flames, black smoke billowing out of this house. this is in a neighborhood called it tolar heights west of 580 off the 98th avenue exit west of the oakland zoo and that hilly area that's right by there you can see in just a short amount of time flames just consumed this entire home. firefighters arrived and starting knocking down the fire. they worked very quick ly to knock it down and they were very, very successful. we take you back out to the live pictures you see before, you can see that the house is charred but they were successful in not letting it spread to any of the other homes nearby or look at the foliage next to it. firefighters were able to contain the fire just to that one house, again, west of the oakland zoo. we don't know if anyone was home at the time but we do know that firefighters were able to knock that down in what was a very relatively short amount of time. we're efforting to get you more information. when we do, we'll bring that to you right away. we are also following

another development story in east oakland where a teenager is dead following a shooting this afternoon. police say it happened close to 2:30 today at 80th and bancroft avenue. the victim identified as franklin jr. today's shooting comes just a few weeks before franklin was set to graduate. investigators are searching for suspects at this hour. tonight jae owe vanny ramirez is facing a police lineup. he's the man accused of brutally beating dodgers fan bryan stow in the parking lot 0 opening day. the ramirez family attorney says ramirez has an alibi. patrick healey has the very latest. >> reporter: is the assailant sketched here giovanni ramirez, the dodger stadium beating suspect being kept at men's central jail. >> he has a clear cut alibi. >> reporter: he says he has spoken to witnesses who say he was in east hollywood at his aunt's apartment with 10-year-old daughter the evening

of the stadium parking lot attack. last night ramirez's mother implored authorities to take another look. >> please check. be sure it is my son. that's all i can say. thank you. please be sure. >> reporter: you don't think your son was at the stadium? >> no, he was not. >> reporter: this evening at the county jail investigators have arranged to conduct a lineup with ramirez for witnesses from the stadium to see if they will pick him out in person. >> photos can be deceiving sometimes. >> reporter: to explain how the lineup works, we turned to a retired homicide detective. he relied on lineups with the suspect placed amid other jail inmates to test witness identification. >> we pick people that are very similar in nature and physical characteristics and so they didn't stand there and the person gets a chance to look at the lineup and then be certain of his identification. why go through everything if you're not certain? >> reporter: according to attorney matthews who represents

ramirez's 10-year-old daughter and her mother, he stayed behind to watch the 10-year-old and another child while other family and friends did go to the stadium opening day. police have been seeking two assa assailants and the woman who drove them away in the car. ramirez came to his parole officer who saw a resemblance in the pictures. police declined to discuss the case in any detail. chief charlie beck says they have confidence in the investigative aspects that pointed to ramirez. >> that was nbc's patrick healey from l.a. for more log on our website at nbcbayarea.com. a sad gathering will start in just a few minutes in danville. that's when family and friends of allison bayliss are gathering for a candlelight vigil. the highway patrol changed the search for the high school sophomore to a water recovery. they have information indicating she walked onto the golden gate bridge monday morning but was not seen walking off. friends mounted a huge facebook

effort to find her. tonight's vigil begins at 7:00 at the danville congregational church. >> it is hard to imagine. more tornado warnings in the midwest. while people in joplin, missouri, assess the damage, at least one south bay family raised in the area is lending a hand from here. nbc bay area looks at the effects the storms are having on the bay area. >> reporter: she's been tweeting and facebooking tornado updates from her south bay home and she's been glued to the it tv. baker is from missouri, six miles away from devastated joplin. >> we have family members that have lost everything. they've lost their homes, their vehicles and, you know, but they have their lives and that's what matters. >> reporter: patricia is working to get a washington can company to donate eyeglasses to survivors who need them. >> they'll do 10,000 glass promoti promotionals, and i sent them an e-mail this morning asking them to please consider working with

us to help joplin. >> reporter: while she works the internet, the midwest storms are having an effect on the bay area. several flights with connections in chicago and dallas were either delayed or canceled in all three bay area airports. >> i've been trying to leave san jose since 7:00 this morning. >> reporter: and? >> i think i'm about to leave at 1:00, i think. so far it hasn't been canceled. every other flight's been canceled. >> reporter: james coleman is an army reservist and eager to get back to memphis where floods proceeded today's tornado advisory. >> i feel like i need to go home so i can start evacuating. >> reporter: while coleman puts his service to country on hold, the peninsula's urban search and rescue force three is under advisory. if things get worse, they could be called to go. >> you need to take cover immediately. >> reporter: that's all patricia baker has been hearing the last few days, hoping nature eases up on the show me state.

