so let's move on and talk about what's going to happen with your 12-hour planner. my accuweather 12-hour planner. sprinkles, scattered light rain at 7:00. 44 to 53. rain becomes more possible by noon. and then a better chance at 4:00. that just increases as we head through 7:00. that's when we'll throw in a chance of lightning and thunder. more on that coming up. sue? exciting. we haven't heard that type of activity in quite some time. we do have our usual commuters getting up and at them early. otherwise we're looking green and that is, of course, good. a look at your drive times. tracy to dublin still about 30 minutes. highway 4, antioch to concord, looking great. you have a straight shot from san rafael to san francisco. the golden gate bridge is fog free. currently three lanes in both directions. the zipper truck will be along shortly to reconfigure. hi, everyone. i want to show you breaking news out of georgia, live pictures coming in. look at all these flashing lights, firefighters outside of an apartment building that was on fire. we know at least eight kids and four adults are hurt. the good news fire officials are telling our affiliate in the area the injuries are minor. i want to show you the flames just a few moments ago, a few minutes ago. you can see just how big they were. firefighters are still on hand right now. all of this happening in dekalb county east of atlanta. i will keep my eyes on things as this makes national headlines. that is the latest here at the live desk as far as live images coming in. i want to get to a story we've been tracking of the death of the president of the mormon church, thomas monson. that's making headlines right now, too. he was the 16th president of the church. he died after nine years in office, although he spent nearly five decades in church leadership. he was very well known. prior to becoming a bishop, he served in the u.s. navy near the end of world war ii. a spokesman says monson died yesterday at his home in salt lake city surrounded by family. he was 90 years old. the next church president has not been named yet but the expected person to take over is named russell nelson. that's the latest from our live desk. 4:33. happening today the second session of the 115th congress will open with a swearing in of two new faces, both of them democrats. one is doug jones of alabama. you'll remember he narrowly defeated president trump backed candidate roy moore. the second, tina smith, the lieutenant governor of minnesota appointed to replace al franken. franken resigned just yesterday yet announced his intent to step down last month. >> as for the california legislature reconvening, they're doing so amid calls for lawmakers to deal with a growing sexual misconduct scandal. they have to decide how to handle allegations against tony mendoza who has refused calls to step aside amid a misconduct investigation. at least one republican wants to have a measure to expel him. measures to boost protections for victims and people who report sexual harassment. one of those measures would require hotels to provide panic buttons for workers so they can call for help if they are sexually harassed by a guest. the bill would require hotels to impose a three-year ban on guest who is harass someone on the property. the measure follows a survey by hotel workers union. it found 58% of female workers in chicago said they had been sexually harassed by a guest. this morning firefighters are still watching for flare-ups from a fire that ripped through a cardboard storage facility in santa clara. firefighters found several bales of cardboard boxes on fire on matthew street. employees evacuated safely. no one was hurt. firefighters are concerned. there are still hot spots inside the tightly packed bales. if you expected the mega millions jackpot to fund your early retirement, i'm afraid you have to get dressed for work today. no one matched all six numbers in yesterday's drawing and they are 1-42-47-64-70. the mega ball was 22. so that means this friday's drawing could reach $418 million. that's the fourth largest jackpot in mega millions history. and while you're at it you can also try your luck at another insane jackpot, tonight's powerball is estimated to reach $440 million. the ninth largest in that game's history. i would be remiss if i didn't say you are not going to win. >> someone has to win in the end, reginald. >> but it's not going to be you. >> it could be you or one of our early risers. >> it's not. the first snowpack in the sierra will it's place and chances are it won't be good. one year ago it measured below average, about half the normal amount actually. however, by the end of march after all of our snow and rain the snowpack was 183% of normal. we've had little measurable rain since then. water managers use measurements to help them anticipate run-off from the mountains during the spring snow melt. we turn to meteorologist mike nicco. here is the electronic measurements and they keep getting worse. 