and doctor stephen tate joins us now. doctor tate, thanks so much for being here. of course, we'll get to the rise in dry january in just a moment. but i do want to start with the new news coming out today that the u.s. surgeon general is calling for a cancer warning to be placed on alcohol. what evidence is out there that drinking can actually lead to cancer? >> yeah. so i think the surgeon general very helpfully pointed out that about 20,000 deaths per year. cancer deaths per year are attributable to alcohol, which is actually more than the traffic related fatalities per year attributed to alcohol. so i think it was very helpful for the surgeon general to highlight just how big of an issue this is. >> certainly an eye opening, news making headline coming out from the u.s. surgeon general today that i know a lot of folks will probably be doing some self-reflection about. is it just heavy drinking that folks should be concerned about, or is even drinking within the current guidelines of one a day for women, two a day for men? should those people also be concerned?

well, today i spoke with doctor stephen tate, clinical assistant professor at stanford, about the benefits. >> i'm a big fan of patients taking a break from alcohol of about the length of a month. if it's something they're considering. i guess not just patients, but everyone considering that because it's really the time frame that's required to give your brain a little bit of a reset and let you kind of contemplate your relationship with alcohol and what you want that to be in the future. >> experts say dry january participants can expect to see improvements in things like sleep, mood, anxiety, even blood pressure over the course of that month. if you or someone you know is dealing with alcohol or substance use issues, there is help available at any time. we've put together a list of local vetted resources at abc7 news.com/take action. >> all right. as we continue here, the rain is moving away and some drier days are ahead. sandhya has her seven day forecast coming up next. >> the abc seven storm impact scale. >> heavy rain right on top of from 1 to 5. >> light to severe. know exactly how