flooded parts of the bay area. a lot of people starting off the year with damage to their homes and property. and check it out. this video out of the mission district in san francisco, if you can believe that, showing people literally surfing through floodwaters. streets turning into rivers. as rainfall in downtown san francisco hit close to 5 1/2 inches yesterday. it was the second rainiest day on record. >> the storm aftermath is leaving a lot of people with thousands of dollars in damage. you can see cars still left submerged in water in san mateo county. we're live tonight in some of those hard-hit areas, but for now let's get to meteorologist vianey arana to tell us more about what's coming. >> that was a lot of rain and unfortunately when it comes in all at once that's of course when we begin to see all of those issues. and i do want to take you through kind of a recap of what we saw for saturday's storm and how much more we could potentially see. live look right now at san francisco. it was definitely really nice to get this break from the rain but so far totals, notice, this is

from friday into saturday. some of the highest peaks in ben lomond, nearly ten inches of rainfall when you tallied all of those numbers up. mount tam close to seven inches. and you heard san francisco narly beat a new record high p. second on record. even down through rain-shadowed san jose over an inch. and notice in through oakland a little under six inches. now, keep this in mind as i guide you through when our next series of storms come down vs down because our water update is doing really well. this is good when it comes to the impacts of our reservoirs as we head into the spring months as well when it comes to the soar rah snow pack. santa rosa right now, we were at a much greater deficit but now take a look at that. pretty much we're almost nearing where we should be. in san francisco we are now at a surplus. in oakland a surplus of over six inches. and then down through livermore and san jose also at a surplus. santa rosa right now we're at about 91% of the year to average in the rain date.

san jose at 10%. 120%. when it comes to the average to date, i talk about the sierra snowpack. the sierra snowpack is critical especially during those spring-summer months when that sierra snow melt begins to melt and we get that filling up our local reservoirs. now, good news, we'll continue to see this break in the rain into the overnight hours. we start to dip down into the 50s. look at the cloudy conditions in san francisco. san jose as well overnight hours everything will remain calm with the light winds from the west about five miles per hour. overnight lows in the 50s. cloudy conditions as well for dublin. 51 degrees inching into the early morning commute. you don't have to worry about any rain. at least not for your morning commute. which is fantastic. but the rain does start to move in shortly after 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. that's going to be another storm system that takes us into the first week of january on an active weather pattern. so if you notice, i'm also going to take you through snow estimates because the next

incoming storm system, especially the one into the middle of the week, is expected to bring additional snow to the sierra. that's also going to cause more concerns as well for travel up to lake tahoe. so your windows of opportunity will also be closing as well. i'll take you through that in my full forecast. for now i'll send it back to you. >> vianey, thank you. damage from the new year's storm that pounded san francisco with more than five inches of rain are being seen today. some roads are closed like this pass on cesar chavez avenue. there are mudslides, road closures as people are trying to deal with it all. >> nbc bay area's kristi smith spent the day in the city as cleanup efforts got under way. >> the water start coming down the second part of the mountain which it connects to all our houses over here. >> reporter: in san francisco german rivas can't stay at his bayview home after torrential rains on new year's eve. >> the drainage that we have in the back, it was clogged. and i was trying to clean it. it was so much debris coming down from the mountain with the water -- the water, it was

really saturate. nothing you can predict that is going to happen like that. >> reporter: video shows the water rushing from the back yard near le conte avenue. four homes were damaged. they're red tagged. rivas described water rushing through. >> it wnt through the back yard, through the kitchen, my bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, everywhere and coming down the stairs. so in the garage it was like rain also right there. >> reporter: video shared by the fire department from another home on the block shows the situation, with water rising against a glass door. they say neighbors were helping alongside firefighters. >> if we allow the water to continue to come down and just back up to the back side of these homes, it was just going to fill up like you're filling up a bathtub or a swimming pool, and that dwoechbtly cause some structural issues and cause a

lot of damage. so we opened up the doors with the permission of the homeowners and flowed the water from the back yards into their upstairs stairway down the stairway. >> opened the door and it was a lake out here. >> reporter: over near 15th and folsom neighbors were cleaning up after rain filled the streets. for fritz clay water kept rising in his garage. >> i thought we would handle it because we've gone through this before. we've got a sump pump. i thought we were prepared. and it hasn't happened until yesterday. then it was just like no question. so everything now is wet and moldy and muddy and sewage water. forget about it. >> reporter: for rivas the family is trying to see it this way. >> we're still alive, we're healthy, and i hope i still can go and keep working to come up again. this is not going to stop us. >> reporter: kristi smith, nbc bay area news.

let's take a look at more of the damage that we have been seeing. we want to say a thank you to the viewers who've sent videos and pictures in to our newsroom. we appreciate it. this one shows a man in novato who had a tree come down on his truck. now, he and his dog were inside. no one was hurt. >> glad to hear that. and take a look at this. the alameda county firefighters tweeted this picture after a landslide that took out a massive chunk of that road. this happened on castro valley -- in castro valley on redwood road near the mile marker 8.2. now, the break in the rain today gave people time to assess all this damage from that storm, and for many it was worse than they first thought. >> nbc bay area's marianne favro was out in the downpour. she's now live in east palo alto with a look at the damage. marianne. >> reporter: terry, a huge cleanup job tonight here at this apartment complex on manhattan avenue in east palo alto. take a look at all of the mud here and the water. crews have been working tonight to try to pump the water out

