a plane is shot down in libya today, as turmoil in that country reaches yet another level. elsewhere in the middle east, dozens of people are killed, as another country cracks down on antigovernment protesters, and right here in the bay area, stormy weather causing its share of problems, even closing a highway this morning and the rain continues. seems like it's been going on for days on end. >> it has! feels a little more like winter than spring. actually, spring is this weekend, but you wouldn't know it by looking outside, as the cold weather pattern continues to be unsettled conditions and thunderstorm potential out there today, which means you could see hail, as we are in

and about the bay in various spots. santa rosa picking up hail right you not. thunderstorm activity across the bay last night. we'll continue with the potential through the day. more rain and wind on tap for tonight, into tomorrow. high wind warning is up, and i'll have the details, coming up in your forecast, a little later on. and the weather is also top of the news this morning. umbrellas and rain gear also in full force in the bay area. this was the scene yesterday, as rain pounded las ga dos. highway 84 is closed right now between skyline boulevard and portolo road because of fallen and live wires. no word on reopening. there was a brief tornado warning for san mateo county yesterday, but nothing became of that. something out of the ordinary was spotted off the coast of san francisco, though. >> reporter: it was like a scene from the "wizard of oz."

>> the whole area was just really, really wild, with rain and everything, really dramatic. >> reporter: chef kevin weber from the cliff house watched as a funnel cloud skated across the water, right outside his restaurant. >> and it took sha shed and flipped it up and blue it over into pacific street and just snapped some of the wires. and they had sparks and we all ran out and checked out pacific. we were calling 911. >> reporter: a tornado ripped through the streets of santa rosa friday this morning, destroying a shed at this landscaping business. >> been in business for 33 years, never seen anything like that. >> reporter: brian's mother watched the destruction from inside her home. >> she said it sounded like a bomb went off as the shed exploded across the street. >> reporter: in san leandro, a truck driver was killed when his big rig struck a tree, closing onramp and snarling traffic for over three hours.

downed power lines in san rafael put the jail on lockdown and left the civic center and 250 pg&e customers in the dark. in san francisco, a tree fell on lionel bernardo's utility van at 24th and patrero. >> i thought it was a hurricane! >> that was elizabeth cook reporting. some homes and businesses across the bay area are still dealing with power outages this morning. at one point last night, roughly 5600 pg&e customers in alameda and contra costa counties were in the dark. some are still without power. power should be returned by noon. today, libya leader moammar gadhafi is attacking the rebel strong hold of benghazi, with troops, tanks and warplanes. on the outskirts of the city, a libyan warplane was shot down. video shows a plane circling overhead, then going down in flames. witnesses in benghazi say tanks are looming closer to the city center right now. some people are using bed

frames to make roadblocks. others are collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. all of this comes as secretary of state hillary clinton meets with leaders. military action could happen hours after those talks. we're waiting for word on that. this is all of course after president obama delivered an ultimatum to gadhafi yesterday following the u.n. security council's passage of a resolution authorizing airstrikes against libya. obama says all attacks against civilians must stop immediately and that gadhafi must pull his forces back from four key cities, including benghazi. also, reestablish water, electricity, and gas supplies to all of those areas. >> these terms are not subject to negotiation. if gadhafi does not comply with the resolution, the international community will impose consequences. and a resolution will be enforced through military action. >> right now, u.s. and allied war ships are stationed off the

coast of libya, ready to launch cruise missiles that would destroy gadhafi's command centers and air defense network. after that, aircraft, mostly from britain and france, would enforce a no-fly zone. there could also be airstrikes if attacks on rebels continue. in another development, one of gadhafi's sons says that four "new york times" journalists that libya had been holding since tuesday, will be released. police in southern yemen stormed the protest camp today, firing live rounds and tear gas, wounding at least 13 people. that follows a crackdown yesterday in yemen's capital. on friday, security forces fired shots from rooftops, killing at least 46 people, and injuring more than 300 others during an antigovernment rally. that attack suggests the company's president is concerned that persistent street protests could unravel his 32-year hold on power.

