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 its big

fireworks show. >> reporter: you want to avoid large gatherings. restaurants and bars here in downtown walnut week and other towns and cities throughout the bay area will be open for new year's eve. spoon and tonic say they do have rules in place to help keep patrons safe from the omicron variant. you need a driver's license and a matching vaccine card to get in. san francisco has cancelled its new year's eve fireworks show in

order to discourage large gatherings, which is unfortunately is going to hurt some local businesses counting on those partiers. >> we have boats that go out, 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: you need to mask up indoors in all businesses in contra costa county. alameda and berkeley are reinstating their indoor mask mandates starting today. now to a closer look at covid case numbers and positivity rates. both are steadily climbing but they're not climbing like we have seen in previous surges.

back on december 15th, fewer than 4,000 californians were hospitalized with covid. last week that number rose to a little more than 4,000. as of yesterday, nearly 5200 californians were in the hospital with covid. hospitalizations hit a high of nearly 23,000 in early january last year. they dipped down and then rose again during our summer surge, reaching nearly 9,000. a big surge in cases reported in los angeles county. health leaders there say its daily cases soared above 16,000 yesterday alone, one of the highest daily totals seen in the pandemic. also reporting over 27,000 deaths since the pandemic started. health leaders urging people to rethink their new year's 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 and allies have said they will impose tough economic sanctions if the ukraine is attacked. 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 say it'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. it goes from abnormally dry all the way to the exceptional

category. then we started seeing an improvement into the extreme category into the red. we have gone from extreme to severe now in several parts of california, including down through southern california. still have a stretch of extreme through chico and fresno and the bakersfield area. as of three months ago, 87% of the state of california was under an extreme drought. that would bring it into the d-4 category. last week's storms helped us out and we were at about 79.4 % when it comes to the extreme drought. as of today only 32% of the state of california is under extreme drought. that is a significant improvement in just one week for

the state of california. this is good news. of course we still have several years to go before we can fully get out of this drought, but seeing this type of improvement is really nice and shows you why it's really important that we get some rain in the bay area. enjoy the sunshine, guys. i know the treacherous conditions on the roads have been tough. no end in sight. ahead on "today in the bay," covid flight cancellations continue to cause chaos at airports nationwide.

the latest airline to announce a new round of cuts. plus, the reason you'll want to make some resolutions sooner rather than later. first, we continue to remember john madden. there has been an outpouring of tributes from coast to coast. you can find more on the life and legacy of coach madden on our website, nbcbayarea.com.

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bundle up. it's going to be in the 30s and 40s as we head out the door. don't worry about the rain today. we're going to get a much needed break. full forecast coming up. just a day after setting new records, looks like the dow and the s&p 500 and nasdaq will all gain this morning. meantime, we have new data just in to our newsroom. this is first time jobless claims showing unemployment dipped last week, remaining close to their lowest level in almost 50 years, this according to the labor department. jobless claimed for the week totalled 190,000, a dip of 8,000 from the previous period.

jetblue trimming its schedule through mid january as more flight crews test positive for covid. the airline cancelling nearly sp 00 flights as it wants to give passengers a head start in adjusting their plans rather than face last minute cancellations at the airport. the move comes as u.s. airlines continue to struggle with covid driven staffing issues and bad weather, strong winds affecting trans continental flights. alaska air taking the unusual step of asking fliers to postpone nonessential travel. tomorrow is already new year's eve. a lot of people have already made their new year's residence resolution. there's another resolution in terms of your finances to keep you on track. >> keep you on track when it comes to the money that's going

to come in in 2022. a study found people who make resolutions are more optimistic about the future than people who don't. 81% of people who made resolutions last year say they'll be better off financially compared to 58% who did not make those resolutions. >> every year i make a resolution to shop less. >> and do you? >> no. this is the year. >> i think the point of that resolution, though, is if you make it, it makes you more optimistic. >> i am optimistic. >> you want to enter powerball because there was no winner last night for powerball.

