right now at 5:00, bracing for new russian attacks. there are reports of new devastation overnight in ukraine and new allegations involving the use of chemical weapons. we're live in washington with the new developments and a response from former president barack obama who sits down with the "today" show. president biden rolling out a new plan to lower fuel costs.

paying now sitting near record highs? this is "today in the bay." a very good tuesday morning to you. thank you so much for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. >> you can catch us now live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. >> let's start with a look at the forecast this morning. meteorologist kari hall is tracking the weather. >> it's cold. >> it's really cold this morning. bundle up. it really doesn't warm up too much more from what we saw yesterday afternoon. it's in the upper 30s in livermore, it's 39 in fremont, 34 in santa rosa, and in some of those spots you may have to scrape a little frost off of the windshield. take a look at our commute from bent wood with the low 40s. at least it's clear, the roads are dry and we have a lot of sunshine. notice we only make it into the upper 50s, reaching 62 in concord and hayward reaching 59,

san francisco 57 and 59 in novato. we'll see more weather like this in the forecast throughout the week. we also have more rain coming our way. we'll talk about that in a few minutes. >> thanks, kari. some possible new help for people trying to make it in the bay. at least when it comes to -- at least the white house is hoping, because they're taking another step to relieve your pain at the pump. "today in the bay's" bob redell live in dublin. the president now turning to biofuels for possible relief here? >> reporter: you are correct. good morning. later today president biden will announce that he is expanding the availability of the e-85 biofuel to make it available year-round. usually it's not available during the summertime. he's going to make it available year-round and the thought being e-85 is less 10 cents per gallon than regular gas. you can see just how bad it is at this gas station in dublin, averaging just under $6 for a

gallon of gas. if you look at the average price of gas in california, it's really spot on, it's actually a little more, but it's close to 6 bucks. according to aaa the average gallon of gas in california is $5.74. it's about what it was a month ago, about $1.80 more than a year ago. compared to the rest of the country, california is hurting, nationally drivers are paying much less. $4.10 a gallon, whichs about 23 cents less t month ago. it's not clear how much impact president will have on gas prices. again, the administration pointing out that e-85 is on average 10 cents a gallon cheaper than regular gas. it uses a 15% ethanol blend, which is curtailed between june and mid-september in some states to protect the environment, reduce smog. the president wants the epa to lift that restriction this

summer. president biden announced the strategic oil reserves in another attempt to increase the supply of oil and drive down the price of gasoline, which you can see is horrendous. reporting live in dublin, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> i know a lot of people are looking for relief. i was just in tennessee and the gas there was still in the $3 and something. i know, right? thanks, bob. 5:04 right now, the fighting in eastern ukraine expected to intensify where russian troops are refocusing their efforts. satellite photos show a mile-long military convoy headed into the donbas region. this as kharkiv has come under a new round of defense shelling. multiple deaths are reported, including at least one child. the devastation is expected to worsen as the war enters a new phase. there are reports russia may have used chemical weapons in mariupol when president

zelenskyy says tens of thousands of civilians may have died. the pentagon cannot confirm the reports. experts say if russia were to use chemical weapons it would be a major escalation and present a direct challenge to nato. nbc's brie jackson is live in washington. the security council shining a light on some of the innocent victims of the war. >> reporter: good morning, that's right. the u.n. security council says about 90% of those fleeing ukraine are women and children and there are growing concerns they may become the latest targets of russia's attacks. russia ramping up a new offensive in eastern ukraine, an already devastating situation, expected to get worse now that a general nicknamed today butcher of syria is in charge. >> this has been a brutal campaign in ukraine and we can expect to see more of it. >> reporter: there are fears of new attacks like the one at this

ukrainian train station that targeted civilians, including children trying to flee the region. >> over 90% of the 4 million that have already left the country are women and children and out of the 7 million that are displaced in ukraine, the vast majority are also women and children. >> reporter: the u.n. is investigating reports of violence against women. >> women in ukraine are at increased risk for gender-based violence, including rape, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation. >> reporter: president zelenskyy making urgent pleas for more fire power from the west, warning of a dangerous new chapter of war. during a virtual meeting, india's prime minister condemned the killing of innocent civilians. the administration urgented india not to increase its relines on russian gas and oil. >> they should use that leverage constructively to help bring