he has now declared a 30-day state of emergency. japan has raised the threat level of its damaged nuclear plants. it's now at level 05, which means there are consequences beyond the immediate and local area. today, japanese officials say they have found some level of radiation in spinach and milk that exceeds government safety limits. that food was taken from farms as far as 65 miles from the reactors. crews are working round the clock, meantime, at the fukushima nuclear power plant, trying to prevent further meltdowns. their goal is to restore electricity to the plant's automatic cooling system, possibly as soon as tomorrow. for now, fire trucks continue to spray water on storage pools that have overheated. meantime, people living near the nuclear plant have found refuge 30 miles from the plant. many of them had no time to take any of their possessions. >> i thought i was going to die. i wish i had taken more photo

albums, she said. >> there are 500 people in the shelter. they say they don't know when they will be able to go home, if there is even a return to home to. the death toll from last friday's earthquake and tsunami is now more than 7300, nearly 11,000 people still missing this morning. heavy rain and high surf has halted tsunami-related cleanup in the santa cruz harbor. more than a week ago, surges from the earthquake in japan sank dozens of boats there and damaged a hundred others. as many as 14 vessels are still under water this morning. damage estimates have risen to $26 million. and right now it's unclear whether the state will receive any federal aid. to qualify for that, damage totals must reach at least $44 million, or about $20 million off of that in the six affected counties. right now, estimates are around 35 million in the total area. recovery work in santa cruz is

expected to start up again on monday. in the meantime, more rain is going to be falling in that area, all over the bay area. even reports of hail this morning in santa rosa. >> pretty exciting week weather wise and looks like it will continue through the weekend. we have a chance of isolated thunderstorm activity, which could produce some hail out there. also high wind watch is up for tonight, into tomorrow, as we saw earlier, we did see a funnel cloud, actually called a waterspout offshore. that was yesterday afternoon, in and around the thunderstorm activity today. we could see some hail, gusty winds, and high winds tonight, into tomorrow, which again, heavy rain on tap. details, coming up. >> stay tuned for that to figure out if we can ever go outside today. meantime, a key member of the carter administration has passed away. a look at warren christopher's impact on foreign relations. also, a fallout from a

scandal that forced the silicon valley executive to abruptly quit. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

welcome back. 19 minutes before 9:00. warren christopher was secretary of state during president clinton's first term, has passed away. the long-time statesman passed away last night from bladder and kidney cancer. christopher played a key role in negotiations that ended the war in bosnia. top priority to supporting reform in russia. earlier as a deputy secretary of state in the carter administration, christopher conducted the negotiations that gained relief of 52 american hostages in iran. warren christopher was 85 years old. hewlett-packard has been ordered to unseal the letter that led to the resignation of its ceo last year. mark hurd suddenly stepped down last august, after he was

accused of sexual harassment. an investigation showed he falsified reports. a judge described hurd's misuse of corporate funds and detailed his sexual advances toward a coworker. each female has 10 days to produce a letter. hurd works for oracle. he is expected to appeal the ruling. now, back to weather- related news, interstate 80 is back open this morning, after a deadly accident in the high sierra. right now, chains are required on all vehicles on i-80 and u.s. highway 50. parts of i-80 were shut down yesterday following a chain reaction crash on the snowy mountain road. look at those conditions. around 40 vehicles were involved, including six semi trucks. one person was killed and a number of others, injured. back now to local road conditions, we mentioned this earlier. state highway 84 is closed this morning between skyline boulevard and portolo road in

