>>jacqueline: for a locally mean snow in the sierra. ere's a live picture from our heavenly ski resort camera. a low visibility just looks all white because the snow is flying in the sierra at this hour. we are seeing heavy snow at that, you can see where the end of rains in the snow starts. the yellow indicates very heavy rainfall moving into a heavy snowfall is a pushes into the sierra. the north bay hasn't seen much, most of the rain has been in the south bay. we're same rate as far north as the golden gate and light sprinkles for the sellnorth bay. have the cells pushing into the south at this hour. zooming close are, the heavy rain is over milpitas and pushing up to the north towards the diablo range. a water view picture of what's going on, the storm pushed out of this of yester day and back in the bay area. it's moving back to the north and you could see the motion of that. it's not going to be a good time to drive to this here tonight i would wait till tomorrow. watch the heavy rain in the bay area this afternoon, we will see poc

through squaw valley, the sierras to the left.e with traffic and rainfall on the right. and 2,000 ft. take a look it mt. tam biggest selling. the lower right of your screen. >> it is selling-- >> and jacqueline? >>jacqueline: not only rain is the big story but the snow has added to it as well. not only through the sierras but also locally. first, snowfall in the last 24 hours. this is true heavenly ski resort, blowing snow yesterday and the day before. and the totals in the last 24 hours. nearly four-feet in alpine meadows ski little bit less than that and other places and bear valley, feet 3 ft. in heavily. and squaw valley of fresh powder. now would be a 24 in., 2 ft. in squaw valley better time to go up to the mountains last night was not! snow was crazy- last night. there is a slight chance of flurries sunday into monday. but it looks like we're going to skirt that. and the rain. isolated showers mainly to the if if santa cruz mountains with heavier activity there. as we push through, heavier weather cells towards the south ba

in the sierra and the bay area. there is highway 80 in the sierra, nice and clear going there. roads are clear, plenty of sunshine there. reports of up to 9 ft. of snow falling since tuesday. bringing it home to mount tam. a beautiful shot here. a light dusting of snow from a few days ago. let's check in with brian. >> reporter: nicer day for today, nicer than yesterday. clouds, rain, snow, that'that sm is is southern californians now. temperatures today still cool in upper 40's, then for tomorrow there's a weather system tracking down the coast, the forecast keeps the system off shore. if it tracks farther east, we could see the difference between a dry day and wet day. for now chance of rain in the forecast. that system goes by, out of here by tuesday, wednesday. dry conditions return along with mostly sunny skies, highs low-mid-50s. by thursday, friday, another cold system coming down out of british columbia, canada. bring and chance of rain, possibility of more snow over the higher elevations of the bay area. we will keep you posted on that. suchlike tahoe last night some we

and tire chain laws in the sierras. everybody going to lake tahoe. first, jacqueline? >jacqueline: first, to not put out that umbrella. to not put a way that umbrella, rain is still strong in the south. and for the next several hours predicted and through tomorrow morning. let us see locally. the weather cell pushing into fremont, palo alto. and over the santa cruz mountains. and through some of kyle, and even half moon bay. san rafeal-- >> and with, and if the wind are combing. mainly to the south bay. columthey are not as strong as they were earlier. with 30 m.p.h. when speeds struggling to warm up with the wind is even wind chills are teens. >>gary: that widespread 40's and even locally >>gary: >>jacqueline: let us take a look it will weaken expect tonight and into tomorrow. 50s along the coast. and with instability along the coast. and with moderate weather cells. we've not seen any hail and the last couple of hours. however, that could be a possibility. with the south of the golden gate will be our temperatures impacted by that rainfall. what time it out on futurec

roads look clear, traffic very light at this hour and this point no chain controls in the sierra. a different story yesterday at highway 50. traffic was rather difficult because of the weather combined with the crowd of people driving up for the presidents' day holiday, skiers and borders capitalized on the 8 feet of snow from the last storm. >> it started off a little slow because of chain controls but caltrain did a wonderful job, now 80 is wide open. we got a good turnout. >> thousands of people battled the storm to get to the snow but they say the fresh powder was well worth the trip. incredible pictures from our abc 7 viewers. steven and christine said this snow which scene at highway 9 in the santa cruz mountains, here's a guy trying to mountain bike in the slush in the mount tam area, courtesy of jordan herman. a couple of e-mails. this picture of their daughters posing with two snowpeople they built with a little help from mom and dad in just 10 minutes. this was taken at saratoga in highway 9. you can send us your photos or video or you can e-mail to us. conditions are pre

keep an update on the sierra as this snow keeps coming down. if weather doesn't cause delays we have another problem. 10757 planes, temporarily grounded while the carrier has maintenance checks that were not completed your they found some of these maintenance records are not up to date. they had to ground these planes for 60-90 minutes. a large number of planes are canceled and delayed. as they continue inspections of the 757 fleet expect the possibility of delays for united. we will be right back as athe news continues. traffic is light for now but we will watch traffic impacts. waiting for the opening bell on wall street. the largest jump in 20 years. bad news as far as wholesale prices if you excludeexclude food and energy a lowest price.rice. wat its low >> darya: government brown has a hiring freeze spirifreeze. the e the applies to seasonal and part-time positions. california had 243,000 employees as of january 23rd. storm tracker fo4 you can see it is wet and windy out there as well. san francisco has a bit of a break as we see green and

