right now at 4:30, something we vice president seen in months. rain. but with it comes lightning and new wildfire concerns. overnight there is good reason for those concern. look at this dangerous display in the sky. lightening leading to wildfire on the ground right before our eyes. this is happening in the north bay. we are on top of it all, this is "today in the bay." what a way to start this friday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm kris sanchez. >> i'm scott mcgrew in for marcus and laura. this first half hour the storm system whipping up lightening,

small fires, bringing rains to some parts as well. >> this is new time lapsed video from what's being called the rock fire burning northwest of cloverdale in mendocino county. it got to about 40 acres overnight before it slowed down and crews did have a hard time reaching the scene because of the rain. >> the light show across the bay area. we have a number of cameras we have been catching the lightning strikes as they come and we are tracking every single one of them. these are camera from san jose and walnut creek and fremont and sfo. i know meteorologist kari hall has been using much more sophisticated equipment to track that same lightning. >> yeah. we powered up storm ranger this morning and i was closely watching the sfo camera because we are seeing lightening strikes in that area in san francisco. as we get a look at this red scan this gives us a high level of detail of the view of where exactly it's raining. let's head to the north bay. it's been so busy here.

all of these lightening strikes are plotted from the cloud to ground lightning and it's put right here on the radar as it happens and we are seeing some of those lightning strikes moving through. i'm going to loop this from the past several hours and take a look at all of the lightening icons on there and each one of those lightening strikes show the potential of a new fire start, especially in parts of the north bay and some of the hills. now as far as the rain, we've seen it very spotty, rains for a few minutes and then out of there. still the impacts of that lightning will definitely be something we'll have to watch as we take a look at storm ranger. a little bit closer to the coast where we're seeing some of the rain moving into the south city area as well heading right over to our radar site which is parked on san bruno mountain so we are going to see some of the lightning strikes moving that way. we head across the bay towards richmond where we are seeing a little bit of rain around the hercules area and richmond and vallejo but the main threat will be the lightning that's cloud to

ground lightning coming down and a busy few hours and loop it and sees the activity across the region. as we go throughout the morning this will be a threat, at least for the neck few hours before we see all of this activity towards the east. a closer look does one again show that what we feared is definitely happening right now. a little bit of rain, a lot of lightning and that rain is not enough to help put out any fires that do get started because the vegetation is extremely dry at this point and we'll be watching this. we'll have another look at storm ranger in a few minutes. >> thank you. we've been collecting some of this video of the lightning storm from the south bay. a strike over the foothills of mount hamilton. as kari pointed out the threat of major wildfires because of the lightning strikes. >> "today in the bay's" cheryl hurd reports there's a local fire department using new technology to keep the community safe. >> reporter: a red orange glow in the sky at sunset.

clouds menacing overhead. >> i don't want to be too close to lightning. >> reporter: has hikers in the east bay a little worried. >> based on the weather patterns and the different colors i'm seeing it seems omni knew. >> reporter: we track the ominous weather pattern on this app. the red dots show lightning strikes moving towards the bay area. >> yeah. i mean we live -- we back up to an open space. that's a huge concern. >> reporter: that's why contra costa fire protection is bringing in extra fire fighting resources just in case lightning strikes spark wildfires. >> that is going to include one task force of five engines, 15 firefighters and the task force leader, a chief officer, we're also standing up an additional two water tenders and staffing those, the apparatus that gets water to fires where there are no hydrants. >> reporter: the concern is big in the bay area where the hills are dry. overgrown vegetation is ready to burn. >> it's forecast to last through

the morning hours. >> reporter: steve hill says they have two bulldozers at the ready. authorities say they don't want a repeat of what happened last year. >> there was a fire. the lightning complex fire which your viewers may recall from a year ago that was started as a result of the dry lightening strikes. that's the big concern. >> reporter: cheryl hurd, "today in the bay.." our reporters are tracking that. kari hall is tracking this on twitter as well watching for the lightning strikes and also tracking what's expected in our forecast for the weekend. you can find kari on twitter @kari hall weather. tomorrow will mark 20 years since the september 11th terrorist attacks. right now this is ground zero as it is this morning where thousands will gather this weekend to pay tribute to the lives lost that day. while firefighters and police officers died that day are haled as heros some of the pilots and flight attendants on board the doomed flights. among them betty ong on flight

