we're broadcasting through your television and streaming live through nbcbayarea.com as well. good morning. it's thursday. i'm scott mcgrew. >> vianey is in for kari and mike, tracking our forecast and the traffic. >> good morning. it's so cold but at least it's not raining. we're done with the rain for the next couple of days. we're in the 40s right now. the reason it's going to dip down into the 30s is once we get those low clouds to back off, it will get a chance to get even colder. through about 2:00 we're going to be topping out in the 50s today. still pretty chilly and pretty normal for this time of year. heading into the overnight hours, especially into early friday morning as well as early saturday morning we once again

dip down into the 30s. we've been colder through the sheltered valleys. i hope you've been putting your pets, any plants, anything that you care about inside during the overnight hours. it's going to be way too cold in the early morning, especially new year's eve day. if you are going to celebrate the new year tomorrow night, health experts are warning you to be careful. mask rules are being reinstated, more booster shot requirements are rolling out and san francisco is now calling off its big fireworks show. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live from walnut creek. what is the best advice from doctors, stay home completely or take a test before you head out? >> reporter: avoid large gatherings. that would be the biggest piece of advice coming from dr. fauci. he says small gatherings are

okay, as long as they're with family and friends and everyone is vaccinated and boosted. residents in walnut creek will be ready to open the new year. not only will you need to show your driver's license to get in but a matching vaccine card. you must mask up inside as required by the county. san francisco has cancelled its new year's eve fireworks show in order to discourage large gatherings, which is going to hurt some local businesses who are counting on those partiers. >> we have boats that go out with passengers, we have people that come and dine and walk down to see the fireworks. it's just a big blow to our

wintertime economy. >> reporter: back here in contra costa county, a new mask mandate went into effect in gyms, offices, college classrooms. alameda, marin and berkeley are reinstating their indoor mask mandate starting today. here's a three week snapshot of the numbers. back on december 15th, fewer than 4,000 californians were hospitalized with covid. last week that number rose to more than 4,000. as of yesterday, nearly 5200 californians were in the hospital with covid. that sounds like a lot, but hospitalizations hit a high of nearly 23,000 in early january

last year. they dipped down and rose once again during our summer surge, reaching nearly 9,000. a big surge of cases reported in los angeles county. health leaders say daily cases soared above 16,000 yesterday alone, one of the highest dailies we've seen during the pandemic. health leaders are urging people to rethink their new years plans to combat that surge. a south bay couple hoping to say i do on new year's day is now saying we can't because of covid. this is the save the date card kristen coleman and charles matthews sent to 200 friends in family. they got engaged back in 2019 and have had to cancel their wedding plans twice because of covid. they have once again decided to postpone their wedding date which was scheduled for new year's day.

they didn't want their ceremony to become a super spreader event. the bride herself just survived covid. >> i got it. i literally almost died. so in that sense, making this decision, putting other people's lives in our hands was not something that i wanted to do. so that was the best decision. >> dozens of wedding guests sent cancellations. not to be deterred, the couple already is working on planning a new ceremony for 2022. happening today, president biden will hold a call with russian path vladimir putin to discuss a range of topics including ukraine. today's call comes ahead of

a meeting next month scheduled between u.s. and russian officials. over the past several months there's been a buildup of russian troops on ukraine's eastern border. biden held a high stakes video teleconference with putin earlier this month where he emphasized that he preferred a diplomatic solution to the crisis in ukraine. however, the president warned that if russia invades ukraine, the u.s. would send additional defense resources above what it's already providing. according to a white house statement, the u.s. consulted european leaders ahead of this call today to coordinate a response effort and emphasizing the goal is a diplomatic path forward. this will be the second time this month that president putin and president biden have had a discussion. and russia just claims they are not planning to invade ukraine, saying troops are just doing

exercises, but world leaders not so sure about that. the jury in the trial of elizabeth holmes is on a break following six full days of deliberations without a verdict. court watchers tell us they're not surprised by how long this decision is taking. they said's important to remember how much evidence was presented during the 3 1/2 months of trial and that holmes herself took the stand, which is why there may be two sides competing in the jury deliberation room. >> you have to go through thousands of e-mails and documents and they can all be interpreted different ways. i think that's what's going on in there. when you have people fighting for ms. holmes and says the evidence shows it she wasn't lying, it was a misjudgment or mistake, it didn't rise to the level of a crime. >> the jury will resume

deliberations on monday. latest winter storm long gone but cleanup still to be done in the east bay. a tree came crashing down on a car last night. one person taken to the hospital with minor injuries. this happened in the oakland hills along shepherd canyon road. a stretch of that road still closed as crews work to clear debris. taking a live look outside at the golden gate bridge. we are getting a break in the rain. >> if you think about how much