this conflict to an end. it is undeniable that india has a relationship with russia that we don't have. >> reporter: hope for diplomacy still on the table as talks between russia and ukraine continue. in washington, brie jackson for nbc news. >> thank you. this morning on the "today" show, an exclusive interview, former president barack obama discussing the ongoing war in ukraine. al roker asked the former asked for his take on putin's actions in ukraine. >> putin has always been ruthless against his own people, as well as others. he has always been somebody who is wrapped up in this twisted, distorted sense of grievance and ethnic nationalism. that part of putin, i think, has always been there. what we've seen with the invasion of ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might

not have anticipated eight, ten years ago. >> the former president also opens up about what he could have done differently while he was in office. you can watch the entire interview coming up at 7:00 right after "today in the bay." 5:08 right now and firefighters say it may take weeks to learn the cause of that massive weekend fire in the south bay at a home depot. the fire still not entirely out. last night crews had to put out a flare-up in what was once the store's garden section. the fire happened saturday at the store on blossom hill road in south san jose. the company says store employees are being reassigned to work at other bay area home depot locations. let's take a live look outside. look at that, snow. fresh snow in the sierra. this is palisades tahoe ski resort this morning. more than a foot expected on the upper slopes of lake tahoe by today and more to come later this week. the rain that we had today made

snow in the sierra and made a mess for a while. >> thankfully they're picture f. we're only at 15% of the normal amount in the north, and 26% in the central. we are going to see more snow in the forecast over the next few days. between now and the weekend there could be another 21 inches at kingvale, but most of the sierra getting about 5 to 7 inches of snow. so it is great to see that coming this way, especially with a lot of people on spring break. you can enjoy the beautiful sights around the bay area today, heading out for a hike at 8:00 it's going to be 45 and sunny in the south bay, reaching the upper 50s and still pretty windy this afternoon. vianey, any problems for the chute? >> so far we've been doing okay but it is getting busy on oakland, 880, both directions. it looks like it's just regular

traffic buildup. right now the traffic map also showing one other spot. this is along westbound 92. it looks like it's clearing out and i have been checking in in the south bay, no issues through any of the freeways there. let's talk about the san mateo bridge. there is a wind advisory from the chp. back to you. >> thank you. 5:10 right now, snagging a campsite ahead of summer. ahead on "today in the bay," the tips to keep in mind if you're planning a trip to a national park. >> you know the price is right, but the price has been very wrong lately, way too high, and it looks like it's going to get worse. plus -- ♪ 9:00 to 5:00 ♪ ♪ we're going to find a way to make a living ♪ ♪ it's all taking and no giving ♪ >> they say the early bird gets the worm. dolly parton says one thing in particular is more important than anything else for her success. it is something we here at

"today in the bay" can actually relate to. we're going to talk about it. stick around, we're going to tell you what her secret is next coming up on "today in the bay." we'll be right back.

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good tuesday morning to you. right now at 5:14, let's get you ready for the day in the east bay as we take a look at oakland. we have low 40s to start. it's going to be a chilly and still pretty windy day, so wear the extra layers. we're back to our winter feel as we keep sunshine, but rain returns as early as tomorrow for the north bay. most of us seeing it on thursday. we'll talk about that in the forecast coming up. >> a live look right now at a smooth commute along the bay bridge. we are going to be seeing some slower spots, including in the east bay. i'll talk about that and a look at your drive times coming up in

a few minutes. good morning. very happy tuesday to you. today we get key inflation numbers. the consumer price index or cpi. the bureau of labor statistics releases the figure at 5:30. you don't need exactly figures to tell you everything is more expensive. last month prices were up 7.9% from the same time last year. now, that figure includes the volatile price of food and energy, which move around very quickly. gas prices are actually going down as oil prices fall below $100 a barrel, so there will be those two figures to watch. core inflation, which strips out food and energy, and then the top line inflation number, which keeps them in. bob redell was talking about the white house plan to allow more pollution-causing ethanol in our summer blend of gas. the white house willing to take a step back on air quality to chip away at inflation numbers. elon musk has deleted a number

