Right now at 11 00, heavy rain here and heavy snow there tonight, winter storm is bearing down on the bay area and the sierra. Storm ranger is tracking the system as it moves across the region. Look at that, the storm prompting a blizzard warning in this year, heavy snow, strong winds are creating near whiteout conditions, forcing chp to issue a stern warning to drivers. If you do not have to travel, do not. It is not that important. Here in the bay area it means more rain and chilly temperatures. You can see right now the roads are slick out there tonight. And this is all just the first round. That is right, the rain, wind, and snow will be sticking around into the weekend. Lets get ahead and get right over the chief meteorologist jeff ranieri who is tracking all of this for us. The storm system is hitting the sierra with the strongest impact because it is dropping down from the north so it is pulling all that polar air, wrapping it around the storm system and moving it into california. Some it is taking our Doppler Radar tonight. We did undergo a few areas of heavy rain and also plenty of moderate rain. Weve got another band right now over the peninsula and east bay as he put a track on this, moving to the south so expect some rain to pick up here at hayward as we head into 11 29 tonight. Overall, the storm system, we are looking at on and off rain chances into saturday. We is, spotty thunderstorms and some small hail. Wind gust up to about 50. Always see the chance here, maybe some isolated street flooding. We are not seeing any flood gauges on the rivers going to flood stage at this. The big bullseye continues to be the sierra, 7 feet of snow. Look at these numbers here as we head into saturday so adding it all up, 80 inches, kingvale. 80 in kirkwood. 63 in south tahoe. Maybe snow as low as possible and right near auburn. The other thing i do want to let you know about here is up towards clear lake and a winter storm warning. Snow levels late friday into sunday could get to one to 2000 feet. May get one to three inches at clear lake. Back with more look at the storm, coming up in about 15 minutes. Thank you. As we mentioned, dangerous driving conditions in the sierra tonight. Only getting worse is that storm intensifies this is new video showing the conditions on i80 east. You can see that snow slamming against the windshield. Drivers we spoke to say they are not running on driving too far over the next couple of days. Probably dont if you dont have to. If you do, just take it slow and dont try and be anywhere too far from here for probably until sunday. Over to highway 50 where we have video showing steady snowfall earlier tonight. Chain control in effect on all sierra roads tonight. And all of that, as a whole lot of people rethinking their weekend plans. Tahoe trips are being canceled tonight. Gia vang has more on the far reaching impacts of the storm right here in the bay area. Reporter the howling wind shaking cables and trees and whipping snow. This is a video from shirlee from 1 30 today at south lake tahoe. That is where lous family was headed. We were supposed to leave tomorrow and come back on sunday. My partner here now is to say, hey, i went to the grocery store, it is super slippery. I wouldnt recommend coming. Reporter not even the worst of it, forecasters say why did testing snow, wins over 100 miles an hour over the ridge tops. Travel to the area is dangerous friday into saturday, when the heaviest snow is expected and authorities are asking people to stay away. Some are heeding the warnings like California Ski Company in berkeley. I would last weekend and it was great and i was thinking about going again but we decided to not go. Reporter staff are keeping busy among all the cancellations. Clearly we do everything by appointment. So yeah, that was a lot in terms of that, we have not seen so many walkins. Reporter , most people are giving up for after the storm. It was closing afternoon and will be closed tomorrow. At palisades tahoe, snow fell quickly, seeing on video, the alpine slide will close tomorrow. As of today, the lower left on the palisade side will be open. Will make a final call tomorrow early early in the morning. If we are even going to be able to stay open on the palisades side. Reporter at donner pass, the snow lab took this video during what it described as a local. Oh started off kind of slow at 20 percent of average. And now we are up to 80 and so things have really gotten a whole lot better. After the storm we are expected to be over 100 for this time of year. Reporter the odds are good for the snowpack and lou hopes that they will be, too as she searches for a new plant. Im definitely bummed. Reporter gia vang, nbc bay area news. Will be tracking the snow all night long. Dont forget, you can track the storm while you are on the go. Get our free nbc bay area app, all you have to do is. Your phone at the qr code on the screen. It will get you straight to our weather radar. Before you head out the door the morning be sure to check in with our morning team for the latest on the weather and traffic. Today in the bay starts at 5 00 a. M. Just into our news room, an earthquake in contra costa county. 3. 