i'm also a life member of the sierra club, as this little pin commemorates. unfortunately, i'm here today to speak against the opposition letters submitted by the sierra club. i also served on the executive committee several years ago. the opposition letters, i believe, were ushered through these organizations by an on- again/off-again member of the sierra club, who i believe misled these groups to take recology positions take and the department of the environment -- take positions against recology and the department of the environment. as a base primarily on out of context. and not sound environmental grounds. an additional irony for me personally is that i'm here today defending recology's landfill proposal. i do not like landfills. to

it is snowing up in the sierra. now see this is kind of a deceptive. little low spinning there you get the cold air things calm down. once we start to warm up you will see the clouds bubble up. possible thundershowers in the north bay. a line of moisture is taking a an aim at the south bay. the rain is coming down out of the santa cruz mountains. i was just looking at the web camera at san jose state it shows foggy conditions and rain. some of the rain at lexington reservoir. orrin da had an inch and a half of rain. san jose and oakland picked up .87. look at the temps. 30s in the north. 40s in the south. there is a distinct dividing line and it makes it really tough. this will give us rain mainly to the south. snow up in the mountains. it will push south. the next system coming down right there it pumps it along. this is the one if it stays off the coast it will be fine. it's just too hard. you have to pick a model and go with it. low snow levels again. down around 2,000 feet. unbelievable reports coming out of lake county. sierra snow winter storm war

. >> it made for per effect conditions in the sierra. here's a live look at intersection highway 89 and 28. you can see the roads are clear, snow loaning the side. a gorgeous sunset coming up in the background. there are no chain controls at this time. it was a different story yesterday. travel up interstate 80 and highway 50 was difficult because of the weather combined with the crowd of people driving up with presidents' day holiday. capitalizing on the 8 feet of snow from the last storm. >> it started a little slow because of the chain controls. now i-80 is wide open. people came up and they have. we had a good turnout. >> thousands of people said all that fresh powder was well worth it. incredib incredible weather from our viewers. this snowy scene at highway 9 in the santa cruz mountains. here's a guy trying out his mountain bike. a couple e-mails of this picture of their daughters posing with two snowpeople that they took with mom and dad. this was saratoga at highway 9. you can upload your pictures or e-mail it. conditions are pret

with intense precipitation through sacramento, and through the sierras. on the rader, your not able to see the intensity. however, the yellow and orange is indicating that it is intense snowfall accumulations through the sierras. through santa rosa, less than 2 in., but of round 1 in.. san francisco will see 1 in. in napa, also 1 in. of rainfall. lest through here but to the scene to concord, and san jose. certainly we're going to be added to these totals tomorrow. your complete forecast coming up. >>pam: airforce one will be landing with president obama. in the meantime, air travel is still struggling to get on schedule. >>reporter: @ s f o, long lines. many people are trying to rebooked flights because there are regional flight was delayed because of the weather. on average, there were delayed about two hours with low visibility and a poor conditions. dodgem raindrops just to get to the terminal. they had to dodge those raindrops and once they got inside, they have to make a new connection. >> we're trying to go to missouri. >> los angeles. the delay is

we have snow up in the sierra, and around the bay area. this is napa, you can see all of this snow that fell yesterday morning. this snow here is not close to what they are getting in the sierra. in your thinking of heading to talk of we will show you the driving conditions. >> reporter: it is classic winter driving conditions about 4,000 ft. across much of thithis selahthe sierra. this is west of south lake tahoe. drivers will find a checkpoint the speed limit is 25 mi. an hour and the road is icy, the pulp is running 247, people have to change up well all will tire is a good to go. more snow on the way between now and next tuesday along highway 50. >> james: also making headlines and half the state mayor to a great at this state of the city address last night. highlighting the budget cuts and rising budget pension costs. he said closing the budget will need cut spiris. reed said he would not drastically cut the police force or stop paying pensions appeared in antioch father facing murder charges. he confessed to hitting his son, to make

back to whether as we go alive look from kirkwood up in the sierra. slopes already this morning. a whole lot more on the way. >> reporter: more wicked whether headed our way keep track of the weather on our weather page. also check out live doppler radar to show you where the storms are headed now and where they are going ahead. get a look at the long term forecast for the seven day run the bay. that is on www.kron4.com. petaluma has a flood advisory flooding is imminent. >> james: we have live storm tracker for on our web site at kron 4 dot com. a good bit of information as you head home from work this afternoon. live coverage when the president comes. www.kron4.com. >> this edition of bay area bargains is brought to buy sosa granite and tile. >> installing a beautiful new kitchen is easy folks, first of all, the countertop, you absolutely have to have granite. unless, maybe you want to go with an engineered stone which by the way is very useful, non maintenance he might think instead of that you might go with tile also you can you can go with, the en

