there's that train of moisture just beginning to come up from the south now and that is targeting the bay area. so certainly an area of concern is some of the showers now beginning to pop up really off the coast of big sur now that's going to sweep in through the night tonight late tonight, especially early tomorrow morning. i think that will be our best chance to see some of that lightning which is somewhat unusual usually you have to get the heating in the afternoon to produce lightning storms in the bay area. but you don't some of that subtropical moisture. 7 bodies game as we head in toward tomorrow morning. temperatures certainly been hot blazing heat around the bay area news records coming down a 108 degrees in little more that was a record napa checking into 103 a record one '03 in santa rosa or another record broken there are a 102 in redwood city oakland tied a record of 93 and during another blazing day there are a 108 degrees but all around the bay area certainly very hot temperatures and it's staying warm out there tonight and that's why the heat advisories and excessive heat warni

with so many -- now bring in nbc bay area's jodi hernandez. we talked about south bay, now solano and napa counties,er to through the neighborhoods there. >> reporter: been relentless. we've been watching it flare up throughout the day in vacaville. one of the hot spots a short time ago. hillside still black and smoky. made a run down the hill towards a beautiful ranch style house. fortunately the firefighters were able to save it. not the case for a lot of houses out here. rural vacaville hit hard as lmu lightning complex fire took off early this morning, zldestroyin homes and threatening pets and wildlife. >> the fire was loud, it whistled and roared, you could hear trees falling. scariest thing i've ever been in. >> reporter: nancy millkin describes the fire. when it flared up, raced to bring more than 100 horses and sheep to safety. but it was too late to drive out. >> we were smart about it, knew it was coming at angle. waited until it crowned before we started to lay a line. >> reporter: he and his 16-year-old son bulldozed lines and pour

yesterday morning, the bay area blanketing in yellow. on this map we capture in the bay area. yellow meaning moderately unhealthy air. the red color you can see areas surrounding vacaville and livermore and santa cruz. conditions became worse at 2:00 with most parts of the bay area covered in red. now our realtime map showing you some improvements parts of san francisco and oakland and the peninsula. the bay area air quality management district warning folks that conditions are not where is we want them to be. >> we are hoping that smoke and air quality does improve over the weekend. however, without fire containment we are not going to be able to enjoy clean air over this weekend. >> so obviously this air is dangerous for children and the elderly and anyone with a health or a respiratory issue and for anybody who's healthy and does not fall into this category obviously irritation in the eyes or the nose and throat, if you have any trouble make sure ucy u you consult with a doctor. >> you are going to get smoke from one of those fires. >> absolutely. >>> as we have seen unhealt

so much is happening all across the bay area. it is smoky. the north bay fire and the south bay for the santa cruz mountains, three main fire zones. let's start off to the first one right up here to the north bay. what i have done is highlighted the active hot spots today. you can see on the lnu lightning complex, northern planks of the fire. not good news tomorrow, we are looking at a hot, 94 degrees and wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour. let's bring you to the south bay of some of the hot spots. on the western side and also the southern side of the fire, tomorrow, a hot1 and wind gusts up to 20 and low humidity. a worse case scenario for firefighters. santa cruz mountains, most of the activities off to the north and eastern side of the fire and we are going up to a hot 90. conditions next 24 hours not going to be helping. the weather pattern. look at this. we have high pressure bringing in the hot air and low pressure helping to funnel in the humidity. so this weather pattern is acting like a conveyer belt. air quality is not improving. we

lot of storms across the north bay and right off the coast that are getting ready to move into the bay area. so this round of storms for a lot of people a few hours later compared to what we had yesterday, and across the north bay all of those icons that we're seeing there are indicating some live lightning, and, boy, it is looking pretty bad for marin county and moving up towards sonoma county. we can see all of the live lightning strikes along with some heavy rain for coastal marin county that's moving off towards the north and east. but we've also seen more storms offshore that will be moving toward san francisco over the next few minutes. i will be tracking this as well as the high fire danger and the temperatures. we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. >>> in spite of the best efforts, firefighters have not been able to get any containment of the large fire burning in contra costa county. let's go to nbc bay area's bob redell who is joining us live from the command post in brentwood. i know we talked about those mandatory evacuations earlier. >> they are still in place

we want to show you a map and data on a website by the bay area air quality management. the areas in dark red are unhealthiest. >> we are recommending that if you do have to go outside, and we know that everybody is wearing masks for covid-19, the cloth mask does not do anything to protect you from wildfire smoke. that is n95 or higher. but we recommend you stay indoors as opposed to wearing a mask. >> reporter: so really unhealthy air quality, especially in the south bay. this is drone video over milpedas. health officials say stay indoors, close all your windows and doors, and it's just too stuffy inside your house and you can't stand it, try to find a cooling center. there are a lot available in the bay area. so hang on, hopefully most of this bad air will blow out of here. >> janelle, thank you. when will the air quality improve? let's bring in our meteorologist rob mayeda. a couple updates from cal fire, significant growth in the past 24 hours. this stood out for us. don't know where the evacuations will lead next, because they're not quite sure where the fire line i

