one of the driest decembers ever for south lake tahoe. they only had a trace. driest december ever for south lake tahoe. reno nothing. no rain or snow. that is the driest december since 1883. a lot of cloud cover over us. the system will drag across us. there is a few returns on live storm tracker two. i doubt anything is reaching the ground. it's slicing through mendocino county and lake county. 40s temperatures have been going up due to the cloud cover. a little hint of a south breeze. we'll have a cooler day today. behind that i wish i could say there is something coming in for rain. i don't see it. it looks very quiet. but temperatures today will cool off under cloudy hazy skies. there could be a few showers to the north. the extended forecast after today night and morning fog. a little cooler thursday but dry pattern and warmer as we go into the weekend. >>> thank you. time is 6:20. the u.s. stock markets are closed after a wild ride for investors each of the three major end cities had a different end to 2011. dow jones gained 5.5% for the year. the s & p 5

it's 59 in south lake tahoe, the warmest temperature is 56 at mountain view and napa. we have a gray day. this is a weak system. a front made it. we're almost on the back edge of this. some filtered sun should work in. temperatures mainly held in check due to this cloud cover no, report was any rain out of this system. the driest december ever for south lake tahoe. reno had zero pep pep. no rain, no snow. that's their driest december. we had our second or third driest around here. san francisco had their third driest. storm track continues to be to the north. there. >> sign of anything changing. the 7-10 day out looks are really dry. the 15-day tries to bring something in. it's been trying to do that. fog today, haze a gray day, some light clearing. the dry pattern is on hold for a while. we did have a system. that's just clouds dragging by. there's really nothing left. i didn't get any reports of any rain. 50 others temperatures right now. everyone is pretty close. fairfield 57. 56 in napa. temperatures will continue to be held in check. with a little sun we could bum

but in the end it was maddy bowman, south lake tahoe, came away with top honors. >> luke: the big 900 up top. speaking of up top, all these girls have had those memories of being up at the top of the superpipe with sarah, getting all ready. a lot of them talked about her smile and made them feel so good. skiing on a day like today, being able to hold up the flag for burke, was definitely a big thing. what an honor to take the "w" for maddy bowman. >> todd: grecher bleiler said it best, sarah would want them to charge it as hard as they could. maddy bowman did just that. she is your winner with an 87.50. devin logan second. brit that sigourney in third. tiffany simons caught up with maddy bowman after her victory. >> todd h >> tiffany: congratulations, from sixth to first, describe how that second run went differently for you. >> i came into and it knew i had to lay it all down because it was my last run. i just went for it. once i got past that nine i was like, oh, thanks. that's where i fell on my first run. it was great. i had great coaching at the top. just laid it down. and i'm te

he was killed in a skiing accident monday night in south lake tahoe on the california/nevada border. a formal investigation to determine what happened is underway today. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. >>> welcome back to "way too early." the christmas tree is still up. isn't it about time to take that baby down? i know ours is down. let's get a check of weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins, just flat out insulted by rick santorum yesterday. >> i was trying to figure out what my superpac could do to knock him back down. >> he was talking specifically about you, by the way. >> i understand. you know, like a baseball player, you're right three out of ten times, you make a career out of it. >> go back with some negative advertising, like -- >> i'm like newt. i don't want negative ads. straigh

. >>> a walnut creek man is dead avenue was hit by a chp vehicle and shuttle because south lake tahoe early yesterday morning on highway 50 near state line. nevada police say the victim was walking in the road wearing dark clothing. the officer says he hit the breaks on his suv, pushed the pedestrian into an oncoming shuttle bus. the victim's name has not been released. >>> police in oakland hope a $25,000 reward will help find the killer of a 5-year-old boy. gabrielle, martinez, jr. was helping his -- gabe kwrel martine yesterday, jr. was helping his father. he was the third young child to die of gunfire in oakland since august. >> police have an an news tip-line for information, find that link on -- abc7news.com. >>> if you feel like lighting up this morning, watch where you do it in the city of al new year brings with a tough new law that may make -- make smokers ask if there is anywhere they can smoke in that city. >> reporter: it would be quicker to tell you where people can smoke than where they can't. the list of places where they can't smoke is very long, anywhere in a public