11. that was the first plane that crashed into the world trade center and it was betty who alerted authorities that the plane had been hijacked. this morning we're hearing from betty's brother harry who reflects on that terrifying day, his sister's bravery and the legacy of his family's loss. >> memories of 9/11 for a lot of people are getting fainter and fainter. >> reporter: nearly 20 years have gone by and while memories might gradually fade, harry ong's heart will never forget. >> here we are today, 20th anniversary and we don't really think of it as an anniversary because it's with us every day. >> reporter: this was ong ten years ago talking with our own jessica geary about his little sister betty, an american airlines stewardess on board the first plane to crash into the world trade center. it was betty who first told authorities we were under attack. >> we can't breathe. i think we're getting hijacked. >> reporter: betty's spirit runs

through the halls of the betty ong chinese recreation center where she used to play in san francisco's chinatown. the center renamed in her honor in 2012. >> it's a joy for us to have betty remembered and hopefully by the kids who attend here. >> reporter: in a year that has been rocked by hate crimes against asian-americans, ong remembers the day his sister was working in the family's market and was held at gunpoint. >> they took out a gun and pointed at her and she says no. to their frustration, those perpetrators left. >> reporter: ong believes his sister would be taking a stand against asian hate today and would be horrified by the rising cases of unruly passengers taking their anger out on flight crews. >> they're not there just to serve pretzels and beverages. they're really hardworking, they've become the eyes of the sky outside of the cockpit. >> reporter: almost 20 years have passed since the fateful day and you might ask, where are

we now? this is harry ong's answer. >> i hope that we can somehow have some resemblance of the 9/11 days of love for each other, hugging, being patriotic, which is so not happening today and all this decisiveness. >> reporter: in san francisco, melissa colorado, bay area news. ceremonies will continue across the bay area to mark 20 years. tomorrow the san jose fire department will host a 2021 patriot day observance. hayward will hold a candlelight vigil at 10:00 a.m. at heritage plaza. volunteers will be gathering at the palace of fine arts in san francisco to pack meals for those in need. the "today" show will continue live coverage from both ground zero in new york city and shanksville, pennsylvania, ahead of tomorrow's commemorations, that starts at 7:00 right after "today in the bay." and then join the "today" show earlier tomorrow morning at

4:00 a.m. an nbc special following a, 9/11, 20 years later and then on nbc bay area watch "today in the bay" with kira klapper and vianey arana. that starts at 8:00 a.m. 4:38 right now and an up expected twist. we'll take you to the dixie fire burning right now and we know that it continues to grow there in lassen county. there are more evacuation orders for folks who are living near hoover flat reservoir. the flames burned another 15,000 or so acres yesterday and the area is now up to nearly 1500 square miles. the fire is about 60% contained at this point. we want to go to meteorologist kari hall as we were driving into the station, i know scott saw some lightning i saw lightning in the south bay. last year when this happened we were like this is a cool light show but now we know how serious it is. >> absolutely. and so when you see those

lightening strikes you think where did that hit and could it have basically hit some dry vegetation and some of the hills that we have. that's what we've been watching for here. as we get a look at storm ranger and some of the areas that are dealing with some of the lightning strikes, some of them away from where the rain is falling and, of course, that raises more concerns. this weather system is really panning out to be the worst of what we were expecting or what we were forecasting as we get a look at our red flag warning that continues through 11:00. i do think the rain is going to be out of here before 11:00 and that risk of the lightning, but we will see if this does pan out to possibly be one of those events where we have numerous fires breaking out. we know we've had three so far and we're going to be watching out for unfortunately that chance that we could see more as the storm continues to move through. and as people get ready to head out the door, i hope they're not too distracted by the lightning strikes they're seeing in the distance while driving. >> preoccupied because this view

