40s, 50s with off and on rain. occasionally some moderate to heavy. here's sal. steve, right now traffic is moving along okay if you are driving on highway 24 getting up to the tunnel. but it's raining out there. we've had some wind advisories this morning for some of the bridges. 680 traffic looks good heading south. coming up i'll give you the wind and fog advisory that's out there. now let's go back to pam. well, one of the bay area's top narcotics officers is behind bars this morning facing felony drug charges. he's the commander of the contra costa county narcotics enforcement task force. he's accused of selling methamphetamine, marijuana and steroids that had been seized on the street and then stored in police evidence lockers. legal experts say his arrest could have a huge impact on drug cases dating back several years. >> certainly convictions that have been obtained in the past may be questionable as a result

of this. certainly his credibility would be called into question. >> he had been the lead investigator in several major bay area criminal cases including one just last month in which several pipe bombs were found in a storage locker. do the sponsors of california's same sex marriage band have the legal standing to defend proposition 8? the california supreme court says it will hear arguments later this year to determine the answer. protect marriage says it stepped in after state officials refused. >> is there a constitutional right to gay marriage or is there not? that's the big question. that's the one everyone would like to see answered. this is a yearlong detour. >> the state supreme court says it will be prepared to hear arguments as soon as september. same sex marriage supporters say they're disappointed by the time line and hope that the court will move more quickly. well, to date san francisco city attorney will announce a

crackdown on crack pipes. unveil a lawsuit against several excelsior district tobacco pipes accused of selling pipes used to smoke crack cocaine. the lawsuit is the city's latest effort to target neighborhood smoke shops suspected of promoting illegal drug use. also this morning honda started recalling about 700,000 of its compact cars sold around the world. that includes 122,000 of its 2009 and 2010 fit vehicles sold here in north america. the company says a defective spring may cause the engine to stall. there have been more than 100 complaints of problem globally but no accidents are reported so far. effected owners will receive a notice to bring their car to the dealer for repairs. all right. time now is 4:33. could be another treacherous commute. i know it was pretty bad overnight. sal, how do roads look now? it's raining pretty hard out there right now, pam.

and it's going to be tough driving. we also have a fog advisory for the santa cruz mountains. i want to mention that. so just be careful if you drive on highway 17. let's go outside and take a look at the east shore freeway. you can see traffic is moving along pretty well here coming out to the macarthur maze and to the bay bridge toll plaza. no major problems here getting across but there is a wind advisory -- or there was a wind advisory on the bay bridge. looks like that may have been lifted. there's a wind advisory for the san mateo bridge and the richmond san raphael and also for the benicia bridge. the high wind signs are up even though it's been lifted. northbound 280 traffic is moving along well. again, fog advisory for the santa cruz mountains. 4:34. let's go to steve. sal, thank you. lots of information yesterday. there will be lots coming in today. so if you get reports of hail, you can always tweet me sp

weather or e-mail me. information was great yesterday. it was out in force. today will be just as active and colder. i think there will be snow at lower elevations. excuse me. 3,000 feet. already showing signs of that here as this system spins in and this is going to be more of a rain day. yesterday was more of a shower day. this will be a little more organized today. you can see on the satellite picture watch right here. i have to show you right here. that's right by livermore hills. i think that's snow mix and lake county and northern napa just a series of these coming through. some is light. some is moderate to heavy. and rainfall will be really impressive as this system swings in. things should calm slightly tomorrow but it's really getting cold out there. livermore's 38. that's with mostly cloudy skies and some rain. that tells you why near livermore hills there's some snow. 41 santa rosa and 41 mountain view. that's cold for them. usually they run a little warm. series of systems continue to come in. looks like we'll get a break on

the weekend. let's see. colder again. yes, cold air continues to work its way in. some sun mixed in but there's a lot of clouds today. occasionally blustery, cool cold conditions. highs today with off and on rain upper 40s. yes, upper 40s. fairfield, napa, downtown napa up towards santa rosa as well. saturday looks fine to me and then we get a break sunday and also monday. all right. thank you, steve. president obama is due to arrive this evening for a one day visit to the bay area. he will meet with silicon valley leaders at a private dinner in san francisco tonight. the white house says the president will focus on promoting american innovation, education and clean energy. but some analysts say he is also trying to rally support for his recently released budget. among the executives due to meet with the president, facebook ceo and apple's steve jobs. on capitol hill today the house begins a third day of debate on cutting billions of dollars from this year's

