back in? >> reporter: we have absolutely no idea at this point. and some of these residents are getting somewhat antsy. if you take a look behind me, you'll see where police and the department of public works are continuing to block off the plaza here at the apartment building on montgomery and lombard streets. no one is allowed to walk or drive in or out except for the trucks and some bulldozers that have been attempting to set up the barricades and haul out some of the huge boulders. >> you hear a slow explosion like a jet coming over really low, i mean really low. >> reporter: but it was no jet that he heard coming through his neighborhood at 8:30 and again at 9:30 this morning. it was these huge boulders rolling right down telegraph hill. the rock on the side of the hill broke apart and slid, barreling past this fence and crushing a car, which luckily had no one inside at the time. >> we heard something. we thought it was an earthquake.

it's scary, it could have hit anybody or anything. >> reporter: the san francisco fire department stretched yellow tape across several apartments close to the slide from the first to the fourth slows. both the departments of public works and building inspection say those residents were evacuated and will not be able to come back until geo tech engineers and geologists determine how long it will take to shore up this rock. >> there is a history of rock sliding here. whenever we have these rains, we always have a few of these slides. >> reporter: dpw chief points out it was during the rainy season in 200 z7 a rock slide occurred on the opposite end of this hillside that took months to clear up. now, expensive apartments surround the base of the hill, which crumbled without warning.

>> that rock is old rock fractured and it's going to fall off periodically. >> reporter: now, the operator of one of these bulldozers actually drove past here a few minutes ago and told us that he had to leave because this is actually private property. now, the building -- department of building inspection also told us that the owner of this building could end up getting cited for having a lack of fencing and netting to keep these rocks out of the way. now, residents don't know what time they're coming back, and it might actually be quite a while because the owner of the building will have to come up with a plan to keep these people safe. live in san francisco, tracy grant, nbc bay area news. >> thanks so much. well, the weekend rain left quite a mess in the oakland hills. part of the road collapsed. people bv cleaning up and trying to keep water away from their homes. they're worried trees might fall

with all of the rain. to make matters worse residents had to deal with a broken water main. >> i'm just concerned that the hill is going to erode further, which will damage my house. so those are my main concerns. >> engineers are trying to figure out the exact cause of the slide and what to do next. so far no word on when that road will reopen. and check out the scene on highway one south of big sur. that highway is shut down indefinitely in both directions because of this huge rock slide. this is near lime kill creek 25 miles south of big sur. there is no estimated time when this highway will reopen. so we know it made a mess and we know it got us soaked, but did this round of wet weather make a difference in our water woes? jeff ranieri joins us from the nbc bay area weather center to talk a little bit about how much rainfall we've had and has it made a dent at all? >> it's really just put a band-aid on the situation for us.

while it was substantial rain over three days, three different storms from friday all the way into sunday, it still leaves us with plenty of catching up to do. it was so dry for so long and then we had the rainfall lashing the bay area over three days and it compounded the issues here producing those rock slides in and throughout the bay area. as the radar scans around, you'll find dry conditions from santa rosa to san francisco all the way down to san jose, but look at these totals. impressive. over 6.5 inches in santa rosa just over that 72-hour period. napa 4.5 inches. san francisco downtown 2.5. down in the south bay a lot less for some of you, like san jose, with just 0.87. but in morgan hill, nearly 4.5. in top wind gusts, we also saw them gust over 40 miles per hour. that also helped to weaken a lot oaof these hills as some of the trees came down. the ground that was rooted in these trees also started tumbling down a lot of these hillsides. how does this keep us here in san jose for the water season?

well, just over 2.25 inches for the season. we're going to get some new numbers here coming up in the next 30 to 45 minutes and we'll definitely be updating that for you in our 6:00 show. so, again, more to come here in my forecast on possibly some drying that of course we do not need here in the forecast in just a few minutes. >> okay, thank you very much, jeff. now, if you want to get jeff's forecast street level radar and your seven-day outlook any time, just click on the weather tab on nbcbayarea.com. new bombshell allegations tonight against accused spousal abuser, the san francisco sheriff. published reports say an ex-girlfriend has come forward and told police that he abused her during their relationship back in 2007 and 2008. the mayor is now facing dismeern charges for allegedly bruising his wife's arm in front of his young son on new year's eve.

