conditions this morning as rain falls across the bay area. it comes just after that partial collapse of the wharf in santa cruz. we'reracking the

forecast this christmas eve. plus breaking news. american airlines lifting a ground stop that had all flights in the u.s. grounded. we'll have more on that story coming up. and a good morning to you on this christmas eve. i'm marcus washington, and i'm kira klapper filling in for laura garcia. we will get to that breaking news in just a moment. but first we begin with that rain and the partial collapse of the santa cruz wharf due to some incredibly large and powerful surf yesterday. the waves yesterday afternoon, demolishing about 150 yards of the farthest end of the pier, sending three workers into the water below. lifeguards were able to rescue them. the collapse happened in the middle of a large scale repair effort in that same area of the wharf, due to the previous storms that hit it, the wharf is now closed indefinitely. as for the

powerful surf, you can see how the waves were pounding the nearby santa cruz harbor, even dislodging some of the boats docked there. one boat even overturned. the heavy surf is being tied to a drowning death at sunset state beach, where a man became trapped under debris prior to the wharf collapse. our bob redell will have more from santa cruz in our next half hour. i want to give you a live look outside for you this morning across the bay area. new round of rain moved into the bay area ovevernight.t probably woke you up like it did me. we are once again in that microclimate weather alert. i want to turn now to meteorologist kari hall. she has a first look at those conditions right now. what are we looking at, kari? we're still looking at the coastal flood warning and the high surf advisory. and we are still seeing some of those waves, anywhere from 20ft in santa cruz to about 13ft off the coast, as well as 15ft for bodega bay. this has been extended until

6:00 this evening. originally, it was set to expire earlier, but it pushed it back to a little bit farther in the day, as we could still see some of those dangerous conditions continue as this storm system moves through the bay area, we are seeing some widespread rain and still some heavy rain off the coast that's going to be moving in. but when we got that initial line of the showers arriving in the bay area, it came along with some high winds. so with that, we saw some trees coming down and a lot of things being blown across the roadways. so not only are we seeing some heavy rain and some puddles on the roads, but you also need to navigate around any branches that may have fallen or things like that that may be blocking the commute. this morning, as we take a look at the east bay, dublin seeing some heavy rain, but it will be making its way back to brentwood within the next few hours. and then for the south bay, a steady rain coming down and that's going to continue for a little while longer. we're going to see this weather system continuing to bring in some very soggy

conditions for the first part of our christmas eve, but then as we go throughout the rest of the recast, we'll take a break before that next system off the coast comes in. so a great weather resource for you as the storm rolls in is our free nbc bay area app. you can just scan the qr code on your screen to download, and you can get access to stormranger scans and weather alerts. it works wherever you're here or if you're traveling. and mike, we have a tree blocking 92. yeah, not just branches, but branches and trunk across all of westbound 92. that takes you from 101 over to 280 heading toward half moon bay. again, that whole direction is blocked by a tree down. no word on when they expect to even open one lane. one lane eastbound is also blocked. that means the tree is extended over the center divider and sticking out into the fast lane of east 92. the reason for some more slowing hillsdale boulevard is your alternate, which is to the south, and that will take you east west major roadway through this portion of the bay. as we look at the rest of the bay, i'm trying to show you the rest of the bay, but my

maps are frozen. so that's another thing that's impacting not by the storm, but by waking up. there's a crash on 680. we'll talk about sunol coming up. there we go. back to you. all right. it's still early, mike. all right. we'll see you soon. thanks. we begin with that breaking news this morning. american airlines flights disrupted across the country. the faa said american requested a ground stop for all of its flights. we want to take you to that live. look at sfo. american airlines operates out of terminal one. but as we mentioned, just about four minutes ago, that grounund stop was lifted. it originally was issued due to a technical issue. we have a crew at sfo tracking any impact to the holiday travel. be sure to stick with us on today in the bay for any updates. happening today. hundreds of san francisco hotel workers could finally call an end to their three month long strike. about 900 union workers will vote on a new contract later this morning. it will take a two thirds vote to ratify this new deal struck between union and hilton negotiators to end that strike, which is now

approaching 100 days. voters will begin. the union began at the union's offices on golden gate avenue at 10:00 this morning, and will go until about 3:00 this afternoon. so that means members and the hotels should know whether this strike is over before christmas. union leadership talked to us just before this latest agreement was hammered out at hilton. it's a great contract. we're really excited that we've set a new standard here. it's time for this hotel to do the right thing also. we did reach out to hilton hotels for comment during the negotiations, but they have not responded. deals were already struck between the union and hyatt and marriott hotels, and nearly 2000 workers returned to their jobs. the salvation army in san francisco is moving forward with christmas deliveries, even after thieves tried to thwart the organization's good work just yesterday. thieves stole two car batteries from a salvation army delivery trucks that were parked inside a gated lot. the