damian trujillo. it's been such a flurry of tornadoes there, jeff. we may be having some of our own tornado trouble here in california as well. that's right. all across the map right now the atmosphere is really getting sturd up with an aggressive jet stream stretching from the west coast right over towards the southern plains and eastern u.sy ncap sequenceill bring us into toico. were lool fwinge solerever weather here from cincinnati and indianapolis and st. louis. those are hot spots if you're doing any traveling. we could see tornado outbreaks tonight. now to chico. this tornado warning issued in the past half hour. this does include the chico downtown region until 6:15 so, again, for about the next five to six minutes, this is a pretty strong thunderstorm cell heading right across 32 a 99 just south of downtown. that could be producing a tornado or have a tornado dropping down at any moment. you can see that bull's eye

there getting very close to highway 99. if you know anybody that lives in this area, you may be wanting to give them a call. i'm sure they can tell this weather is pretty severe but historically thunderstorm cells like that moving through chico do have a history of producing a tornado. we probably would look at an ef-0 or ef-1 if that touched down. warning in chico until 6:15. otherwise we're looking at traffic issues on interstate 80 due to this rare blast of sierra snow. temperatures in the 30s. that snow expected to continue with a winter weather advisory. back here across the bay area we've cleared out from some of the heaviest rainfall. we still have that chance of showers. i'm going to go back to my computers and look up more on this chico thing and have more in a couple of minutes. >> thanks, jeff. we'll talk to you in a bit. new at 6:00, a firestorm of controversy burning in the east bay where residents are accusing the city of putting them in harm's way by taking cattle off of some of the hills.

kimberly tere, the issue is the weeds are waist high and they are concerned about fire season. >> reporter: that's right, jessica. this is what has residents upset, these dried out weeds and grass which could serve as fuel if a wildfire tears through here and it is just yards away from their homes. 160 condos on summit ridge. walnut creek resident frank mccormick says the cows used to keep the grass down and the fuel low for fire season. >> as nearly as we can tell they've been here since spanish days. this is the first year they have not been here. >> reporter: he is among many residents upset about the city's decision to not return the cattle. they are concerned the dry grass could accelerate a wildfire pushing it right into their neighborhood. >> it's going to look like 1991 and the berkeley hills. during that fire it started as a grass fire and it took off and

burned almost 3,800 homes and apartment units. >> reporter: city officials say while they are listening they had good reason to remove the cattle. >> we were having a lot of conflict with humans and dogs and the cattle. it's a balance. so we're worrying about the flora and do oak restoration and when you have the cattle it jeopardizes the oak restoration. >> reporter: city officials say they are looking into other options including putting goats on the property. residents say that isn't cost effective. >> we see a price of $700 per acre. we have 180 acres in the open space. if you do the math, that comes out to $126,000. under the current situation the rancher pays the city $2,000 a year so they're essentially doing it for free. >> reporter: he says anxiety in the neighborhood increases every day as the fire season gets closer. they plan to keep putting pressure on city leaders who say

they, too, are concerned and are doing what they can to mitigate the problem. the city manager contacted mccormick today to talk about his concerns. they, along with other residents, plan to meet within the next week to come up with a solution. live in walnut creek, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. catholics celebrate add rare event in san jose when a new bi bishop was ordained for the first time. ♪ father thomas daley was ordained to serve as an auxiliary to patrick mcgrath, the archdiocese needs another bishop to administer to the growing number of catholics. bishop daley was born and raised in san francisco and served as the president of marin catholic high. the other rare part about today's ceremony is that it it was broadcast on the internet in english and in spanish. still ahead at 6:00, we go

in-depth to tell but a worldwide travel warning to women in the bay area. do you know what's living in your garage? the unsettling discovery by one california family. plus, what's in the water? the local beaches ranked among the worst in the state. >> reporter: i'm marianne fa vro. this is helping patients get up and out of their wheelchairs.