rain we've gotten and some of the burn scars in the mountains, all of that loose soil is always cause for concern when we get too much water at once. 44 degrees in san jose. san jose definitely got a good downpour last night. it was nonstop through the south bay and the santa cruz mountains. this is going to set us up for a little bit of sunshine finally. first we still have to get through the morning low clouds. 42 degrees in dublin. once we get a little bit of clearing from the clouds and the increase, it will be a mix of sun and clouds at times by about 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. i'll have a closer look at your new year's eve forecast coming up in just a bit. >> have you ever wondered if you're wearing your mask correctly. hopefully it's above your nose and below your chin.

still ahead, our consumer team helps you make sure you're getting the most out of your n95 mask. we continue to remember john madden. there has been an outpouring of tributes from coast to coast. find more on our website, nbcbayarea.com.

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good morning. it is 5:12. no rain today, but bundle up, it's chilly out there. we have some low clouds. today's forecast is going to be the start of a little bit sunnier days ahead into saturday and sunday. first, let's check in with business and tech. good morning. wall street right now is set to open about 59 points higher right now after the dow and s&p 500 closed at new records yesterday. the s&p 500 closing the second highest after 1995. right now the dow closing at a record high for the first time in more than a month. the nasdaq ending fractionally

lower yesterday. the dow, nasdaq and s&p are poised to end the year in the green. this is the first time since 2005 where the s&p outperformed both the dow and nasdaq. vanguard says it's working to minimize the disruption caused by a service interruption involving a third party vendor. vanguard has reportedly suffered three outages just over the past year alone. and jetblue is trimming its schedule through mid january as more flight crews test positive for covid. jetblue is cancelling nearly 1300 flights as it wants to give passengers a head start in adjusting their plans. the move comes as u.s. airlines continue to struggle with covid driven staffing issues and bad

weather with strong winds affecting trans continental flights. alaska air is taking the unusual step of asking flyers to postpone nonessential travel until the new year due to heavy snow in the pacific northwest. my fingers are crossed. i have a delta flight tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. i hope it doesn't get cancelanc. i jinxed it by telling you guys on air. >> we're crossing our fingers for you. resolutions can be easy to break. having that goal, though, can keep you on track especially when it comes to finances.

>> fidelity investments found that people who make resolutions were just generally more optimistic about the future than people who didn't. 81% of respondents say they'll be better off financially in 2022 compared to 58% of those who didn't make resolutions. unlucky night for america. no winner in the powerball drawing. 2, 6, 9, 33, 39 and the powerball was 11 last night. the jackpot has grown to $483 million. the next drawing is saturday, january 1st. >> vianey is in for everybody

this morning. >> 44 degrees in san jose. i'm going to go buy a powerball ticket too. if you're driving through the grapevine through southern california, check the travel conditions. we could see a lot of black ice on the grapevine. please be careful. chilly sunshine today because we're only going to top out in the low 40s for some interior

valleys. 52 in hayward. in lake tahoe it's about 7 degrees right now. yesterday's live cam showed some rain coming down and the gusty winds. friday, saturday, sunday, we still have the possibility of seeing snow showers for tomorrow. tomorrow, tomorrow, saturday and sunday we're going to be dry. the north bay and the north coast could see rain for the monday morning commute into the evening hours. right now the models are trending with lower rain totals. friday we become more widespread heading into friday. it is going to be a pretty

active week for the first week of january. let's look at your new year's eve outlook for san jose. cold nights with patchy frost, 53 saturday, 58 sunday. look at napa, 33 degrees overnight lows, waking up to possibility even in the 20s. definitely look out for patchy fog as well. in san francisco i know they cancelled the fireworks show, but it is going to be chilly, daytime highs dropping down into the 40s. heading into tuesday and wednesday things are going to get windy. live look at the san mateo bridge. people are moving.

no issues through any of the bridges, but there is one small issue approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. i talked about this earlier along westbound 80. looks like a fender bender is blocking the number four lane. next, nbc bay area responds. >> n95 masks only work properly if you wear them and care for them properly. i'm consumer investigator chris

chris chmura.

we are back to masking up. the california department of public health is recommending we wear n95 masks for the best

protection. >> it's been two years, but some people still not quite getting it. consumer investigator chris chmura has advice. >> reporter: an n95 mask can filter out as much as 95% of dust, ash and soot, but only if you wear yours properly. in many ways the elastic bands are the most important part. they ensure a tight fit and seal the n95 mask to your face. n95 masks are considered disposable. you can use them until they are dirty, damaged or difficult to breathe through. under no circumstances should an attempt be made to clean n95

masks. they have a use by date. on this box it's stamped on the bottom. we wondered why they expire. 3m says over time components may degrade which can affect the quality of the fit and seal. 3m recommends storing it in its original packaging in a place where the air is clear and out of direct sunlight. this year's been overwhelming. there's a new tiktok trend called time blocking, a stress busting technique. users across the platform getting themselves on track by planning out their days in advance using blocks of time. experts say time blocking is a stress reliever.

