right now at 4:00, rain, strong winds, even snow. a powerful storm slamming the bay area. here's a live look outside at current conditions. it's a very soggy start to our wednesday morning. we're on air early to bring you this microclimate weather alert. overnight our team across the bay area as heavy rain was coming down and high winds. all morning lock we'll show you the impact of the first rainy storm of the season as "today in the bay" starts right now. good wednesday morning to you. thank you for being here, i'm laura garcia.

>> and i'm sierra johnson in for marcus washington. first let's start with the weather with meteorologist cary hall who's timing it all out. >> we've seen the first rain rolling through the bay area. we've seen some of the heavier rain pushing to the south. while we're still left with light rain and a few pockets of some heavier downpours as we look across the bay area. now, we are zooming in to exactly where that heavy rain is falling right now. around morgan hill as well as gilroy, we're going to see this heavy rain once again continuing to move to the south. then we are seeing these pockets of rain that will produce some brief heavy rain, adding up on those rainfall totals around san ramon, moving over toward union city and extending over toward mt. diablo and approaching parts of the tri-valley. as we go through the morning, we'll still see rounds of rain moving in, but the main brunt of the storm has pushed to the south. we are going to still see this

in the area before we get another wave of rain as this rises back to the north over the bay area later on this evening. so we'll talk about the timeline and the impact coming up in a few minutes. mike, you've been tracking the morning commute. how's it looking early this morning? >> obviously the volume is not the problem, it's the conditions. the green highlighting shows you the wet roadways, it's definitely slick. the pink and white is the solid state for h20 so there's ice and frost. we are looking at a crash that has closed 680 to 101. another crash involving a big rig over in the tri-valley. a live look at fremont shows you the conditions. wet and soupy out there. be careful. back to you, laura. >> good advice, mike, because it is going to be an interesting commute as we go into the morning. we already saw some problems overnight.

bob redell is live at the beige. >> reporter: it's actually quite nice out here, there's a slight breeze. don't have the rain but the roads are very wet. something you want to keep in mind as you're driving into work this morning. this is from the lower deck of the bay bridge. you can see a semi jackknifed blocked a few of the lanes there. they believe that actually the wind on the bridge might have had more of an impact, might have been more the cause for this accident than the wet roads. the national weather service did tweet out there have been wind gusts of just over 50 miles an hour in the oakland area, so it's a little windy up there. it's hard to tell if we're seeing that but the flags behind me are definitely blowing. there's some video we shot this morning, i shot this morning as we were headed in. this is on 580 westbound -- yes, westbound through castro valley. that's when we did get some of

the rain so gives you a sense of some of the conditions. the roads are wet. if you are driving in this morning, you want to watch your speed. remember, the speed limit is the fastest you should go as the conditions warrant. just because it says 65, you might want to ease back on the gas just so you get into work safely. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." well, the south bay is hit hard and thousands are out of their home in the santa cruz mountains. we have an updated look at that evacuation map. the areas in red under that mandatory evacuation. the areas in the yellow right here, evacuation warning, meaning you should leave but it is not mandatory. and the sprinkles with blue right there, the areas right there means they are under an evacuation advisory which means you should be ready to go if needed. ian mccall is tracking the mudslides, especially in those

burn zones. >> reporter: it's the night they have been dreading, 5,000 people forced to leave their homes along highway 9 where the czu complex fire burned last summer. all of this rain will cause the landslides and flooding. >> i suspected this was coming so i had my car loaded up. i have a chain saw, water, like basic mountain supplies that we all keep. >> reporter: her home burned down in the fire. now she's staying in her trailer at a friend's but has her car packed in case the rain and wind become too much. >> not sure that i want to stay where i'm camping because there's like seven big oak trees hanging over my place and i'm just not feeling -- i've lived through enough disasters. >> reporter: crews rush to repair downed power lines off highway 9 and remove branches hanging over homes. cal fire has prepositioned crews

throughout the santa cruz mountains. other cruise from counties, including marin rescue, have also deployed to respond to any damage from projected 60-mile-an-hour winds. the sheriff says unfortunately 261 people have chosen not to evacuate. >> if we found ourself with a medilemergency, our response could be significantly delayed significantly. it's not because we don't want to, there could be a road closed or a tree down or wires or something to that effect. >> reporter: there have been three evacuation information centers set up. the county is also worried about a second wave of rain coming in that could make those evacuation zones even more unstable and dangerous. ian cull, "today in the bay." no major outages to tell you about this morning in and around guerneville but a viewer named kent porter shot this video close to that area last night. crews were taking down a fir

tree that fell into utility lines. he said by the time he shot this, the heaviest rain from the first storm had already moved on. we are seeing some downed power lines across the region. at last check more than 36,000 pg&e customers waking up in the dark. in the east bay, they are responsible for the majority of them with more than 14,000 outages. the south bay has more than 13,000. we'll keep checking and bring you updates on the situation every half hour. just a reminder if your power ever does go out, you can watch us for free on your nbc bay area app. it's beginning to look a lot like winter in parts of the north bay. on the left there you're seeing snow on geysers road above alexander valley in sonoma county. on the right, crews plowing roads near middletown where lake county meets napa county. snow is being reported at elevations as low as 1,300 feet. well, the storm could not