patients confined to wheelchairs are up and walking thanks to bionic legs developed here in the bay area. marianne favro joins us now to show us how the magic happens. marianne? >> reporter: consider it a wearable robot, a device that allows spinal cord patients to take a giant step forward. >> i was texting and driving and i wasn't wearing my seat belt. i was ejected out of the car,

out of the passenger door, and i broke my back. >> reporter: that was january 7th. stephanie hasn't walked since until she slipped on these bionic legs. >> i definitely had to hold the tears back but standing up and taking my first steps filled that void that has been taken away from me. >> reporter: the 24-year-old is part of a study looking at the safety of e-legs developed by berkeley buy onyx. >> control the legs to take a natural step and as the patient balances and moves forward. >> reporter: this device weighs about 45 pounds and it can be used on many different patients of different sizes because it can be adjusted to fit someone much taller than stephanie. studies prove e-legs is safe to use, the hope is one day paralyzed patients can use it on their own at home. >> even if it's just cooking, being able to go from the counter to the stove and to

watch over the stove instead of have it eye level with you, that will be one of the biggest rewards. >> reporter: stephanie plans to attend college. thanks to her e-legs she is standing tall and stepping into a more promising future. the idea for e-legs was born when berkeleybionics tried to help carry the load for soldiers. that's when they realized they could use this to help paraplegics walk and what a difference it's making. marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, marianne. hundreds of disabled people and their caretakers rallied for the eighth annual disability capital action day. they are avoiding all budget cuts and to pass the governor's extensions. social service workers and caretakers are laid off forcing the disabled patients to go into state run or expensive institutions. well, a judge heard testimony today in the legal

battle over an oakland memorial to the mass suicide at jones town in guy and a. more than 900 members of the people's temple died in 1978 in a mass suicide ordered by reverend jim jones. at issue is the memorial itself which was installed at evergreen scemetery two weeks ago. the reverend norwood who lost 27 family members including her own mom filed a lawsuit against the cemetery alleging that it had reneged on the commitment to let her install her own memorial at that site. the most pressing issue before alameda county superior judge is norwood's bid to prevent a dedication ceremony for the memorial being held as planned on this sunday. also the issue is that jim jones' name is also placed there at that cemetery. the judge will issue a ruling tomorrow. san francisco's controversial sit-lie law isn't doing much good. police department speaking at a meeting today. the law makes it illegal to sit or lie on public sidewalks

between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. with some exceptions. enforcement began in march but at today's meeting belinda kerr said it has led to a large number of arrests, citations and warnings but not much change in behavior. beachgoers may want to avoid a few bay area beaches on the heal the bay report card. three of the top ten worst are c oi well beach, baker beach and capitola beach west of the jetty. it is based on adverse health effects caused by elevated levels of fecal bacteria in the surf zone. >> ew, does not sound good at all. but the weather was not a good day to go to the beach anyway. jeff? that's right. certainly some strong weather moving in throughout california. in fact, we do want to bring you some information here to our neighbors to the north in chico. they are currently under a tornado warning right now as this thunderstorm cell is crossing over highway 99, also

highway 32. chico under this tornado warning until 6:45 tonight. let's go ahead and take off the warning box and we're also taking some live shots here from butte county, kcra live chopper. as you're looking for the funnel cloud that could have dropped down. we're not getting any reports of a tornado that has been confirmed, that has touched down on the ground but, once again, a strong thunderstorm cell moving right over chico at this moment. that could produce a tornado. so if you know anyone in the chico area, you certainly want to give them a call and let them know to seek shelter immediately. i want to come back to my radar real quickly and show you that thunderstorm cell producing multiple lightning strikes. over 100 lightning strikes in the past 45 minutes or so and it's right there just south of chico where that bull's eye is where it could be dropping down this tornado. they, once again, under this tornado warning until 6:45 tonight. also including paradise off towards the east as well.