charitable organization is now trying to get replacement batteries by tomorrow, but those will cost up to $800 each to replace. it certainly set things back a bit. we've we've got a pretty tight timeline in order to be able to, to serve this many people. and so we've, you know, we've got great folks, good volunteers, good staff who are able to help, you know, make, make us get across the finish line. but it slowed things down more than anything. it's just disheartening to know that folks would would try and steal from an organization that's trying to do so many great things, especially at this time of year. the salvation army says donations are down and the need across the bay area is up this year. when we spoke with them, they also said they are in need of more volunteer delivery drivers to deliver thousands of meals to seniors across the city, both today and tomorrow. if you'd like to help, you can sign up on the salvation army's website. well, still no update on the identities or conditions of five people injured when two chairs collided on the high

speed lift at tahoe's heavenly ski resort. this sent skiers plunging 30ft to the ground. it happened yesterday morning on heavenly's comet express chairlift. photos show the chairs squashed together and the emergency response on the ground. now, witnesses say one of the chairs came loose and slid between. excuse me. slid backward into another. we actually spoke on the phone with one woman who says that she was on that same lift some ten minutes earlier. as we were getting up in the air, we could see about 15. quite a few emt or all the medics that were there surrounding someone. and my husband did notice the backpack hanging from the chair lift. we were just on that. so thankfully that wasn't us. so. and i said out loud, i'm like, i can't even think about that because that'll make me not want to ski anymore. now that chairlift is closed indefinitely, the resort did not issue an update on the victims, but did say in part, quote, the

safety of our guests is our top priority and the resort is investigating the incident. eight past the hour right now. taking a live look christmas in the park in downtown san jose. and you can see that wet, wet pavement out there. we're going to check in with meteorologist kari hall right now. it was one of those really sloppy drives in where, like, it wasn't heavy rain, but there was so much of it. yeah. and then if you get behind a truck, it's splashing water. makes it hard to see. and hopefully everyone just allows some extra time to get to work this morning. if you are working, there's not as much travel travelers out there early this morning, but the conditions are very dangerous. and so we're seeing this weather system coming through. it's mainly during the morning. we will see the biggest impact. and it was for us who are drivinguring the overnight hours. but by 8:00 we're already seeing some clearing in the north bay. and then by 8:00 ■it's still coming down for san jose to livermore

with the heavy rain, but then you can see it tapering off to some very spotty activity by this evening. it is looking much nicer, even most likely a beautiful sunset, but we could see some fog settling in tomorrow morning. and then the next round of rain comes in on thursday morning with some spotty activity there, but then some heavier rainfall picking up late on thursday night. so we are going to see more storm systems coming in before the week is done. i'll be tracking that and we'll talk about the impacts coming up as of now. mike, before you hit the road, you may want to find some lower gas prices. there we go. we'll try to help out. no longer best in the state, but still the best in alameda county. we'll call out livermore's marathon duo, the lowest at 3.471 homes, one in south livermore avenue, and the other prices are about there in the same range. now, vallejo has the best in solano county. it's 3.59 at national petroleum on springs road, and at the bottom, the last price is down in the south bay. the low is sunnyvale 3.63 at great gas on matilda avenue. go to gagasbuddy.c. track it

throughout the holidays. even if you're traveling around town, it helps you find your best deal getting on the roadway. we'll talk about travel. the green highlight indicates wet roadways all over the bay. kira was talking about how it's kind of sloppy out there, and that is the factor as folks are traveling through the area that i mess up on my computer again. my goodness. all right. we're going to run over and show you traffic flowing. i want to point out all the crashes. and there is one issue going on as far as the slowdown in sunol. here are a number of crashes. the number of spinouts reported in oakland earlier. those have mostly cleared from 880 and it's north 680 where we still have two lanes blocked heading up toward andrade, and i'll do some computer tech support. we'll be back in a minute. you know, mike, it's just nice that i'm not the only one slow to wake up this morning. 11 past the hour. big changes in the works for fisherman's wharf, but not without some blowback. the growing opposition to a planned major renovation. and a live look for you this morning. santa and his reindeer, already hard at work, where they are already this christmas. it looks like

they're over the island of san vicente. oh, yeah. hey. yeah. we're going to take a look at that and help keep track of the progress and the process ts morning.hi

