right now at 5:00, a stormy election day morning. the rain falling across the bay area. moving you forward with live team coverage on the areas being hit the hardest and the conditions that you should prepare for as you head out the door. >> lottery limbo. last night's historic nearly $2 billion powerball drawing is still delayed. details on the conflict holding things up and how soon the drawing may happen this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. good tuesday morning. thank you for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. right to our top story this morning and that is that wet weather. this morning we have team coverage for you. our kris sanchez live in santa cruz mountains tracking the downpour there and mike inouye tracking those slick road

conditions already impacting commuters. >> we noticed on our drive in but, first, meteorologist kari hall is tracking the storm. what's the updated time line looking like? we're seeing it now, the heavy rain around the bay area and it will continue for the next several hours off and on and with the south bay really getting the brunt of the storm hitting the santa cruz mountains. we've seen rainfall rates at about 2 3/4 inches per hour, so that will create a lot of standing water on the roadways and the poor drainage areas are dealing with the water just standing there. we're seeing it right there on 580 as well as the castro valley y and then moving up to san ramon with some intense rainfall that continues up toward concord and moving over towards parts of the delta as well. we'll see the rain continue for the peninsula, lighter for san mateo and san francisco but we're still seeing the heavy rain in richmond that's just now

starting to ease up a bit but moving to hercules and vallejo with some heavy rain right now. so off and on waves of this rain coming through. you may even be hearing some rumbles of thunder but a lot of the cloud-to-ground lightning is off the coast and moving in as we go into the next couple of hours so the storm spinning across the region. hour by hour it does show a lot of heavy rain throughout late morning and even the potential of thunderstorms so for now on more of what it looks like out there, those conditions. kris sanchez out live in the san mateo mountains. oh, i can just -- santa cruz mountains, thank you -- i can hear that rain. >> reporter: i know. it's been a busy morning for you already. i was texting you that i saw that flash of lightning and i heard that rumble of thunder as i was leaving the house this morning. and kari is saying off and on rain. here in the santa cruz hours it's been on and more on rain. i'll show you video we just got in to the newsroom in scotts

valley. the rain has done some damage. the intersection where it rained pretty steadily through the night. in san jose rainwater is accumulating in some spots and hit the top of the curb. if you have a storm drain near your home, you might want to clean it out if you have a minute. outages pg&e warned the storm could bring. the utility says the santa cruz mountains plan to bring in crews from other areas. so if you have power now, make sure your electronics are all charged up and ready to go and you have a plan to stay warm because we all know some of those outages can last a while. >> storm-related outages can vary in how long it takes to restore the power. it can be very quick, or, if we have circumstances like access issues, that can sometimes make it a larger challenge.

>> reporter: now, remember, power outages can affect your local gas station, too. try not to go too far down to the e. if you roll up with not a lot of fuel you may not be able to pump the gas. as we were driving out this morning we can tell you if you're a morning commuter, you will bear the brunt of this. it is sloppy out here. we saw some really serious ponding on the roadways. we saw some tree branches. we also saw chp staked out in certain spots ready to help in case somebody needs it. do slow down because it is yucky out here. mike, i think you'll be tracking all of that. thank you for being out there and they let me stay in here. this is what we're all dealing with, the blue all over the map. the maps translate that conditions like kris seeing to blue on the maps, standing

water, bigger puddles. be careful if the roadway is blocked by a puddle, go around for safety's sake. santa cruz mountains down here the bottom of the screen, 101 there's not only water but a crash blocking only one lane but it's jamming up traffic as folks come up on flashing lights this could be a factor in the south bay commute keeping traffic from getting up here until later. we'll track that. that is an issue. allow more time out of morgan hill, san martin. here are the conditions here in richmond, active rain falling as kris talked about. lots of rain hitting up here. it's coming through contra costa county and early slowing in concord. i'll check on both for highway 4. back to you. >> our team is certainly staying on top of this weather alert. we're tweeting out updates to help you navigate the storm. you can find the latest anytime on nbcbayarea.com and our free nbc bay area app. 5:05.

