Highway 50. And obviously, you can see why a ton of snow falling here, a blizzard warning is in effect right now up in the mountains, and we have dangerous conditions for much of the sierra. Weve been warning you about this massive storm for days now. It is now here. Welcome everyone to the for this afternoon im alex savage and im heather holmes. And already weve seen a wind gust measuring about 145mph there in the tahoe basin case. Youre wondering thats the strength of a category four hurricane. And the area could see more than ten feet of snow over the next coming days. Ktvu tom vacar has been monitoring the situation in the mountains. He joins us now live with some of the impressive pictures coming out of the tahoe area. Impressive to say the least. The stars, moon and the isobars and jet streams have all aligned to whack the mountains. Extreme caution is very much advised. Once we get to sunset. Thats where things do start to get a bit more spicy. So far, mountain winds and snow have not produced many power outages. Among the many Power Companies that serve that region. But with the bigger winds and snows still on the way, that will change. But overall, were looking at wind gusts around 4050 miles an hour in the in the communities and then up on the ridges up on the mountain tops, definitely in excess of 100 miles an hour already. Some mountain top gusts have been clocked at up to 140 miles an hour. So no snow laden trees sitting on soggy ground and taking wind loads guarantee many tree falls and power outages. Some of the models even are shown 4 or 5 even close to six inches per hour. I mean, just think about that. Half a foot per hour. It could even give us one of the top ten snowiest days that weve seen at the snow lab going back to 1970. The National Weather service in reno says it expects at least three inches an hour of snowfall in the tahoe region and the surrounding area by sunday morning. Up in the up in the lake tahoe area, you know, seven feet, four feet, plus, including even around truckee and south lake tahoe, eight feet or more is expected in the higher elevations. But even down mountain reno can expect up to a foot of snow by sunday morning. So far as driving. Forget about it. Drifting snow so even if the snow plows come through and take care of some of the roads, the snow is just going to blow right back on it. Even before the full storm truly kicks in, the Sierra Snowpack water content is 102 of normal for this date, but still 23 less than what will be needed to make a normal year by the april first deadline. The snowpack is back now. The bottom line hope for a chain of more storms to make the year an average one. And the way that happens, if it just keeps on coming. Tom vacar ktvu fox two news okay, tom, thank you very much. Now we want to bring in our meteorologist rosemary oroczo for a look at those conditions. And rosemary really is quite unthinkable. The amount of snow that is expected in the area. Yeah. As he was saying, you know, 2 to 4in maybe even more per hour. And so while its going to be epic up there digging out of that is going to be a whole nother story. Giving you a look here at the satellite and radar, where you can see the entire west impacted by this storm. But really, our focus again is on this what is expected to be a historic snow event for the sierra and as we move in closer here, you can see thunderstorms firing off their over areas of the foothills as it works its way into the higher elevations. Right now, snow level is still about 5000ft, but is expected to drop to 2000ft, maybe even below that over the next 24 to 36 hours. Now we were just showing you the interview with the folks there at the sierra snow lab. Again, they reported 19in in just a 24 hour period. This was earlier this morning. And then heather also talked about a peak gust at the summit at 8700ft, clocking 145mph. That also happened. It looked like yesterday into the evening hours and conditions are expected to worsen later today into the overnight hours. The blizzard warning will go until sunday morning. The avalanche warning, expected to last until tomorrow morning, which may be extended. And as weve been talking about now for a few days , ten inches, maybe even or i should say feet, maybe even 12ft expected all said and done. So a better look at the Current Conditions and what we can expect moving forward, including the wet, windy weather here at home as well. All coming up okay rosemary. Thank you. Well, caltrans and the National Weather service have been warning people really not to even think about heading up to tahoe, given whats going on there. Want to give you now a live look. This is at highway 80 at kingvale. And you can see here, well, you really cant see a whole lot, right . I mean, you can see the snow coming down on the lens there, and then you can just see that roadway completely covered right now and snow, a few little tracks there, but obviously no drivers out there right now. Yeah. No one heading through that area right now. And much of the tahoe area for that matter. For more on the conditions up in the mountains right now, lets bring in Jeremy Lindner from caltrans. And jeremy, we can see here from your shot. You are in the thick of things right now. Give us a sense of what your experiencing up there in the tahoe area right now. How would you describe the conditions conditions wise . Id say its been fairly decent with the forecast involved. One of the things that the crews have really said to me as ive been up here all morning is theyve been shocked how light the traffic is. So it definitely appears that the public has heeded the warnings and so far are avoiding travel. Of course, we still have quite a bit more of this to go through, and i know theres several that are itching to enjoy this fresh snow, but weve got to get through this weekend first before we can do that. Absolutely. Yeah. And i know that really your job is to make sure that that that the highways and the roads are passable for folks, a lot of whom are really eyeing