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it is 514 and as we start out, we are under a microclimate weather alert. this morning in morgan hill it is 52 degrees and we're looking at some heavy rain

coming through. the rain will be with us at least into the noon hour, and then we'll start to see rain chances decreasing as temperatures drop, the cold front moving through as we speak. we'll talk more about this and the next storm system arriving coming up in a few minutes. yeah, we're looking at the berkeley pier with these tail lights. notice how they're jamming up just past 880, getting over toward the bay bridge, right near that interchange. an overturned truck blocks only one lane, but it is a slower drive already in that portion of the bay. also still tracking the closure for westbound 92 through san mateo. we'll have both updates coming up. good morning. wall street is set for a mixed open after the markets kicked off the holiday shortened week in the green, with stocks getting a late day boost to close higher. led by tech and chip names. the dow risi for a third straight day. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq posting back to back gains. and today is the traditional start

of that so-called santa claus rally, which is the last five trading days of december and the first two of january, now since 1969. the s&p 500 has posted an average gain of 1.3% during that period. and a reminder that markets do close early today for christmas eve at 1 p.m. eastern. airlines are bracing for their busiest christmas season as millions of passengers take to the skies, with trade group airlines for america expecting a record 54 million people to fly between december 19th and january 6th. now, u.s. airlines are offering 140,000 more seats each day than they did during the holidays last year. orlando, las vegas, cancun, fort lauderdale and honolulu are the most popular destinaons. elon musk's ai startup says it's raised $6 billion in the latest round of funding, valuing the company at more than $40 billion. x ai says the money will likely go towards p producs and infrastructure, such as its grok ai model and a

multi-billion dollar supercomputer site in tennessee. x ai is currently training the newest version of grok, which isn't yet available to the public. with your cnbc morning business. report, i'm silvana henao. thanks, silva. well, with san francisco's half billion dollar plan to renovate fisherman's wharf moving forward, members of the commercial fishing industry are raising some concerns. supervisors this month approved a preliminary plan. it calls for a $550 million overhaul that would include a new seafood market, food hall and performing arts space. but there are concerns. pier 45 will no longer be suitable for unloading, storing or selling fresh seafood. there are still plenty of hurdles to clear before construction can begin. starting with an environmental impact report. trending this morning. is santa ever not trending this time of year? well, he and his reindeer, believe it or not, are already on their way. live. look for you right now from norad

showing exactly where he is right now. on christmas morning, we were tracking him over russia. then what was it? san vicente island, which we think our producer, vicente, somehow planned. just left guam. just left guam. thank you. so far, santa has delivered more than aa half billion gifts with many more to go. so for any younger viewers up right now, you might not know the north american aerospace defense command center or norad makes it easy for everyone to track santa on this christmas eve morning. the group has radars and satellites around the globe to help follow jolly old saint nick's every move online and through its app. there are also volunteers standing by until 11 tonight, ready to take your calls. they can call in to 1877 hi norad and talk to folks. i'll be one of the people answering the calls and letting people know where santa is. you can go to the website. norad santa.org. you can also download the app from

the whichever app store that you use and so on the website. there's games and fun things to do to track santa, as well as plenty of other ways to connect. and norad says if you are worried about those mysterious drones popping up across the east coast, fear not. santa is a great aviator with many hundreds of years of experience and should be able to navigate past any potential interruptions. i wonder, does the sleigh get frequent flier miles? like, can they transfer it to any of the airlines? yeah, that is a great. he goes on vacation right after he. mrs. claus. there's a problem though. i'm sure chris kamara could help him. sort of christian gia. that's true. he is yeah. christian saint nick, saint nick i do love you know just watching where santa is going. it helps you learn geography too. that's very true. travels around the world. teachable moment. yeah. i didn't know where san vicente islands were. so now we know. yeah, i still have to look it up. i still don't know where they are.

all right, well, as you're checking that out, let's get a look at what's going on out the window. we've had some heavy rain moving through. we still see those raindrops on the lens here as we take a look at the transamerica pyramid. lit up in the green and red this morning. and we can see it because the clouds are up much higher and dropping some rain. so we are seeing the wet weather moving all across the bay area, and we're tracking that as well. so we take a look at the widespread steady rain that continues for the north bay. and heads up that there may be a lot of puddles and standing water on the roads as you're driving, so just make sure that you're slowing it down because you can't see those slick spots that are out there on the water, on the roadways. so we're seeing a lot of that rain moving across the bay area, even down to the south bay, where we're seeing some lighter showers there. but it was earlier a very heavy. and that initial line, that leading edge, created some gusty winds, which blew down a lot of branches and even saw some tumbleweeds going

