and rain, we've seen plenty already this week and crews are now getting ready for an even busier and possibly treacherous next 24 hours. thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. let's get right to our team of reporters covering all angles on the storm. we begin, though, with chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking the timing. jeff. >> this does look like it would be the strongest storm out of the series of them that we will have seeb so far this week, and really what we're waiting on for that heaviest rainfall is the cold front. once this moves over the bay area it's going to provide the uplift needed, for some heavy downpours. but you can see again it's just offshore. let's zoom in. we'll get a closer look at regular radar. you can see it's picking up? radar offshore. but we're going to fade on storm ranger. it's down closer to the ground level. so it's able to give us? more detailed scan and you can see the higher intensity of rainfall that's approaching half moon bay. some very heavy downpours moving off to the north. this would move into montura by 6:15.

pacifica by 6:39 and may hold up through san bruno by 6:51. the most rain in the south bay. more wet weather now starting over the santa cruz mountains. this likely will hold up some returning showers to sunnyvale by 6:36 tonight. we really anticipate kind of the first wave of wet weather tonight for everybody to get wet once we hit about 8:30 this evening. again, that's just the beginning. we're going to be tracking that morning commute for tomorrow. how heavy it will get. plus we'll tell you who will get over two inches of rain. we've got two updates. one at 6:19. one at 6:48. we'll see you then. >> we will see you shortly. this is crunch time for pg&e and other teams across the bay. they're bringing in reinforcements to minimize the hazards here. in oakland east bay mud has a special plan to handle the surge of water. nbc bay area's marianne favro joins us in oakland with the details. marianne. >> raj, i am here at the district's wastewater treatment facility, and about five minutes ago it really started to

downpour out here. now, the concern is if this water level starts to get even higher east bay mud says it plans to open wet weather facilities to collect the overflow. and it's not the only agency preparing for this storm. pg&e crews spent the day cutting down four large monterey pine trees, each about 100 feet tall. the problem is the branches are too close to distribution lines in orinda and pose a risk of falling on them. >> this is really timely because with these kinds of winter storms we see lots of winds and we want to make sure that any overhanging branches are away from our lines. >> reporter: during the storm pg&e is also bringing in extra crews to help repair any downed power lines or respond to emergencies. here at east bay mud's treatment facility in oakland this operator is monitoring the flow of water from a command center.

it's critical because during a storm the water levels here can jump dramatically. >> in big storm events like what we're expecting tonight we can see the flow going from 50 million gallons to 500 million gallons per day in less than 24 hours. >> the problem is when it rains a lot millions of gallons of storm water get into the aging and leaky sewage pipes and come here to the plant. this empty basin is ready to collect an additional 10 million gallons but if this fills up east bay mud has three wet weather stations prepared to collect overflow. tonight we're going to have extra operators on standby and at the plant and extra maintenance staff. and that extra staffing is critical because they really don't want to get any sewage water flowing into the bay. so they're working to make sure that they use all of the capacity out here. reporting live in oakland,

marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> marianne, thank you. we know it's going to be a busy night in the overnight hours and into tomorrow morning with this climate, microclimate weather alert. now, our morning program will be in early to be ready for the storm. we're going to go on 30 minutes early tomorrow morning beginning at 4:00 a.m. to help you get ready for the day. >> follow up on our breaking news from 5:00. a person is in the hospital after a shooting near the lake merit bart station. happened at the area of 9th and jackson in oakland about two hours ago. police tell us they have two potential suspects in custody. of course we'll continue to update this story as soon as we get new information. new at 6:00 tonight, facebook under fire. this time not by politician or privacy advocates but by a former employee who says facebook is "failing its black employees and black users." nbc bay area's sam brock joins us live in san francisco with more on the accusations and what's facebook's response. sam. >> jessica, mark lucky wrote a

memo a few weeks ago that was ultimately sent to facebook employees all over the globe and his accusations go much deeper than just who facebook is and isn't hiring and how those employees are traded. mark lucky says his now viral memo saying facebook is failing its black employees and black users. it wasn't always intended for a wider audience. >> why go public with the post? >> well, i had initially planned to keep it internal but there wasn't a lot of accountability on facebook's part. there was silence from mark zuckerberg, from sheryl sandberg. >> reporter: a former manager focused on reaching underrepresented voices, lucky spells out different kinds of incidents that gave him pause. online he describes black users' attempts to find safe spaces for conversation ending with their content being removed without notice and accounts suspended indefinitely. on campus he recalls overt racism. >> my fellow co-workers would grab their purses or reach for

