cold front works its way ever so slowly into the bay area. heavy rainfall on 101 near petaluma and the coastline. the whole system will slide the rest of the way across the bay area today to bring some heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds. those winds blowing possibly to 50 miles per hour along the coastline and over some of the mountaintops so watch out for that. otherwise, it looks like today is going to be one of those real soggy days outside. highs will only be in the 50s. and then it looks like some more rain coming before the weekend. we'll have more on that. let's send it to gianna in traffic. >> the soggy days cause problems on the road. we are holding steady no major accidents to report just windy on the bridges. bay bridge has a wind advisory this morning. golden gate bridge they have not issued an official advisory but again traffic is light today because of the upcoming

holiday. >> thank you. a midwest storm is leaving travelers stranded for the holidays. it left behind whiteout conditions in illinois. the first major snowstorm of the season is crossing across several states. more than 500 flights out of o'hare and midway airports have been canceled. airlines are waiving fees for customers changing flights because of the storm. along with the winter weather we're looking at the biggest holiday travel day. at sfo more than 100,000 people are expected to pass through just today. cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran is at the airport with more on the expected weather delays. >> reporter: those trying to get home for christmas in the bay area and other parts of the country will have to wait because in addition to traveling during the busiest travel day of the year, you're also traveling against mother nature. we have a storm in chicago to thank for that. aviation officials say more than 350 flights out of o'hare international airport and 140 out of midway were canceled and

we're seeing the effects back here at home. sfo reps say it's delayed a few flights in the bay area. that's not the only thing that will set travelers back. rain is moving into our region so unfortunately, the national weather service says this could complicate things for travelers. we're expecting weather delays which could impact those connecting flights so in addition to that, sfo is expected to see an estimated 130,000 passengers to pass through this airport. so travelers today of all days it's a good thing to do to check your flights before you get to the airport. in addition to that, you might want to pack a little extra patience today, as well. reporting live at sfo, cate caugiran, cbs 5. >> good advice, cate, thanks. air travelers in southern california are feeling the impact from the midwest storm. multiple flights between los angeles and midwestern cities have been canceled. officials at l.a.x. expect more cancellations later today. passengers who made it home from chicago told of cancellations being announced even as they board their

flights out of the storm zone. new this morning, a suspect is hospitalized after a police chase ended with a crash in vacaville this morning. there's no word yet on why the california highway patrol was chasing the driver or where the pursuit began. the suspect car crashed this morning at weber and pitt school roads east of interstate 80. details of the suspect's condition hasn't been released. a woman has serious injuries after a hit-and-run accident in san francisco. it happened last night at about 9:00 on christmas tree point in the twin peaks area. police say there were four people walking on the road and three fell down about 30 feet down a hillside. paramedics had to use back boards and ropes to carry a rescue. police found a car with fender damage a short distance away, detained the driver. there had been four people inside the car. one of them was hurt in the crash. the driver was detained, police are evaluating whether he was impaired at the time of the accident. the four pedestrians hit

include a woman in her 50s with life-threatening injuries. >> all three of them went to the hospital. one has life-threatening injuries. the other two have less serious injuries. >> okay. now, this is the hit-and-run, anything about the suspect? >> right. so the suspect driver and car were found a couple of hundred yards way by our officers within minutes of the incident. >> there is no sidewalk in the area of the accident. newtown, connecticut will observe a moment of silence this morning in honor of the mass shooting victims at 6:30 pacific time this morning. in addition, it's declared an official day of mourning in the state by the governor. >> my husband asked me last night, he says, has this rocked your faith in god? and i said, absolutely not. but it's done a few things about my faith in human beings. >> at least five more funerals are scheduled today with even

more scheduled tomorrow. a private funeral was held yesterday in new hampshire for nancy lanza, the gunman's mother, who was shot dead just before the school rampage. if you go online at 6:30 this morning, you may see this message here. twitter founder jack dorsey and several celebrities are also calling for a five-minute time- out on the internet out of respect. today the president responded to an online petition calling for more gun chrome. about 200,000 people have signed it. in a video, he said that there are steps the nation can take to protect our rights and to protect our children. meanwhile, washington also got to work on gun chrome. vice president joe biden held the first meeting of the task force charged with reviewing the country's gun laws and recommending changes. the president wants some concrete proposals in hand by his state of the union address next month. >> the president is absolutely committed to keeping his promise that we will act and we will act in a way that is designed even if he says we