after last night the flood waters rose so high in this underground parking garage that it crested over the headlights of most of the cars here. and in san mateo cars are still underwater tonight. a vivid reminder of the storm's impact. at least three cars remain nearly submerged today after water flooded this underpass at 42nd and el camino real in san mateo. jim garr baldi was here last night and says he was stunned to watch a woman drive her car onto the flooded street. >> she basically lost traction and it floated all the way on the other side and submerged. probably took maybe i'm going to say two minutes, three minutes. we saw a taillight and that was basically it for maybe a minute. and after that it went completely under water. >> reporter: he says he was in shock, fearing the woman might drown. >> i wanted to jump in. >> reporter: jim called 911 and says a san mateo police officer

arrived, jumped into the water, and rescued the woman from her submerged car. he says firefighters arrived and helped her get out of the water and into an ambulance. flooding also created problems in east palo alto last night when the san francisquito creek started spilling over banks, turning streets into rivers. water rushed into this underground parking garage of an apartment complex on manhattan avenue. tonight crews are using electric pumps and muscle power to clear the mud and water. but when brian and his family finally made it to their four vehicles parked in the garage, they were devastated. >> we had two minivans in there and two other sports cars, you could say. and we tried to take them as fast as possible. we did. but at this point they're totaled. >> reporter: at this home water seeped into the garage, leaving the owner checking for damage. >> it looks like furniture, maybe some drywall.

>> reporter: others are navigating mud in homes and on streets. and with more rain ahead they're bracing for a possible second round of flooding. in palo alto water levels reached near capacity, exceeding 21 feet at the pope chaucer bridge. and that forced the city to issue a flood warning. in east palo alto marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> marianne, thank you very much. heavy rain from the weekend that forced the closure of some san francisco parks. the city's rec and parks department announced today that corona heights park going to be closed due to a mudslide. also closed the randall museum, stern grove and pine lake, which is part of stern grove. no word yet on when those parks are going to be reopening. people across the east bay are picking up after damage from the storm, including at the oakland zoo. >> the zoo and its popular glow fair program are closing for a few weeks due to a gaping hole in the ground left after that

storm. nbc bay area's alyssa gord explains what it's going to take to reopen. >> reporter: the entrance to the oakland zoo at golf links road now impassable. where cars used to drive through, the road has caved in, revealing what the zoo described as a ten-foot by ten-foot sinkhole. >> this is not the way we wanted to start 2023. >> reporter: the zoo says this was caused by a collapsed culvert which connects to a creek. overburdened by all that rain water. >> the animals are safe at the zoo. that is the most important. >> reporter: zoo staff will continue to take care of the animals, but the zoo will be closed to the general public until at least january 17th. >> yeah, we had an outing all planned. >> reporter: these guests pulled up with tickets to the zoo's popular wintertime glowfari event only to learn the zoo was closed. >> i thought that if there was damage that they might let us know, they might have time to let us know. but i gs they didn't.

>> reporter: the zoo says they're still talking about the possibility of extending the lit-up event once they reop but right now there's too much uncertainty. >> we've got another atmospheric river event coming through this week. we have to let that rain get through us and see where we land. >> reporter: and the zoo says that everyone who had tickets to the glowfari event on the days that the zoo will be closed, they'll get a full refund of their ticket price. the zoo says they'll be working on that in the next couple of days and those refunds should come automatically, but if you haven't heard from them within a couple of days the zoo says you can reach out via e-mail. in oakland alyssa goard, nbc bay area news. we'll be tracking things overnight, see exactly when the bad weather returns. tune in to "today in the bay" from 4:30 to 7:00 tomorrow morning for your updated forecast. near sacramento residents were told to seek higher ground immediately before levees breached. water spilled over the levee wall in two places, near wilton

and sacramento county yesterday, and people who live around the river had just a few hours' warning that the levee was going to fail. sacramento county issued a state of emergency because of the flooding along the river. at least one man's death is being blamed on this storm. rescue crews search for hours for a man in a car they believe was swept off the road. when they found the car, it was underwater and the man had died. in many other cases first responders got there in time, rescuing dozens of people from the high water. >> we couldn't see anything. there was a truck that was ahead of us. so when the truck actually went through, then two other cars went and then i was the third car. and by the time i got to where i could see we had dropped off into the river area and the freeway was underwater. >> wow. harrowing. along with the flooding, power outages, about 45,000 people in sacramento county are still without electricity. we are following a developing story out of san

mateo county tonight. the sheriff's office is asking for the public's help in finding this girl right here. 3-year-old andrea flores may have been abducted by her father, victor flores enriquez. andrea was last seen on magnolia avenue in millbrae. she's three feet tall, blue eyes, braided hair. anyone who sees her should contact 911 immediately. a big scare today for a pilot who crashed at the watsonville airport in santa cruz county. take a look at this. the plane ended up like this. nose crumpled in the ground. its tail straight up in the air. as for the 73-year-old woman in the cockpit, she survived. we're told she has moderate injuries. expected to be okay. she was the only one on board. it's not yet clear what caused that crash. this past august another plane crashed at the watsonville airport. that one killed three people. two small planes colliding there while trying to land. the airport does not have a control tower to direct aircraft landing and taking off. an area of northern california already worried about quakes got rattled again today.

rio dell, a small town in humboldt county, was at the center of a deadly earthquake less than two weeks ago, and shortly after 10:30 this morning the same town hit by another earthquake, this time with a 5.4 magnitude. take a look at our seismograph. just as the quake was settling down caltrans had to close down the 100-year-old fern bridge in ferndale again for safety inspections. and at this moment there's no estimateted timime for w when o ththe bridgee will reopen. just 12 dayss agago rioio d was rocked by a strongerr earthquauake with a 6.4 magnit. it was followed by several aftershocks. two people were killed and about a dozen more were hurt. the shaking knocked out the power for nearly 70,000 customers. not quite as many today, but hundreds are back in the dark. pg&e says it expects to turn the power back on latate tonight. we are tra being all the shaking on our website. go to wbs quaketracker to track every single quake near the bay area.