their wallets, having security come up to me a couple times demanding my badge, passing co-workers who aren't black. >> reporter: facebook responded to these allegations by statement saying, "the growth in representation from many different groups working across various functions of the company is a key driver to our ability to succeed. we want to fully support all employees when there are issues reported and when there may be micro behaviors that add up." lucky applauded the company for increasing black workers from 2% to 4% in recent years. a facebook figure facebook confirmed. >> you have to care not just about black causes but black lives. >> reporter: in san francisco sam brock, nbc bay area news. >> a san francisco supervisor wants to remove mark zuckerberg's name from the city's public hospital. he's asked the city attorney what it would take to do that and how much money the city might love. zuckerberg and his wife donated $75 million to the hospital three years ago, and the city then renamed it zuckerberg san

francisco general hospital and trauma center. supervisor aaron peskin believes the name now reflects poorly on the city in light of the several recent scandals at facebook involving data security and users' personal information and the hiring of a pr firm to allegedly publicly discredit facebook's critics. >> we'll see what my colleagues in the public think about this, but i think it's a wake-up call to facebook that it's time to reform the corporate culture. >> now, if city leaders ultimately decide to take zuckerberg's name off sf general, they might have to return some or all of that $75 million donation if zuckerberg requests it. google will now follow in the footsteps of tech peers and testify in front of congress. you may remember three months ago when twitter and facebook met with congress. google's ceo refused. congressional out an empty chair to draw attention to his absence. you about now he says he will testify next week. among the questions the gop leaders want to question google

about whether its algorithms are silencing right-leaning news and voices. we've done this before. but this time the a's say it's the real deal. the team unveiling today plans to build a state-of-the-art ballpark on the waterfront near jack london square in oakland. the plan is at its early and beginning stages but it's already generating a lot of excitement and some skepticism. nbc bay area's jody hernandez is at the howard terminal at the busy port of oakland at this proposed new site. jody. >> reporter: raj, after striking out on a previous ballpark plan the a's now say that the howard terminal here at the oakland waterfront is the best location for their new ballpark. they say what they have planned here is bigger than baseball. >> obviously, it's something that's not only going to be great for the a's, our ability to win more world championships, but also the city. the community benefits. >> reporter: a's president dave carville unveiled the team's vision for a new waterfront stadium that they call a win for

everyone. the a's plan to build a privately financed urban ballpark at oakland's howard terminal. they say unlike anything major league baseball has ever seen. >> when you add this green loop on top, you have something that's really never been built. this is as visionary and bold an idea for a baseball stadium as has ever existed. >> reporter: the 34,000-seat stadium includes an elevated park that will be open on game days and non-game days alike. and while the team will be playing downtown, the a's aren't just abandoning the coliseum. they plan to revitalize it into a community park that includes the original baseball diamond surrounded by affordable new housing and restaurants. >> it is really important to me as a native oaklander that what happens at that land is for the residents of east oakland respects the african-american heritage of that part of our city. >> it's a win-win situation. simply put.

if you build, it we will come. >> it could really bring a lot of energy, i think, to the franchise. to get into the new park. especially the community. >> while most fans seem excited not everyone is thrilled about the move to the waterfront. some wish the a's would stay put, not just in oakland but at the coliseum. >> i disagree. i wish they would stay where they are. they've been there forever. why not? >> back here live at the howard terminal. now, this plan is still in its very beginning stages. the a's still have to come to agreements with the port of oakland, alameda county and the city of oakland. but what is different this time around is all of the players seem to be on board. if all goes as planned, the a's will be playing ball here in 2023. reporting live in oakland, i'm jody hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> we will see. thank you, joady. so is this really a realistic plan? and is mayor qulib schalibby sc

getting a fair deal in all of this? one former a's executive says no this will never work. we'll be joined by this former a's and 49ers executive in 20 minutes. a boycott of the giants is over. civil rights activists called it off after the team's principal owner responded. on monday attorney john burris urged fans to bikt the team after it became known the giants' owner charles johnson donated money to the campaign of mississippi senator cindy hyde-smith. smith won re-election last night but she recently made comments in support of public hanging. following that backlash johnson condemned racism and asked for that campaign contribution to be returned. it's not just a bay area seeing a spike in housing prices. the whole country is seeing increases on a much smaller scale. it's enough that the fed is raising the limits for the so-called fannie and freddie mortgages. taking a look now at the nation's mortgage map, the vast areas of gray, you can see it there, are where the new average or conforming loan is capped at $484,000. in the orange areas, the

