abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley has the latest numbers on this first snow survey of 2025. >> at phillips station along highway 50, in the sierra, water officials were not ready to break out the champagne. >> our survey here today recorded a snow depth of 24in, two feet of depth melted down. >> that's nine inches of water. to put that in perspective, that's 91% of average for this state, but only 37% of what is required by april 1st to supply the water that's needed in much of the bay area. last year, results showed only 28% in january, but heavier winter precipitation meant things were above average by spring. in 2022, things were flipped, with 154% of average in january. but then things dried out. the snow survey isn't just about ski season. it's important because of climate change and erratic water supplies, leading to droughts and wildfires. experts say a la nina pattern seems to be emerging for snow on this date. >> the northern region is above 160%, so above the 80 corridor. got a ton of snow with those atmospheric rivers, but it was less and less as we moved south throu

. >> seven news reporter leslie brinkley has the details on what to expect in the selection process. >> 15 people turned in applications to become the next alameda county district attorney by the january 6th deadline. so now the board of supervisors has a roster of 15 applicants to consider after the former da, pamela price, was recalled by voters last november. >> over the coming month, we are going to see, you know, the people that have turned in application being vetted in order to see who is the best qualified for the position. >> we interviewed many of those, probably 10 or 11 of those candidates, and there's a good, great pool of candidates for the supervisors to select. >> they include nine current and former alameda county prosecutors and attorneys from neighboring counties. things are going to move quickly, with the timeline calling for the board of supervisors to select finalists next week, and then conduct public interviews of at least three finalists the week of january 20th. by the end of the month, they'll select a new da who will be sworn into office on february 4th. >

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley talked to the former east bay congresswoman about what's next in her storied public service career. >> no regrets. i don't think there are any regrets that i have. >> yesterday, she was long standing. congresswoman barbara lee, representing northern alameda county in oakland. today, she passed the torch on to her successor as she talked to abc seven news on her cell phone from the speaker's lobby in the house of representatives. >> it feels really good that lateefah simon is not congresswoman elect, but congresswoman. she is a fantastic warrior woman who i pass the baton to. >> and she reflected on launching her iconic career after attending mills college in uc berkeley. inspired by her idol, congresswoman shirley chisholm. >> you're 26 years in congress, seven and a half years in the california legislature, and 11 years working for a member of congress. when i came in 1998, i hit the ground running because i'd worked for our great warrior statesman, ron dellums. >> after dellums stepped down from congress, he stepped up as oakland's new mayor i

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley talked to lee about what's next. >> no regrets. i don't think there are any regrets that i have. >> yesterday, she was long standing. congresswoman barbara lee, representing northern alameda county in oakland. today, she passed the torch on to her successor as she talked to abc seven news on her cell phone from the speaker's lobby in the house of representatives. >> it feels really good that lateefah simon is not congresswoman elect, but congresswoman. she is a fantastic warrior woman who i pass the baton to. >> and she reflected on launching her iconic career after attending mills college in uc berkeley. inspired by her idol, congresswoman shirley chisholm. >> you're 26 years in congress, seven and a half years in the california legislature, and 11 years working for a member of congress. when i came in 1998, i hit the ground running because i'd worked for our great warrior statesman, ron dellums. >> after dellums stepped down from congress, he stepped up as oakland's new mayor in 2007. many are wondering if the former congresswoma

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> we are getting used to seeing empty shelves where eggs should be in stock, but soon there could be of the national egg shortage. and there is some good news, the u.s. department of agriculture tells abc news. egg production is expected to rebound this year, and prices are expected to decrease. bird flu hit the national supply of eggs, hard, limiting supplies and driving up prices. more than 130 million poultry birds have been affected by bird flu. the usda says the only way to stop the spread of the disease is to kill all affected birds. >> girl scout cookie season returns next month with popular options like thin mints, of course, and tagalongs. but in the future, there will be some less flavor options. s'mores and toasty cookies will be discontinued after this year. s'mores debuted in 2017, and toasties came out in the 21 year. the organization did not say why it is discontinuing the cookies, but the lineup does change often. >> the mints are still there. we're happy. yes, from the carter center to the capitol today, president jimmy carter ret