could only save one life, we have to take action. >> the focus of the task force goes beyond gun policy. it will also look at mental health issues, emergency response procedures and school readiness. even the media's role in guns and violence. the national rifle association plans a news conference in washington this morning at 7:45 a.m. pacific time. it's going tonight first time that the nra will make officials comments on the connecticut shooting out of a press relief. they opted to wait out of respect for the victims' families. a gun buy-back program was successful. the oakland police department held an event at saint benedict's church last weekend. organizers say days after the event, people are still coming forward giving up all sorts of weapons in exchange for $200 each. >> when we saw the guns, we

thought we're so glad we kept the door open asking for guns. >> the weapons turned in range from handguns to rifles including some more sophisticated than what police officers carry. another partisan holdup on the "fiscal cliff." house republicans say they were not able to drum up enough support for a vote for the house speaker's plan b. so speaker john boehner canceled last night's vote. boehner designed the bill to prevent automatic tax hikes at the first of the year on people making less than a million dollars. boehner says it's up to the president and the democrats to make their move. >> i did my part. they've done nothing. >> it's very, very, very unfortunate the republicans have wasted an entire week on a number of pointless political stunts. >> house members are heading out of washington, d.c. for christmas. when they get back there will be four days left to hammer out a deal. north korea announced today

it's detaining an american citizen. the north korean government says that [ non-english language ] entered the country as a tourist november 3 and confessed to unspecified crimes. the government offers no other details but claims the crimes have been proven through evidence. one of two men who escaped a federal jail in chicago has been captured. early tuesday, two convicted bank robbers broke out of the metropolitan correctional center. officials say they punched a hole in the bottom of a window then used bedsheets to climb down about 20 stories. late last night authorities caught up with 37-year-old joseph banks. 38-year-old kenneth connelly is still at large. time now is 4:39. an emotional response from the survivor of the san bruno blast. >> they're picking up as though nothing happened and business as usual. [ pause ] >> i'm very sorry. >> pg&e's plan for a safer pipeline system. who profits and who will pay?

>> and buried alive in an avalanche. how the skier's left hand made the difference between life and death. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,

week. there were tears, hugs and laughter when he hd out surprise envel a special delivery from santa. he showed up at a good will store in new jersey this week. there were tears, hugs and laughter when he handed out surprise envelopes to shoppers each with a hundred dollars cash. the secret santa says he travels from portland, maine to do this. he wanted to make a special trip to new jersey hit hard by superstorm sandy. >> obviously, it was a lot of economic devastation. and we wanted to just see what we could do to help inspire other people to give a little bit more. >> holy cow, santa, thank you! >> that's so nice. as for the source of the cash, santa says it's private money but beyond that he is keeping that secret. >> no word as to whether he is heading west?

>> no. [ laughter ] here's some good news. buried alive in an avalanche. a happy ending. a 20-year-old skier is alive thanks to a quick-thinking survival trick. she and her friend were skiing on crystal mountain in washington state this week when an avalanche broke under them. her friend escapes but emily found herself under three feet of snow. >> i was able to free my left arm a little bit to kind of scoop snow away from my mouth and so i made a little air pocket. i prayed a lot. and just sat there and waited to be rescued. >> didn't have to wait long. she was trapped in the snow for 15 minutes before the ski patrol found her and pulled her out. now let's go to where they really have problems this morning, snow, wet, rain, indianapolis. that's i65 and you can see the traffic appears to be moving far more smoothly than it often does in the bay area. [ laughter ] >> for your morning commute. what if we had snow and wet. that would be a mess! at least getting the rain though. >> and some wind.

>> it was windy this morning. >> very windy around the bay area. this cold front just slowly working its way in right now but lookings it's already in the north bay and you can see the rain coming down fairly heavy in spots. our high-def doppler radar showing you that rain extending across point reyes. looks like it will sag south ever so slowly throughout the day today. so if you are heading anywhere around be prepared it's going to be wet, some heavy rain and gusty winds all along the 101 towards santa rosa. we are seeing very heavy rainfall. we have had gusts over 30 miles an hour. wind advisories are up along the coastline. san francisco on southward. that rain and wind will continue throughout the day today. it's going to be a very slow- moving storm. temperatures are going to stay cool. and then throughout the weekend, periods of rain will continue on and off maybe even a couple of isolated thunderstorms with some very cold, unstable air that's going to move in behind it. here's the air i'm talking about. see the speckled clouds in that moves in tomorrow morning. that could get wild early on. for today rain and wind throughout the day will be picking up if it hasn't reached

