right now at 5:00, assessing the damage and preparing for the next round. we're live on the peninsula where the new threat of a sinkhole is creating new concerns even before the next storm arrives. the impact it may have on your morning commute. >> plus, weather whiplash. a leading expert on climate change explains with even with the recent rain, california has a long way to get ahead of the drought. we're streaming on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. a good morning to you on this thursday. thanks for joining us. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we're going to check in with mike in just a little bit, but let's get a look at the forecast. >> everyone is like, oh, clear skies, we may see some sunshine

today. it's going to be hard to get through this thick layer of clouds we're seeing. look at how close the rain is. parts of the north bay up around ukiah still getting in on spotty showers, and that rain chance continues for them today. as we look at the system that is lifting to the north with some warmer air, we are going to see it returning as we see it start to dip back to the south and that atmospheric river returns as we head into the weekend. let's get a live look outside in oakland. finally, a dry morning commute and we'll see temperatures in the upper 50s. it's still breezy, too, with peeks of sunshine. we'll have some mild temperatures today and as we go into tonight we start to see the north bay getting some of that rain, very light and spotty, but heavier downpours arriving by about 7:00. coastal sonoma county, as well as lake and mendocino county, spreading into san francisco at about 10:00 and continuing with rounds of heavy rain and possibly even some thunderstorms

as we are going to have to deal with that once again. on saturday, heavier rain will be arriving. we'll be tracking all of that. mike, you have some breaking news in traffic. >> overnight the biggest change has been folks heard about one-way traffic control on 92. that's no more. it's completely closed and bob redell is going to talk more about this and related issues. the note is 280 and highway 1 currently cut off. you have to take the long way around. we're getting a break in the rain and that's what makes this re-route a little surprising for folks. we also know they have continued repair work for 84. another closure for highway 84. the break in the rain allowed crews to get out on 680 north, which should be clear now. >> back to you guys. we were going to say it's our developing news overnight, the artery linking the peninsula is now closed down.

>> bob redell is along skyline boulevard. there are those fears of a sinkhole there on highway 92. >> reporter: correct. and, unfortunately, this news only came out around 90 minutes ago. so you have a lot of drivers coming up to skyline and the closure and they're just fining out. this fuel truck has to figure out where they're going to go from here. our photographer spoke to a man trying to get to half moon bay to pick up his girlfriend to take her to the airport. i don't know what time her flight is, but she's got to find a workaround. yes, as you mentioned earlier this morning, about an hour and a half ago, chp shut down 92 in both directions between skyline boulevard and you'll have to find an alternate route to half moon bay. as you can see in the photo, there's a major depression in the road caused by the recent

rains. yesterday chp did two-way traffic in one of the directions, but obviously they're concerned the depression could get worse, turn into a sinkhole, and then impact both directions, hence the full shutdown. there is no estimated time of reopening. down the hill from us in foster city, more damage from the storm just before midnight last night. you can see a large tree fell onto a parked cherokee and ended up leaning against a church. and in pacifica we have good news, we have learned that teranova boulevard has reopened after a large tree took down power lines and blocked the road. reporting live along skyline boulevard, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> just a glimpse of the damage we've seen. we're going to need this day to clean that up. >> thanks so much, bob. happening today, more than 100 california national guard troops are expected to resume

the search for a 5-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters. this is a heartbreaking story. the 5-year-old and his mother were driving to his school in san luis obispo county on monday when their car became stuck in rising waters. rescuers managed to save the mother. ever since then, teams have been hampered due to the hazardous conditions. >> and part of st. mary's road in lafayette will remain closed this morning to allow teams to clear the recent slide. the road will be closed between rheem boulevard and rohrer drive. within the hour we should learn more of just how much of a dent all the recent rain is making in helping ease our climate in crisis. >> the release of the latest drought monitor will, no doubt, show improvement. meteorologist kari hall, when we talk about this, the answer that comes to mind, there's a lot to consider here. >> yeah, we know that this is what everyone has been talking about.

