno. this is the first time they've had to shut down power in january. download our nbc bay area app, check your conditions before you head out the door. the final countdown to inauguration day, this is president trump's last full day in the white house. >> of course security measures in washington now in overdrive, that includes physical barriers and armed personnel. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is in washington, she joins us live with the ground level look at what's going on. good morning, kris. >> reporter: well, good morning to you, scott and laura. we've heard a lot of people say that d.c. looks more like a hollywood movie set than it does like its regular d.c. set. the hustle and bustle replaced pi heavy machinery and so many

national guard troops and law enforcement. with our secret service credentials we were able to get a little bit farther in. this is our truck as we went through security last night, all of our equipment sniffed by law enforcement k-9s, all of the gear put through an x-ray machine and climb-proof fencing around the national mall and some of the 25,000 national guard troops here to protect the landmarks but also to keep people back from the u.s. capitol where that violent riot happened almost a week ago. >> we're not taking any chances. this is three times the number of guardsmen we would normally have in support of the united states secret service. >> reporter: national guard troops from across the nation are here. we expect there will be some from the bay area, though we haven't found any just yet. we keep asking the ones that we see. still exciting to be here, though, even if it doesn't feel anything remotely like inaugurations past. this is my first inauguration so

it's all new to me. laura and scott? >> it's very exciting no doubt to be there. you know, we always try to find people from the bay area at big events like this one. any luck this time? >> reporter: it's been really tough. these buses, these charter buses are arriving here, full of national guard troops. this gives you an indication of how many more troops are arriving, even by the minute. 25,000, these seem to be, some are empty but this is where they were coming in. we have tried to ask around. we know there are folks from the bay area here despite the travel restrictions, despite the advice not to come, and the security that is in place, but we are trying to make contact with them, but we did meet somebody very special to the "today in the bay" family, got to say hello to tracie potts who we see every single day with her reports out of washington, d.c., very gracious and certainly she is very experienced in inaugural events. this is not her first one. if you look on other social media posts she's shown pictures

of past ones and they are very different. laura and scott? >> kris sanchez, we'll be checking back with you. appreciate it very much. our coverage of the inauguration continues online from speeches to the planned nationwide parade, lots of things happening. we put together an explainer on all the event for the big day. head to nbcbayarea.com, click on "inauguration day explained" at the top of our home page. it is 5:37 right now. to the pandemic. covid cases in the u.s. have now surpassed 24 million cases, more than 400,000 people have died. in the past two weeks an average of 3,200 people have died every day. in the meantime, california's the first state to top 3 million virus cases jumping from 2 million on december 24th. more than 33,000 people have died. a follow-up on the batch of 330,000 moderna vaccines now pulled from distribution, in the wake of allergic reactions.

the allergic reactions occurred in san diego. one oakland woman vaccinated last week says she made sure she was not receiving a dose from the lot now under investigation. >> i'm relieved. i was actually a little concerned this was going to somehow affect my next dose of the vaccine. >> only a handful of people had allergic reactions, but it was more than health experts expected. doses from that lot will not be administered until the investigation is over. 5:38 on your tuesday morning, and researchers in southern california have identified a new variant of some of the same covid strain that's been popping up more and more in the bay area. the variant is tied to an outbreak at l.a. cedar sinai hospital and tied to the variant recently linked to the christmas day outbreak at san jose kaiser. the strain was first observed in denmark. it is not the same one that's been identified in the uk, but researchers are calling it a

major contributor to the surge in cases over the past two months, across southern california. if you need more information about how to get vaccinated, we can help. if you take out your phone, you can use your camera to scan that qr code on the left-hand side of your screen. in black and white. it will take you right to our vaccination guide. scroll down to your county, get information on how to sign up, and where to go once it's your turn. you can do it the old-fashioned way as well. you can head to nbcbayarea.com and click on "covid-19 vaccination guide" at the top of your screen. a small earthquake rattled parts of the north bay last night at about 8:30. the 2.7 quake was centered two miles outside of santa rosa. hundreds of people living in that area apparently felt that shaking. in some cities, falling rent prices making it easier to make it in the bay. real estate data from a firm called yardy matrix looked at the biggest rent drops around the country. one bay area city came in at