i believe you will do a fantastic job at oakland city hall. >> i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> fire station brownouts in oakland started today because of the city's budget cutbacks. fire stations 25 and 28, both in the oakland hills, are closed until at least july. the closures are expected to save $5 million to alleviate part of oakland's $129 million budget deficit. firefighter union officials warn the consequences for brownouts could be catastrophic. >> cuts in emergency services don't mean these calls will go away. it means we will have to travel farther to reach those in need. increasing response times it also means that dispatchers will have to prioritize calls, which could further impact our response times. these cuts are a tragedy waiting to happen. >> the union called on the city to reverse the closures. four more fire stations are at risk of closure next month. >> a small landslide has closed the point bonita lighthouse in the marin headlands. you can see the landslide here in this photo. this is from the golden gate national recreation area that shows the landslide

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley talked with several climatologists today about what's happeninga group of retired weather and water officials walking around lafayette reservoir enjoy the weather, yet commiseratedjoy about it. >> i think we have to be worried that we could have a drought, just as they are have having the consequences of that terrible drought in the los angeles area. >> if the snow survey on january 2nd was encouraging, no rain now for weeks means the statistics are dropping this week, while reservoirs are at 120% of normal, the snowpack stands at just 41% of normal, with groundwater supplies at just 31%. warm temperatures mean the snow isn't sticking and there's no rain in the forecast. >> we've seen this pattern before. both in 2013 and more recently in 2022, where we got off to a strong start only to see the new year roll around and really hit a dry patch. >> when this happens at the extreme, where you go from an extremely wet season like we saw last year, to an extremely dry season like we're seeing now, particularly in southern california, then that's known a

. >> here's abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley with all the action from oakland city hall today, motion passes with a vote of eight ayes. >> congratulations. >> a new interim mayor emerged from today's city council meeting in oakland. >> thank you so much, colleagues. thank you. >> it's been quite the shuffle. mayor shang tao was recalled by voters in november, so oakland city council president nikki fortunato bass became interim mayor last month, but she stepped down today to take her new post as alameda county supervisor. so council voted today to make council member kevin jenkins the new president, which means he automatically becomes the new interim mayor. >> thank you. >> then former city council member rebecca kaplan was tapped to fill the district two vacancy created by bass's departure. >> oaklanders and bay area residents can expect over the coming months, as we're going to have a special election that will be held on april 15th to elect a new mayor, as well as to fill the district two vacancy. >> new interim mayor jenkins immediately walked into his new office. >> i thi

i'm leslie brinkley, abc seven news. >> well, it was a bit cold out today.s great to see the snow, by the way. beautiful out. but that could be changing. >> yeah, that could be changing. although we need more rain, and it sounds like we're not going to get too many days of it in the near future. meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. sandy. yeah. >> we have more snow coming to the sierra, that's for sure. dan and j.r. and some rain in the bay area, but it's only going to be a one day deal. so let me show you the sierra snowpack statewide. it is now at 108% of average. but just as leslie mentioned, central sierra is running behind at 94% and southern sierra 75%. the northern part of the state doing fantastic at 161% of average. we do have a winter storm warning for the west slope of the sierra. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow. 6 to 10in expected above 5500ft. more over the peaks. with those gusty winds, driving will be hazardous, so you might want to hold off. looking at live doppler seven, you can certainly see the rain up in the northern portion

abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley talked with several climatologists about what is happening andie ahead. >> a group of retired weather and water officials walking around lafayette reservoirg enjoying the weather, yet commiserated about it. >> i think we have to be worried that we could have a drought, just as they are have having the consequences of that terrible drought in the los angeles area. >> if the snow survey on january 2nd was encouraging, no rain now for weeks means the statistics are dropping this week, while reservoirs are at 120% of normal, the snowpack stands at just 41% of normal, with groundwater supplies at just 31%. warm temperatures mean the snow isn't sticking and there's no rain in the forecast. >> we've seen this pattern before, both in 2013 and more recently in 2022, where we got off to a strong start only to see the new year roll around and really hit a dry patch. >> when this happens at the extreme, where you go from extremely wet season like we saw last year, to an extremely dry season like we're seeing now, particularly in southern california, then tha

. >> here's abc seven news reporter leslie brinkley with all the action from oakland city hall today,eight ayes. >> congratulations. >> a new interim mayor emerged from today's city council meeting in oakland. >> thank you so much, colleagues. thank you. >> it's been quite the