will all of this rain help out with the drought? well, let's see how we're doing as of now. now we are seeing across all of the west this drought continues and you can see all of the reds indicating that not only california is dealing with drought, but even upstream when we look at all of our complex water systems and how we even get our water supply affected by other states. but as we look at our state, well, 71% of california is in a severe drought, and then we're expecting the drought update to come out here for us at about 6:00 a.m. so we are, once again, expecting some improvement. but this his store rainfall is an example of what we like to call weather whiplash. climate change brings intense periods of rainfall as warmer global temperatures add fuel for the storms. but the question that keeps coming up, can you have both a drought in the midst of

flooding? did all of this rain wipe out the drought? the answer is, it's complicated. the west has been suffering from what's called a megadrought and it's widespread, lasting for 20 years, and a wetter than normal season will not refill all of the state's reservoirs and recharge the water table deep in the soil. all of this rain is helping, but a research scientist gives us an explanation. >> when it comes this quickly, we can't capture it. so a lot of it just runs off and doesn't percolate down into the water table. and it also depends where the precipitation is falling, whether it's in areas where there are reservoirs to store that water. but the long-term situation, you know, in spite of all the flooding you're seeing, there are still long-term problems in terms of the reservoir storage that have not been resolved yet and the groundwater situation, as i mentioned, is a much longer

time scale in terms of looking at recovery of the groundwater. >> we talked about so much, including how much of a difference the series of atmospheric rivers have made in places like lake mead and southern california and what it will take to get back to normal. we're going to post it online at nbcbayarea.com on our climate in crisis page. mike, you've been watching breaking traffic news. >> that's right. like you said, it's complicated. we're getting a break in the rain but dealing with what the rain has dealt it. continued closure for highway 84. we know about that in the east bay. highway 82, still completely cut off. now, that happened overnight, about 2:30 in the morning chp, caltrans said we're going to completely shut down 92 both directions. the traffic flow effectively cut off.

you need to take the longer route, highway 1 and 280 and a couple other connecters just around the pacifica area. that will be one issue to and from the coast. along the coast, right around pescadero creek, highway 1 with traffic controls, this started with a sinkhole that was developing in the area as well and crews continue to be concerned about that flow along the coastal highway, highway 1 at pescadero creek, there's also traffic controls. 101, golden gate bridge, by contrast to the slippage and sinkholes we're talking about, dryer roadways continue right now. the morning commute should be relatively smooth in major spots like the golden gate bridge and bay bridge. the sinkholes are causing reroutes, highway 2, 81, 84. just north of st. mary's college. back to you. >> thanks, mike. 5:09 right now. new snow continues to pile up in the sierra. coming up next on "today in the bay," a look at how the latest

storms are adding to that storm pac and a look at one four-legged friend soaking it all in. >> we get inflation data today. >> we get inflation data today. will the pri

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forecast coming up. the richmond side of the bridge to san rafael, you see some puddling still visible. we are getting a break, but we still have to deal with the aftermath of the storms we had and hopefully we can get some roadways back open for the rain coming ahead. good morning. very happy thursday to you. i want to point out just really quickly this bed bath & beyond number, up 68%. we'll talk more about that in a second. a big day in the financial world. we get the monthly reading on inflation. the cpi should continue to show good news. prices have been moderating for months, inflation falling for months, helped by surprisingly low gas prices. last month prices were up 7.1% from the year previous, far off the highs we saw in june at 9.1%. we'll get those new numbers just a few minutes from now at 5:30.

>> bed bath & beyond is going to close more stores. people who invest in meme stocks pushed shares up nearly 70% yesterday. you saw the numbers. this chain is in trouble. if you got a gift card from this store over the holidays, it would be best to spend that gift card now. the big store will close in san jose, stores in antioch and san leandro will also close. >> a new survey says american ceos think the recession, if there is one, will be shallow and short. the bay area has been hit harder than most places on job losses as small startups run out of funding. i spoke with one of the venture capitalists who fund high-tech companies and he says if your company is really close to running out of money, don't lay off. you may as well make one big last attempt to stay in business. >> i often get asked the

question, should companies lay off, and sometimes you have to. but when you only have two months of money, how much are you going to extend by giving up 10% of your cost? it's not the thing that's going to save you. >> karl alomar is managing partner of m13. he's our guest this week on sand hill road, which you can find wherever you find your podcasts. it is amazing how much harder the bay area has gotten hit. we have a very skewed view of what's happening in the american economy. the general numbers continue to look really good and then you hear people like me saying xyz corporation is cutting half of its staff. we live in a strange little bubble. >> yeah, we do. >> always have, kind of. for the last year we've all been paying more for groceries, of course, and now another store staple could be serving a blow to your budget.

last year you may remember paying premium for flour, bread and milk. flour rose by nearly 25%, bread nearly 16% and milk nearly 15%. the price of eggs has nearly doubled. here in california the price for eggs have jumped to $7.30. the usda says prices are going up due to avian flu outbreak affecting a record number of birds. one analyst says don't expect the higher price to change anyone's diet. >> when it comes to consumers, they love what they love and it takes a lot of price shock for them to think about changing anything in their diet. >> ahead on the "today" show, they will have more on when you can expect prices to decline at the grocery store right after us here on "today in the bay" at 7:00. let's take a live look at palisades tahoe resort this morning, where the snow keeps coming down. even more is on the way. the sierra could see more than 4 feet of snow through the

upcoming weekend. there's a possibility of whiteout conditions. snow already causing treacherous conditions on the roadways. mounds of snow line the roadways and nearly buried some of the traffic signs. for some who are not driving in the snow, a fun time. take a look at this dog on the snowy run with her owner. this was in truckee. mush, mush, mush! doesn't seem to mind. got that thick fur. keeping warm. the thing is, trying to get up there has been so difficult because you only have these windows of opportunity. i have this thing called work to get to. >> you don't want to get stuck. you want to be able to go and get back and the window to do that has been very small. but we've seen amazing amounts of snowfall there. take a look at where we are and how that compares to normal. the central sierra is at 228% of its normal amount of snowfall for this date, and the southern

sierra is at 269% of normal. and as we mentioned, there is more on the way heading into the weekend, a few more feet of snow into early next week. so we're also getting a lot of rain. let's talk about where we stand with our water year update. now, santa rosa has measured over 21 inches of rain. that's a surplus of over 6 inches. san francisco has had more than 18 inches of rainfall, and that is 8.75 inches above what we should measure for this date. and in oakland we've had 17, livermore has had 13, san jose so far has had about 7 inches of rainfall. oakland, 221% of our normal amount of rainfall. we're still not done as more storms come in. this one to the north is, for now, moving away. all of the rain lifting to the north. there's a slight chance that parts of the north bay could see

showers and maybe a couple of thunderstorms. then we start to see this coming back as we are seeing it waving up and down the coastline and we'll be in the target of the rain once again tomorrow, as well as the weekend, as the atmospheric river continues. and then the flooding concern also remains with more landslides that will be possible. the rivers continue to run very fast and will do so into the weekend as we get more rainfall. and it's also going to be windy, so be prepared for more power outages. we talked about additional sierra snow. hour-by-hour does show some breaks in the clouds, maybe even a little bit of sunshine for the afternoon. but then tomorrow morning here we go with digging out the umbrellas, getting the rain gear. you'll need that as we go into tomorrow morning, as we get the initial line of heavy rain coming in and gusty winds turning to more scattered activity. also, we may see some thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and heavier rain coming in on saturday morning, continuing through the afternoon, and also

into sunday as well, with some off and on rain. over the weekend we're looking at another 2 to possibly 3 or 4 inches of rainfall for the santa cruz mountains, and some of our valleys still also getting decent amounts of rainfall. early next week, martin luther king day, we're going to see a lot of kids out of school and it's going to be nice to watch the rain fall while sitting at home. there will be another storm system coming in. all of this is adding up on impacts of the flooding potential as well. on tuesday, as people are heading back to work and school, there will be a brief break. on thursday it looks like scattered showers come in. but, also, we see it fizzling before it gets here. that may hint at a change in the weather pattern that could lead us to dryer conditions by next weekend. so this weekend it's still wet, raining off and on, even some storms in the mix. and then on tuesday it's mainly dry, also most of the day on wednesday at this point looks