of the tweets he made over the weekend, the tweets that led right up to the decision not to join twitter's board. one of the tweets suggested using twitter headquarters as a homeless shelter, another was a crass joke about twitter's name. yesterday he said he wouldn't join twitter's board. the ceo said he thought that was best as well. marcus and laura, we just published a really interesting conversation with venture capital investor who is emergence capital's very first female partner. she and i talk about why it took so long, how she's working to bring more women to the top level and what it's like to be female and immigrant in a business that's been an old boys' network. >> my super power had always been to work harder than anybody else and be more intense than anybody else, and there was almost this difference between how can i continue to do that and also be a mom. >> we talked very frankly about

gender and whatnot on sand hill road, which you'll find anywhere you get podcasts, apple podcasts, google podcasts. you do such a great job with the race in america discussions where you really have to touch some sensitive subjects and i'm getting a little taste of that. because in a podcast form, you're able to talk about things that need time to kind of brew a little bit. you can't do it quickly. >> the shorter stories that we're more accustomed to. >> exactly. >> dig a little deeper. >> thanks, scott. new this morning, calling out outdoor lovers, it's national park week. to celebrate, california state library card holdings can receive free one-day parking passes. you must be a library card holder to qualify and if you're planning a summer trip to a national park, you want to book the campsite earlier. according to the ceo, snagging a

reservation will be tougher with an increase in outdoor activities as people venture out from the pandemic. >> there are great camping accommodations within national parks that often sell out very quickly, months in advance. and a lot of times travelers don't realize there are some wonderful privately managed campgrounds that are just outside of national parks, which many of them still have availability, even for this summer season. >> the pandemic is having a seesaw effect on visitors numbers, which are rising after plunging around 30% in 2020. there's a guide on the website listing top tips and destinations. it's no secret that we here on "today in the bay" wake up super early to get our day started. >> as it turns out country music icon, dolly parton, not that much different from the rest of us. ♪ working 9:00 to 5:00 ♪ ♪ what a way to make a living ♪ ♪ getting bay ♪

>> she wrote those words, and i don't think she was working 9:00 to 5:00. dolly parton says she start at 3:00 a.m. she says that's when she does her best work. we should get her to do a few segments on "today in the bay." parton adds that she does not need as much sleep as most people, crediting what she calls a family trait. even if she goes to sleep late, she says her internal clock gets her up ready to go at 3:00. there you have it. we are like that, too. on the weekends we're still up extremely early. >> i'm not sleeping in. dolly sleeps in until 3:00 a.m. we are up early. but to give you all the day's news, weather, traffic, we are here. and today what are we going to expect? >> it's going to be cold. make sure you're prepared for chilly temperatures as we'vewh was last week, this is a really big change for us. we have the heater on in the car

as you're heading off to work in dublin. at least the road is clear, things are drying up and we don't have major issues with fog. it is going to be windy today. take a look at our wind gust forecast. here at 11:00 this morning, you can see nearly 30 miles per hour wind gusts and in half man bay it's 34, 29-mile-per-hour gusts in redwood city, stays windy into the afternoon for san francisco. if you saw my social media post, we had quite a bit of wind damage around the bay area yesterday and there still will be a chance today. even breezy for tonight as we see our temperatures heading down and staying windy tomorrow. take a look at these temperatures, when you add in the wind and high temperatures in the 50s, that makes it feel a lot cooler out there. and as we look to see what else is going on farther to the north, we can see all of the rain and snow that's been happening as the next storm system approaches. it reaches the north bay late tomorrow evening with widespread rain on thursday. we take a break on friday, but then another round of rain on