21% to 29% in central to 21% in the south. 25% of yearly average up to yesterday's date. 9% up to april 1st. we'll nickel and dime them with a few chances of some light snow the next several days. nothing is going to impact that snowpack. temperatures this morning about 1 to 11 degrees warmer. remember we talked about that yesterday, the clouds coming in. the extra moisture would keep us milder. 52 in glenn park. you go to the bayview and crissy field, about 57. down to the financials about 55. here is a look at walnut creek, caution there. caution in the bay. the rain is returning. that will make the roads and mass transit a little difficult especially during the evening commute. for today temperatures a little bit milder, about 58 to about 60. we'll take a look at the chance of a thunderstorm and an hour by hour look at the rain coming up next. here's sue. checking in with san rafael and our live camera that looks southbound, those taillights, if you could see them, very few headed through your screen now at 4:37 in the morning but they're there into san francisco and across the golden gate bridge with no delay. let's check in, our first look at the bay bridge toll plaza. we do have a couple cars stacked up in the cash paying lanes. otherwise no delays into san francisco. no metering lights, stalls or accidents to report at this time which is good news. >> thank you, sue. on the prowl in the fire zone. a special search and rescue mission in the north bay four months after the devastating wildfires. san francisco launches a major campaign. plus, another tweet by president trump making headlines this morning and there's major fear that is we are closer than ever to nuclear war with north korea. i have the full story next. tv's number one daily viral video show, "right this minute." a couple reveal they're having twins. the twin baby double surprise, next "right this minute." welcome back. at about 4:41 our california forecast. you can see the waves of showers from monterey at 64 possibly reaching yosemite, also sacramento, redding in the evening hours. same thing in tahoe. down to l.a. about 72. we desperately need some snow. for us back here at home, a one on the storm impact scale. a chance of lightning. that's coming up. new this morning a sign of diplomatic progress between north korea and south korea. officials with the two countries communicated today by telephone. the news comes on the heels of president trump's tweets. stephanie ramos joins us live from washington, d.c., to explain. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: hey, jessica, good morning. that nuclear war tweet is getting a lot of attention because before president trump, no u.s. president had bragged so openly about the power they hold that can actually obliterate another country. president trump and the man he's called little rocket man, north korea's leader kim jong-un, are squaring off on whose nuclear button is bigger. this back and forth prompted by kim jong-un's threat against the u.s. in his new year's day speech. he says, the u.s. should know that the if you can lenuclear by desk. president trump tweeting, i, too, have a if you cnuclear but it's much bigger than his. while the secretary of state and defense secretary are saying they're taking the diplomatic approach the former chairman of the joint chiefs offered this assessment. >> we're closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with north korea. >> reporter: u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, says if north korea decides to carry out another missile test which they're expected to do soon, they could face even more sanctions. reporting live from washington, stephanie ramos, abc 7 news. reggie? legal recreational pot may be new but trying to reinforce an old message. teens are too young for pot. >> it's okay to have edibles. they won't hit me that hard. fact or fiction? >> public service announcements like the one you saw started running on social media yesterday. studies suggested young people should wait until their mid-20s because teenage brains and are still developing. i should add, or not use it at all. the san francisco unified school district is also onboard. >> we want kids to know that they have good company in making a choice not to use these substances. >> the health department wants teens to know cannabis is still illegal if you're under 21. >> a search and rescue mission continues for cats that were lost. abc 7 news reporter cornell bernard has the story from santa rosa. >> reporter: hoping to catch a cat with food and a trap. she'll be in the coffey park neighborhood all night long. >> they're out here alone and scared and they need to go home. they want to be home. >> once i caught my first cat, i was hooked. >> reporter: jennifer started pet rescue and reunification all by herself. >> the goal in the beginning was just to feed the animals while everybody got collected. >> reporter: most lost dogs were found after the fire but many cats took off running. now hundreds of volunteers have joined her from napa to santa rosa looking for missing felines. and, yes, finding them. >> i would say we've caught about 70 and we probably reunited about half that. >> oh, my goodness. you are the best news. >> reporter: organization's facebook page is full of smiles and lots of happy reunions. but catching a cat isn't easy. first cameras are set up to see who is stopping by. sometimes they get lucky. the food has to be just right. >> one cat likes cheetos. we're trying that where he's been sighted. >> reporter: if a cat isn't micro chipped, they find every effort to find the owner even posting pictures at a key os nk coffey park. >> call them and say we have your cat, i'm about to get emotional, and they don't expect their cat. they figure it was gone. >> this is the one piece we can give them back. they lost everything else. >> reporter: she believes about 100 cats are still out there. she'll keep working until they all come home. in santa rosa, cornell bernard, abc 7 news. frigid temperatures that bay area natives can only imagine continue to grip the eastern half and forecasters say there's at least two more days of cold weather. >> we are so lucky where we live. at least 25 states are under winter alerts for cold and snow. new england could get as much as 6 inches by friday and near buffalo one person was killed. at least 22 cars crashed in a chain reaction, a multivehicle accident along the new york state thruway. >> you couldn't see anything in front of you. everything was blurry. a complete whiteout. i still can't feel my fingertips just from walking not even the corner to my vehicle. it's just cold, so cold. >> where are their gloves? did you see that? it's so cold in chicago, did you see this? fires are being intentionally lit to keep the rail switches from freezing. >> i've never seen that before. >> neither have i and i lived in chicago. chicago is used to the cold. this is something else, mike. >> i never saw that in minnesota either. there has been a little bit of a reprieve, places like chicago and omaha. 20 to 30 degrees warmer than this time yesterday. but where does that put them? still around 13. 13 and 23. now you factor in the windchill and this is what it feels like to our skin. it feels like 4 below zero in omaha. 2 in chicago. 9 below in cleveland and detroit. 13 below in minneapolis. 23 in fargo. our windchill now 54. we don't have one technically. here is a look at walnut creek. showers develop. cleaner air, no spare the air. showers and lightning tonight and tracking one more system for thursday night into friday. a look at our area of low pressure and you can see a few radar returns off the coast and some did have lightning earlier. as it comes ashore after 9:00 there may be some spring ls but a better chance of showers at noon and then that wave moves to the north. we'll have more scattered showers at 4:00 through the evening commute. you can see they pick up in intensity and also coverage. a lull overnight mainly in the north bay and at the coast. during the day tomorrow some random showers before 10:00 tomorrow evening. another batch of moderate to even heavy showers starts to roll through. because they're going to be random and because they're moving so fast, they won't cause any damage. storms are a 1, light on the storm impact scale. sue? right now we're experiencing light on the roadway. headlights in the northbound direction on 280. you're looking at about an eight-minute drive from san jose up towards cupertino on 280. across town at 101 the headlights are heading northbound just underneath the over crossing and you're moving at the limit here as well. we'll take a quick look at our overall traffic maps that are looking green, which is great. a little slowing out of the central valley and a quick look at your drive times. about 28 minutes, 29 minutes to get into san francisco from hercules. otherwise you are looking great also from the city into sfo if that's your destination this morning. >> thanks, sue. the drive to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would repeal our tax gas increase has come to a temporary halt because it's so successful. >> organizers say that they needed to briefly catch up on verifying all of the signatures they already have. the gas tax jumped from 18 cents to 30 cents per gallon november 1st. drivers are also now facing a new vehicle fee of at least $25. the petition drive is a little more than 250,000 verified signatures away to qualify for the measure on the ballot. >> burglars hit a restaurant in the south bay. it's not your everyday theft. >> southwest and american airlines share the wealth in the wake of the gop tax bill. the bonuses their workers will be getting. a