conforming loans are larger. in the bay area the limit is going up to 726,000 bucks. well, a brutal bar fight. the bay area detectives need your help in catching one of the men in this video hitting a woman. also, call police. the reason behind this frantic message on a vta bus rolling down the highway in the south bay. storm ranger on mobile doppler radar shows our system just offshore. we're tracking the timing and the totals. i'll have a full hour by hour look. you want to stick around. that's coming up in ten minutes.

there is some troubling video of an extremely violent attack at a bar in napa. here it is. two men badly beat a woman on november 17 at stone sports bar and grill. they punched and kicked this woman repeatedly, leaving her with multiple injuries. the men also fought anyone who tried helping the woman. they eventually left before police arrived. now, one of the suspects did turn himself in, while the other, you see him here, james falkenburker, remains on the run. he has multiple tattoos on his neck. you can see from the photo. police say if you see him do not approach him because he is considered dangerous. well, temporary housing is on the way to butd county to help survivors of the camp fire. fema says some 2,000 trailers could be in the bay area by the end of the week. that destructive fire, the most

destructive in state history, wiped out more than 90% of the town of paradise, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. now, that rebuilding effort is off to a rocky start with limited road space and some difficult terrain to deal with. >> butte county is going to pose some long-term challenges not for lack of trying and all the people working on scene but just the logistics of moving debris in and out. >> 88 people died in that fire so far. 196 people, though, are still unaccounted for. students in paradise are expected, though, to be back in school sometime next week. well, california's assisted suicide law cleared a legal hurdle today. the state appeals court overturned a lower court ruling which had declared the 2015 law unconstitutional. the appeals judge ruled that the doctors that brought the case forward had no legal standing because they weren't forced to help terminally ill patients to die. they had the option to decline

treatment. so-called death with dignity law allows adults to obtain life-ending drugs if they have less than six months to live. more legal challenges are expected. okay. leave the ornaments alone. thieves are again stealing them from trees at san jose's christmas in the park. for a second day in the row decorations on that satanic christmas tree they're putting up have been stolen. organization satanic bay area says after their tree was on display for a few days it had to be redecorated because people took their ornaments. they're asking would-be thieves to refrain from taking them in the future. last year a chapter of the satanic temple had a goat mask stolen from the top of their tree. christmas in the park organizers say that sadly ornament theft of all types of trees at the festival are common. an alarming sight on a south bay freeway. a bus sign asking for people to call 911. someone posted the video. here it is on reddit last night. it shows the message there. you can see it kind of scrolling, flashing on the back of this vta bus as it drives on

highway 85 near the deanza exit. vta confirms that the bus driver accidentally activated the message. it was headed to west valley college but no passengers were on board. vta also says two calls did come into dispatchers about the message. even though it was a false alarm, they appreciate the community for being vigilant and thanked those who called for help. there's a new project to improve emergency response times in san francisco. city leaders took part in a groundbreaking ceremony today for a new ambulance deployment facility. that facility will serve as the headquarters for the san francisco fire department's emergency services. it's a $50 million project. >> it's designed and built to deploy ambulances and to facilitate the movement of ambulances as quickly as possible in and out of the stations so they can go serve the public of san francisco. >> the new facility is also seismically safe and slated to open in the winter of 2020. are you ready for what's coming our way? we go back to our microclimate

weather alert. the next storm is already here for many of us. tonight expect some strong wind. along with that rain. that has homeowners making a lot of plans to protect their properties. nbc bay area's anoushah rasta is in san jose this evening with a look at the booming business for tree trimmers. they are a busy bunch tonight, anoushah. >> reporter: they certainly are, raj. one homeowner telling me that hiring one of these companies has been well worth the money for her. >> it's a lot of work. but it has to be done. you have to protect your property. >> reporter: tonight many bay area tree trimming services telling us it's a good time for business. days before a storm comes rolling through the area. >> branches closest to the roof or to the house. trees that are leaning. >> reporter: armando huerta and his team of workers from hd tree service were hard at work today on mary schemmberry's property on the peninsula.

