>> we are on storm watch right now as we brace for the impact of an intense level five storm hitting the bay area with its wind and rain. we are monitoring the rain for power outages. the area for power outages, down trees, flooding and mudslides. >> we have abc7 team coverage reporters stationed across the bay area. >> let's begin with abc7 weather anchor spencer christian. >> check out this camera view from mount tam and you can see trees bending in the wind and rain pounding. the second wave we have been talking about is about to push on shore.

you can see that on the satellite radar composite image showing this two stage storm over the last hours. on live doppler 7 we have light to moderate rainfall. just offshore is this second stronger wave that we are expecting to produce the most severe impacts in the afternoon and evening. on the abc7 exclusive storm impact scale, this is a level five severe storm for today and tonight. we expect heavy rain, damaging wind. worst impacts between now and 9:00 p.m. the threat of flooding is quite high, also the threat of downed trees. one reason for that is strong wind gusts. these are current surface winds gusting to 47 miles per hour at half moon bay. 40 miles per hour at oakland. here comes that surge of the next wave of the storm. we have the wind and rain combined in this forecast animation to show you how strong the system is.

over 58 mile-per-hour winds at half-moon bay. this pattern with gusts from 35 to over 50 miles per hour will continue into the early evening, along with widespread powerful heavy downpours. that pattern will not start to wind down until tomorrow morning. info estimates just for this evening, 1.13 inches in san francisco. an inch and a half at oakland. anywhere around the area, one to two inches of rain this evening. that is why we have a flood watch until tomorrow afternoon. we have the high wind warning in effect for the evening. wind gusts will peak around 50 to 60 miles per hour. some of our highest concerns from this storm are for flooding on roads, stream and creek flow, mudslides, rock slides, power outages, downed trees and river flooding. to tomorrow morning, high surf

warning in effect. the wave heights are already elevated. they could reach 20 to 30 feet with dangerous and strong rip currents and low lighting flooding along coastal areas. storm warning in effect until 4:00 a.m. friday in the sierra. difficult to impossible travel there, four feet of snow may fall. . check the storm today and tonight, a level three, still a strong storm. friday a little bit later system, a level one followed by level two storms on top of what we had already. it will be a challenging week ahead for the bay area. liz: we will check back with you soon. meantime, several bay area counties are under a state of emergency because of the storm. they are marked in red on this map. you can see sonoma, santa clara and san mateo counties declared an emergency. the city of danville is under a

state of emergency and so is the city of watsonville in.santa cruz the other five bay area counties marked in blue have not yet declared an emergency. julian: we are already starting to see the effects from the storm in san francisco and the bay area. we are talking about high winds, strong surf, broken glass, even falling trees. abc7 news reporter leah melendez has been tracking the storm around the city all day. she is live from the embarcadero.le a t tngyo meto, is has bilng te. erodthat those winds and wet soilth ixaly what we thisrnl neighborhood. a tree branch fell on some power lines and pg&e had to shut the power off to residents while

they address to the problem. the cable car that goes by there had to be diverted. near city hall, a very bizarre thing. police close an entire block after some glass fell from a plaza building onto the sidewalk. we don't know if that was weather related. i will say that area is notoriously windy. at about 11:00 this morning it was howling there. we told you also yesterday that the city was going to pay close attention to the area of folsom and 17th street. typically that area floods. they did as they said they would and installed this morning barriers outside, homes and businesses that flooded over the weekend. a lot of businesses we saw flooded. the embarcadero, which is always

full of joggers and bicyclists, was with till the -- was relatively empty. that is where we are rhtow. ptu. enjoy it while you can because the rain is coming. i already see a lot of wind around me. i'm live from the embarcadero, leah melendez, abc7 news. julian: good to see you dry right now. the weather having an impact on roads and flights. it appears a ground stop has been lifted at sfo. let's go to abc7 news traffic anchor. so many of those cameras so ominous. >> there is quite a few accidents out there, so i will hit the main problem areas.

a live shot of the san mateo bridge. it is a tough drive. there is a wind advisory on most bay area bridges. on eastbound 92 right now there is a closure due to a landslide between west hillsdale alameda spoke of. they will clear that for the next few hours. 380 is an alternate. major closures. high wind advisory first. be careful, especially for high-profile vehicles. you don't want to be in an empty trailer. high wind advisory for the altamont pass. in sausalito, the highway one connector ramp to 101 is closed due to flooding. that will be out for a while with more rain coming. also closed due to flooding is highway 84 snow. in addition in the santa cruz mountains, there was also a landslide. that is shut

hi 17 still open but there are still some swwe could see ms well. this is affecting mass transit. bart is reporting about 20 delays -- 20 minute delays systemwide. there is limited red and green service on the red and green lines. ferries are impacted. for the harbor bay ferry and san francisco ferry routes, those are canceled. on the golden gate ferry, the angel island service has been canceled. in addition, travel to and from the sierra will be tough. if you need to get out, friday is your best day because they are expecting snow through tomorrow, then more snow saturday and sunday. there will be more power outages as you approach a power outage, treat them as a four-way stop. give yourself lots of extra time. the worst is yet to come. we will be dealing with more of these power outages through tomorrow.

liz: we want to talk about those power outages right now. this is a look at the pg&e outage map which shows where there is no power right now. you can see a lot of these green and yellow dots, as well as orange. these are ranging from a few dozen people to a few hundred people without power. we are seeing orange in richmond right now as well as parts of the peninsula and more of the south bay area. crews are spread out across the bay area. at one point this morning there was many as 17,000 customers without power in downtown san jose. power was restored to many by 11:30 this morning. pg&e is working hard. we will talk to a representative later in our streaming show. julian: a live look outside down the embarcadero in san francisco, where we just spoke to leah melendez. it is dry right now but be

prepared, the rain is about to pick up any moment now.

julian: welcome to our coverage of this level five storm. we take you to the east bay, where in danville they had the worst fire on saturday. officials are warning residents that today's storm could be even worse. abc7 news reporter joining us now with an update. what have you been seeing out there today? >> good afternoon. it has not been raining, the goodness. but danville has declared a state of emergency following saturday's flooding. they are expecting even more

today. the center of it is right here. this is the san ramon creek in danville. this is what overflowed on saturday, which caused the massive flooding. cleanup crews and residents have been out here over the past few days clearing branches and debris so that the water does not cause flooding. over here to the side of this stream you can see it is being cleared up. there is yellow caution tape that has been put up as well as sandbags trying to reinforce the area along the river. as the rain starts to come down we will see if it will actually hold off. over the past few hours, crews have beenleing uphe streets al they are trying to use this lull in the rain as a cleanup effort. there is still a considerable amount of thick mud on the streets here. let's show you video from earlier today. these are homes along the greenbrook neighborhood area.

they run parallel to the san ramon creek. i spoke to one resident. he says he watched the creek overflow saturday, so he knows what to expect. >> i would say the biggest thing is that little creek, once that starts filling up, it jumps up 8 to 10 feet. that is a lot of water. it is pouring through, going really fast. >> i'm not sure what to do, to be honest. that water is very powerful. when it comes over there, it is moving and it will knock things down and break them. dangerous. very dangerous. >> his daughter was supposed to me they canceled plans because he says if there is extreme flooding, they may not even be able to get to the airport. the san ramon valley fire department wants to warn residents, one, expect heavy

winds today. also, expect power outages. they also want people to stay home if possible. and one of the things we have been hearing over the past few days from city to county officials, do not drive through standing water, you don't know how deep it is. the san ramon valley fire department said on saturday they responded to over 100 emergency calls. they need emergency crews to be free if there is more severe flooding. liz: another reason to stay home if you can. let's get another check of the conditions outside. julian: our abc7 news weather team fully staffed up. we want to check in with meteorologist lisa argen with the details. you have been keeping your eye on the different cameras. lisa: we have very stormy conditions. this picture does tell the story.

you can see how quickly those clouds are moving. the raindrops on the lens. we are getting set for some heavy rain headed our way. a live look at live doppler 7. you can see offshore we have thunderstorms. rain is relatively light. we are looking at a little radar tour as we go through the north bay. you can notice a thunderstorm offshore. the atmosphere ripe for thunderstorms, heavy downpours in the next couple hours. light rain through san rafael, around livermore. a break around the bayshore. toward morgan hill, scattered light showers. this is what is to come, that strong narrow cold front that will be pushing through the bay area. winds already quite gusty. a look at our storm reports up and down the north bank into the south -- north bay to the south bay. we are just getting into it now. you can see the circulation offshore, a very strong area of

low pressure. we have a hurricane force air force craft that will go through and check the pressure of this storm. when they get so strong, they do have aircraft that go in and check how intense it is. that is what will happen from noaa. the winds are from 2 20 to 38 miles per hour across the area. in the next hour and a half, the north bay getting slammed with heavy rainfall. anywhere from a half inch to an inch an hour in the reds. as we look through the 6:30, 8:00 timeframe, heavier rain moves through. 10:00, still heavy rain in the east and south bay. thursday morning commute, you can see those downpours, possibility of thunderstorms with us. by 11:30 on thursday, still the atmosphere is ripe for

downpours, possibly hail. we get a break through the afternoon on thursday into friday, but we will still have rainfall. here is a look at the winds through the evening, 50 to 60 miles per hour on the coast. overnight the winds will still be howling here. 15 to 25 miles per hour inland. winds dialing back into thursday. a look at the toe to four hour rainfall total -- the 24 hour rainfall total. 1.5 to 2.5 inches from this one storm system. lower 40's right now in the sierra nevada. it will be rainy before the snow levels drop. snow levels lower tomorrow. highs on thursday in the mid 50's. we are looking at unfortunatel several waves of rain continuing to push through the weekend into next week. didn't want to show you this, but through next week we are