after months of campaigning, decision day is finally at hand. the polls in california open at 7:00 a.m. and will remain open until 8:00 tonight. voting for the midterm elections is already well under way in some states after a final push from democrats and republicans. >> "today in the bay's" brie jackson is breaking down what's at stake. each party doing all it can to rally that support. >> reporter: absolutely. we've been talking about this for months and this is now decision day, the big day. control of congress and president biden's agenda is on the line as voters head to the polls this election day. a fight to the finish. >> the choice between two very different visions of america. >> reporter: president biden campaigned for maryland's

candidate for governor wes moore and a plea for voters to ride the blue wave. low approval rating at 44% could weigh down democrats. rallying for republicans, former president trump hinted at his own political future. >> we are going to take back our magnificent white house. >> reporter: while looking to give j.d. vance a boost. >> this will be the year we take back the house and the senate. >> reporter: republicans need to gain five seats in the house and flip one seat in the senate to grab power. nine senate races are considered competitive including pennsylvania, georgia and arizona. across the country tensions are high amid election related threats and allegations of voter intimidation. officials are preparing to keep polls safe. >> we're monitoring any protests, any disturbances from activists or people that want to

sow any discord in the election process. >> reporter: there's enthusiasm to weigh in on the economy, abortion and crime. >> get out and vote. do your civic duty. >> reporter: more than 42 million votes have been cast already with millions more expected to vote in person today. the justice department announced it will monitor polls in 24 states today to ensure that no one interferes with the voting process. marcus, laura? >> so important. thank you, brie. an exclusive look at nbc's decision 2022 headquarters. that's where lester holt, savannah guthrie, chuck todd and andrea mitchell will help lead our special midterm election network coverage that includes a team of nbc news reporters spread out across the country covering the most influential and tightly contested races that will start for you at 7:00 p.m. right here on nbc bay area. developing this morning if you're holding tickets for last night's nearly $2 billion

powerball draw, you haven't lost yet, but you haven't won either. that's because the drawing is still on hold. lottery leaders say one of the participating state lotteries is slow to submit its gaming data prior to the numbers being selected. we do know california's lottery is not the one in question. the powerball has strict measures in place to ensure the drawing is fair. everyone is being advised to hold on to those tickets. no further tickets have been sold since the deadline. developments on the pending draw. ginger conejero saab will have a report in the next half hour. san jose leaders will designate funding for two city owned warming centers through the end of the fiscal year. that move is retroactive. one warming center located at the roosevelt community center on east santa clara street. the other at the west valley library branch on santo mass aquino road.

a late update on traffic conditions for highway 80 in the sierra. you can see at the top of the post traffic is slowing again. eastbound cars were halted early in the night due to spinouts. snow is falling at the rate of 2 inches per hour. snow showers are expected to linger into tomorrow morning. >> meteorologist kari hall has been monitoring those conditions out there. driving in, it was nonstop constant. look, ponding in a lot of areas. >> yeah, we're still dealing with that. while we get rain the sierra is getting snow as we take a look at the overall view of the radar this morning. still seeing a lot of action with this storm and it will continue throughout today with all of the bright blues over the sierra showing that snow coming down as we are getting heavy rain. as far as additional snow up to 26 inches for kirkwood and up to 14 inches for south lake tahoe and tahoe city but it's looking pretty good as we go into

tomorrow as we add up on top of what we've already had. wait for someone to let us know how much they've measured. we'll be keeping an eye on that throughout the next couple of hours. now here we see the rain continue where we see the bright reds and yellows by 6:00 to 7:00. and then some spots in the bay area lighter rainfall moving through but still a lot of activity here, and you do need to keep a close eye on what's happening because the weather could be changing fairly quickly as we go throughout the day, even the chance of more thunderstorms. i'll be watching out for that. we'll talk about the additional rainfall we're expecting ahead. mike gets you to work where you can find lower gas prices. you don't want to run out of gas and be stuck in the rain. santa clara county, mountain view as the pick city with the best at diamond gas and mart on east avalon avenue not far from the train station but not right

