moon bay. this is the traffic map that shows the evening commute, plenty of green. green means traffic is moving smoothly. yellow things are slow and red is stop. as of now, neighboring communities is actually, check this out, to take highway 1 up to pacifica and then cross over to 280. the problem is big enough that caltrans isn't even sure how long it will take to fix and that's not the only bad news for commuters but also businesses that really rely on people coming in and out. sergio quintana is in half moon bay where all that traffic, boy, what a mess the way they have to turn that traffic around. >> reporter: earlier this morning is when caltrans decided to just close both directions of highway 92 and that's when they set up this checkpoint. it's real close to main street here in half moon bay and throughout the afternoon we've been seeing people come up here basically asking if they can get

through. some people who live pretty close up here are allowed to go up or if they have businesses, they're allowed to drive through. people who don't, they're being told they're going to have to go the long way to get to wherever they're trying to go. from nbc bay area sky ranger you can see the extent of the damage, a sinkhole takes up most of one of the lanes and caltrans is trying to figure out how long this will take to fix. near main street vehicle after vehicle is now making a u-turn on highway 92. resident chris walked over to the roadblock attendant to ask about the closure. she's planning a drive to redwood city and this closure means it got a lot longer. >> i'm going to have to go 280 to get to redwood city. >> reporter: she figures it will take an extra half hour to 45 minutes and commuters aren't the only ones impacted. along highway 92 most of the farm stores and greenhouses just outside half moon bay are closed today. >> we get a lot of traffic on

the weekends, the main thoroughfare from the coast to the bay. if closed down we get a little bit of walk-in traffic. if there's nobody coming here -- >> reporter: ken armstrong says they just finished cleaning up from the torrential rain and winds from the last couple of days. the good news for him delivery trucks will be able to come and pick up his lettuce and ship it to restaurants on the coast and in san francisco, but in town where the road is closed, the flying fish and grill is feeling the hit because of the drop-off in traffic. at lunch time art and his dining partner were two of only four customers in the whole restaurant. >> we were thinking maybe heading up north a little bit and we said it's not -- with the roads, it's better to stay close to home. >> reporter: he noted it's more complicated to get in and out of town while caltrans fixes highway 92. and caltrans is recommending that drivers take the route

north, highway 1 north to pacifica in order to get through to the other side basically. the reason why is because there is another sinkhole south and that sinkhole has highway 1 south down to one lane. it's going to be complicated getting out of here. i'm sergio quintana, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, sergio. it does feel we turned a corner on the drought with our recent storms, so we have, that is for sure, a look at lexington reservoir south of los gatos today. it does look full. california and the bay area have, for the most part, dropped out of the most severe drought category for now. robert handa joins us there and what people who live near the reservoir are saying about this huge sudden change. >> reporter: well, here at

lexington reservoir, it's been a while since i haven't had my storm gear on and even longer, much longer, since i've seen the water levels so high. today's drought index confirms what we see. it is quite a scene no matter how you look at them on the ground or the view from nbc bay area sky ranger. local reservoirs, some filled to the brim, others overflowing. renee marin just had to see for herself. >> it's usually trees coming up everywhere. it's amazing. i'm grateful. i know the flooding is bad, but i say keep it coming. >> reporter: much of california and almost the entire bay area dropped from the most severe drought category to moderate with the state's reservoirs approaching normal levels. the report was good news for the

almaden nursery where many customers stopped coming. >> with the drought they tended to stick to some indoor plants, not planting too much outside. they were doing some drought tolerant plants. >> reporter: some customers said they plan to stick to those plants. >> we don't know when the faucet will get turned off from the rainstorms coming in. i mean, we could not have another rain and whatever we have, i don't know how many years it will be good for them. >> reporter: the water district said we've started this way before. >> december 2021, we remember that december because it was super rainy, they had historical snow in the mountains and january, february and march of 2022 was the driest start to a year on record. >> we have to be prepared that we're not wasting any of this water because i have heard of cases where it's just overflowing and it's going to go to waste. >> reporter: just about everyone we talked to agreed, have to keep everything in perspective.

it might be too early to call dry weather a nice day just yet. at lexington reservoir, robert handa, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, robert. the folks raise a good point, jeff. we have been here before. we had that big rainstorm and then were right back in the drought. so does this look different to you at this point? i mean, it's all cyclical, so we are just in this cycle right now that we are following with all of this extreme rainfall. there will be more dry periods ahead, but as we heard in robert's story we have gratitude for the rain that we have that's filling up the reservoirs right now. we use it wisely and we're making some gains here at least in the short term. just putting some perspective on it. let's take a look back on december the 26th before those storms hit. you can see that deep red color through the central valley and also that very, very darkest red color down towards fresno. i'm going to go ahead and

advance this and you will be able to see how all of that dark red goes away. the worst drought categories. let's take it back to december the 26th, put a little bit of some number perspectives on this and you can see the extreme and exceptional drought accounted for 35.49% of california and again fading it back to the current view. you can see it is gone. extreme and exceptional drought wiped away across the map. we are still in a drought, though. 45% of california remains in a drought. here is the other side of things, 4.2% of california is abnormally dry, that's the lowest drought category, right up here to eureka. we're just a couple storms away from the drought potentially being wiped out up around eureka. for some parts of california, yes, in fact, these storms could be a drought buster for us. we do have more storms coming our way.

