Police will be making their presence felt. We have Team Coverage for you tonight starting with Christie Smith live in San Francisco. Christie, we know people are on edge tonight, making sure everyone is safe there in the city. Reporter you know, absolutely. And i have to tell you that the big crowds of course are not here just yet. But we are starting to see some people walk around in their new years eve gear. I spoke with a couple of folks who came in from out of town, they said they wanted to get here early, be safe, have a nice din and h dinner and stake out a good spot to watch fireworks here along the embarcadero. Many people told us theyre staying in hotels, that this is a tradition to come to the city to watch the fireworks and be with the crowds. A few people we spoke to yesterday commented that 2016 was tough and theyre ready to turn the page. These two women tell us they come to the city each year. A lot of people, they just have fun, you know. All the people talking, its very nice. Reporter how many years have you come out here . Wow, its over 15 years. We have dinner reservations at eig8 00, come back and set u our chairs and watch the fireworks. Reporter any hopes for 2017 . Hope to be healthy and happy. Reporter of course San Francisco police will be out in force tonight looking for anything suspicious. Public drunkenness, open containers. What they told us when we checked in with them earlier is there was no known terror threat. Again, theyre reminding everyone if they see anything suspicious, you want to say something. Bring a jacket, anything to stay warm, its awfully cold. Christie smith, nbc bay area news. Thank you so much, christie. A live look at the embarcadero, where tens of thousands of visitors are hoping for Clear Conditions so they can see the fireworks show. Meteorologist rob mayeda is tracking the conditions. Christie mentioned it, its the cold, the only thing were worried about. No rain, great visibility. Looking out across the bay, temperatures in the mid40s. Partly cloudy skies as we see mainly Clear Conditions. The showers we had earlier today moving off to the south. San jose, also relatively clear skies, cool temperatures. Around santana row or downtown san jose, temperatures around midnight approaching the low 40s as we see one system bringing rain for new years eve plans in southern california. Another even colder system will drop down during the day tomorrow. That will bring us a chance for rain for the end of the weekend, and perhaps even surprisingly low snow levels especially for parts of the north bay. A look at those changes in your forecast in a few minutes. Sounds good, rob, thank you. To keep people from drinking and driving, many bay area transit agencies are running special schedules tonight, samtransand a ctran sit offering free buses. Caltrain rides will be free after 8 00 p. M. Tonight. The rides will end about 2 00 tomorrow morning. B. A. R. T. Rides are not free new years eve but theyll have special training running a special schedule from 8 00 p. M. Tonight until 3 00 a. M. B. A. R. T. In San Francisco will gather the people who went to see the fireworks at the embarcadero. Lets take you to new york where the party of the country is under way. About 1 Million People already in times square tonight. Theyre waiting for the famous ball drop, all the revelry. Nbcs Sarah Rosario is here from new york city with more on the security. Reporter thats right, peggy. First lets talk about the festivities, just an amazing time here in times square. The festivities well under way. Weve seen ryan seacrest, weve seen people with the Chinese New Year showing us how to celebrate that. Weve seen other starts performing, weve seen gloria estefan, doing a lot of military songs. Its been an exciting night already. Later tonight we know mariah carey will be taking the stage, the big performer of the evening. Many of these people woke up and have been in line since 7 00 just to get here to enjoy all of this. Back to you. Sarah, one of the interesting things about the security measures that i know they havent done previously, were looking at the trucks, trucks full of sand crisscrossed across the roads to block off anyone who might want to drive in a truck as in some of these other episodes weve seen around the world. Reporter thats right, peggy, these Police Officers are taking their job very seriously. Officers in times square have had dump trucks lining the streets in previous years, but nothing to this extent, on this large a scale. We have 65 dump trucks lining the streets with 15 tons of sand in each and every single one of them. This is all in an effort to try to prevent terror attacks like what weve seen in france and germany. There are 2,000 extra officers in times square, but thmping th number up to 7,000 in total. Weve seen them doing sweeps of garages, theaters, and hotel rooms. Theyre out with canines to make sure everyone stays safe. It may seem like a lot. Its the least they can do to make sure with so many people, they can keep everybody safe. They welded the manholes shut, sometimes in an explosion those manholes will stay shut and not injure people, lots of security precautions to keep people safe and give them time to celebrate. We can hear the sound checks, thank you very much, Sarah Rosario from times square, the scene of the big party. If youre staying in tonight and side stepping the madness, carson daly is hosting our new ye years eve party, joined by alicia keys, jennifer lopez, and blake shelton, tonight at 11 30. On the look out for a possible serial arsonist in san jose. Fires have been popping up for weeks. The latest round of fires happened just overnight. Nbc bay areas Marianne Favro joins us live from san jose. Marianne, the fact that these continue to happen is pretty hammeri alarming for police. Reporter especially since its just a few weeks, peggy. Firefighters say they had just put out another fire a half mile away from here when they responded to this fire off story road. That fire broke out around 1 00 this morning up northbound highway 101 and story road. It