next to it either. $4.99. a bit off that area. looking at alameda county, royal on international boulevard is at $4.77 and the best on the board is vallejo here, the bottom number, national petroleum on main street, $4.69 a gallon. a lot of folks were inside getting the tickets last night. we're looking over these numbers, speed sensors at the limit. the blue highlighting, haven't seen that for quite some time. wet roadways and a smoother drive. still slow for highway 4. highway 37, early showing in many spots. a number of reports of some flooding as well, roadside or roadway flooding. watch for signs. slowing, possible changes in the winter schedule in place for capital corridor. b.a.r.t. announced they're slowing trains system wide because of wet tracks and watch for debris as well. safety is the word of the day. back to you. coming up on "today in the bay," look out below.

tesla investors worried about that company's stock. we'll go over the numbers. plus, step aside, paul rudd. people have spoken and a new man is named people's 2022 sexiest man superhero is receiving the prestigious honor. stick around. much more ahead right here on "today in the bay."

if you run a small business, you need the most from every investment. that's why comcast business gives you more. more innovation... with our new gig-speed wi-fi, plus unlimited data. more speed... from the largest, fastest, reliable network... and more savings- up to 60% a year wi powers more businessesile.t than any other provider. get started with fast speeds and advanced security for $49.99 a month for 12 months. plus ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card with a qualifying bundle. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan, i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now, i'm managing my diabetes better, and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know.

try it for free at freestylelibre.us good tuesday morning. at 5:15 we are under a

microclimate weather alert and heads up for the east bay. it's going to be raining but that may be ramping up to thunderstorms by 11:00 to 12:00. we will continue to see this activity over the next several hours. >> and we're watching the roadways. the berkeley curve. these flashing lights, we'll talk you through what's going on and what you have to avoid. good morning. happy election day to you. futures once again in the green with small gains monday on the market. nvidia says it has a new chip it can sell the chinese. it's not as fast, it's not as good, which nvidia says it's not restricted for export by the u.s. government. the big story is tesla. under $200 a share hitting a

52-week low monday. investors worry elon musk will have to sell more shares of tesla to pay for losses at twitter. twitter is a black hole of money. musk overpaid for a company that loses money. his money. tech commentator in an essay posted said of musk, quote, he has made himself king of a site that decides who is popular and become its single most unpopular user. he has spent an ungodly amount of money to make a company more profitable, making it significantly less so without really doing much. musk tweeted criticism yesterday at a new social app called mastodon and made a number of sexually themed jokes on that name. he later deleted the tweet. and the european financial services company allianz became the latest to suspend advertising on twitter. tesla says it will fix about 40,000 cars that may lose

steering after a particularly rough road or hitting a pothole. it's been able to make that fix to the car's software over the internet. and google's version of alexa giving control to the unit. you use the google app, parents will be able to restrict who children can call on the google devices and what songs they can listen to. you have filtering software but, remember, if you have a personal assistant, while it's not going to access a lot of terrible things, you certainly do want to watch what your children are doing or asking that personal assistant. >> of course. >> it's interesting, too, with google, last night i was setting an alarm and was on the phone with a friend, their google picked up my 2:15 call time. >> it's dangerous being friends with us. >> will text you, too. >> thank you, scott. >> you bet. all right, so trending for

you this morning, yep, you're looking at the screen. i probably don't have to say much to you. you are probably too engulfed in what you're looking at. trending from captain america to america's sexiest man. >> sorry, i was checking out the picture. >> see what i'm talking about. >> oh, it's my turn to read? a brand-new sexiest man alive, actor chris evans. "people" magazine bestowing the honor on the 41-year-old bachelor from boston. yes, ladies, he's single. evans tells "people" he's just happy to be part of the discussion. >> i heard next year somebody is in the running, not me, mike inouye. >> oh, they said i'm running after them and they keep running away from me. >> he's in control of the traffic, is a good husband and father. they say you're it. >> we'll have to wait and see. stand by. watch us until then.