. >>> a walnut creek man is dead after he was hit by a chp vehicle and then a shuttle bus at south lake tahoe. this happened early this morning on highway 15 near state line. the victim was walking in the road and wearing dark clothing. the chp officer said he hit the brakes on his suv, but then pushed the pedestrian into an on coming shuttle bus. the victim's name has not been released. >>> east bay mud crews are in hercules trying to figure out what caused a watermain to break. the main started leaking after 6:00. no residents. crews managed to restore the water supply to the factory tonight. >>> today california joins hawaii, oregon and washington with ba law aimed at savings lives of sharks each year. >> shark fins harvested for making asian shark fin soup are banned from being brought into california. thomas roman is looking at how the ban is being received. >> throughout san francisco's chinatown, posted menus offer shark fin soup, often accompanied by another dish. the law banning anymore imported shark fins has taken a toll on these dishes. gary works at the impress of china. he says

. >>> walnut creek man dead avenue was hit by a chp vehicle and shuttle bus in south lake tahoe earlyday morning on highway 50 near state line. nevada police say the victim was walking in the road wearing dark clothing the chp officer hit the brakes but pushed the pedestrian into an oncoming shuttle bus the victim's name has not been released. >>> police in oakland hope a $25,000 reward will help find the killer of a 5-year-old boy helping his father load socas into the family's food truck parked on international boulevard friday night. witnesses say someone in line outside fired shots into the vehicle, hitting gabriel in the chest. he was the third young child to die of gunfire in oakland since last august. oakland police have an anonymous tip-line for information. you can find that link at abc7news.com. >>> 2012 is the year the city of alameda went after secondhand smoke like cats go after mice. tough new anti-smokingard nance. amy hollyfield is live with more. >> reporter: -- it will be quicker to tell you where with you can smoke the list where you cannot smoke is long banned in p

south lake tahoe only a trace. numerous reports in the sierra and around here. it was a really ugly rain month as san francisco finished with .14. third driest ever in many decembers. little bit of returns here on live storm tracker two. i doubt much happens. 30s and 40s on your temps. some of that cloud cover coming in. our system will weaken considerably. it will be four to eight degrees cooler today. behind it looks like high pressure builds right back in and the seven-ten day outlook is bone dry. there is nothing going on. cloudy, cooler today. i will say a few showers mainly to the north. 50s and 60s. we also have coastal fog. standard forecast has a very quiet pattern. there will be a lot of fog. and back to warm weather as we head to the weekend. >>> time 5:09. iran says it just test fired another long range missile. reason why they are showing the sign of force. >>> and history made it in two states on new years day. why same sex couples are allowed to join together in union. >>> 680 looks pretty good here. we'll tell you more about the morning commute a

the resort in south lake tahoe saving a snow guarantee package.you book a visit this month and there isn't two feet of fresh snow when you arrive, you can cancel your reservation pan get your deposit back. or you can stay and choose between a free lake tahoe sightseeing cruise for two or one lift ticket to heavenly mountain. >> which brings us to the storm next week. could they get two feet of fresh snow? >> possibly yes, the key is what is fresh, 24 hours, 48 hours, a week ago. definitely next week possibility of snow showers monday remote and just snow showers. the steady snow will move in next week around friday and truth the weekend. 6:15. you can see right there how quiet it is on this part of heff haven'tly not making snow here -- heavenly not making snow here but they are on other parts you have to call their website. back at home, the sun about to come up in an hour on a day where temperatures are starting off freezing cold north bay valleys upper 20s to 30 in novato, mid 30s concord, live more, mountain view, redwood city upper 30s fremon

south lake tahoe a record high of 56 degrees. the mild weather continues with 61 in sacramento.ack home we are talking about temperatures again today coming up low 60s to mid-60s. so this will be a good five to seven degrees warmer than in some spots yesterday. so feeling mild. remember, the winds here by the delta, fairfield, antioch and even around mt. diablo the winds will continue to gust around 25, 30 miles an hour. san francisco coming in at 62, on the peninsula 63. half moon bay a beautiful day at 60. down by the monterey bay we are talking upper 60s. 68 watsonville with 65 in monterey. here's the 7 day forecast. a very mild weekend with numbers coming up today, even warmer tomorrow. then a weak system, not going to bring us rain but it will bring the cooler temperatures come monday, especially tuesday, and then by the middle of next week we are talking still above normal. so it's getting like we can't trust the forecast models. we keep thinking things are going to change, but maybe another week it will come. >> our director just got back from a week in tahoe. when he boo

