More of that orange and red popping up on the map indicating thunderstorm potential for a lot of us back here at home now. I know so many people have plans on getting up to the sierra this weekend where peak season now. But even if you cant get the refund on those reservations, stay put and stay safe. 0 visibility, multiple feet of snowfall. Blizzard warnings in effect as we make our way through the weekend, within particular going to be the day that everyone is digging out, really trying to clean things up because 6 to 10 plus feet of snowfall is not going to be an easy task to get out of the way whiteout conditions because of those strong winds, too. Where were sitting as far as our map goes with our current temperatures. Right now, were in the mid to upper 50s heyward sitting at 57 degrees. Oakland at 55 santa rosa at 50 degrees later on today. Daytime highs, upper 50s chance of a thunderstorm increasing for the 2nd half of the day. I got the rest of your forecast ahead, james. All right, john, thank you very much. Lets continue with our Team Coverage of the stormy weather. The north bay, probably seeing the heaviest of the rain that were. They have fallen right now, but theyre going to get a lot more coming. And as usual flooding will be a major concern over the weekend with kron fours will tran up in santa rosa. Hes looking at conditions at times. Have showers at times. Dont. They sent me up here to cover 7 as and me. We are trying our very best right to let you know that its raining. Its not raining right now off and on. It does you guys have no idea how hard it is to cover rain. This car is basically a closet with the wheels. I need all of this just to tell you that its raining. So right now inside my car, i took it out just to show you Rain Coverage in case it gets really cold. I have my jacket and in case we cover rain on the freeways, we have to be visible. So there it is. A baseball cap. Heres my rain jacket that ive had the hughs off and on throughout the morning. In case we go to flooding areas. Heres my boots. And if it gets cold. Light rain, i always wear my flipflops and the rain and of course, i have my rain pants my most precious item, my coffee mug. And in case i get really wet and i dont want to drive home. Also can let you know what, i have a change of clothes and i have a garbage bag just to put all my wet clothes in all that these things are necessary to tell you that its raining and you know what . Im a professional. Im a go ahead and tell you it is not raining right now. Thank you. Will and pg and is also bracing for this severe weather. The utility says this weekends rain could lead to mass outages. So theyve got crews stationed in the north bay in areas where they expect the storm to hit hardest. So keep it tuned let you know if and when those Power Outages are reported. Meanwhile, lets take a live look up in the sierra where we do have right now. A live look, this is to 67 kings beach. So this is at lake level along the north shore. And you can see blizzardlike conditions just what john was talking about. Hard to make out any of the lane lines anymore. Caltrans having a tough time keeping up with the snow thats falling at such a rapid rate. Monica de anda actually in Placer County as well where crews have been busy trying to clean it all up. There are some developments that i want to tell you about. First of all, just look at all the progress that these 2 of snow plows have made in the 30 minutes. Even the last hour, theyve really made some good progress. And then you could see i want to show workers hearings has a shovel in hand trying to make sure hes also doing his part and then an unfortunate situation and tell you you could see this car here. It is saka. We saw when the driver pulled in. Now, unfortunately hes having to use a shovel to try and figure out if hes going to able to get his car out. But right now hes tried the last 30 minutes and he hasnt been able to move his vehicle. So now hes going with the manual labor. And this is why people have recommended caltrans to stay off the roads. Do not drive because it is going to turn into an impossible driving condition. The last thing you want to happen is to be in a situation where you are stuck somewhere without food without water and potentially on the road. So just keep that in mind. As plan your day to day and the next few days going forward, as we know, we the seeing all this snow through the weekend. So this is just whats happening here in valley. We will keep you guys updated as the morning goes on for now, reporting live from the shell station here can when he got and that 13 news. Just like to get ahead of the snow. So i think if people are thinking that coming up they should kick in. Well, it was an oakland resident saying that visiting lake tahoe is not a good idea this weekend. The blizzard warning, as john smith saying is now in effect. And while the warning is slated to expire on sunday, dont forget its going to take some time for ski resorts and caltrans to dig out. All right. On to other headlines this morning, the Oakland Community finally gets a chance to hear from the 4 candidates vying to be the next police chief. A public forum was held at city hall more than a year after the previous chief Leronne Armstrong was fired. Kron fours dan storm. Was there. A virtual appearance thursday night by the 4 candidates vying to be oaklands next. Top cop, the Oakland Police commissions police chief Search Ad Hoc Committee held a public forum in the City Council Chambers asking the questions from the community. Why does your background in policing make you the best fit for oakland next police chief . This is my life work. And i think if im given the opportunity to lead this department, you see significant, tremendous impact new york citys assistant deputy mayor for public