he appeared in a san francisco courtroom today where a judge set his trial date as february 24th. his ex told the chronicle she will testify against him if called to do so. former republicanrontca runner mitt romney will try to recapture the momentum tonight when he faces off with newt gingrich. a pivotal debate as the two are sure to answer questions about their financial scandals. romney, accused of taking advantage of a tax loophole, says he'll release some of his tax returns tomorrow. meanwhile romney released a new attack ad targeting gingrich and his business links to the freddie mac mortgage crisis, but gingrich says he'll release those records and fired back today. >> this is such baloney. now, it used to be pious baloney but now it's just desperate baloney. >> rick santorum and ron paul will also participate tonight. one of the candidates is taking aim at the bay area. monte francis is live in san francisco with that part of the

story. >> reporter: well, janelle, good evening. when newt gingrich talks about san francisco values, he does not mean it as a compliment. we talked to one political expert who said it's part of a smart political strategy to win republican votes. >> i'm now going to veto a middle class tax cut to protect left wing environmental extremists in san francisco. >> reporter: when newt gingrich talks about san francisco and its left wing environmental extremists, it hits a nerve with voters who live in the city by the bay. >> oh, it just makes me irate. i cannot believe how he labels us. there's absolutely no truth in it. >> reporter: but political science professor melissa frederickson says there's a good reason why he isn't worried about alienating voters in the bay area. >> california is going to give its electoral votes to the democrat party so saying things like it's full of environmental

extremists, it doesn't alienate republican voters because those are democrats. >> reporter: in fact california has gone to the democrats in every presidential election since 1992. but gingrich has not parted ways with san francisco and its hometown representative, nancy pelosi, on every issue. in fact in 2008 he appeared alongside pelosi for a public service announcement on climate change, a move he now says he regrets. >> we don't always see eye to eye, do we, newt? >> no. but we do agree, our country must take action to address climate change. >> reporter: it's no secret that san francisco is seen by the rest of the nation as a bastion of liberalism, but we came across quite a few voters in the city who have been following the gop debates. >> i think that a lot of people aren't too happy with our current president, so i think california really can't be taken for granted on either side. i don't think obama can take it for granted. i don't think the republicans can write it off.

>> reporter: and because it's expected to be a close race in florida, professor michaelson thinks that the candidates will continue to focus their attacks on one another rather than focusing their attacks on president obama. rolili i san francisco, monte francis, nbc bay area news. and you can watch tonight's debate right here on nbc bay area. nbc news anchor brian williams will be the moderator and the debate airs tonight at 9:00. san leandro police think they have put a stop to a series of robberies done by a purse-toting suspect. police released a sketch over the weekend of a woman, yes, a woman, they say is responsible for eight street robberies over the past month. they say the woman would strike up conversations with victims as they walked down the street. that's the sketch. she would then claim to have a gun in their purse and order the victims to hand over their belonging. last night police spotted the suspect and her alleged lookout and arrested both of them. >> these people were out endangering our community

members. obviously when you have these type of robberies in a downtown area where people like to walk, it causes fear amongst our residents, and we are very glad that we were able to get these people in custody and to make our community feel safer. >> police say they found stolen items on the pair that link them to the crimes. they now both face robbery charges. four bay area hospitals are cutting their long ties with the catholic church to avoid conflicts with churchquoia hosp memorial and st. mary's and dominican hospital in santa cruz are all ending their affiliation with catholic health care west which operated all four centers. the hospitals weren't able to compete with other hospitals because church restrictions blocked them from offering birth control services, in vitro fertilization and sterilizations. the four hospitals will now be don knee nominational and operate as dignity health. technology and your privacy.