your neighborhood just yet and a lot of that turning to snow in the sierra nevada where they could see upwards of five feet of snow across some of the higher peaks so be very careful if you are traveling in the high country that winter storm warning continuing until monday morning. all right. here's a look at our futurecast model showing you that storm slowly work south. it takes the better part of the day to work through even at 9:00 stretching across the entire bay area. then in the afternoon more showers continuing. then maybe the showers are kind of on and off. and then tomorrow morning look at this band that moves onshore. we could see some of those thunderstorms embedded in the system as it moves by. so going to see some pretty impressive rainfall totals because it is moving slow. some places in the north bay still forecast to get maybe over 3 inches of rainfall into san rafael. this is going to be a good soaker. temperatures only in the 50s. the next few days will be wild around the bay area, lots of rain and wind on and off right

through the period. and i was hoping to get christmas dry. now i think we have to introduce a chance of some showers late in the day on christmas day and more rain toward the middle of next week. all right. let's check the roads with gianna. >> it is the calm before the storm on the roads right now just checked in with chp no accidents or major incidents on the freeways. really the only thing we have is a wind advisory and some roadwork. now here's a live look at the bay bridge. chp has issued a high wind advisory for the bay bridge this morning but traffic is light no delays as you work your way into san francisco. jumping over to the rest of our bay area bridges san mateo bridge off to a good start this morning. easy ride between hayward and foster city about 14, 15 minutes between 880 and 101. as we jump to the maps i'll show you the golden gate bridge. so far no delays to report out of san francisco. marin county looking good. no word of any road construction projects through marin county south 101 clear from the golden gate bridge it san francisco. dumbarton bridge we have roadwork through there until 5:30 this morning. the rest of the bay area not a

big problem. you can see though our camera shaking around a bit dealing with windy conditions here but so far no accidents along 880. south of there 880/237 connector so far traffic looks pretty good. west 237, six minutes, 880 to 101. no delays there. south bay off to a good start, as well. northbound 101 look be good as you work your way through san jose. 280 also not showing any problems. you can see 85 all in the green here as well as 87 along the guadalupe parkway. some slight delays but not getting word of any major problems. and here's your travel times through the peninsula. 101, 280, 92. now, if you are heading to sfo, so far 101 looks pretty good no delays to report. and again, if you are heading to the oakland airport, 880 off to a good start. that's traffic. back to you. a package thief who was caught on a hidden camera swiping holiday gifts off a porch has been busted. police say 39-year-old daniel price stole a box from a house in concord just 15 minutes after u.p.s. dropped it off. here he is walking up to the door. the photos were posted online

three days ago. police got a ton of tips. they say they searched price's homes and found the stolen presents. and a third suspect is under arrest accused of holding a handyman hostage. 49-year-old richard rodriguez, jr., turned himself in to police. investigator say the three suspects kidnapped the handyman and forced him to did repairs at a morgan hill home in a dispute over money. your natural gas bill is going up. we'll be paying for improvements to prevent the kind of explosion that killed 8 people and destroyed a san bruno neighborhood. cbs 5's consumerwatch reporter julie watts explains. >> reporter: in the wake of the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion, pg&e is upgrading its infrastructure, upgrades that will earn pg&e a profit and force pg&e customers to pay. >> the victims shouldn't have to suffer because pg&e's making a profit from this explosion. >> reporter: many were outraged when the california public utilities commission approved a $299 million rate increase to

help pg&e pay for its pipeline safety plan. san bruno's mayor echoed a popular sentiment. >> you allow a utility responsible for the deaths of eight citizens, friends and family to profit as a direct result of that tragedy. >> the consumer watchdog group turn urged the puc not to let pg&e make any profit off its pipeline safety plan noting that many of the required fixes are due to pg&e's negligence. but pg&e's spokesman says the company is paying for its mistakes. this money is for new improvements. >> this funding was needed to meet new regulations. so these are regulations that were put in place after san bruno. any work that needs to be done to meet existing regulations has been and will continue to be paid for by our shareholders. >> reporter: she says pg&e is actually disappointed in the puc's decision because the utility had asked for about 60% more. pg&e had hoped to raise rates by about $2 a month.