spending bill. house republicans want to cut $61 billion from government agencies for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year that ends october 1st. so far the only thing democrats and republicans have been able to agree on is counseling $450 million for an alternative engine for the pentagon's next generation fighter jet. a close friend of congresswoman gabrielle giffords says she can now respond to questions, laugh at jokes and recognize visitors. the friend recently visited giffords at the rehab center in houston where she is recovering after being shot in the head on january 8 in tucson. giffords is said to be in therapy from morning until night, is in good spirits and is improving faster than anyone expected. protesters are calling today bloody thursday. that's after riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in the early morning hours at people who had been occupying

the main square in the capital city for two days. we have reports that three people were killed and hundreds of others injured. the government has now put the capital city on lockdown telling everyone to stay off the streets. well, do you know where your credit card information is going? apparently it's going on for three years with daily purchases before investigators caught onto this surprising scheme. the action one airline is taking at a local airport that hasn't been done since hurricane katrina. good morning. traffic is moving along pretty well if you're driving on highway 4. but it's wet out there. we'll give you another update on traffic and weather straight ahead.

well, another very active day today. colder too. looks like snow maybe up in the hills especially up in the northern lake county maybe even near livermore. it's going to be a rainy day. maybe more hail as well. a second suspect in san francisco's funeral parlor scam is due in court today. investigators say a now defunct funeral home in the bay view district bilked several families out of pre-paid funeral expenses. police say donald rollins of fairfield surrendered yesterday, the same day his former boss was in court. the funeral parlor owner was charged with grand theft and other felonies.

a former american airlines ticket agent is accused this morning of stealing credit card information from hundreds of customers. investigators say johnson from concord has been tied to about half a million dollars in purchases over the past three years. she's accused of stealing customers' credit card information while working at the san jose airport. she then used that information to buy gift cards two or three times a day. johnson has been charged with 66 counts of grand theft. if convicted, she could face almost 50 years in prison. united airlines is bringing back its direct flights between san francisco and new orleans. the first flight is taking off from lewis armstrong airport this morning and is expected to arrive in sfo shortly before 10:00. now this marks the first time direct service resumes between the two cities since it was canceled after hurricane katrina in 2005. sfo will host a celebration in

honor of this new flight this afternoon. the biggest retail trade group expects sales will be up more this year than any time in the last five years. this morning the national retail federation forecast sales will reach $2.47 trillion not including cars, restaurants and gas stations. that's a 4% increase from last year. but analysts say that still falls short of the 5% increase that signifies a robust economy. the bay area will lose eleven bookstores as part of the bankruptcy filing by borders. two stores will close in both san francisco and san jose. other stores that will shut down are in san mateo, san ramon, fremont, pleasanton, union city and alameda. those closures will leave hundreds of local employees looking for new jobs. workers at oak ridge mall in san jose say they were surprised by the news that their store is closing and they

feel bad about the way they were told. >> i didn't even hear anything from the supervisors, upper management or anything. i heard it straight from facebook. kind of disappointing to get my news from facebook. >> borders expects all the store closures to be complete by the end of april. and says it still has more than 400 stores across the country that will remain open. well, in san bruno another business is closing its doors because of increasing competition from the internet and big box stores. the family owned baby furniture store lullaby lane opened 60 years ago. final days of business is this saturday. almost 10,000 infants and toddlers are injured every year in crib-related accidents. according to a new study in the medical journal of pediatrics most involve toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2 who fall out of their cribs. researchers say the number of crib injuries dropped slightly

between 1990 and 2008. a ban on drop side cribs which took effect in december is expected to further reduce accidents. well, a search is underway for a man who robbed a popular cook ware store right in the middle of a high end san francisco neighborhood. police say the suspect walked in to the william sonoma store on chestnut street tuesday night. they say he pointed a gun at a clerk and demanded cash. no one was injured in the robbery. right now there is no description available of the suspect. three people are recovering from gunshot wounds this morning. that's following a shooting in east oakland. that happened just before 9:00 last night on hunter street. now one of the victims was a woman. and we are hearing that she may have been shot in the back. police are looking for two people who got away in a vehicle possibly a buick regal. testing tiny cameras mounted on their helmets n. a story you will see only here on

