Rain in the lower elevations and 2 to 4 for the hills and wind gusts of 50 miles per hour. Many elements coming together to bring a vigorous system our way. You can see cells here from point rays off the coast. It has been the lighter rain, heavier downpours and along the coast in San Francisco and san mateo and 280, lighter returns. Further south and east into san jose and livermore, 580. Some light shower activity. Were looking at a wind advisory, winds continue to crank up but by noontime, well have gusts over 35 miles an hour and when the front moves through from 6 00 to 9 00 tonight, we could see wind gusts in excess of 50 miles an hour. Were talking total as much as 3 inches before tomorrow night. And we have another system for the second half of the weekend. Cornell . Well, lisa, thank you so much. Brace for it. As lisa said the most powerful storm of the year so far will bear down on the bay area later today. Along with it, gusty winds, abc 7 News ReporterTiffany Wilson is live in pacifica where residents are about to feel the intensity of this storm. Reporter good morning, were in the prelude to the big storm but i can tell you its starting to get pretty miserable out here. It already started raining and wind has picked up and take a look at these waves behind me. They are going in sets. Some of them so intense that the water is splashing all the way over the sea wall and across the street and hitting the driveways on the other side. Heres one coming over. That wasnt as big as weve seen this morning but these waves are intense. And the intensity has some pacifica residents worried about the sea wall. Previous storms led to a gaping hole and street detours around the eroded area but locals think its only a matter of time before another section gives way and today could be that day they tell me. Now, some other families told me they are taking a close look at their property this morning, trying to secure any loose Patio Furniture and plants. Weve also seen sand bags out. Several people out walking dogs referenced the majestic beauty and power of these waves but they know the beach is no place to be during todays storm. Stay off the seawall, dont get on the beach, you have to be careful about the waves, people have died down here. Reporter with waves as big as these, its easy to understand why a Small Craft Advisory was issued overnight. Local fishermen told us they are doing all they possibly can to tighten up their boats, put out extra buoys and just ride out todays big storm system. Live in pacifica, Tiffany Wilson, abc 7 news. Stay safe out there. It is not just the rain that makes this storm so powerful, strong gusty winds could make things down right dangerous in your own backyard. Yesterday was spent trimming drought damaged trees vulnerable. Keeping branches and power lines apart is a 365 day a year job. Where theres saturation of soil, the wind will move the tree just a little bit and sometimes the weakened roots cant take that extra pressure. Though it may be a bit too late before this weekends storms, advise residents to trim trees so they dont have to worry about them falling on to cars or homes. Steady rain fell throughout the night. They are used to the usual problems but know that things can change in an instant. Abc 7 News ReporterMelanie Woodrow explains. As the rain came down, people outside soul food didnt seem to mind. Gosh no, they have an awning so that works out well. A little rain now with a lot more on the way. A really big storm is coming. Reporter the heaviest rain is expected saturday night. The Fire District spent the day doing community outreach. The concern with the wind is trees down and wires down. Reporter with those words came the call. Right now they are going to be dispatched to a tree down near an apartment complex in a district. [ sirens ] reporter with the trunk split so high up they will need a bucket truck to cut it. A scene that could repeat itself this weekend. Lets check it out. Roads are slippery and covered in snow in the sierra too. Chains are required on parts of 80 and highway 50 right now. A lot more snow on the way this weekend. Highest elevations could see up to 3 feet of snow. And because of this weekends storm, San Francisco is opening up two emergency shelters that can hold up to 200 homeless men and women. The first shelter is at the county fair building hall, it opens at noon today and cannot hold pets. The second shelter is at bill graham on grove street. It opens at 2 00 p. M. And pets are allowed there. The shelters will provide transportation to those who need a rides. San francisco public works will hand out free sandbags to residents on ceassar chavez street. You can pick them up at 8 00 a. M. To 2 00 p. M. Today. You can use the abc 7 news app to enable push alerts to receive breaking weather information. We also have resources to help you plan for these storms at abc 7 abc 7 news has learned that radios went down for 11 minutes friday night around 11 30. This is video of oaklands communication center. The Department Says officers had to rely on cell phones to communicate with each other and with dispatchers. The cause of the outage is not known. This war of words between the Santa Clara County sheriff and head of the Blue Ribbon Commission looking into conduct at her jails. The sheriff is innocenccensed a retired judge first came the cameras, the sheriff bought them with her own money and had them installed and thursday they captured this inmate fight. The chairman has since commented that the fight could have been avoided if those inmates hadnt been allowed to mingle. Sheriff smith fired off ang anry letter. The allegation shes making is not factual. Its a lie. Its dishonest. Reporter she clined an interview saying she doesnt want to detract from the work of the commission and wrote her own letter. I was clear in my statement that was broadcast, that if the officers knew that the inmates on 4a did not get along with one another, it wouldnt make sense for them to be let out at the same time. She goes on to write, sheriff, me