the numbers were 2, 6, 9,33, 39 and 11. >> the jackpot has grown to 483 million. 43 and looks beautiful. things are calm for us here in northern california, but it has been an active weather pattern for southern california. tons of watches and warnings still in effect. that stretch of frazier park along the grapevine is going to be dangerous today. we are going to feel a bit of

that windchill forecasted highs for today will be running a few degrees warmer, but it's still going to be basically in the low 50s with peeks of sunshine finally. 53 in palo alto and oakland. we are going to see another storm move in with rain for the north bay and the north coast. the trend is showing lower rain totals, but we'll see as we get closer. wednesday, thursday and friday we get another round of rain, the heavier pockets pushing north. daytime highs will be in the 50s, but coast nights will play

a role. with the windchill it will be below freezing in some areas. it might even dip down into the 20s for the napa area. this will be our peak cold temperatures, friday night into early saturday morning. look at san francisco on saturday, possibly into the 30s early saturday morning. sunday 53 degrees. let's take a look at danville. it will be a little bit colder, 47 degrees. overnight lows on saturday about 28 degrees. expect patchy frost heading into saturday. the new year is looking good, nice and chilly, very winter like around here. by monday, tuesday and wednesday, that's when we get our next active weather pattern. right now the model runs are trending further to the north of

us, which means lower rain totals for us here. if you live in the north bay, you'll definitely be the first to see the rain sunday night into monday. pretty much north of the golden gate bridge will be the first to see the rain. in san jose, it's looking good, no major accidents to report. i have been looking at the speed sensors. we have an earlier crash. this one already cleared out along westbound 80. next on "today in the bay" nbc bay area responds. >> n95 masks only work properly if you wear them and care for them properly. we'll show you how, next. we want to share this photo

our kris sanchez shared on gram. the parking meter so cold it's wrapped in a knit scarf.

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mask mandates are returning to marin and alameda counties and the city of berkeley. the california department of

public health is suggesting we all switch to n95 masks to get the best protection. >> 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. next up, tracking down covid tests. the extra homework families are being tasked with to protect their children before sending them back to school. there's a surge gripping firefighters. we'll show you where. and ghislaine maxwell found guilty. ahead, hear from one of jeffrey epstein's accusers exclusively this morning. why she says it's just the beginning for finding justice. we learn about covid-19,

the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support.

call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. a first responder outbreak. the san francisco fire department is ensuring they are well staffed even though dozens of people are out with covid. >> and masks back on, a new mandate taking effect in the north bay today and 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. cal trans is still telling people to stay away. we have a look at the dangerous conditions prompting that warning. this is "today in the bay." we're going to take a look at the impressive drought update. >> an improvement in the drought monitor compared to what we saw last week. i expected maybe an improvement from exceptional to extreme, but

now less than 1% of california is in the exceptional category. 87% of the state of california was under extreme drought. d-1 is abnormally dry. d-0 is no drought. and it goes up from there. last week we were at 79.4% when it came to extreme drought. as of today, we have gone to now 32.93%. that's really good. it's going to take several years to get out of it completely, but any improvement from exceptional to extreme is definitely fantastic to see. in addition to that, our sierra snow pack has been doing great.

i'm going to have a closer look at the numbers in the sierra snow pack and your seven-day outlook coming up in just a few minutes. the positivity rate is the percentage of people who get tested and then test positive. three weeks ago it was at 2.6%. you can see that surge up to 11.2%. on the left side, last winter topping out at 17.1%. now to a live look in san francisco. this is where a spike in covid cases is happening among a critical population, firefighters. and that is affecting staffing. >> san francisco and other

communities are using booster mandates to try to combat the surge. >> this spike in cases is impacting staffing but for now the fire department says it's not impacting operations or response. right now there are at least 40 active covid cases in the san francisco fire department right now and about 60 cases for the entire month of december according to the san francisco chronicle. as we have reported as well, the department does have a 98% vaccination rate among its staff. firefighters are stoubt the city's vaccine mandate and they are now subject to the booster mandate, which requires all people who work in high risk jobs to get that booster. that also includes people who work in homeless shelters and nursing homes. for the average joe, you will have to show proof of the booster if you want to go to any

mega event like a warriors game at the chase center. that starts february 1st. santa clara county also requiring high risk workers to get boosters, including workers at correctional facilities. contra costa county deadline is february 10th. contra costa and santa clara county are among the first in the state with those booster policies. now you will need to mask up once again in the north bay. everyone will be required to wear a mask in all indoor public

settings joining the city of berkeley, san francisco, alameda and contra costa counties in reinstating mask mandates. san mateo county office of education says it's ready for in classroom learning. the superintendent said they're ready for children in school. the agency has followed covid protocols, including masking and testing 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 and families are scrambling to find a test before heading back to class. in san francisco a similar scenario playing out where test ing is not required but certainly encouraged. >> it's frustrating our district does not have an adequate number