. >> a good amount of snow on the sierra mountains as -- as well. more on that late nert newscast. >>> antioch where pros prosecutors say a 2-month-old bay when his father allegedly punched his son in the face. he admitted to punching him tuesday to stop him from crying and that left the baby brain dead. he was removed from life support yesterday and the father is charged with murder and the 23-year-old is also charged with assaulting another son and his wife. >>> in east oakland, a couple headed to a party was shot and killed early this morning. police say a redwood city man and his girlfriend were sitting in a parked car on hilton street, when more than one gunman opened fire. and police have no suspects. the motive is unknown. it sparks oakland's 18th and 19 the homicides of the year, up from eight at this time last year. >>> and an arrest in a brutal murder last week in san francisco, 24-year-old wahed tassmatra is suspected of strangling and beating his roommate and it happened on bush street at the apartment february 11. is a motive is still un

that is the way it was shaping up in the sierra. n, spurts of hailed as well. this is a video we captured this morning. we also have will tran out in the commute. his ride on a 880 came to a halt. >> will: northbound 880, pass the fruit bail exit towards oakland. the traffic all of a sudden just bought. so much so i jumped out of the car, grabbed my camera, all of the hail that is coming down, not an accident causing traffic to come to a standstill. because of all of this hailed you can see how much accumulated, in just a few seconds on my windshield. even my wipers cannot clear it fast enough. for you to get a good look at the traffic in front. that's why if you're stuck on 880, trying to get through oakland. this is the wayreason . will tran kron 4 news. >> james: let's find out the latest and see where the rain is falling. >> janu: look at the approach to the bay bridge toll plaza. sunshine out there and thick clouds as well. really unstable weather this morning. reports of thunderstorms out there, storm trucker for showing scatte

the snow will be steady in the sierra nevada throughout the entire next 48 hours or so. so the winter storm warning 10:00 at lake level through 4:00 saturday morning. 2 to 4 feet above 7,000 feet. look out for possible road closures. we're not talking about as windy conditions but if you can get there then you see a break over the weekend. back home, temperatures, santa rosa just in the 40s today. 49 richmond. 54 in oakland with those breezy winds. pockets of light to moderate rain today and more rain in the south bay towards the santa cruz mountains into monterey. high temperatures in the low 50s. here's the look ahead then. so more showers tomorrow and then we get a break. saturday and sunday still chilly though. president's day looking at more rain into tuesday and drying out on wednesday. good morning, frances. >> good morning, lisa. good morning, everyone. reportedly seeing 3 feet of standing water on south 101 near the moffett area. so look out for that. and also the rain is causing a couple problems in the south bay. northbound 85 near highway 17 we have an accide

. >> and check out the sierra. the snowplows are out on i-80 at squaw valley. >> now a look at live doppler 7hd. >> and it is very active right now. the heaviest rain associated with the front is here. let's look at live doppler 7hd and we will show you where it is falling right now. we have seen reports of almost two inches of rain in santa rosa. the russian river area, three and a half inches of rain has fallen. we can see the rain has eased up a bit around american canyon and vallejo. we are still seeing heavy returns. san francisco, daily city toward the -- daly city and toward san bruno. you can see heading east toward oaknd la, alameda and and the 680 area was seeing heavy rainfall right new. as we pan down across the santa cruz mountains, there are heavy downpours. the wound advisory has been issued -- the wind advisory has been issued and it continues. southeast winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour. gusts anywhere from 60 to 65 miles an hour. we also have a high surf advisory. it goes into affect tomorrow mo

another powder day in the sierra. i did a little skiing yesterday and the snow is incredible up there. with another foot coming in on top of it today, it's a powder alert. back to you guys. >> that's good. i was just going to ask you where did you ski? i know just about a month ago the last long weekend martin luther king, jr. weekend i heard from people it was spring skiing and slushy. is it nice now? >> reporter: i love spring skiing in the sierra, just not in january. we had a month of spring skiing now we're back in winter and it is full winter. sugar bowl yesterday and again two feet of snow up there. another foot on top of it today it's going to be incredible skiing. little heavy yesterday but this cold air coming in evident by the low snow the powder is going to be great. >> we know you love snow. that's evident when we talk to you. i was looking for signs of your snow office. the cave you build and cook out of. do you have that up there with you this time? >> reporter: that's up a blue canyon. it's not portable

they are taking a beeline right toward the sierra. the northbound there have been reports of dry air coming in and clear. temperatures there have plunged. yet you take it about i will say palo alto over toward livermore south. you have clouds and some rain. makes it very difficult. that is snow up at hamilton. there will be snow once we get all the clouds out of here i'm sure you will see snow in some of the higher elevations. we had snow at skyline yesterday. look at the temperatures now due to a decrease in the clouds you get 30s verses mid 40s. santa rosa 35. mountain view and san jose 45 degrees. concord 39. i saw 38 at lafayette. a zig or a zag of about 40 miles in the atmosphere can mean some sun, no sun, rain or no rain. i will keep rain to the south. the next system dropping down right there i will not lie to you. one forecast model takes us right over us. the other two say no no. it's a brutal call. i'm leaning on it staying offshore. today some sun, showers, more likely rain farther south you go. it's one of those. if you're