saturday. and then on sunday we're clearing out for easter. next week we'll have a couple of more storm systems heading our way. over the next seven days we could see rainfall totals in the north bay reaching over an inch, which would be amazing, but of course that won't really put a dent in our drought because we need over 7 inches of rain to catch up to normal in the north bay. with the showers in the forecast, cooler temperatures, basically what we're doing is just holding off the fire season just a little bit longer, with each round of rain we get. so it's been really great to see that and the breaks in between. san francisco has been super windy, that continues today. highs in the upper 50s and low 60s into the weekend. vianey, any problems for the commute? >> no, and that's good. look at the bay bridge toll plaza. no metering lights on and it's moving along and i do want to give you another look at the san mateo bridge, because i did notice it is getting busy and it's also windy, as you mentioned, kari, it's going to be windy. so chp is issuing a wind

advisory for a few bridges across the bay area. aside from that, we're green, good to go. tri-valley slowing down on west 580 to grant line road. i'll be back with another traffic report shortly. 5:22. still so much more ahead on "today in the bay." first, nbc bay area responds to car repair disputes. >> questions arise about whether repair work was done properly. consumer investigator chris chmura says an inspection might help you out. >> when you leave, you don't have to wonder whether they did the work they were supposed so. the state will inspect your car for free after you've had auto body work done. they will compare the invoice to work done and if they find a discrepancy, that could trigger an investigation. call us at 888-966-tips.

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welcome back. it is 5:25 right now. a live look at sfo where spring travel is in high gear. as summer approaches, some travelers have had the severe staffing shortages. >> airlines are gettingher prob florida. nbc's kerry sanders explains the move one airline is now asking and making as it struggles to stay fully staffed.

>> reporter: good morning. if you've been out at terminal 2, you probably know the nightmare we've seen recently. jet blue just overwhelmed and we've seen the same thing with alaska airlines, spirit airlines. this problem kind of looks as if the airline system is so strained, it's broken. well, the airlines are making some changes as of today, specifically let's look at what jet blue is doing. rather than having these flights that people book, have tickets, show up to the airport and find out they're canceled. the airline has decided they're going to cut back 10% of their flights, a lot of them coming to florida during spring break and for the summer travel season. they feel if they go ahead and reduce the number of flights, about 150 fewer flights a day, that will take some of the pressure off what has been going on, which is a shortage of pilots, problems getting flight attendants to make flights. often they're out of position because one flight is canceled and the flight attendants need

to be in another city. this is to make it an easier travel process for passengers, but by the same token it may be that it's harder to get from point a to point b. >> that's tough for families traveling together. >> especially families reich yours. >> next, the top stories we are following, including money talks. the new financial incentive meant to get more car buyers to go all electric in the east bay. >> plus, working to make an impact on your commute. ahead, hundreds of millions of dollars have been given to bay area transit agencies. we're going to show you the projects and renovations that money will help complete. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 5:30, road to recovery. bay area transit and the improvements you'll soon see. >> cane will return to the court today. >> new measures the south bay's largest water agency is considering as recent conservation efforts run dry. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you on this tuesday morning. thank you so much for making us a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. don't forget, we broadcast not only to your tv, but you can

watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. >> we're going to get a look at the commute, but first we want to start out looking at the forecast. >> it's been pretty breezy and we've been talking about all the damage it has caused. as we take a live look outside in san jose, we can see that we were watch ago fire downtown. we have a north-northwesterly wind at about 8 miles per hour, and so as some of the winds pick up for us today, we have to watch out for those kind of conditions. temperatures in the low 40s. it's a chilly start and we'll be slow to warm up today. but those gusty winds do continue as we go hour-by-hour at 11:00, we're still seeing wind gusts at 25 to 30 miles per hour, getting higher for the afternoon. san francisco, 39-mile-per-hour gusts and still some of the breezy winds continue all around the bay area. so we are going to continue to watch that as well as some more rain in our forecast by the end of the week. i'll have more on that in a few minutes. i have more on the fire that

you just mentioned as well, the south bay fire we showed you this morning when we came on the air at 4:30 this morning. this is what it looked like on highway 87 where drivers could see the smoke close to the taylor street exit near the san jose airport. the fire we're now getting reports, is that it's out. this is more video as crews arrived on the scene there. it was at spring street and we learned that it was a homeless encampment fire. no reports of any injuries and we're still trying to learn how it started. moving you forward this morning on new plans and new funding for bay area transit. so later this morning, san francisco leaders are going to get a firsthand look at federal dollars at work and renovations going on inside one of b.a.r.t.'s busiest stations. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live in the city. a lot of people returning to work and b.a.r.t. finally starting to see a real bounceback in the number of riders there. >> reporter: yes, good morning,

marcus. that's exactly right. b.a.r.t. has confirmed that they have seen an increase in ridership, specifically this month compared to last month, because so many folks are returning to work. city leaders and a senator are going to tour one of the stations that has seen an increase and that station is receiving some of those federal dollars. hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to improve some of the transit systems here in the bay area. last month alone, b.a.r.t. experienced a 23% increase in downtown san francisco compared to the previous month, and according to the bay area council, 80% of employers plan to bring workers back this month or they've already brought their workers back. in just a few hours city leaders are touring one of the projects that is seeing the benefits of more than $850 million from the american transit fund. they were operating during the peak of the pandemic.

according to reps for b.a.r.t., the location is a station that is about 60% finished with renovations. the station is receiving modifications to increase their energy efficiency, they're also receiving gender-neutral restrooms, as well as crisis interventionists at that location. so that b.a.r.t. station tour, that is slated to begin at 9:30 this morning. we will, of course, bring you any updates and new announcement that may come out of that tour from both mayor london breed, from the u.s. senator and some of the other b.a.r.t. leaders. we're live in san francisco. cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thank you. 5:34 right now. former mma star cane velazquez is set to appear in a courtroom. velazquez may enter a plea. he faces attempted murder charges after investigators say he fired a gun into a truck,

shooting a man accused of molesting a close family member. the shooting in late february in san jose injured another person in the same vehicle. authorities later arrested velazquez in morgan hill. he is being held without bail. testimony resumes tomorrow for sunny balwani, the former second in command at theranos. today both sides are expected to be in court for a status hearing. balwani is facing fraud charges similar to those of his girlfriend, theranos founder elizabeth holmes. prosecutors are trying to establish balwani's influence on decisionmaking. the defense argues they acted more like an investor, and less of a decisionmaker. holmes is now awaiting sentencing. new this morning, contra costa county flipping the switch on new incentive programs to go electric. this is thanks to a $3.5 million

state grand. transit leaders are launching charge up contra costa. it will provide rebates of up to $5,500 to install electric vehicle charging stations and will also better promote ev car sharing, e-bikes and other rebates. studies find that consumers are six times more likely to drive an electric vehicle if they can easily access charges. now to our climate in crisis, south bay leaders are set to move forward with plans to ask residents to cut down on lawns. today the santa clara county water district is expected to vote on an upgrade to its drought emergency resolution. it would ask 2 million customers to limit watering to twice per week. the move could reduce overall water use this summer by 15%. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall after yesterday's rain. it didn't make a huge dent in our drought. >> it was great to see, it was

enough to water the line so that we can turn off the sprinkler for a little while. look at the totals, mount tam over 1.25, and in mount diablo 0.3. those are some of the upper elevations. as you head down in the valleys it was more like 0.25 or 0.1 of rain, but looking at how that compares to catch up to normal, santa rosa we need over 7.5 inches to get our normal amount of rainfall. oakland needs over 1 inch of rain, san francisco over 3 1/2 inches of rain to catch up to normal. livermore over 2 inches and san jose we need over 5 inches of rain just to get to our normal amount. as we look at our dry forecast today, it's going to be much cooler. a lot of people on spring break this week. if you're going to half moon bay, make sure to wear layers because it's only going to reach into the 50s and low 60s and we are going to keep gusty winds. tomorrow the rain returns for

just parts of the bay area. we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. how is it looking for the morning commute? >> we've been doing pretty good but it is very busy. in oakland 880 in both directions, no crashes along any of these stretches. so that's good through there. as far as your dublin camera goes, it's also getting very busy. now, we will be noticing some slowing. it's pretty normal right around 5:45, and the speed sensors right now showing pretty green. this is good. we are moving along. however, i do have something that i want to give you a heads-up about, that way you kind of have an idea, if you're going to be going near western avenue to bear creek road, there is going to be a construction project near that stretch all the way through may 6th. they're going to start closing off some of those areas and they'll have detours for folks planning to travel through that stretch. that's western avenue to bear creek road right near state route 9. you can see the construction project is going to run through may 6th so it's going to go on

for a couple of weeks. if that's a part of something that you plan on commuting to or traveling through, you will notice some delays because of construction. also, make sure to check your b.a.r.t. travel maps this morning. no delays as of right now on any of our public transportation systems, so that's always good news to see there. that's it for me. i'll be back with more drive times in a few minutes. back to you. >> thank you. 5:39 right now, and addressing mental health. coming up on "today in the bay," we're going to tell you how one bay area university is making sure health and safe dialogue are more ingrained for students on campus. >> and more pressure for the white house as we get the latest inflation numbers, and they are bad. plus -- ♪ havana ♪ ♪ half of my heart is in havana ♪ ♪ he took me back to east atlanta ♪ >> expect an action-packed morning on the "today" show plaza. pop icon camila cabello will perform live on the citi concert

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right now at 5:42, as you're heading out in the north bay, it's 43 degrees. we have a light northwesterly wind and it starts out very chilly. grab that jacket. you'll most likely keep it on throughout the day as highs rise into the mid-50s. we do have sunshine and we'll talk about when the rain returns

to the bay area coming up in a few minutes. >> and let's check in on our east bay drive times. southbound 680 from 580 to vargas road, about 11 minutes. no delays right now in both directions along 880. still no metering lights on at the bay bridge toll plaza. i'll have more details on your speed sensors throughout the bay area coming up. new overnight, redwood city police are investigating a violent robbery at a gas station on spring street near hoover park. it happened last night around 10:00 p.m. the victim was struck in the head. anyone with information is asked to call police. new video this morning showing a mountain lion spotting in san mateo. the security video was taken on king ridge drive. they say this cat is one of three in the area they know of. police say to watch out for small pets and children, especially at night. they also warn you to avoid feeding deer because it will

attract more mountain lions. 5:43 this morning, more evidence prices are going up and new worries that inflation could cause a recession. >> scott mcgrew, the white house points to other numbers that paint a prettier picture. >> there are a lot of good numbers out there. just last week we saw the smallest number of first-time jobless claims ever. americans are back to work, wages are up. the latest inflation numbers are horrific. prices are up 8.5% since this time last year, spiking worries of inflation. the white house does not see it that way. >> we continue to assess the state of our economy, the health of our economy. that's not a projection we have made from here. we believe that the economy is strong. we have created more jobs last year than any year in american history. we saw the unemployment rate at 3.6% last month. and we know that as we're continuing through an economic recovery that there are areas that we need to focus on,

including bringing down costs for the american people. >> a big component of this record inflation is gas prices. president biden will travel to iowa today to tell farmers he's going to allow more ethanol in the summer blend of gas in an effort to bring prices down. our bob redell will have a full report on that at the top of the hour. a bit lost in the news was biden meeting with indian prime minister modi about ukraine. india is neutral in the fight. it's an ally of both the u.s. and russia. india did not vote to condemn russia in the united nations for its attack. russia is using india as a conduit for trade, as much of the rest of the world slaps sanctions on moscow. now, biden pressuring modi gently, but with purpose. this is the chancellor of austria. austria is not a member of nato but not neutral in this fight. the councillor condemned russia's actions, even as he met with putin yesterday. this was the first western

leader to go to russia since the war began. so austria is not a part of nato, neither is finland, right on the russian border. as early as tomorrow, finland may ask to join nato. putin has made a lot of blunders in this war. he's been afraid of countries on his border aligning with the west, countries like ukraine. but now he's creating the very thing he feared, a strong, unified nato that's creeping closer to moscow. now, you've heard about this man, general aleksandr dvornikov. the easiest way to pronounce it is the butcher of syria. he's the new commander of russian forces attacking ukraine. he was in charge of the eastern region. there was no general in charge of all the forces until now. the white house says it's aware of claims chemical weapons have been used by russian forces in ukraine, but says it is not aware of any evidence yet. ukraine says much the same thing, they're investigating. we'll keep our eye on that. we'll be talking about

inflation numbers at the top of our 6:00 newscast and on social media, on twitter you'll find me @scott mcgrew. >> thank you. happening today, berkeley leaders voice their support for a state measure to redefine hate crimes. the hate crimes bill calls for the state and local authorities to provide clear definitions and response to say hate crimes. supporters say it would lead to harsher hate crime sentencing. it's meant to send a message of support for the bill to governor newsom and berkeley state lawmakers. san jose state university set to host a national exhibit focused on shining the light on mental health. 1,000 backpacks will be laid out on the campus to represent suicide survivors and those who have lost someone to suicide. as a reminder, if you or someone you know is struggling, there's help available 24/7. call the number on your screen any time. 800-273-talk.

that's 800-273-8255. you can also chat with a counselor online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. voters in windsor head to the ballot box. they're holding a special election to fill the council seat vacated in the aftermath of the scandal involving the former mayor. the vice-mayor replaced him and that opened up a council seat. today's election will be the first in sonoma county to be held under the rank choice model. two candidates are running for that vacant seat. the a's won't play their he home opener for another six days but there's apparently already a team in place at the sole see yum, a team of feral cats. the authorities say the stadium is being overrun with stray cats and kittens and the pandemic only compounded the problem. animal control teams are being called in to relocate or

hopefully adopt them out. there is a silver lining in all of this. the stadium is said to now have far fewer rodents roaming the grounds because the cats are doing their job. also trending this morning -- [ cheers and applause ] >> you can see friends and family in palo alto cheering on stanford cardinal women's basketball star, lexi hull. last night the indiana fever drafted her with a six overall pick in the first round. kentucky's howard was selected first overall by the atlanta dreams. >> nice to see. good for her. what an accomplishment. it's cold in the studio today. i think it's cold outside. >> we're starting out with some spots in the 30s this morning. so you may have the heater kicking on in the house just trying to keep up with these temperatures. take a look at where we are in santa rosa. that's one of the cold spots. 34 degrees, also 34 in napa.

you head over to the tri-valley, livermore, 38 degrees. it's 44 in palo alto. so we do have a chilly start today and not much of a warm-up today compared to what we had yesterday afternoon. concord reaching 62 degrees and 59 in los gatos. novato, expect a high of 59 degrees and 57 in san francisco. as the seven-day forecast comes up at the bottom of the screen, let's talk about the rain headed our way. right now some very light, spotty showers and also some snow in the upper elevations. that's going to start to reach into the north bay tomorrow evening. most of the rest of the bay area won't see any rain until thursday and it looks at this point spotty, but more widespread rain on saturday. weekend outdoor plans, but it will clear out for easter and we'll be watching to see if we can get more rain next week. as we take a look at our rain outlook for the next seven days, the areas shaded in red have

consistently shown that we could get over 1 inch of rain from santa rosa northward. yellow areas, about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch and less as you head south of the golden gate bridge. but we are seeing cool weather staying with us, as well as rain chances every few days. so we will start to see the rain returning to the north bay late tomorrow evening. scattered showers on thursday, highs in the low 60s. we warm up to more seasonable weather by the end of the week, with rain on saturday clearing out on easter. boy, doesn't that look perfect. 73 degrees and sunny. we'll see that continue into early next week while san francisco will see highs into the mid to upper 50s. vianey, any big issues for the morning commute? >> no, but it is getting busy. dublin, this is a live look. you can see at least the commute is moving. it is bumper to bumper in other spots. a quick look at speed sensors throughout the bay area. also noticing slowing along 101 in the south bay.