across the roadway. so we are eing this wet weather with us for a few more hours. and i know that on this christmas eve, you may still have some things to do to wrap up before the holiday. if you're going shopping in the tri-valley, maybe going to the san francisco premium outlets, it's going to be busy out there and we're going to see some rain through about noon, some spotty showers, but then clearing out later today with a few peeks of sunshine. but it will be a chilly afternoon. that's because we have a cold front coming through, and this rain was out ahead of that cold front, so temperatures will be dropping as we see the sky clearing today and into tonight. it's clear we're also going to have another round of rain coming in early on thursday, and then it looks like it takes a break for a while before some more widespread rain comes in thursday night. for us for today, it's about a quarter inch of additional rainfall on top of what we've already measured. most of us have gotten about a quarter of an inch of rain already, so we're going to see that adding up and then looking ahead to the weekend.

more rain on the way, and in total we could see about one to possibly closer to three inches of rainfall. and then it stays busy with an active storm pattern setting up thursday. the next storm comes in early and then on friday some more rain, a new storm system cing in sunday and then into next week. it looks like for just in time for the new year, we see that storm track lifting farther to the north, giving us a break from all of those storms. so look at our 7-day forecast does show that we are going to see some active weather, but at least it will be dry tomorrow for christmas and hanukkah. and then on thursday it's going to be raining once again into friday while we are still under that high surf warning, we're watching those big waves for san francisco and near the coast. mike, you are tracking an overturned semi. yeah, it's at the berkeley curve. that's a horrible combination right here. you see the flashing lights? but i was worried about this now. crew arrived there. there was a bigger backup. folks are able to get to the bay bridge off of

westbound 80. but right now it's affecting folks traveling down in toward oakland for s southbon 880 traffic break, presumably to clear at least some of the activity here. maybe clear that rig will continue to track this, but so far, look at that. that chp may start moving soon. again, this will present a backup coming into emeryville. not even showing up on the maps just yet. wet roads. watch for that, as well as the closure of west 92 for the tree down. we'll talk more about that coming up. back to you. all right mike, thanks. 522 for you this morning next here on today in the bay nbc bay area responds. we give gifts all year long. nonetheless, we have a special message for you. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, nbc bay area responds next on today in the bay. and a reminder our nourishing neighbors food drive continues through christmas day tomorrow. you can donate at the checkout of any of the 162 safeway locations across the bay area and andronico's. we'll b

♪ i'm on my way ♪ ♪ home sweet home ♪ there's no place like the road home. receive a $5,500 bonus on a new 2024 audi q5 plug-in hybrid during the season of audi sales event.

♪ i'm on my way ♪ ♪ home sweet home ♪

there's no place like the road home. receive a $5,500 bonus on a new 2024 audi q5 plug-in hybrid during the season of audi sales event. a christmas tree. it would stand tall all year long, surrounded with gifts for viewers like you. chris gilmore, our investigative reporter there. he just pinned his team's annual message. he has a tradition of making it rhyme, and, well, it's no different this time. a good morning. twas the night before christmas. and on our small team, we're basically following our normal routine. we're taking

calls and emails from viewers like you. because a corporate grinch is making you stew. like renee in the east bay, a rental car business owed her $350, yet nothing in her stocking. despite emails and hollers, she contacted our workshop to lend her a hand. we picked up her case and met her demand. we contacted the company and stated renee's case. the business then apologized with candor and haste. next, they did something to cheer. they gave renee her money totally free and clear. so many of you, like renee, have called us in 2024, but there's room for more. scan the qr code presently on your screen. it will help you jingle our team in 2025. we'll continue answering your call and we'll keep up the fight. merry christmas to all and to all a good. morning. oh. so close. so close. kris love that guy. oh my gosh, he's the best. i like that. yeah, that was good. 27 past the hour. up

next, our top stories we're following today, including that breaking news. a ground stop for all american airlines flights lifted. we have an update on the technical issue causing so much trouble. the busiest time of year. plus, that high surf warning still in effect for our coastline, the santa cruz wharf that is still shut down after a part of it was washed away yesterday.