thinks you doth protest too much. The sheriff says she is wrong. We would never segregate based on race or ethnicity or anything. Not only would we not do that but the u. S. Supreme court has said its illegal to do that. The sheriff is asking her to disclose emails and other documents that pertain to jail operations and she is asking for an expert to review the fight. Abc 7 news. Police in the east bay are looking for a man accused of stealing someones identity and going on a pretty big shopping spree. This picture from late january shows him with a shopping cart with a items purchased at the costco in concord, opened several Bank Accounts in anybody elses name and used them to fund his shopping trips. There are five confirmed cases of zika in the bay area. One case was reported friday and contra costa reported two, all of which were contracted travel to south and central america. Two other zika cases were confirmed last week in napa and San Francisco. The virus is usually pred by mosquitos but researchers have also identified zika cases transmitted through sexual intercourse. Lisa is keeping an eye on this major storm set to arrive in the bay area. You can see the clouds lowering and Poor Visibility here in San Francisco. Everybody is in the 60s, rain showers moving across the bay eastward to the northeast and were looking at gusty winds up to 25 miles an hour in Mountain View. But this is nothing. Well talk about whats to come, damaging winds and possible flooding throughout the evening hours. Thats next. Were bracing for it. Also, the mysterious mechanical problem that made the b. A. R. T. Commute for many a miserable ride and what the agency is doing about it. New information about the knife found at the former Brentwood Home of you have the power to heal. Because your purchase of vaseline intensive care lotion, supports the vaseline healing project. Join us to help millions in crisis heal their skin. Good morning, were back with this image from live doppler 7 hd. Pretty much tells the whole story, a sea of green as the first and series of el nino fueled storms make the way into the bay area. Lisa will have the forecast in a few minutes. New this morning, city of pacifica is planning to demolish apartments. It has been vacant since 2010, at risk of crumbling over the cliff. A construction fence is going up monday and demolition starts tuesday morning. One neighboring building has already been demolished and another has been yellow tagged. This is all because major storms have caused the city to red tag the 20unit apartment building. B. A. R. T. Is trying to figure out a mysterious problem that sidelined dozens of cars that created more congestion during key commute times. Laura anthony has the story. Reporter regular trans bay commuters tell us b. A. R. T. Trains are always packed during peak times but some may have noticed the conditions were even tighter. Theres a lot of crowds. Reporter it had to do we a technical issue, happening on eastbound trains traveling through the trans bay 2. Cars that have older expulsion equipment were experiencing spikes in voltage and circuitry that is meant to protect the motor from the voltage was getting damaged. So far 80 cars have been taken out of Service Temporarily at b. A. R. T. Maintenance yard. B. A. R. T. Says its a problem thats happening intermittently for some time but became more frequent lately. To keep it from happening, b. A. R. T. Has taken this west oakland substation offline. Although they dont think its the source of the problem. Were still trying to figure out exactly what caused it. We did major inspections and looked at the third rail, the track and found nothing. B. A. R. T. Expects to have all cars repaired and back in service by monday. In west oakland, laura anthony, abc 7 news. What are your thoughts on b. A. R. T. s crowded trains . We want to hear from you like the 2013 b. A. R. T. Strike. Share your comments on social media with the dearb. A. R. T. More than 200 transportation projects are threatened because the state collected a lot less gas taxes, money aimed at funding 225 shovel ready projects. That includes many in the bay area, the widening of highway 4, interstate 680 interchange the highway 92 and 101 interchange project and the b. A. R. T. Extension to san jose. These projects and many more can be delayed or canceled. Authorities are examining a knife found at the old o. J. Simpson estate. Is the knife used in the double murder case, the trial of the century. Reporter first lead in years. The actual item is described as a knife. Reporter leaving a flurry of interest. Testing a knife that was found reporter the possibility that the knife used to murder simpsons exwife and her friend ron goldman in 1994 may have finally been found. Well, i was really surprised. Reporter police say a construction worker handed the knife allegedly found buried on the property to an offduty officer near the simpson estate. At the time the house was being rebuilt. The retired officers lawyer called the lapd to alert them he had evidence but was told the case was closed. This is another case where an lapd officer mishandling evidence in the o. J. Simpson case . I certainly hope not but it is very concerning to us that a police officer, whether retired or active, would not know to submit and turn in evidence or what is believed to be evidence. He held on to as a souf near for 18 years, might not be evidence at all. The initial evidence shows it couldnt be the murder weapon, the knife not matching details of the crime. Reporter investigators say over the years they received 150 knives, some recovered during the demolition and reconstruction of this house. It would be interesting if there are some evidence on the knife that pointed to who might have helped to bury it. The news breaking as American Crime story the people versus o. J. Simpson is in full swing. Im not black. Im oj. It was too late to slow the kind of tweets and speculation abc news, los angeles. Just when you thought el nino was gone. It is back. This storm is no joke. Elements all