of tests. we were hoping they could get them from the state. >> oakland does not have that problem. they handed out two take home tests to every student. a jury has convicted ghislaine maxwell of federal sex trafficking charges. 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 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 over 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 65 years in prison. a sentencing date has not yet been set. a boost for people trying to make it in the bay. oakland city council has approved spending nearly 2 million dollars to open a city owned parking lot near the coliseum. it would become the next safe parking site for hundreds of people who live in rvs. the site would be on 66th avenue. it could accommodate up to 150 vehicles. the city would charge a small fee based off the income of the homeless. in truckee, cal trans crews have reopened highway 50, but the chp is asking people who want to head to the slopes to delay their plans because driving conditions are still

dangerous. at times traffic is in a crawl in both directions. stay off the freeway if travel is not absolutely essential. it's hampering emergency responders trying to get to people who need help. it's also keeping people who want to leave stranded. >> the problem is going to be the roads, too many accidents. >> power has been out since monday. pg&e warns it may take several days to restore. the dangerous icy conditions remain in south lake tahoe.

overnight lows dipping down to about 7 degrees, maybe in the negative at times in the overnight hours. over the next three days, it's going to remain the same. not expecting any major winter storms. new year's eve's outlook for napa, could dip down to the 20s at some point friday night into saturday. be careful if you have plans to be out and about late at night. new year's eve outlook for san jose, another cold night with patchy frost. no rain in sight. san francisco is going to be topping out in the 50s during the day. by tomorrow night in the 40s. early saturday morning is probably going to be one of our coldest so far. danville topping out at 47 degrees on new year's day. a tiger killed after biting a person in florida. the reason officials say that

person shouldn't have been there in the first place. and we're counting down to the winter olympics. next we'll introduce you to the american luger hoping to bring back some gold.

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good morning. today is going to be dry, a little chilly. at times we could see some low fog in some areas. i'll have your forecast coming up. president biden's administration looking to the supreme court to help end the remain in mexico policy issued by the trump administration. the biden administration is asking if homeland security must be required to implement that policy which 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 the policy. biden suspended the policy on his first day in office, but

texas and missouri sued. a federal judge ruled that policy had to be reinstated. a judge has halted california's plan for potential early release dates for repeat offenders with serious and violent criminal histories under the state's three strikes law. under the law, they can get 25 years to life if convicted of three violent crimes. the temporary restraining order will stop the early release until a hearing next month. a developing story out of florida. a tiger at a zoo has been shot and killed after biting a worker's arm. the cleaning worker apparently put his arm into the animal's enclosure and was seriously injured. the 8-year-old tiger was shot by a deputy and died in the enclosure. the man worked for a third party

cleaning service hired to clean restrooms and a gift shop. he was not supposed to be anywhere near a tiger. the zoo is closed for the day while the investigation continues. we're learning more about a deadly jet crash in san diego. on board the air ambulance were two crew members and two nurses. all died when the plane went down. the vice president and treasurer of the international association of emt and paramedics worked closely with both nurses and said they were highly experienced. >> not just regular nurses. they both had really high standards. they took it very seriously. >> the cause of that deadly crash is still under investigation. we're going to take a turn now as we count down to the winter olympics. we have a little more than a month to go. this morning we want to introduce you to one athlete who continues to break barriers.

>> 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 himself. >> i'd love for you to be my guests for top gun maverick this spring. >> cruise sent the entire team top gun t-shirts to wear for that screening. 45 degrees right now in san jose. it's cloudy, but at least it's not raining. we're seeing the last stretch of the active weather pattern when it comes to the clouds move out of the north bay and the south bay and pretty much all of northern california. we still have plenty of activity

in southern california. things are quiet for us, but not so much for southern california. they've still got plenty of heavy rain coming down and also a wintery mix right near the grapevine. our temperatures are going to be cold. chilly sunshine today, temperatures in the 50s. 7:00 a.m. on friday heading into saturday is going to be the peak of the cold, tipping down to about 3 degrees in truckee. negative 2 possibly in some areas. long range outlook, rain at times for next week. we still get our break from the rain today, tomorrow, saturday.