now we've got fires out near the coast of the air quality looking very pour out a good part of the bay area very unhealthy in the mount view fremont san jose to livermore san ramon oakland, poor air quality and a half moon bay, san francisco and san mateo live in any of these areas you have any respiratory issues yes shut the windows closed the windows keep that smoke out your house as we'll see that boy going to ebb and flow throughout the night tonight and for the coming days, so we've got some very poor air quality a spare the air for tomorrow unhealthy air condition expected to be in the east bay also in the south bay, but all around the bay area that you're going to see you're going to see that evan flow of that smoke outside certainly one moment you may begin to clear that when switched directions little bit that smoke comes right back in your neighborhood, the fires continue to burn down side this one the most dangerous or right now threatening vacaville parts of fairfield as it approaches little bit closer those winds now picking up to 20 miles per hour along the coastline of course

those statewide numbers are good, but the bay area numbers are even better says dr. george rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at ucsf. >> similarly in the bay area, the cases are dropping perhaps even more markedly than statewide. you know, 15% as opposed to 10%. >> reporter: dr. rutherford says the survival rate is up dramatically because of drugs such as remdesivir as well as high flow oxygen and techniques like having patients lie on their stomachs. >> as we do a better job in intensive care and for people who are severely symptomatic, as we do a better job of saving them, they're going to be in the icus longer amounts of time. >> reporter: the doctor says the recent spike in bay area cases was partly because of local facilities taking patients from areas like san quentin prison. those numbers are now easing. both the doctor and the governor agree, let's learn from past mistakes. >> let's come off of these restrictions more slowly and in a way that we're able to really maintain the momentum. >> looking forward to that. we'll need so see another few weeks of t

our nbc bay area app. it's free. set it to get alerts just for your neighborhood. >>> in our other top stories, back to the coronavirus. we have reached a sobering benchmark in the fight against covid-19. globally the number of confirmed cases have topped 21 million. the u.s. now leads the world in infections with 5.3 million. governor gavin newsom says california has cleared a backlog of covid tests. the issues stemmed from a glitch in the state's reporting system. late last month it impacted 300,000 test results. just yesterday the state reported 7900 new cases, more than half of those were stuck in that backlog. those tests were done last month but weren't reported until yesterday. even with so many results officially being reported you can still see that we're actually way down from the peak earlier this week, just a few days ago of 12,500 cases. governor newsom said school districts are ready for distance learning and the state provide the need technological and financial support for its safety first

for most of the bay area. so pretty much everyone except the immediate coastline under a heat warning or heat advisory as we head through the next several days. due to the dangerous heat. we'll talk about what you can expect specifically for your neighborhood coming up in a few minutes. michelle? >>> mary, thank you. and due to the dangerous heat, state officials have issued a statewide flex alert for today and we're all being asked to voluntarily conserve energy between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. concord broke the record high yesterday at 101 degrees. we spotted some people taking advantage of the slightly cooler temperatures last night to get out and enjoy the plaza in downtown concord. iethe day, an ice cream shop near the square had a line out the door. >> it's good. >> it's nicer out here than it is at home. let's go downtown and get something to eat. >> when there's excessive pete like this there's a lot of air- conditioning use and of course that drives up the electricity demand. >> everyone is being aske

we are not seeing a lot of thunderstorm activity in the bay area. over in the sacramento valley, we are picking up quite a bit. the warnings continue until 5:00 this afternoon. for the northbay, east bay, south bay, the entire bay area, you can see from the shade of red. starting at 11:00 last night, you can see all the moisture coming in from the south of baja, california. if you take a closer look over the sierra, you can see the thunderstorm activity and the lightning there. for us, i think, one lightning strike was detected over southeast areas of the scu complex. that is some good news. the risk is not gone completely. although, you can see, this morning, that air mass is a lot more stable than what we had. let's check in on some of the shower activity, even some of the rain over the area of richmond. we have light rain following the san rafael bridge. as we go north, the bodega bay, over near cloverdale, quote calistoga, this is getting into the winds. it is generally light out there. fairfield is reporting 12 miles per hour. i am seeing a litt

most bay area schools start this week. >>> now we put together a list of all the bay area districts and their back-to-school plans. just go to nbcbayarea.com, click on the "return to school plans" at the top left corner. >>> in washington this morning a mysterious court case just got much more mysterious. scott mcgrew, i know president trump's former national security adviser michael flynn back in court today. >> reporter: back in court. you remember flynn. he lied to the vice president about talking to the russians. he lied to the fbi about talking to the russians. he admits all of this. president trump fired him for lying to vice president pence. and the justice department prosecuted him for lying to the fbi. then even after he admitted it, after he was convicted, that same justice department said never mind we're going to drop the charges which never happens. a judge told prosecutors you can't do that. and today the full panel of the appellate court heard arguments from both sides from the prosecutors who don't want to prosecute and from the lower court judge who said it's just not s