i want to give you a quick view of that. on storm ranger it's dry now. the next storm system is lining up here offshore. i think it will start to bring in rain around 2:00 a.m. to the northern coastline and then we'll begin to see that spread up there to the north "today in the bay" 7:00 a.m. two more storms behind it. a full time line in about ten minutes. you heard jeff say rain is coming back and soap is the potential for more damage. bay area congressman eric swalwell spent the day looking at some of the problems already created by the back-to-back storms in alameda county. velena jones joins us where swalwell got a hands-on sense of what's going on there. >> reporter: exactly right, jessica. we know the damage has been extensive, and if you take a look at this closed road behind me, you can see some of this damage where the road actually collapsed. you can see the street light is now in the creek below it, one of the dozens of examples of

damage caused by these powerful storms the county is now working to repair. from mud slides to flooding after weeks of work, caltrans reopened niles canyon road from mission boulevard in fremont to main street in sunol today while crews continue to work to clear flooding and erosion in surrounding areas like palomares road. >> because of all the debris and where it's packing up, it pushes the water in a different direction, so i'm seeing erosion on the side of the canal that backs up to my house. >> reporter: congressman eric swalwell spent the day touring some of the hardest hit areas throughout the county including eighth street in hayward where a roadway partially collapsed. >> we're left with the worst of both worlds. not enough for drought and we'll suffer more erosion, loss of

life. >> reporter: and the costs are growing. storms have already cost alameda county $50 million. now he's calling on the federal government to help cover more of the cost. >> we're starting to see cities be counties and statewide budget shortfalls. and so the ability may be a couple years ago to weather something like this is not the position we're in now, but we do have federal dollars that are designated for disasters like this. >> reporter: it could take months or years to recover and explains repairs will include some modernization to try to prevent future damage. >> we always design to the worst case scenario. those worst case scenarios seem to be worse with the changing global warming, the climate. we're having wetter storms, heavier storms.

>> reporter: crews say their priority is stabilizing compromised areas to prevent even more damage from happening. but with more storms on the way, they expect more of the same. >> reporter: reporting live in hayward, velena jones, nbc bay area news. our weather coverage will continue throughout the newscast. coming up at 5:30, how some people in the south bay are cleaning up on this dry day and how they're gearing up for the next punch of weather. still to come, president biden finding himself at the center of a growing controversy surrounding classified documents found at his home. the action now taken to determine if there was any criminal wrongdoing. and three more storms on the way. my upda

a special council will investigate president biden's handling of classified documents as he left the vice presidency. this comes after more classified material was uncovered at his home in delaware. now the first batch of documents was discovered beforeelections. the public is only learning about it this week. alice barr has the latest from washington. >> reporter: an independent special counsel is investigating

president biden's special handling of classified documents as he was leaving the vice presidency after another batch was discovered at his home in delaware. >> we're cooperating fully. >> reporter: they uncovered a small number of documents with classified markings in storage areas in his home and his garage next to his corvette. >> my corvette is in a locked garage, okay, so it's not like it's sitting on the street. >> reporter: the white house confirmed lawyers were found in his former private office space in washington. sources tell nbc news it was less than a dozen documents from his time as vice president in the obama administration. attorney general merrick garland announcing a former trump-appointed u.s. attorney, will serve as special counsel. >> to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter. >> reporter: republicans calling

for a congressional investigation. >> here is an individual that's been in office for more than 40 years, that sat on "60 minutes" that was so concerned about president trump's documents. >> reporter: house speaker kevin mccarthy drawing the comparison to hundreds of classified documents the fbi ultimately recovered from former president trump's mar-a-lago estate after he resisted repeated requests including a subpoena to hand them over, democrats quick to draw a distinct. >> the biden people are bringing forth the documents. they're not obstructing access to them. >> reporter: president biden says his lawyers turned the classified material over right away saying today he takes the matter seriously. the white house says it's confident that a thorough review will show these documents were inadvertently misplaced and that president biden and his lawyers acted promptly once they discovered the mistake. there are questions, though, about the timing of all of this becoming public since the first batch of documents was uncovered right before the midterm