number one. in december, the biggest drop was san jose, nearly 14%. new york came in second, 11%. san francisco had the third, a drop of nearly 10%. meanwhile sacramento rent actually increased, up 6%. happening today, san francisco transit leader also vote on tweaks to the recently scaled back better market street plan. the long-term plan is to make market street between franklin and stewart more bike and pedestrian friendly. the first phase of development is supposed to start later this year. recent pandemic related budget cutbacks are slimming down some of the plans. today's revisions mostly have to do with altering codes and traffic policies for taxis and ride shares. 5:40 right now. i think everybody's going to talk about this wind overnight, maybe woke you up while you were sleeping and people waking up to damage. a lot of leaves out there, too, kari.

is it going to stick around, this wind pattern? >> yes, so this is what we're expecting, a prolonged wind event and unfortunate it's still windy and extended the wind advisory until about 10:00 this morning, all areas in red are under a high wind warning where the winds have been gusting over 60 miles per hour. i want to show you the top wind gust we had in the mayacama mountains near cloverdale, 97-mile-per-hour gust. this has been unreal, and we've had some of those elsewhere across parts of the east bay. mt. diablo 82 and sausalito 60 miles an hour and 54 in san francisco. i'm keeping an eye on the high winds and impact it will have. we'll talk about what's ahead in the forecast. mike, what is it like for the commute? >> kari, the speed sensors look great. the wind sensors and what it translates to the road conditions, that's why you see

the highlighted sort of the light yellow all over the map, and that's what you'll see along the coast, look at it all the way in toward the bay, san mateo, dumbarton bridges all likely impacted. we'll take you to los gatos, highway 9 just off highway 35, a portion of that is at least traffic control if not completely closed at local points so watch for the trees and wires down in that area. getting out toward the tri-valley, typical slowing forality month' 84. i'll call out the altamont pass in a second where you can't go. you can go on 808 for oakland. i want to show you the impact of the wind on our camera. look at that thing shake. back to you. we're seeing the same in the north bay, mike, as well. straight ahead we're live where a home destroyed due to the powerful winds and of course a tree. >> plus, heartbreaking developments as a child is swept out to sea near half moon bay. what crews are now saying about the search. but first, nbc bay area and

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right now at 5:45, we're still going to have a very warm day, near record highs in some spots but it won't be as warm as yesterday afternoon. santa rosa reaches 68, we may be just shy of that record high of 70 degrees. we'll talk about this, the high winds and some rain in the forecast, coming up in a few minutes. >> you see how the map is a different color, this is light yellow, the highlighting means gusty winds. we'll show you the camera from emeryville getting moved around quite a bit, from time to time much more than you see right now. it might move around your car if it's a larger vehicle. be careful in or around those vehicles. we'll talk about that more coming up. >> mike, i think these stories hit us the hardest. once again we urge you to stay away from the ocean. the coast guard issing looking for a boy swept out to sea. cal fire says the 12-year-old from fremont was standing along the shoreline at cowell ranch state beach with an adult and an 8-year-old, when a sneaker wave

swept all three of them into the water yesterday afternoon. the 8-year-old and the adult were pushed back to the shore by the surf but the 12-year-old was pulled under about 100 yards offshore and has not been seen since. >> several people were arrested following the protest by black lives matter, near mayor liccardo's home. the group came face to face with a line of officers, the protest declared an unlawful assembly just after 8:00 last night. some refused to leave the area. some of the protesters pointed a laser at a police helicopter, that's a felony. with covid cases in southern california soaring, leaders are trying to rethink the vaccine policies on the fly. for one, l.a. county supervisors have now issued an executive order calling for people over 65 to be allowed to be vaccinated as soon as thursday. the county is limiting its rollout due to scarce supplies. also school leaders are asking the state to allow schools to