the big concern for homeowners is the chance that the heavy rain and strong wind on the way will send one of these giant trees or a large branch right into the house. >> they pierce the roof. they pierce the deck. they're very dangerous. >> reporter: several bay area tree trimming service companies tell nbc bay area news that this is the type of work they've been busy working with clients for several days now. meanwhile, the city of san jose tells us that they did not have any emergency tree trimming crews out working today, just contractors doing regular work. but pg&e says they did have crews trimming trees yesterday. reporting live in san jose, anoushah rasta, nbc bay area news. >> i've got to think about my trees now. she just reminded me. >> it is a reminder. everybody tries to get it done right before the storm's coming. these are things we should have been doing a while ago. >> i did probably three or four of them this summer. just had to get them taken care of because of all those dead limbs. because dead wood is definitely

a lot heavier than a tree that is live. that is also why it's so dangerous. as we take you into our microclimate forecast. i do want to give you a broad perspective if you're doing any traveling, we have a flash flood watch up to the north. this includes the fire burn zones. they could see anywhere from 3/4 to 2 inches of rain. also a winter storm warning. at 7,000 feet. one to two feet of snow. they'll start tone counter that snow at around 5,000 feet. we'll have more looks at sierra snow coming up at about 6:48 tonight. but i do want to get you to storm ranger, mobile doppler radar. we do have some rainfall developing right now. but keep in mind, the heaviest of the rain is out here, where you can see this rain line right there. once that gets here we will start to see some heavier downpours. let's put a track on some of this. we have been following the heavy rainfall that's moving into the coastline. this is moving off to the north through san bruno by 6:55 things are picking up. also into south san francisco. 7:01. daly city by 7:12. also some wet weather over oakland. we saw marianne favro in that

earlier. it's pushing off to the north, would keep some wet weather into berkeley through 6:36. hercules into 7:12 tonight. let's now move things into the hour by hour forecast. we'll have more on this. we'll show it to you again throughout the show. you can see at 8:30 tonight first wave of wet weather gets here. by 11:30 things pick up as the storm system starts to move close. as we hit 2:00 a.m. that storm system is moving over the bay area. we'll be under what seems like a little bit of a break by 6:00 a.m. with some scattered spotty rain. but there will be more coming by 8:00 a.m. we'll likely see that rain into 11:00 in the morning tomorrow and then we'll see a break once we hit the afternoon. we'll tell you how much we'll get out of this storm. it's coming up, 6:48 tonight. >> okay, jeff, we'll see you shortly. up next, she said she was trying to free the fish, but she's in hot water for what she did with the tilapia. stay with us. this little home of mine,

♪ i'm gonna let it shine. ♪ it's energy saving time, ♪ i'm gonna reduce mine. ♪ californians all align ♪ to let our great state shine. ♪ let it shine, ♪ the power's ours to let it shine! ♪

going viral on social media okay. check that big boy out.

that's nickers. he's an australian cow. he's gone viral on social media because he's so big. he stands bigger than all the others. he stands six feet tall, weighs over a ton. on top of his new fame he also will live a longer life. the owner says he's too heavy to go through a processing facility. that's terrible. so instead he'll be put to work leading and coaching other cattle. he's coaching. how do you get this big? >> he's a big deal. >> wow. well, a bay area woman was trying to rescue live fish from a market and she released them back to nature and now she's facing a possible arrest for endangering wildlife. >> officials at lake chabot say the woman released nearly a dozen tilapia into the lake during the past couple of weeks. tilapia are non-native fish and considered invasive. that means they tend to take over an ecosystem. >> they can reproduce really quickly. they can spread rapidly. they're highly tolerant of a wide variety of environmental conditions. >> the east bay regional park police still investigating this.

the district attorney will decide if the fish and wildlife violation warrants a misdemeanor charge which could mean a fine and even jail time. up next at 6:30 we continue our microclimate weather alert coverage. going to take you to where waves are pounding the coast. also, the a's new ballpark looks like a home run, but is it a good deal for the city of oakland? we bring in a former a's executive who's raising the red flag on this new billion-dollar proposal. n strong storm is o

right now at 6:30, a strong storm is on its way to the bay area and the coast guard is urging everyone to be very careful when you're along the coast. strong winds are expected and a high surf advisory is in effect. nbc bay area's christie smith joins us live from pacifica. christie, it's not really safe to stand too close to those edges like that when the strong surf is in effect. >> yeah, that's right. i certainly have been keeping an eye on it. you can hear the waves crashing. and i've seen them in the distance come under the pier closer to where we are. we saw of this she's waves crashing over the seawall. of course big waves are expected and the coast guard has sent out notice urging people to be very careful and the heavy rain hasn't even started yet. at pacifica pier waves pounded the shore. >> pretty high today. >> reporter: aaron lotto tried