>> does this work? >> time blocking can be near miraculous if you execute it. what i hear again and again from people who switch to time block planning is they are getting twice as much done in the same amount of work time. >> see the full interview on the "today" show. up next the extra homework some families are being tasked with before heading back to class. the covid surge is also gripping a different population, critical workers, firefighters. i'll show you where.

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a first responder outbreak, the reason the san francisco fire department is ensuring they are well staffed even though dozens of staffers are out with covid. and mask on, a new mandate taking affect in the north bay today. the places you'll need to mask up. and the gas stations were all overrun by people coming up

trying to get to tahoe. >> a major traffic mess in and out of the sierra. many roads are now open, but cal trans still telling people to stay away. the reason the agency says it isn't safe. this is "today in the bay." a very good thursday morning to you. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm keir ra clapper. vianey is in for kari and mike. >> when i see people getting stuck up there, i'm like, i told you. just because the roads are reopening doesn't mean you should head over there. also there's still snow on the road. it's still dangerous to drive. 43 degrees right now in walnut creek. satellite radar quiet right now. down through the south we're

still seeing some actiity but it's going to dry out over the next few days. 42 degrees right now in dublin. over the next couple of hours we are going to warm up just a bit, but we are going to stay pretty chilly overall. we'll be in the upper 40s with a couple of low 50s through the afternoon. i'm going to take you through the timing of the forecast and also more rain ahead for the first week of january. this is a percentage of people who get tested who get a positive result for covid. three weeks ago at 2.6%.

it's now at 11.2% on the far right of your screen. you see that peak and that is some perspective. during our surge last winter, this topped out at 17.1%. >> now to a live look in san francisco where covid cases are spiking in a critical population, firefighters. that is impacting staffing and emergency calls. >> kris sanchez joins us with san francisco and other communities using booster mandates to combat this. >> the spike in cases is impacting staffing in the san francisco fire department, but for now the department says it's not impacting operations. there are 40 active covid cases in the san francisco fire department right now and about 60 cases for the entire month of december in the san francisco fire department according to the san francisco chronicle. the department does have a 98%

vaccination rate among its nearly 1800 staff. firefighters are subject to the vaccine mandate and the booster mandate. you will have to show proof of a booster if you want to go to any mega event like a warriors game starting february 1st. contra costa county also requiring high risk workers to get vaccinated. their deadline is january 10th. contra costa and santa clara counties are the first in the state with the booster mandate

policies. it's been about 19 months since san francisco workers got their first shots, so now this booster is trying to keep that immunity up since the surge is not going away. happening today, you will need to mask up in the north bay. health leaders in marin county have reinstated their face covering policy for indoor spaces. that means everyone regardless of vaccination status will be required to wear a mask in all indoor public settings as covid cases surge across the bay area. the city of berkeley and alameda counties also reinstated their mask mandates. san mateo county office of education says it's ready for in-person learning. they followed covid protocols

throughout the pandemic. across the bay area, covid tests are in short supply. not every student was provided with at home tests before winter break. now families are scrambling to find a test before heading back to class. in san francisco a similar scenario playing out where testing is not required but certainly encouraged. >> it's frustrating to me that our school district doesn't have an adequate number of tests. >> oakland families will not have the same problem. the district says it handed two take home test kits to each and every student. one michigan schoolteacher now has an unusual christmas story after she tested positive for covid in the middle of a flight to iceland. she started having a severe sore throat and decided to take a

rapid test in the airplane bathroom. she decided to isolate in the airplane bathroom for the remainder of the four-hour flight. >> my biggest fear was giving it to them. >> she then had to quarantine in a hotel in iceland. she kept up her spirits thanks to the flight attendant who kept in touch and gave her a christmas gift. after days of deliberation, a jury has convicted ghislaine maxwell. they found maxwell guilty on five of six charges. prosecutors argued maxwell played a pivotal role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by her close confidant jeffrey epstein. her defense team argued prosecutors were only going after maxwell because epstein