safety. Louis molina, along with former lubbock, texas police chief floyd mitchell. Cincinnati, ohios assistant police chief lisa davis and former San Leandro Police chief Abdul Pridgen all had a chance to speak pitching their goals for the first 100 days and plans to build Community Trust and transparency. Oakland community. And the local police very attractive to me and my family. I were increasing. How working to better truly makes things happen. The group does not include an internal candidate, but pridgen says he understands the bayarea. I think im the perfect. Choice for oakland since i just lived down the road and my son is going to start. School in oakland in september. And im angered in this community. Not at the meeting. Was oakland mayor sheng thao who over a year ago fired then chief Leronne Armstrong thao says she is against these kinds of forums because it harms the chances of attracting the best candidates. And for those in the audience, there was no opportunity to ask questions, make comments or offer feedback during the forum. But the public is invited to provide feedback online through a post forum survey. The feedback window will close on monday. The police chief Search Ad Hoc Committee says they will be submitting their list of finalists to the mayor on friday. And then the mayor can choose to interview those candidates or reject them in oakland, dan thorn kron, 4 news. And while oaklands mayor sheng thao was not there at last nights forum, she told kron 4 shes actually looking to change the process about how Police Chiefs are selected altogether. This is a process that i do not agree with. It was voted on by the voters many years ago. But with any new systems put in place, you know, you have to have lessons learned. You have to be able to go back and that, you know, make fixes that actually doesnt actually work in practice. And this is one of those. And so im hopeful and look forward to amending the charter in regards to how we in the november ballot. Well, according to the current city charter, its the Police Commission that comes up with a list of finalists that the mayor has to pick the next chief from or the mayor can reject the list altogether and ask the commission to come up with a new list of different candidates. Mayor todd was already done that once already. Now as more developing news, a 4th suspect has been charged with murder in the killing of Oakland Police officer to one lead. He was shot and killed in late december while responding to a burglary call near jack london square. Now, sir Brian Russell joins march. Sanders, Marcus Cooper in alan brown and being charged with las murder. Russell was originally charged with 3 counts of burglary and entered a not guilty plea. Prosecutors believe it was sanders who pulled the trigger killing lay. Alameda county supervisor pamela price said in part, quote, we will not stop until everyone who participated in his murder is held accountable, end quote. The 4 defendants are scheduled for preliminary hearing on monday, march 4th. The man accused of killing 7 people in Half Moon Bay last year has pleaded not guilty. 66 yearold chunli zhao was back in Court Thursday in san mateo county. Hes been charged with 7 counts of firstdegree murder and one count of attempted murder, all for allegedly shooting and killing 7 people and wounding one other. This was at 2 Mushroom Farms in Half Moon Bay earlier last year he was arrested this very same day and has remained in custody ever since. Prosecutors are hoping a trial will happen this year. But they do admit it may have to wait another year. Jones next Court Appearance is scheduled for april. 10. 0, 9, the time. Still ahead on the kron, 4 morning news lawmakers on both sides of the aisle cracking down on child traffickers in california will talk about a new bill theyre proposing. Plus, cal fire battalion chief start going through training now to help prepare them for the fire season this summer, the drills theyre doing to stay prepared. And for now up in the sierra, it is nothing but a blizzard. We do have blizzard warnings with heavy snowfall following up there now for the bay area. We are starting to see rainfall picking up, especially in the north bay especially in the north bay with some heavier pockets a mystery jessie loves playing detective. But the real mystery was her irritated skin. So, we switched to tide pods free gentle. It cleans better, and doesnt leave behind irritating residues. And its gentle on her skin. Tide free gentle is epa safer choice certified. Its got to be tide. Marshalls buyers hustle for the latest trends, from fashion. Double denim is back. Got it to beauty, so you dont have to. That is a deal we get the deals, you get the good stuff. Marshalls. What do i see in peter dixon . I see my husband. The father of our girls. I see a public servant. A man who served under secretary clinton in the state department. Where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. I see a fighter, a tenacious problemsolver. Who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. Because he sees a Better Future for all of us. Im peter dixon and i approved this message. 10, 12 is the time. Lets get over to the Weather Center. Weve got john with lots to talk about both here and open this year with the storm system john. Yeah, really been focusing on the Sierra Nevada because thats understandably where the worst impact from the storm is good. As far as snow pack goes bad for anyone that is up there in. Hes not ready to go because we are seeing white out conditions likely some Power Outages with these winds gusting 75 200 Miles Per Hour. Look at this gnarly view here at diamond peak. It is just completely white out there in the distance and not even seeing snow accumulation on the deck and the porch is there because its all just blowing off that snow going to be causing drifts and definitely not a situation. You want to be venturing into over the weekend. What we have as far as the next several hours ago. Up in the sierra is some of our heaviest snowfall of this forecast. That includes over the next 24 hours. Multiple fs a feet of snowfall piling up up there in those upper elevations. You see all that blue right up here. Bay area, comparatively quiet, but only by comparison, as you can see, we do have pockets of heavy rain ourselves now increasing right there along highway 37 just north of san pablo bay. Heres city of sonoma right up here. Nevado highway. 