dry, except for the evening. then that leads us into some rain on thursday. we're watching all of this, the big headlines for tomorrow will be all of the heavy rain and the flooding concerns. mike, you're still seeing that impacting some of the roadways? >> yeah, concerned because that rain is coming. folks are getting some work done but they're not going to clear 84. they don't know when the repair work can be done. we're looking over here behind me, the altamont pass, coming out of discovery way and brentwood. a smooth drive across the bay, but we are looking at 92 itself between 280, the sensors are lit up again. it's completely closed between 280 and half moon bay, so you cannot use 92. you have to take a longer route up and through pacifica, along highway 1. highway 1 south of there around pescadero creek, you see here

there's still one-way traffic because of a sinkhole that's developing on highway 1 itself. so continued problems, rain-related issues. but right now the morning commute, contra costa county, that's all clear. next here, nbc bay area responds. >> lots of people have insurance questions during these back-to-back-to-back storms. we have

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welcome back. it's 5:24. the last couple of weeks a lot of video comes into the newsroom showing trees hitting homes, cars. >> you may be wondering if insurance will cover the damage so we asked consumer investigative chris chmura to look into it. >> let's start with trees. say your neighbor's tree falls and hits your house. who pays? your insurance. the insurance information institute says you should call your insurance company to get a claim going. typically that kind of damage is covered with a homeowners policy. it's the neighbor's tree, so perhaps you're wondering, why should i have to pay my deductible if it's their tree? it's a fair point. but you might get your money back. in the background, your insurance company might seek reimbursement from your neighbor's insurance company. in legal terms it's called subrogation. the iii says if your insurance company wins subrogation and collects, you can get your

deductible back. let's switch to cars. a flood can ruin a car, so does car insurance cover that damage? it can. the key is your policy must include comprehensive coverage. the thing is, it's optional. you can decline it and cut your premium. lots of people do. about a year ago the website money geek estimated 38% of cars don't have it in california. if that's the case, you're on the hook for repairs. >> one final car scenario, what about pothole damage? same rules apply. comprehensive car coverage is required for car insurance to pay for pothole damage. if you have trouble, you can let our team know. scan the qr code on your screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. >> thanks, chris. coming up, the stories we're following today, including recent flare-ups at the martinez refinery. the all new oversight debate now set to get under way in just a matter of hours. >> reporter: i'm emma goss in

marin county. the flooded roads have cleared up for now, but two new storm s

right now at 5:30, a live look outside. a small break from that rain. for many of us, it's a chance to start cleaning up. it won't last long. meteorologist kari hall has a look at when the next storm is set to roll in. >> the damage is widespread. south of the bare people are

bracing for a possible flood surge not seen in years. the new fears some neighborhoods may be cut off as a result. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. a very good thursday morning to you. a dry one expected at that. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. let's get you started with the forecast. meteorologist kari hall is tracking what we can expect today and rain is not a big factor. >> right, for once. it's been so long since we've had to say maybe even a little sunshine in the forecast for us, as we see the rain lifting to the north, still some spotty, light showers for lake and mendocino county. but the rest of the bay area, once again, getting a break from the activity. there's still a lot of rain and moisture pumping into the region, almost like a fire hose

condition, it's waving up and will wave back down for tomorrow. that means rain will be returning. at least for today we're dry. for the north bay, it starts early tomorrow morning with a round of heavy rain and high winds blasting in as well. by 10:00 tomorrow morning, it's covering much more of the bay area and approaching san jose. and then some scattered showers and even possibly some thunderstorms for tomorrow afternoon. we'll be tracking all of that and talk about where our reservoirs stand, our water year and drought. all of those conditions are going to be in the forecast coming up. mike, you are looking at highway 92. >> that's the change overnight. the sensor lit up a bit over here, they're blacked out. basically from upper 35, folks know about the turnaround point, but it's at the upper portion. as you come up the hill, that portion of highway 35 all the way to half moon bay, it's cut off completely because of the continued concerns over the sinkhole that was developing