this is all part of this rather unusual system that continues to hit the bay area with some snow here for the sierra. even closures across interstate 80 tonight because that snow has been coming down so hard at times. the temperature now at 34. heading up to the sierra, be prepared for winter conditions. we've seen the worst of the weather moving out of the bay area to the south and also for the east. but anyone in the chico area, if you know anyone in that area, they certainly could be dealing with a tornado that could drop down at any moment. meanwhile, as we head throughout the night, a few clouds lingering across the bay area. we're watching, yes, another storm system in the next 48 hours. this area of low pressure that could even produce some showers well to the north here as we head throughout our seven-day forecast. all right. let's get you into tomorrow morning starting off cold with near record setting lows. mid to upper 40s here. 42 in napa. 48 in livermore with 50 in san jose and by 10:00 and 11:00 in

the morning we will be warming up into the mid and upper 50s. we're tracking the deadly and severe weather throughout the eastern half of the u.s. tornado watches exist from the midwest down here into texas. so if you're doing any traveling, you're going to have to watch out for what could be more deadly weather that's going to potentially strike here throughout tonight. we'll have more coming up. >> thank you, jeff. coming face-to-face withou mountain lion is probably not what you'd want to do in your own garage, but,itoila, there it is. a family in hesperia found that mountain lion after searching the garage for a raccoon or some other small animal. it had made the garage its home. there had been sightings in the area since friday. now the family closed the garage up and called wildlife experts. they came in, tranquilized the animal and then took it to the san bernardino national forest where it was released into the wild. still ahead at 6:00, trying to lose weight? your job may be to blame?

i'm scott budman. twitter spending big money to grow. we'll show you how next. ♪ i throw my hands up in the air sometimes ♪ plus, we'll explain why tonight will be dynamite at at&t park for a youtube star, keenan k eoecedcndhei fhfaebeecacacaca

a silicon valley startup is tweeting its good news tonight. twitter is getting bigger. nbc gabay area reporter scott budman. twitter snatched up a very popular product, the san francisco company buying tweet deck in a deal said to be worth $40 million. tweet deck is a well known way for both individuals and businesses to organize their real time twitter streams. originally a third party tool

tweet deck now part of the mothership. another silicon valley company moving money, tesla. the electric car company is raising funds to help pay for a future crossover electric model. they plan to sell close to 5.5 million shares of its stock. current shares jumped by more than 8% on the news. let's check your money for a wednesday. a strong day both for stocks and commodities. the price of oil now back above $100 a barrel. investors see that as a sign of a strong economy so they jumped back into the market after a three-day losing streak. apple and fwogoogle back in the hairs of al franken. a member of the senate judiciary committee today sent letters to the two tech giants asking that all mobile apps come with clear and understandable privacy policies. this comes as mobile devices come under scrutiny for the data they collect about their users. no comment yet from apple or google. and, speaking fl google, the south san francisco second grader who won the doodle for

google contest last week will be honored by his hometown. that is 7-year-old mateo lopez. he'll get the key to the city at tonight's city council meeting. lopez's drawing called space life took first place among 107,000 entries. lopez is not the contest's youngest winner, he pulls in a $15,000 scholarship which, he says, he plans to use as stanford. >> good for him. thank you, scott. a new $500 million federal grant competition is handing out cash to states which improve their preschool programs. the obama administration's early learning challenge is a third round of its race to the top state competition which doled out nearly $4 billion and federal education money last year. now this new competition is designed to encourage better coordination and higher learning standards in preschool. california is is eligible for some $50 million in funding. state and federal officials are still not on the same track when it comes to california's

high-speed rail system. in a letter by the u.s. department of transportation federal officials say the state's rail authority doesn't have the power to side track the project or next year's september deadline. state planners also want to move the first stretch of track out of the central valley. officials question whether the california high speed rail authority can manage the $43 billion project that would connect san francisco and anaheim. >> still ahead, americans are being sexually assaulted overseas. the sobering statistics and the nightmare lived out by a local student attacked by an acquaintance and then she says abandoned by police. coming up, why the clock is apparently ticking for john edwards. also, a judge makes a key ruling involving the alleged gunman in the shooting of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. oh, no. >> and the latest from the midwest as tornadoes carve a path of destruction.