ktvu channel 2, we watched as they went into a burning building and used the cameras for the very first time. officials say the cameras help piece together what they should do the next time and show what firefighters experience during a fire. >> certain tactical decisions, asking for ventilation sooner, asking for another crew to pull a hose line. the good thing about this is it's not just visual. we get a lot of audio out of it. >> you get to see what happens when the firefighters do run inside a burning building and how it is absolutely not at all like it is in the movies. >> firefighters say they would like these smaller cameras combined with their thermal imaging cameras. those can scan a room in a matter of seconds and make it easier to find victims. firefighters will continue to test out the new helmet cameras in real life situations. well, this morning chp is warning the commute could be another rough one. overnight the storm brought heavy rain and we could see

more hailstorms today. take a look at that. our ktvu cameras caught this hailstorm just outside our oakland studios yesterday morning. the ice pellets were the size of peas and didn't cause any damage. people in san francisco and other parts of the bay area report similar bursts of wild weather. speaking of wild weather, meteorologists warn that the timing of the storm will effect the coast with huge waves. this is the scene along the coast in san francisco yesterday. but the surf is expected to get even bigger pique at its highest level this morning. the big waves apparently only occur twice a year when the earth and moon align. the national weather service is warning of flooding and beach erosion today. now we're going to continue to follow the latest storm throughout the morning. you can also get up to the minute weather updates on our website. just look under the weather tab at ktvu.com. we also have sal keeping an eye on the roads. how do things look, sal?

they look okay, pam. good morning to you. traffic is doing all right although the wet weather is going to make it for a tough drive this morning. let's go outside and take a look at westbound bay bridge. it's raining there clearly right now. and you will see slow traffic this morning in some areas already as people slow down for the rain as they should if you are going to be driving soon you should slow it down out there. don't drive too quickly for the conditions. also this is a look at 880. a little bit of wind here shaking our camera a little bit as you can see. and on the nimits traffic looks good heading down to the fremont area and south bay. off to a decent start with slowing on southbound 280 in cooperty no. 4:48. let's go to steve. for us this is about as got as it gets. heavy snow in the mountains. snow around here. snow level's coming down.

the little change here is that the next couple systems might dig farther offshore and take aim at central california and then southern california. but today it's our turn. just like yesterday. now yesterday was showery in nature. we had numerous reports of hail. i think we'll see similar today although when you see something like this more organized coming on shore, that's more widespread rain. plus it's very cold. you need a little heat to generate some thunderstorms but it's possible. off and on rain today. but that cold pattern picks up as well and stays in place. and then the rain and possible thunderstorms not going anywhere for two days. right near the livermore hills little green turning to white. you can always e-mail me or tweet me. also in lake county. see how it's scattered and watch in the last few frames how it fills in. so today's doing to be more of a rain day. but we do have some very low snow levels. 3,000 feet over the next two days. i think they'll go down more so maybe around 2500 feet by tonight into tomorrow. it will look great once it all

calms down but it's cold out there right now. that's with the cloud cover and rain. 38 livermore. 41 santa rosa. 44 napa. i don't think highs will be out of the upper 40s for the north bay. i really don't. see how this is coming in? that's all the cold air. that's the swing in. but now starting to take almost like parallel to us. next couple ones will go farther south. but next week couple forecast models keep it very active. we're not done with this yet. cold today. even colder. rain -- off and on rain, maybe a little bit of sun but not much. a mostly cloudy day. upper 40s and low 50s for almost everybody. more rain moves in on friday. could be morning rain on saturday but that system will dig offshore and head towards southern california. i think cold and breezy for us. very cold sunday morning. there will be some upper 20 north bay, east bay and monday partly sunny. tuesday could be another really cold day. >> wow. thank you, steve. it happens faster than most people realize. the dramatic river rescue in

los angeles right near a busy neighborhood. and the big bang in outer space that could cause radio blackouts today.