it's updated right after any shaking. the 49ers celebrated the new year with a thrilling overtime victory in las vegas. it was wild. >> more on the win and the impact it could have for the niners in the postseason. anthony. >> they no longer share the bay area but they are still rivals. today the 49ers pull off what not many are able to do in las vegas. beat the house. brock purdy leading the niners to their ninth win in a row against the raiders. final seconds of regulation. rockie gould for the win. he's automatic, right? not this time. he misses the 41-yard field goal. so the game heads to overtime tied at 34. then the o.t. nick bosa imposing his will. he pushes the offensive lineman into the quarterback. that leads to an interception by tashaun gipson. he returns it 56 yards to the 7 yard line. yeah, robbie's not going to miss this one. he drills the game winner. the 49ers beat the raiders 37-34 in overtime. green bay beat minnesota. so the niners move up to the 2

seed in the nfc with one game remaining in the regular season. that could mean two playoff games at levi stadium. >> i think it's real important. our first goal's to get in the playoffs. once you get there you always have the chance for your ultimate goal. and once you do get there you position yourself the best way you can. we don't know until he we come in. but them telling us we have the 2 seed and we can take care of business-i know that fires the guys up. our playoffs started a long time ago. that's the way we look at it. and we're going to keep it going. >> all right. coming up, complete highlights. plus we'll hear from brock purdy. he was tested and he passed. and jarrett stidham, who made his first career start for the raiders, giving las vegas something to think about in the future. that's all coming up a little bit later in sports. guys? >> looking forward to that, anthony. thank you so much. and coming up, the first day of the year and the first day in office. the way the new mayor of the bay area's biggest city spent the first day of his term. and a rainy sierra.

we'll bring you snow levels in tahoe after that major dumping of snow from this week's storm. and we're in the calm of things right now. 50 degrees in san jose. expect to stay dry overnight into early monday morning before we see our next round of rain. how much are we expecting to get and what can we look forward to in the weeks ahead? full forecast coming up. stay with us. and water officials are keeping a close eye on all the rain too. how water levels at bay area reservoirs are doing after getting slammed with inches of rain. we're back in a moment.

take a look at this. some people kicked off the new year with an extra chilly swim. the south end rowing club hosted the annual new year's day swim from alcatraz today. swimmers jumped off the island at 7:00 a.m. the swim is about two miles long. so the fastest swimmers got to the mainland in about 25 minutes.

well, in san jose this morning it was a new year, a new mayor. former city council member matt mahan officially took office as san jose's mayor today. at 40 years old he's the youngest mayor in the city since tom necaneri in the 1980s. he beat out county supervisor sidney chavez in a close race a couple of months ago. he started off the new year by greeting first responders and dispatchers at the police department early this morning. he says right now it is go time. >> yeah, great, i'm ready to go. we have a lot of work to do. out on the campaign trail residents told us that they want to see a city that's safer and cleaner, want to see us get back to basics. that's why i wanted to start the new year and the new job by coming out and thanking our first responders. >> mahan officially becomes the 66th mayor of san jose. he is also the ninth mayor to be elected since the city started using the popular vote system back in the 1960s. before mayors were elected by the city council. well, some bay area families brought in the new year with a new addition.

we want to show you one of the first babies born in 2023 in the bay area. meet ezekiel laviolette. entering the world just six minutes past midnight today. born at the kaiser permanente medical center in walnut creek. ezekiel tips the scales seven pounds nine ounces. he's going to be a bruiser. he was the first child for mom and dad. he and his parents are reportedly doing well. new video for you. preparations for the rose parade. see the floats getting into position on the streets of pasadena. the parade is tomorrow. and gia keeps saying why wasn't it today? gia, because of a long-running tradition to never hold the parade on a sunday. >> okay. >> one of those floats sponsored by a louisiana travel group. >> this steamboat is unbelievable. it shows everything about louisiana. we've got the alligators, we've got the frogs, coconut and rice and flowers. it's just beautiful. >> and now you know about louisiana. >> now i know. >> for this year's parade the grand marshal is former arizona

representative gabby giffords. the parade starts at 8:00 a.m. you can watch it here on nbc bay area. >> look at that one right there. amazing. well, pope francis held the traditional new year mass at the vatican to welcome in 2023 today. ♪♪ the pope encouraged everyone to see the new year as an opportunity to do good. he also took time to remember the deceased pope benedict. benedict the predecessor of francis passed away on new year's eve at the age of 95. let's take a live look at palisades tahoe and check out what the storm cooked up. a lot of cooking. a beautiful start to the new year. tahoe got about three feet of snow yesterday. and at one point it was coming in at a record-setting pace. seven inches per hour. the snow is beautiful, can be beautiful. can also be challenging for ski resort workers. they needed a little extra time to dig equipment out of the snow before they could get some of

the lifts running. they got it done. the resort expects to have more lifts running tomorrow but another storm is in the forecast this week. coming up later this week the california department of water resources will conduct the first snow survey of the season. this should be some really good results. workers going up the sierra mountains on tuesday to measure the water levels and snow pack. this is video from the snow survey last april. kind of dismal. not much going on. this week's survey will show how much recent storms are impacting the california drought. i think it's going to be good news. >> for sure. a huge amount of rainfall was great for our local reservoirs as well. this is yuvus reservoir near santa clara county. it almost overflowed at the heart of the storm yesterday. reservoir gained more than 15 feet yesterday and is at 103% capacity. >> creeks feeding into the almaden reservoir are receding. the reservoir is spilling over. valley water monitoring the area. people who live nearby are

