Near the top of loma prieta mountain are the sheriffs unit began moving the pot. When we first heard about this raid, we were wondering if it had something to do with a search or investigation into the cause of the fire. It wasnt. But there was plenty of concern about all the marijuana grow operations and fire danger. The Santa Clara County sheriffs Marijuana Eradication Team were on loma which i keita road this morning and removed treelike pot plants. The team made it clear right away, the potgrowing operation was not where the loma fire started but acknowledged the fire did lead to the raid. Due to the loma fire, a lot of foliage has been burned away. Also greenhouses, the tarps over greenhouses have been exposed. So we have been stepping up our investigation efforts in the area for marijuana eradication. Reporter in all, the Eradication Team says it seized 89 large plants, which still need to be weighed to determine the street value. A neighbor across the street called the Property Owner a good person, but also said hell be glad when many of the other marijuana grows get shut down, saying they have caused several fires here in the past with makeshift power supplies. You cant make one mistake up here. You make one mistake, and big bad things happen. And thats what has happened here multiple times. You cant make a mistake. You have to just be very safe. Reporter now just about 15 minutes ago, the Sheriffs Department sent me a booking photo of a resident of the property arrested. He was booked into Santa Clara County jail on two safety code violations. And the Sheriffs Department also says it did not conduct this raid just because some residents were complaining that there should have been more raids before the fire. But acknowledged there will be more now. Live in the santa cruz mountains, robert handa. As for the fire itself, crews hope to have it fully contained by saturday. The evacuations are over and the roads in the area back open. The fire has charred nearly 4,500 acres and destroyed a dozen homes. Its back. Were talking about the d word. Nbc bay area scott budman at the Santa Clara Valley water district. Who is to blame here . Reporter we have some states that arent doing as well as others, raj. The bay hear is among the strongest when it comes to Water Conservation ahead of just about every other region in the state. The latest Water Survey Shows the state of california is doing pretty well. We saw almost 18 savings statewide. Thats good. Its not eyepopping good. It not jawdropping bad. Its good. Its not where we were last year. Reporter but here in the bay area we have tried to take a more conscious approach. Reporter were doing better. Water conservation goals recently set at 20 have been exceeded. Our community has actually really stepped up, and yeartodate from january to the end of august, we have saved 28 , over 2013 levels. So were doing really well. Reporter over the goal. Yes, we are over the goal. Thanks largely to individuals cutting back. You know, reuse certain dishes, certain times. You know, i dont know. Take quick showers. Reporter and now waiting for more rain to fall. I also spoke to east bay mud, which says that region is also conserving ahead of expectations. Reporting live in san jose, scott budman, nbc bay area news. Scott, thank you. Lets bring in our chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri. And this time last year, jeff, we were talking about el nino. Where do we stabbed now moving forward . Right now as we get a look at the drought index, its all about central and southern california. You see the red indicating severe and also exceptional levels of drought. For the bay area, youll find a lot of yellow color here. Thats abnormally dry. So not too bad. We did make some headway after a near average rainfall season. Still some of the worst levels of drought throughout contra costa and alameda counties indicated by the orange color. Under, again, severe drought. As we get a look at the Doppler Radar right now, you can see we are currently finding dry conditions for the north bay, down to the south bay. But we are tracking a potential pattern change. Well talk more about when potentially three different systems may be moving in, and ill have details on that coming up in my forecast. Thats in about 15 minutes. That looks promising. Thank you, jeff. Our Investigative Unit dug deep on to the drought. You can watch our entire series called surviving the drought by going to nbcbayarea. Com and clicking on our investigations tab. We are also tracking Hurricane Matthew as it barrels toward florida. This is a view of the monstrous storm from the International Space station. Matthew is the strongest atlantic hurricane in nearly a decade. Tonight evacuations are already happening apart of floridas eastern coastline. Well have a live report in ten minutes. Now to some election news and the race who are the white house. Cnn poll found republican, mike pence, won last nights Vice President ial debate. There was a distinct contrast in styles with democrat tim kaine repeatedly interrupting and provoking pence to defend statements from donald trump. Pences cooler demeanor was still on display today as he addressed a rally in pennsylvania. Some people think i won. But ill leave that to others. As democratic nominee Hillary Clinton boarded a plane today, she gave cain debate performance two thumbs up. She says she is preparing for sundays debate, which will be a town hall format. The candidates for californias u. S. Senate seat will square off tonight in their one and only debate. Attorney general harris will debate Orange County representative