couldn't be prosecuted. he hanged himself in jail as he awaited trial. the jury heard testimony from 30 witnesses over three weeks. this morning one of jeffrey epstein's accusers is offering her response to the verdict. >> we were told constantly, you know, these people will never go to jail, they're too powerful, they're too rich. >> maxwell faces up to 6 5 years in prison. back here locally, a boost for people trying to make it in the bay. oakland city council approved spending nearly $2 million to open a city owned parking lot near the coliseum that would become the next safe parking site for hundreds of people who live in rvs. the site would be on 66th avenue and could accommodate up to 150

vehicles. the city would charge a small fee based off the income of the unhoused. in truckee, cal trans has opened highway 50. chp asking people hoping to head to the slopes delay your plans because driving conditions are still dangerous. traffic is at a crawl in both directions. the warning is accompanied social media posts, please stay off the freeway unless you absolutely must travel. it is hampering emergency responders from getting to people who may need help. it's who went to visit from getting home like mario cortez. he and his family have been stranded since this weekend. >> the problem is going to be the roads. too many accidents. >> power's been out for customers since monday.

pg&e warns it may take several days to restore. taking a live look at the san jose skyline, the calm after the storm. enjoy this break while we have it because it sounds like the rain is coming back. >> vianey is here with a look at your forecast. >> that was a pretty shot there, that live look. it looks so calm and peaceful. don't let this shot fool you. focus on the dangerous conditions on the roads. 7 degrees right now in lake tahoe. over the next three days, friday, saturday and sunday we could see the chance of more icy roads tonight, a little bit of possibility there. so not really expecting to see much in the way of winter storm warnings. the south bay has a lot ofhen i to rainfall totals since the

start of the year. 44 degrees in san francisco right now. low clouds will linger and by the afternoon we'll get a little bit more sunshine. still in the 40s. santa rosa 39 degrees. by this afternoon it's going to be a little bit warmer than yesterday but still only in the 50s. we are counting down to the winter olympics. still ahead on "today in the bay," we introduce you to the american luger who is opening to bring back gold next year. when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in.

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good morning. your temperature outlook starting out in the 40s. today's daytime highs are going to be in the low 50s for really the entire bay area. peeks of sunshine finally. how long is this break from the rain going to last? we'll have the full forecast in just a few minutes. president biden's administration now looking to the supreme court to help end the remain in mexico policy that was issued by the trump administration. the biden administration is asking the high court if homeland security is required to implement that policy that forces thousands of asylum

seekers to wait in mexico until their u.s. court date, this comes as a federal appeals court opposed biden's attempt twice to terminate that policy. biden suspended the policy on his very first day in office, but texas and missouri sued and a federal judge ruled the policy had to be reinstated. here in california, a judge has halted the state's plans for potential early release dates for repeat offenders with serious and violent criminal histories under the state's three strikes law. under the law, defendants will get 25 years to life if they're convicted of three violent crimes. prosecutors argued this would give release dates to second strikers who have long and violent criminal histories. the temporary retaining order will stop the early release dates until a hearing next month. we're learning more about a deadly jet crash in san diego. on board the air balance were two crew members, two nurses. all died when that plane went

down. the vice president and treasurer of international association of emts and paramedics worked closely with both of those nurses and said they were highly experienced. >> they both had really high standards. they took it very seriously. >> the cause of that crash still under investigation. we are counting down to the winter olympics with just a little more than a month to go this morning. we want to introduce you to one athlete who continues to break barriers. spending your sporting days lying on your back while rocketing down an icy slope on a sled is probably not the best way to prepare for most things in life, but olympic medal list chris madder can confirm that is no way to learn how to dance. ♪♪

>> you did see me on "dancing with the stars." talk about terrifying. 10 million people are about to watch me. the countdown is like, ten, nine and it's like oh my god. there's so many things to think about. you just have to make sure your hands are like -- i have these claw hands probably because i paddle in our sport. we'll do things and they're like what is your hand doing? i don't know. with luge i've done this for 20 years. i got it. little different mindset. >> that's a medal for team usa! >> wow. remember, you can only watch the beijing olympics right here on nbc bay area. it all begins february 3rd. be sure to download the latest

podcast from nbclx called "my favorite olympian". tom cruise is letting the ohio state university marching band know their top gun themed halftime show took his breath away. have you seen it? >> i have not. the band performed an instrumental medley of songs from the 1986 action flick. take a look. ♪♪ >> the band's musicians treated the crowd to cool visuals as they were playing. that is pretty cool. the band got a huge surprise from tom cruise guests for top gun maverick this