welcome back to the morning news. three homeless men are safe this morning. but that's after rising flood waters left them trapped in the middle of the los angeles river. yesterday the first in a series of winter storms hit southern california catching the three men by surprise. long beach firefighters say people don't realize how fast that river water can rise. and it wasn't long before the men were in danger. >> when we first got here you can see a little bit of the island and it was just up to their ankles. after that it was already up to their knees and we made the rescue it was between their knees and their waist. >> after the rescue all three men were examined.

no injuries were reported. another storm is expected to hit the los angeles area tomorrow morning. it could be another difficult morning of driving through the sierra as a new round of snow is due to hit that area. according to cal trans, chains are required on both interstate 80 and highway 50. take a look at this. live picture this morning. again, snow falling pretty heavy. forecasters are predicting another 18 inches of snow by friday night. just in time for that long president's day weekend. checking in with sal, traffic to the sierra might be pretty busy on friday. hopefully the weather lightens up and gets people up to the snow. >> we hope anyway. right now in the bay area, pam, traffic is moving along okay. people getting on the road early. rain is moving through. it's going to make it tough. certainly windshield wiper weather. let's move along to highway 24 where within 24 traffic still looks okay on the way to oakland. and of course at the toll plaza the rain is moving through.

traffic on the bridges okay. be careful. it could be windy on bay area bridges and causeways. let's go to steve. thank you, sal. another crazy day. tweets coming in yesterday. all sorts of reports of hail. looks like more rain coverage today. this could be more heavy rain than hail. we'll mention that today. maybe some snow in the hills outside of livermore. snow up in lake port. i know that. lake county's had some snow and also up towards -- see some of that green turning to white. livermore went from 38 to 44. that's what happens when you get the rain. but that's a cold rain. 40s for many. it's going to be a day where it's just going to be cold, kind of raw off and on rain. some will be moderate to heavy. 40s on the highs. low 50s. a few mid-50s. san jose's the warmest at 54 and may not feel that warm. we're in for about two days of very unsettled weather and then i think we get a break after saturday morning into sunday. next week's looking very interesting again, pam. interesting. okay. thanks, steve. well, a warning goes in to effect today for the biggest

solar flare in four years. now a solar flare is a large explosion in the sun's atmosphere that sends x-ray and ultraviolet radiation in our direction. could cause radio blackouts. the warning issued by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration is in effect until sunday. a ktvu crew in vallejo where there is breaking news of a gas leak and a power outage. how one is believed to have caused the other. and the storm is bringing in some big waves. why it could translate into big trouble for one coastal community.

how long will this last? also a pleasanton middle school facing very serious reprocushions this morning. why it could lose federal funding. it's all ahead on the ktvu

morning news. good morning. thank you for joining us. it is thursday february 17th. i'm pam cook. and good morning. i'm dave clark. let's check weather and traffic. here's steve. thank you very much, pam and dave. a cloudy, rainy, cold morning. looks like some snow no doubt about it for areas to the north and even around livermore hills. but for us we are going to see some of this, well, more rain today than i think hail like we had yesterday widespread. still look for a very active day today. temperatures stay very cold with upper 40s and low 50s with low snow levels. here's sal. steve, right now traffic is moving along okay here if you're driving through the bay area. highway 4 going to be okay driving up to the grade. the rain is coming down. very wet freeways. also the same thing goes obviously if you're driving on 24 on the way to the tunnel. now let's go back to the desk. topping our news this morning, the chp is warning the commute could be another rough one. overnight the storm brought heavy rain and more hailstorms. someone in san bruno posted

video on youtube. take a look. it's interstate 280 near crystal springs road. look closely and you can see the freeway covered in ice. on a street nearby there was so much ice on the ground. you can see footprints people left behind and cars parked on the streets were covered with hail. the rough weather is also expected to create some big waves today. ktvu channel 2 reporter tara moriarty is in pacifica where big waves can mean big trouble. good morning, tara. >> reporter: well, good morning. that's right. there is a high surf advisory in effect until 3:00 this afternoon. but first we want to talk about this crumbling cliff side in pacifica. it's where those red tag apartments sit. this morning in just a few hours city inspectors will be coming by to take a look and make sure that no further slippage has occurred there. now yesterday an inspector did a preliminary inspection but it is still unclear whether the rains have caused further slippage.