weather alerts sent straight to your phone with our nbc bay area app. it's free to download, and you can set it to get ale for your area. >>> we have reach the fight aga covid-19. globally the number of confirmed cases has topped 21 million. the u.s. leads the world in infections with 5.3 million. governor newsom says california has cleared a backlog of covid tests. the issues stem from a glitch in the state's reporting system late last month, impacting nearly 300,000 test results. today the state reported 7,900 new cases. now, more than half of these cases were actually stuck in that backlog. those tests were done last month but weren't officially reported until today. now, even with so many results officially being reported today, you can see we're still way down from the peak earlier this week of 12,500 cases. more than 1,600 of those new cases reported here in the bay area. several counties saw significant spikes. santa clara county added 523 new cases. 329 new cases in alameda county. again, those numbers are likely higher due to the state clearing

right now the bay area air quality management district does have pleasanton not hazardous range with the smoke that's settled into the inland east bay. no matter what your age or health condition, when you have numbers this high, it can really affect your health. so you do want to stay indoors. look at the picture right now. live look. this is san jose. this is the skyline of san jose. you can see all the smoke that is in our atmosphere. so the air quality unfortunately the next two days is just going to fluctuate between poor and unhealthy. we have spare the air days in effect tomorrow and tuesday. numbers right now, cool along the coast. it is warm inland. but we're concerned with those lightning strikes overnight tonight. let's go hour by hour for you and show you what we're looking at in the next few hours. at 7:30 you can see the moisture, very isolated in spots. but that threat for any of these cells to produce lightning does continue late tonight. into early tomorrow morning. this is 4:00 a.m. i think by about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning that threat really diminishes. we're look

and that chance is for the entire bay area from the north bay to the south bay where these isolated lightningtrikes could spark more fires. the best tool to see thunderstorms, you'll notice here we do have some green, some areas of rainfall. that's moved through some quick-moving showers. now this looks a little bit worse than it is because the lower atmosphere is relatively dry. so a lot of the rain is evaporating. but we are getting some showers, spotty showers around san rafael right up to fairfield. this is moving off towards the north which could put some rainfall into santa rosa over the next 30 to 45 minutes. what about the fire lines? i went over this earlier but here's more of an expansive view. there's a lot on this map. but if you're in the north bay, look at number one if you're in the south bay look at the forecast for the scu lightning complex. and if you're in the santa cruz mountains, look at that zone there off towards the left. you can see the forecast in all three of these zones as temperatures in the 80s to 90s tomorrow i really think the worst conditions could be up in th

the hits keep coming for the bay area. we're following all of them for you. >>> a very good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. mike is keeping an eye on the commute for thus morning. let's get to meteorologist kari hall. we're talking about the lightning and thunder. how soon could we expect to see that? >>> we've seen it very isolated across the bay area, but we're keeping a close eye on the radar because this can detect the lightning strike as it happens and then it plots an icon here. as we look at the bay area we've seen a couple places of rain but look over the sierra, a lot of lightning strikes as the thunderstorms really get going this morning and that's something we'll be watching throughout today, that chance of that lightning. as we get a closer look, the good thing we are seeing spotty rain. this is not enough to make a big impact on those wildfires, but the humidity is going up and we haven't seen a lot of lightning strikes. i'll be watching that wi

obviously the weather pattern we're seeing in the bay area right now very concerning with the lightning strikes and the fires starting. when you have this many fires starting at the same time in many different areas, how much concern should we have about this putting a strain on the resources we have here in california? >> well, good afternoon alex, cristina. huge. this is huge. within the last hour, the butte county cal fire ranger unit reported 21 different fires, lightning strikes. some are contained. some have no fire crews or engines on them. we're see impressive numbers of fires across the state. add to that that we're going to experience power outages, a covid-19 situation, makes it very difficult for firefighters to use those guidelines, along with all of the other challenges right now. this is going to be a very difficult firefight. >> and throw on top of that, the fact fact we are in the midst of a prolonged, but very serious heat wave essentially all across our state. that is going to take a toll on those firefighters who are, you know, as we say, racing from fire to fire. ma

make sure you download our nbc bay area app and get alerts as well. >>> a big change for the bay area. it's taking effect in a matter of a couple hours. the governor's new plan for reopening businesses goes into effect. it's a little complicated. it's a tier system. each county assigned to one of these tiers based on the rate of new cases and positivity. the dark purple is widespread. that is the most restrictive tier. the yellow is minimal, the least restrictive. take a look where each bay county area santands. the most restrictive in purple. all counties are allowed to reopen some indoor businesses with modifications. that includes hair salons, but not all counties are allowing it. this map is showing you. san francisco, alameda county requiring salons to work outd z outdoors. counties can place stricter requirements on businesses than the state does. a decision not to let alameda county salons move inside has some business owners angry tonight. nbc bay area's marianne favro in fremont with the story. >> reporter: rudy ramirez is testing out his pop-up tents, putting out cones and r

ian cull, nbc bay area news. >> we understand. we've seen a lot of wild weather in the last 48 hours. lots of you are sharing pictures and videos of this, these lightning strikes. we've put together a gallery of those images on our website, nbcbayarea.com. >>> night one of the democratic national convention is in the books, and it's a convention like no other with covid-19 forcing the campaign's biggest celebration online. >> we, the people -- >> the democratic national convention kicking off tonight with a theme of party unity. even though delegates and speakers are scattered across the country. >> what better way to gather than all across america? >> without the cheering crowds, democrats hope their message will stand on its own, saying there's a sharp contrast between running mates joe biden and senator kamala harris and the current administration. michelle obama, the immensely popular and influential former first lady making the case that her husband's vice president is ready to lead. >> i know joe. he is a profoundly decent m