spring. >> cruise sent the entire team top gun t-shirts to wear for that screening. >> my husband who does nothing on social media even watched that video and sent it to me. that's how viral it became that a man who lives under a rock in a cave even saw that. it was that good. 44 degrees right now in san jose. my dog has not wanted to go on any of his walks since the rain started. it's been a struggle. low clouds right now in san francisco. things are a lot calmer when you compare them to yesterday morning. satellite radar also looking good up here in northern california. if you have family members

traveling up from southern california, we have dangerous conditions around the grapevine. heavy pockets of rain closer to southern california. we're seeing a really serious mixture right now, wintery mix right there along that stretch near frazier park near highway 5 over the entire area. it doesn't get any better until you really head up the northern california portion of the storm. the windchill factor right now, the feels like temperatures are colder in the 40s. in santa rosa it feels like 33 right now, fairfield 37, oakland

39. a lot of frost out there. forecasted highs for this afternoon a little warmer, but still chilly in the low 50s through the afternoon. looking way out ahead, sunday night into monday we get a system that moves in mostly for the north bay and the north coast. the good news is that it looks like originally our trending models were showing high rainfall totals. now they're showing a little bit lower heading into monday night. the rain lingers and sticks around wednesday, thursday and even friday we get another round of rain as well. we're definitely going to keep you posted and updated on that. it's going to get pretty cold especially in the interior valleys. low 30s on the map all weekend

long. that rain moves in on monday into tuesday. even though it's going to be sunny, i like to say don't wash your car because it's going to rain again on monday. the green on my map on the traffic center means good to go. south bay drive times northbound 101 from highway 85, 19 minutes. northbound 280 from highway 101 to highway 85 about 7 minutes.

i suspect no metering lights on today because they usually come on about 5:20. happening now, the world paying tribute to the late archbishop emeritus desmond tutu. his body will lie in state until tomorrow at st. george's anglican cathedral. he died on sunday at 90 years old. still ahead on "today in the bay," a switch you can make when you're getting your morning tea to help save the environment one small step at a time. plus, postponed again, the reason the westminster dog show is pushing back their annual exhibit.

- music and the arts boost confidence, creativity, and overall academic performance. - i have dreamt of performing since i was a little kid. - so whatever your dream, music can help get you there. the more you know.

new this morning for the second year in a row the annual westminster kennel club dog show is postponed because of

covid-19. the event will be held at a later date due to the current surge of the omicron variant in new york city. the 146th show was scheduled for january. a new date has not been now back to our jimmy g watch and whether he will play on sunday. that's the big question surrounding the 49ers right now. you might recall jimmy suffered what coach shanahan said is a grade three sprain of a thumb ligament. that has his status this sunday in doubt. garoppolo himself said he definitely has a chance to play on sunday against houston. the 49ers could clench a playoff spot if they win and new orleans loses. >> definitely maybe. covid issues within the stanford men's basketball team forcing the postponement of

their game this weekend against cal. last week stanford had to drop out of a game in hawaii because of health and safety protocols. cal and stanford will look for a day to reschedule that game. now to our climate in crisis. >> there is something so relaxing about enjoying a cup of tea at any time of the day, but you might be surprised to find out that these small tea bags have an impact on our planet. that's because most tea bags are 25% plastic. a canadian study says tea bags can release billions of micro plastics into tea when heated at

a certain temperature. paper tea bags aren't much better. millions of trees are cut down to make them. it's time for your climate hack. instead of buying tea bags, go for loose leaf tea instead. on any given day an estimated 150 million americans drink tea. some of us switched to using loose leaf so we can prevent lots of trees from getting chopped down. >> it's all on nbcbayarea.com. you have to have your physical id, then you have to have a matching vaccine card. >> rolling back mask exemptions and requiring booster shots. a live report on what changes across the bay area mean for you as omicron cases climb. plus, still no verdict.

the fate of elizabeth holmes remains unknown as the jury goes on break. when we could get an answer about the disgraced ceo's future. good thursday morning. i'm scott mcgrew. >> marcus and laura are off today. after days of rain we're finally getting a break, but the cold is not stopping. vianey arana is in for kari and mike. how is it looking? >> we have some clouds, so it's helping keep temperatures in the 40s. the windchill factor is going to play a role. 43 in walnut creek. it's still pretty busy down in southern california.

we're still seeing very active weather through the grapevine. dublin now about 40 degrees with peeks of sunshine coming in. we saw a really nice improvement when it comes to the california drought monitor. if you are going to celebrate the new year tomorrow night, health experts are begging you cob careful. mask rules are being reinstated, booster shot requirements are being called out and san francisco is calling off