i'm glass chris evans could get that affirmation. >> you have to work on the pose. >> we haven't announced the new captain america. >> hear it here first. >> tell marvel first. >> there you go. >> we're talking all things weather today, the rain coming down certainly affecting the commute as well. going to stick around for a while? it will be a while before it gets out of here and we may see it becoming more spotty but a chance of thunderstorms as we go into the next couple of hours. take a look at the radar where we are seeing a lot of reds and oranges, yellows. that's the really heavy rain over the east bay and down to the south bay as we get a closer look. we see rainfall rates coming down at about 2 3/4 inches per hour. that's right back over tamm bell where we saw just a little while ago so they're really picking up on a lot of rainfall here over the past couple of hours. as we move over to oakland, alamo and san ramon it is just lit up right now with still some

steady rain continuing over dublin, continuing through pleasanton as well as livermore and then also for antioch and concord moving over toward clayton as well and brentwood seeing moderate rain that may pick up here over the next few minutes. the rain is shifting out of richmond and up to napa. you can see the movement and where it's coming from and off the coast a lot of lightning strikes here. our radar picks up live lightning from cloud-to-ground. you may hear rumbles of thunder but that's cloud to cloud lightning and has been pouring quite a bit in the south bay. we are nearing two inches of rainfall and hayward measuring about three-quarters of an inch of rain. concord and antioch with the north bay seeing rainfall totals over an inch of rain.

take a look at the san mateo bridge commute. it is so sloppy out there. so you do want to watch out for standing water on the roadways that may cause you to hydroplane if you're driving too fast and also it's hard for the windshield wipers to keep up with rainfall rates like this. as far as temperatures today, it's only going to be in the upper 40s to start reaching into the low 50s today and we'll see that all around the bay area with those chilly temperatures and about the same tomorrow as the rain starts to tamer off. even on thursday as we get more sunshine those temperatures will stay low so we're going to continue to see more cool temperatures as we take it hour by hour we're looking at times of rain throughout the day and once again it does become more spotty but there's still that chance of thunderstorms through tomorrow. additional rainfall may reach anywhere from about half of an inch in some spots about an inch and a half on top of what we've already measured. so more cool and sunny weather in the forecast but we'll start to see the rain tapering off, a

chance to head out heading to veterans day as well as the weekend just watching out for a slight chance of rain on sunday. and, mike, you are seeing there's really a big impact to the commute. >> impact to our cameras. we lost a camera showing us you saw just before the break, from emeryville looking at the berkeley curve and we saw the flashing lights coming into the area. it looked like off the bay bridge there's still a disabled vehicle that i thought had been cleared. that rain causing an issue with our view as well as the roadways. lots of flooding reported in many spots either the outside lanes or just watch the off ramps as well. we're looking at early slowing for 37. highway 4, an earlier crash cleared into concord but 242 shows the slowing. that rain causing folks to slow down. that's what you need to do for safety sake. all around the bay, big slowing because of rain and the south bay, that crash, that spinout causing an issue into san jose. back to you. >> thank you, mike. okay. so you know the saying there's

better way to tackle a tough losing streak than playing in front of 18,000 of your closest friends. last night steph curry down to the stretch helped turn things around for the team. we'll be right back.

maybe this is the rebound warriors fans are waiting for.

the dubs off to a slow start. steph curry against sacramento took control at the end tying the game 107 after the dubs had been behind the entire second half. then a deep three gave the warriors a 110-107 lead. steph had a season high 47 as the warriors win that game 116-113. 5:27. the top stories we're following including the bay area getting doused by an early morning stomach. in some cases we're including strong winds with that. meteorologist kari hall getting us through that updated time line. plus, flu cases surging across america. the growing stress on hospitals as cases reach levels not seen in years. >> reporter: results pending, two words billionaire hopefuls weren't expecting to see at last night's powerball draw.