jana katsuyama is live in the sierra and meteorologist has the latest forecast track, but start with patty lee. >> we've been covering damage here in the north bay all day, and required us to be in the pouring rain for the past 2 hours, but as miserable as this looks, it's the wind causing the most problem. >> the sound and site of sparksm wires alarmed residents off this drive. >> i saw the lights flickering d i better come out and check it, and then i saw the arc. >> the fire department monitorel pg&e crews could come by. >> right now gust of 30 miles an hour. >> as early as 2:00 in the afternoon, winds kept fire crews at the ready. >> we've had one call for a tree down on the road way. >> wind caused serious problems in santa rosa and, gusts up to 30 miles an hour sent this tree and the shut down turned the highway into a parking lot. >> it has the potential to be by because there's trees coming down, wires down, that's pretty much what we're looking at. the rain not so much a factor. >> but in forestville, cars wero drive through several inches of water. and that rain arrived in

this note is really coming down in the sierra. is is the scene people were trained to deal with the forecast comes for snow to come down as fast as 3 in. or more prior.per our. another strong likely to hit this afternoon to tomorrow. expect more snow before the weekend. let's get the latest on the forecast. now, here is a look at the weather. >> louisa: rainfall totals, check it out in san francisco 46. novato 1.29, san rafael 1.67, not up 0.73, richmond 1.23. these are pretty impressive rainfall totals we have more on top of that. once again storm tracker 4 is all lit up, showing us that wet weather. the prepared to use those wiper's give yourself extra time this morning. the peninsula from san francisco that the san mateo getting wet weather. 30 reports of lightning and thunder storms. we will take a closer look show you rainfall rates coming down 0.2 in. per hour. heavier rain ran along 580, 680. and as you take it over to i- zer80 we had some rain coming through. we're also seeing some snowfall and the higher elevations. not ju

expect to need chains early on in the sierra foothills. aks' will get a dusting of snow. keep it tuned here much more on what they're in a few minutes. the debate over benefits for retirement has exploded nationwide including in our backyard and agency is calling on jerry brown and a legislature to freeze pension benefits for state workers and overhaul the existing system. the commission recommends the state move from of benefit plan to a model similar to of 401 k plan. jerry brown debate it with lawmakers yesterday over how to address california's $26 billion budget deficit. this is video of him trying to sell. it would allow voters to decide on a five-year extension on tax increases we will keep an eye on that. here is alive look aside. north bay ride a wet one as you can see. a detailed lookit forecasting two minutes. >> james: 5:45 a.m., talking about the weather. we were going to check with craig, but we have heavy selling of been through right now. here are having a hard time getting ahold of him. the rest of the bay area we will talk

they will be looking at fresh snow in the sierra. ff of the west coast through the end of the week. it should cross the shoreline possibly to the south by thursday into friday. that will keep the showers going into early saturday morning before we see a break. and rainfall expectations today two to three inches of rain in the high country and about an inch to 1.5" across the greater bay area by this time tomorrow. so as you can see, there is more wet on the horizon and it will be with us by later this afternoon as those temperatures peak out in mid- to upper 50s, a few low 60s out there across the east bay, as well. looking at the five-day forecast, we see cloudy with showers continuing much cooler air mass by tomorrow and that will linger through the end of the week as we'll finally get a break in the showers by sunday but it looks like next week we will once again be looking at more wet on the horizon. more wet on the right now, let's check in with elizabeth for a look at traffic. >> thank you, jim. let's go back out to fremont. sou

perfect weather in the sierra. a look at the conditions there and how the slow drive there led to a little bit of a surprise for those who made it. >>> plus, the invitations are in the mail always the countdown to the wedding. year is on. hear what royal insiders are saying about who's getting one. >>> we're finally watching the rain and snow clear away from the bay area at this hour. look at the temperature there in san jose, 43 degrees. patchy fog could be a problem tomorrow morning. along with some icy roadways. we'll keep a track on both in your forecast coming up. >>> tens of thousands of protesters braved the cold in wisconsin today in the largest demonstration yet over a controversial budget bill. the measure would strip public employees and most of their collective bargaining rights. some tea party supporters showed up, most of the 55,000 people demonstrating today were students, teachers and other public service workers opposed to the plan. they say the bill will undo what labor leaders fought for decades t

sunshine not only today, but tomorrow for the sierra nevada. back home, a few changes for our president's day, hey, this is the camera from the mountain, can you believe it, beautiful, lots of snow and temperatures in the 30's, and the snow melting already and we have some fog in our northeast bay valley that has provided poor visibilities and some freezing conditions, very slippery, livermore and napa, 37 and still some fog in santa rosa 32, 38 redwood city, but the number is coming up, 45 in mount view, everyone was in the 30's the past couple of hours, but we are on the rebound thanks to the sunshine and we'll have it throughout the day today, that fog is going to burn back quickly near record lows tonight though, we'll see plenty of numbers right around freezing or below. then tomorrow, in the north bay, the east bay, we're going to see increasing clouds and may see a slight chance of shower and get out and enjoy that sunshine today and we have more farewell. visibilities less than a quarter of a mile, and santa rosa quarter of a mile and el

