sanctions on russia. the move by russia president vladimir putin that's escalating tensions with ukraine. also, how other world leaders are responding this morning. >> rain and snow. a live look outside at storm ranger in the bay area, seeing light showers overnight ase fre. meteorologist kari hall is tracking it all. >> and hank the tank back at it. the big bear strikes again. a closer look at the damages he's now being blamed for. this is "today in the bay."

good tuesday morning to you. it's 2/22/22 today. >> it's twos-day. >> i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. don't forget, we're always streaming on all those apps, including roku, amazon fire and apple tv. "today in the bay" also streams online. let's get you started with a look at traffic and the weather forecast. meteorologist, kari hall, is tracking the first rain we've seen in over a month. when i drove out i was excited to see the wet roads. >> i was, too. even though it wasn't a lot, in some spots it's coming down. let's get a look at marin county right now, san raphael just south of novato and some of our upper elevations were already seeing that changing over to a little bit of snow. for san francisco, south city, we're seeing light rain, and

spotty showers over the hills from the oakland hills to the berkeley hills, heading just south of concord. we are waking up to some spots getting wet roads. this is part of a weather system that will continue today, also bringing snow over the sierra. to the north, there's more rain headed our way. we will talk about that and what it could bring going into this afternoon. mike, you're tracking a crash on the bay bridge. >> we're looking at the lower deck of the bay bridge. lower deck, you can see headlights leaving the bridge. traffic is flowing. two lanes reportedly blocked and it's been there for about a half hour. initially there was a lot of slowing leaving the city, but now the speed sensors have stayed green for the last 15 minutes. we're looking at crews arriving on scene, but no major problems and with the counter-commute. east bay is moving slowly. talking about gusty winds across

most of the bridges. hold on. it's chill but clear right now. back to you. >> thanks, mike. will russia invade ukraine or not? this, after russian president vladimir putin declared two separatist regions of ukraine independent and ordered russian troops into those regions as peace keepers. "today in the bay's" brie jackson reports u.s. officials are not yet calling this an invasion. >> reporter: raising the stakes on an already tense situation. russian president vladimir putin is now recognizing two key regions of eastern ukraine as independent states, and ordering troops into those areas. >> president, let me also thank -- >> reporter: during a rare emergency meeting of the united nations security council, the u.s. ambassador warns russia's deployment is a pretext for war. >> he calls them peace keepers.

this is nonsense. we know what they really are. >> reporter: president biden signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the two separatist regions of ukraine which prohibits investment, financing and trade in those areas. officials say more actions aimed at russia are still to come. >> sanctions and actions i should underscore, only part of our response. we've also been increasing substantially the amount of security assistance that we provide to the ukrainians. >> reporter: russia continues to deny plans to attack, criticizing the west instead. >> whipping up unfounded panic around the allegedly impending invasion. >> reporter: soldiers say they have received fire and fired back, saying this is a historic moment and may be a breaking point. >> reporter: ukraine's president says his one goal is peace in ukraine. in washington, brie jackson, nbc

news. >> the impact from the conflict would likely affect everyone to some extent. in economic terms, uncertainty is already driving up prices at the gas pump. russia is the world's third largest oil supplier and for bay area ukrainians with loved ones at the epicenter, the images are leaving them outraged. >> i'm disgusted by this, i'm frustrated and worried for the family i have in ukraine and what that means to the world order. >> in worst case scenario, experts warn a full-on conflict likely would push u.s. gas prices to new all-time highs above $6 per gallon in the bay area. we'll have continuing coverage on the growing tensions overseas. when we're not on the air you can get the latest updates on our website, nbcbayarea.com, and click on the link in our trending bar. 4:35 and moving you forward, a big decision looms in vallejo. will city council vote to lift the mask mandate tonight? as of now it remains in place,

even though solano county got rid of its indoor mask rules along with most other counts last week. santa clarita county, the only exception. it's also opted to keep the indoor mask mandates in place. 4:35, ready to play ball in another city? still ahead on "today in the bay," the potential relocation sites being eyed by the oakland a's. >> and why many adults are concerned their refunds this year won't stretch as far as in the past. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

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we're coming up on 4:39 on this tuesday morning. we've had a lot of clouds, much colder temperatures, and just a little bit of rain, up to 08. we're going to look at what's ahead in our forecast coming up. >> the sign lit up, talking about higher winds. keep that in mind for a lot of our bridges. the flashing lights, it doesn't look like they're moving out of the service lane. meanwhile, let's check on the world of business with cnbc. >> traders continue to monitor the growing tensions between russia and ukraine. oil prices are surging. crude at the highest level since the fall of 2014. a new survey finds two-thirds of

adults have one worry about their possible tax refunds, concerns they'll be smaller than usual, won't make a big impact because of inflation. about 70% of americans say tax refunds are important to their overall situation. their plans are to save some or all of the money, pay down debt or use it for day-to-day expenses. and twitter may be testing a way to let you untag yourselves. researchers uncovered a new leave this conversation feature. it would untag your user name from a twitter conversation, prevent people from mentioning you in that discussion again and stop you from receiving notifications, although you can still see the thread. it's a bit different than the current mute conversation tool which only turns off notifications. with your cnbc business headlines. >> thanks, frank. still ahead on "today in the bay," the reason our climate in crisis is making it harder for scientist to manage our state's wildlands. we'll be right back.