yesterday. marcus and laura told you about that during the midday news. the alternate is highway 1 toward pacifica. sharp park is the roadway that connects the two. the rest of the bay, we still have a smoother drive. lighter traffic flow. of course we still have concerns for other highways, 84 and 101. we'll talk about that coming up. you were talking about slick roads. this morning in marin county roads are wet and slick but no longer flooded. >> yeah, "today in the bay's" emma goss is live. the key word, for now anyway, is the conditions this morning, how are they? that's the question. >> reporter: let me show you how dry the roads have become in a short overnighttime. we're standing on miller avenue near whole floods that was flooded just yesterday. how we can see it's completely

dry. take a look, yesterday we could see at this same location how flooding had accumulated and the road was completely covered in water. some residents stopped to take video of it and said they've never seen such intense rain and flooding like this before. in west marin, the reservoir still brimming with water thanks to these recent atmospheric river systems. all seven reservoirs around marin are full and overall statewide reservoirs have increased their water storage, too. and driving during these storms has proved to be dangerous. in the case of a ukiah caregiver who was planning to drive a patient from guerneville to redwood city, it was fatal. the 43-year-old daphne fontino was found in her car yesterday near forestville. her husband spoke with nbc bay area and said he's devastated. >> they came and knocked on my door to tell me that my wife had

passed away, she drowned, ten feet in the water. >> reporter: fontino leaves behind her husband and three children. this loss of life is just a reminder of how careful everyone has to be on the roads, especially as we expect the next storm coming in tomorrow. reporting live on mill valley, emma goss for "today in the bay." >> it's hard to hear the tragedies with all these storms and floodings. thank you for the latest. if you're planning to head up to monterey peninsula, authorities fear that some areas may soon be cut off due to the flooding surge. this would happen if waters take over highway 1 and 68. so during extreme flooding, the river can block access to the monterey peninsula. the last time this happened was back in 1995. monterey county's sheriff is warning everyone who lives or works in the area to be prepared. >> the monterey peninsula

residents and to the monterey peninsula businesses, you need to be talking to your employees, you need to be preparing for what could be the monterey peninsula island. monterey peninsula may become an island again like it did in the '95 flood. please start preparing now. >> river levels are rising and the national weather service forecasts the river to be at flood stage by this afternoon. and from school closures to road closures, and even those power outages, we are staying on top of the storm-related issues. if you haven't done so, make sure you download our free nbc bay area app so we can send you breaking news alerts straight to your phone. it is 5:35 right now. a victory for families in oakland where school district leaders will allow six schools slated for closure to remain open. >> "today in the bay's" kris

sanchez explains how the reversal happened. >> reporter: at first glance the school closures were about enrollment numbers, so you might wonder how there could suddenly be enough students to keep six schools open. the reason is that it wasn't a change in numbers, it was a change in policy. [ applause ] that vote last night was met with applause from parents and students and educators, some board members, too. the vote was to rescind the plan to close or consolidate schools nearly a year after it was initially approved. that ramped up activism, drawing a national spotlight and an inquiry from the department of justice through the occupation of schools. there were protests, walkouts, an 18-day hunger strike, and a one-day teachers strike. in the same span of time, oakland unified reearned it's positive certification, meaning

it can meet its financial obligations. between that and the election that brought three new directors to the board, there was enough to tip the balance. the director mike hutchinson who has been fighting the closures for years, literally had tears of joy. >> we have control over our school district and we've been able to bring all of the community together and reject this policy of school closures. >> i'm really happy and emotional that everybody supported us and all the parents and teachers that supported us throughout the whole entire year or months, like, if you supported us, thank you so much. >> so the schools that will now remain open are brookfield, munck and grass valley, along with korematsu discovery, horace mann and hillcrest. this reversal does not impact those two schools which closed