2 magnitude struck near Discovery Bay just before 10 00 tonight. Specifically was centered about one mile southwest of Discovery Bay and about five miles southeast of brentwood. No reports of any injuries or damage at this hour. Just yesterday, 3. 5 magnitude earthquake happened just around the same area. Tonight there is movement in the search for oaklands next police chief. The City Police Commission held a public forum in city hall introducing the latest group of candidates. They participated virtually and tonights meeting. But pete suratos was there in person and says not everyone there walked away with the answers they were looking for. There is crime in downtown oakland, chinatown, in west oakland, in east oakland. It is just a huge amount of crime that is taking place. Reporter it is why Marland Edwards is attending tonight public forum, to get to know more about the four candidates selected by the oakland Police Commission to become the citys next police chief. This includes luis molina, who is currently deputy mayor for Public Safety for the city of new york. Former lubbock texas police chief, floyd mitchell. Cincinnati assistant police chief, lisa davis and former san leandro lease chief, abdul pridgen. It was important to have this community input. Reporter the commission giving each 10 headed it a chance to describe the first hundred days is a police chief. Asking more specific russians such as the type of culture they will create. Every in power, the way we treat the world matters. I am fair, i am honest, i am just and that is what i want my employees to do when they interact inside and outside of the department. Reporter in the importance of creating accountability and the department the internal stakeholders with just and fundamental fairness, i believe that translate how we treat other folks. I will be leading into the situations and i will be transparent. Reporter oakland mayor, sheng thao decided not to come to the form. Saying it unnecessarily put candidates at risk with her employers and that several potential applicants declined to apply and they found out their names would be released publicly. The Commission Says it will submit their pics tomorrow morning to the mayor, who will make the final decision on the next police chief. Some in attendance appreciated the transparency tonight. It is important the community has some input with the process. Reporter while others like marlon left a bit disappointed. He believes the candidates didnt address the specific issues impacting oakland. The crime rate is going up. What are you going to do . But i didnt hear any of that. Reporter in oakland, pizza rado, nbc bay area news. Meanwhile, show support today for embattled Alameda County district attorney, pamela price. Faith leaders from across the bay area together in oakland. They gather that jeffreys inner circle to speak out against the effort to recall price. They say she is committed to a progressive approach to criminal justice and is steering the office and the rights direction. I would hope that we believe that helen prices giving hope. And the acronym for hope is helping other people excel. Even if they got in trouble, we have to learn how to pick them up. Pamela price did speak briefly at the event. Activists who called themselves save Alameda County for everyone are Gathering Signatures to recall price. They say she is not tough enough on criminals. Tonight an investigation is underway into a deadly shooting at a bar in san jose. It happened at the parkway lounge just after 1 00 this morning. You can see the bar is closed tonight but it looks like police have cleared the scene. Although they released Little Information about what happened or who they may be looking for. Police officers were initially investigating reports of weapons disturbance that resulted, investigated quickly discernment it was a homicide although the victim is that is a man on suspect. Sj pd says this is the ninth homicide of the year. Why did he do it and where is he . The followup tonight, please are searching for a person accused of setting a fire inside a target store. It happened around 3 00 saturday afternoon in vallejo tonight, they are hoping to talk to this person, it took firefighters 10 minutes to knock that fire down. Alarms were set off, people were forced to evacuate at least 3 million in damage to the store for anyone with information is asked to contact vallejo police. It could be the start of a comeback for San Franciscos downtown area. At least that is the hope. The citys biggest mall, formerly known as Westfield San Francisco Center is getting rebranded. The new management says it is focusing on improving security and bringing in tenants to the entertainment and culinary sectors. Jocelyn moran joins us now in the newsroom with the details. All right, audrey, it has been quite a week for retail in San Francisco with the news of macys leaving union square. But cities leaders have high hopes for downtown and this is part of the reason. What was once called Westfield San Francisco Center will soon be called Emporium CenterSan Francisco and there are big plans in the work. It is no secret that several wellknown stores originally decided to leave San Francisco. Last summer, westfield