to catch crab but it wasn't easy. the churning waves kept moving his line as he kept an eye on the water. >> if they're wrecking midway in the pier that's a pretty big wave. >> reporter: by afternoon the gates were closed. the pier empty. the crowd grew on the sidewalk at mie tide to watch the waves crash past the wall. >> it's just really nice to come over here and be next to the fresh air and the waves. >> reporter: a high surf advisory is in effect through friday. waves from 12 to 25 feet could happen along with dangerous rip currents. the coast guard is urging people to steer clear of breaking surf. >> that means there's big water moving on the ocean. >> reporter: terry smith is deputy harbor master at tiller-point harbor. >> today's not the best day to be in a small boat. and if you're on the shoreline, watching the ocean and you're staying away from where it's wet because it will get wet again. >> reporter: he says harbor patrol is monitoring and checking their gear today to make sure they're ready to help ahead of the storm. surfer rafael rodriguez says he

enjoyed his time on the water early today but knows to be prepared for when conditions change. >> you're going to see the water moving underneath you, you see the power going through the water. yeah. there's a point where you kind of draw a line if you're supposed to be out there or not, you know. >> reporter: these kind of swells start in october, maybe even september, and considers this late in the season. again the reminder, when you see something like this, certainly don't turn your back to the ocean. reporting live in pacifica, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> okay, thank you, christie. let's give you a live look at the satellite radar. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking the storm coming in. he'll have a timeline of when the rain will start hitting us. he'll be back in about 15 minutes. >> you might have heard by now the a's today unveiling their plans for a new billion-dollar waterfront ballpark right at the port of oakland. but the question tonight-l this really happen? take a look. the renders are impressive. here's the ballpark. san francisco across the bay

there. the oakland estuary is right there. by the way, the ballpark facing away from the water for the sun angles for the players. let's take a look inside the ballpark now. it's going to seat 34,000 fans. so intimate like fenway park. with the garden. you notice it's a rooftop garden, kind of like facebook headquarters in menlo park that slopes down to the ground level. so what happens to the existing oakland coliseum? that's a big question. the a's want to redevelop it and run it. that's the key. right now the existing site belongs to the city and county. here's what the a's want to do. they want to keep the oracle arena there. the warriors already leaving. there's the existing coliseum. it will just be a youth baseball field. and then the parking lot will be transformed into a park and also some condominiums and mixed use for business. bloitsably absent from today's big announcement, the team's reclusive owner john fisher. the 57-year-old billionaire is one of the bay area's most prominent families. his parents started the gap clothing company. fisher also owns the san jose

earthquakes and has faced a lot of criticism for how he's handled the a's since buying the franchise in 2005. joining us now is former a's executive vice president andy dolich. andy is also a former 49ers and warriors executive. andy, nice to see you again. let me start by saying this. haven't we seen this movie before? the fremont a's. we had a big news conference. the san jose a's when they were going to build the ballpark in san jose. last year lainey college and now the port of oakland. what to make of this here? >> actually, raj, this is the seventh inning stretch. there's been more than what you just talked about. to me the announcement again a positive. but until there's heavy equipment at howard terminal and we see an open date, i was really amazed at what wasn't answered. where was john fisher today? the final agreement between the city and the county for ownership of the coliseum land. the final remediation on all of the environmental concerns at

howard terminal. it just seemed like in the past there was a lot of unanswered questions. >> are the politicians being taken for a ride here? because we know the warriors are are leaving soon, the raiders will be leaving soon. that leaves the a's as the only sole property for the city of oakland. so is qulib schaaf at a disadvantage, being taken advantage in terms of that old coliseum site? that's a jewel. >> last team standing. the coliseum is, has been, and always will be the best location. it's the only place in north america right now that houses two teams -- three teams. two of them are leaving. the a's know they have a tremendous negotiating position. i've heard a lot of talk about sea rising and the environmental concerns. this is about keeping the heart and soul of your marketplace with your baseball team. and the fact that howard terminal is now being used as a hidden ball trick to acquire 150 acres at the coliseum makes no sense to me when you look at the miracle of mission bay and what has been accomplished there. the same thing could happen at