booming trunk and people ducking for cover. first this morning's "tech bytes." in today's "tech bytes" will amazon buy a major retailer? >> that's the question. the tech giant will buy target this year. other experts have doubts. but target stock rose 3% after the prediction. so far neither company is commenting. meantime, amazon says it shipped over 5 billion items worldwide through its prime service last year. >> it says there are about 100 million items eligible for free shipping through prime. amazon revealed the most purchased items of 2017. they include its fire stick, streaming service and bananas. and there's a new twist on how smart phones are impacting our lives. a stanford university study found the mere presence of our phones will make situations more pleasant and cause people to concentrate better. researchers say it doesn't necessarily mean we're addicted. they just make us happy. >> there you have it. those are your "tech bytes." the abc 7 storm impact scale. today's storm is level 1. that means light rain so keep an umbrella handy and drive safely. welcome back at 4:5 3. a one-two punch bringing us showers and the potential for thunderstorms. heavier rain out of this cold front for the north bay as we head to tomorrow and then to friday. we'll wrap up our chance of thunderstorms next. here's natasha. thank you, mike. police are investigating an atm theft in mountain view. investigators say they received a report of a burned machine near the google plex. they received a report of a burglary at michaels restaurant. police say the suspects ripped the atm through the front door using a stolen flat bed truck. it was found about a quarter mile from the restaurant. no one has been arrested. >> the holidays are over. today is designated as national returns day. u.p.s. says it expects to handle 1.4 million returns today and more than 6 million this week. the boom in online shopping means a lot of people aren't going to stores anymore. overall u.p.s. estimates it delivered 750 million packages, up 6% from last year. oops. check out this fireworks mistake in houston. someone celebrating new year's eve dropped a little fire work into the car's trunk which was filled with hundreds of fireworks. most were ignited. they shot across the parking lot sending some people running. others did what people do now. they took out their phones. >> this is crazy to me. would you walk towards that feet away with your phone shooting vertically? >> then again, we're shooting it, so we're part of the problem. hi, mike. >> i see a commercial coming up, as long as everybody is safe. >> they are. >> good to know. don't want any backlash on that one. we've been talking about it so let's show you the thunderstorm chance, shaded from ukiah down to gilroy. an isolated chance, about the lowest you can get, of a thunderstorm today. they could wander to our neighborhoods. a thunderstorm means it has lightning and as bone-dry as everything is out there, well, the fire danger is a little higher than it should be. and a little chance of hail there. let's talk about our wet weather, nothing through this morning, nothing widespread. during the evening commute it could start to get tricky. tomorrow evening watch the north bay as we go from 0.2 of an inch to possibly more than an inch of rain out of that secondary system. here's sue. >> we're taking a look this morning for your wednesday coming off the bay bridge. not bad at all. those fast trackers are zooming on through as are the car-poolers. we'll take a quick look at our traffic maps and drive times if you're heading out of the central valley. we get from 680 south, highway 4 to walnut creek. tracy into dublin just about 30 minutes. >> thank you, sue. southwest and american airlines say they will give a $1,000 cash bonus. the money will go to full-time and part-time workers. southwest says that in addition to the bonus it plans to buy 40 more jets from boeing. the number of companies have announced bonuses for employees since the legislation was signed into law last month. next at 5:00, when you can voice your opinion about another proposed utility hike. >> would you want to live here? the twisted proposal that could lead to sculptures. >> these are not city employees. the warning from investigators this morning. preparing for rain this morning, and it has been a while since we've seen that. meteorologist mike nicco says it's coming soon. >> good morning to you on this wednesday, january 3rd. the whole team here except for alexis. sue hall holding down the fort. we haven't had a good soaking for at least two months. this won't be either but it will bring us some rain and snap a little bit of the dry spell and the pattern we've been in. you can see how gray it's been. fog sneaking into the east bay so watch out if you're coming through the altamont pass or discovery bay. some random sprinkles this morning. not a big deal. showers wil