american airlines, lifting its ground stop on all flights this morning after a technical issue. the impact it's already having on holiday travel. plus, part of the santa cruz wharf collapses into the ocean as dangerous surf conditions slam the coast. we are live with a look at the damage done. and take a look. more rain making its way into the bay area overnig. a messy christmas eve morning out there. meteorologist kari hall is tracking the forecast. this is today in the bay. good tuesday morning to you. merry christmas eve. i'm kira klapper. laura garcia has the morning off. i'm marcus washington. well, you know, we've seen much of that rain coming down overnht. this

is video from 880 and san leandro overnight for anyone driving this morning. these are the conditions you will likely see on the roads. meteorologist kari hall has been busy this morning tracking it all for you. how's it looking out there? we've been watching those waves that have created some very dangerous conditions. and people still not heeding those warnings. as we've seen, a lot of people go to the coast and then get caught up in some of those big waves. so we're still under this high surf warning as well as a coastal flood warning, and that will be in effect until 6:00 this evening. some of those breakers still expected to reach pretty high, but i do think we've made it past the peak of it, but we're still seeing 11 to 19 foot waves from bodega bay to san francisco down to santa cruz, and then a live look outside in dublin for the sloppy driving conditions that we've seen and the gusty winds that came through,lso blowing some debris down on the roadways, along with some puddles that may be on the road as you're

driving. a look at the radar where we are seeing quite a bit of some widespread rain continuing, and still some pockets of heavy rain in the north bay. and as we take a look closer at santa rosa to petaluma, over toward napa and vallejo, we are seeing some very widespread rain for the east bay. it's been a little bit lighter for parts of the delta, but then as you move over toward concord, we are seeing it picking up once again and then moving over toward richmond, down to oakland, some heavier rainfall, and then looking at san francisco to the peninsula. the rain is going to pick back up again with some bigger intensity. and then for the south bay, it is a lot more light and spotty, but we're still tracking those impacts. back to you. karen. marcus. all right. thanks, kari. well, you know, it's been a deadly and dangerous time on the water. part of the popular santa cruz wharf collapsed yesterday, sending three construction workers into the ocean. today in the bay's. bob redell joins us live from santa cruz with the latest. bob, how are those conditions this morning? well,

you can't see it because it's still dark out, but the waves are definitely coming in if you can hear it in the background. and behind me is the santa cruz wharf, the road that leads out along the pier. and as you can see with the yellow tape there, this is closed. we don't see it opening anytime today because at the very end, a huge section of that pier is gone, washed away during yesterday's waves, it was shorn off by large waves. this was late yesterday morning. more large waves as we've been hearing from kerri, and i can hear them right now. more expected today. and that will bring about questions about the pier stability. that's why it is closed. you can see video of the section of the pier that ended up in the ocean. there's the bathroom. there's construction equipment t with oth items, along with three construction workers who were on the pier at the time of the collapse, all of whom were rescued by the coast guard, according to a witness. and they are doing okay. here's a teenager who witnessed the collapse. we all ran away. we all ran as fast as we can, like leaving our stuff like running

away, just being like and like. scary. so. and in nearby capitola village, people are out of their homes because of the high surf and flooding. again, the national weather service has issued that coastal flood warning through noon today, and a high surf warning through 6:00 tonight. and sadly, about 18 miles from here, state park rangers say man was killed when he was likely swept away into the ocean by a massive wave and then was trapped under water, under debris. law enforcement has not yet identified him. reporting live here in santa cruz, bob redell. today in the bay. glad they're keeping everyone off of that pier for now. all right. thanks so much, bob. a great weather resource for you as the storm continues to roll in our free nbc bay area app, you can scan that qr code on your screen if you don't already have it downloaded, and you will get exclusive access to our storm

ranger scans and weather alerts sent straight to your phone. it works whether you're here in the bay area or traveling for the holidays. well, breaking news this morning. flights taking off now. this is after american airlines lifted its ground stoppage on christmas eve. today in the bay's thom jensen is live at sfo. tom, it wasn't a long ground stoppage, but imagine that the dominoes are already rolling. yeah, well, it wasn't long at all, really. i mean, the faa and americans called for this stoppage after a technical issue which has not been identified yet. at about 330 our time this morning, it was lifted at about 5:00. in fact, a lot of people didn't even know about it when we came to the americans line here where people were checking in for their departures, didn't even know there was a stoppage. and we talked to one local family who's traveling internationally for the holidays. they were sure glad that this was lifted before it affected them. i bet you're

relieved to hear that this is not going to affect you and your family. yes, yes, of course i have like a toddler and a seven year old, so it will be really, you know, difficult holiday time if it's delayed and stuff like that. and as you look at the departures board here, it looks like all of the flights on the board right now are on time. so you are asking whether or not this was affecting anybody's flights. it doesn't look like it is right now. we don't know if it will down the line as these folks catch connecting flights and other locations, maybe back east where the airports were flying a lot more flights this morning. but right now it looks like all flights here are on time and we have not heard again what caused this technical issue, but it had the potential to be catastrophic catastrophe on christmas eve. with so many people flying, it could have really been terrible here for folks as millions of people are flying for the holidays. but