the coliseum. >> you're referring to the giants over across the bay. let's hear it straight. you've been straight with us for so many years. is this going to happen or is this another pie in the sky deal? >> one of my favorite singers in san francisco is johnny mathis. one of his greatest tunes is the is itth of never. raj, i'll meet you at the ballpark on the 12th of never. >> how aim going to get to this new ballpark at the howard terminal? there's no bart, no 880 and no train tracks there. >> well, if i was a marketer in current day, i would have sold the gondola to golden grain so we could have had the golden grain granola gondola. but that isn't going to happen. when the stadium opens, we're going to have personal drones. they're going to pick everybody up in the 12 bay area counties and drop them right into their seats. >> okay. doesn't look like you're optimistic. andy, thank you for your insight. we appreciate it. >> okay. anytime, raj. >> a dry sense of humor. he's not optimistic about it. we continue our coverage of the

ballpark on our website. it's worth a look, a closer look at those renderings. they are impressive. just go to our website, nbcbayarea.com. some political news for you now. president donald trump said today that a pardon for paul manafort is not off the table. that comment comes amid new scrutiny of the president's former campaign chairman. "the new york times" now reports that manafort's attorney has been sharing information with the president's legal team, talking about manafort's conversations with the special counsel. it's unprecedented but not against the law. however, experts say that kind of sharing of information could veer into dangerous legal territory for manafort and for president trump. over on capitol hill san francisco congresswoman nancy pelosi is a step closer to retaking her speaker's gavel. house democrats today chose pelosi as their leader. there were no other nominees. experts predict the democratic majority will make use of its investigatory powers which republicans mostly declined to use. >> finding facts, finding information, finding out what's

actually happening on the border, in the family separation crisis, in the corruption deals or what have you, just having hearings, getting information out there is the main way they affect not only politics but policy as well. >> now, the entire congress will hold a floor vote to elect the next house speaker on january 3rd. bay area representative barbara lee of oakland hoping to be the first black woman to lead the house democratic caucus. she was defeated today by four-term congressman hakeem jeffries of new york. at 48 jeffries would be by far the youngest member of the democratic house leadership. after the vote lee tweeted "i hope my candidacy will inspire other women of color to run for office and seek leadership positions. we need your voices." well, she's the best player in the country and she's in the south bay. the nation's best girls' basketball player announces where she's going to play in college. here's a hint. she won't have to go far.

america. land of blue jeans. and burgers. and while blue jeans got all skinny on us... i can't feel my legs. ...no way are we giving up on burgers. that's why i created the all-american ribeye burger, made with 100% ribeye beef, ribeye burgers are back, america. there comes a point when you realize the bathroom you used to love needs a makeover. let a professional rebath design consultant help craft the look you want. call 925-233-6471 and save $1000 off your complete bathroom remodel

try my all-american made with 100% ribeye beef fresh spring mix, and provolone cheese on a potato bun. it's a burger as american as bald eagles. i get it, i'm bald. fast food's first and only ribeye burgers are back, america. try them today.

santa cruz, and goes to mitty high in san jose... will play at stanford. she is the first number 1 prospect to sign with the cardinal, since 2010. jones says her decision is more their first number one prospect to sign with the cardinal in eight years. joan says her decision is a lot more than just basketball. it's all about that stanford education. congratulations, haley. don't forget us when you go big-time. one of the bay area's most legendary athletes was at levi's stadium inspiring some future leaders. hall of famer and former 49er ronnie lott. the event recognized local non-profits who've made it their mission to help low-income children. lott and his wife karen founded their own non-profit. it started helping kids 29 years ago. the non-profits they help focus on everything from sports to high-tech. in these past 29 years all-stars helping kids has invested 20 million bucks in grants and resources to more than 600

organizations. we want to sincerely thank our viewers for stepping up to help the victims of california wildfires. nbc bay area and telemundo 48 hosted a wildfire fund-raiser yesterday. there i was manning the phones. and thanks to you we were able to raise more than $150,000 for fire victims. it's not over. we are not answering the phones but we will take your texts. you can text butte fire to 91999 and follow the prompt so you can donate. you can also donate through our website, nbcbayarea.com/donate. it was so much fun. we were in there working the phones. people kept calling all the time. literally it's 7:00 and the phones are still ringing off the hook. >> $130,000. that's a big deal. thank you to our viewers. >> they gave us headsets too. >> you were doing it all. >> love the headset. >> some rainfall right now. that is helping our fire danger. it's much welcome. this storm definitely is going to be heavier over the next 24 hours. also something to take a look at on the screen. it was a flip from the normal. san jose had the most rain with