Loretta Sanchez at 7 00 p. M. In los angeles. Both candidates are democrats and finish with the most votes in the primary election. Theyre vying for the seat vacated by barbara boxer. A pivotal legal battle. Airbnb battling its hometown of San Francisco. Both sides expected in federal court tomorrow, and the result could impact many of us. Nbc bay areas segment investigative report is here. The legal issue centers around one of the most hotbutton issues in the city. Housing. And whats to blame for the skyrocketing prices. The city recently passed a law that would make homesharing Companies Like airbnb subject to fines. Whenever their users post rentals that arent actually permitted by the city. Airbnb is trying to block the law by suing San Francisco. Tonight at 11 00, our Investigative Unit reveals whats at stake for you at home. At the crux of the housing crisis is this question of will San Francisco continue to have a middle class. You think this one lawsuit can carry that large an impact. Absolutely. Reporter city leaders accuse them of spewing the crisis. Who is right . Tonight at 11 00, well dig deeper and explain why some actually believe the lawsuit could impact every person in San Francisco. Thats tonight at 11 00. Well see you then. In you have of a tip, call us at 888996tips or send us an email at nbcbayarea. Com. Should they stay or should they go . A transportation Improvement Project along vanness in San Francisco could mean some old street lamps might have to be used. Im Christie Smith. More on efforts to save them, coming up hoim also ahead, taking no chances. Live in florida. Next where hundreds of thousands of people are evacuating ahead of Hurricane Matthew. An inmate in Sonoma County is on the loose tonight. Chy police say 50yearold michal jones cut o it made Sonoma County on the loose tonight. Michael jones cut off his ankle bracelet in santa rosa yesterday. Jones was on electronic home confinement, serving time for petty theft, driving on a suspended license and violating a court order. Not considered a threat but people are asking for the publics help in finding him. Okay. Is it a piece of San Francisco history or simply crumbling street lamps past their prime . There are renewed efforts to save more than 200 of those old lamps along vanness avenue. Tonight things could get vocal. Nbc bay areas Christie Smith is in San Francisco for us. And christie, what are the options . Are there any options . Reporter yeah, thats right. Neither the street lamps were talking about, they also hold the overhead bus wires. Its said that most are just not in good shape. And this comes at a time when the city is looking to move forward on major traffic improvements for vanness. The Transportation Agency says there is a plan, though, to save around four of them by civic center. They say there was a resolution asking to keep them all, and theyre working on options to bring back to the supervisors and coalition of street lamps. A spokesperson says different parts are from different years. The pole, for example, from 1914. The top and base came later. The city says they have been trying to improve traffic and safety on vanness for years, and this bus Rapid Transit project will move bus lanes to the middle of the street for a quicker, safer flow. They do need taller poles to handle the wires, and, of course, need to be in good shape. Many say the street lamps are all worth saving too. Our proposal actually isnt to retain the old poles but to retain the beautiful lights and the brackets and affix them to new polls. And that can easily be done. They are not in the best condition. And so rather than repairing all of them, we plan to replace them with long enough trolly poles and designs to accommodate recommendations from the Art Commission to ensure that were following all guidelines as far as street improvements. Reporter construction begins later this month on the vanness improvement the project with completion expected in 2019 and open house is planned for 6 00 tonight about the vanness construction. And also construction for the street scape project. This is at the tenderloin elementary school. Christie smith, nbc bay area news. Back to the atlantic now where Hurricane Matthew is inching closer toward the u. S. After delivering a devastating blow to haiti. Storm is already being blamed for 11 deaths in the caribbean, while thousands of people along the u. S. Coastline are fleeing inland. Nbcs sara rosario is live with the latest. It looks like its starting to rain there and residents are bracing for impact. Reporter yeah, thats right, janelle. Hurricane warnings across Central Florida as matthew nearses the u. S. Coast. The wind is starting to pick up, rain, and this is the calm before the storm. By next by this time tomorrow, we are expecting conditions to worsen, which is local officials are telling people to prepare for whats to come. Hurricane matthew slammed into haiti, leaving in its wake widespread destruction. The storm now taking aim at the bahamas and u. S. Coastline from florida to north carolina. With the storm going up our coast, a small deviation from this track could mean a catastrophic change along floridas east coast. We have to prepare for a direct hit. Reporter in florida, the governor has ordered people to evacuate. In south carolina, bumper to bumper traffic lines the interstate out of charleston and surrounding areas. The rush on supplies and gasoline an indication those in the strike zone are heeding the warnings. The main thing is, their safety and our safety. Reporter following the governors order tuesday, more than a quarter Million People have been