of the bay bridge went white for a second. there may have been a lightening strike nearby not hitting the toll plaza, just nearby. that is what you will see as kari said. it may be distracting. the parking lot, the sheen, we haven't seen that in a while. quite some time. there's mist on the roadway where things get damp at the bay bridge. you see the green highlighting happening. spotty rain as kari talked about hitting on and off throughout the north bay. watch for slicker conditions. no major problems reported but a jackknifed big rig reported eastbound 80 at powell. it's in lanes right now. light traffic all over the bay. back to you. >> thank you, mike. coming up on "today in the bay," a gm makeover. chev creredesigning one of its vehicles to keep up with the competition. the changes being made. catching fakes. feature twitter is adding to find catfishers and bots.

perhaps you would see flooing this direction but no, a little bit of fog this morning and there is a little bit of rain in parts of the bay area. we are tracking the weather nice now but could get very serious. we'll be right back. .

right now at 4:44, looking at the area around fairfield and cordelia, just picked up on six lightning strikes on storm ranger as this active weather

system moves through the bay area this morning. we're going to be tracking that and go through all of the microclimates in the forecast coming up. >> as you said, drivers might get distracted by flashing of lightning. golden gate bridge we saw flashing lights moving the cones, should be cleared over the next ten minutes. we're misty eyed to welcome back our bay area boy dom. >> good friday morning, guys. thank you very much for the welcome there. i am dominic chu. wall street is set to open higher today as the markets look to bounce back from yesterday's losses. the dow and the s&p 500 falling for a fourth straight seg and the nasdaq for a second straight day, all three by the way on track to end the week in negative territory. the markets are in a holding pattern until more clarity from the federal reserve on interest rates coming up. they will watch fed's plans to reduce some of the massive

stimulus measures put in place during the virus pandemic when it meets this month. in focus today a report on producer prices, a key gauge of inflation at the wholesale level. general motors is giving its best-selling chevy silverado a makeover as it try to fix some shortcomings that left that brand in third place behind one of the lucrative markets for pick-up trucks. they will get a larger dashboard screen and connected car technology featuring google voice commands and software. the current chevy silverado has been outflanked by the dodge ram. twitter is launching a feature allowing accounts to identify as botz by adding a label to their profile. the company says people want more context, transparency about the automated type of accounts. twitter gives examples of good boats including accounts that

share things like vaccine updates or information about public attractions. twitter will remove bad bot accounts it says are violating its rule. scott, kris, i don't know how active you are on twitter, but it's pretty amazing the dynamic of those automated accounts and what kind of retweet and do everything with. i'm curious to see how the rules work out. >> sometimes they have a human voice so you don't realize you've got sucked into a conversation with a bot. >> i like to think all the critical people are bots. >> we're all bots. >> hopefully good bots. thanks. stay with us on "today in the bay." we follow the storm that's making it ways over to the bay area. >> meteorologist kari hall is keeping track of the rain and the lightning. you see the radar that we are keeping our attention on. >> storm ranger -- >> and we'll take you out live to san francisco as well. we have live pictures.

we have been able to catch a few strikes here and there. we are recording all of these and will play them back for you and have much more for you coming up. ♪♪ reynolds wrap makes it easy to cook and clean up meals in no time. ♪♪

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tout walnut creek this morning at 4:50 on your friday. some parts of the bay area, some raindrops falling. >> we are also seeing some lightning which is bringing the threat and the fear of wildfires. meteorologist kari hall is here looking at how things have been

going so far. we know you can see all the strikes on your model. >> yeah. and so we've been also tracking the rain as well and the lightning strikes and where we have seen the rain, it's very light amounts. when it starts raining it's only for a few minutes and you have the big raindrops. it's really not enough to saturate the ground. so with the system moving by fairly quickly, it's producing some of those showers but, of course, the main concern has been the lightning. take a look at storm ranger right now. as we do continue to track some of the rain moving through parts of the contra costa county, i want to loop this radar going back 12 hours and you can see all of this activity firing up. what happens is when we get a lightning strikes from cloud to ground and the storm ranger picks up on that it plots one of the radar, the lightning icons on the radar and we can see exactly where that lightning strike occurred. and so we see all of this activity moving through and once again, the rain is moving fairly quickly so those lightning strikes are hitting some dry