this morning we'll tell you why it didn't happen and when you can anticipate a draw. stay witus. stay witus. keep th ho

i'm karen. i'm living with hiv and i'm on cabenuva. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider. i really like the flexibility. and for me, it's one less thing to think about while traveling. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or if you taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy.

some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. ready to treat your hiv in a different way? ask your doctor about every-other-month cabenuva. with every-other-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. right now at 5:30, wind and rain taking aim at the bay area this morning. meteorologist kari hall is tracking the hour by hour time line for this storm. also, mike inouye is monitoring the slick road conditions you can expect to start your day. drawing on hold. no winning numbers just yet for last night's record powerball

jackpot. ahead in a live report the insufficient data holding things up and what to do if you are among the millions holding tickets. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. here we go. a wet start to your tuesday morning. i want to say a good morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. it is also election day. so many people heading to the polls, have to keep those umbrellas handy. kari is tracking how long it will last. it does become spotty and a chance of thunderstorms. we have video of some rain in the east bay, take a look at what drivers are dealing with. you can see it flashing up there. a lot of standing water on the roadways coming down quite heavily over the past couple of hours and still continues this hour as we get a look at the radar right now most of the intense rain over san jose moving over towards the east bay moving through milpitas.

rainfall rates at about .3 of an inch of rain per hour around the campbell hour where you see the bright reds and the same through pleasanton moving over to livermore as well as the east bay where we're seeing some widespread rain and over to antioch so that highway 4 commute is very wet. mike, you've been seeing spinouts. >> kari, i'm sorry i stole your radar. we're talking about the orange and yellow where more intense rain to the top of the screen, there was a spinout reported quite some time ago and now the slowdown builds from cochrane out of morgan hill. there will be wet roads and many on and off ramps watching areas like 87, overnight flooding. watch the under passes. folks are driving slower up to

kirkner. conditions looking more crowded and look at the water kicking up on the cars. we have to have wipers in good condition. pg&e responding to some outages this morning, more than 1,100 people without power in east palo alto. one outage knocked out power in oakland is now over. don't forget our team is tracking the rain on air all morning long for you. we're streaming on all platforms for you as well and on nbcbayarea.com. 5:33 right now. voters everywhere heading to the polls today and even more voters have mailed in those ballots. when it comes to decision 2022, some people may need some help in getting that vote counted. >> let's bring in "today in the bay's" bob redell who can help us out with that.

bob, go for it. if you need to get your ballot to your registrar, this is true for all bay area. can you drop off the ballot in the mail but must be postmarked midnight tonight. no need to look for a stamp. drop it off in santa clara county, for example. there are 100 peppered throughout the county and turn it into a vote center. more than 100 in santa clara county. they will remain open until 8:00 tonight. if you can't drop it off you can designate a friend or relative but sign the authorization line on the back of your envelope. let's bring in evelyn mendez. i wanted to let you know, good morning, there are a number of americans who believe the election was stolen in 2020. what do you say to assure them these elections are free and fair? >> all of our -- we will show

you every step of the way there's only certain people that have access to the ballot count room. there will be two people with the ballot at all times to make sure that the ballot is safe and secure. this is the law across the entire state. >> so far only 25% of eligible voters have cast a ballot thus far. does that give you an indication? >> it's actually 35%. a lot of voters tend to turn out. hopefully they will be out here ready to vote. make sure they turn their ballot in. >> anything voters need to know that might not be obvious? >> if you are dropping it in a

mailbox to make sure the mailman didn't pick up the mail for the day because it does need to be postmarked for today, received in our office by november 15th. >> evelyn, thank you for joining us. good seeing you. if you didn't register in time, california allows you to vote with a prosional ballot. it will just take longer to process because they have to verify your eligibility. i want to leave you with this, the elections office in alameda county launched a live stream so people can observe the ballot counting process. they did this two years ago. they are one of the few in the county to do this. >> thanks for the very latest, bob. we have a page on our website dedicated to helping you get ready to cast that ballot. the key races and propositions.

