the rain and wind intensifying over parts of the area. we are broadcasting on your television, also streaming right now online at nbcbayarea.com.

>> we're still in the middle of this micro climate weather alert. here's a look at the richmond san rafael bridge. >> meteorologist kari hall. >> we've seen an inch and a half to 2 inches in parts of the north bay. it has gotten heavier this morning. where are we see the yellows and oranges indicates some heavier downpours. it's also still coming down in san francisco, over toward oakland and concord.

heavier rain moving through the santa cruz mountains, extending over toward morgan hill. we are going to continue to see all this activity continue throughout the morning with lighter showers in the east bay. we'll be in and out of this rain today and even a chance of thunderstorms. an issue near lafayette, state route 4 near pleasant hill, it appears there was a big rig that tumbled over. it's a very unfortunate situation. as soon as we have that video available, we will show it to you. no impacts to any of those freeways or highways. we also have a couple of other accidents reported. these are overnight crashes.

the first one southbound 280 near the meridian exit. your east bay drive times, no major impacts. be sure to download our nbc bay area app. you can get minute by minute updates on this storm. you can even use our live radar tracker to find out when the next rain will hit your neighborhood. we are just two days away from the christmas holiday. holiday travel on the roads and the air are both hitting record highs. aaa predicting 109 million people will travel out of town starting today. it's a 34% increase from 2020. here at home sfo is saying it's reached about 60% of pre-pandemic levels. oakland airport anticipates

nearly 370,000 passengers by the end of the year. a harvard physician says if you are traveling, you are more likely to be safe if you are boosted. >> one silver lining with the omicron variant is that the vaccine as you've shown and reported are expected particularly with the booster. if everyone is boosted and fully vaccinated, it is safe to travel and gather. >> the busiest travel days are expected to be today, sunday and the 26th as well as sunday january 2nd. more details now if you're considering cancelling or even changing your flight plans due to the pandemic, in many cases these days you can do so. of course it depends on which airline you decide to fly and what kind of fare you booked. united, southwest and american are among those airlines allowing you to typically change or even cancel your flights for free. alaska airlines has a 24-hour

cancellation policy. at the other end of the spectrum, spirit airlines allows free changes or cancellations 60 days or more before you fly. the remaining performances of a christmas carol at san francisco's golden gate theater have been cancelled after breakthrough cases involving the production crew. all ticket holders are getting refunds. the next show starts january 11th. the first stuies overseas suggest people infected with omicron were two-thirds less likely to be hospitalized compared to those infected with the delta variant. omicron has a much higher rate of reinfection for people who previously battled covid. the findings echo the

conclusions of a similar study done in south africa. among california health care workers a mixed response to governor newsom's new booster mandate. >> they will be taken out of our workforce for the community for the hospitals. that is a concern of mine. >> that doctor believes a third of the staff will test positive at some point during the winter surge. he, like many other leaders, urging everyone to get their booster shot now. take a live look at san jose. be careful on the roadways.

how are we looking for today? >> there will be some breaks, kind of like what we had yesterday. right now we are seeing the cold front sweeping through. it's fairly mild this morning, but temperatures only rise a few more degrees. as this front moves through, it also brings in a little bit more energy. there's an increased chance of isolated hail and thunderstorms looking at this system that will continue to bring in more rain for the next several hours. rainfall totals already reaching over an inch for parts of the north bay. going into the rest of today, we will see scattered showers continuing especially into the afternoon and the evening. there will be a couple of breaks theory and there, but we'll see more rain in the forecast not only tomorrow by the next several days. we'll time it out for you.