looks more like the sierra than the bay area. there's snow on mount tamalpais, mount diablo and down at the saratoga gap. for more on the snow and rain conditions, let's check in with meteorologist lisa argen. >> good morning, everyone. we still have showers popping up around the bay area. notice the spotty nature of the activity. another weather system in the north bay heading towards inverness, novato, also towards san rafael. on the peninsula, burlingame, monetary ra looking at rain as well as woodside into redwood city and over on into the east bay. san leandro and castro valley, 680 and 880 getting wet. some of these showers will be coming down pretty heavy for a short time. a shower moving out of milpitas down on los gatos, watsonville and the santa cruz mountains is where we're looking at the heaviest activity. that will be the focus today. the cold air's in place. we still could see a rain/snow mix in the higher elevations. i'll have a look at the rest of your weekend which looks a lot drier coming up. >> thanks, lisa. ea

toward the sierra nevada. we're going to have a live update. you where the showers are right now. and where we expect them to go throughout the day today. it looks like we'll see a break at the coast for the next few hours. a little spotty activity. then probably from the first part of the day up to about noon that activity will be spotty and light. then it will start to intensify a little bit. with an possibility of thunderstorms and instability i think we'll see thunder boomers in our neck of the woods. this is what you can expect. 56 degrees as you head to the end of the week friday. low snow levels possibly down to 2,000 feet thursday into friday. talking about a 2500 foot snow level for tonight. now, as promised, he's out there, a wild man, brian hickey coming to you live from blue canyon. how you doing out there? >> reporter: anywhere else but here. check this out. it's 5200 feet. emergency what the summit looks like. it's amazing the amount of snow. footprints i made 45 minutes are gone, buried. the blue canyon close to getting buried. t

. >>> and in the sierra in the past week they've gotten eight to 10 feet of new snow. and we're looking at the jam pack holiday and the max exdouse on the way. >> reporter: it's like the pipe piper, that snow brought a lot of people up here. this is a look at interstate 80 heading out of the hill, caltranss just moments ago confirming for me that this past hour, 2,150 cars an hour were passing over donor summit heading out of the sierra. there were so many cars, so many people out here today that the highway patrol had to crack down on an overflow problem. the crowds, the lines, the parking lots and the waits -- >> this is nuts. >> reporter: this is a look at how crowded in spots it was in the sierra on this long holiday weekend. >> crowded, it's definitely crowded. you would be lucky to find a parking spot. you better get here an hour ago. >> reporter: there are so many people flocking up to some of these onramps and off ramps, with all these cars there's no place to park. in some of these off lamps they actually wrote the words, no parking. two chp officers were issu

back to you. >> thank you. >>> snow levels are dropping fast in the sierra. drivers facing a pretty rough commute as you just heard from elizabeth. you are going to need chains through the mountains this morning. heavy snow expected today. the cold air could bring us as much as two feet to the tahoe area. a storm warning in effect for the northern sierra and much of western nevada through saturday morning. so if you are braving the elements, don't forget those chains. >>> of course you can track the storm yourself. just log on to cbssf.com, click on weather, and you can find our interactive hi-def doppler for your neighborhood. so check that out. >>> in other news now, the united nations human right council is holding an emergency session today to discuss the crisis in libya. members are trying to decide whether to condemn the north african country for its crackdown on anti-government protestors. more mass protests planned today in the capital of tripoli. a new push to oust libyan leader moammar qaddafi, as well. the two other cities, at least 17 people were k

interstate 80 through the sierra was closed for most of the day because of heavy snowfall. and people who live up there are preparing for the worst. >> we have food to pack up and batteries for the lanterns and we got the regular gas lanterns at home too so we are getting ready for the power to go out. >> another foot of snow expected at the higher elevations by tonight. the forest service raised the avalanche threat, by the way to high. it says that unstable snow in the backcountry makes large destructive avalanches likely through tomorrow morning. >>> all right. back here in the bay area, this is in san mateo county. highway 84 just reaped a few minutes ago. -- just re-opened a few minutes ago. it had been closed in both direction for 7 hours because of what you see going on here. there was a tree that fell across that road took down some power lines, as well. pg&e was also in that area trying to trim some other trees that were near the power lines. so be aware of that in san mateo county. >>> all right. let's get back to roberta. she made promises. >> i made promises? an

>>pam: we continue tracking the storm in the sierra. we're joined on the phone by christine conley just drove up to tahoe this afternoon. what's it like? >>christine: started singing snow on the ground near colfax. just 15 minutes later you could actually see it snow blanketing the ground and trees. that started to change around 4,000 ft. when we saw snow plows on the road against the snow came down fast. you could see how fast the wind chill wipers are going. we saw our first spin out of pickup truck. this is where traffic went to a crawl. it truck drivers put on the change. once we went to blue canyon that's when everyone had to put chains on from there to trucking. you can expect the drive to be quite long. with those changes expected to double or triple the time. a lot of snow at a lower elevation as people are just not used to seeing. back to pam. >>pam: they christine. our internet reporter carefully sakamoto has a look at your pictures coming in. -- kimberly. our first pictures. >>kimberlee: you could see the street completely dow

and the sierra gets slammed. federal spending plan but the possibility of a government shutdown still looms. >> californians among the americans on a yacht hijacked by somali pirates. >> we begin with the weather and the dangerous driving conditions. let's start with the sierra. if you have plans to drive there this morning, you might want to reconsider. as you can see right there, this is a live picture of i-80 at truckee scales. lots of snow on the side of the roads. there's not much of a backup right now anywhere. it's clear in most spots but chains are required on 80 from baxter to the nevada state line and 50 at meyers. there's snow at lower elevations. grizzly peak at the hills last night. a rare sight. the elevation here under