san mateo county. the office of emergency services says it is because of fallen trees and live wires. no indications on when that might reopen. also, there is snow on the upper levels of the diablo range overlooking san jose. mount hamilton road is closed east of grant ranch park. jim, what are we expecting in the days to come? looks like tomorrow is going to be another-- >> tomorrow, again, highways and biways around the state here, we'll have to keep a weather eye out. high winds, potential for thunderstorm activity, means there could be hail out there as well. always amazes me how there's always some people out there that just don't seem to believe what they see out the windshield. it is time to slow down again, as we will see rain, wind, and potential hail continuing across the bay area here, through the day today, into tomorrow before this all winds down. and of course that means there's going to be snow in the highcountry as well. we're seeing light rain shower activity at this hour across

the bay, hail newspaper santa rosesa, as mentioned, scattered thunderstorm activity continuing on and off this afternoon, increasing in intensity by tonight. as we take a look at our live high-definition doppler, you see returns showing up just offshore. this type of activity is mainly headed south along the coast here, but it will continue to cross the shoreline, bringing moderate returns with it, as it moves through the bay area here, through the rest of the day. then we'll see an increase in both the wind and rain, come this evening, as the next frontal boundary heads our way, which at this point looks a little warmer than the one we're looking at right now. we are looking at a cooler air mass out there, cold, unsettled, through the day here. there will be breaks in and around the scattered shower activity and the isolated thunderstorms as well, as we're seeing this cold pattern move across the bay area. but as we take a look at this over the last 12 hours, you see what's headed our way. a little warmer batch of subtropical moisture will move in from the south here, with

heavy rains expected into and through the early morning hours. right now, we do have a high wind watch up for later tonight, through sunday. south-southeasterly winds 25 to 40, gusting to 50 or 60, which means trees, power lines, all that kind of stuff is in danger at this point. travel with caution and do slow down out there on the highways and biways, because as mentioned, you could see hail in that activity as well. and let's take a look at what we've got in store here. very active weather pattern across the pacific. cold air just to our north, scattered cold showers, isolated thunderstorms today, high winds, and heavy rain by tonight, into tomorrow. so, again, that type of activity will continue throughout the next 24 to 36 hours here, across the region with daytime highs today in the mid to low 50s for most locations. and as we take a look at the seven-day forecast here, we see once again rain that continues on and off through this

afternoon, picking up in intensity by tomorrow, as the winds ramp up this evening. then we'll get a brief break through the beginning of the week, but by midweek, towards the end of next week, once again, we'll look at another shot of moisture. needless to say, the ground is very saturated at this point. if we get the kind of rain expected for tomorrow, we could see some localized flooding problems as well, and we're talking basically 1 to 3 inches of rain possible across the coastal sections and the coastal plains. of course more than that expected in the mountains. >> then when you add in the winds, that's when things start falling over. >> it's going to be messy: >> jim bernard, thanks. the moon rising and setting isn't normally much to talk about, but there's something peculiar about it tonight, the supermoon. we'll explain what's going to happen, coming up. and stanford university, becoming an east coast school? why the nation's biggest city may soon have a farm.

we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,

showers across the beach, and you see the cameras waving around out there. winds will be ramping up through the day. ,,,,,,,,

's full moon 10 minutes before 9:00, and scientists are calling it the supermoon. tonight's full moon is expected to be bigger and brighter than usual. it's going to actually appear 14% larger and 30% brighter, because the moon will be about

17,000 miles closer than normal, resulting in the closest and biggest full moon since 1993. if weather permits, and that is the clincher, folks in the bay area should be able to see the supermoon just after sunset tonight. but from what jim has described, could be doubtful. a teenager girl is safe this morning after she was able to break free from a stranger she says grabbed her. it happened thursday, near a mcdonald's in union city. the 16-year-old said she was walking home from school when a man tried to drag her off the sidewalk away from the road. she broke free, by elbowing the man in the stomach. here is a sketch of the suspect from police. he was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans, and white tennis shoes, running toward the union city bart station. stanford university submit add proposal for research and engineering campus in new york. the university is focusing its new location on the roosevelt island in manhattan. if approved, it would be the university's only major campus outside of the palo alto area.