elections. in washington, alice barr, nbc news. he said he has no plans to resign but for a moment appeared to be changing his mine. new york representative george santos said he would resign if 142 people asked him to. you remember santos recent lip admitted to lying about his background before he was elected. everything from his education to past jobs, even jewish heritage. when asked to clarify what he meant about 142 people, he said he would only resign if the 142,000 people who elected him in november decide he should. fellow republicans are calling for him to step down. santos has apologized for, quote, what he calls embellishing his resume. let's bring jeff back in. so that break was just so great to have today. the time line for the next storm

tomorrow morning? >> a system on saturday and another one after that. it does look like there are hopes coming in the seven-day forecast. look at these 15-day rain totals from eight different storms that have been back-to-back. kent field up to 18.62 inches. danville 15.67. san francisco over 15 inches. redwood city over 11. south bay ranging 3 to 11 inches. this has been two to three times our monthly january rain and just in case you missed our earlier update, i had to get this in here again, massive improvements in the drought because of those storms over the past couple of weeks. look, we know there is so much severe damage out there, the storms have turned deadly but we did want to report on also the improvements of that rainfall, and you can see december 26, before the storm started, 35.49% of california was in that red

color and that deepest red color and look at it today that has been wiped out. now we're still under a drought. there's the threat we could go back into it but we have made some huge gains on that and more rain coming. tomorrow will be our ninth storm in a series of storms. saturday would be the tenth. ordinarily while these storms are going to bring heavier rainfall, they wouldn't bring the impacts like landslide potential, flood concern, but because the ground is so saturated we have to stay on alert the next couple of days. rain starting near the north bay and the coast. i do see us getting some of that heavier rain developing up into the north "today in the bay" 7:00 in the morning. and then waves of rain move in as we head right into the

afternoon. that will start to push on out of here. rainfall totals with this one anywhere from three-quarters to 1 1/4 in the north bay and three-quarters and less from san francisco down there. we will see some winds for the mountains. lower elevations are 15 to 30 as we roll through tomorrow's forecast. let's spend time on the seven-day forecast. there's another one on saturday, most of that will be coming in the morning while the spotty thunderstorm chance on sunday. the 11th storm and here is the best news tuesday, wednesday and thursday of next week does not look to offer us any large storms.

we likely could see some drier conditions even as we look into the following week. just what we need after all of this record setting rain. temperatures will stay chilly with a mix of 50s and 60s inland for highs and 40s and 50s for those lows. as we get out of this rain we've been following, we could see strong storms develop. >> thank you, jeff. coming up, prices are going up for a popular streaming service. how much you will have to pay for hbo max and what you will busisiness can h happen anytime,e, anywhere.e. so h help yours s thrive ad stay c connected w with the

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stocks finished higher after a report showed the inflation rate did slow last month. the major indexes are seeing gains on a five-day winning streak. hasn't happened since last july. investors are looking to tomorrow. bed, bath and beyond is shuttering some stores across the bay area. the company said it will close more than 100 stores nationwide. it's currently in talks about filing for bankruptcy protection. california losing eight stores in total, four of those in the bay area. about to raise its subscription price, warner brothers discovovery announcnco max wouould jump from $14.99 a month to $15.99 a month. warner brothers, discovery plans to combine hbo max and discovery plus to form one big streaming

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the british royal family keeping mum about the new bob "spare" by prince harry. prince william and kate had their first public appearance since the release of the tell-all memoir. harry shared personal stories and some criticism of the royals including one story in which he alleges that william knocked him down during an argument over meghan. during a hospital visit prince william ignored questions about the book. king charles visited a village in scotland and likewise said nothing about the tell-all. don't forget you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv. we actually saw sun today. we're also looking ahead to the

next storm, the tool provided in the south bay that could help people get away from flooding. also, lisa marie presley reportedly rushed to the hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. what we know this hour about the condition of elvis' daughter. and some hopeful news involving inflation. when it comes to paying for all your necessities. good thursday. thank you for joining us. i'm janelle wang. >> i'm raj mathai. a look at parts of the bay area right here. >> the golden gate bridge, san rafael and san jose, dry evening commutes are under way for the first time in days. we enjoyed the sunshine today. as the cleanup conditions, preparation for the next storm

arriving tomorrow morning but it's not just cleaning out drains and checking on trees. >> south bay officials say there's one other thing people can do to protect themselves. nbc bay area's ian cull. >> reporter: a 100-foot-tall eucalyptus tree smashed down on these units in the west end. another storm rolls in. at least two units are damaged, one of the condo association's board members say they're hoping to get an arborist and building inspector soon. >> this is going to be affecting the residents for some time obviously. >> reporter: on a broader scale the storm cleanup went into overdrive in this brief window between storms.