made National Headlines when it announced it is leaving downtown behind. A decrease in sales and foot traffic. That stunning decision came weeks after norstrom said it would be closing its iconic stores in the mall. They are planning to rebranded in San Francisco. I think San Francisco has come back. Falls under supervisor matt dorseys district. He has high hopes for it. It opened in 1896 as the emporium. The Centers Management has priority for they want to work with existing retailers and restaurants, attract tenants and improve security with music and performances. I am convinced that people still want the ability to get out and gather in places that are exciting and welcoming to come to. I think there is some things that the city has to do better. We dorsey thinks the city also has to address key issues like Public Safety. Right now, San Francisco is facing a historic crisis in police understaffing. The Police Department that is supposed to be there isnt there. Management says you should start to see the new branding soon including a new logo, signage, and an updated website and social media channel. Jocelyn, thank you. Were less than five days away from super tuesday and with low voter turnout, the question is underway in the south bay to get out the vote. A Nonprofit Group and Community Health centers joint force today calling on people to cast their ballots for so far santa clara county, just over 10 of voters have returned their ballots. Elected Officials Say they expect final turnout could be 45 to 55 . Slightly lower than average in a president ial primary. The people on our ballots, our elected representatives, are the ones that we are entrusting with making change on the biggest issues we are facing. The registrar says low voter turnout is also expected statewide. County election offices mailed out vote by mail ballots february 5th. Also opened inperson Voting Centers last friday. The countdown is on, we have an entire section on our webpage dedicated to the upcoming election, just. Your phone camera at that qr code on the left. That will take you to our website. There you can learn more about the bigger races, candidates, and how to cast your ballot. We are back in 60 seconds. Just ahead, another Insurance Company reported leaving California Homeowners being left without coverage and what the change will happen. Do you believe it . The robot renaissance has begun. The bigname funding the research and the Bay Area Company cashing in. I am chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. I wanted to show you another look at how that blizzard is going to be hitting the sierra tonight. One to two feet of snow but check this out, as we head through tomorrow we are looking at two to four additional feed. And heres the thing, as we roll into saturdays forecast, we could see another two to three feet, so snowbanks up over my head, may be a high step aside, ai. The robots are here and they are raking in Venture Capital money by the hundreds of millions of dollars. Our business and tech reporter Scott Goodman has more on the bay area is huge robotic boost. Reporter it is sleek and comes with a big bank account. Figure ai, based in sunnyvale, just not Venture Investment to the tune of 675 million. Valuing the company which makes these humanoid robots at 2. 6 billion. The whole goal here is to have billions of these in the market and actually be in the home. Greg hill is a Venture Capitalist investing in figure. He says the points of these bots is not to intimidate us to help make our lives easier. We are all very busy. Imagine a robot doing your dishes, washing your clothes, looking after your kids. Safety, watching your house. It is kind of like endless possibilities. It is ai being unleashed into the physical world. Also in the physical world, electric sheep. Based in san jose, this is also a helpful lot. This is what happens when ai get a physical body. Using ai to get smarter about mowing your lawn it is also venture based and has big plans for expansion. We see billions of these cute little wally like animals caretaker robots, they are really just out there to help us. Take care of the planet in a sustainable manner. Reporter scott budman, nbc bay area news. New at 11 00, other Home InsuranceCompanies Reportedly leaving california, thousands of homeowners left without coverage. According to the chronicle, American National has defied the states plans to withdraw California Homeowners insurance. The texas based ensure covers more than 36,000 call policies in california. Thanks to inflation and driving the cost and increasing claims. American national is also planning to withdraw from eight other states. However, the exact timing has not been announced. At least seven of californias largest poverty insurers have either limited or completely paused new Home Insurance applications. Ever years, dungeness crab season also is delayed because of the risk of whales and sea turtles getting tangled in fishing gear but now there is a new effort to help reduce that threat the california ocean productions council has authorized more funding for roadless fishing gear. The 650,000 will be used to keep fishing lines, buoys and traps on the seafloor until