started in a palm tree and quickly spread to a shed. Investigators believe this fire is one of many in the same area intervention set. Intentionally set. Its become a chronic fire. Weve had over a couple of dozen of these calls in the past few weeks in the same area, the freeway. Reporter there are no reports of injuries. If you see anything suspicious in this area off highway 101 and story road, please contact the chp or the san jose fire department. Reporting live in san jose, Marianne Favro, nbc bay area news. Marianne, thank you. A massive search effort at big sur today, the Monterey County sheriffs team is scouting the area looking for a missing couple thats been gone for a week. Olivia Hannah Gonzalez and Brian Fernandez have been missing. The two went to big sur for christmas and have not been seen since. The Sheriffs Department says heavy rain last weekend caused a lot of boulders to fall across the roads. They say its possible the two could be stuck somewhere along their travels. A homeowner on the peninsula manages to stop a teenaged burglar who struck him in the head with a hammer, this happening just after midnight on Carlton Avenue in menlo park near the bay shore freeway. He says he called police when his family came home, they noticed the place was ransacked. He found two teenagers hiding in the bedroom. He was able to detain a boy who struck him in the head with a hammer but a girl got away. Officers caught her a couple of blocks away from the home. A hanukkah celebration in Washington Square park tonight. People gathered at the lighting of a menorah. The original was stolen last weekend. Police say they think the thieves wanted to sell the brass pieces for cash. A wellknown menorah maker in massachusetts heard about the crime and rushed to create a new one. It will light up the park for the final night of hanukkah. And new video tonight of this bangedup vegetable truck. Take a look at aftermath of this crash north of santa rosa. The driver is luckily okay, but vegetables were everywhere. It took six hours to clean up the mess and get the truck off the road. Still to come at 6 00, some members of the russian consulate in San Francisco are celebrating new years eve in an unusual way. All per president obamas orders. They probably would not have made it to midnight area. How kids in the south bay are celebrating the new year at noon. And a Community Rallying together to try to save this little fellow here, stuck in a pipe. Really tough situation for a raccoon. Well tell you how it all ended up. And the forecast tracking another cold weather system that will be dropping into the bay area, bringing a chance for not just rain but perhaps even a chance, especially around the north bay tomorrow night, of seeing lowering snow levels. The latest on the wintry changes ahead on your forecast when we come right back. With the xfinity tv app, anything with a screen is a tv. Stream 130 live channels. Plus 40,000 on demand tv shows and movies, all on the go. You can even download from your x1 dvr and watch it offline. Only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. Download the xfinity tv app today. Hacking scandal. Members of the San Francisco russian consulate are in we turn now to continuing coverage of the russian hacking scandal. Members of the San Francisco russian consulate have found themselves back to russia per president obamas orders. The Obama Administration kicked out 35 russian officials after uncovering evidence that russia tried to directly influence the president ial election. Also happening, more questions surrounding the discovery of malwe malware on a Vermont Utility companys network. Its not clear if other Utility Companies have been affected or how the code got onto the computer in vermont. Russia has denied hacking into u. S. Computer systems. A True Team Effort here, all trying to rescue a raccoon stuck in a small drainpipe. It took about 24 hours. And the parking lot of a business was emptied to help him. This little guy was crying for help, trapped in the pipe. Rescuers could not reach the raccoon because the pipe was too narrow. They had to cut open the ground here. The owner of the Shopping Center said, go ahead, do it, to get after that raccoon. When they pulled him out, he was so cold and near death, in fact his temperature barely registered on the thermometer. Animal control workers tried to nurse him back to health but unfortunately he did not make it after all that effort. Rescuers say it was worth the team effort but he did not survive. Police and Fire Departments across the bay area tonight say theyre taking a zero tolerance policy when it comes to shooting off your own fireworks. That does include both illegal and also the safe and sane fireworks that dont leave the ground. They say both have potential to start fires or injure people. So lighting fireworks should be left up to the professionals. But the majority of people that do get injured by fireworks are bystanders. If you would like to see fireworks, the firefighters suggest you go see one of the official shows that are taking place tonight across the bay area. Good advice there. We also talked to Christie Smith earlier, she said if you do that, bundle up, its cold. In a few spots were already approaching low 40s. Right now in the north bay, clearing skies. Lets check out those temperatures right now. Downtown san jose relatively mild, its 50 degrees. Down to the south, south san jose, 46 degrees. The peninsula, 49. Tri valley, dublin, 43 degrees. Downtown San Francisco looks nice, no low clouds or fog. Well have great visibility for fireworks time as we approach midnight. Earlier today would have been a different story. We had a few passing showers coming in from the south and east. That system is now causing a big mess for southern california. Snow shutting down lanes on the grapevine on interstate 5. Heavier showers moving into l. A. That system continues to slide off to the south and east of the bay area. Temperatures tonight will be in the 30s and 40s. Tomorrow well see highs in the mid50s. Unlike today, where the