last year, community day school and parker k-8. that's the campus the parents occupied to make their point. we'll keep following what all of this means for the schools and the community. >> nice to hear from the kids there, too. thank you. new developments out of san francisco in a late-night vote. police commissioners have approved the controversial plan to dial back so-called pretextual traffic stops, stops for things like driving without registration tags or maybe a broken taillight. proponents claim officers use minor infractions to look for more serious crimes, including drugs or weapon possession. data show people of color are stopped more frequently on that basis. commissioners last night narrowly approved a new policy similar to the policy in cities like oakland, l.a. and philadelphia. contra costa leaders will debate new oversight in the wake of an incident at the martinez refinery. this happened over thanksgiving weekend. this is when 20 tons of dust was released, which health leaders say contained elevated levels of

aluminum and other levels. prosecutors are looking into possible charges in connection to the amount of time it took martinez refinery to notify the county a supervisors committee will debate a new oversight committee tasked with conducting an independent investigation of the incident and community risk assessment. it's 5:39 on your thursday morning. dry for now, but more rain on the way as we take a live look outside this morning. enjoy this opportunity to clean up, go for a walk, do whatever you can. because the weekend is approaching, and we look forward to it, but more rain is also on the way. >> yeah, and we've also been looking for opportunities to see all of the heavy snow that's been dumping down in the sierra, too. and you do have to check ahead because at times they have to close the roads and it's still going to be rainy and snowing over the next several days. so looking at south lake tahoe, tomorrow we'll see temperatures in the low 40s, starting out as rain, changing over to snow.

snow continues throughout the weekend, so it's going to be really tough to try to make it there or back. we're also going to see some of those showers making it into southern california. our temperatures start out warm for tomorrow with low 60s and then drop into the 50s as that rain moves in the rest of the weekend there. also, raining off and on in napa valley this weekend, so you may be also watching that rain just falling out of the window as you're inside enjoying it with some, maybe, wine, you know. let's take a look at saturday's forecast. we are going to, of course, be watching for the 49ers game, raining off and on, gusty winds, and it looks pretty soggy, unfortunately. let's talk about all of that rain coming in for the weekend. starting out tomorrow, it's going to at times be storming tomorrow afternoon, and then widespread rain continues. now, we know how it is, occasionally there's a little bit of a break or two, but overall the theme will be a soggy weekend coming our way,

and the potential of another 2 to 3 inches of rainfall, maybe even higher in some spots. so we do need to stay weather aware. mike, you were seeing all of this heavy rain is affecting the roadways. >> we have to stay roadway aware as well. the roadways are dryer, you might find puddles here and there. you'll find some sinkholes that are developing, which is why we have continued closures pretty much all around the bay. as we take a look at the peninsula, about 2:30 in the morning we had word from chp and caltrans that they had completely closed highway 92. no more one-way traffic control. you cannot drive between this portion all the way down to half moon bay, toward upper skyline. 92 between 280 and that point is open, but if you plan on connecting to half moon bay, you've got to turn around. the better route, 280, highway 1, and you know the alternate

when there's typically a problem. dryer roadways, but they're worried about a sinkhole that may be developing in that section of 92. over here, slippage, mud and rocks and repair work has to continue for that windy portion through niles. 84 still closed. 680 northbound, the paving work that had been going on, they had to take a break. they were there overnight and i think they're not going to be out there tonight because of more rain coming in tomorrow. highway 1, you see a little bit of slowing around pescadero creek because of a sinkhole developing. chp and caltrans are in the area. the dryer roadways are giving us a little break. back to you. >> we'll take it. 5:42. right now, demanding answers. the new developments in san francisco when it concerns a hard-to-watch video that went viral. the new update from the chief of police on that investigation and

the decision that will have to be made before any new action is taken. >> and a flame war of sorts in washington over gas stoves. a lot of it seems to be theatre. we'l take a look atl

we take a look at the radar this morning, a chance to dry out. we are still seeing clouds rolling by and the rain is just to our north. we will see some dryer conditions today, warmer temperatures, but rain is back tomorrow. so we'll get a look at that, as