again, it only lasted about an hour and a half and was lifted by the faa at about 5:00 this morning. our time back to you. very lucky. what a relief for those fliers behind you. tom, thanks so much. here locally, we want to give you a live look at highway 50 in the sierra south of lake tahoe and myers. as far as driving conditions right now, pretty clear. clear sailing, no chain restrictions. that's likely set to change, though, with that new storm rolling through the bay area. tahoe insider kevin cooper with kelly pass resort says all the snowfall before the new year is setting things up for a great season. it's unusual that we get a thanksgiving and then a christmas surprise, so things are really good when it comes down to in those terms, like we've seen people come up, they got their thanksgiving turns in, they got to go home, and now we're going to get a refresh for christmas. he says christmas day should be immaculate with blue skies and fresh powder. meteorologist kari hall is here

with us now, so what kind of conditions should drivers expect if they're heading up to the sierra? yeah, if you're going to the sierra, it's going to be raining pretty much the entire way. and then as you get a little bit closer, it changes over to snow. so let's take a look at the radar. as that storm system is nearing. you can see placerville and moving over toward either 5080. either one, it's going to be soggy all the way up. and then we're starting to see that changing over to snow. i do think, at least initially, the rain is going to come down and then it changes over to snow as temperatures drop later today. so the cold front is on the way. and then once that happens later on this evening, we're going to get about 5 to 10in of snow, which would me conditions very tricky if you're going there into the afternoon. so we have a very small window to travel before we see that rain changing over to snow, and then look at how cold it's going to be tonight down to 15 degrees. so even early tomorrow morning conditions will be very icy, but warming up quite a bit as we go into the afternoon with low 50s.

if you're traveling across the region, we are going to see some colder air coming in, some off and on rain from anywhere from fresno on northward. if you're going to cal today, it's still going to be mostly sunny and palm springs today. that's the pick. look at that. 74 degrees with lots of sunshine. mike, you are tracking a very tough situation at the berkeley curve. we have eyes on this overturned rig still there in place. this is just after the berkeley curve. the curve will take you over toward the bay bridge toll plaza, which is still moving smoothly. folksks. in hf of the freeway down the east shore freeway, the west 80 is jammed up because the transition to south 80 is down to one lane. we saw the full stop and then slowly chp escorted folks until they could safely, at a very slow speed, get through the one lane past the flares and the overturned semi. it sounds like there's some fluid that is spilled, and so there may be an additional cleanup which would take extra time. now that's the berkeley curve right here, a critical section showing how light the traffic flow is around the rest of the bay. it has not

yet presented a major problem. it's just slow. out of berkeley into emeryville and the berkeley curve the rest of the bay. wet conditions. watch out there and we have a tree down. continues to block west 92 at deanza boulevard. you'll have to exit at hillsdale. ralston will join you past the scene. back to you. thanks, mike. 540 right now, bird flu could be impacting your grocery bill. higher costs, leaving some shoppers shell shocked. coming up on today in the bay, the changes in the new year that may start to ease the crunch. and all i want for christmas is $1 billion, give or take. yeah, i said it. and it could be yours too. the mega millions jackpot up for grabs in today's christmas eve drawing

we are under a microclimate weather alert due to the very sloppy conditions this morning, as well as the high waves near the coast. but if you have to get in some last minute shopping in the south bay today, we'll still see a chance of showers through 2:00 this afternoon. otherwise, some peeks of sunshine and temperatures in the 50s. we will take a look at the rest of the microclimate forecast. and when the next round of rain comes in. in just a few minutes. and a little bit of rain on this camera lens. but we're really focused on the bright light at the top. that's the overturned big rig. and a tow truck, i'm told, has arrived on scene. we're still down to one, possibly one and a half

lanes getting past the flared off area just past the berkeley curve. this jam's up, folks off the east shore freeway down to the nimitz. meanwhile, the bay bridge toll plaza remains light. all those folks traveling off to the right side, you see the lighter morning commute. we'll talk about the tree down in san mateo as well. coming up. all right, mike and kerry. thanks. actor alec baldwin will be starting the new year with a clean slate, at least as far as his criminal legal troubles go. prosecutors have now dropped their final appeal tied to manslaughter charges in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of the film rust. the judge dismissed the case in july, on the third day of baldwin's trial, after prosecutors failed to turn over key evidence. the film's armorer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter back in march, and the victim's family is still pursuing a civil case agait baldwin and others. 545 right now and a rare holiday