thrilled to have a full reservoir after years of low capacity. >> it's a good thing. and we're in a long-term persistent drought. so having a full reservoir's a great thing. the only risk is you get a storm like that you get some damage. but it doesn't look too bad. >> now, the water is also running the francisquito creek, the guadalupe river and other areas across santa clara county that are swollen with rains. one more reservoir to talk about, the lexington reservoir was at about 35% capacity on december 1st. last night it was up to 44% according to valley water. and today it was up to 55%. that is a rise of 6 1/2 feet. >> that's what we're talking about. we'll take you outside right now. a live look at san francisco. golden gate bridge. it is dry. boy, it was a different story last night. the city saw its second rainiest day on record yesterday. since they started keeping records in 1849. when the original 49ers came to town. more on the team later 99 in this newscast. anyway, national weather service

says san francisco's downtown gauge measured a whopping 5.46 inches in 24 hours, just a hair below the record of 5.54 inches on november 5th, 1994. again, before that you have to go all the way back to 1849 to see a comparable number. yesterday alone made up 47% of san francisco's december rainfall. >> wow. that is a lot of rain. you know, vianey, we were talking and marianne talked about it too, not a lot of people expecting this much rain. >> and that's the thing, right? during a typical rainy season this should be normal for what we see. but we haven't seen something like this in quite some time. in an average rainy season we get about five to six atmospheric rivers a year. but that varies. and of course scientists are looking into why that varies from season to season. but i will say we do have more storms up ahead. so we have to take a look at the timing and how much rain we're going to see out of these systems to come. right now it's really nice and calm. 50 degrees. we're taking a good little break from the rain. 46 degrees right now in san

rafael. but our temperatures are also feeling cooler as well. we've got 40s and 50s on the map right now. palo alto 46 degrees. san jose 50 degrees. not too cold out there. but it is about six degrees cooler right now in santa rosa. now, the first thing that you're going to notice into the overnight early morning hours moving in is a little bit of that cloud cover early on. we're going to start out our monday morning commute on i adry note. so if you have to leave early for work, anytime between now and the 7:00 a.m. hour, notice pretty much just cloudy. it isn't until about 11:00, 12:00, shortly after 11:00 a.m., that we start to see some of that rain moving through, really becoming more widespread. notice by about 1:00, 2:00 we'll get some heavier pockets of rain at times. but this is a much weaker storm system. don't expect the intensity of what we saw on saturday. thankfully, because we've already seen a lot of rain. now, we get a little bit of that break overnight on monday into early tuesday morning. now these breaks are critical and necessary because looking

ahead we do have a stronger storm system moving in. but let's take a look at the rain estimates out of this initial storm system. i mentioned it's a little weak. we're getting less rain. anywhere from a tenth of an inch to just under half an inch for most of the bay area. so not a huge rainmaker there. temperaturewise for your hourly forecast to the early morning hours we're going to start out pretty cool. then increasing clouds, 40s, a couple of 30s. you'll feel the dhil up to the north bay in the wind sheltered valleys. then we get the rain moving in around noon. about 3:00 notice our daytime highs maxing out only in the upper 40s and 50s. but here is what we're going to be really looking out for, and this is heading into the middle of the week. we get another atmospheric moisture tap. look how far this extends out. as far as the intensity, right? these atmospheric rivers vary as far as categories. it could be looking like into january 2nd we get a quick-moving storm system. notice that wednesday into thursday it could extend all the way again from portland down

into southern california, bringing the potential of an additional two to three inches in most of the bay area, maybe even four to five inches on top of what we've seen already in some of those mountain areas. it's going to be an area of concern as we look ahead. it looks like we could see even more rain heading into next weekend. the mid-week storm estimates out of that system, look at this. again, i mentioned an additional five to six inches again for the north bay, south bay. also more sierra snow. so expect to see those winter storm watches go into effect. that storm is already blowing in through tonight and tomorrow for the sierra. and i know folks are wondering about the drought. 81% of the state of california remains either under severe, extreme or exceptional drought. we could see some improvement coming out of the one that gets released this thursday. majority of our droughts actually get eliminated by atmospheric rivers but we're going to need a lot more rain of course to get us out of this one. but it will look good. hopefully we'll see the update coming into the upcoming week. and on wednesday that's the big

rainmaker right now. into saturday it looks like we could line up for more. also we're going to be looking out for that wind. remember the ground is really saturated. you're going to hear that a lot this week. that's what causes a lot of that instant runoff. >> and the runoff is good for the reservoirs. >> indeed. >> fantastic. vianey, thank you. >> a reminder during all this rain we've been getting download our free nbc bay area app. we're going to keep you updated as we gear up for the next storm and even send alerts straight to your phone minutes before the rain starts in your neighborhood. well, coming up, new year, new laws. what you need to know about a new gun control law. going into effect in the bay area.

wawait. you'rere a night m mar and mom m and birthdayay cake bakeker? so a adding “and” student mighght feel dauaunting. and mom m and birthdayay cake bakeker? natitional univeversity is h ho support alall your “ands.”

nationalal universitity. susupporting t the whole y y. oakland native anita pointer of the grammy-winning pointer sisters has died at the age of 84. she was the second oldest of those sisters who formed the group in 1969. ♪ jump for my love ♪ >> ya he. pointer sisters rose to fame with hits in the '70s and '80s

including "i'm so excited quoechl the pointer family confirmed she died of cancer yesterday. her death comes after her sister bonnie died back in 2020 at the age of 69. the younger sister june died in 2006. ruth is the sole survivor. new year's eve celebrations in times square. many are worried it is a prime terror target and as hundreds of thousands of people cram in to watch the ball drop the city has also taken security measures. tonight three police officers are recovering after a man with a machete attacked them. and while this is nowhere near the type of coordinated terror attack authorities usually fear, investigators are saying the attacker was on their radar because of his jihadist online writings. nbc's kathy park reports from times square. >> reporter: just hours before the iconic ball drop in times square a violent machete attack blocks away from the celebration. >> be advised we have a male stabbed to the head.