area. meanwhile folks in the north bay, hopefully will see some of that wind push out the smoke towards areas of the sacramento and san joaquin valley. air quality for today is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups. that will continue to fluctuate. we are already seeing poor air quality outside at this hour. temperatures are expected to cool. this is actually the wrong graphic, it is supposed to go in the other direction. there is a look at the numbers for you. 73 and seven cisco. low 80s for the east bayshore. 95 degrees in fairfield, 94 in the north bay. so still very warm. still very dry. just not as warm and dry as we were yesterday. i will have a look at what you can expect in the extended forecast and through your weekend coming up in just a little bit. back to you. >>> the time is 412. smoke from wildfires blanketing the bay area, creating unhealthy air conditions as rosemary just told you. up next, the heat in the pandemic or making things worse. >>> and the ride share services will stop their services here. what drivers are doing before tonight's deadline. and yes, you can ge

bay area revelations on nbc bay area. experience the ultimate sports hub. where you can find games, news and highlights. all in one place, right on your tv. th use your voice to search every stat, standing and score. follow the teams you love. and, even get notifications with breaking news alerts and more. so you'll never miss an update. with the xfinity sports zone everybody wins. now that's simple, easy, awesome. click, call or visit a store for details. >>> right now at 6:30, feeling hot yet. well a live look at the tri-valley where temperatures are expected to top over 100 degrees. a huge clunk of the warning. up next, complete coverage from fire danger to covid concerns so that we could stay safe this weekend. >>> and a good morning to you. thanks so much for having us be a part evof your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> and laura garcia is here as well. who you see right there. >> oh, hi. you know, let's toss it over to kari, because it is hot. >>> yeah, it is already feeling warm and it is because of the humidity and that surge of that tropical moi

streaming on cbsn bay area , a new part on the north bay forcovernight evacuations. >> those allowed to return are now having second thoughts about the bay area and why there is little excitement in going home. >>> another "spare the air" alert, but mary tells us relief for fire crews may soon been on the way. good morning, it is tuesday, august 25th. >> let's get right to another day with how those rains will play out. >> we're looking at that afternoon sea breeze kicking in for us and that will bring that higher relative humidity, so that should help fire fires with those high relative humidity values and we are looking at, with those winds picking up, it should mix up some of the smoke. it is still unhealthy and we have an alert in effect. you can see this morning, looking at unhealthy air proportions of the north bay and the peninsula and the south bay and the east bay. this morning, we're looking at a "spare the air" alert that is in effect for us, not just today but for tomorrow as well. that will be the case into tomorrow. we are looking at the winds. those winds are going to

you started a job at a tech company in the last few months, a lot of them have not moved to the bay areathey don't need to because they're not going to go to the office there. >> reporter: it turns out the drop in rents is more pronounced in urban downtown areas than in the suburbs. a, because we no longer have to live so close to the office and, b, because so many things we take advantage of downtown are at least partially closed. in san jose, scott budman, "nbc bay area news". >>> up next, another troubling sign of the times. the michelin star restaurant in san francisco that's closed. >>> santa clara county is adding two more coronavirus testing sites this week, one at san antonio elementary in san jose. the other is the south county annex in gilroy, open 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. tuesday through friday. testing at both sites is free and a doctor's note is not required. however, as those sites ramp up another abruptly shut down. the testing site at san jose's ritter park office is closed until further notice. no word on why. >>> a new survey suggests the state of california is strongly

the wildfires are burning and the bay area and is a threat to cell phone and internet service. claim from the hennessy fire and the north bay had destroyed cell towers and power lines. there is concern that the damage will threaten critical cell phone and internet infrastructure used for emergency warning systems. at&t, verizon and comcast say they have plans in case of power outages including backup generators and court meeting with calfire to help ensure continued internet access for firefighters. >>> let's talk about your thursday weather. itstill smoky but now it is cooler. rosemary is in for steve. how do we look going ahead? >> you said it, cooler with relative humidity, up on the flipside. the wind that will be bringing us the cooler air is also going to be bringing with it stronger gusts into the afternoon. that could be a challenge for the firefighters. giving you a live look over areas of the golden gate bridge, you may notice that you cannot see the towers this morning. the fog is back. the fog combined with the stronger onshore breeze for the second half of your day,

much more of the bay area in red. the north bay and peninsula seeing some improvements, now green meaning the air is good but check out santa cruz down knee in maroon. that is the highest level of bad air possible. sky ranger flying in the hills above livermore. the smoky air dangerous to children and the elderly, people with respiratory conditions like copd. but even the healthiest people may notice symptoms. >> dependsing on how close you are to the smoke and how sensitive you are, you can feel your eyes start to water, your throat itchy, scratchy. finding it hard to breathe can also affect healthy adults as well. and so if you're having any impacts or you notice any trouble breathing, you should definitely contact your doctor. >> a live picture of sutro tower in san francisco. you actually couldn't see the city at all earlier today but conditions have improved there. you can still see a layer of smoke in the background. now, we could see some more relief sunday night when a storm passes by and may bring some wind to