well as how much all of this rain has helped, coming up in a few minutes. >> and looking toward oakland, where we do have a little break. 880, volume moving nicely northbound with taillights toward high street. 92 is the san mateo bridge and we'll talk about 84, highway 1, more coming up. new details this morning on an incident caught on video that triggered anger here and elsewhere. it shows an unhoused person being sprayed with a hose. you may have seen the video shot on tuesday in downtown san francisco. we spoke to the man with the hose after it happened. he owns a nearby business. police chief bill scott last night told the police commission the person being sprayed actually identifies as a man. and scott says that person chose not to pursue charges at the scene. but police are still putting a report together. >> a report was taken and the

investigation is happening, in addition to the witness that we interviewed, looking for other witnesses. we're going to proceed with presenting the case to the district attorney's office. >> scott says any charge would be a misdemeanor and an arrest would be sought only if the d.a.'s office issues a warrant. when we spoke to the business owner, he told us several nearby businesses had run-ins with the same person, but he wishes he had not acted out in that way. a tiff this morning in washington. >> a government agency actually proposed changes to gas stoves and now it's boiling over. >> some of this has got to be performative. there was a series of studies showing gas stoves emit enough pollutants to be dangerous and may contribute to life-long asthma. enough the average person may have said that science looks

solid, i'm going to set the hood on low whenever i cook. the u.s. consumer product safety commission suggested it was considering a ban on future sales of gas stoves in the u.s., but said it was still examining the matter. the president says he does not support a ban, the cpsc now says it will never ban gas stoves. but the reaction was quick. ronny jackson tweeted they could take his gas stove from his cold, dead hands. any ban, and there isn't a ban, would apply to new appliances, not old ones. just like when the government changed the rules on light bulbs, nobody came and changed your light bulbs. nbc is the first to report that lawyers working for the president found a second set of classified materials at an old office. they say they reported that find to the government immediately. one of the big questions still,

why did it take so long for the public to find out? the first group of documents was found in an old office before the midterms, but we only just now learned about it. there are a lot of differences between the biden situation and the trump situation. namely in the trump situation, the government knew it was missing documents, the trump team said they didn't have them, only they did, and they were found in a search by the fbi. but there's no question biden has lost the moral high ground in the minds of many, even if his case is different. a group of gop lawmakers calling for george santos to step down. the new congressman lied to the public and his own party about all kinds of things, where he worked, where he went to school. he said he ran a charity for animals that doesn't seem to exist. house speaker kevin mccarthy says santos should stay for his full term and let voters decide two years from now. >> so a lot of people here in the senate and others, the one thing i think, the voters who

made that decision, he has to answer to the voters and the voters can make another decision in two years. >> we're following everything that's happening in washington and talking about it on social media. on twitter you can find me @scott mcgrew. you know what we're doing this morning? we are wishing our very own mike inouye a very happy birthday. >> every single day on "today in the bay," you know him as our traffic guy that helps you get from point a to point b. to us, he's a wonderful friend and a wonderful father. >> talking about "star wars," one of the best dads we know. mike deserves nothing but the very best. we want to wish you a happy birthday. >> always smiling. >> isn't that the truth? >> i'm also always way too close to the camera. [ laughter ] >> you can go to his facebook, twitter and instagram page, wish him a happy birthday. remember this one, mike?

i thought i heard something. i knew what it was. [ laughter ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the stanford marching band. >> we tried. it's just a little too early. >> i have to represent uc, so -- >> i was thinking that, too. >> happy birthday. >> thank you. >> and thanks for choosing to spend your birthday with us. >> absolutely. i could be anywhere -- >> but here. >> any plans since it's not raining? >> i think i'm going to watch for mudslides. >> oh. happy birthday to you. >> you can have a different kind of mudslide on your birthday. >> i'm going to not cook tonight. >> good. >> we'll go out, maybe something fancy where you sit down and they bring you food. >> spoil yourself. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. okay, we're going to hold off the rain just for a little bit,