>> reporter: armed with this large knife, several law enforcement sources tell nbc news the suspect, 19-year-old trevor bicford of wells, maine, allegedly charged a group of nypd officers at a security checkpoint just after 10:00 p.m. >> one officer, an eight-year veteran, suffered a laceration to the head. >> reporter: police say one of the officers eventually shot bickford in the shoulder. he's seen here on a stretcher arriving at the hospital, where officials say he made a pro-jihadi statement from his bed. meanwhile, revelers caught in the chaos captured the moments after the attack. >> they shot him right in front of us. and everyone in the line dispersed like crazy. >> reporter: police quickly moved in to secure the scene. >> oh, my god! >> keep walking, go! >> reporter: tonight officials telling nbc news the suspect likely arrived in new york city via amtrak on thursday and had a backpack that included personal writings, terrorist propaganda, a pocket knife and $200 in cash. they say in mid december he was

interviewed by federal law enforcement after being alerpted by a relative. earlier today fbi agents searches his family home according to our nbc affiliate in maine. back in new york police say there is no longer a threat. >> we believe this was a sole individual at this time. there's nothing to indicate otherwise. >> reporter: a violent act just moments before the new year for a city already battling a crime surge. looking to the week ahead, governor gavin newsom will be sworn into a second term on friday. the ceremony will take place on the steps of the state capitol. the governor's office is calling it a celebration of freedom, democracy and diversity. the governor is also billing it as a peaceful contrast to the violent insurrection at the u.s. capitol on january 6th two years ago. landmark gun legislation takes effect today. in san jose gun owners will now be required to carry liability insurance. former mayor sam liccardo championed this bill. on top of liability insurance

gun owners will pay the city a $25 fee every year. liccardo says the goal is gun safety. this plan has been heavily criticized by some gun owner groups in san jose. they say the policy violates their second amendment right to bear arms, especially for low-income residents. and happening tomorrow after a two-year pause santa clara police will begin enforcing the city's permit parking program. police stopped enforcing it at the start of the pandemic. part of a covid precaution. the program requires you to have a permit to park for more than a few hours on 50 different streets in the city. homeowners started the program because people going to events at levi's and nearby restaurants were taking up all their parking spots. >> this is initiated by residents. it's not the city imposing this on people. >> permits cost 32 bucks. residents can get up to two permits for themselves and two for visitors. >> and you can find a full list of all new laws taking effect this year on our website.

that's on nbcbayarea.com. well, throughout this past year our nbc bay area consumer team was busy responding to your complaints, refund struggles, travel nightmares and more. >> that's right. consumer investigator chris chmura takes a look back at some of the big wins or our nbc bay area responds team. >> we're ending this year on a high note of gratitude. our consumer team helped so many of you navigate tricky issues. people like david in castro valley. he kept asking for an airline to refund his money that he was entitled to. >> we spent the next two years trying to get our money back. it was only until we contacted nbc that it actually happened. >> amy in pleasanton didn't get the basketball tickets she paid for or her three grand back. until we stepped in. >> so thankfully, nbc bay area responds was able to help me and

get my refund because $3,000 is a lot of money. >> and alice in mountain view who asked for our help after an impostor travel agent modified her trip to israel. >> well, thank you for doing this and your basic job. i watch you at night. and i said i'll never need that. >> until you do. it's our job. and we are happy to do it. and we want to say thank you to everyone who trusted us with their stories. this year we have helped recover or save more than $178,000. and since we started in 2016 we've gotten our viewers back more than $6 million. we're not stopping there. send us your consumer complaints. scan the qr code on your screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. and here's to more savings in 2023. happy new year. >> hear hear. it is dry now but more rain could be on the way. take a live look outside at the

golden gate bridge tonight. meteorologist vianey arana is coming up with your workweek forecast. also tonight we investigate the mysterious disappearance of an oakland priest who has been missing for years after being accused of abusing children. we're back in a mont. me

if y you run a s small busin, you needed the most t from every invevestment. that's w why comcastst busineness gives y you mor. more innnnovation..... with ourur new gig-s-s eed wi-f-fi, plus ununlimited da. more s speed... frfrom the lara, fastest,t, reliable e network. and more s savings- upup to 6a year on n comcast bubusiness mo. all frfrom the comompany ththat powers s more businins than anyny other prorovider. get starteted with fasast sps and adadvanced sececurity for $69.9999 a month for 1212 months. plusus ask how t to get up to a $ $750 prepaiaid card withth qualifyining interne.

welcome back to this special edition of nbc bay area news. i'm gia vang. >> and i'm terry mcsweeney. tonight we investigate an oakland priest accused of abusing children and then disappearing. for nearly four years our investigative unit has been searching for answers as victim advocates fear other children might be at risk. >> here's investigative unit reporter candice nguyen. >> reporter: the question all these years, what happened to father alexander cassisio. concerns about how the case was handled by both the diocese and law enforcement. and we reveal a letter by the

previous himself that has never been made public until now. january 31st, 2019. >> bold new revelations today involving the catholic church. >> reporter: the roman catholic diocese of oakland announces a high-ranking church official is accused of sexually abusing a minor. >> bishop michael barber sent out an internal letter to clergy members saying his secretary, father alexander castillo is on paid administrative leave. >> reporter: in the nearly four years since the release of that internal letter details from the diocese have been limited and questions about how long they took to report the accusations to police remain unanswered. here's what we knew right after the bishop's announcement. on january 30th the diocese says they informed castillo about the section abuse allegations and tell him he's being placed on leave. then early the next morning the diocese issues a press release announcing castillo's