double with christmas and the first day of hanukkah tomorrow. now jews everywhere tomorrow will light the first of eight candles on the menorah. and in the bay area, numerous celebrations are planned. now, in most cases, there will also be heightened security. this is in light of the ongoing war in the middle east. while jewish communities intend to celebrate openly, some security experts say the reality is that houses of worship must still make sure that they make safety a priority. the whole purpose of hanukkah and the history of hanukkah is about the story of the jewish people being willing to assert their spiritual and jewish identity, and to not allow anyone to remove the spiritual aspects of judaism. make sure that your institutions are well lit. the access points are closely monitored. and of course, if you're not already doing so, make sure that your institution is practicing lockdown and evacuation drills. the anti-defamation league reports more than 10,000 anti-semitic incidents in the u.s. since the october 7th

attack on israel, and the rate since then is double whait was compared to the year prior to the hamas attack. well, if you've noticed, the outrageous cost for egg these days, eggs these days, don't expect it to change anytime soon. things have gotten so bad. in some cases, stores are rationing egg sales. prices nationally right now are nearly 10% higher than they were one year ago. the shortage is the result of the bird flu, not only here in the bay area, but across the nation. good news is, according to bay area news group, the department of agriculture does see things improving next year with prices easing during the first quarter. but the shortage is likely to linger through at least the start of summer. well, turning for you this morning the 49ers spreading the holiday cheer yesterday outside of levi's. they held their hope for the holidays. food drive giveaway a drive through giveaway, i should say more than 100 families in need were invited. their players handed out food, toys and

clothing. quarterback brock purdy called it a perfect event for the players and families who need a boost in the year. for us players, man, we're able to just show up with our families, wives, friends and have an opportunity to give back and just put a smile on people's face, kid's face, give them some toys, some zenni sunglasses, like you name it. that shout out. i know the event is a collaboration between the niners, second harvest food bank, u.s. bank, and a group of bay area nonprofits. well, also trending for you this morning. how about this for an early christmas present? nearly $1 billion. yeah, it will be yours tonight if you win tonight's christmas eve mega millions jackpot. it is $970 million. but, you know, that's only 30 million off. it's fine. did you know only one mega millions jackpot has ever been won on christmas eve?nd? and september was the last time someone matched all six mega millions numbers. always wish i

could win the mega millions or something like that. so i could do like what the 49ers are doing. like go and just give a bunch of stuff to people who need it. but i never buy tickets for the mega millions. so that's the catch there. there are steps that lead up to the kind of wanting to do the other play to win, play to win, and a lot of times i don't even think about it until we put it, until we put it, and then it's like, too late because you get out of work too late. yeah. so, you know, we'll be watching that. that might be a nice christmas gift, but we're also getting the gift of rain across the bay area. at times the rain is a little bit too much. we like for it to just kind of come in and wet the ground a little bit, and then move on. we are seeing some heavy rain moving in this morning, but at least we're not seeing as many people up and out dealing with these conditions. widespread rain across the north bay. you can see it's pretty steady there, not letting up at all. and in fact, it has picked up in intensity for pacifica to san mateo down to half moon bay. that's going to continue to

stretch off towards the east. there are some pockets where the rain has gotten a lot lighter, but we're still seeing a pretty steady rain a across the bay area with that leading edge that came through. it did produce some gusty winds, so there may be some tree branches down, even some tumbleweeds i saw blowing across the roadways. so there may be some debris out there along with the wet conditions. notice that there is a break in the clouds, and this is going to give us a dry christmas day. and then the next storm system comes in early on thursday. so very busy storm pattern here. look at the conditions that we are seeing as you're driving on 580 or any of the roads around the bay area, the cars in front of you are kicking up water. you may also hit some puddles and some spots where the water is pretty deep. so just slow it down out there. we're going to see temperatures staying cool today as the cold front comes in, and rain will linger at times into the early afternoon, but the more widespread and heavy rain is with us up until about 9 to 10:00. and then after

that it tapers off to some spotty rain. there may even be some times of sunshine. for today. we're going to see an additional quarter to possibly close to a half inch of rainfall. we've already gotten this amount for many of our microclimates, so this is going to just add on top of what we've already measured. and then this system will move on and we'll have a chance to soak into the ground before the next one comes in early on thursday. so we are going to see some times of wet weather here in the bay area, at least through the weekend, and a lot of sierra snow with the possibility of about two to possibly even 2.5ft of snow during the next week. and then we see the storm track heading back farther north. so as we welcome in the new year, it looks dry for the bay area. so we're in with the rain for today and then a dry day tomorrow, thursday the showers return and continue off and on through sunday. monday is looking nice and sunny. that tells us more people are heading back to work, and we are going to see for the