in the north bay, you'll get that rain first. monday, january 3rd, the north bay and north coast trending right now with lower totals. however, our model runs are picking up rain pretty much monday through friday. friday looks to be a little bit of a heavier storm for us, more widespread into january 7th. we're starting out the first week of 2020 pretty strong when it comes to our rain. also our sierra snow pack. yesterday we were at 157. another boost in the snow pack, now we're at about 158% of statewide average. even big bear saw record snow, 157% of average. a big weekend forecast is going to be the cold. so friday, new year's eve, if you're out into the early morning hours on saturday, saturday morning is probably going to be one of our coldest

mornings of the week. we keep sunday dry. monday, tuesday, wednesday of the first week it's going to be interesting. i like to clean my house fully before the new year. >> start the year with a fresh start. it's a great idea. happening now, the world is paying tribute to late archbishop emeritus desmond tutu. his body will lie in state until tomorrow at st. george's anglican cathedral. he died sunday at 90 years old. coming up next, a quick look at the top stories including no verdict in the elizabeth holmes fraud trial. when deliberations are set to resume. >> reporter: people are still planning to party this new

year's eve in spite of the omicron variant. the measures some bars and restaurants are taking to try and keep people safe. first -- ♪♪

welcome back. we are moving you forward with a look at the top stories on "today in the bay." first, if you're going to celebrate the new year tomorrow night, health experts are begging you to be careful. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us from downtown walnut creek. what are health experts suggesting? >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci, the white house chief medical advisor, is definitely recommending you avoid large gatherings and stick to small gatherings of family and friends, people you know are vaccinated and boosted. there will be bars and restaurants open throughout the bay area.

tomorrow night this restaurant will have rules in place. one big one is you have to show your driver's license to get in along with a matching covid vaccine card. you must mask up indoors, as required by contra costa county. across the bay, san francisco has cancelled its new year's eve fireworks show. this is in order to discourage large gatherings, which unfortunately is going to hurt some local businesses. >> we have boats that go out with passengers. we have people that come and dine and walk down to see the fireworks. it's a big blow to our wintertime economy. >> reporter: starting today, alameda, marin, san francisco counties and the city of berkeley are reinstated their indoor mask mandates for everyone regardless of their vaccination status. that's something that contra costa county reinstated

yesterday. there is news this morning that the san francisco fire department is not immune from the omicron driven covid surge. right now there are 40 active covid cases within the san francisco fire department. about 60 cases were reported in total in the month of december. that's according to the san francisco chronicle. as we'vereporting, the department does have a 98 prnlt vaccination rate among its nearly 1800 staff. the jury in the trial of elizabeth holmes now on break following six full days of deliberations without a verdict. long time court watchers tell us they're not surprised by how long the decision is taking here. they say it's important to remember how much evidence was presented during 3 1/2 months of

trials. the jury is now done until next year. they'll resume deliberations on monday. if you want to be one of the first to know when there's a verdict, get our app. it will send an alert the noermt -- moment we know a verdict is coming. new numbers show unemployment claims dipped last week and remain close to their lowest level in more than 50 years. according to the labor department, jobless claims for last week totalled 190,000. that's fewer than the 205,000 forecast and a dip of 8,000 from the previous period. president biden will hold a phone call with president vladimir putin today. russia has amassed 100,000 troops along the ukrainian border, prompting fears of an invasion as early as next month. russia has repeatedly denied it

has plans to attack its neighbor. putin and biden will discuss diplomacy and de-escalation at the border and try to lay groundwork for security talks between the u.s. and russia. take you out to san jose and a live picture this morning. let's check in with vianey. >> of course we've still got a long ways to go, but it's great to see an improvement in the drought monitor. we have gone from extreme to severe. let's take a look at the drought monitor. the latest update, most of the bay area under that severe category. we saw an improvement from the 70s down to the 30s in just a one week span. over the next seven days we do get a break from the rain, thursday, friday, saturday

sunday for new year's eve into the overnight hours. keep in mind that it's going to get really cold, especially for the wind sheltered valleys, dipping down possibly into the 20s for early saturday morning. we welcome the new year on saturday. what's going to happen with the first week of the new year. looks like we are going to be monitoring more storms expected to bring their way into the bay area monday, tuesday, wednesday and friday as well. no metering lights on at the bay bridge toll plaza. no major delays to report at this hour. >> a know a lot of officials in tahoe have said, if you don't have to come, don't because of the lack of gasoline and the traffic.

>> i would recommend stay home, tune into nbc bay area and watch this. times square in new york. pete davidson and miley cyrus will be hosting live. watch the clock count down from the coziness of your couch. good morning guilty, a long awaited verdict in the ghislaine maxwell trial >> a unanimous jury has found ghislaine maxwell guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable >> bringing the highly scrutinized case to an end for now. jeffrey epstein's accuser reacting to the news overnight >> we were told constantly, you know, these people will never go to jail. they're too powerful, they're too rich >> we'll bring you an exclusive interview with one of them worst day ever a new