jose with more. >> reporter: the unusual winter weather is causing vegetation to dry out. this is what has firefighters concerned and doing everything they can to put a stop to what could be a big problem. it's only january, but cal firestations in northern california are staffing up, as if it was summer. >> right now we're seeing drought and fuel conditions for fires that we would normally see in august. this is unheard of this time of year, particularly in northern california. >> reporter: warm temperatures and no rain have caused much more brown than green in wildland areas surrounding homes, prompting cal fire to take action. >> we ask citizens to look around and have that 100 foot of defensible space. >> this request is not usually made until late spring, but this year has been anything but usual. in the last three weeks, cal fire has responded to 300 wildfires. in a normal year, that would be closer to 50. and there are concerns about air quality. today marks the season's 30th spare the air day, which ties a record set in 2006. >> i've been enjoying the weather, but it seems kind of like it's probably not helping with the environment. >> reporter: people are taking advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures. you're at the beach in january. but most are also keenly aware that this warm and dry winter could cause major problem it is we don't see changes soon. >> we just planted brand new grass, now we're worried about the drought. >> it's hard not to enjoy it, but i wish it would rain. >> reporter: the fire season is usually over in november, but cal fire says it really never ended. more than 100 seasonal firefighters will be put back to work. kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. the bottom line, we need rain in the bay area. this weekend, sunny skies all over the area. we turn now to anthony slaughter. how long will this warming trend last? >> we have the rain in the forecast. tomorrow, not going to see the rain, but we will see the return of morning fog, increasing the air quality. we don't have to spare the air for tomorrow. we are watching clouds right now building off the coast of california. you can see expensive cloud deck that's going to move through. this is the fog that's expected to improve the air quality tomorrow. once this moves through, lit be a cooler day for tomorrow. we're not going to be in the 70s like today. but monday, tuesday, wednesday, we're back on that climb. but thursday, we are talking about the chance of showers pushing back into the forecast and at this point, thursday night into friday, there is a 60% to 70% confidence that this is going to follow through. so we'll talk more about that rain chance coming up in the forecast. in the meantime, enjoy that cooler day for tomorrow. a developing story at san jose state. police are searching for a suspect accused of two sexual batteries on campus tonight. the first happened before 7:00 near the event center. the next one just before 9:30 near hoover hall. officers say in both incidents, the man rode up to the victim on a bike and touched them inappropriately. the suspect is white male, thick mustache, black hoodie and pants. he rode a bike, last seen heading towards the campus village. a national debate over abortion rights took center stage in san francisco today. tens of thousands gathered for an anti-abortion rally before marching down market street. a smaller group of pro choice demonstrators also gathered. participants have watched the event grow each year. >> we can't see for the sea of people back there. i ran back and forth from the front to the back and i still can't see to the back there. last year i think there were about 40,000. i guess this year is that or more. >> this is a tradition. i can't stop. we've got to save babies and moms. >> reporter: how many years have you come? >> this is my ninth year. >> reporter: the only issue organizers had tonight was bad traffic. there are reports tonight that the next america's cup sailing competition may not return to san francisco. as recently as last month, the winning team, oracle usa, said it depended to bring theory gata back to the city by the bay. but today the team said sailing officials are considering other venues. monty francis is live with details. >> reporter: good evening. you can still see evidence of the america's cup competition from last summer. the mayor has said he would like for it to return, but now there's some serious doubts about whether that will happen. san francisco entered into negotiations with larry ellison's winning team last month to bring the rigata back to san francisco in three years. >> we would love to come back to san francisco. it's a beautiful place. we're going to talk with the officials in san francisco and see if that's going to be possible. >> reporter: but today, the team's ceo told the associated press they're considering other venues, because san francisco officials don't want to offer the same deal as last time. >> it brings many different types of people to the bay area to watch the event. i think it brought in a lot of revenue also, so it was a win-win situation for everyone. >> reporter: but supervisors felt the last deal was too generous to organizers and critics said the economic benefits were overexaggerated. they suggested it could move to san diego or hawaii. tonight, at the city's golden gate yacht club, the current holder of the america's cup, the general manager told me off camera he was unaware of the recent reports and remains hopeful it would return to san francisco. sailing enthusiasts share that hope. >> with that kind of event, the city gets exposure worldwide. so if people weren't thinking about san francisco before that event, they are thinking about it. >> the city is a special place. america's cup belongs here in san francisco. >> reporter: he said he's not ruled out san francisco in 2017 but doesn't think that city leaders will change their minds. the board of supervisors has to approve any deal and ellison would like to finalize a deal by march 1. live in san francisco, monty francis, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much. new details on the b.a.r.t. officer shot and killed in the line of duty. we're learning the officer who shot him may have mistaken him to be an armed suspect. sergeant tom smith died today from a single bullet wound to the chest that was fired by a fellow officer. sources close to the investigation told the chronicle the shooting may be the result of a split second misjudgment. the sheriff's office is investigating the shooting death. a spokesman staid there are news reports that are painting an inaccurate picture of what happened and more information is needed before making any conclusions. san francisco police officers shot and killed a dog today while checking a vacant building. officers say they were at a building in the 1,000 block of connecticut street at 10:30 this morning. they opened a door, found a squatter inside and a dorg. and that dog, a pit bull, came running at them. one officer says he felt threatened and fired at the dog. the dog, named psycho, was well known in the area. on the hunt for the 14-year-old boy accused of killing his sister. a $10,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to his arrest. this is mario tolliver. he's been on the run since he shot his 17-year-old sister on thursday. police have not revealed a motive. they say tolliver is considered armed and dangerous. anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact police. >> >> new at 11:00, a central california pastor is facing charges of fraud and perjury tonight. that's in addition to arson and conspiracy charges from two weeks ago. mark lewis is the pastor of the fellowship baptist church in bacaville. his first arrest was using three members of the church in an arson attack on a former girlfriend. >> a minister, you would think there's a higher standard there. >> i drive by there daily. it's shocking. >> he's out on bail of $500,000. next at 11:00, a completely different weather picture outside of the bay area where heavy snow and bitter cold air caused headaches for drivers and travelers. growing security concerns in sochi. what russian authorities are doing to keep people safe at the olympics. these are the hands a pediatrician. these are pioneering advances in heart surgery. and these are developing groundbreaking treatments for cancer. they're the hands of the nation's top doctors. kaiser permanente doctors. and though they are all different, they work together on a single mission: saving lives. discover how we are advancing medicine at kp.org join us, and thrive. you may not believe this living in the bay area, but there appears to be no immediate end in sight of the bitter cold that's gripped much of the nation. >> reporter: today, heavy snow and dangerously frigid air blasted the country. in atlanta, the severe cold caused a major water main break. workers scrambled as water exploded 20 feet in the air and turned to ice on contact. >> you have extremely cold temperatures that we've had in the past couple of weeks. it puts a strain on our system. >> reporter: houston, bus passengers helped each other down an exit ramp after being stranded for nearly two hours. in cleveland, snow fell hard and fast early this morning. >> they can't get it cleared out fast enough. >> reporter: on waterways, crews took to breaking ice on the hudson river. freeing up traffic for roughly 300 vessels. as bitter cold lingers in the northeast. the snow and the cold clearly hasn't stopped iceskaters here in central park, but it could be next week when temperatures here and across most of the country will be about 15 to 30 degrees below average. snowfall totals this season continue to break records. chicago has received 45 inches above its average of 17. indianapolis, 33.8, above its usual 14. and philadelphia has seen almost 34 inches compared to its 7.9 average. the snow and prolonged cold is also pinching the propane supply, as millions of americans use more of the fuel to heat their homes. >> the end of this week it's supposed to get bitterly cold, and we will use a little more than normal. >> reporter: prices have shot up to levels not seen since 1990, with the demand far outpacing the supply in 20 states. >> i'm concerned, because we don't know when we're getting it. we don't know if we're getting it. and all the propane companies are kind of in the same boat. >> let's check in with our own meteorologist, anthony slaughter. talk about the warmth today and some relief down the road. >> today temperatures were back in the upper 70s across the bay area. this is 15 to 20 degrees above where we should be for this time of the year. temperatures are slated to cool as we head through the day tomorrow. santa rosa, up to 76 today. livermore at 74. san jose at 71, all new records. the pollen levels are very high. if you suffer from these, they're in the moderate to high category. that's going to be the case for today and tomorrow. so you may just have to do what you can, take some of that meditation to relieve yourself from some of those allergens. clear skies across the board. no fog just yet. but through the early morning hours, there will be fog that pushes up against the coastline. you will eventually see the fog push in for tomorrow morning, rand that will burn off at least for the second half of the day for tomorrow afternoon. we have an area of high pressure positioned off the coast right now, and that's pushing in some cloud cover. you can see some drizzle being reported off the coast of california. this is, again, what we're going to wake up to tomorrow morning. by the afternoon, that will burn off quickly. with that ocean breeze for tomorrow, temperatures will cool just a little bit, because today the winds were offshore, which is a dry, warm wind. the cool ocean air will pull on in here through tomorrow. then monday and tuesday, temperatures start to rebound just a bit. for tomorrow, a little cooler. jacket weather, 68 for tomorrow. across the peninsula, upper 60s from san mateo towards palo alto. north bay, napa, 68 for tomorrow. the east bay and the trivalley, mid to upper 60s. here's the rain i was telling you about. thursday, talking about showers. eventually off the coast, we'll see mostly cloudy skies for thursday. but by thursday evening, right around 11:00, showers look to push in. here's the update we've been tracking, at least for today. it looks like this system is going to come in a little sooner. so friday morning is the best chance of sewing the showers. friday afternoon and evening, the showers push out of the area. so this is something we'll be tracking all week long. you can go to nbcbayarea.com for more details on that and that weather app is a good thing to get, as well. as the opening ceremony for the winter games gets closer, sports are moving further and further from the limelight. the focus is on security and a possible attack in sochi. russian authorities are going to great lengths to prevent anything from happening. human right s activists say youg muslim men are disappearing and subjected to abuse. >> it's not about individual cases of torture. torture is the rue as far as counterinsurgency is concerned. >> senior u.s. officials expect threat reporting to continue in the run-up to the games. tomorrow night, join our own janell wang for a look at the games with our "road to sochi" special. it begins at 9:30. henry wofford joins us now. we did a little sports there with the skating special tomorrow night. what's going on in your world? >> we have a couple of close games coming up for you tonight. wcc basketball highlights ahead. a career night for a santa clara guard, but would it be enough to take down usf? and joe thornton and patrick marleau cash in against the wild in a big way. highlights of the overtime thriller coming up in sports. weights. four hours on the slopes. and two hours doing this stuff. which leaves me approximately two minutes to get my banking done. so i use the citi mobile app to quickly check my accounts and pay my bills. which leaves me about five seconds to kick back. that was nice. bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. citi, with you every step of the way. welcome back to nbc bay area news. yesterday, joe thornton and patrick marleau signed three-year extension contracts, and tonight, they celebrated in a very big way. let's go out to the ice. sharks hosting the wild, looking to match a season high with their sixth consecutive win. second period, sharks down two. joe thornton scores on the one-timer. seventh on the year. sharks down one. 49 seconds later, marleau's turn. scores with the quick shot. number 22 for him. to overtime, halfway through, thornton scores with the quick slapper. sharks win 3-2. >> nice coincidence, that's for sure. feel good about it. >> i've been telling pat, if you've been scoring too much, pass the puck. he finally listened. i don't shoot too often, but pat made too good plays and lucky they went in. >> good win for the sharks. usf hosti ining santa clara. brownridge knocks it down from behind the arc. he had 30 points. later in the half, dickerson sinks the three. he had 28 points, 8 rebounds. usf wins 75-66. st. mary's at lmu. brad waldo follows up with the jam. then time winding down in the half. where's waldo? he's over there sinking another shot. he had 16 points in the first half. second half, waldo with the layup and the foul. he had a game high 27 points. gales win again 89-61. senior bowl. san jose state's david fells playing for the south. second quarter, fells doesn't see anyone open, but david fells never fails. finds kevin norwood for the touchdown. he was 6 for 7, 104 yards. plus that touchdown. and the south wins 20-10. by the way, many people believe he will be a top three round draft pick in the upcoming draft. we wish him the best. he's got a lot of talent. >> henry, so do you. i want to ask you a question, how excited are you about the pro bowl tomorrow on a scale of one to snen >> i'm not crazy about the whole draft pick stuff. i would give it a four. i'm a super bowl guy, not pro bowl guy. >> so you've got a four this weekend and a ten next weekend? >> absolutely. >> henry, thank you very much. we'll be right back with homeless art and the people who love it. >> >> we've all seen homeless people in our communities. tonight, a new way to look at them. expresses gallery is hosting an exhibit of artwork by, for and about the homeless. these are some of the creations by more than 60 artists, including 21 who are homeless. the works include paintings, photography, print making, digital art and sculptures. that's going on in berkeley this weekend. >> or you can just walk down the street and see. >> and check it out. thanks for watching nbc bay area news. "saturday night live" is up next. have a great night. >> live from boston