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welcome back, everyone. it's 4:43 right now. taking a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza approach this morning. looks like folks are back to work after an extended holiday weekend. mike is keeping tabs of a crash on the lower deck. he's saying that's now cleared. >> that's great news because there was no disturbance over the last few minutes getting out of san francisco. we're shifting our look to the south here. we have these lights just after the last commercial break and

they were stopped westbound. this sign talks about potential already gusty winds, so keep that in mind across a lot of the bridges. haven't heard of any other problems across those spans. we're looking at all the bridges for the westbound commute, we should see more traffic than yesterday. there are some schools that are out all week and so that may mean fewer folks, because parents sometimes take off the same week as their kids if they're fortunate enough. a smooth drive on both sides of the bay. this green indicates there may be damp roads and we've seen a little bit of rain to get the roadways damp overnight. kari is going to talk about that. there's pink and white that indicates perhaps a little snow, maybe a little ice. nothing of major concern. and 101 is looking just fine in this area coming through the south bay for now. >> it's just so cold and windy and we've had gusty wind conditions out there. as we take a look at storm ranger, that's our mobile doppler radar and it's giving us

a look at exactly where it's raining and where it's not because it's been so hit or miss. we are seeing showers that are moving through and this is the kind of activity we'll see today, as the second surge of moisture starts to come down into the bay area. you want to make sure you have that nbc bay area map so you can get alerts as this quickly-changing situation continues to happen today. we're seeing all kinds of colors on here. we have blue and white where we could have some snow on some of our bay area mountains and hills, and then we are also seeing some orange where we could see some heavy rain. we could see that in the south county over the next three to four hours, then we're seeing the green, as well as the yellows, indicating some light rain and it does at times turn moderate. there may be some brief heavy downpours. where we see cells moving through, there will be enough emergency, especially this afternoon, where we could see small hail. we've had these instances especially when it's really cold out where we see these hailstorms come down and it just covers the road and makes it really slippery.

so watch out for those kinds of conditions. and, finally, we were able to circle yesterday on the calendar, really late yesterday evening with rain coming in, and that continues today. but our rainfall totals will be about a tenth of an inch of rain or less. this is better than nothing and we are seeing a change in the weather pattern. as far as temperatures, huge change. we're only reaching into the low 50s this afternoon, 50 in danville, 52 in oakland. we'll see a high of 49 in daly city today and 51 in the marina district. north bay temperatures, upper 40s, low 50s today. then tonight we start with our freeze warning that will be kicking in. that continues through friday morning. some of these temperatures, especially in the north bay valleys, may dip into the mid-20s, so get ready for that. prepare all of those plants that have bloomed. showers and hail today but the rest of the forecast is chilly for the rest of the week. for the weekend, we are watching

a slight rain chance on sunday. it doesn't look like much, but we are going to have another chance of showers after seeing such dry weather here recently. and now let's turn to our climate in crisis. we have researchers at uc berkeley who actually have a 4,000 acre experimental forest in the northern sierra and they're coming up with ways to manage wildlands as we face more intense droughts and fires. >> it's making things for challenging, we're getting more unpredictable weather. we have a drought that's been amplified by climate change and we've had droughts for thousands of years. but the challenge is we're bringing forward a forest structure that is so vulnerable. why? because of the way we've managed our system for the last 120 years. we know indigenous burning and lightning fire used to be incredibly common and we know for sure that we took fire out 120 years ago and harvested the

larger trees. we don't really do that that much anymore, which sets these forests up. >> stevens talked to me about who manages our forests, what factors are leading to worsening fires, and what a well-managed resilient forest actually looks like. also, how you can get involved. check it out on nbcbayarea.com. we're going to post the full interview. click on the climate in crisis tab. >> useful information. thank you so much. plus, plans for the new a's stadium in oakland move you forward. the a's are apparently not giving up on other plans. the las vegas journal review reports that they've narrowed down the search to four locations near the strip. the a's a month ago started surveying sites there and last week the team confirmed negotiations are still in play. last week oakland council members approved the eir for the proposed stadium near jack london square, but there's still a lot of work to be done to reach a final deal.

california's best known bear now going national. >> maybe you've heard that story. we've shown it to you here on "today in the bay." this 500-pound black bear nick named hank the tank and the video showing him ransacking homes in the tahoe area. at least a dozen homes have been targeted. the bear is still wanted and on the prowl. the "today" show now taking up the story and the battle of what to do with him once authorities catch up with him. one bear advocate is hoping for relocation. >> each refrigerator contained at least 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 calories of food. it's a lot easier for him to forage in there than to go into the wilderness and pick one berry at a time. >> this whole story airs on the "today" show that follows "today in the bay" at 7:00 a.m. if you can bearly wait for that,

take paws and head over to our home page. we've got full details there. tackling disparities in tech. >> when that's happening, that's not your problem, that's their problem. >> still ahead on "today in the bay," the one east bay program that's helping young black youth get their footing. >> and happening now, an outdoor dining room may be sticking around in oakland. the city committee will discuss adopting a resolution aimed at making the city's flex street program permanent. that program launched amid the pandemic back in june of 2020. restaurant and retail shop owners were able to sign up online to get a free permit allowing them to use the sidewalks and more parking lanes to serve customers. if the resolution does not pass, the current program is set to expire at the end of next month. we'll be right back.

welcome back. it's 4:52 right now. a singer known as nightbird has night after a four-year battle with cancer. she skyrocketed to fame after winning the golden buzzer on "america's got talent." >> i'm not going to give you it yet. i'm going to give you something else. [ cheers and applause ] >> at the time she explained she had cancer in her lungs and liver, with a 2% chance of living. she had to drop out of the show to focus on her health. in a statement, her family wrote, those who knew her enjoyed her larger than life personality and sense of humor. she had a witty joke for every

ovation, even if the joke was on here. fremont police mourning the sudden death of an officer, captain frederick bobbit was the commander of the agency's patrol division. he joined in 1985 as a police explorer while still in high school. he was just 54 years old. they issued a statement but gave no indication about the cause of his death, only saying more will be revealed in the coming days. governor newsom will appear virtually with president biden today to expansion lithium, the industry still in its early stages of development. here at nbc bay area, we have been celebrating black history month all along, and this morning we continue by introducing you to a local organization working to make a difference in the community by helping guide young black males into positions of technology and

leadership. >> as "today in the bay's" cierra johnson explains, it truly takes a village to help mold the next generation of greatness. >> we're founded in oakland, california, in 2012, and we now operate programming in oakland, richmond, los angeles, and we're launching our first site in detroit this year. >> reporter: it's an organization that originated right here in the bay with a simple mission. >> the project trains and mentors black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. >> reporter: and brandon nickel son, executive director of the project has been there since the beginning. he says he's seen the organization grow and develop just like it's participants. the program now reaches beyond the borders of the bay area and has touched the lives of more than 8,000 youth. nickelson says the program model louis the students to receive hands-on guidance in what they call the intensive immersion

program and that guidance more times is coming from folks that look like the youth being served. african americans thriving in an industry that has long struggled to reflect the public. data gathered from a site found that nearly 70% of all computer programmers in the united states are white. 15% are asian, 8% identify as hispanic or latino, and less than 5% of those working as computer programmers are black. >> what we try to convey is when that's happening, that's not your problem, that's their problem. those who choose not to recognize your brilliance, they're going to cut off their nose. >> reporter: and the brilliance in these participants is evident, with past participants going on to receive prestigious academic awards and coming on board as full-time facilitators, growing the network of support. in oakland -- >> the future, i think is bright.

the future looks a lot like our young people. >> reporter: "today in the bay." potential teacher layoffs. still ahead, the reason san francisco leaders are considering letting go of hundreds of educators. >> you'll want to grab a thicker coat, maybe one with a hood in case you get caught in one of those spotty showers. we're only heading for the low 50s and it will be windy today. we'll talk about that and all the changes coming up. >> the roadway was exposed and that's why there's a little bit of moisture, water, a sheen on the roadway. that's 101 southbound. it might be a little slick in some spots. we're watching all those clues and you're watching "today in the bay."

this is nonsense. we know what they really are. >> right now at 5:00, on the edge of war as russia sends troops in. a live report from washington as the u.s. calls for an emergency meeting with world leaders about the lming layoffs for hu how short of an amount of time those affected will be "today i" here we go, tuesday morning. that's 2/22/22. it's twos-day.

that's how we start the morning here. good morning. i'm marcus washington. >> it's 5:00 a.m. and i'm a little loopy, okay? don't forget if you're on the go, we're broadcasting not only to your tv, but you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> we'll get you started with your forecast today. a live look outside at san bruno mountain. our storm ranger monitoring some of the light overnight showers we've had. if you head outside, you're going to see some wet roads. meteorologist kari hall is here. thankfully a little rain in our area. >> we're happy to see it. it's been so long. we went 45 days without any rain in the middle of our winter, so it's nice to see. here we are back to some more normal weather as we are starting out with spotty showers in parts of marin county and the roads may be a little wet. we're seeing that as you're going up and down 280, much of the peninsula, into san francisco. also on 680 headingp