we are back in eoecedcndhei eoe

we want to update you on a weather situation developing in northern california. what you are looking at are pictures from the chico area where as you see a funnel cloud has formed. these are pictures taken from a helicopter just within the last half hour. jeff ranieri has been tracking this. it looks from here like the funnel cloud has touched down. that makes it a tornado, right? >> that was about 15 minutes ago from our chopper that they witnessed this and they're still searching around. we do have live pictures we may be able to dip into from our chopper in that direction as they're following what looks to be super cell thunderstorm right near chico and down south into durham where there has been now

a tornado that has touched down. it looked like a very weak tornado, ef-0, maybe ef-1 putting winds anywhere from 80 to possibly over 100 miles per hour with this. we haven't heard any reports of damage or injuries. once again this happening in the chico areaown in durham. if we take my weather maps as well, perhaps we can squeeze them back and share it with the video we're taking live.ar this covers chico, durham, also paradise up until 6:45. if you know anyone that lives in the area, it is time to seek shelter especially those near paradise, highway 191 and anyone along 99 that is driving up that way in a car will want to pull aside and find some other way around that and just wait this out. as we pull off the tornado warning, we're looking at three particular areas of concern. that area just south of chico. then near durham this thunderstorm cell kind of splitting apart and that's

another area of this strong weather. there's a picture coming in. this is a rare california tornado. the base not very wide. in terms of damage, it wouldn't really produce much but, still, all it takes is one tornado, even a small tornado at times, and you can have deadly weather. this all coming, of course, after that string of severe .iofhe eastern u.s.ughout rn we'll be tracking this tornado warning. take my radar real quick one more time. i want to show where that severe weather is heading. highway 191, 99 in durham with multiple lightning strikes and also hail quarter sized in some cases. so some severe weather to the north. >> thank you very much, jeff. we're going to keep on top of that situation and bring you any more developments, any more pictures as they come into the newsroom. but right now tornadoes in

northern california to what's been happening in the midwest where they are picking up the pieces. the death toll at joplin, missouri, stands at 125 after the deadliest tornado in decades. meanwhile, in oklahoma people are getting the clearer picture of damage left behind there after yesterday's powerful tornado. nbc bay area's george kiriyama has more. >> reporter: violent storms slash across the middle of the country ripping up property and lives. the latest strike was this afternoon in missouri. >> oh, no. >> reporter: a series of tornadoes over the last four days has carved a deadly path that stretches from texas through oklahoma, arkansas, kansas, and missouri. leaving in its wake more than 130 dead, more than 1,000 injured. the most vicious strike in joplin, missouri. >> we are going to rebuild. this community is going to revive. >> reporter: revival that starts with returning to neighborhoods like this one searching for anything the storm may have left behind. though most still can't shake

the haunting memory of what happened. >> the sound. i'll never, ever get that sound out of my head. >> reporter: tammy and her husband were trapped in their car when the tornado hit. >> he stopped because we knew we were done for. he held me. i started screaming and we just held each other because we knew it was over. we were gone. we should not be alive. >> reporter: she is thankful, though still in shock, unsure of how or where to start picking up the pieces. >> it's all gone. it's just all gone. and you don't know where to start. where do you start? >> reporter: it is an overwhelming struggle to survive now faced by thousands of families in the wake of the storm. george kiriyama, nbc bay area news. >> difficult pictures to look at. the man accused of shooting

congresswoman gabrielle giffords is not mentally competent to stand trial. 22-year-old jared lee loughner yelled incoherently during a hearing today, a competency hearing. the judge ordered him out of the courtroom. u.s. district judge larry burns then decided to make loughner not competent to stand trial. loughner will be sent to a federal facility up to four months to see if he can improve to the point where he understands the case being presented against him. the ruling came after two mental health professionals said they concluded loughner suffers from schizophrenia, that he's mentally unfit for trial. federal prosecutors say john edwards could be indicted within days. edwards is suspected of using campaign contributions to cover up an affair and child born out of wedlock. authorities spent more than two years investigating edwards' campaign finances. the focus is on money from wealthy supporters who wanted to keep mistress rielle hunter and baby in hiding. this happened to protect the democrats' white house campaign from scanned a. edwards who has