instead the puc approved an average 88 cents more next year and $1.36 in 2014, money that will be used to prevent future disasters, adding insult to injury for current victims. >> they're picking up as though nothing happened and business as usual. [ crying ] >> i'm very sorry. i'm just really emotional. >> reporter: the puc commissioners say they were trying to strike a balance between punishing pg&e for past mistakes and encouraging the company to invest in safety. julie watts, cbs 5. the nation's largest pot dispensary's fight to stay open continued in court after being unable to win state court approval early this month. the two landlords of harborside dispensaries in oakland and san jose argued before a federal judge about whether the business should be allowed to continue to operate while the forfeiture actions moved through the courts. the landlords say the only way they can avoid losing properties to the federal government is to stop the selling of marijuana there. the judge plans to rule as soon

as possible. and the san mateo county planning commission has recommended a 7-eleven store be shut down less than two weeks after it opened. the building on north san mateo drive was the long-time home to an italian deli that went out of business two years ago. under city laws, zoning for the building should have reverted to residential after the building was empty for six months. but the 7-eleven store was grand a permit anyway and some neighbors were not pleased. >> they tried to slip this under the radar and really what happens is they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. this isn't fair. >> the city council will take up the matter next month and will decide whether they have to close. and an east bay fire department is getting a much- needed infusion of cash from the feds. the pinole fire department will get a grant of about $1.2 million from the department of homeland security. the money will be used to beef up staffing including the rehiring of firefighters who were laid off and firefighters will be on duty around the

clock. all right. thanks for coming by cbs 5 this morning, by the way. a rock and roll lifestyle and health risks. the study that shows solo artists should really be worried. >> plus the happiest place on earth is not disneyland. are you surprised? >> no. >> a little bit, right? the city where people are just practically beaming. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

storm clouds rolling back into the bay area. heavy rain spreading across the north bay. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and windy out there this morning. chp has issued a high wind advisory for the bay bridge. traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. in healthwatch, a little bit of marijuana can reduce pain but not for everybody.

researchers at the university of oxford gave a group of men pills with the compound thc. the scan showed that in those men, there was less pain activity in the brain. doctors say the next step is to figure out why it's not effective on everybody. and a heads up for anybody who has taken the cholesterol drug tremendous tridapti ve. it doesn't decrease heart attack and stroke. it's not approved in the u.s. but is sold in 40 other countries. a new study shows solo artists are twice as likely to die early than musicians who play in bands. british music stars have a higher risk of early death than european stars. neil diamond is doing well in the u.s. all right. so where'ses happiest place on

earth? >> i know -- >> you already to. >> i read the story so i know the answer. >> by the way, the answer to me was not really a surprise. disneyland is certainly the trademark but what is in reality? >> i have seen many people argue at disneyland actually so i know that's not the happiest place on earth. [ laughter ] >> this new gallup poll suggests that the place is the country of panama. >> latin america. according to the survey the central american nation has the population with the most positive emotions. 85% of panamanians responded about their overall well-being with positive answers. other happy nations paraguay, el salvador, venezuela and trinidad. it was followed by other latin- american nations. the least happy nation is one of the wealthiest, singapore. >> that's interesting. >> so we're seeing a common theme there, then. >> there is not necessarily a

connection between money and happiness. >> the beatles got it right. 4:56. holiday travelers trying to get home but a blizzard is making it tough. >> and a fiery crash in antioch overnight. the search for a second suspect and what started it all. >> we're live at sfo and there's no place like home for the holidays did you can you get there in time? we'll tell you what could complicate your holiday travel. ,,,,,,,,,,

secondhand smoke affects everyone's health.

it's not just irritating. it can cause heart disease and even death. speak up about secondhand smoke. your health and the health of your family depend on it. silence. weather ad libs s a week after the deadly school shooting the nation takes time to honor the victims with smiles. this is the busiest day of the travel season. mother nature could complicate things. >> heavy rainfall headed into the bay area. won't be long it will be in your neighborhood. we'll talk about that coming up. >> i'll tell you how weather is affecting your drive this morning. >> good morning. it's friday, december 21.

i'm michelle griego. >> i'm brian hackney. frank is off this morning. 5:00. we start with developing news in antioch where police are searching for a second suspect after a robbery, miss chase and this fiery crash. officials say the pair robbed the bonfair market on 10th street around 1 a.m. they drove off, police chased, and the suspects' car crashed on west try galleys road. the car burst into flames. one suspect arrested. police are still trying to find the second suspect. let's get a quick look at traffic and weather this morning. we are going to begin with weather. here's lawrence. where's the rain right now, lawrence? >> it's a very slow-moving storm system but right now, it is hung up in the north bay. we are seeing some very heavy rainfall. in fact, some of the mountains there almost 4" of rain already if you can believe that but that's because it is a slow- moving system and we're looking at heavy rainfall sliding to the south ever so slowly throughout the day today so once the system gets going in your neighborhood it will rain for a while. and there it is. you can see all the yellows around orange