but i did check to see if there were any crashes. it looks like just regular morning slow spots. westbound 80, it is starting to slow down. westbound 580 toward the richmond bridge, seven minutes. westbound 580 from grant line road to 680, you're looking at about 23 minutes. no major delays as of now. i'll send it back to you. >> thank you so much. happening now, the great highway in san francisco remains closed to vehicles. windy conditions did not help crews working to remove sand buildup there. the efforts to fix the problem began last week and crews will be back on location again today to tackle the issues. there's no word yet on when it will reopen. >> fighting for our climate in crisis. >> you know, last year and the previous year were the driest years, except 1976-77, which is

unprecedented dry. >> next on "today in the bay," we talk to uc berkeley scientist about the dangers we are facing this wildfire station, amid the state's worst drought in decades. also, the action he says we can take to prevent major destruction. and weighing in on the war in ukraine, the brand new response this morning from former president barack obama. what he's saying about russian president vladimir putin. it's 5:53. you're watching "today in the bay."

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with a qualifying bundle. the time is 5:56. you're watching "today in the bay." today's climate in crisis, it's been a welcome change to see rain in the forecast. look for the overall drought picture, arriving a little too late. now climate researchers are sounding the alarm that wildfire activity may continue to be very extreme for the bay area. i talked to uc berkeley wildland fire scientist scott stevens about why his team thinks we need to prepare now for an active fire season. >> a lot of the years in the western u.s., particularly california, it's another dry year. it's not just one dry year. this will be the third in a row. last year and the previous year were the driest years except 1976-77, which is unprecedented dry.

so if we add another really dry year onto that kind of portfolio, we really are going to head into a period of challenge. >> what are you seeing in terms of how dry the vegetation is or, you know, what are some of those things that are really sticking out to you to signal this could be a bad fire season? >> you're right on the money, because what happened i think last year, we had the dixie fire. that was the largest single fire in california history, 960,000 acres. one place in particular on the west side of the lake, they did a burnout operation in front of it and consumed some fuel. and i was watching on the satellite and it looked like they caught it for at least two days. it looked like it stopped at that suppression operation. but then what happened was a lot of the embers were still flying out because you still have active burning, and when the

embers come out and they fall onto areas that are unburned, they have a potential to start a new fire. we call that a spot fire. what happened last year was the fuels were so dry that the spot fire probability was so high, that many, many of these spot fires happened and they eventually lost the fire because they couldn't catch them all. that's one of the big problems we have with this drought, is how receptive will the unburned fuels be to embers and sparks coming out and then really making suppression that much more difficult. that's exactly what happened last year in the dixie fire. so if we head into another year of drought, unfortunately we anticipate again probably the ability to have severe spotting potential and the ability of fires to move. >> and i know you study more of the conditions in our forests and wildlands, but what about conserving water and what role does that play in trying to combat the wildfires? >> water is certainly, i think it's actually the number one natural resource in the state.

i think a lot of folks realize that, because look at lake oroville and lake shasta right now. another drought year. this idea of water is going to be i think just amplified as climate change continues. we're going to see the predictability of water resources in this state get reduced because we're going to see big boom years, like the year when lake oroville almost got breached. it was right after a severe drought. that's exactly what climate change said, we expect more volatility in our average weather conditions. >> we talked about so much. it's such an interesting talk. you can watch the full interview on nbcbayarea.com. click on the climate in crisis tab. breaking right now at 6:00, soaring inflation hits a new 40-year high and from gas to groceries, the new numbers that are hitting hard for anyone trying to make it in the bay. we are breaking down what's being done to help your wallet. >> the white house is taking new

steps to bring down gas prices, but that may upset many in biden's own party. team coverage this morning of the price we'll all have to pay. this is "today in the bay." it's tuesday morning and good morning to you. thank you for making us a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. we'll get to more breaking news for you in a moment, but first let's check in with meteorologist kari hall, because she's tracking another chance of rain, but not today. >> not today. it's just really cold and still kind of windy. we are about 36 minutes away from sunrise right now, and as you're stepping out the door you may run back in and get a heavier jacket, especially if you weren't prepared for the cool weather and the snap we've had recently. we're going to see highs today mostly staying in the 50s around the bay area, with those winds it makes it feel even colder and frosty conditions again for