made millions as a trial lawyer, could lose his law license if he enters a guilty plea. thousands of bay area women set out every year this time to explore the world, looking for new adventures, new experiences and something they'll remember for the rest of their lives. but for one local woman, her journey turned into something that scarred her forever. her story is painful to share, but she wants every woman in the bay area to be aware of it. nbc's vickie winn takes us in-depth tonight. i remember saying no and then trying to say stop in spanish, but then i remembered his hand going to my neck to stop me from speaking. i do know that i was sexually assaulted. >> reporter: it was the summer after her freshman year at usc. joelle emerson was in spain for the first time for a three-month study abroad program. it was supposed to be the experience of a lifetime and the

american students quickly made friends. one young man seemed especially helpful. >> my friends and i had been spending time with a bartender in spain who told us he would help us learn spanish and we could help him with his english. >> reporter: to this point you considered him a friend? >> yes. >> reporter: and you trusted him? >> i did. i went to meet up with him the night of june 19th. >> reporter: that night forever changed the course of joelle's life. she says he gave her a glass of sangria before they left the bar and went back to her home. she woke up unable to move. >> my muscles really were completely weak. some parts of me were numb. i remember having a really hard time speaking. i couldn't yell but i remember saying, no. >> reporter: she says she was raped in an attack that lasted hours. the worst part should have ended when her attacker left, but, as joelle found out, the trauma was just beginning. >> i felt that i was completely on my own. >> reporter: she says nothing in her pretrip orientation prepared her for what to do as the victim

of a crime, so she called usc for help. >> the university said to call the health insurance company. >> reporter: so you got the run around? >> i got the run around. >> reporter: she went to a doctor contracted with the university but says he refused to perform a rape kit. >> rape victims tend to doubt themselves a lot anyway. when you have a medical doctor doubting you and making you question yourself, it's very hard to -- it's very hard to feel you were really right. >> reporter: going to the police added to that doubt. >> it it was probably about three hours in this small, cr cramped room by myself trying to explain to police officers what had happened, being asked questions that i felt were challenging me, and i felt were suggesting that i was lying. >> reporter: sadly, what happened to joelle emerson is not an isolated incident, but it's impossible to know just how many sexual assaults and serious crimes are committed against students studying abroad. no federal law requires schools or programs to keep track of

that information or to make it public. and the victims aren't just women. austin bice made headlines in march when he went missing in madrid. the san diego state business student was found in the river, his death remains a had mystery. joelle says male or female american students make perfect targets for overseas crimes. >> you're not going to be there long enough to see the case through so it's really, really hard if you're a study abroad student to ever get justice done. >> reporter: though her attacker was arrested and joelle's family spent thousands, the case went nowhere. >> several months later i got a final notice that they wouldn't be taking my testimony and that the case had been dropped. >> reporter: joelle says schools are vastly unprepared to help students who become the victims of crime. and in her case, they did little to prepare her for potentially dangerous situations. >> when i went to spain one of the big travel advisories was about the black market manufacturer of the date rape drug, something that the u.s.

knew about, that our program administrators didn't give us information about. >> reporter: she says unless parents and students demand more support, they won't get it. >> you can do all the right things and you can still be a victim of crime so what really needs to change is the response. >> reporter: and in her case, it did. joelle worked with usc to establish new rules for assisting victims of sexual assault. the school now gives students wallet cards with emergency numbers and an escort to help them with police and doctors in the aftermath of a crime. as for what you can do to prepare yourself, hear from a study abroad expert. we have additional tips analyst of questions you should ask before taking that trip. go to nbcbayarea.com. still ahead at 6:00, pitching in. how the giants are stepping up to the plate for one of the internet's biggest stars. plus, the new culprit in the obesity epidemic.

how your job may be playing a kc

i knew this job was making me fat. workers today are burning less calories than workers in the 1960s. a new study says the lower ak it tift is drew to a dramatic drop in active jobs like farming and an increase in office jobs which are mostly sedentary. men burning 142 calories a day at work and women 124. about a third of adults are obese which is up 13% from the 1960s. they say that's not all that's contributing to obesity. calorie intake is also up. i'm just going to blame it on the job. >> that's one of those statements that generally gets husbands and boyfriends in a lot of trouble. no, it's not the job that's making you fat. no, no. no, i didn't say you were fat. >> playoff hockey. >> yes. the stress of that. >> trying to pick up the pieces here. a tough way to exit the playoffs in vancouver. two straight years the conference finals, two years of dreams dashed on the doorstep of the stanley cup finals. well, take our minds off the

sharks by focusing on baseball. we have the giants for you here on nbc bay area in a matter of minutes plus a look the warriors and kaiser teaming up to fix a place where several nba stars were born. that and more coming up in sports. and, good evening. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. the sun has come out. details on what your weekend is looking like. plus tracking some severe weather and tornadoes that have

weather is turning into the big story right now. i want to get straight to jeff ranieri. we have a tornado that has touched down near chico. any reports of any damage or anything like that? >> no reports of damage or injury we've heard about. this warning does stretch from chico to paradise down to durham through 6:45. likely extended as these i isolated thunderstorm cells are staying intact. we have some twitter pictures coming in and some unbelievable chopper video. when you think about it here in california we only average zero to one tornado a year. these are live chopper pics as this rope tornado is touching down. again, a very weak fum there. we've seen it lift up and then come back down but amazing to see this happening here in california. this is probably about the fourth or fifth funnel we have had touching down. this, i believe, is near the

durham area where we are picking up rotation in this thunderstorm activity. again, anyone in the chico, durham or paradise area is continually being affected by this weather and there you can see that funnel tries to touch down. these very, very dramatic pictures right here coming from our chopper. we're going to be following this and we'll, of course, bring you further updates if needed as we head throughout the rest of this segment. as we come on out to the weather maps, what i want to show you is where this area is located once again if you know anybody in chico, some of the heaviest activity heading right to paradise. they are under that tornado warning. also durham and right across highway 99, those are the areas being affected the most and that's where we've seen the most rotation and it's right here just to the south and the east of durham, our computer continually picks up on some rotation down here. very, very close to that highway

99 corridor which definitely could be causing people problems if they are heading up that way. very isolated incident. you can see that is severe weat as we zoom out just mainly here across chico. we're not looking at anything severe that would be heading their way once this event is done and over with. up here across the sierra, some snow. two to four inches today. it even held traffic on interstate 80 earlier. that snow starting to lessen up. we're looking at dry weather right now across the bay area and it will stay dry here as we head throughout the next two days to this point. right now 60s from the north down to the south bay. 64 in san jose and low to mid-60s in the east bay. as we head throughout tonight, only a slight chance of an isolated shower. throughout thursday it will stay dry and also breezy. we have another front coming our way that could bring us cloudy weather the next 48 hours. we're not expecting any rainfall at this point. here is a look. 6:00 a.m. on thursday. we mainly have the clouds with us. as we head to 11:00 a.m., a mix of sun and clouds and we'll look at some sunny skies as we head into the afternoon hours on thursday at this point. then as we head into friday those clouds do start to return.

following severe weather once again the midwest with tornado watches from chicago down to st. louis and for tonight near record setting lows, mid-40s here for the east, north and south bay. on your seven-day forecast you have dry weather as we head into your upcoming weekend. i'll be following that severe weather to the north. we know we have a lot of people who have family and friends who live up that way. a very rare sight tonight. i saw four of those funnel clouds drop down within a half hour. >> jeff, thank you very much. >> sure of the. >> he's a youtube sensation and now san francisco giants darling. the team stepping up to the plate tonight to help a boy that suffers from a rare disease and he's not alone. how the black and orange do some dynamite work in the community. ♪ you think i'm pretty without any makeup on ♪ >> reporter: whoever said lip-synching isn't a talent has never witnessed keenan cahill's youtube videos.