.29 today. only .01 of an inch in napa. details on the incoming storm in a few minutes.

nbc bay area responds. a san francisco family that spent more than a year trying to get $100,000 they say they were owed. >> they say a leitch insurance policy cut their payment in half. so they turned to us and our consumer investigator chris chmura for some help. chris. >> we first introduced you to the smith family back in june after debbie smith died unexpectedly and her loved ones filed an insurance claim. well, tonight we have an update that will change her husband's life. >> welcome back. >> reporter: peter and nora smith are finally smiling again. >> cigna caved. >> reporter: cigna had insured debbie smith against accidental death. peter says the policy advertised $200,000 in coverage. but after debbie died cigna only sent him $100,000. peter and his daughter nora challenged the company. >> basically all we ever heard

from cigna was no. >> reporter: so they called us. we called cigna. which said it's common that life insurance benefits are cut in half around age 70. debbie was already 70 when she bought the policy. her enrollment page said 200 grand. yet four pages inside the policy is a line that indicates a 50% cut. >> how misled do you feel by that? >> totally. >> reporter: for months we worked with nora behind the scenes, going back and forth with cigna, the state, and two insurance middlemen. then in september two checks suddenly arrived in peter's mailbox. he did not wait to cash them. >> no, no. i wasn't going to give them a chance to take them back. >> reporter: one check for the remainder of the policy, plus another that covered interest. together, more than $100,000. >> it's wonderful. it's been weighing on me so much. >> reporter: the smith family has lived in this san francisco house 30 years. when we first met peter, he told us he feared without a full

insurance payment he wouldn't be able to afford it anymore. and he'd have to move out. >> i don't have to worry about that anymore at least. >> reporter: so what changed at cigna? all it told us was "we are pleased that we have been able to resolve there smith's benefits matter to his satisfaction." well, peter and nora have a hunch. >> they didn't like the publicity. >> it was easier for them to pay out the policy than to deal with the two of us. >> yes. >> you two. forget it. i wouldn't want to get in your way. >> reporter: we were happy to fight for the smiths. >> thank you for doing the fighting. >> i appreciate it so much. >> reporter: they have a word of caution for your family. especially if anyone's around age 70. read your insurance policy. now. look past the first page. see if your benefits are 50% less than you expect. >> it sounds like it is generally standard practice to have that reduction, but they are not good at advertising that. >> reporter: here's a quick side

note. sometimes people who die leave behind insurance policies that their families don't even know about. well, that money is not necessarily all lost. you can actually search for forgotten policies online. we just posted a link inside peter's story on our website, nbcbayarea.com/responds. that's also where you can tell us about your consumer plants or if you'd like you can call us. the number is 888-996-tips. >> thank you, chris. the devil is always in the details. >> chris is a good guy to know. jeff ranieri also a good guy to know with this forecast. a lot happening in the next 24 hours. >> it does look like it's going to pick up with our storm system just offshore right now. we are tracking the times of this and all the changes that we're monitoring as we bring you into our microclimate forecast right now. we want to give you a little bit of a broad brush look at that tonight into thursday. that's the next storm system we're following. then our last chance this week would be 11:00 p.m. on friday right into saturday. let's get a closer look right now. i think it's important to show you where the cold front is.

that's the part of the storm that's going to bring the heaviest rainfall for us. it helps to bring uplift in the atmosphere. that's why it's important to locate this. and you can see it's just offshore. so once this moves over the bay area, that's when things will really start to come down hard here throughout the bay. closer look at storm ranger. mobile doppler radar shows some wet weather out ahead of us. we've been tracking it for the past couple of hours. you can see right here to the north we'll continue some rainfall over daly city into 6:52. tiburon 7:22. mill valley 7:28. also a little more active through the south bay with more showers developing through santa clara at 6:52. also right there through milpitas at 7:09. the timing of this is important. i know you all have plans. let's get a look right now. 11:30 tonight we get that first wave of wet weather starting to move in from the storm system. looks like widespread coverage right now. remember the yellow and orange, those are some heavier pockets that we're picking up on our computer model. as we hit 2:00 a.m., the storm starts to push off to the east,