. >>> the rain and wind here, of course, means lots of snow for the sierra. this is video along interstate 80 leer lake tahoe. traffic moving slowly but it came to a stand still earlier because of the snow. it quasi-actually shut down in both directions for three hours tonight. chains are still required. and still, the snowy roads are not enough to stop people from hitting the roads. kron 4's rob fladeboe shows us what they are finding. >> reporter: getting there is half the fun, right? a ski trip following a snow fall like the one now may be the exception to the rule. once you arrive it's all down here. highway 50, near 7,000-foot summit. the closest large resort to sacramento. 12 miles west of south take tahoe and they have a lot of new snow here. 38-inches of snow since tuesday. 21 in the past 24 hours. it's still coming down as you can see. it's that powder. it was wet yesterday but cooler today so much better conditions. visibility not that great. still, just great conditions here. keep in mind, there are chain restrictions on highway 50. two wheel vehicl

both lanes are traffic are flowing freely the sierra. this is i-80 at truckee. skiers and snowboarders capitalized on the eight feet of snow. later the clouds visited allowing late visitors to fill the cash registers and rental shops. >> caltrans did a wonderful job clearing i-80, and people can get up here, and we have a good turnout. >> alan: thousands of people battled the storm to get to the snow but say the fresh powder is worth it. >> we're getting incredible weather pictures from our viewers. this is a snowy scene on skyline drive. a guy trying out his mountain back in the slush on mt. tam, courtesy of jordan. and a couple of e-mail 's, pictures of daughter posing with two snow people. this picture was taken in saratoga at highway 9. you can send us your photos and video by uploading them to you report abc7news.com, or e-mail them to kgo tv.com. >>> in oakland, a shooting left two people dead. it happened near the oakland airport. there are at least two victims, one in critical condition. officers tried to lock down the hotel but had trouble comiewp indica

. >> looks like maybe a break in the weather as spencer told us. if headed to sierra for the holiday weekend. what you may not know is how much work is going on right now even as we speak to make sure skiing conditions are just as good as possible. >> late in the day. as you are taking your last rundown the slope. these modern day mountain men are just getting to work. this is the the snow grooming team at heavenly. one of lake tahoe biggest ski resort. it takes 16 snow cats running all night to keep the slopes in top condition. >> a lot of veteran operators here. we have about 250 years of combined person on the crew. >>reporter: this year they all want the same thing. >> yes everyone wants to run the beast. >>reporter: the beast. is a brand new grooming machine bigger and more efficient than ever before. and in the world of snow cats, it is considered the sporty model. >> 500 horsepower. designed on the inside by an italian company. work for ferrari. >>reporter: the fleet include 2 beasts. we rode along with keith and brian as they headed out to make their mark on t

the snow still coming down in the sierra. skiers loving it. nick janes shows us, driving is treacherous, to say the least. >> reporter: cars spinning out, big rigs jack knifing, even a chain installer injured in a crash. we have seen a bit of everything, a far cry from the calm conditions here 24 hours ago. what a difference a day makes. here's blue canyon yesterday with very little snow on the ground and here's how it looks today. pummeled with fresh powder. another foot could fall here by tomorrow, several feet possible for the ski resorts. despite an army of plows making the rounds, interstate 80 is snow-covered and slick, wind is gusting more than 40 miles an hour, blowing snow all over the place. at times, creating near white- out conditions. caltrans stopped traffic after a big rig lost its chains just east of baxter spinning out and blocking i-80. a chain installer was hit near over land trail on eastbound 80. the crash resulted in major injuries. can't blame you if you would want to wait it out but if you're curious to look like what i

oh. ♪ >>jacqueline: the snow through the sierras plenty of snowfall still coming down. ing to stay pretty strong for the next several hours. even continuing into tomorrow. a picture of heavenly ski resort. the snow is continuing to come up with kirkwood, several inches, and 34 in. and north star, tahoe, sugar bowl, 30. heavenly, they've all seen quite a bit already. and there are expecting even more towards this be dead. especially, with a two-feet expected towards that this weekend. what floor is expected, 12 in.12 24 in., but it should be clear by the end of the weekend. locally, we can even see on our peaks. this was from the santa cruz mountains just a little bit a go with a snowman. this pre snowfall was actually interfere in a our radar. through sonoma county, 8 in.. skyline, boulevard to the santa cruz mountains and reporting 9 in.. and you can see that even local snowfall will continue towards tomorrow. however, no intense rainfall. things are tapered off at this hour. moderate burst of rainfall through what would city. fremont. and this is getting way through re