suspension. police say after that press release another five hours would go by before the diocese first notified them about castillo's alleged abuse. even though clergy members are considered mandated reporters, required by law to immediately or as soon as possible report potential child abuse to police or child welfare authorities. survivor advocates say they're outraged. >> it's really suspicious. and they're not telling us where the allegation came from. >> reporter: then less than a month later according to the diocese castillo seems to vanish. the church files a missing persons report with oakland police. another week goes by before oakland police it will church officials that castillo, a native of costa rica, has been located somewhere outside the country. and that's where information dries up. castillo is never indicted or charged with a crime. bishop barber never reveals the findings of the diocese internal investigation. and according to the diocese, they haven't been able to reach the priest since he left the country. >> no. i don't like the way they've

handled it at all. >> reporter: tim steer is a former priest from the diocese of oakland and one of its biggest critics. the castillo case and the church's handling of other sex abuse scandals are on a long list of issues steer has with the diocese and its bishop. >> they've never been fully transparent about it. >> reporter: when the castillo story first broke, steer did some investigating of his own and got his hands on this letter that he says began circulating around the diocese. it's never been published until now. >> this is castillo's e-mailed letter that he sent to a few priest friends. >> reporter: steer says castillo's letter was sent to him by a priest we're not naming who works inside the diocese. >> and he's expressing his absolute desolation. >> reporter: the diocese and police never answered our questions about the letter or its authenticity and we've never been able to contact castillo after the initial accusation or since. but in his writing the priest says he's innocent. castillo starts by saying, "i died the day bishop barber told me somebody made an accusation

against me and i was put on administrative leave." >> he's in pain, a state of extreme anxiety and depression. >> reporter: he calls the situation a misunderstanding and writes, "proving my innocence requires a process i am not strong enough to undertake." he also appears to blame another priest for the allegation, saying "sadly, i think the mind behind this is a previous, who since his time in fremont was trying to manipulate people against me." he goes on to say the diocese "is treating me as a criminal" and that once you have fallen bishop barber gets angry and distant. castillo ends the e-mail saying, "i trust that our merciful lord will be the one showing me the compassion i couldn't find on earth." >> and there's nothing about the victim. now, he's saying that he's innocent of the charges, but he doesn't mention the victim at all. we still don't know where he is. >> reporter: and that's why four years later stier and other

advocates still bring up castillo like at the prs conference at the diocese headquarters this month where they demanded more transparency from the church. zblb at the moment there are so many secrets and so much hidden that you can't really trust anything that's being said. >> reporter: since 2019 we've been trying to get answers from police and the diocese about what happened to father castillo. the diocese has not responded to our interview requests or to our written questions we submitted weeks ago. but we did manage to get some details from oakland police. police say there were not one but two potential victims and the alleged abuse occurred between 2011 and 2014, somewhere outside of oakland and not on church property. they say those alleged victims never cooperated with the criminal investigation, which is why the d.a. didn't file charges. police also tell us they were never able to make contact with castillo before he left the country, though they won't say when or how they tried tracking him down. when we asked police if they investigated whether the diocese

may have violated mandated reporting laws, they said they never did. >> anything we learned about it we have to either learn on our on or we get it begrudgingly when they cannot hold it back any longer. >> reporter: on its website the diocese of oakland has a list of priests who they say are credibly accused of abuse. castillo isn't on it. and after our repeated requests the diocese won't explain why. advocates believe castillo should be on that list along with more than 100 other priests, some of whom are still active. with the investigative unit, candice nguyen, nbc bay area news. >> and you have a story for our investigative unit call 888-996-tips or visit our website, nbcbayarea.com/investigations. okay. time to switch gears and go outside in the sierra. a live look at palisades tahoe ski resort. >> three feet of snow yesterday. more snow coming down now. let's check in with meteorologist vianey arana for more on the snowpack.

>> we've got more on the way but i do want to provide a bit of an update as of today of where the sierra snow pack stands. right now at about 179% of statewide average, in the north 139%. take a look at central 187%. and in the south 209%. now, this will really matter when we head into april, which of course is what all of that melts and helps our reservoirs. of course sierra snow pack accounts for 1/3 of california's water supply. so we continue to see this series of storms especially heading into the rest of january and february that will be the key. i know they're going to be heading out there to do a sierra snow surhe vea this week and we'll see how that pans out. i also want to update you of course on our drought monitor because when it comes to the sierra snow we also want to take a look at what we've got going on there. now, it's important to note that what you're looking at now is the one that got updated last thursday. these get updated every week. so it does not take into account yet the series of storms that we got this weekend. as of last week 81% of the state

of california was under some form of severe, extreme or exceptional drought. we could see some improvement this woke. this gets released on thursday, following the most recent storms. as of right now it's going to take a lot of rain to get us out. 100% of california remains abnormally dry. typically, though, within a water rain year atmospheric rivers do an excellent job of helping us out of drought conditions. so if we continue to see this rain i know we don't want to he see it all the aonce and that's what's going to be the critical component heading into the week ahead. we're going to start out cloudy for monday morning. and if we get a weaker storm that moves in starting at 10:00 a.m. the potential for rain totals out of this initial storm anywhere from about a quarter of an inch to a half an inch possible for some of the high elevation areas. but the next big rainfall that looks like it could have another subtropical moisture tap with that atmospheric river push is going to move in in the middle of the week starting on wednesday. and that's the one we're going to look at clossly as it could dump an additional four to six

