rain leading to a messy morning commute... and a soggy afternoon. live doppler is tracking our storm right now... now at noon a thursday soaker around the bay area. rain leading to a messy morning commute and soggy afternoon. live doppler tracking our storm right now. you can see the bands of rain moving through all the green and the yellow. good afternoon, i'm kenny choi. we have live team coverage of storm watch from oakland to

palo alto and a look at how the wine country fire zone did in the rain but neda has conditions right now. >> i want to show you what's going on with our hi-def doppler. you can see intense rain especially across the south bay. it was strong across the north bay now coming off the coast towards the south bay. santa cruz up to 3 inches from this system. los gatos also still seeing this strong cell. sunnyvale, san jose, cupertino, it's not letting up. the windshield wipers in full force, ponding on the roads, as well. moving to the east dublin may

see more intensity with livermore stronger rain further east. south san francisco about a half inch of rain per hour, millbrae more than that. about three-quarters inch of rain. it's a little lighter around the bay. it's cleared up north of the bay but sonoma, st. helena, it's raining there. totals are impressive: c live in palo alto... anne, some problems on the roads... ((anne makovec, palo alto - its still raining here, heavy ple up and down the peninsu our team coverage continues now with kpix 5's anne makovec live in palo alto right now. anne, some problems on the roads. >> reporter: yeah. the rain is really coming down right now. just a few minutes ago we saw the skies turn dark again and bam! another downpour. that's been happening in the bay area all day. but people are taking it in

stride. from the overnight hours all through the morning commute, the rain has been drenching roads and pedestrians alike. >> i have my jacket right now. i enjoy the rain. >> reporter: even though he is getting soaked. one of many people we caught ill prepared for the weather today. where's your umbrella? >> packed. we're moving. >> reporter: commuters on 101 were faced with this mess for 4 1/2 hours. the northbound central freeway closed coming into san francisco a low point for water collecting in the freeway. crews pumped it out. when traffic was moving, there were plenty of hydroplane hazards. >> i took the train and brought my umbrella. i was closer in but you never know this time of year. so i grabbed an umbrella. >> reporter: even through the

downpours, most people we spoke with today are welcoming the wet weather. >> i come from houston. it rains a lot there. >> everything is nice. the air is nice. i just love it. >> reporter: it's good to see good attitudes, although it's only mid-november. we have a whole winter to go. live in palo alto, anne makevoc, kpix 5. meanwhile, kpix 5's jessica flores is in oakland. jessica, we heard you made a very difficult drive out there. >> reporter: hey, kenny. that's right. it is a soggy sluggish mess out here. now, it's raining here but we were in the north bay earlier covering santa rosa and the storm threats over there. but it took us two hours to get from the north bay to the east bay. we basically tried to follow the storm as it made its way over oakland and it was even more than two hours even past the morning commute. it was brake light after brake light on 101. and then we got to the east bay and saw a lot of ponding and

slick roads and again heavy traffic. over in sonoma county, the rain died down about 7 a.m. and the storm was supposed to be the first big test for the fire-ravaged region. crews there have been putting down sandbags and straw stacks called wattles to contain debris and stabilize hillsides. in santa rosa in fountain grove some storm pipes melted underground and it was under a flood watch. officials braced for potential mudslides and sinkholes. >> we're traveling in the area. we are hoping we're going to pass the test. so i think it's hard to say whether we're going to have more or less rain. we are hoping with all the work we are doing with the erosion control measures, the hydro- mulching that's taking place with the wattles and storm drain protections, we are holding it would hold through a significant storm as a tes . [ pause ] >> reporter: we didn't have that punch that they expected

so they didn't have a lot of problems beyond some minor flooding in areas where storm drains were clogged. but they were able to fix that problem so no major issues yet. but they are preparing for the rainy season. they are monitoring the highways. there is some minor flooding and ponding and they are asking folks out there to please drive safely in this rainstorm. reporting live in oakland, i'm jessica flores, kpix 5. we have rain here in the bay area and snow piling number the sierra. as we take a look at this from early this morning, near mount rose, a winter storm warning is in effect right now. several feet of snow are forecast in the highest elevations. just what skiers want to hear heading into the holiday week next week. democratic senator al franken of minnesota is the latest u.s. politician accused of sexual misconduct as more women come forward against alabama senate candidate roy moore. kpix 5's jackie ward is live in

the newsroom with the details. >> reporter: a morning news anchor for kabc in los angeles wrote on the station's website that she wants the days of silence to be over forever. she is accusing al franken of forcibly kissing her during a 2006uso tour when he was a comedian and later posing for a vulgar photograph. he insisted they practice a kiss during rehearsals. she wrote an essay saying he came at me, put his hands on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth. she just wrapped up a news conference where she explains the emotions she is going through after telling her story 11 years later. >> i thought about it for so long, you think you know what you're going to feel. when i come out and tell the world, maybe i'm going to be happy about it like, yeah, put

it to him or whatever. it's not even that feeling. it's not like i'm happy about it. >> franken said, quote, i certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way but i send my sincerest apologize to leeann. the photo cast clearly intended to be funny. it wasn't. i shouldn't have done it. he is calling for an ethics investigations into his actions. it comes around the scandal escalating around roy moore. three women came forward wednesday saying moore made unwelcome advances towards them when they were young women or teenagers. alabama republican party officials met last night but with less than 4 weeks until the election, they did not vote on withdrawing their support. president trump has not taken a stance on the issue. in the newsroom, jackie ward, kpix 5. the director of california's senate fellows program is on indefinite leave. this comes days after new harassment allegations were made against state senator tony mendoza. they come from two women who

used to work in his office. one was an intern in2008 who told the "sacramento bee" she was 19 when he took her to a convention in san jose, got her alone in her suite, gave her alcohol and made her so uncomfortable that she made up a story in order to leave and fly home. she was part of the fellows program. mendoza has called the allegations completely false. the house of representatives just passed its version of a tax reform plan but as mola lenghi reports, the republican dream of tax cuts still has a long way to go before president trump can sign it into law. >> reporter: republicans celebrated passage of a tax reform bill they have been working towards for decades. >> it's been 31 years since we last did this. and it is finally time that we get the general interest of this country to prevail over the special there is washington. >> reporter: president trump personally lobbied house republicans to vote yes during a trip to capitol hill. >> the taxes going really well, thank you very much.

>> reporter: the house plan cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. it doubles the standard deduction for individuals and families. but it eliminates the state and local tax deductions. congressmen from some tax states say eliminating it unfairly hurts their constituents. >> this doesn't end today. there's still a long way to go and we'll keep fighting. >> reporter: getting tax reform through the house is one thing but the margin in the senate is tighter. one republican is saying he would vote no. >> i wouldn't vote for this. there's a real problem here in terms of the equitable treatment. >> reporter: senator ron johnson is opposed to the current plan because he claims it benefits larger corporations more than small businesses. and republican senator susan collins is not happy that the senate bill includes the repeal of obamacare's individual mandate saying, adding a healthcare issue to the tax bill doesn't make sense. collins has not yet said how

she will vote. mola lenghi, cbs news, capitol hill. still ahead, a brain disease discovery was linked to pro football. the first case of a living person with a chronic condition. >> in today's economy, millions of americans say a day job isn't enough. i'm meg oliver in new york. coming up, how people are making extra income with a side hustle. we're the generation that had it all.

we're the generation that had the music and the moves. we're the generation that had the style. well, sometimes. we're the generation that walked where no one had walked before, like no one had walked before, and, boy, did we know how to fly. we're the generation that had a dream and broke down walls. we came together to feed the world's children. we came together to protect them. and in this dangerous world, we have to keep on saving them, protecting them, caring for them even when we're gone.

if we remember unicef in our will, we'll remember the children who desperately need our help, and we'll be the generation who left a better world for children. visit uniceflegacy.org. neda will have your full forecast in just a couple of minutes. . keeping an "eye on the storm" in the bay area a live look at the doppler. right now you see all that green and yellow out there.

a lot of rain here in the area. neda will have the full forecast coming up in just a couple of minutes. a shooting involving bart police overnight, officers got reports of a man with a gun at the richmond station after midnight. they found him nearby. they say that when they approached him, the situation escalated, shots were fired. the suspect was hit and taken to the hospital. no officers injured. richmond police and the contra costa d.a.'s office are investigating. just in right now. santa clara county is reporting its first flu-related death of the season. it happened earlier this month. the person was an adult under the age of 65 and had other medical conditions that caused a higher risk of complications from the flu. the person had not gotten a flu vaccine this year. new at noon, we are learning of a first case of living person with a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopothy, also called cte. cnn has confirmed that former nfl player fred mcneil was diagnosed with it three years before his death in 2015.

the diagnosis was made by the man who discovered the disease. millions of americans are using their passions to make a profit. the so-called side hustle trend has been lucrative among baby boomers. as meg oliver reports, now millennials are cashing in, too. >> reporter: 9 to 5 she designs the website for a small marketing company. that job inspired her to turn her passion for designing tarot carts into a second job. also known as a side hustle. >> what do you think is behind the trend of side hustles? >> i think it's a mix of things. i think it is a desire for more individual freedom. >> reporter: recent reports found more than 44 million americans have a so-called side hustle. it's a way they can earn extra cash on the side. chris is the author of side hustle from idea to income in 27 days. >> it's something that you can point to and say, okay, i have

my paycheck. that's fine. i love my job. but i'm also building something for myself as well. >> reporter: younger baby boomers aged 53 to 62 earn the most from side hustling pulling in at least a grand a month. but 32-year-old jennifer lee claims her side job organizing trips for young professionals is equally lucrative. >> i say that i can cover all my rent. [ laughter ] >> reporter: an event planner by trade, lee says there's an added benefit. >> i get to travel for free, which is the biggest perk, building a community of people that i admire and love. that's just a value that i go for. >> reporter: tina spends three hours a night crafting designs on her tarot cards and sells them online starting around $45. now tina is all about living in the present. happy with her day job and her side hustle. meg oliver, cbs news, new york. taking a look at the dow, it is rebounding after a dismal

day yesterday. the dow is up about 191 points right now. strong quarterly earnings from walmart and san jose-based cisco. time for a check of our weather with neda. >> yes. let's check in on our hi-def doppler. you can see it across the south bay here. it is coming down very strong, dangerously strong for a lot of drivers being careful out there make sure windshield wipers are working. we'll need that through the winter. rear seeing a lot of rain through santa cruz so the roads will be dangerous. sunnyvale getting more rain. santa clara, as well. we saw sunnyvale getting up to 3/4" of rain per hour, strong out further east near milpitas. just got a band coming through. livermore also just saw this intense rain coming through as it moved out further east past pleasanton and dublin but there's more right behind it. south san francisco right now easing up a bit but still strong for daly city, bayview

district at this hour getting some intense rain along with burlingame. the north bayonne still seeing rain. it's calmed down though in napa and santa rosa. the north bay, yountville still seeing rain. venado got the most a rain over three inches. santa rosa almost 2. angwin 2. atlas peak about 1.5" and st. helena more than 2." so it did come down really strong overnight and early morning for the north bay. also still coming down strong across the tahoe area. look at the high elevations seeing the areas of some snow and some slush right around lake level here. this is the past three-hour loop and yes, as it gets warmer in the afternoon, of course that still turns into slush but late tonight, that's when those snow levels are expected to drop as low as the lake level, possibly six inches to a foot there. and maybe two to four feet of snow for those very high elevations. squaw valley opening up

tomorrow, heavenly, as well. here's your futurecast. you get an idea of how much more rain is in our forecast. more rain this afternoon but it should ease up for san jose. san francisco, the north bay, it looks like the rain will subside this afternoon. by 5 p.m., still coming down across santa cruz and morgan hill but the rest of the bay area should just be light scattered showers. that's all it's going to be. by friday, we'll be in the clear and saturday, as well. you can see it here on your seven-day forecast. sunday partly cloudy. another chance of rain next week. stay with us, traffic and weather in jus t a moment. >> stay with us. we'll be right back.

for women with cancer, one of the most traumatic parts of the treatment is --losing their hair. sharon chin shows us how a to help them for women with cancer one of the most traumatic parts of the treatment is losing their hair. sharon chin shows us how a san francisco man works to help them feel better about the process. >> cut them up and you have a t- shirt wrap. >> reporter: singer felicia rogers learns how to cope with hair loss from chemotherapy and breast cancer therapy. volunteers like stephen wakefield give ideas for using head wraps, wigs and makeup. >> he does it in a comedic fashion which is really fun. >> reporter: she gets emotional for stephen's gift runs deeper.

>> you're not alone. you are able to have people who are really caring and loving. it's kind of hard a little bit, receiving the love. sorry. >> i love helping people. you want to pat with your ring finger. >> reporter: stephen has run two peninsula salons of his for years but twice a month he leads free beauty and skin care workshops for cancer survivors. mostly at hospitals like kaiser permanente in redwood city. the two-hour session for women called "look good feel better" a 28-year-old program of the american cancer society. >> if she can walk out of that class with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, i've done my job. >> reporter: he volunteered for the workshop for 25 years in honor of family members he lost to cancer. stephen's parents and grandmother died of cancer so he understands the patient's struggle, the nurse manager at kaiser permanente's oncology department -- >> they leave class with a smile on their faces and hope. >> reporter: april morton of

the american cancer society says stephen is the workshop's longest serving bay area volunteer. >> stephen's just very compassionate. >> just makes my heart feel good. now, you are finished, my lady friend. >> reporter: so for transforming the look and lifting the spirits of cancer survivors for years, this week's jefferson award in the bay area goes to stephen wakefield. sharon chin, kpix 5. >> and you can nominate your own local hero for a jefferson award online at cbssf.com/hero. we'll be right back.

the closure.. creating *another big hole on what seems like a cursed downtown street corner. another big business bites the dust in san jose. the closure creating another big hole on what seemed like a cursed downtown street corner. that and more tonight at 5:00. that's it for kpix 5 news at noon. our next newscast is at 5:00. >> don't put those umbrellas away. you'll need it. but head out to the ski resorts this weekend. ♪[ music ]

♪ ♪ ♪ [ music intensifies ] ♪ >> liam: sally said some things that i know she wouldn't have said in any other context. she told me she loved me. and then she kissed me.