vegetation and we've been watching out for this and the potential of new fire start. we've had three so far this morning in some remote areas, and then when the fires start the crews have a hard time getting there because of the vegetation and the steep terrain. that's what we were fearing as all of this started. we're still watching this activity this morning. moving over toward the east bay, we've seen the lightning strikes from late last night through early this morning and storm ranger has been able to pick up on all of this as the activity happens, but most of it has been right now over parts of the east bay looking at around hercules and richmond picking up on rain. we are not seeing any live lightning strikes at this point. that's good news that we are getting showers and we haven't seen as much of the rain. the roads may be wet as you're heading across the richmond san raphael ridge. the activity across the region, also seeing the rain and the lightning happening where we've

seen fires burning for weeks now. the dixie fire and caldor fire going hour by hour it does still show that at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 we still have a chance of some of those spotty showers happening but the chance of lightning will be going down as we go through the next few hours and the rest of the day is looking nice. once we get past the next three to four hour window we are in for better weather heading into today. smoke forecast is going to be clearing out. we're going to have improved air quality as a result of this strong westerly wind, but it may start to look hazy tomorrow once we clear out as some of the smoke start to move into parts of the north bay. just a head's up about that as you make weekend plans, our temperatures today back to where western yesterday. mostly some upper 70 and low 80 and we'll see the 80 in the forecast, but warmer by the end of the weekend into early next week. we are going to quiet things

down with no more chances of seeing lightening -- lightning for the next several days. fire at the bay bridge toll plaza. nothing major we can see. the detail that came in, someone was outside of a car looking in their trunk. there may be an issue with the exhaust or overheating and the brakes in the back of the car. we're going to check that. notice that mist that kari is talking about as well. damp roadways. you see it in the parking lot. the sheen, haven't seen that for a while. that maybe an issue. a jack knifed big rig, usually happens when the rig hits the brakes and sometimes moist, damp roads might contribute. it's going away from the bay bridge. there's passage of the green highlighting showing where the rain may have fallen in the north bay. no problems in the south bay or peninsula. back to you. >> thanks. coming up on "today in the bay," a major pharmaceutical company looking to tackle both covid and the regular old seasonal flu.

we'll break down how that's going to work. happening now in a few hours, authorities are planning to clear a homeless encampment in a smart rail park and ride lot at roberts lake. over the past few weeks the encampment has grown in size. city leaders say it poses a health and safety risk and beds have been secured for the people being moved. we'll be right back. california, did you know our homes share power? but when we try to stay cool in a heat wave our supply is pushed to the limit. but you have the power to keep us up and running! “i do?” yup, we all do! with flex alerts. they notify us when to shift our energy use if our power supply is stretched.

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turning to our coverage of the pandemic, moderna is working on a single shot that would combine a covid booster dose and a flu shot. the drugmaker had been working on developing several flu vaccines so this new vaccine would take the experimental flu shot that is the farthest along in development and combine it

with the covid vaccine. earlier this week, vaccine developer novavax announced it has started a trial for a similar combined covid and seasonal flu shot. >> it's a busy morning here on "today in the bay." covering the high fire danger caused by the storm overnight. >> meteorologist kari hall is following that microclimate weather alert. >> yeah. storm ranger picked up on a lightning strike south of martinez moving off towards the east. we'll be tracking this with another look at storm ranger coming up after the break.

right now at 5:00, a fresh fire fear as mother nature putting on a spectacular, but dangerous show. a lightning storm setting fires and unleashing some much needed rain in some spots. if you look out your window if you know the storm system is still here. we're tracking it all for you with our live mobile doppler radar powered by storm ranger. this is "today in the bay." and it is nice that it's friday. it's rough to start off with some scary lightning. thanks for joining us. i'm kris sanchez. >> i'm scott mcgrew, we're in for lawyer laura and marcus. we'll get to our story, live cameras across the bay area. watching for those flashes that we were showing you on tape earlier. meteorologist kari hall tracking the storm cells and the