fishermen can get to them. The new system removes vertical fishing lines that can span hundreds of feet on the water leading to potential entitlements of wildlife. Lets get back to talking about that storm that is hitting us now. We are just minutes away from another closure, yosemite plans to shut down at midnight because of the heavy snow and strong winds in the forecast this is earlier for the parks high sierra webcam. The park will be closed at least through sunday. Today all visitors to leave as soon as possible. Badger pass is expected to get that with more than seven feet of snow. Many people taking your advice, jeff. A lot of people not driving. It is going to be too hard to really even get up there. And back here across the bay area this is by no means the strongest storm system we have had. Over three days we could see some get up around two inches but in storms past we had two inches in just one day so yes, we are getting the rainfall but it looks like all those problems will be heading up towards the sierra. From this cold storm system that continues to drop down. Right now on storm Doppler Radar, a few errors of scattered rain left. Let me show you how the morning commute will look for is here in that microclimate forecast. And as we started off at 7 00 in the morning, we will see some scattered areas of rain here to begin, maybe some isolated thunderstorms. I really see the same picture as we headed through the early afternoon tomorrow. And really what we are focusing in on on friday for some of that heaviest rain will get here around 8 00, 9 00, and 10 00 in the evening. With this line of rain that also could bring some small hail and thunderstorms and certainly some heavy downpours. We stay with that picture of some on and off rain. So looking at that rainfall tomorrow, we will be in for about a quarter to one inch. I think we will be close to that one it rained up toward the north bay. San francisco to the south. So yes, some rain but were not expecting huge Flooding Issues by any means here for the bay area. As we head through saturdays forecast we will see another quarter to about a half inch throughout the bay area and by sunday, here is the trend. We start to see that rain beginning to taper down with trace amounts to a quarter of an inch. As these fans of rain move in throughout the afternoon and evening we will see that wind gust up out of the southwest here, 20 to 50 miles per hour, we see some of that wind through tomorrow afternoon and evening. Another burst saturday evening and then the wind calming down through sunday. And just in case you missed it, the snow in the sierra certainly not advised to travel there. Winds up to 100 miles per hour. These are snowfall totals right through saturday. 73 in tahoe, 63 in south tahoe and 80 in kirkwood. We had a lot of snow last year, there is no storm that brought this much snow in this short of a time, certainly could be historic when all is said and done. Back here in the bay area we will get into some dry weather as we headed to mondays forecast in the next week and some spotty rain by tuesday and wednesday and that rain next week does not look very strong at all. Right now it is showing about a quarter to a half inch so we get through this and we got a little sun coming our way next week. I know everybody is saying please, hurry up. It is more sun. Also has we have some of those dry days. Thank you very much. The baarea re it is often called the oscars of the food world, weird, the jean beard award. The oldest burmese restaurant in the bay area just found out they got one. The restaurant is located in San Franciscos neighborhood, the James Beard Foundation just recognized mandalay with the american classic award. The owner says she enjoys introducing burmese food to americans. Because our burmese food is very, very unique and is influenced by china, india, and thailand. So our food is very for everyday. It sounds great. The american classic award 26 restaurant it considers national treasures. Protip, sherry suggests ordering their tea salad and mandalay special. She has shown support on peninsula to help underserved children. The fit kids benefit concert was sold out tonight. They performed at the gill theater. The bay area Nonprofit Organization that has grown to serve 135 locations across the u. S. And mexico and proceed from tonights ticket sales will go towards ethical fitness activities, Early Childhood development, and Health Programs for underserved youth. On the fit kids honorary board. The redhot worries took their roadshow to broadway how they are on a roll, the red hot warriors put another notch in their win column tonight, beating the struggling new york knicks, winning 12 of their last 15 games. The words broke the game early score in the game first 14. Nine of them, again, by the way. In the second half, and the knicks put a scare into the doves, 174 but the warriors fought off they are charge and they went on to win 11099. All scores with 31 points, Jonathan Kuminga tipton 25. The next game is tomorrow night. The sharks lost to the anaheim ducks. The one bright spot for the Hometown Team was the winner, anthony declare. He scored two goals and picked up an assist. The sharks