>> we're back to that crash happening in lafayette. it happened about a half an hour ago. here's a live video right now. you're looking at just the cab of this truck was clipped from behind and it fell from above onto southbound pleasant hill road down below. so it was traveling on highway 24. currently right now there is a full closure of southbound pleasant hill road at highway 24. if you're trying to get access to the eastbound lanes of the freeway from beneath you're going to run into this closure. you can get on the westbound 24 on ramp but not onto the eastbound lanes below. this is video on highway 24 near lafayette. just the cab was clipped from behind and it fell down below and that's what you are seeing there. we're also seeing a couple of other issues, the first one along 280 in meridian.

one lane is closed because of an earlier crash. another crash near the southbound 680 lanes near the milpitas exit. slow it down and be safe out there. coming up, shutting down stores. apple closing several more stores amid the omicron variant surge. the steps they are taking amid the last minute holiday rush. plus, shake shack says it wants to help. what the restaurant is offering to air travelers whose holiday plans have hit a little snag in new york city. take a look at this. this is the radar right here, lit up in green. that rain and wind still here in the morning as you wake up. we are far from overthis.

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right now, our microclimate weather alert continues. we are seeing the rain taking a break around santa rosa, but still heavy rain from san francisco over toward the south bay. we will see rounds of rain coming through as this cold front passes. cooler temperatures in the forecast as well. we'll talk about all of that and what else to expect heading into the holiday coming up in a few minutes. if part of your commute is along highway 24, there is an accident you need to know about

right near the pleasant hill road in lafayette. there's a full closure of the pleasant hill road below the highway way. you can still get on the westbound on ramp without any issues. please be safe out there. good morning to you. the last five trading days of the year usher in the santa claus rally on wall street. this morning that rally set to start, it looks like. markets set to extend gains to a third straight day. stocks rising yesterday as investors looked past jitters about the omicron variant. the s&p 500 is now just 1% away from its recent record high. we're going to get a slew of

economic data, reports of jobless claims, personal income and spending, durable goods, new home sales and consumer sentiment. the markets are closed tomorrow on christmas eve for the christmas holiday. meantime, apple is closed or has closed at least seven more retail stores since tuesday according to a report from bloomberg due to a rise in covid cases among employees. the company usually calls for shutdowns in their stores when about 10% of staff have tested positive. apple recently reinstated its mask policy for employees and customers. shake shack wants to help ease your pain at the airport. the burger chain is giving away free fries today and tomorrow at

new york's jfk airport to travelers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. just show proof of your delay. if you're flying from another airport, you can get those free fries if you take a selfie in front of your gate and tag shake shack on instagram to qualify for a digital voucher. as one of my colleagues pointed out this morning, they give you the free fries, but you're not just going to go in for free fries. you're going to get a shake with that or a burger. they know what they're doing, luring you in for more. >> that's like a small fry. >> they're for small fries. [ laughter ] >> thanks, bertha. coming up next, we're still talking about the rain. >> we'll see more of that for

today as we are going to see also cool temperatures and even a chance of thunderstorms in concord. we could see that around 10:00 or 11:00. south bay synagogue destroyed by flames. the questions investigators have trying to get to the bottom of right now.

here we go, thursday morning. >> it's time to get started. the rain is already here. how are you going to keep dry? well, i don't know, but meteorologist kari hall will let you know what to expect in your area. looks like it's pretty much covering the bay area right now. >> yeah. i love that laura brings the sunshine today, because we may not see a lot of that as we go into later this afternoon. right now starting out with some widespread rain from santa rosa over toward spots like napa and fairfield and parts of solano county. we also see the rain pouring around san francisco right you. we've seen some yellows right

around san bruno mountain. we are going to continue to see that rain for the next several minutes. looking at san jose and some of the heavier rain coming over the santa cruz mountains, we are going to see some of that starting to work into the south bay as well. some of the lighter showers in parts of contra costa county. a little bit lighter in discovery bay, but it's been really picking up for antioch. a few spots take a break every now and then. some of the heaviest rain coming through this morning with the cold front that's passing. we can see this is also going to continue today as we have more rain to the north of us. let's talk about how much we've already measured. over 2.75 inches for the santa cruz mountains. san bruno, these are the overall storm totals, have had 1.25 inches while morgan hill has had