looking at an additional 4 to 7 inches of rain through friday the 13th. a level 5 to level 3. our break is thursday night into friday. level 2 systems over the weekend. they keep coming. liz: 2023 making a big showing for us. schools will be closed tomorrow in several bay area communities. this is the list. these are the districts that have announced the cancellation of classes tomorrow. south san francisco, san mateo, foster city, pacifica and portola valley. oakland unified tells us all afterschool sports and extracurricular activities are canceled for today. they want parents to pick up students as soon as possible. right now classes there will be held tomorrow barring any major changes in the weather. julian: you can the storm with the abc7 bay area streaming app.

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julian: today's storm is bringing the threat of widespread flooding and it could lead to landslides and mudslides. liz: what is the difference between the two, and how can you stay safe? joining us to answer those questions and a lot more is the chair of san jose state university's department of environmental engineering. let's start with that question, mudslides, rock slides, landslides. what do people need to know about all three of those? >> when we have weather events like this, what we would likely see would be mudslides or debris flows, shallow soil and debris is what tends to move in these events.

landslides tend to be deeper in the soil. we would not see that instantly with these kinds of weather events. julian: i want to pick up there. that is importantan -- is an important point. if there is not the imminent threat of a landslide or mudslide today, there is still the threat for that in the days to come, right? >> yes. as we see these storms back to back, we will see a lot more precipitation. when you mix water with loose soil and debris, there is a good chance you will see movement, especially if you are in an area that has seen movement previously. liz: what are some of those areas? are there specific areas in the bay area you are watching closely now? >> we see a lot of movement in the santa cruz mountains. and in the north bay a little bit. i think mostly we will see things in the santa cruz

mountains and canyons. liz: is that because of burn scars from the fires? >> the burn scars do increase the chance that you will see mo. the water is unable to absorb into the soil very well because it's been changed by the fire itself, which means a lot of runoff from that, as well as the fact that vegetation has been burned off. that vegetation is unable to stabilize the soil. julian: great points. those are areas of concern where there are those existing burn scars. we were looking at the potential of a landslide in richmond earlier today, where there was a crack in the hillside. how seriously should folks be taking these evacuation orders when they hear them? >> if anybody is under an evacuation order, they need to really listen. once an event starts happening, it is too late to leave. sometimes we have evacuation orders and nothing happens

because we cannot guarantee an event will happen. we are doing a guessing game as well. liz: laura with san jose state, thank you for joining us. i am sure we will have opportunities to check in with you in the coming days as we will see a lot of rain in the next few days. thank you for joining us. julian: let's take a live look outside so you can see the conditions as they are happening. you are looking at the city. it is a little wobbly because the wind is beginning to pick up. something our abc7 news team of meteorologists have been forecasting.

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julian: governor newsom has declared a state of emergency because of the storm. the california national guard has been mobilized to respond to emergencies. the governor activated the state operation center and nerve center that will be coordinating disaster efforts. caltrans has crews working around-the-clock to respond to road hazards. >> we will be proactively closing roadways if we feel the conditions are unsafe. we urge the public to please be patient. utilize our quick map app for more information. it has already been mentioned, if you can stay home, stay dry and safe. julian: sound advice. stay home if you can during this storm, as we are expecting the worst of it to pick up any moment. liz: residence in richmond's sea cliff neighborhood have been evacuated because of concerns about a possible mudslide or landslide. those evacuations begin last night at about 11:00.

one of the evacuees discovered a crack in the soil. he told his hoa, which then alerted the city. >> we had engineers looking at it. we brought in an excavation contractor and they are going to tarp that whole hillside and try to keep the water out of it. liz: at this point the evacuations are precautionary. a total of 15 homes are affected. julian: let's check in and see how things are in the sierra. we have a live picture. this is at zephyr cove from along south lake tahoe just across the state line in nevada. we want to show you how it looked earlier at the palisades in tahoe. the resort sent us this video. you can see the chairs rocking and thrown around by this intense wind that is only expected to pick up as the afternoon progresses. liz: world news with david muir

is next, but our coverage of the spending storm does continue. julian: join us tonight, breaking news. the standoff on capitol hill at this hour. several more rounds of votes, still no speaker. republicans unable to agree. what's playing out right now, we'll go live. also, two major storms hitting tonight. tornadoes and a life threatening bomb cyclone. 70-mile-per-hour > firnight, on house speaker playing out before the american people. we have not seen this in 100 years. the majority, the republicans in the house unable to agree on a speaker. now day two, and republican leader kevin mccarthy failing on six straight ballots to get the votes he needs. tonight, are republicans now looking for other options? does kevin mccarthy still have a chance? with humiliating losses now mounting. rachel scott live on the hill for us. also tonight, the state of