tens of millions have viewed the illinois teen lip-synching to pop hits. ♪ and it goes on and on and on >> reporter: cahill suffers from a rare genetic disorder that can result in the dwarf like appearance. the those who have joined his cyber limelight, a pair of san francisco giants. >> our staff approached him and said would you be willing to do a video with him? and they jumped to it. they did it in one take. ♪ put my hands in the air >> reporter: during tonight's home game the team will also hold a fund-raiser for cahill. >> we are raising money for his foundation to help pay for some of his medical expenses. >> reporter: in the world of the giants, the idea of pitching in goes well beyond the diamond. when the japan earthquake hit, the team quickly organized a fund-raiser. and after the beating of giants fan bryan stow, the team raised money for his care. >> every night when we play a home game we have a built-in aw audience of about 41,000 people. and we have the opportunity to

send important messages about issues that may be facing the community. >> reporter: for years the community fund has awarded billions of dollars in community grants and pays forred 17,000 kids to play baseball in its junior giants program. >> 90% of the kids that we serve are under the poverty line and without the junior giants and the community fund and the giants as a whole organization they wouldn't be getting the stuff that they really, really need. >> reporter: the program has kept future stars like oliver saunders on the field. >> i just like to hit. i like the strategies, the coaches. >> reporter: but just like charity, talent takes on many forms. ♪ i throw my hands up in the air sometimes ♪ >> reporter: it doesn't always have to be pretty to get a big win. joe rosato jr. >> world series winners and they're good guys. >> you cannot the watch that guy and not smile. adorable.

>> we wish him well. let's turn things over to lawrence. >> and now the xfinity sports desk on bay area news. good evening. the giants had a nine game home win streak snapped last night. now a chance to get back in the win column which starts with getting madison baumgartner some run support. we have the game for you here tonight. and we start at the ballpark where jamie is standing by. a cool night at the park and you cannot underestimate this marlins team. take it away. >> reporter: absolutely not, lawrence. tonight will be a good time for the giants hitters to get things going. they've only scored 164 runs so far this season tied for fewest in the major leagues. of course they've gotten by and been successful because of their pitching. the hitters know that they need to step it up as well. >> it's been a struggle offensively, obviously. like you said, when we have a

guy going out there, you know, shutting down really good offenses every night and putting up zeros and only letting the teams we're playing score one or two runs, that helps. >> teams click at separate times. some guys get hot and some don't. it's just a matter of time before we start scoring more runs. then again this is a total pitcher's park and teams to come in aren't scoring a ton of runs. it goes to show that pitching here on defense is probably more important. >> reporter: madison baumgartner will hope to be the beneficiary of more offense despite a lack of run support the lefty has posted the second lowest e.r.a. in the national league for the month of may. second only to teammate tim lincecum. >> he's throwing the ball really well past four or five starts. really didn't even throw it all that bad at the beginning of the year. had some tough luck. you have a good idea what you're going to get when he's out

there. he's going to compete. he's going to throw strikes. he's going to let his defense work behind him. pitcher and -- we have to win for him. >> reporter: and bruce boetschy may be without his bullet for a while. an mri confirmed a sprained ankle after he slid into home on sunday for that game-winning run. he might have to go on the disabled list. they will probably make that call later today or in the coming days. back to you in the studio. >> all right, thank you so much. bad news on comprehensive coverage on sports net central every night at 10:30 a. full 30 minutes of coverage of the teams you care about. go deep with sports net central on comcast. because of the breaking weather news we did get cut short.úç eoy

>> oh, i'm eoeced eoecedcndheif tonight after the giants game we'll be keeping an eye on the severe weather that's moving across northern and central california at this hour. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri will monitor and have the latest in a live report.

plus, allegations that local police are going easy on animal abusers. what officers are telling nbc bay area. that's after the giants game. catch it here on nbc bay area news. before we send it out to the park. we wanted to update you on a story we brought you at the top of the newscast. into injuries as a result of this fire you're looking at. now the fire broke out just before 5:30 in oakland near the oakland zoo. again, no injuries in the fire but plenty of cleanup still ahead. all right. giants up next. eleofefgcnfe el%

we'll see you after