37 here. Watch your travels here. Getting wet pretty quickly at that moment. Also, some showers around fairfield and also right around san pablo. Hercules also right now. Now, as we work our way through the day today, this low pressure areas only going to dive in deeper in deeper bringing with it all that energy. Right now, the jet is set up shop right up into the sierra. And its just bringing that moisture right up into the mountains. A chance of thunderstorms for us in the bay area. Only increasing for the latter half of the day. So i know weve been relatively calm so far. Heres 02 00pm. A line of heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorm activity making its way through the north bay diving into the rest of the bay area. After that point tonight, especially early evening, expect heavy downpours. Heres 08 45pm. Also this evening. Look at that blue that pops up, especially in the northern part of the bay area. Were going to have accumulating snowfall for lake mendocino counties as well as upper elevations of sonoma and napa counties. 2 tomorrow remains unsettled with continued opportunity for thunderstorms all the way into sunday morning. Rainfall amounts for the bay area likely to be a few inches as we work our way through the weekend and next week, our biggest amounts of rain will be up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. While we do have snowfall up in the north coast mountains, lake and mendocino counties looking at 3 to 6 inches widespread for elevations above 1000 to 1500 feet. While it will be multiple feet of snowfall up in the Sierra Nevada. We under storm warnings for lake and mendocino counties in effect right now, whereas blizzard warnings in effect for the sierra. Its a pairing of the multiple feet of snow with those winds. 75 200 Miles Per Hour. Tree limbs down on roadways. Power outages likely the situation you want to be messing with. I know its rough if you didnt get rich funds on your hotel, reservations, just not something you want to be venturing into. Better safe than sorry for sure. 40 to 50 Miles Per Hour. Wind gusts in the bay area. Today we have our own wind advisories today through tomorrow morning. We also do have high surf advisories at the coastline, 15 to 20 mile or 20 foot waves breaking up and down the shoreline. As for temperatures today, looking at daytime highs in the upper 50s, tomorrows temperatures will barely make the low 50s as we see that colder air settling in. Well also see some snowfall in our mountain tops right here in our own backyard and feet of snowfall in upper elevations. James. All right. Thank you, john. 10 16 is the time and fire season may be on hold due to the winter weather. But firefighters are taking a break. At this point we have Dennis Shanahan showing us how First Responders are preparing for what will be a warm summer ahead. 750 acres still structures threatened. You have power lines down like heard on all aircraft, the life safety. When a major wildfire breaks out in california in Incident Commander is putting charge going go directly to disentangle from a mobile command post at the back of a pickup there constantly receiving information there on brink. After years drive, you want get a chair making quick decisions. You know, the burning traffic go ahead and giving orders that are icy. Resource ordered. This is how they train for it, right . Down here. 48 students from san diego to assist you hom and all counties for cal fire. Cal fire battalion chief Jeff Loveless is leading this role playing Training Exercise in a sacramento parking lot. The students are all cal fire captains in battalion chiefs ready to take on more responsibility. So this is to get them ready and prepared for these larger it when the fire season does come with evaluators watching and taking notes, the trainees have to perform a kind of high stakes juggling act. The exercise is designed to bombard them with multiple overlapping interruptions over 2 way radios air the by and in person. I that its stressful for the role player in this but in real life, its stressful for the incident. Commander cal fire captain nathan meant and Information OfficerScott Mcclain are playing the role of local media with an assist from yours truly behind the camera. Looking for an incident update. The trainees have to practice prioritizing telling the media to wait the 20 seconds. 30 seconds, 2 inutes and all step over here and give you guys an actual sound bite. Absolutely. Thanks. Thanks. Or the exercise also requires them to eventually find the time to make a brief media statement. All right, ready. Yeah, 250 acres, 800 acres 1000 acres. This is a rapidly expanding incident. Be safe and get out quickly. Then they have to practice breaking away to get back to their post. I need to get back managing this far doing that. I appreciate doug. Im back to you guys a little later. Thank you very much. Other role players include a Power Company representative. The app are lines down a highly opinionated local fire chief coming to my town right now. I think these guys in the last thing your mind that need to look at exactly midnight want and the students practice being in unified command with the Sheriffs Departm