. >> and happening today on the covid front, and the bay area cities are considering help for businesses and a safe watch list grows. and safe in the bay continues right now. >>> and we say continuing because we have been on since 4:30. thank you for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington, and mike is back with all smiles and a look at the commute for you, but first, we have to talk about the hot temperatures, because they are sticking around, kari. >> yeah, and i am so glad to not be tracking storms this morning. the humidity has moved to the north along with the potential of the more storms this morning, but we are still in for some hot weather today, and take a look at the high temperatures reaching up to 105 degrees today in morgan livermore, and 102 today in napa and looking at some upper 70s near the coastline, and while oakland is going to reach up to 87 degrees. we will talk more about this coming up. mike, how is that looking for the commute? >> well, pretty good, kari, but i have to call out the east bay, because looking at the map, there is a green view of the

this morning on nbc bay area.california, we know these are challenging times... and with summer here, energy bills are rising. together, we can save energy and money... by taking steps to stay cool while using less. keep safe and keep it golden. [upb♪ i fell asleep ♪ tobut when i woke up. ♪i put everything in perspective. ♪ (boy) hi, do you want to share my sandwich? (vo) good feeds our connections. good feeds us all. hormel natural choice lunch meats. >>> welcome back to you. take a look at this new video. this is out of england. those dolphins there caught on camera playing with jet ski riders and life boats. this all happened this weekend. this is after a life boat crew had to put out a fire on england's southern coast. leaders say that the dolphins followed the life boats out to that scene of the fire. the good news here, no one was hurt in that fire. but certainly a fun view. that's pretty cool. i like that. >>> all right. looks a lot cooler there, kari, in those pictures, than what we're experiencing here in

we do have high pressure that's sort of going to help keep us hotter and also dry throughout the bay area. and meanwhile, areas like san jose seeing pretty good clearing and a lot of sunshine expected for this afternoon about 59 degrees right now, current temperatures throughout, probably the coolest part of our morning so far. and then by the afternoon, let's take a look at the hour-by-hour outlook when it comes to that cloud cover around the coastline and that fog. so, we'll get partial clearing for the coast but it will slower to clear compared to inland areas. inland areas, expect plenty of sunshine, i'm going to push this timeline forward all the way through tonight and also into tomorrow morning so very summer-like, especially for areas like san francisco, half moon bay, santa cruz can expect to see some of that fog as well, into early tomorrow morning. expect that as well into monday. so really it's just a trend of summer-like temperatures. today's forecast will be a lot warmer in some spots but slightly warmer in others. so san jose, a high of 82, concord, 93. we have this high pr

>>> wildfires are burning all around the bay area from the north way to the east bay and the south bay. more than 14,000 firefighters are fanned out across the state working the front lines. they are battling more than 2000 2 dozen fires, most of the fires burning around the bay area and northern california specifically the complex in the north bay and the scu conflicts in the east and south.>> the complex burning in southern san mateo and santa cruz county is at 71,000 acres and is 8% contained, almost 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. more than 100 structures have been destroyed and thousands more are threatened now. >> smoke has caused the air quality to worsen significantly around the bay area part of mount diablo is hard to see through all the smoke and this is what it looks like at the san mateo bridge, you can see the smoke it almost looks like farm. the management district has expended the days through wednesday. we will take a look at how bad the conditions are and we have been in the bay area a long time. i don't think i can remember a time so bad.>> it's r

conveyer belt of unusually high moisture values streaming over the bay area. rning, maybe more north bay focus in afternoon. morning run of showers and isolated thunder and possibly another batch 3:00. red flag warning should expire 11:00 tomorrow morning but if this forecast is right, might be extended for north bay. keep a close eye on radar app in our nbc bay area weather app. first half of the day weather-wise will be more active part, rare opportunity for nighttime/early morning, mother nature's alarm clock with thunderstorms could wake you up in the morning. afternoon temperatures, repeat of today, 100 and hotter san jose south. 100 to 106 in tri-valley. peninsula temperatures into the 90s again, san francisco, likely downtown into the 80s, north bay into the 90s to 100 degrees. trend, tuesday, not much of a change. fuchsia on the map above 100 degrees. wednesday a little less in 100s. wednesday to thursday, there's the cooldown but prepare to be underwhelmed by how much cooler it is. temperatures dip from 80s to low 70s around san francisco. rebounding t

right here, getting ready. >>> >>> live from the bay area studiohiis right now, streaming on cbsn bay area, flames explode in the santa cruz mountains overnight, creeping in on homes. we are minutes away from a live update with how cal fire is responding. >>> another rush to get out as the flames close in. we have the latest on emergency evacuations all throughout the bay area. >> these are things you want to take quickly. >> another day of hazy, smoky skies and filling the bay area and we are tracking a cooldown on the way. it is a thursday, august 20th. i am michelle griego. >> i am len keise. a number of evacuation orders eathcruz issued all over the there is a warning for the entire city of healdsburg. cal fire has divided them into three so-called complexes. >> the scu in santa clara, alameda, and contra costa counties, the czu in san mateo sa