inches of rainfall for some of those peaks that have already seen over nine inches of rain. and i'm talking about the ben lomond area. up to mount tam. they've already seen over six inches. and as we inch closer to the middle of the week a couple of reminders. i know we've dealt with a lot this weekend. so if you weren't in town this weekend and you're going to be in town this week here's what you could prepare for. we've got more rain all the way pretty much through saturday. we've got a couple of breaks in between that will give you great opportunity including tonight into early tomorrow morning to check your tires. i need to do that. i actually had a flat this week. windshield wipers. allow extra time to travel. charge your devices. and of course sign up for those emergency alerts. especially if you live anywhere near a creek or a stream. we've seen those come up over the -- also we're going to watch out for debris flows in any of the burn scar zones near the north bay, the santa cruz mountains as well. expecting to see ahead into wednesday and early morning saturday. these are some of the things you should look out for. the good news is we're going to

have a pretty calm night. so you know, get a good night's sleep tonight into the early morning hours. and then prepare for what we've got coming up ahead. i've got a closer look at the timeline heading into the first week of january and how much more rain we're going to get coming up in just a few minutes. for now i'll send it back to terry. >> thank you. coming up, we all know about the iconic ball drop in new york city's times square. what about the big red shoe drop? we'll take you to the florida keys where they rang in 2023 with a very unique sbrax.

mrmr. box? i h had this idide. is it offefering peoplple curlrly fries, t tiny tacos, anand my otherer fan favorors inin one box f for just $1$? greaeat idea devevon, run wiwi! anand my otherer fan favorors inin one box f for just $1$?

that wenent well. my $10 f fan favs bobox is perft for sharining! as always the big apple rang in the new year with the iconic ball drop in times square but there were some other rather unique new year's drops in other parts of the country. in florida key west has its annual crop of a drag queen perched in a supersized red

high-heeled shoe. this is the 25th year it's happened now. 25 years. drag queen gary marion, also known as sushi, has been lowered down in that red pump for 25 years. as we mentioned -- >> this is what happens when the other shoe drops. okay. >> how about this one? west virginia rang in the new year with the city of mannnnington's f fourth annual t pepperoni roll drop. yeah. >> world fafamous. >> miniatuture p pepperoni rol. becaususe -- > why? >> pepperonini rolls i is known the ununofficial s state food o west virginia. there you have it. >> educational tv rightht here tonight, fofolks. four monthths into relaunching cult classic "quauantum leap's" raymond lee. the sci-fi adventure returns tomorrow night on be nbc. the warm reception has already earned it a renewal for next fall. >> i think we've done a very

good job o of seamlesessly kini meshing in and continuing the story that is quantum leap. >> "quantum leap" airs monday. that's tomorrow. 10:00 p.m. right after the premiere of "america's got talent all-stars." we're back with more news and weather after the break.

the bay area has long been the scene of many battles over open space. for decades one of those battles has been playing out over mount he diablo. >> joe rosato jr. shows us the effort to save one valuable piece of land from development. >> reporter: in the chaotic din of our concrete jungle a quiet piece of nature can feel like a refuge. in the late '70s the crane family discovered just such a piece of land in the shadow of mount diablo's north peak near clayton. >> bought the land. we were going to build on it.

>> reporter: the land became an escape for rosanne and walter rain and their two young boys. walter filled the pond with -- every visit was a field day. >> they built the rafts. they built the wharf. they were like huck finn and tom sawyer. >> the cranes took out building plans and permits, but somehow nature won their hearts. >> everybody loved it. >> reporter: not a single nail was ever driven. >> things happened and that's life. >> reporter: in the decades the cranes were savoring their land the group save mount diablo was quietly saving and buying other parts of the mountain. >> for you are o'entire 50-year history we've been working to preserve the main peaks of mount diablo and to connect them to other regional parks. >> reporter: the nearly seven-acre crane property with its spring-fed pond was long within the group's sights. >> this is what we call the missing mile of north peak here. >> reporter: then last year a

page turned when walter fell ill. >> he suddenly got leukemia, aml leukemia, and he passed away that month. and it was very hard. >> reporter: a hard loss led to an easy decision. roseanne agreed to sell the land to save mount diablo. >> so i thought in his name i would pass it on. >> these are not rich people. these are middle-class people who -- a teacher and an engineer. and they fell in love with this property. and ultimately decided to protect it. >> reporter: -- $500,000 to buy the site. the goal is for it to become part of the state park. >> just incredible for me to look at this particular piece here and imagine recreation and the history of that recreation in this area. the importance of protecting that for the future of our community. >> reporter: the deal protects the property from the kind of development that's claimed other properties just a stone's throw away. >> if we didn't protect it not only would it be threatened but

we would likely lose this amazing water source for wildlife. >> reporter: though the land is changing hands the cranes' story will remain a part of it. >> it was -- >> reporter: on all future maps it will be known as crane pond. joe rosato jr. -- >> i'd like everybody to have the fun that my family had. >> reporter: -- nbc bay area news. >> you know what? today my sister texted me and she goes, a picture of the sun, she goes, like nothing ever happened yesterday. >> i texted something similar. it was like a whole different universe. >> it's crazy. one system rolls out, it's like a little break in the rain. but these are crucial. that sunshine is a welcome sight. helps us dry out a little bit, gives us time to recover before we see our next storm, which by the way is going to move in on monday but the good news, this one is a little bit weaker. so not as intense. but it will be enough to get? rain going out on the roads. once again. so i do want to let you know what time it will make its

arrival. san francisco, again, beautiful night. nice little night of 40s. we're going to see some 30s to start the morning. temperature difference. we'll start to notice the cloud cover moving in early tomorrow morning as you head out early at about 6:00, 7:00 a.m. you don't have to worry about any rain, which is good during that early morning commute we're going to be okay. but then notice what happens around 11:30, 12:00. so right around noon we start to see the shine kind of move in with the yellows and the reds. pockets at times of some moderate rain in through about 4:00. and then into the evening at about 7:00, 8:00 the majority of that starts to clear out, leaving behind some cloud cover. and then we get another little break before we see another storm system roll in on tuesday. now, this one not a huge rainmaker. we're going to get anywhere from about a quarter of an inch, notice that green there, to a little over half an inch likely in some of the higher elevation areas as well up through the north bay and the santa cruz mountains.