become vaccination sites. the hope is teachers and staff will be vaccinated a lot more quickly so classrooms can reopen. as far as sports, happening as soon as today, some bay area high school sports programs will get a head start on plans to allow practices to resume. right now nothing is official. there is no final guidance from the state, but as soon as next week, it is possible so-called purple tier sports could return. those include track and field and swimming and tennis. no team sports. others would follow at various tier levels, football for example in the orange tier, basketball is in the yellow tier. some schools will now start allowing students to train in distance pods but again, to be clear, for now, practices are still on hold. back to our microclimate weather alert. taking a live look across the bay area this morning. this january wind storm has set in, causing quite a bit of damage. our cameras have been shaking quite a bit as well because of

the powerful gusts out there. you can actually hear them. >> earlier this hour we showed you damage in the south bay. let's go to the north bay now, "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live in santa rosa with a look at what's going on up there. good morning, cierra. >> reporter: yes, good morning. i can tell you, it is still windy this morning driving up to sonoma county from san francisco county. my car was shaking the whole way and once i got to this area in santa rosa, i can see why the damage is as bad as it is. i'm going to step out of the way so you can see right now you're looking at a home that had a tree fall on it, roof caved in. you can see the car in front of it, also damaged. this happening last night. we had crews out all night and you can see exactly what's going on overnight. the winds just so strong, picking up, knocking over any of those trees. so far we haven't received any reports of injuries, but you can see how bad the home is

destroyed, and wind was also to blame for a situation in geyserville. we have video of that. fire starting in geyserville about 10 to 15 acres. it could have quickly burned out of control. they say that it was a downed power line that started that fire. it began at 9:00 last night. we're being told it began in the valley, so thankfully it wasn't in a high ridge mountain area that could have really burned out of control there, but just really a really, really windy morning out here in santa rosa right now. this is middlebrook lane, again, you can see the home with the roof caved in, a lot of debris even coming up to the main road of this stet. you saw a lot of leaves and a lot of brush in the road so this is the scene out here. we're going to keep an eye out for any other scenes like this, any other reports of any other damage from the wind. if you have any damage in your neighborhood or you come outside, wake up, see anything

in front of your home, be sure to let us know. send us a video, send us a tweet, i'm @cierrajohnson tv. winds are really strong this morning. a lot of people may be waking up to messes in their yards and the thing is the winds are going to stick around, right, kari? >> right, and we've had a lot of power outages, as a result, especially in oakland, around lake merritt. we had over 6,000 people without power right now, because of these high winds. we're seeing these spotty outages around the bay area, and i know people want to know when will this wind go away? we're going to see still this high wind warning continue up until 10:00 but it may be gusty through this evening as the gusts reach over 30 to 40 miles per hour. we'll stop it here at noon, this is our wind speed forecast and shows the arrows with the direction of the winds in miles per hour and we're going to see

those winds still pretty high at about 30, 35 miles per hour, and into the evening. here we are at dinnertime, evening commute and it's going to still be quite gusty out there, until later on tonight. you may be able to sleep a little bit better tonight once those winds calm down. it may be breezy in parts of the north bay and then we'll wake up tomorrow morning to some calmer weather, and we are going to also be slightly cooler. our temperatures still ten degrees above average but not breaking as many records as we saw yesterday, across the bay area, we're looking at mid to upper 60s for highs today. as we go into the forecast the low that's bringing us these strong winds will move out. we'll see another one coming in but it will drop cold air across the bay area. we'll have a better chance of rain toward the weekend into early next week with another storm system coming in, and this one could also bring in some very heavy sierra know. it's looking much better for us in the forecast, even though we've had some warm weather,