those ski resorts and things. But talk a little bit about how caltrans has, has gotten ready for this moment and has prepared to make sure that you can get those roads clear as soon as its safe. Yeah. So theres a lot of steps that we did preemptively when we had that weak little system at the beginning of the week than we had the break. So crews were actively preparing, making sure the equipment was up and running. Because its one thing to battle Mother Nature and another to be battling equipment issues. So as long as our fleet is in good health, we are able to do our job well. So once they did that, we waited for the initial snowfall and then have been attacking it pretty aggressively. Uh, weve had plow trucks, graders and blowers all three doing their part all day today. The crews are working in 12 hour shifts around around the clock to keep as much of the highway open as possible. Thats our ultimate goal, is not to have to close 80 down. Yeah. All right. So speaking of those closures, jeremy, we showed just a moment ago the situation over there on highway 50. And we saw very few cars going through that area. I know youre along interstate 80. I did see some reports a short time ago that you had a number of spinouts in that area and were Holding Traffic for a time. Whats the situation where you are along interstate 80, and what do people need to know about the Road Conditions . Yeah. So like you mentioned, we have seen a couple of spinouts. Weve held traffic a few times today, uh, mostly in the westbound direction. But no matter if youre heading east or west, uh, the big thing is if youre coming into this, you need to be prepared. Double check the forecast. You need to be checking quick map as well. That gives you real time traffic data, highway conditions, chain restrictions because its been in place all day long. And by doing that, you know what youre getting into. Also, slowing down is going to be the key. Weve seen quite a few drivers, just not have the equipment theyre trying to bypass chain controls. Theyre doing what they can to get to their destination quickly. And thats ultimately what you dont want to do. Slow and steady is going to win this race to keep not only our crew safe, but get everyone safe to their destination. Yeah you mentioned that even you know your folks were a little bit shocked about how few people there were out there on the roads. It seems like a lot of people have really taken the warnings to heart and are just avoiding making the trip, at least for now. Exactly. And thats ultimately what we want when we have incidences and traffic collisions on the highway that stretches our resources. Even thinner and sort of delays the focus off of the highway to clearing those. So by the traveling public doing their part and avoiding travel, that allows us to keep doing our job, which is essentially keep the highway open. Its a teamwork not only from our crews, but from everyone that likes to utilize this corridor. Yeah all right. We appreciate what you and your colleagues at caltrans do. I know you have a lot of work ahead of you here in the coming days to clear a ton of snow . Please stay safe. And we appreciate you checking in with us. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. All right. This storm has forced the closure of Yosemite National park. The park closed at midnight last night. It will remain closed at least through sunday at noon. Potentially later. There were some periodic closures during last years winter storms because of high water and flooding. However, closing the entire park is rare. Earlier we spoke with a Yosemite Park ranger, he says. This decision to close the park came after discussions with the National Weather service. Just as of yesterday afternoon. We just made the decision look, you know, with the amount of snow predicted, the rain, the wind, its just not going to be safe for anyone. Park employees or park visitors. So we made the decision to close the park, which is not something that we do very often. There were hundreds of park employees and visitors in the park at the time of the closure. The campground and Hotel Visitors were all given full refunds, and some bay area parks and recreational areas are also closing down because of these storms. Yeah in San Francisco, the Japanese Tea Garden and San FranciscoBotanical Garden in Golden Gate Park all closed a little bit early today. They did so at noon. Pine lake is closed through saturday and stern grove remains shut down due to previous storm damage and access issues. City park officials are urging people using other parks this weekend to be wary of strong winds that they could, in fact, knock down some tree branches. So be on the lookout for that. And its been raining off and on today. Lets take a look outside. Now, here in the bay area, lets take a live look in the east bay at interstate 80, looking towards emeryville and berkeley and as you can see here, things seem to be moving along on this friday afternoon commute. Even with a little bit of rain out there. And heres a look now at the golden gate bridge, where it too is smooth sailing. But there are a lot of dark clouds out there. Obviously, you can see that the roadway is wet from the earlier system that moved through, and well keep tracking that commute. And we want to let you know we have a lot more coverage online on this potentially historic storm up at ktvu. Com. Our ktvu meteorologist, mark tamayo, lays out everything you need to know when it comes to blizzards. Were also updating all of the closures, including which ski resorts are closed and when they might reopen. Plus, well have continuing coverage on the closure at yosemite. Were also streaming live cameras from all across the sierra, so you can see exactly what the conditions are like at any given moment. And you can check out our Youtube Channel for some great snow videos as well. And we will also be streaming any live updates from our weather team. And we will have up to date Road Conditions as well. A whole lot going on. We certainly