records have been set, south lake tahoe mid-50s yesterday and more warmth in the sierra nevada.g up around three, four degrees here, east bay valleys. 63 oakland. san francisco 62. half moon bay about 60 degrees. and in watsonville today upper 670s. the offshore event just getting going today, allowing for the numbers to continue to warm another degree or two tomorrow. that will allow for maybe near 70. then cooler. a little cloudier, but not a whole lot of change through friday. >> and those folks back east, the guys looking at the temperatures, i know they don't appreciate the fact we need rain, they are just saying i wish i were out there. >> but it's strange everywhere. it's mild in places where it shouldn't be so we aren't the only ones. >> thanks, lisa. in sports the nfl playoffs kickoff today and by tonight the 49ers may know who they will be playing next saturday. last night the warriors took on the lakers. here's larry beil with the highlights in the sports. >> good morning. the warriors played the lakers last night. golden state hoping the arrival of little nate robins

so they are doing well up there but temperatures, once again we hit a record in south lake tahoe. it was 51 degrees. it's been in the low to mid-50s. reno with 63. a couple days ago. right now you are looking at the breezy winds of that allowed temperatures to stay up this morning for the most part. we only have a few selected areas where numbers of below freezing. here's another look from our sutro camera. it is quiet out there with the sun coming up at 7:25. setting 5:01. take a look at the numbers. 53 san francisco. good morning half moon bay. 60 degrees. 51 in oakland with mid-40s in the livermore valley. how about napa? 47 degrees with an east wind at 20 miles an hour. so with those warmer -- that warmer air in the upper levels of the atmosphere, those offshore winds bringing that warmer air down to the valley in the north bay, but look at santa rosa just down the road, 30 degrees. we are looking at 39 redwood city. 38 in los gatos. it's certainly chili in some spots. the delta has some fog this morning. less than a quarter mile visibility there and i expect more fog in santa

. >>> in late june a devastating wildfire raged through south lake tahoe, while just 60 miles away inse team was preparing to put out another fire. prosecutors had already presented their case against higgs, saying he had deliberately killed his wife by injecting her with a drug called succinylcholine. now it was the defense's turn, and they would argue that chaz higgs had no reason to kill his wife and that the prosecution hadn't presented any credible evidence that proved otherwise. higgs's attorney, david houston. >> chaz was not a calculating murderer. he was not a murderer of any sort. >> i'm placing before you three photographs. >> the defense began by picking apart the prosecution's scientific testimony, beginning with that mark on kathy's left hip. they called their own pathologist to the stand, who said the wound looked too fresh to have happened before kathy was rushed to the hospital. >> and in your opinion, how many hours that call it a puncture wound was? >> up to 48 hours. >> kathy was in the hospital for nearly four days. so if the mark was only 48 hours old, the defens

tahoe area. >> yeah. let's take a look at that. snow on highway 50. south shore of lake tahoe.an see the live picture. plenty of fresh powder for you to enjoy. we are going to get a little more fresh powder at the end of my seven-day forecast. and you know what? sierra snow means bay area rain showers. we'll tell you when the rain returns. 55 degrees now in san mateo. not even noon just yet and temperatures are climbing. we will easily hit the upper 60s and low 70s in the south bay. morgan hill forecasting 70 degrees for you. 67 in sunny value. really comfortable temperatures for this final full week of january. the reason for the warmth and the clear conditions, high pressure. you can see where the clouds are. the storm track taking well to the north. you can vividly see the clock wise rotation around the ridge of high pressure. this is going to move over us through tomorrow morning. that's going to come press the moisture from the recent rain. that means widespread fog before the flow pix up later on in the day. give yourself plenty of time tomorrow morning. widespread fog ac

the snow continues. 1,000 feet at first but dropping to lake-level by friday. the south like tahoe forecast, one to 3 inches of snow at lake-level for tomorrow. more in the higher elevations. of the snow level starting at about 6,500, 7,000 feet, but it will drop to lake-level by the second round of rain and no. your extended forecast, a few systems impacting us through the in fact several days. the first is tomorrow, then the break into friday, and friday afternoon the rain picks up again. into saturday morning, saturday will remain mostly dry, so will sunday. the rain picking up again 6:00, siven clock -- 7:00. >>> the canadian company ho e hoping to build a canada to texas pipeline says it will reapply for a permit. president obama rejected the current plan. he said congress did not give him time to review it. john boehner says president obama is breaking his promise to create jobs. >>> good evening, everybody. broken jaw and all , delanie walker showed up the practice today, injured in the final regular season game against settle, he missed the first playoff game. no word on ho