have come at a worse time for east bay restaurants. the governor just lifted the stay-at-home order meaning outdoor dining can resume. last night steady rain would normally keep a lot of people inside, but now that we are in the middle of this pandemic, nothing is really normal and customers were anxious to eat somewhere else other than home. >> come hell or high water we are going to come out and eat. >> even rainy and cold, i think they just want to come out and support us. >> it's so nice to support them. business owners are hoping for bigger crowds this weekend. many don't feel like rain will help the cause, however. as all the rain moves across the area, storm ranger getting a good workout. here's a look at the rain coming down in fremont and up in san rafael this morning. really a soggy day ahead. we want to check in with meteorologist kari hall as well. are we going to get any windows of opportunity in this or is it just pretty much all day?

>> it's going to be off and on all day. there will be some breaks. we've seen some of the heavier rain push to the south of us but look at all of the green we still have on storm ranger as some of the light rain continues into this morning so it's going to be spotty today. another round of heavy rain rolls back in tonight and there's a chance for thunderstorms. we're still going to have at times some gusty winds and that low snow that we've seen on some of our bay area hills. as we mentioned, up to about 1,500 feet and above. also some isolated flood issues will continue for today, especially in those burn scar areas. as we go through today, we're going to see once again some breaks, but there will be some hit-or-miss showers continuing. that heavy rain to the south starts to roll back up and we are going to see another round of that coming in between late tonight and early tomorrow morning.

we'll talk more about how much additional rainfall we are going to see and what's ahead in the forecast going into the weekend. that's coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking right now? any major issues for the morning commute? >> kari, there's a closure because of a jackknifed big rig. over here 680 southbound, the connector to 101 there's a closure. there's also local flooding there. popular transitions at highway 87, we're watching that as well. pink and white, perhaps some snow, possibility for ice, but a smooth drive. we are looking at 580 eastbound as well. eden canyon road a crash blocks. that's also a jackknifed big rig. that's three we are talking about, two active now. this is the countercommute to the dublin interchange. a look at the approach all the way out the rest of contra costa county shows a smooth drive.

those conditions are ones to be wary of. still ahead on "today in the bay," the controversial reason one top candidate is exiting the selection process for san jose's next police chief. but first, as we head to break, here's a live look at sfo. as you can see, the runway is pretty wet out there. some bay area airports reporting some slight delays so check ahead. our storm coverage continues ahead with a full look at your forecast. we'll be right back. colgate optic white renewal

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right now at 4:13 as we take a look at the east bay, there's a line of heavy rain from dublin all the way up through brentwood so watch out for that if you're about to head out the door. we'll see wav of rain coming today and it gets even heavier for tonight. i'm timing it out for you and talking about what's ahead, as well as some sierra rainfall totals. we'll have all of that coming up in a few minutes. and kari, we're looking at the effects on the roadways. lighter traffic but slowing down. visibility and traction are issues. the bay bridge toll plaza, we can see that clearly and see what i'm talking about, wet pavement, flags blowing around a bit. we'll show you what else is going on. we still have jack-knifed big rigs plural out there. the marin county sheriff's office tweeted this picture of a

tree that crushed a car overnight. fortunately no one was hurt. developing this morning authorities have not identified the man shot and killed by vacaville police last night. police say it started when a reckless driver ignored officers trying to stop his car. during the chase at davis and bella vista the driver tried to ram a patrol car and officers opened fire. the suspect died at the scene and one officer is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. the minneapolis police chief has taken himself out of the running to become san jose's next top cop. the chief said he was humbled to be named a finalist but says he is committed to public safety in his city. he was in charge when officers killed george floyd last year sparking nationwide protests and a national conversation about race. the search for san jose's next police chief began when eddie garcia retired.

he now serves as the chief of police in dallas. and coronavirus in the classroom. next on "today in the bay," the new evidence the cdc is giving that says that it's safe for schools to reopen. you're watching "today in the bay."

taking a live look outside this morning, look how soggy it is out there. wet roadways. slow down or add a little extra time if you need to head out the door this morning. a live look at san jose on your

left, san francisco there on the right. kari has a look at the radar which shows all the rain coming down across the bay area. on and off today, huh? >> yeah, and that's what we've seen throughout the past since the time the storm started, but it did get really heavy during those overnight hours as those winds were roaring, but we were getting the brunt of the storm at that time. now some of the heavier rain has shifted to the south and we're still able to see quite a bit of rain as we track it with storm ranger. that's our mobile doppler radar. we get the best view of the north and south bay as well as parts of the east bay where we are getting a closer look at some of the rain that's getting lighter across san jose. but still may be pockets of heavy rain. that's what we were seeing over toward san ramon, moving closer to pleasanton and will be approaching livermore within the next few minutes. for the north bay mainly a steady light rain that will continue as the system draws in