have. You covered. You can stay with ktvu both on air and online. Okay were covering some other big stories today and that includes the availability of Abortion Pills is about to expand. Well tell you about the two pharmacies that are set to start selling mifepristone next week. Also, hollywood comes to Silicon Valley a little later in this newscast, well speak with one of the cofounders of cinequest in Silicon Valley about what makes this Film Festival different from all the others mr. Box . I had this idea. Is it giving people lots of great food for 6 dollars, and letting them choose between two delicious sandwiches . Great idea, devon. Run with it that went well. And you run and get my 6 jack pack. Welcome to jack in the box i launched our campaign at this union hall. And you run and get my 6 jack pack. Lets go win this thing then we hit the road and never stopped. You shared with me your frustration at working harder to barely get by and afford a place to live. Your fears for our democracy and freedoms and your dreams for yourself, your family, and the future. It is not too late to realize those dreams. Im adam schiff, and i approve this message because together we can still get big things done. Oh hey, jack. Going up . Actually, no, justine. My famous 2 tacos are still just 99¢ when you order on the jack app or online. Could you press 6, please . Im going up. Get my famous 2 tacos for just 99¢. Only on the jack app or online. Facing public pressure to get ivf services resumed in the state, alabama lawmakers voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favor of legislation that would extend lawsuit protections to clinics. This vote came just hours after House Democrats in washington, d. C, vowed to press ahead with legislation making ivf legal nationwide. Any barriers to assisted Reproductive Technology are unacceptable and cruel, and anathema to the concept of building families. A final vote on that alabama bill is scheduled for next week. The governor of alabama is expected to sign it into law on wednesday. Okay, now to a Major Development regarding the availability of the Abortion Pill mifepristone. Two pharmacy chains announcing today that they will soon start dispensing those pills. Our alix wirtz is here now with more on this announcement. Alice. Thats right. Heather. Both pharmacy giants. Walgreens and cvs received certification to dispense the Abortion Pill to patients with a prescription. The potential for this move means increase access, making it easier for patients as it is now 50 of abortions are now performed using medication rather than surgical intervention by a doctor would still need to write a prescription. Doctor Daniel Grossman is a ucsf professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and hes director of advancing new standards in reproductive health. He says its not surprising that pharmacies are going to be dispensing these medications now. Its a very popular method. Many people say that they see it as being easier the simpler its more convenient. They can have the abortion at home, um, surrounded by their partner or family friends. Now walgreens will start providing the pill within the next week in a small number of its pharmacies in new york, pennsylvania, massachusetts, and here in california, as well as illinois. Now, cvs will begin dispensing in all of its pharmacies in massachusetts, in rhode island, in the next weeks ahead. Thats according to a spokesperson. The chains are going to be monitoring the prospects in a few states, including states where abortion bans or strict limitations have been enacted. But there are legal challenges pending now at the end of march, the Supreme Court is taking up the case of challenging the fda in regards to whether mifepristone can be dispensed without a patient seeing a doctor prior to receiving the drug. Well be keeping an eye on that. Of course. All right, alice wertz in the newsroom. Alice. Thank you. The cdc has updated its guidance for people who test positive for covid. It now says people with symptoms that are improving and fever free for 24 hours will no longer be directed to isolate at home for five days. The cdc is also recommending that people who test positive for covid should base their isolation period on clinical symptoms and not use testing as a standard for deciding when someone is no longer contagious. Okay, we are continuing our coverage of that big storm that is right now in the sierra, and this is a live look at a traffic cam. This is from caltrans and this is at the highway 5089 Traffic Circle at myers. And this is the first time actually, that weve seen this number of vehicles in this particular area. And we saw a spin out actually happened just a few seconds ago. So it is slow going for folks. You can actually see a snowplow there. Again in this area at myers that caltrans is keeping an eye on as they try to clear out this area and make it accessible for drivers. But again, some some folks moving through this area just fine, obviously, very, very slowly though, we want to get an update on the conditions here and our unsettled weather. And lets bring in rosemary for that. Yes. Heather. So a wet and windy for us. We even have advisories to talk about. And of course that snow piling up in the sierra. And with that said, the snow levels are expected to drop come to tomorrow. So we are looking at, you know, snow levels all the way down to about colfax, perhaps, which means not only a whole lot of snow on those highways, but a long drive with the snow on the ground, 60 miles or so between colfax and well say kingvale or truckee. Heres a look at whats going on here at home. Thats actually a beautiful picture. There we see even a little bit of blue sky. How about some of the rainfall amounts we have seen since the system started to bring us rainfall yesterday . Santa rosa picking up a little bit more than an inch. Mount diablo an inch and 8 10, as well as ben lowman in the santa cruz mountains, novato a little bit more than 7 10, a san jose a little bit les