next few days the storm systems really impacting our travel and having to get in and out of the parts of the bay area, as well as taking those flights, we're going to see that potentially impacting travel through the weekend. mike, you've got two problem spots. yeah, they are impacting travel right now. this is the berkeley curve. now fortunately traffic is very light today despite the wet weather. we're looking at an overturned semi truck at the area past the curve itself and heading down toward 880. i just watched the last few minutes. the tow truck arrived and they scootched over to the right as best they could. maybe two lanes are getting by. traffic is light, so that's why we don't have a major problem for the east shore freeway. that is an issue traveling past berkeley and into oakland, though the area also, we still have west 92 blocked by a tree down at deanza. you're forced off at hillsdale boulevard. you can scoop around and jump onto deanza or ralston. back to you. all right. thanks, mike. well, happening now. preparations are underway for the annual christmas eve brunch at san francisco's glide memorial

church. the renowned house of prime rib will provide prime rib brunch for more than 2000 people. and that's all going to get started at 11 a.m. tomorrow's christmas celebration starts at 10 a.m, and that's going to include dinner with ham, turkey and all the fixings. wow. yum. 52 past the hour. a ground stop lifted for american airlines. ahead at 6:00. we're tracking the impact on holiday travel this christmas eve. plus, the santa cruz wharf partially collapses. we're monitoring the dangerous conditions along the coast. plus trouble in tahoe. a ski lift accident sends several people to the hospital. hear from a witness who saw t

being yourself is cooler than trying to fake it. you don't know if you're gonna pass the test until you take it. preparation, dedication. how you break it. this morning, vallejo rapper russell is going back to school with his newest music video. the song is called elite, a theme song for elite public schools in vallejo. today in the

bay's velena, jones was on campus to catch up with him. with the help of rapper russell and some talented students. elite schools is dropping the beat and raising the bar on student achievement, bringing lyrics to life. this one's for all the kids that's tryna make it. being yourself is cooler than trying to fake it. this is more than just a song. it's an anthem dedication how you break it. 8 a.m. you have to leave a blueprint of what's possible. tasked with creating a theme song for his daughter's school, vallejo based rapper russell wrote elite based on the name of the school. students ranging from grade school to high school, helped write the verses for the song. always nice. in the kids minds. okay. in just a matter of hours. and it's their voices you'll hear on the track. my thing was to just say things that feel good and feel fun to

say. and they're ingesting it into their body, not knowing that it's affirmations, but they're really just affirming themselves through the day. elite public schools is a charter school formed six years ago. the school says its focus is being culturally responsible to a community made up of mostly black and brown students. doctor ramona bishop is elite public schools ceo. this is not just for elite. this is for all students worldwide. it will be a daily impact. i can do anything. i can be anything if i just follow the code. elite on top, just released last week. the song has already gone viral on social media. a proud moment for russell's daughter, melody. it's really like to see people and when they're happy while doing it. ery verse is a reflection of how students say they view themselves and hope others will too. i feel it's reallyy great, you know, because now the outside looking in can know what our school is about and know

what we have to offer. senior jade bass says she's heading to nyu after being accepted into 32 universities and receiving nearly $370,000 in scholarships. before i came to elite, i was known as just the quiet, smart girl. but when i came to elite, everybody was smart and everybody had big dreams, and that allowed me to make mine bigger as well. it's a vision of greatness for the students. russell says has made this his most impactful project yet, a feeling not even arenas and stadiums can provide. this is so much more fulfilling. like, it really made me feel like i was necessary in this world. and i know that if i wasn't here, it would be dramatically different because that didn't exist until i was here. we always come to win. we always up to score. in vallejo, velena jones, nbc, bay area news. wow. what a wonderful message. don't forget. nbc bay area is streaming 24/7. you can

watch us whenever you want on your roku or any other streaming platforms. right now at 6:00. dangerous conditions this morning as rain falls across the bay area. it comes just after that partial collapse of the santa cruz wharf. we're tracking the forecast this christmas eve. plus breaking news. american airlines planes are back in the air. this is after the airline grounded all flights nationwide. we have a crew working to get details over at sfo at this moment. this is following the delays that we saw earlier this morning. this is today in the bay. and good morning to you and happy christmas eve. i'm marcus washington and i'm kira klapper filling in for laura garcia. we will get to that breaking news in just a moment. but first we want to begin with all that rain coming into the bay area overnight and this partial collapse of the santa cruz