>> real time results at 8:30. go to channel 133. developing now lottery limbo for america's largest jackpot ever. when it comes to the powerball drawing you haven't lost just yet. >> the nation still waiting to hear that winning combination. ginger conejero saab is live in san francisco to he can plain the conflict holding things up. right away there's a hold on all of those tickets. people want to know why. >> reporter: myself included, the nation, millions of people, you said it best. millions of people are waking up this morning disappointed and feeling confused as to why that draw didn't happen. it was supposed to happen 8:00 p.m. our time last night. to the surprise of so many no numbers, no draw. tonight's powerball drawing has

been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols. powerball has strict requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur. late last night trying to explain even a bit more saying in part currently one participating lottery is still processing its sales. now powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to winning numbers being selected. what this means to the millions of players the historic $1.9 billion jackpot is still up for grabs. jackpot hopefuls a little more time to daydream about what they'll do with their winnings despite the odds.

>> odds don't really mean anything to me. if it happens, it happens. >> i don't think too much. just one line or two. >> reporter: i agree. california lottery leaders clarify it's not the california lottery that is holding things up. the multilottery association anticipated the draw will be delayed until this morning and the latest press release less than an hour ago have dropped and security protocols are met. keep your tickets close by. don't throw them away just yet. marcus and laura? >> give it to me. i forgot to give one a try.

it's 5:39 for you this morning. i want to talk flu cases. they've been the highest in a decade. some of the nation's hospitals are under emergency protocols. a combination including covid and rsv. it forces some schools to shut down. severe flu symptoms sent her immunocompromised daughter to the hospital. >> she lay down to take a nap and when she woke up was in acute respiratory distress. she couldn't breathe. >> the "today" show will have a live report from one hospital now struggling to handle the flood of flu cases coming up at 7:00 right after us here on "today in the bay." >> the bay area high surf advisory in effect with waves up to 20 feet.

last night a surfer had to be rescued. teens teams had to swim out. no update on his condition. this high surf advisory still here as is the wet weather. >> we see that continue up until 10:00 this morning. strong rip currents and sneaker waves. we do have to be careful as this storm system rolls up along the bay area coastline and into the inland areas and we are seeing quite a bit of lightning off the coast. this is not the day to go surfing as we see the potential thunderstorms going into the afternoon. as of right now we're seeing a lot of bright reds in parts of the east bay as well as the south bay. some flooding on some of those poor drainage areas and on the streets as you drive to work and then for the east bay we're seeing the intense rain continue over towards the tri-valley as

well as the delta and it's moving over toward antioch with some heavier rain over the next few minutes. hour by hour sll shows a lot of activity through late morning and it just kind of breaks up a little bit. still the potential of some thunderstorms as we go into today. most of the widespread rain happening right now but even for the evening commute the rain will be off and on as we go into this evening as well as early tomorrow. we'll talk more about how much additional rainfall we could see coming up. mike, it's just a very tough drive for commuters. there are many crashes. we're dealing with over 70 incidents right now and we know there's more activity out there. a lot of them reports of smaller roadway flooding issues, maybe outer lanes and on and off ramps. lighter but very slick conditions. some flooding reported nearby. the same thing for on and off ramps. down to 980 flooding is affecting your lanes and early

slowing and backups in both directions. blue highlighting as well. that blue highlight on our maps and look how much there is. that's where standing water is likely. that rain kari showed you, we watched on the radar and that's when we see the slowing kicking in, into el cerrito and out of rodeo, also through walnut creek, off the interchange and over to lafayette. 24 shows early slowing as well. we saw for highway 4 building up, earlier crashes and clearing. still slow and that rain traveling through the area down to 680 corridor, a crash down south of alamo closer to san ramon. folks in through pleasanton where the tri-valley builds up as far as traffic flow. look at that flowing south 6830 down into sunol. fender-bender should be cleared to the shoulder. i'm tracking as many of these as i can. slowing early for the south bay. that's early slowing and more widespread for san jose 87 and 101 and 17 coming up to the 280