but we won't be done just yet. there's going to be some instability back behind it with some scattered rain at 6:00 in the morning. you may think we're done at this point at 6:00 a.m., but we'll get another wave of some wet weather from 8:00 tomorrow morning right into about 11:00 a.m. then by the afternoon we're going to try to start to clear out the bay area from this storm system. totals looks impressive. the general rule is a half inch to 3/4 of an inch for the lower elevations. i still think we'll get a little bit of this rain shadow effect in san jose. maybe only a quarter to a half inch there. check out the higher elevations of the santa cruz mountains. that's the bullseye. at the top of the screen that's likely 1 1/2, maybe 2-plus inches expected throughout the santa cruz mountains. could see some of those higher totals as well throughout the north bay. winds also going to gust. both hands on the steering wheel. no texting tomorrow. keep your eyes on the road. wind gusts 15 to about 25 miles per hour. my extended forecast gets us a break in here on friday. next storm arrives by 11:00 p.m.

on friday night and continues into saturday. .05 of an inch to .35. more dry weather sunday and monday and then possibly some wet weather returning by next tuesday and wednesday. 50s in san francisco. not much change inland for those temperatures. but also 50s over the next seven days. notice by next monday there's morning lows down near the freezing mark. it is going to get cold. and right through the sierra prepare for the snowy travel. bring your chains. one to two feet at 7,000 feet and above. >> and december is right around the corner. >> it feels like it. >> we are almost there. thanks, jeff. up next the 49ers are trying to move on after getting rid of one of their best players. but it's not easy. colin resch joins us next. i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless.

like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome.

the 49ers have moved on from reuben foster, but that doesn't mean the troubled linebacker is being quickly forgotten. >> here's nbc bay area's colin resch at levi's stadium. >> losing sucks. everyone knows that. and every time after a game like i'm not very positive. >> reporter: this past sunday, especially difficult for kyle shanahan. his team just nine points against a tampa bay defense that

has allowed on average more than 30 per game. he and the team didn't use it as an excuse, but having to release linebacker reuben foster the morning of the game due to his arrest the night before on a domestic violence charge was clearly an emotional distraction. >> tampa was doom and gloom. i felt that way sunday. i felt that way monday morning. >> reporter: well liked by his teammates, players like zed warner are still processing foster's dismissal. the rookie linebacker trying to come to grips with everything that transpired over the weekend and the fact that foster already has a new team. he was picked up by washington on tuesday. >> obviously, i love reuben the person. you know, a lot of people talk about him as a player and you know, i'm one of the guys that got to be with him in the room and off the field a lot. and so i know what happened, what he was accused of is very serious. and at this point he's not here anymore. but yeah. >> reporter: what happens next for the team, a date with the

division rival seahawks in seattle. the niners offense struggled to hear play calls in tampa. the task only gets harder for nick mullens and company sunday afternoon. he's hoping college games at alabama, lsu and nebraska will be enough preparation for what's coming. >> obviously it has a reputation that it has in centurylink and it's going to be cool to play there. but we're excited. you know, we'll attack the opportunity and really just focus on us and how we execute. >> niners losers of two straight. the seahawks winners of two straight. in santa clara, colin resch, nbc bay area. >> it's hard to watch the 49ers and raiders nowadays. but we will be watching this weekend. >> word of the day, umbrella. keep it handy. >> or two. >> you've got it. storm ranger shows the heaviest rain is offshore. that is actually the storm system. that's what would be moving in to bring this heavier rain. totals could be up to one inch at the lower elevations. even higher in the mountains.

>> bring your rain coats too. >> be careful on the road. thanks for joining us at 6:00. have a great evening. >> bye-bye. this little home of mine,

♪ i'm gonna let it shine. ♪ it's energy saving time, ♪ i'm gonna reduce mine. ♪ californians all align ♪ to let our great state shine. ♪ let it shine, ♪ the power's ours to let it shine! ♪

"extra" ♪ now on "extra." prince harry's falling out with prince william. new reports of a royal rift between the brothers and their wives. what changed after harry got engaged to meghan. plus royal indian wedding. new clues priyanka chopra and nick jonas could be hours away from tying the knot. channing tatum's steamy night with jessie j. their caught on camera night out in london. are they finally ready to come out as a couple. mandy moore in tears watching the fall finale of "this is us." >> i'm sorry to be a blubbering mess. is sterling brown's tv marriage over? we take on the biggest cliffhanger questions today.