it's mike's birthday. >> thank you, kari. wow, that's influence. >> she's powerful. >> don't mess with kari. >> we've had a lot of rain. we've had over 21 inches of rain in santa rosa, san francisco has had over 18 inches of rain, and you can see the surplus, how much that is above what's normal. we've had 9 inches more than normal in oakland. san jose has had nearly 2 inches above the normal amount of rainfall. that puts us at 145% of the normal amount of rainfall for this date in santa rosa and more than double the normal amount of rainfall in dublin. trinity lake has a lot of work to do. we're only at 27% of capacity, but we are seeing the other ones making big progress. and so statewide with our four largest reservoirs, we're at 38%

of capacity. it takes a while to fill those up and that's exactly where the rain is today, heading farther to the north. we're still seeing the system spinning across the region. there's the center of low pressure. all of this moisture is being driven in and we will also be watching out for more rain starting tomorrow morning. the flood concerns remain, as more rain comes in, and also that landslide potential. the rivers are still running fast and will rise once again going into the weekend as the next storm system comes in. we're also going to see more wind gusts, as well as more power outages and sierra snow. so the next system coming in tomorrow will be pretty widespread, and also will bring in the possibility of more lightning, small hail and thunderstorms. the rain continues on saturday with some heavier downpours, and then a new storm system coming in sunday into monday will give us a soggy martin luther king day, drying out on tuesday into wednesday, and then another chance of showers on thursday. although the thursday system looks like it breaks apart as it

approaches, and that may signal the change in this overall weather pattern toward some dryer conditions for the end of next week into the weekend. so that's good news. we'll take all the rain we can get for now. hopefully we don't see any major issues. once again, we're watching out for landslides, power outages, flooding at least through monday, and then a little bit of a break with lighter activity for the middle of next week. mike, it looks like we're enjoying an easier commute for some. >> initial view, the bay bridge toll plaza, we're just seeing a backup. very little puddling, still some dampness and the metering lights were just turned on. we still have a few issues for highways around the bay. a nice drive through contra costa. near st. mary's college, concerns for the roadway, just above there to the north of the college because of some damage from the rain. they continue to do road work on

84 as well. niles canyon is cut off, 84 between 680 and mission continues to be closed. over here toward the altamont pass, the volume of traffic holding pretty light and conditions are great. on the other side of the bay, we're watching 92 that's closed from upper 35 toward half moon bay, so you take the longer route, 280 and highway 1. back to you. >> thanks, mike. happening now, nearly 100 state parks across california remain fully or partially closed due to weather-related issues, including collapsed roads, downed trees. that includes sea cliffs state beach where heavy surf damaged the pier and seawall. other fully closed state parks include candlestick point and the peninsula. we have a brief break

between storms. ahead at 6:00, from a possible sinkhole to removing downed trees, we are moving you forward with what you need to know ahead of yet another storm. stay with us.

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right now at 6:00, assessing the damage and preparing for the next round. we're live on the peninsula where the new threat of a sinkhole is creating new concerns even before the next storm arrives. the impact it may have on this morning's commute. >> and breaking news just into our newsroom, this historic rain is starting to make a difference on california's drought. but it's still not enough. one leading drought expert explains why there's still a long way to go. this is "today in the bay," streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. a good thursday morning to you. thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. let's get right to the breaking news. the weekly drought monitor has just been released and, yes, all the recent rain is clearly having a big immediate impact. meteorologist kari hall joins us now. show us what you're seeing. >> it's going to be very easy to

tell the difference when we take a look at last week's drought monitor to this week's drought monitor. keep in mind that the drought persists all across the west. this is not just a california problem. and even leading upstream for other areas that feed water into california are still seeing a drought. but we've had a lot of storms and we are at 71% of california in a severe drought, but now with the update, 46% of california is in a drought. take a look at the red. it disappeared. that was the extreme to exceptional drought that has now been taken out of our drought status, and we haven't seen conditions this good in terms of the drought monitor since 2019. so it's been years. so this historic rainfall is an example of what we like to call weather whiplash. climate change fuels intense droughts, but also periods of intense rainfall as warmer global temperatures add fuel to