the cost of the new campus could be up to $1 billion. officials say it would house up to 2200 graduate students and 100 faculty members, as well as offices and recreation facilities. stanford's proposal was in response to our request by new york mayor michael bloomberg. it is the sporting event that has everyone all abuzz this time of year. now you can experience march madness in 3d. how a silicon valley giant is bringing the venue to you. ,,,,,,,,

>> so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go.

be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

watching college basketball on some live shows to see this evening, once you're finished watching college basketball here on cbs 5, of course. bluesmen charlie muscle white, grammy award nominee is performing tonight at the san jose jazz winter fest, 8:00 at the fairmont hotel club regent. rock band jefferson starship, celebrating cofounder paul cantor's 70th birthday, playing at 8:00 at mill valley's throckmorton theater. and jay and silent bob get old, 9:00 at the warfield in san francisco. a quick check on the sports scene, area football, san jose saber cats, arena football, as it were. saber cats, winners at home last night, 60-57 victory over

kansas city. nhl, sharks host the st. louis blues this evening. the puck drops at 7:30 in downtown san jose. nba, warriors begin a four- game road trip with a loss last night, 108-97 at phoenix. college basketball madness continues in a few minutes, at the ncaa tournament. google is getting in on the objection. kiet do shows us the action that brings the 3d experience to all of us. >> reporter: this year for the big dance, google has taken march madness to the next dimension. n]♪ >> reporter: the mountain view company has collected all the venues that will be hosting an ncaa game and rendered them in high resolution 3d. from the alamo dome in san antonio, to verizon center in washington, dc, that's 14 stadiums in all. >> we're always trying to add new data, new information, new satellite imagery and new buildings to create more and more realistic world. you might call it a mirror world of the one that we live in. >> reporter: peter birch is the

guru of google earth and he took us on a vip tour, using their liquid galaxy device, an array of eight wrap-around flat screens. but at home, you use your computer. reliant stadium in houston got the royal treatment because it's the site of the final four and championships. here, you can even go inside the stadium. >> these stadiums are a tiny, tiny fraction of all the information that's available there. >> once you're inside google earth and you start checking out all the stadium, you'll realize that, well, there's a whole virtual world here and in the past five years, google engineers and contributors around the world have been busy basically rebuilding the earth. slowly, but surely, users worldwide have been recreating structures, like the eiffel tower, and the red square, main street, and the princess castle at disney world in orlando, and even cbs 5 studios in san francisco, all in high res.

google provides free software. they say there is no way they can do it all themselves. >> we're slowly and collaboratively building up this model of the world. >> reporter: making the world a smaller place is turning out to be a global effort. in mountain view, kiet do, cbs 5. and here's a menu of all the games you can see today on cbs 5. kentucky and west virginia beginning in just a few minutes, followed by florida and ucla. 2:00 session begins with richmond and morehead state, followed by brigham young and began zag ga. then game day wraps up all the action for you. good luck with those brackets. and in the weather, good luck staying dry. >> no kidding. active weather pattern continues through the weekend, as mentioned earlier, the ground is saturated. heavy rainfall possible overnight, through the wee hours of the this morning. scattered showers and thunderstorms potential for this afternoon. you could see hail out there. basic message, slow down on the highways and biways, because we

will see some very active weather here. high wind watch up through tomorrow. south-southeasterly winds, 25 to 40, gusting to 60, may cause problems along the region here, as we could see trees and power lines down. again, highcountry, up in the sierra, winter storm warnings up there. probably not a good weekend to travel, if you can avoid it. >> and the chance of hail out there, they can become like ball bearings on the road. >> very slick, and that will be with us through the night and into tomorrow. >> be careful out there. try to stay dry. just stay home and watch basketball. >> there you go. time to turn things over to the ncaa. because of all the games today, our next newscast at 10:00, and 11:00 p.m. on cbs 5. we'll be back here tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. meantime, enjoy the games! ws, xxx

,,,, >> so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming.