bursts of heavy rain, and then the cold air arrives. here is sal. all right right now westbound 24 there is wet weather here. this is a look at lafayette 24 and it are be a little bit rainy there. also highway 4 this morning same thing goes if you are driving anywhere pretty much in the bay area you will see the rain for the morning commute. we do have a problem that happened just after midnight last night. a major ramp from a freeway in san francisco is shut down. let's go live to ktvu kraig debro who is on the scene to explain more. >> reporter: good morning, sal. this is the 280 split behind me. it's the split i'm talking about. it's the lower deck of the upper lower deck. you go south daily city to north san francisco. you can see the sign hanging down. that's why the freeway is closed. it's closed here.

it started around just after midnight. they issued an alert at 2:46, 2:48. cal tran crews are on the scene right now. the question is when will it be fixed? we definitely have to keep on eye on this. apparently during the whole mess, somebody was injured in an injury accident. they have not been able to tell us how or why it happened. take a look at the sign again. they have not been able to tell us if this is weather related. it looks like it's chopped up like a truck mashed it. we don't know how that would have happened. they are checking to see if it's weather related or if it's a truck. this is what most of us that drive into ktvu saw this

morning around 2:30 in the morning. that is a flood in oak street here. about a couple baseball throws away. this car is sitting in several inches of water. if you walk to the intersection there, it's deeper than that. i tried to walk into that and got very wet trying to get to the bottom of the thing. when you have something like this you are talking about a clogged drain. you have high surf advisories. hazardous weather warning inland. you have flooding you have to watch out for. and one of the reasons that this is like this for so many hours we tole you it happened after 12:00. cal tran just got here 30 minutes because they have been on flood duty all morning. putting out floods here and there.

reporting live in san francisco kraig debro ktvu channel 2 news. it's quite a scene in sonoma county where some drivers needed help after getting stuck in that standing water. we could be in line for possible thunderstorms today. if you head to the beach be careful. a surf advisory takes effect after 7:00 a.m.. strong winds is also causing problems. one of our ktvu employees sent us this picture of a fallen tree in fremont. no one was hurt there is no damage but but do understand the tree is blocking part of a driveway. the starlet is also bring -- the storm is also bringing cold temperatures along the summit. because of the drop in temperature, there is concern that could cause patches of

black ice to form. people are also worried by hillsides. >> you have to batten down. when the storm front comes in it will hit harder. >> rain can turn to snow as low as the 2,000-foot level and there is a chance of hail. the rain is expected to last all week. our storm coverage continues throughout the morning. we will be checking in with steve paulson. you can check storm tracker two at ktvu.com. the storm has left thousands around the bay area without power this morning. within the past hour pg&e tells us about 3600 customers are still without power in half- moon bay, moss beach, and hayward area. in lafayette about 500 customers are effected in danville al moe there are more

than 430 outages. power should be restored right about 7:00 this morning. late last night the berkeley city council voted down a resolution that would have invited two guantanamo detainees to come live in berkeley once they are released. it's an issue that once again put berkeley in the national spotlight with strong opinions on both sides. >> just because we didn't get a conviction on these people for whatever how many years they have been in guantanamo bay that they are not dangerous. >> if we don't open our hearts in a situation where people have been proven in many venues as innocent, than who are we? what if that were to happen to us? >> some council members say

they can't support the resolution right now because federal law prohibits detainees coming to the u.s.. they also say if the law changes they may reconsider the issue in the future. the berkeley city council did pass another resolution last night that calls for the immediate end to the cruel inhumane and degrading treatment of bradley manning. the army private accused of leaking classified documents to wikileaks. manny has been held in confinement since back in may. this morning police are calling the disappearance of a vallejo man suspicious. 45-year-old robert mass has been missing since february 8th. he was last seen leaving his home on santa clara avenue to take his dog for a walk. the dog later returned that --

thattive thing -- that've thing dragging her leash. the biggest one is northbound to 280 is shut down because of road repair. we will follow that all morning long. let's take a look at the freeways. as you can see it's wet here. on the east shore freeway traffic is moving well. also this mornings commute at the toll plaza is light. traffic coming into san francisco is good. if you're in the southbound it's already. again, it's wet everywhere. 4:38 let's go to steve. thank you, sal. we do have a system moving through right now.

northbound is on the north edge of it. the rest will move through the morning hours by 8:00 or 9:00. but then the very cold and unstable air will have to come in behind that. there will be extremely snow levels here. temperatures will be hard pressed to get out of the low 50s for some today. let me see if i can find this thing. there we go. 40s, upper 40 rs and low 50s for some. mountain view is at 50. 56 santa rosa. a wide front shows snow moving through. that right there that is very cold unstable air. anything can happen. sun clouds. hail would not be surprising with waterspouts and funnel clouds off the coast. colder showers. i know we have rain now. throughout the day i'm forecasting for the day. sun and clouds breezy, windy, and much cooler. much cooler. 50s on the temperatures.

there could be pretty good thunderstorms later on today. very unsettled. another front will slide through on saturday. by saturday all of this is over. sunday looks pretty good. pam. thank you, steve. president obama is coming to the bay area tomorrow with a one-day visit with business leaders. he is reportedly looking for support for his newly released budget which includes significant funding for research and development. president is scheduled to land at sfo tomorrow evening and leave on friday morning. further details are being kept confidential for security reasons. boeing airplanes are expected to be back in the air tonight. they were ground to perform maintenance check. one of the planes was at san francisco international airport. united said the computers are

fully functional. international journalist laura logan is back in the u.s. recovering from the hospital after a brutal sexual assault. networks say the attack happened on sunday after hundreds were celebrating the resignation in cairo. the journalist became separated from her crew and was sexually assaulted and beaten by an angry mob. she was finally rescued by a group of women and 20 soldiers. we hear she is in the hospital recovering here in the u.s.. strangers until a terrifying ordeal. we hear about two women that were caught up in a robbery that started at a local mall. flooding around the peninsula. the reason there is a lawsuit. northbound 101 traffic looking good but we have a big problem in san francisco we'll tyloma more straight -- we'll tell you more straight ahead.

some incredible totals coming in. one to five inches of rain. the front is moving through. if you want to wait it out in the next couple of hours it will be gone. >> thank you, steve. pg&e crews are keeping a close eye on the storm that is hitting the bay area. the company has its own weather department to track storms and

predict where damage to power lines will be the the worst mostly because of winds. pg&e uses information to direct their crews. >> when storms arrive especially like stronger storms we are seeing today and tonight. additional crews are often needed and they are needed in specific areas. >> the speed of its response often depends on the number of outages and the largest outages usually get top priority. two san carlos businesses are suing to damage to their buildings because of flooding last year. the owners of ketco kitchen warehouse say the flooding cost them more than $140,000 for repairs and lost inventory.

a stranded barge is now docked in oakland this morning following an emergency cleanup operation that may have prevented a disaster. the barge ran a ground early yesterday morning near st. francis yacht club. our ktvu news crew was there last night when the barge was removed at high tide and moved across the bay. it was carrying thousands of gallons of fuel and hydraulic fluid. >> if show would have sank all those things would have ruptured. >> that would have created a spill larger than any in the bay area. in this incident the barges fuel tank held tight. only a gallon of oil leaked into the bay. california's government is under a hiring freeze as the state deals with the $25 billion deficit. it applies to vacant positions.

there is an exception in public safety and revenue gathering jobs. it's not clear how much this hiring freeze almost save. apples new subscription service is meeting with new apps. apple requires them to pay 30% of their revenue. it allows publishers to set a price and length for prescription. but content providers say that 30% fee is an economic hardship. investigators are trying to determine who is to blame in a fatal crash that killed a chp officer in northern mendocino county. the officer 24-year-old adam thomas says he has been on the force for 20 years.

it's not clear which vehicle crossed into the on coming traffic. two people in the other car were taken to the hospital and has been released. two bay area women who never met share a common bond. they are both victims of a terrifying kidnapping and robbery scheme. investigators say an armed man kidnapped and robbed one woman at concord sun valley mall. one police officer finally caught up with the man a short time later in other part of oakland. >> these spikes you can see where he took them. he wasn't able to hop the fence as fast. >> one officer tazed and arrest 20-year-old norris reid junior. reid had an accomplice who is still at large. san francisco police now have a sketch of a man wanted in the fatal stabbing of a teenager last week.

he's described as asian, 18-19 years old weighing 160 to 180 pounds. he may have a mole on his upper right cheek. that suspect is wanted for the fatal stabbing of victor shang. a critical ruling in the barry bonds case. cracking down on illegal taxing. the steps being taken in one bay area city against people who transport passengers illegally.

good morning, good news is the front is going through.

the bad news is there has been a lot of rain on the streets. highs today will be only in the low to mid 50s. the current storm is bringing heavy snow to the sierra. we will take a live look here at blue canyon. take a look at the snow coming in sideways. we talked with cal tran chains are required on highway 80. the snow has been dumping there since yesterday afternoon stranding some drivers and catching many by surprise. >> really, really bad conditions. i couldn't even drive for a minute without the windshield being covered in snow and ice. >> now about three to five feet of snow is expected today. cal tran is increasing its staff and equipment by 20-30% to clear the roadways. we will be checking the weather and roads all morning long. our coverages continues online as well. get the latest ski conditions as well. just click on the storm watch

tab at ktvu.com. the dublin city council moved forward on its smoking ban in apartments. to increase nonsmoking units to 75%. right now complexes with 16 or more individual units must make half of them nonsmoking. the council will continue to work on the idea if it's approved the switch will have to be made by 2013. there is a plan to crack down on illegal cabs in san francisco. tomorrow a public safety committee almost vote on legislation to fine cab drivers that are not permitted to drive in the city. some limousine and lincoln town cars could face fines as well as cab drivers that come from other cities. all right 4:53 is the time. let's check in with sal again. take it easy this morning wet

roads out there. >> that is right. we do have a look at some of the roads that might be effected now. if you are driving up the peninsula on highway 101, you will not be able to take the direct root to san francisco 280. the indicator shows northbound 101 you will have to stay on 101 to get to downtown. that will put a lot of pressure on 101. they will not be able to open this for another three hours. 7:45 is the time they gave there. the 280 extension you will be able to get on to it from caesar chavez. if you are on 280 you will be able to stay on it but not access it from 101. let's take a look at westbound bay bridge. that traffic is moving along okay coming into san francisco. this mornings commute on northbound 101 we will be watching that. we'll see if indeed more people

on the freeway getting up to the downtown area. let's go to steve. thank you, sal. the first few weeks of february very warm and calm. that came to a halt. yesterday was a howling wind machine as you know. now the rain overnight. that is very cold air starting to pin right there. that will pick up later on. some unbelievable totals. i think this is a running total though. five and a third inches of rain. santa rosa has had two. san francisco two-thirds and san jose .40. i'm sure there was more near san jose. the front has gone through but this is slam city for sierra, nevada. we'll see a couple of sun breaks but when this moves in anything can happen. petaluma an inch of rain. mill valley almost an inch of

rain. redwood city almost had two- thirds. there has been pretty good totals here. temperatures will get cold. 40s. upper 40s. mountain view and oakland i don't think that will last long. everything is taking aim right at us. just like that. this is a forecast model for the rain. now watch what it does here. through the morning commute it keep there is are breaks. it's not continuous rain but by 9:00 there are hit and miss showers. right what we have right now is rain. there might be a couple of breaks here but around 4:00 or 5:00 we get that afternoon heating. we will see more rain possible. hail. and then by tonight things calm down here. here comes the next system on thursday morning. thursday afternoon that will be an early rainer. i think the weekend will be okay, okay. especially since we get passed sat morning. if you are heading to the mountains it will be tough. breezy cool to cold and highs today only in the 50s for many.

in fact we will see mid 50s at best or low 50s and temperatures in the five-day very unsettled. cold. showery. pam. thank you, steve. a judge has issued a critical ruling in barry bond's case. they can hear a secret recording of bond's trainer. the defense argues that the tape is irrelevant to the central question whether he lied under oath when he told the grand jury when he never knowingly used steroids. we continue to cover the storm pounding the bay area this morning. in the east bay a chain reaction that started with falling tree. now more than a thousand people are without power. part of the va hospital is off limits while the fbi investigates a suspicious letter. why it caused so much concern that prompted an evacuation.

i'm tara moriarty live in the oakland hills where the storm causes power lines to melt through the street. we'll tell you how many people are now without power. coming up. the wet weather is going to make for a tough drive to work.

we've already had numerous problems out there. accidents, stalls, it's going to be tough. we will be here with extended traffic coverage. some good news. the front is blasting through but we have to get ready for the wet roads and very cold air. part of the veterans hospital remains closed because of a mysterious letter. what the fbi has to do before that building can reopen. it's all ahead on the ktvu morning news. good morning thank you for joining us. it's wednesday, february 16th i'm pam cook. >> and i'm dave clark. let's check your weather and traffic. there is a lot to talk about. >> there is indeed. howling rain gave away last night. some of that rain has been impressive. the front is going through. we will have a few sun breaks but the cold air comes in a