the supreme court making a ruling that some say is one of the most important decisions in this computer age. and the new offer from the owner of that italian cruise ship. why survivors say it's absolutely insulting. and a warning about massive solar storms. how upcoming flares are going to impact the air travel. s

student activism could hike the minimum wage in the city of san jose from $8 to $10 an hour now that some college students have submitted an initiative at city hall. workers in the fast food industry among those who would benefit from the effort of a sociology class at san jose state. the students analyzed several social problems they saw around them and decided to focus their political effort on helping create a living wage. >> if you work, you should not live in poverty.

i think the basic, kind of fair -- in america, you know, there is inequality, but people making minimum wage should have enough to provide the basics of life. >> the city attorney will review the initiative. if approved the next step will be to collect the 19,000 signatures needed to qualify it for the november ballot. there could be a time-out in santa clara's plans for a new 49ers stadium. they are counting thousands of signatures submitted by a group opposing a plan. the group santa clara place fair is trying to qualify for a referendum to rescind a loan commitment approved by the city council in december. they say financing details weren't disclosed until last month so voters who approved the measure in june 2010 didn't have all the information. the issue is on the agenda for tomorrow night's city council meeting if the petitions are certified by then. the council could decide to

repeal the financing commitment, submit the plans for a vote or reject the petitions altogether. the penn state university family continues to mourn the death of joe paterno and his family has scheduled three days of public memorials this week. a private funeral will take place on wednesday but the public service will come thursday. paterno died sunday morning from complications of lung cancer. he was 85. a makeshift memorial around the statue outside the football stadium continues to grow as mourners pay their respects. paterno coached the nittany lions for nearly 46 seasons but was fired back in november in the wake of a child abuse sex allegation filed against former assistant coach jerry sandusky. 30% off their next cruise. that's the offer the owners of that wrecked italian cruise ship are offering to its passengers. one british survivor called the offer, quote, insulting. at the same time, divers recovered two more bodies from the costa concordia today. that raises the death toll to

15. there are still 17 people missing. officials say the wreckage now appears to be stable and they hope to start pumping the 2400 tons of fuel out of the ship as early as tomorrow your privacy, a little more protected tonight. today the u.s. supreme court ruled unanimously that police must obtain a warrant first before secretly placing a gps tracking device on a suspect's vehicle. this is the first time the nation's highest court has listened to a case surrounding high-tech tracking. the ruling could impact local cases, including the murder conviction of yousef bay, iv. prosecutors relied on evidence put on his car without a warrant. solar storms are erupting on the sun resulting in bursts of radiation that could change airplane routes for a few days. the solar flares are the result of a biggest solar storm in

eight years. it can interrupt satellite transmissions and as a precaution flights over the north pole are being rerouted. experts there expect the effects of the solar storm will last through wednesday. happy new year. welcome to the year of the dragon. today asian communities are celebrating the lunar new year with festivities and parades. in chinese culture the dragon is associated with good fortune and intelligence. being born in the year of the dragon is believed to be a sign of those destined for success, so some experts say because of that asian countries could see up to a 5% increase in births this year. >> year of the dragon, i am ready for the year of the dragon. jeff ranieri, i think some of us are also getting ready for a little drying off as well. >> yes. after that much-needed rainfall, we are going to see this trend starting to shift for us. i did want to show you all this rainfall total graphic one more time in case you missed it. these numbers impressive. over a 72-hour period santa rosa picking up over 6.5 inches of rainfall.