now, your hourly forecast for your temperatures we're going to be okay as far as our overnight lows, though, expect to see some 30s early on in napa, 39 degrees, fairfield and livermore also expect some 30s. and then notice if i fast forward that to about noon that's when the rain moves in. we get temperatures in the 50s. but that system's going to be kind of north bay focused and then it's going to become widespread into the 3:00 hour. by then we're going to see the majority of the bay area with rain. it's going to turn cloudy. and then here's our next round of rain right here. you can see satellite radar really doing a great job of showcasing that plume of moisture. atmospheric river you might also be hearing pineapple express. the reason they call it pineapple express as a type of atmospheric river is because of the subtropical tap moisture into hawaii that used to be unique to the state of california but they've discovered there's actually atmospheric rivers throughout so that is now the more erick term. now let's get into tuesday,

wednesday. that big rainmaker notice it's more widespread and that's going to bring cause for concern because we've already seen so much rain that any more rain even heading into saturday and sunday, long-range outlook right now seven-day forecast very active. right now it looks like to the middle of january we could see storms. >> we keep saying we need it. you know why we say that? because we need it. >> yeah. anthony flores. some people say he's got the top story of the night. it was an incredible game. >> it was supposed to be a blowout. anytime you leave vegas with a win it is a great day, right? forget about 21. 9 is the lucky number today in vegas as in the 49ers' ninth win in a row. reaction from the red and gold after their thrilling overtime win against the silver and black. stick around. sports is next.

welcome back. i'm anthony flores. hey, there's a chance the road to the super bowl in the nfc

could go right through levi stadium. that's after the niners roll a winner in las vegas. check this out. the faithful taking over allegiant stadium. check out that sea of red. brock purdy making history. first quarterback in franchise history to win four starts, his first four starts. second quarter he connects with george kittle in the back of the end zone. on the other sideline jarrett stidham was balling in his first career nfl start. third quarter he hooks up with davante adams, the pride of east palo alto. the raiders had a double-digit lead but the niners rally. tied late in the fourth. jordan mason rumbles 14 yards for the touchdown. bag come the raiders. josh jacobs, nobody touch me. he goes into the end zone on the short run. game tied at 34. final seconds of regulation. robbie gould's going to make this one. uh-uh. misses the 41-yard field goal. game goes to overtime tied at

34. then the o.t. it's nick bosa time, pushes that offensive lineman right into the quarterback. the throw comes up short. tashaun gipson says thank you very much. 56-yard return to the 7 yard line. robbie gould is not missing this one. he drills the game winner. the 49ers beat the raiders 37-34 in overtime. green bay beats minnesota. so the niners move up to the 2 seed. philly also lost. if they lose next weekend, that means the miners could be the number 1 seed in the nfc. >> they didn't play perfect, but coming down there at the end, especially again that pick, i think it was a good game for us. we didn't play perfect but just to be able to find a win i'm real proud of the guys. >> nor what's to come i feel that was great in terms of prepping our offense, defense, special teams, just the whole unit as a whole. we knew robbie was going to hit that one. right when he hit it was like man, it was a good experience for all of us. defense did their part, offense did their part, and then special teams cap it off.

>> back to the silver and black. jarrett stidham joined patrick mahomes as the only quarterback this season to toss three touchdown passes against the niners. and he did it in his first career start. he replaced derek carr, who was benched for the rest of the season. threw for 365 yards. two scores. he did have two interceptions. but do i, he played pretty good. he didn't lead the raiders to a victory but he played like he belongs in the starting line-up. >> i mean, i spend more time with these guys than i do my own family. so you just see it close and you want to do everything you can to make those people happy. yeah, it's tough the way today went. but you know, i thought we fought extremely hard until the end, obviously. to the ice. the sharks ringing in the new year in the windy city, down 2-0 in the second. and san jose lights the lamp not once, not twice but three times in the last five minutes of the period. the sharks add two more goals in the third. and the sharks go on to beat

chicago by the final of 5-2. all right. getting back to the 49ers, they close the season next sunday against arizona. we'll keep it simple. they need to win. if philly loses they would grab the number one seed in the nfc. philadelphia plays the new york squliernths have already clinched a playoff spot. there might not be a whole lot of incentive for them to play their starters. >> 49ers started out 3-4. >> i know. a lot of people were questioning -- >> haven't lost since. >> you had a poll going, kind of an unscientific poll on your twitter. >> more confident or less confident after today's win. it's mixed right now. but a win is a win. >> we're back at 11:00. we'll see if he's confident then.

i'm lester holt. tonight on "dateline" -- >> he said lesley didn't show up for work, and i just went -- [ gasps instantly felt wrong >> we had to figure out what happened to her. >> reporter: she was an actress on "friday night lights," then suddenly the drama turned real >> hi, i'm here to plead for help to find my sister, lesley >> reporter: her sister and her sister's husband both vanished >> like, what if something terrible happened to both of them >> reporter: missing persons cases are not usually your department >> no, they're not >> reporter: but this was different? >> this was different >> reporter: she mentioned going underground? >> yes, she did. >> they could've both taken off, but it seemed suspicious our spidey senses were up.