here in the bay area. we'll talk more about what you can expect as we head through the next several days where you live, coming up in a few minutes. >>> and due to the dangerous heat, state officials have issued a statewide flex alert for today. we're all being asked to voluntarily conserve energy between 3:00 and 10:00 p.m. if you need a place to cool off, there are several cooling centers around the bay area. palo alto will be open from 1:00 this afternoon until 6:00. and cooling centers will also be available in san jose at may fair community center. the camden center on union avenue. you can also stop by the roosevelt center and doors open at 1:00 this afternoon. and we have links to information on cooling centers and how to beat the heat, visit our website. kpix.com. >>> those cooling centers could help ease the strain on the power grid. concord broke the record high yesterday at 101 degrees and today is expected to be even hotter at 108. >> it's nicer around here than it is at home. let's go downtown

that is going to push into the bay area. i will have more details on this, coming up. >>> now, let's meet a pup eating the odds, little libby was born without front legs. somebody dumped libby at a park when she wasn't a year-old. she has been playful like any other puppy as you hefriends of animal shelter gave libby a boost. there is enough money to get libby her own custom wheelchair. once she gets used to it, libby will be put up for adoption. she is a cutie. >>> foster city police department giving us another example of how we are better together. >> they are rallying behind one of their sergeants, whose 13- year-old son eric was diagnosed with stage iv cancer. they are the only ones. family members and people from all over are doing what they can to support eric's big fight. eric was diagnosed at the end of july with a rare cancer affecting the muscles. sergeant mike green has had to take time off a group calling themselves eric's stm oopers set up fundra financial burden. >> this can be really hard for a parent, obviou

so we have so many points of the bay area with fires active. where ian there is on the peninsula, we have them in the south bay, east bay. now let's bring in nbc bay area's thom jensen who joins us in naomi countpa county. tom, we can see you're dangerously close to that smoke behind you there. >> reporter: a lot of evacuations this afternoon as this fire continues to grow. now a complex of fires called the lightning complex here in napa county. and hundreds of people living inside of the fire lines here being asked to evacuation, but many of them instead choosing to stay behind to try to protect their homes and their businesses. gusting winds pushing flames towards highway 128 late this afternoon, forcing new evacuations as the fires in the lightning complex threaten more homes and businesses. but some people are staying behind despite the threat. you're staying to protect it? >> yeah, i'm a volunteer fireman too. >> reporter: darryl lives near the turtle rock bar and cafe in the fire's path, but the business is also staying open. he says flame

taking a look at the bay area bridges. traffic moving at the speed limit. some extra volume on the roadway here but overall moving nicely out of the east bay as you work your way over into san francisco with no delays at the bay bridge toll plaza. san mateo bridge off to a good start as well. things are moving nicely with a 13 minute drive time between 880 and 101. and your early morning commute along the golden gate bridge is moving with no delays. 15 minutes southbound 101 to go from the richmond-san rafael bridge as you work your wa into san francisco. your main travel times right now are mostly in the green. that includes that ride through the altamont pass and it is friday so hopefully friday light conditions continue westbound 580. 205 over to 680 only 24 minutes. with those warm temperatures, it is a spare the air alert so recommending using public transit and carpoolng or even riding your bike. that's a look at traffic. >>> and i'm dennis o'donnell. coming up, george kittle is now the highest paid tight end in nfl history. by a mile. >>> and what wes

generally light around the bay area. that will be something that we are watching over the course of today, and the days ahead. meanwhile, temperatures 4-8 degrees. cooler already. 55 degrees outside your door at half moon bay, san francisco and sfo. if we look to the north bay, low 50s reported in santa rosa. for the spay we have 64 in walnut creek. 70s and brentwood. for the south bay today, 62 over san jose. air quality will remain poor, unhealthy, with smoky skies expected. even with the wind bringing us pacificare, we can expect the hazy skies to continue for today. afternoon highs in san jose will come down by several degrees and some spots. today, upper 80s for the second part of the afternoon. anyone a grace by lunch time. 86 at 3:00 and the afternoon. i will have your afternoon hi going to 87 degrees for san jose. 81 degrees for san mateo. 83 degrees in san mateo. it will be a very warm day. 100 degree temperatures a, 100 degrees above, 95 degrees for concord today. 90 degrees over napa. moving to the bay area, th

bay area news. >> good thinking. the source of the strain to the power grid and the humidity not helping the situation either. >> in some cases we have been seeing the humidity high. let's start off with the temperatures because that's the driving force behind the power reserves coming down to less than adequate levels around california as the heat settles in. you can see our temperatures. we had 81 earlier also in san francisco so the heat is continuing to bake into the bay area and we're looking at two more days of very similar temperatures through the middle part of the week. >> right now not much wind but the combination of heat and earlier thunderstorms making for wild wind shifts on the showers around the bay area. it's flying off to the right side of the screen. it shifts back in the opposite direction as west winds pick up. so that's some of the challenges the firefighters are dealing with. lightning started fire and then thunderstorms pushed fire by the gusty winds. >> look how the low clouds got set across