>> yes, sir. >> for areas around lake tahoe, truckee and other parts of the sierra. equired on all the major highways but won't get any better. >> it's scary. how many hours you may wanna wait before testing it? >> the heaviest is until 10:00 this morning. whatever falls will freeze at a lower level tonight. tomorrow afternoon probably the best time to go but even then we're going to get more snow. not a great time. >> for driving. >> for driving. if you're there, great. i'd love to tell you a perfect time to drive up there, probably tomorrow afternoon honestly. let's look back here at home where we can see. nice, nice picture! we look at the clouds that are not nearly as thick as they were last night but they are moving rather fast and that will create the showers this afternoon. let's take a look at live doppler 7 hd. that's where you see the steadier rain where the cold front is. in its wake we have strong surf. some big-time waves until 2:00 tomorrow morning. these are the scattered showers that are coming our way, the flash flooding, snow, hail, thunder, lightnin

so that is clearly the concern tonight here in the sierra. as far as travel, if you are heading any where up toward the foothills or sierra, have those chains and be ready to chain up far sooner than you normally would. this snow continues to fall in elevation. live just outside the town of nevado city, now back to you. >> it looks miserable down there. we're talking about snow in the sierra, we're also talking about snow here. you relevantly think we can get -- you really think we can get snow in san francisco? >> yeah, i think some where between friday night and saturday morning. snow on market street, that's a whole other story. but this air mass, we haven't seen this like in 30 years. it's very cold. one of the big stories will be the bay communities. snow is going to close a lot of schools tomorrow as we go into another rainy period or another precipitation period. let's go outside. live storm tracker 2. we have the weather maps going. we have rain throughout the entire bay area. now of course that is impacting your afternoon commute. is

live with the current conditions in the sierra and a bit. us have a wet start for the weekend. rain coming down well into the morning. let's start with craig who is live in santa cruz at this summit. you can see it looks like rainfall. to be sure on that let's go to a crank.craig. >> craig: caltrans was worried about trees falling down, rockslide, mudslides. things are much better than they were they are keeping a close eye. >> my biggest problem is, especially when we get wind. that's when the ground is saturated with water, the wind will topple of these trees. i had some rockslide that just came from. i have got a few boulders coming down, i'm concerned because of the wind some trees might come down. >> craig: they say that has come down since earlier this morning. the trees are still saturated, the wind is still fairly strong, caltrans now must worry about snow coming in the next few hours tonight or tomorrow. they have crews' out dealing with that. this unpleasant situation is dying down finally as you head towards midday. >> will: think

a bit of snow through the sierra. the pink on your screen indicating winter storm warning for the entire sierra region including the passes. a lot of snow expected up to 5 ft. in the higher elevations, 2 ft. in the lower elevations. if the lake level very breezy conditions. but kron 4 here is a look at your 7 day around the bay, things will calm down on thursday we will see rain but showery conditions. at the rain in the forecast on friday. temperatures quite cool both morning and afternoon for the next couple of days. in the weekend, things will improve for a little bit. a 30 percent chance of rain on sunday. >>catherine: a judge decided that soviet is going to stand trial and probably soon. he is accused of having sex with underage prostitutes and use his influence to cover up. it an italian judge ruled today, there is enough evidence for an immediate drop. both him and the young woman denied the charges. the country of bahrain, thousands of people streamed into the capital they demanding a new government. two protes

you can see all that snow piling up in the sierra nevada. rain down further to the south.nd well, it continues throughout the valley. and we have had some very heavy rainfall around the bay area overnight. some places 2" to 3" of rainfall, especially in parts of the north bay. scattered showers continuing right now. the main cold front has moved by. but behind that we have a lot of cold air that is going to keep things unsettled and wet. we'll see some sunshine in between the clouds today but yeah, it's going to keep going on and off throughout the day. so showers if you are headed out the door, some gusty winds, really blowing around the bay area. we had some gusts overnight 50 to 60 miles per hour along with the cold front moving through. probably not as strong but still gusty in spots especially when we see some of these thunderstorms rotating on by. numbers running mainly into the 40s as we head in toward the afternoon. this cold front moving through but behind that, we have a lot of cold air diving in right from the gulf of alaska in toward the bay area. so that is go

what is impressive is what's happening in the sierra. santa clara valley imports about half water from state and federal sources and numbers encouraging. the feds have a contract to supply district with about 152 thousand acre feet of water anticipating being tibl provide 71% of the amount. the state hoping to fulfill 60% of the contract. >> unless there are problems that cause pumps to be slowed down we should get fairly good aloeation. >> if snow pack continues to improve that could allow the state to be more generous. >> and there is some a report of smoke coming from tracks causing 15, maybe 20 minute delays. problems may originate from a richmond bound bart train. and still ahead tonight bay area homeowners who feel betrayed by a lending company. >> i wanted to believe. i was so scared of losing our house. >> and why california 8th graders are flunking high school algebra. >> intimate dinner with the president. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> a pleasanton company claiming kit help you get out from under