interchange. i will check to see if there's anything going on because it's slower than i would like but did just see rain. the winter schedule for the capital corridor. b.a.r.t. is slowing for the weather and caltrans, there is a crash we're tracking on the crash out of gilroy. back to you. >> very concerning out there. thank you, mike. 5:44. next on "today in the bay," our election day coverage continues. marcus, one hour and 16 minutes before polls open. we'll take a closer look and everyt

good tuesday morning. at 5:46 as we head to the north bay we are under a microclimate weather alert. santa rosa 48 degrees. we'll see rain off and on throughout the morning with a chance of thunderstorms going into this afternoon. we're tracking how much additional rainfall we could see, and i'm just getting the tally how much we've measured so far. more on that in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. 280, the headlights coming north toward us as 87 travels to the south bay. we may have too much water already. we may have that highway shut down for a short period. we'll track that. some updates coming up. sounds good. 5:47 right now. california polls are opening in about 75 minutes for the midterm election. >> scott mcgrew joins us now. we know millions upon millions of americans already voted.

>> voted by mail. they already have. some states like utah, it's entirely mail-in voting. utah actually did have some trouble this year with a ballot maker. in pennsylvania democrats have gone to court to get an action to count mail-in ballots that don't have a date written on them. state law says people who send in the ballots are supposed to have a date. read all the instructions if you're going to vote by mail. in wisconsin a republican state lawmaker sued to block the county of absentee military ballots. this goes back to a concern that wisconsin's hurdles to get a military ballot are very low. those are some of the problems. in 99.9% of the vote things are working out just the way they are supposed to. mail-in balloting increases participation, more people vote. now not everybody likes mail-in balloting but keep in mind to wait until voting day like they want to you do in this pture

can be tricky. a big rainstorm today. nobody could have predicted when the sign went up there would be a rainstorm. fewer voters may show up. we'll see. a lot at stake today, which party controls the house, republicans need five seats, which party controls the senate, republicans need one. and 36 gubernatorial races including here in california and of course all those propositions. party leaders were making last-minute appeals. the president in maryland at bowie state university making his final arguments for the democrats. former president trump in ohio doing the same though he sort of stole the spotlight. >> i'm going to be making a very big announcement on tuesday, november 15th at mar-a-lago in palm beach, florida. >> one week from today. we expect several law enforcement agencies to move forward with their cases against

trump following the midterms which are, again, today. crews all over the nation. this is a live picture of one of the ballot centers in the nation. we have cameras, dozens and dozens of them tracking all kinds of things and nbc news will update you throughout the day. and we'll talk about it on social media as well. you can find mean at scott mcgrew. >> thank you, scott. 5:50. the future of our country is in your hands today which may be sticky when it comes to one giveaway. >> if you need more motivation to cast your ballot, krispy kreme offering one free glazed doughnut to anyone who casts a ballot. you are actually not required to show proof that you voted so you get a free doughnut. the company hopes this sweet promotion reminds customers how important it is to make their voices heard. so important there. >> a line to cast your ballot. a line to get the doughnuts. >> kari representing with the sticker. >> i voted. wearing my sticker proudly.

and i heard about the free doughnut. if they're giving away coffee with that, i am good. you need something this morning to pick you up, dealing with all of this rain. it's going to be one of those morning where you look out the window and want to get back under the covers. we do have to get this tuesday going. as we look at all the rain moving in, we are seeing some of the heaviest downpours over parts of the east bay and the south bay starting to give a break around santa rosa with san francisco some lighter rain but it is still dumping down in san jose and we've seen this for the past several hours part of the reason why we've seen a lot of standing water on the road reys as well as more impacts around the bay area as you move over to the east bay. we have also the gusty winds kicking up at times. this is a live look at the golden gate bridge this morning. as you're driving across some of the slick spots as well as seeing some of the gusty winds