. >>> plus, three major wildfires still burning across the bay area. the progress firefighters are reporting. >>> 4:58. you're watching "today in the bay." >> i am angry. i am angry! >>> right now at 5:00, breaking news on several fronts on the streets of oakland overnight anger and chaos in response to the wisconsin police shooting of jacob blake. we'll have live update on the damage this morning. >>> some evacuees finally getting to go home in the santa cruz mountains but thousands may not return for days. our fire coverage continues next. >>> plus -- >> happening right now. hurricane laura making its way inland after becoming perhaps the most powerful storm ever to crash into the gulf coast. we're tracking the storm, plus the damage. "today in the bay" continues right now. >>> and a

right now we do have traffic that is doing pretty well around the bay area. we don't see much going on when we look at the maps here. you can see traffic is doing very well if you are driving on 80 westbound through the fairfield cordelia area, not a lot going on. traffic continues to move along very well. if you're driving in oakland, traffic moves well and also going to the bay bridge. that commute is off to a good start. it is for a one, let's get back to the headlights. >>> firefighters are trying to contain three huge wildfire complexes that have been burning across the bay area for a week now. one of them, the czu complex fire covers five counties. here is a mac of the czu complex fire compared to the scu complex fire and lnu complex fire. here is a map of the latest evacuation orders in santa clara and alameda counties. the areas in red have evacuation orders. meaning you have to get out immediately. the areas in yellow, they are under evacuation warnings. so be prepared to evacuate at any moment. the evacuation warnings do not include the cities of liv

the nts is leading the investigation. >>> more live coverage as dozens of fires burning in the bay areater the break, we hear from some of the thousands of people who have been ordered to evacuate in the santa cruz mountains. >>> also, wildfires are a threat for people in the north bay. >>> and all of the smoke from the fires is creating unhealthy air quality and now the coronavirus is complicating the response from health officials. >>> more now on the wildfires burning around the bay area. in the santa cruz mountains almost 2 dozen fires have burned more than 25,000 acres. at this point there is only 0% containment. these are being called the czu august lightning complex fires. they are burning in both san mateo and santa cruz counties where thousands are under evacuation orders. at least 20 structures of been destroyed so far. >> reporter: yes, those structures that burned it down our single-family homes. cal fire says they are just weakening to assess the damage. the winds are now moving south, driving flames closer to towns like bonnie june and boulder creek and santa cruz county a

forcing evacuations throughout the bay area.we are live near the fire lines in napa. >>> it is not cooling down yet. we will look at the record- breaking temperatures in store spots vero trust in pg&e. >> why the mayor of san jose is accusing california's biggest utility of lying to its customers. it is tuesday, august 18th.

fires continuing to grow around the bay area. will tell you what it means for some people in the south bay. >>> plus, as the flames rage on resources are stretched thin. the reason why there just aren't enough firefighters to contain the flames. >>> fires are raging, all sparked by lightning. >> the road was fully engulfed in flame. >> there's so much haze, smoke and ash. >> they had to close this freeway down. >> this is what firefighters are dealing with. >> download our free nbc bay area app. >> that way you can get all of the alerts we send out. >> if you might have to evacuate, our fire resource page can help you prepare. >> a lot of compassion has to go out to everyone in the midst of these fires. >> for continuining coveragage thee bay area wildfdfires conne withth nbc bay a area. businenesses are startiting to boununce back. but t what if yoyou could do betetter than t that? likeke adapt. didiscover. dede. in new wayays. to new cusustomers. whatat if you cocould come back k stronger?? faster. . better. at c comcast bususi

they have containment in two of the major three fires in the bay area including santa cruz county. he containment at lnu complex fire in the north bay remains unchanged. we had a major gain with weather on their side yesterday but drying out today which could complicate the fire fight. their focus on starting the fire from its fuel. >> this would cut off so much there would be no way it could make it so that when the main fire gets it it doesn't have the momentum. it would be all burned on our terms. >>> we have a virtual telethon with the red cross continuing with by relief. we have raised $630,000 for the victims of the lightning fires so far. you can call or head to kpix.com. >>> california lawmakers announce a deal to prevent upload of evictions but the bill author is and even very enthusiastic about it. >>> here's a experience the ultimate sports hub. where you can find games, news and highlights. all in one place, right on your tv. the xfinity sports zone. use your voice to search every stat, standing and score. follow the teams you love. and, even get notifications with break

area of those wildfires. and we're also seeing over toward the east bay some of that smoke drifting over there. we've also seen some high numbers in san francisco. but then notice for areas like los gatos and san jose and morgan hill, we have some bad air quality if you have breathing problems. but it's unhealthy for everybody. we're looking at that storm system that brought that potential of lightning now moving to the north of the bay area. it did cause a lot of lightning strikes over parts of the central valley over toward the southern and central sierra. now that activity has started to calm down. and so as we go into the rest of today, it's going to be a fairly calm day. but let's take a look at what happened. this is a measure of how much humidity is in the air. we see some green that indicates some high humidity, that surge of that tropical moisture moving into the mid-levels of the atmosphere. and so now we are looking at some drier air where we see the brown shading. that's going to be what we will see for the rest of today. and that's actually what suppressed our potential of getting s