that's going to go away after a couple of days. the winds calming down after today and look at the weekend, it won't be that warm and sunny weekend we just had. in fact, cool and wet, which is what we need in january. let's head over to you, mike. how is it looking right now for the commute? >> kari, a couple of bullet points here. we have an issue in the altamont pass and we have a b.a.r.t. advisory that came out as well. looking at the tri-valley, altamont pass and highway 84 looks standard for the slower spots right now but look, we're warning about altamont pass road that's affected by the wind and the smoke from the landill fire. stick to 580. you don't need the alternate and not sure of the status. it's been a while since we got an update from the crew. the highlighted yellow in the rest of the bay, the bay bridge you see the flag flapping around. the note for b.a.r.t. is between richmond and el cerrito they halted trains because of debris down onto the tracks.

likely because of wind, scott, back to you. >> makes sense. the search continuing for victims in the wreckage after a jetliner crashed off the coast of indonesia. the plane went down ten days ago in the java sea and killed all 62 people on board. authorities were going to end the operation yesterday but extended it to thursday. the cockpit voice recorder's been recovered which hopefully will hopefully have some clues. we're back with more news straight ahead.

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welcome back. a man is recovering in the hospital this morning, stabbed in the east bay, happened yesterday, just after 4:00 in the afternoon at brentwood park and ride in walnut boulevard. they found that man was stabbed in his upper torso, air lifted to the hospital. b.a.r.t. police are investigating the incident because it took place on b.a.r.t. property. no suspects so far. it's 5:57. oakland will start shutting down some fire stations this week. it's a temporary move as the city grapples with the $62 million budget gap. the city will effectively close three stations and deactivate some fire engines at other stations. the only station that's not impacted is the oakland airport fire facility. the closures are expected to save $5 million. some local leaders and firefighters have reportedly

criticized the cost-cutting measure saying their work is more critical now in the pandemic as it continues to rage on. san francisco's muni expanding bus service first scaled back at the start of the pandemic, starting this saturday a new express line will run from downtown to bay view hunter's point. another new line will run between the dog patch patrero hill and mission districts. muni will bring back the t-line this saturday, the popular rail line that travels from oracle park down south to almost daly city. here is something fun for everybody, all new "star wars" level drama unmasked in l.a. for all fans of baby yoda and the mandalorian. >> someone spotted a mask man in a mandalorian costume with a baby yoda buzzing around the streets on a skateboard. tim brehmer is a standup comedian. he says when the pandemic hit, he, just like many artists found himself out of work so he

starred this up to lift himself up. >> this whole thing started because i'm a big box of stupid and i love making people laugh. >> "big box of stupid." i'm using that sometime. turns out he is making other people laugh, bringing joy to a lot of kids. he may not be getting paid but he says he's doing what he loves. >> as long as they're smiling as i zoom by, that is all i care about and it's the only medicine i really need. >> that's all anybody needs so this morning, tim brehmer is our featured hero for our "something good." right now at 6:00, high winds sparking winter fire danger. overnight strong winds taking down power lines and trees. this morning, we've got live team coverage on all the damage done across the bay overnight, and the dangerous conditions firefighters are being put up against. plus -- >> we're not taking any chances. this is three times the number of guardsmen we'd normally have.

>> it's the eve of the presidential inauguration. kris sanchez is at the capitol and breaks down this moment in history. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. >> good tuesday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm scott mcgrew. everyone, kari, waking up to high winds. be careful driving as well. >> yes, i'm pretty sure a lot of people had a hard time sleeping last night, hearing stuff flapping around outside, and the house shifting and stuff. all right, it's still really windy out there. this is a live look in san francisco. you can see that flag waving in the wind. we are going to have some still high winds through the next several hours and then a slightly cooler day, once the winds calm down we'll transition to some different weather for the weekend, and it could bring us some rain. so we'll talk more about that coming up. mike, what is it looking like? any problems for the morning commute? >> yes, kari, transit and the roadways, over my shoulder, we'll show you the map with the highlighted yellow there, where the winds are really stro,