coming together to bring heavy rain and gusty winds and possible flooding and seconds one on its years. After that abysmal february, 2 of normal rainfall and san jose had a third of an inch, we have a number three on our storm impact scale, its a strong one and thats today. Anywhere from 1 to 2 inches much rain through late tonight. As much as 2 to 4 inches in the higher elevation. Wind gusts in excess of 50 miles an hour. Live doppler 7 hd beginning to see yellows indicating more moderate rain in the north bay and Santa Cruz Mountains and by the delta. Well take you for a tour where the yellow just north of san rafael and highway 101 from novato and eastward to the Richmond San Rafael bridge el cerrito picking up rain and oakland, lighter amounts from cloverdale and its been raining about all night long there into the Santa Cruz Mountains. And over into morgan hill in the south bay, very light and heres the heavier shower activity from the delta real vista into the sacramento valley. We widen the viewing and notice the trajectory moving across to the eastnortheast with much more to come. Sierra nevada is quiet right now but a winter storm warning on the way allowing for the rain now to change over into snow. From saturday night through monday morning, thats a long time but within that time were looking at 2 to 3 feet of snow, i should say in kirkwood. Were looking at the changeover through the overnight hours. Look how mild it is with the southerly wind, 62 degrees in oakland, san jose and golden gate bridge, looking damp and foggy. Everyone is at 60s and 58 in santa rosa. The National Weather service issued a Flash Flood Watch from 2 00 this afternoon for the entire bay area into monterey and possibility of flooding along creeks and streams. A lot of rain is going to come down in a short time. Weve got a powerful jet stream, a strong cold front, creating gusty winds and some damaging winds as well, perhaps a power outage or two not unlikely. Look at santa rosa, heavier rain, more offshore. Anywhere from 4 00 this the afternoon to 9 00 tonight, thats the frontal passage and heaviest rain and the gustiest wind. Well watch that closely. Behind it things really settle down in terms of rain and wind but then a second one is on its heels and that one is going to bring also some thunderstorms possibly. So the wind profile this afternoon, take a look at the yellows, anywhere from 20 to 30 miles an hour by noontime. Off the coast here, 40 to 50 miles an hour. This is 3 00 and it justin creases with the frontal passage. Its going to be rough going out there. By tomorrow, its a moderate storm system comes our way with a half inch to inch and a half. You can see the spotty nature of the cells here tomorrow indicating the possibility of some sun breaks and a thunderstorm is possible. This one comes in even later, sunday night into monday or monday morning commute, should be kind of messy and well put the two together allowing for the rainfall to total 1 to 2 inches today and then through monday, 2 to 3 inches even more than that in the higher elevations. Gusty winds increasing rain and wind throughout the day. The accuweather forecast showing a stormy time of it throughout the weekend and things lighten up by monday and only dry day is tuesday and well have more moderate storms heading our way next thursday and friday. Plus it rained on my roof overnight. Very warm and very humid out too. Very subtropical. Thank you so much. Whale watchers getting a real treat. Amazing video of a hump back sonoma count School District waiting for answers, a false alarm, new tests show problems in the junior high not far away. Wayne freedman explains what the county has found so far. Reporter the water is off again in another heelds berg school. Theres no protocol how to deal with a situation like this. Reporter thats the superintendent, for a second time in two weeks they are testing on campus for fear of lead contamination. Were trying to get out in front of it and make sure kids are safe. Reporter it is healedburg high where pipes are pushing 100 years old. A preliminary warning led to importing water and taking any food preparation that involves using water off of campus. Parents are pleased with how the district has handled this so far. I think well be dealing with it more and more, youve got older homes and aging infrastructure. I think its not going to just be a healedberg school problem. Theres a Sonoma County health problem. That agency ran more tests and we wont know results until next week. County Health Officer karin millingman. It does not necessarily mean their child has lead poisoning, it depends on how much they consumed and whether or not it reached a threshold to cause problems with them. The district hopes such questions will never need answering. The superintendent has a child attending school in the district. You want to take every extreme precaution and treat your students as you would treat your own kids. Arent you doing that . Thats exactly what im doing. Abc 7 news. Take a look at this invedible video from a whale watching boat. Its a humpback with a buoy and rope entangled around its tail. They tried to unravel the rope and the whale gives up and gives it a strong flip and the line breaks off. The animal lifts its tail high out of the water to show, yeah, its finally free. Still ahead in our next half hour, decision day in five states over who should get pred shal nominations. Well tell you where votes are set to be cast. Were keeping a close eye on a big storm set to arrive later its. Good morning, were starting this half hour with a quick look at the weather and live look outside where weve got rain on the lens and rain falling on the east shore freeway. A powerful el nino influenced storm expected to arrive in the bay area today. The biggest one of the year so far. Good morning, we have a lot of energy offshore, a strong jet stream and gusty winds and potent cold front. Right now this is whats ahead of it with moderate rain into the east bay, were taking you around richmond, berkeley and highway