>>now at 9 we continue to follow those deadly wildfires raging throughout the bay area tonight we now know 4 people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed and the l a new lightning complex fires, those burning and the north bay good evening, everybody thanks for being here with us i'm grant lotus and i'm vicki liviakis firefighters are battling dozens of wildfires. >>all across the bay area and some of them are burning dangerously out of control tonight. here is a map of where those fires are burning right now the as c u lightning complex that's the biggest one of them all it's scorching more than a 137,000 acres in contra costa alameda santa clara stannis loss and san joaquin counties towards the bottom of your screen d c z you august lightning a complex fires. those are burning in the mountains of san mateo and santa cruz counties, destroying homes and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their and now the l a new lightning complex that's burning and a large area of the north bay, leveling homes and impacting thousands of people living in sonoma napa solano lake and

fire crews across the bay area preparing for dry, hot weather and lightning storms. ghtning to strike in very remote areas and in more than one spot. >> it could happen to the point where they have three spot fires in the same area, where we have to split the crews to maybe have three firefighters on one spot fire and a few more on the other fire. >> whether it is multiple strikes, whether it is lightning strikes with precipitation or lightning strikes that are dry with no precipitation, the verga. so we'll review that and make sure that my firefighters have an understanding of what is anticipated. >> reporter: on top of that, firefighters have to bring extra gear now due to procedures for covid-19 and evacuees will face a different situation due to the pandemic. temperatures will be taken before entering evacuation centers, some evacuees have had to stay in cars or sent to hotels. many of the crews have headed they're definitely monitoring resources as we head into the hot weather here in the bay area. live in livermore, i'm sharon katsuda, "today in the bay." >> tha

give us a bit of a update right now particularly but the bay area things are getting better. >>yeah, absolutely our firefighters are making progress on a number of from the north bay to the state of the south bay progress is being made. we've had more favorable weather than we did just last week and that's allowed us an opportunity to strengthen our containment lines take a stand against this wildfire in just in time because we are expecting the temperatures to return back to us unseasonably dry and warming trend. >>so daniel i imagine that means that there are crews are trying to get as much done as they can while the weather is a bit better and of course we keep hearing about. fatigue how are the frontline a cruise doing. >>well our firefighters are working 24 hours a day tirelessly to protect communities that remain threatened by this fire build containment lines and do everything we can to stop these but you know it has been a very long fight already know that lightning siege started saturday august 15th and so we're well over a week now into this siege as well, but these

flames from multiple wildfires across the bay area. people whose homes were in the way are now gone. just seconds to spare. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. >>> as you know, there are fires burning from the north bay to the south bay filling our skies with smoke and ash. dangerous breathing conditions out there this morning. very busy morning for you. want to get you the very latest. thanks so much for joining us, as well. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. mike is keeping an eye on that commute and first let's start with meteorologist kari hall keeping us up to date on what we can expect from that forecast today. kari, how is it looking? >> cool down for the coastal areas and parts of the inner bay. as we start out this morning with some fog oversan francisco and, once again, this is something we haven't seen in quite a while. but we'll bring about some changes. in the trivalley, still a smoky morning, but our temperatures still heating up for the inland areas and to the mid 90s. we're not talking abou

our meteorologist kari hall has been tracking the conditions throughout the bay area. i know temperatures are a little bit cooler than this past weekend, but certainly a beautiful shot behind you there. >> yeah. we are all clear here in the south bay. but we are gradually starting to see that fog clear up in san francisco with that bay bridge shot. so we are still looking at a lot of haze in the air in some of those areas. but clear in the south bay as you get ready to head out for lunch. but the clear sky also means that temperatures are warmer. so we will be in the upper 80s during the middle of the afternoon. as we check out some spots that will reach into the 90s today. we're talking about 93 today in antioch. but 82 today in napa. oakland reaching 75 degrees. and some upper 90s farther to the north. there will be some spots across the bay area that will cool off over the next couple of days. we'll talk about that in a few minutes, marcus. >> looking forward to it, kari. >>> coming up for you, a bay area city looking at stopping towing. now that could be a big relie

>> reporter: jean elle, nbc bay area news. >>> here's a look at the bay area's biggest county, santalara county, in the widespread tier again because of the high case rate, contra costa the same tier, high case rate. 10.8 new cases per 100,000 people. we did mention that san francisco and napa are the only two counties not in the widespread tier. this is the breakdown for the city. you can see it's doing okay if we only look at the positivity rate, 3.4%. but because the new tiers also add in the case rate the high number of 9.8 per 100,000 puts the city in the current tier. san francisco is giving the green light for outdoor salons to open but now there is some confusion because of the governor's announcement yesterday. mayor london breed says the city is prioritizing examining the new tier system and will implement city regulations as needed. so what is open? what remains closed? it's getting very confusing with all of these changes so we're working to do that for all of you. go to our website, nbcbayarea.com, check out our coronavirus blog. we are updating it 24/7 with all the late