increasing as we so far picked up half an inch of rain there. about 2.25 of an inch of rain. and more than half an inch for livermore, antioch as well as concord, oakland getting closer to an inch of rain. we see that in hayward as well. still a couple more hours with the widespread downpours even through 7:00 to 8:00. we do start to see the activity breaking up going into the afternoon but at any point we could see some thunderstorms, some heavy rain and maybe even some small hail. going into this evening it doesn't look as busy but there still will be the chance we could see pop-up showers at least through tomorrow. additional rainfall could reach over an inch. and then we could see another inch of rain for san francisco and oakland on top of what we've already measured. looking for three feet of snow

in some spots. most getting two feet of snow which is significant. after this we will be drying out. temperatures staying in the upper 50s and low 60s through veterans day. another slight chance of rain on sunday. that's about it. no big storms on the horizon as we look at san francisco, also that rain continues throughout today. mike, you are seeing some flooding? you've been showing that rain coming through and pushing up to the northeast. now we have a lot of slowing. speeds are about 40s as you travel north. no crashes on the northbound side for 101. that is good for safety's sake. 17 shows a lot of slowing to the 280 interchange. no crash reported there but i'm tracking that. it's 87 south. see the cluster of cars thins out on our road sensors and flooding reported. at one point fully stopping traffic at taylor as it goes under the taylor overcrossing,

water gathered in the area. watch the southbound side tracking that to see if they're going to reopen and if they're able to. sometimes there is an issue with the pumps clearing the water. the earlier crash has cleared but it is a distraction. the metering lights should turn on. folks are driving slower to get here. >> thanks, mike. happening now the national park service is considering its first-much restriction when it comes to air tourism in marin county. if approved it would cut the number of annual flights at the golden gate national recreation area by half. it would ban air tours over muirwoods. the national park service tells the marin "ij" it will reduce disturbances to wildlife. new attention to our climate in crisis, a unique way to raise

awareness for the struggling kelp forest and the threats those forests continue to face. tracking this wet and windy commute. live team coverage of the storm passing through the bay area. 5:54. stay with us. u're watching "today iyon

if you run a small business, you need the most from every investment. that's why comcast business gives you more. more innovation... with our new gig-speed wi-fi, plus unlimited data. more speed... from the largest, fastest, reliable network... and more savings- up to 60% a year with comcast business mobile. all from the company that powers more businesses than any other provider. get started with fast speeds and advanced security for $49.99 a month for 12 months. plus ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card with a qualifying bundle.

welcome back. you're watching "today in the bay." turning now to our climate in crisis, we told you about kelp forests struggling to keep up with climate change it warm ocean temperatures in the last five years is driving up the purple sea urchin population that feed on the kelp. the historical kelp forest off the california coast are gone. bank of the west is partnering with sea trees, a nonprofit, here in california to create a disappearing sand billboard. this was done in marin county and it leaves no trace on the coastal canvas. >> what if we just got rid of manufacturing altogether and we actually did a zero impact

billboard that didn't have any manufacturing of any kind but was still an impactful message? >> bank of the west says it's committed to sustainable finance and conservation throughout the year. they hope this disappearing billboard brings attention to kelp forests and gets people thinking of investing money toward sustainable solutions. >> our hope with marketing is people understand the role their money plays in climate and the help of the planet. people are very used to flipping over their yogurt and seeing if it's made with organic ingredients, if there's artificial flavors in their granola, or if their eye makeup is tested on animals. we want people to do the same thing with their money. where they put their money, what goes into the products that they buy whether that's an investment, at a bank, so people

understand what their money is financing. >> kelp forests are vital because they can store carbon dioxide up to ten times more than land forests and provide coastal communities from protection of storm waves. visit us online, nbcbayarea.com and click on the climate in crisis tab. >> kari, thank you. at 6:00, a stormy election day for you this morning. taking a live look outside you can see the rain falling across the bay area. we'll move you forward with live team coverage on the areas hardest hit by the storm and the conditions you should prepare for. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. good tuesday morning. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we have live team coverage this morning as the storm is moving through. kris sanchez is live in the santa cruz mountains and mike