day started off with a few showers, tomorrow the day will end with increasing chances of showers. Highs in the mid50s around san jose towards pleasanton. Low 50s, concord and antioch, youll see numbers in the low 50s to the peninsula, to San Francisco and the north bay starting off the new year with temperatures running pretty chilly for highs. Low 50s, scattered showers developing as we go through the day. Between now and tuesday morning, rain totals expected to be less than a half inch for most of the bay area, higher totals towards the north coast and the sierra where they could get a foot or two of snow by tuesday. Cold air and chilly showers coming on in. Some of the heavier showers will have the ability to temporarily drop snow levels down close to 2,000 feet for parts of the north bay. This map color coated in blue and purple. Areas near mid30s or lower could bring a chance of relatively low snow levels for monday. Notice tuesday into wednesday, a bit of a wind shift. Now all that cold air is trapped north of sacramento. Any low snow chances likely going away once we pass monday. Then tuesday into wednesday, mild and certainly a more rainy looking forecast than we earlier advertised for wednesday into thursday. So we wont see the freezing temperatures to the second half of the week. But we could end up with a lot more rain by tuesday and wednesday. Those look to be the wettest days of the week. Rain heads to the south. On thursday well catch a break in the rain. Then more rain comes in towards next saturday. So for the north bay, maybe snow levels briefly, close to 2,000 feet there. Monday, south bay, probably closer to 3 to 4,000 feet, then good Old Fashioned rain making a comeback on tuesday and wednesday. How about that, the ski season looks really nice, got to get up there. Up next, well take you around the bay area and show you how people are already linkring in 2017. Today. [ bell ringing ] in San Francisco, some folks ringing in the new year quite literally today. The Asian Art Museum offering up its giant 16th century japanese temple bell for the occasion. The ceremony included a purification ritual. In japan, ringing a bell for the new year symbolizes leaving behind all unfortunate experiences, regrettable deeds and bad luck. Take it away, 2016. A new years celebration that will not interfere with your kids bedtime. This ball drop happens at the Childrens Discovery Museum in san jose. Kids got a chance to ring in the new year not just once but actually three times, coinciding with ball drops from other time zones around the world. Organizers dropped the ball at noon, 1 00 p. M. , and 2 00 p. M. That sounds about my speed. Good deeds dont go unnoticed, at least not at goodwill, the nonprofit branch in San Francisco holding an annual donateathon today. Goodwill will finish this year with 800,000 donations because of todays event. A spokesperson says its a time for the company to thank its donors. Its a big deal. And we are so grateful to our donors for what they do. This is our thank you to them. We have popcorn. We have movie tickets. You know, its sort of our thank you. Former mayor willie brown donating some items here for the event. Those items will go on sale online, shirt and shoes and all. Raiders are already in the playoffs. The final game of the regular season will be the critical test. Many people looking forward to that. Weve got more details coming up in spots. Oooh. Wowww. There it is. Its the red tag sales event and people are excited to bring in the new year with a new chevrolet. Im a huge chevy fan. How would you feel about starting 2017 in a new chevy . It sounds wonderful. Honestly, i would take any one. Oh heck yeah i want to get one tomorrow. Fantastic turn it on, lets go. During the red tag sales event get two deals in one. Find your tag for an average total value over ninetysix hundred dollars on Chevy Silverado all stars. Hurry, the red tag sales event ends january 3rd. Hey, guys. Fallon smith in the studio. Scott, losing was a huge blow for the silver and black. Matt hasnt made a star center since 2013. Do the raiders have to simplify the playbook now . Reporter raiders offensive coaches have told me several times this past week, no, because matt has absorbed this offense well enough to be responsible for making checks at the line of scrimmage. Hell have help from rodney hudson. But matt mcgloine will have all the veto power this season. Oakland has a chance to win the afc west for the first time in 14 years. What would a Division Title mean for the franchise and for the team as they head into the playoffs . Reporter it would mean so much to this group, and especially to this front office which toured this roster, found a head coach and enough talented players to be in this position. To be able to hang a banner would mean a lot to this franchise and show they were back on track not just for this season but several seasons yet to come. Thanks, scott, good insight as always, talk to you on sunday. Reporter thanks, fallon. Thats it for sports, peggy, back to you. Redhot night on the ice, fresh off their win against the philadelphia flyers, a huge rivalry game on tap for the sharks, facing the hated kings. This just in, sources telling csn that the team is not saying anything just yet, we are expecting an announcement coming out. Well get more information for you tonight at 11 00. Well be right back. Been waiting for. One of the two baby bald eagles hatched this morning in florida. Its the moment millions have been waiting for. One of the two baby bald eagles hatched in florida this morning. Millions have been watching the webcam live stream waiting for this moment. Here is the first one. The mama is known as harriet. Her baby is called eaglet 9, or e9 for short. The eagle cam has been streaming the hatching for the last four nesting seasons, a busy mama. Well see temperatures in the low 40s around midnight. Well be here, well have a big party right here. See you tonight at 11 00 can. Happy new years eve. We spent the next year and a half investigating stolen guns. What we found was staggering