meanwhile in the sierra nevada it has been snowing. d to you report powered by youtube. sky and surf in pacifica. from this shot you may not have thought it was a stormy day, but it was indeed. we have some waves building although the high surf advisory was dropped earlier this afternoon. we did see some sunny breaks, but those sunny breaks set off the thunderstorms today. and we are going to see a repeat performance tomorrow. the temperatures are all in the 40s. you can see it ising cold. showers, thunder and hail through thursday. snow on the highest peaks and another round of rain is coming on friday. the low-pressure system is cold and unstable air continuing to move in here. look for the showers and brief downpours as the cold and unstable air moves through. another system is getting organized and it is coming in on friday. let's get you through the next 24 hours. we have some of the showers and heavy at times. 5:00 tomorrow morning dicey commute. you can see some thunderstorms developing right around 8:00 a.m. this continues into

going into the holiday weekend it's a huge deal for the sierra economy. and you can bet they're going to do everything they can to keep the roadways open. >> that's interesting. i didn't know they camped out up there. thank you for joining us live there colfax off of 80. so as people head to tahoe we're going to be updating the weather and roads throughout the morning and tomorrow ahead of that big weekend. our coverage also continues on the channel 2 website where you can check storm tracker 2 any time. you can get the very latest ski conditions. click on the storm watch tab on our website at ktvu.com. >>> well, on capitol hill congress is going through president obama's spending plan line by line looking for places to cut. house republicans are looking to cut $61 billion for the remaining seven months of the federal fiscal year that ends to be the 1st. so far the only thing democrats and republicans have been able to agree on canceling $450 million for a back up engine for a fighter jet. >>> massachusetts senator scott brown is speaking out about the yea

the power could be out for some of the folks there in the sierra for days. of course they're used to it, they have the generators ready to go. we have got rain, wind and snow and how about a tornado into the mix? another weather surprise in northern california, this is home video shows a tornado spotted near rancho cordova which is near sacramento. wind whipped metal shards in the area and a 50-foot redwood tree. no one was hurt. >>> moving on now, the clothing store known as no fear is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. no fear is an action sports clothier that sells various brands. it is well known for its no fear label. now the chain has stores here in the bay area as well as in southern california. the company has estimated assets of no more than $50 million, liabilities of up to $10 million. we have much more ahead for you on "today in the bay," coming up, freezing temperatures here, frozen assets for the libyan dictator and his family. the latest on the june reunrest libya and the rally for support. >>> take a live look at our camera, it's rec

and this storm in the bay area is leading to significant snowfall in the sierra of course. >>> and now to a developing story and it is stunning news out of the east bay tonight where two men in law enforcement, one of them a police commander, are behind bars and accused of drugging. jodi hernandez has more on the charges and how the community is reacting tonight. >> both men are being held here at the contra costa county jail facing multiple drug charge counts. now, norman walsh, a 12-year veteran of the bureau of narcotic enforcement, and christopher butler were arrested this morning on charges of the distribution of meth amphetamine, marijuana and steroids. they got a tip last month prompting the investigation. sources tell the nbc bay area that welsh is accused of taking drugs out of his bureau's evidence locker. both men have been highlighted in the media as appearing in past news stories. butler's private eye business has even gotten him national attention, giving him spots on the "today" show and the dr. phil show. i had a chance to talk to several people who know both men who sa

but this isn't from the sierra nevada. take a look at this shot from lee this is hidden valley lake and it's not snowing there. you can see deck areas covered in snow. there is another beautiful shot submitted by middle town. nobody was hurt. and there is some damage done with snow coming down and there is temperatures into 40s and 50s, rain mainly south and east bay for friday. and snow level will remain around 2500 feet. so highest peaks continue to see that snow we've been dealing with. there is a satellite and radar. there is a cold front and there is a lot of cold air. so here is our computer animation. you'll see mixed precipitation. 7:00 tonight mount hamilton. take a look at moisture. still focused in this area. dry in the north bay. and tomorrow morning you're going to have to deal with showers, then rain starts to intensify a bit. and becoming more wide spread. still seeing that rain-snow mix there. and so rain starts to move out of here tomorrow. rainfall totals highest in the south bay and around the bay. there

>>pam: we're tracking the storm in the sierra. we're joined on the phone by chp officer. the for getting snow and mount tam i can imagine what's happening in this year to date. >>caller: it's been snowing nonstop since we spoke last night. although, it has warmed up a little bit so the change in total, if your traveling eastbound interstate 80 and just west of truckee to stop a little bit a little higher elevation. but the warmer weather has allowed the roads to get a little bit more what and easier plow

a winter storm warning is in effect for the sierra and schools in the school district up there are closed. travelers should of course bring chains and expect slowdowns due to snowy conditions. >>> today's one of those deals where you might see some bright sunshine, and all of a sudden the clouds thicken up and you run into a heavy downpour. it's a possibility of hail. right now the maps still quite a bit of activity here. there's the live sweep showing you the current pattern. as we come in closer to the north of antioch to the north of pittsburg you can enhancement here with yellows and orange showing up reflecting heavier rainfall possibly some thunderstorm activity embedded as well. in the southern half of the region, there you go, in the south bay. some darker shades of green moving across the bay on the way pretty much there closer to hayward and also into fremont some still some rainshowers, a big part of the forecast right now and also over the next few hours. we'll widen on the the perspective again. there's the activity up in the north bay. also for san francisco, ocean beach, th