a l at some of the rainfall totals that we've seen around antioch. dublin has had an inch of rain. about a half inch in san jose as we got a later start. and then some of the highest rainfall totals we had was in the santa cruz mountains near summit road. nearly 4 inches of rain. of course we're not done just yet. around lake curry in napa county we have 3 inches of rain, fairfax close to 3. san bruno mountain had an inch and a half. oakland almost an inch of rain there. so as we go into the evening we're still looking at off-and-on rain, possibly some thunderstorms. notice that the rain starts to roll back farther to the north. we'll see heavy rain returning later this evening and continuing to tomorrow morning. we'll see the rain off and on throughout the day tomorrow and then it finally will taper off

as we morning. so as we go through the seven-day forecast, expect the off-and-on rain. then moving out by friday. that's the only day we really get a break here before we see more scattered showers in the forecast into tuesday. it may get heavier between monday and tuesday. we'll be tracking all of that and talk more about rainfall totals. mike, we're also seeing in some spots this having an impact on the morning commute. >> yeah, definitely, kari. we have two alerts to call out from chp but also the alert for everybody that conditions, they're rough out there. let's look at your maps. we're talking about the green highlighted across the north bay, contra costa county over there, throughout the east bay. the east bay is where our first alert is for eastbound 580. three of your five eastbound lanes are blocked by a jack-knifed big rig right around eden canyon road. that is presenting slowing heading toward the dublin grade. the rest of the bay wet, puddling down in the south bay

where kari is talking about active rain. we have the closure for 680 transitioning to southbound 101 in san jose because of also a jack-knifed big rig. be careful. back to you. the cdc says schools across the nation can resume to in-person learning if proper precautions are taken. a new study suggests there's little evidence schools of led to increased community spread of covid-19. the cdc says if schools reopen, they still kneeled to require face masks, increased physical distance and do testing. it doesn't recommend indoor sports. coming up on "today in the bay" -- there won't be any lines to buy the famous beer. the only way to get some, coming up. plus the sharks should be on the way back to the south bay. the confusion on when the team can actually play on its home ice.

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welcome back. so the sharks may or may not be back in san jose by this time next week. everything is still kind of up in the air, even though the county is now clearing them to returning. in the meantime they're still on a seemingly never-ending road trip to ending the season. last night they played in denver. maybe they're getting road weary but it's possible colorado is a pretty good lead. the avalanche scored seven times in the first two periods winning the game 7-3. well, a's fans may have seen this coming but it won't make it any easier. east bay native marcus simien won't be back next year. he signed a one-year deal with

toronto. some may be wondering what's it going to take to get barry bonds into the hall of fame. this makes it nine years barry bonds has been denied. eligible players only remain on the ballot ten years so next year will be make-or-break for bonds. due to performance-enhancing drugs some say he will never get in although it could happen at a later point with a veterans committee vote. well, new this morning there will be no waiting in the cold for a taste of pliny the younger this year. russian river brewing will sell its world famous brew only online. sales start thursday at 11:00 a.m. the brewer is making 6,000 cases, even containing four bottles. each customer can only buy one case. it's $80 plus shipping and taxes. this way it gives more people chance to try to get it. as we've mentioned, restaurants throughout the bay area are just beginning that

process of trying to reopen. >> oakland's truffle shuffle was one of the many forced to shut down, forced to pivot to teaching online classes. on today's kelly clarkson show, its owners say they still found a way to make it back to those on the frontlines of the pandemic. >> for everyin degrees yengt kit we would sell, we would cook and donate a meal to frontline health care workers because hospitals are so overrun. so we were donating to hospitals. now for every ingredient kit sold we donate a meal to someone in need in our legal communities. >> kelly has a surprise for these east bay heroes who turned lemons into lemonade. you can tune in at 3:00 to find out what it is. coming up next, our top stories that we're following today, including day one of the powerful storm hitting the bay area. we'll tell you which areas are really getting pummeled from the rain and places seeing a little break. plus people in the north bay

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whoa. remove ten years of yellow stains with colgate optic white renewal. right now at 4:30, a strong storm taking aim at the bay area. our weather team talks about the first big storm of the season finally bringing us some much-needed rain. this morning we're tracking overnight problems including flash flooding, downed trees,

even some damage to homes. all of this as that threat of mudslide looms in those burn su so i had my car have a chain saw, water, of kee. >> we'll have the latest on the evacuations that are under way and the areas where the heaviest rain is still coming down as "today in the bay" continues right now. good wednesday morning to you. we came on early this morning at 4:00 a.m. just to try to get you up to speed on everything that has happened overnight. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm cierra johnson in for marcus washington. let's start with kari hall getting into that weather. >> yeah, we are tracking all of this with stormranger, our mobile doppler radar. we have seen some of the heavier rain shifting to the south but we are still left with a steady downpour across much of the bay area as you get ready to head out the door. as