told to leave immediately. With the rest of the states coastline now on notice to evacuate thursday. We are not in stable territory yet. Were still kind of moving as the storm moves. Were still seeing a zigzag motion as we go toward. Reporter hundreds of buses being moved in to assist. I want to make sure that everybody is paying attention to your local officials. If there is an Evacuation Order in your community, you need to take it seriously. Reporter as residents and tourists scramble to get out of the way of Hurricane Matthew, now moving closer to the u. S. And to put this storm into perspective, right now it is bigger than an area larger its larger than an area of the size of the state of texas. Thats a pretty big storm there. And while its path says it is going to be parallel to the u. S. Coast, many forecasters are saying that theres a possibility it could move west, which could bring severe devastation to the east coast of florida. Reporting live in daytona beach, sara rosario back to you. Stay safe and thank you for the update. Jeff, so close. It hits home you have family back there, too right . Yeah, i talked to my parents today and a lot of the store shelves have been cleaned out. Gas station lines, just so extremely long. And were going to start off with this, because we know it has a high impact to any of you that do have family or friends back here across the east coast. Or if youre doing traveling. Right now overall it has weakened the past 4 hours. Its a category 3, winds 115 miles per hour, but still a lot of warm waters out here. Thats why it still looks like Hurricane Matthew will be strengthening back up to what could be a catastrophic category 4 storm. It will be parallel to West Palm Beach by thursday at 2 00 p. M. , and maybe making a landfall on friday morning near melbourne or titusville, florida, near the space coast, nasa, again, as a category 4. Jacksonville by friday at 2 00 p. M. After this, we may see a second landfall possibly somewhere in the carolinas by saturday and also on sunday. If, again, you know anyone that is living that way, they are, of course, taking this storm system very, very seriously. And if you want more updates, go to nbcbayarea. Com and we will be posting them there. Back here at home, mostly clear skies here in San Francisco. Currently 66 degrees. Clear skies were seeing, that is a sign of whats to come as we head throughout the next couple days. Certainly hotter weather. So for tomorrow morning, not too much fog expected in San Francisco. Well start off pretty beautiful with 50 degrees. 49 in the east bay. Feeling some of that chill in the morning. 47 in the peninsula, and some high clouds here for the south bay. Overall, a nice start and 52 degrees. A look at your microclimate forecast. Temperatures warm up by 5 degrees on thursday. It will be noticeable, but still not uncomfortable. The scene in the south bay will push us up to 80 degrees in morgan hill and cupertino, 77. For the peninsula, anywhere from a cool 64 at Half Moon Bay to 75 in palo alto and San Francisco starting to get in on some of this warmth with 70 degrees here in the financial district. A little cooler with some of the fog in the marina and 67 degrees. For the north bay, east bay and also the tri valley, a few isolated low 80s. Thats a huge jump from the 60s we had to start the week off with. Going to feel warmer out there. You know, i think you handle it. Of 81 expected up here into napa. The east bay, 82 in walnut creek. And for the tri valley, as warm as 82 in livermore and pleasanton expecting 79. I really see things changing once we hit friday and saturdays forecast. Thats when the area of High Pressure is going to kick into high gear. Now not only does it have warmer air associated with it, which is pretty typical, but the key component were going to see with this warmer pattern are some drier offshore winds coming out of the north and also the east. That will increase the fire danger, also lower the humidities and thats the main reason why well see conditions warming up throughout our coastline. When is this pattern going to change . Thats really the big question a lot of you are talking about on twitter and also facebook. We have a new answer for you today. Weve revised the forecast a little bit. It looks like october the 15th through the 20th, we could see potentially two different storm systems moving by. The heaviest rainfall still looks to move towards the Northern California coastline, missing us. But i still think we could get something october 15th through the 20th. Of course, well fine tune the forecast. Heres our warmup with the drier offshore winds, as warm as 74 on saturday in San Francisco. Then we cool back down by monday, tuesday and wednesday. For the inland valleys, we have now pushed up the forecast for those hotter winds to 90 on saturday and then you can see here well go back down by monday to 81. Then eventually 70s by next tuesday and also wednesday. Now janelle and raj, we may need to move a shower icon on tuesday. Well watch it closely. Looks like well have a cold front move through. Right now just clouding it up a little bit. Everybody participating in fleet week thanks you for the forecast. Thanks, jeff. Firing back, but still no denial. What yahoo is now saying about claims it secretly scanned millions of email accounts. Take a look at these new self tying sneakers like the ones fr t happening now on our twitter feed, take a look at these new selftying sneakers like the ones from the classic movie back to the future 2. Nike is releasing the futuristic shoes but the only way to get your hands and feet on a pair is to win