we may see another inch or two as you can see the computer model picking up on the south end of lake tahoe but we're done with those larger totals we had over the past 72 hours. major relief as we heard here in the interim with that rainfall and also snowfall. speaking of rainfall, the strongest out of all three storm systems was no doubt on friday night when we were here tracking it. we backed the radar up right at about 10:30 as the strong line moved across the bay area where we had isolated areas of flooding throughout highway 101 and 280 and wind gust topping 50 miles per hour. last night's storm also gave us reinforcing punch of weather. we had power outages this morning. a couple hundred throughout portions of the bay but those power crews out there getting that restored. on radar as it scans around, we're finding dry conditions. that's great news for cleanup but of course we still need to add to these rainfall totals and right now it looks like a lot of this pattern is continuing to push off toward the north. we had that rainfall with us yesterday. the wider image will show you in j

dry with likely this drought development continuing for the northeast, also the south bay continuing right up to lake tahoe. so not great news there when it comes to this dry weather. now, right now, when we look at the numbers overall, we're starting to see things cool off a little bit after another mild day despite the cloud cover that hung around from the fog this morning. pretty warn influx from the south, also to keep the numbers on the warmer side. 53 in san francisco. 62 in santa rosa. currently 61 in napa. on the weather headlines for tomorrow morning, low clouds still hanging around a little bit, but the wings are going to start to shift. it will become breezy as we head through the afternoon hours. then friday, we're olooking at dry wind developing. winds at 15 to 20 miles an hour out of the north, and for this weekend, it looks mild with a sunny start on saturday. where is the moisture? it's out here on the satellite loop, but it's still about 3,000 miles out, at least our next closest tap of moisture, and we actually have a cool front that is passing by into northern california, but it's so wea

it's right near lake tahoe. all south of reno, nevada proper. t's actually the road that you would take from the reno airport driving west of lake tahoe towards south tahoe if you're making that route. but this is generally where the fire is. and that's where it in-s contino burn this morning. we'll have more information after an update in the next couple hours. but the rain and snow is coming. right now just raising the levels of humidity on the east side of the sierras, but the rain mixed with snow at times at lake level and in truckee, california. so that's the good news. the rain continues to pour in from the the west coast. the reason they have these two fires is at one point they had a stretch of 56 days without any rain during what would normally be the rainy season. as far as what we're looking at for the feks cnext couple day, n the way of rain. rain and snowfall for this area over the next several days. and this is the same storm that brought the ice to seattle, that brought the flooding rains to western oregon and will continue to do t

south bay. let's take you up to lake tahoe. pretty good in afternoon. chain requirements in effect. winter storm warnings. we'll have more on the totals in the sierras coming up. and our storm system, what you can expect when the wind arrives. and what it's going to mean for the upcoming weekend and the big 49ers game. we have your forecast in a few minutes. >>> we have some developing news we're following. a state of emergency near reno, tonight, where a wildfire, fueled by heavy winds has now destroyed 20 homes. new information. we're learning there's one death related to this fire. reno's fire chief gave a briefing a short while ago and says he doesn't know how that person died. and says that firefighters have been able to make some headway. evacuations have dropped from 10,000 to 2,000 people. here's dan on the fire line tonight. >> reporter: wind gusts of more than 80 miles per hour are fanning the flames. the fire, just south of reno, nevada, burns into the night. >> the news is not good. >> reporter: as many as 230 firefighters are battling the growing blaze. with as many as

from the lake tahoe baseen in the north to mammouth in the south just a few inches over 9. >> i have been working out my snow dance. >>reporter: we found amanda and brock working on the snow dance. they have been waiting for months for it to snow. last nettable snow fall was in early november. >> this year we have invest more money in skiing. we got a new suv. season passes. we got our ski cabin. >>reporter: no snow. >> no snow. >>reporter: second storm is supposed to pack a punch. for area businesses the new snow is just washington they were hoping for. they saw the hug hugely lucrative thanksgiving, christmas and new year holiday pass by. pain steakly slow. no snow meant no customers. leaving workers with little to do but pray. >> this year has been so dry. all the way around. pretty brutal. >>reporter: ski resort surviving on man made snow. boreal proud the most snow they have ever made in a season. 32 million gallon. to get the real stuff is moreen joychbility wasn't too if you please this has been the first like real real snow obviously but it's nice kind of slushy. >>reporter:

lake tahoe area to bring chains and expect delays. >>> candidates are now focusing on the sunshine state. >> the nomination is still up for grabs after mitt romney's loss in south carolina, what political analysts can expect leading up to florida's primary. >>> why the numbers are usually high on monday. >>> good morning, traffic looks good but remember, be careful driving on this wet morning. . >>> police say 42-year-old tree lay was a man who forced an 11- year-old girl from her home at gunpoint after firing several shots. later police tracked him to an apartment where they say he held the girl hostage. an officer shot and killed him and according to the information the man who took her was the ex-boyfriend of the girl's mother. >>> the magnitude earthquake happened yesterday afternoon. it was followed by several small after shocks. right now no reports of a tsunami. >>> costa concordia, search efforts continue, the overturned cruise ship continues to shift in the water off the italian coast and it's causing fears that tanks inside the ship could rupture and cause a massive fuel spill. 19 people are still missing after last week's disaster. crews did recover

lake tahoe. they're expecting snow into the high country around wednesday there is a chance of rain so they need it up there. and here is a view from our southeach camera. look how beautiful it is. official time 5:12 p.m. today's high temperatures ranging from 62 in antioch to 74 degrees in jant cruz. some areas, 77 today. this is a spring like day. 6 in oakland. and other areas into upper 50s to low 60s, chilly tonight, sharply cooler sunday and a potentially wet pattern is set up for next week. and i want to show you overnight readings. there are clear skies 2 in santa rosa and fairfield. lower 30s for concord and livermore. 37 in san swros yeah. and there is mayor the air for tomorrow, poor air quality into the north bai. moderate for the rest of the bay area. and here is what it's going to look like. this area of high pressure will give it mild weather one more day. there are sharply cooler sunday. this cold front drops and jet stream starts to sink a little bit. there is a cooler air mass. wind going to switch directions and we're going see more cloud cover. the ridge weakens and a coal front comes in. you can see clouds and there is a

lake counties towards chica and -- chico, excuse me heading towards tahoe. the sooner you get to tahoe the better off you are snow elevation dropping to 4500 feet overnight. heading south you are going to be okay two storms strong, heavy rain update on that. >>> san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi will make his first court appearance today on domestic violence charges watched over by the bailiffs who work for him. the sheriff hopes he will be allowed to see his wife and son again after the hearing. amy hollyfield is live with the latest. >> reporter: stay way order has been in place for the last week. that expires today. look for that issue to come up today. we'll find out whether that is going to be lived or extended. ross mirkarimi will be arraigned today and wilt have to face three charges against him. he has been ordered to stay away from his wife and child since he was charged last friday with domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness. according to court documents, he screamed at his wife, left a bruise on her arm from grabbing her in front of their 2-year-old son. in the affidavit his wife says this has happened before. now she is sa

south. we're not going to get any rain out of this. this is the cooler air mass here. over areas of lake tahoe. very dry and gusty conditions. red flag warn willing be in effect for lake tahoe today. if you are traveling for that holiday weekend. we are dealing with the low clouds. breaks up. moves out. partly cloudy skies expected for the afternoon. the north westerly wind will begin to kick up. we will have very breezy cool conditions for your sunday. by tonight it looks like lake tahoe will see a little bit of rain and snow. current temperatures outside our door right now mid upper 30s. san to rosa and napa. a huge difference from yesterday. and a lot of it due to the wind. 41 degrees concord. 34 in livermore. upper 40s in oakland. we also get a milder air mass when we see the on shore flow return. now the ocean water at this point warmer than us here on land. forecasted highs for today. 55 degrees petaluma. 53 sausalito. let's head to the east bay. low mid 50s in the forecast here. 54 degrees expected in tessitura valley. 56 saratoga. along the peninsula it will be a cool one. 53 san bruno. so the major pattern change is

lake tahoe ski resort. a 34-year-old british man was killed in a snowboarding accident at the south shore's heavenly mountainort last week. he was trying to avoid running into someone else, when he hit a signpost and died on the way to the hospital. >>> important economic reports just out this morning, they're taking the dow to some important milestones. we'll check in on that. also the human cost of an ipad. and some social advice from the pope and how we can all be better listeners. >>> 7:43. the dow heading for its highest close since the financial crisis began, thanks to solid news on factory orders and strong earnings from u.s. manufacturers this morning. also one stock to watch is netflix, the bay area company with fast for raising prices last year. now lot of customers who left have come back, and that stock is up 22%. taking a live look at the big board, the dow is up 31. nasdaq down slightly, down 4. s&p down 1 1/2. >>> the number of people filing for unemployment benefits is up. two hours ago the labor department reported there were 377,000 claims last week. that's a 21,000 increase from the week