napa nearly 4.5. close to 5 in morgan hill. san francisco downtown over 2.5 and close to an inch in san jose so numbers really varied widely, but overall it was some excellent news for the water season here across the bay area. as the doppler radar scans around, we are finding some dry conditions. that's good, especially with all of the rock slides we've been reporting on but we could use quite a bit more rainfall for our season. the numbers not too bad. we did get in some on sunshine but still a lot of cloud cover overhead today. 54 in san jose, 51 in livermore, 53 in san francisco. holding on to some low 50s up into the north bay with santa rosa a little warmer there at 57 degrees. as we continue throughout tonight, the big thing is fog is going to be coming back. while it's going to be dry for your commute, we'll have reduced visibilities as we head throughout tuesday. by the afternoon we will be getting in on some sunshine for you. and unfortunately this dry trend looks to stay at least over the next four to seven days to this

point w that recent rain this has helped the allergen levels. trees, grasses and weeds are in the low category. we're starting to see mold and juniper spike up into the moderate and high levels. let's take you outside to our satellite loop. what you'll find is a very signature pattern with high pressure building in. that storm track you can see clearly ridging off to the north and that is what will be setting us in for some above average temperatures the next couple of days. now, when it comes to fog, it's going to be coming back as we mentioned for tonight. you can see by the early morning hours that fog will start to build at the coast. by 6:00 a.m., fog for the north bay, east bay and the peninsula. that will linger around until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow but then we'll get some clearing throughout 1 and 2:00 p.m. for a sunny finish into tuesday. as for tonight, numbers in the low to mid-40s. 45 in livermore, 47 in san jose and also expecting 45 in los gatos. for tomorrow we do anticipate numbers above average in the

south bay with low 60s from gilroy to sunnyvale, also including los gatos. for the east bay, walnut creek, pleasantton, dublin, blackhawk looking at temperatures in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. down the peninsula including san francisco we'll find low 60s with 57 expected at half moon bay. on your seven-day forecast, we're doing this new thing here now where we give you the first three days rather large. you'll find this trend going up to nearly 70 degrees by thursday inland, so much warmer for you. also seeing those numbers bumping up here at the bay an as for the coastline. while that rainfall was very nice, look at this, not good news the next seven days with a rather dry pattern staying in place, as we head into your weekend on saturday and sunday. notice in that new seven-day forecast we know how much everyone loves the weekend, so we have highlighted it for you so you don't need to go grabbing the glasses. everything is nice, crisp and clear. >> i like it because now i know what to focus on immediately. >> yes. i took notes when we were

building the weather computer isn't i like to focus on saturday and sunday. beautiful. still to come on nbc bay area news at 5:00, new numbers from apple tonight on its first new product launch since the death of steve jobs. will the ee-textbook business be a game changer. and the hollywood couple confirming a breakup and the reason behind i -- it. ex

apple's first venture into the e-textbook business is off to a good start. they have sold more than 350,000 e-textbooks in just three days. they are priced under $15. the books are interactive and designed to customize learning based on students' performance. it is the company's first major product launch since the death of former ceo steve jobs back in october. women can take more pain than men because of childbirth. it's something everyone has heard but is it a myth? a new study finds women report

being in pain more often than men. researchers looked at more than 72,000 patient reports and found women generally had higher pain scores. however, some pain experts aren't convinced. they say the data could be skewed because men are more likely to downplay how much pain they actually feel. another celebrity couple is calling it quits. supermodel heidi klum and singer seal have confirmed they are splitting. the couple known for their public displays of affection plan to file for divorce this week. reports say she can't take his temper anymore. they have three children together and a fourth klum had from a previous relationship that seal adopted. they were married for nearly seven years. >> they renewed their vows every single year. >> i know, it's sad. they were separated by 60 years and the pacific ocean. now two california brothers who grew up apa found finally found each other again. their story when we come back.

finally tonight, separated for six decades and by two different languages, two brothers from california meet each other again. >> yes, the brothers were born in sacramento, but were separated as children after their father died in a fishing accident. they were sent to live with relatives and ended up in different countries, one in japan and one in yuba city, california. the nursing home where the california brother lives raised money for his trip and his one wish, to see his brother again. they were reunited and they tried to talk on the phone over the years but the language barrier got in the way. one speaks english, one speaks japanese. it doesn't seem to be a problem anymore. >> blood is thicker than water. that is nice. congratulations to the two of them. >> thank you for joining us. we'll see you back here at 6:00.

"nightly news" is next.