over .5 of an inch of rain. we're still looking pretty good here, but we do have some work to do. i think these next couple of storms coming in will help. this afternoon we are still looking at that chance of thunderstorms late morning into early afternoon. but then some clearing. we're at 7:00 and we are seeing some breaks in the activity. going into tomorrow we'll wake up to mostly dry conditions, but then start to see that next wave of rain coming in christmas eve, christmas day also into sunday as well. heavy morning rain, a chance of some thunderstorms this morning and also some hail. also scattered showers continue into the afternoon but rainfall reaching about an inch and a half to over 3 inches.

sierra snow looks like we could get 4 to 8 feet of snow over the next several days. even going through the middle of next week, this rain is here to stay and cold temperatures too. what's the update on the big crash in the east bay? >> we have video to show you in lafayette, highway 24. no one was hurt. that's amazing. this truck apparently was hit from behind by another vehicle. just the cab portion of it fell off the freeway into the surface street below. that's what you're seeing here. that's pleasant hill road. they've closed off that stretch of the area because of the crash. so if you're trying to get on the westbound side of highway 24, you should be okay. you'll have some issues on the eastbound side because that stretch of pleasant hill road is closed off as they work to clear that. again, no one was hurt. it is pouring in this area.

traffic conditions are definitely dangerous out there. i'll send it back to you. nearly everything gone, more questions than answers this morning as a south bay synagogue goes up in flames. >> it happened overnight. we spoke with the rabbi there about what was saved. >> reporter: rabbi weinfeld show ed us what remained. >> surreal. devastating to see our synagogue up in flames. >> reporter: he says the fire tore through the building overnight, destroying the entire downstairs. then it reignited. a garbage truck driver saw the flames at 7:00 a.m. and called 911. >> our home for so many has

brought so much light. we just came from the holiday of hanukkah. >> reporter: the most important things inside, four torah scrolls were saved when a member of the congregation rushed to the fire and told firefighters they were inside, one went in and got them. >> he was able to pull out those torah scrolls and get them safe. unfortunately we lost many books, holy books, but we're glad that everyone is safe. >> reporter: the rabbi says surveillance video now in the hands of the san jose fire department shows someone lurking under the carport around 2:00 a.m. and where firefighters say the fire started. >> we don't know what happened. we'll leave that up to law enforcement to figure out what happened, how it happened. >> reporter: but now this synagogue he says serves thousands of south bay families will be back as soon as it can. >> reporter: we're going to rebuild stronger and better. we're going to do torah and

mitzvah. the flame of goodness will last much longer than the flames that burned down our building. coming up next, the faithful sure to be faithfully watching nbc bay area tonight. 49ers' playoff hopes may be on the line in tennessee. and how jimmy g is preparing for tonight's challenge. face masks are again required at universal orlando resort starting friday. the theme park says it will not check for vaccination status as it is asking everyone, regardless of vaccination status, to wear the face covering while they are waiting in line at an attraction and all the way to the exit ride.

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happening tonight, 49ers' playoff hopes on the line in tennessee in a special thursday night game right here on nbc bay area. >> they're trying to hold onto the sixth seed in the nfc playoff race. the titans still have a shot at the top seed in the afc. make sure you join us tonight at 4:30 to catch up on the day's headlines before the game and then you can watch the 49ers take on the titans at 5:00. >> unbelievable!

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are infused with natural essential oils to create authentic seasonal scents that fill your home with holiday spirit all season long. connect to nature this season. good morning. you're watching "today in the bay." we're still tracking the storm that's coming in, bringing you waves of heavy rain that will continue throughout the morning. we'll even have a chance of thunderstorms. breaking news in the east bay, a big rig literally falling off of a highway ramp. a complete mess in lafayette. and will it happen today? all eyes remain fixed on the san jose courthouse as jury deliberations pick back up in the elizabeth holmes criminal