some badly-needed rain is pounding the bay area tonight and the first big storm of the season. >> good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> we begin our coverage with meteorologist sandhya patel. it is really coming down out there. >> yes dan carolyn the camera is shaking behind you. the wind is picking up as well and the rain has been soaking the bay area. let me show you live doppler 7hd and you can see where the heaviest rain is falling. as we pan around it is starting to move out of the

north bay. they are reporting very heavy rainfall right now. but the heaviest rain as you can see clearly here on live doppler 7hd is indicated in the yellows around concord and livermore and alamo, out toward fremont and even the south bay and san jose. san mateo and the peninsula is getting clobbered with heavy rain. the santa cruz mountains has already picked up more than four inches of rain, and you can see where it is. let's show you the rainfall tote will tas here. 4.5 in ben low man and santa rosa and mill valley is almost 3.5. over an inch in san francisco. livermore, a third of an inch. and here are your wind gusts. it has been gusting out of the southwest. gusting to 53 miles an hour at sfo. hang on tight. there are a couple mover -- more hours of the wet windy weather, but another storm is coming. more on that in a minute. dan? >> thank you sandhya. as you can see it is a messy night. no huge problems, but there have been flooded streets down trees and scattered power

outages. am -- ama dates is live downtown. >> reporter: yes, dan, it hasn't been that bad. we heard reports of downed branches and such. but when we got there it didn't happen or it was cleaned upright away. the crews are definitely on it and prepared for this storm. but again there is more to come like sandhya said. we knew it was just a matter of time before the rain returned to the bay area and made rivers out of some north bay streets. >> it is great. we need it. >> it is time to get some more rain. we need it. >> reporter: but it can be a pain if you have to be out in it. he made a road trip today. >> i came from sacramento, and it took me 3.5 hours to get to san rafael. >> reporter: a drive he can normally do in an hour and a half. >> it is ridiculous. it is pouring and it is flooded. it is accidents everywhere. >> reporter: he counted six during his trip. cars in fields, ditches, a slow commute all-around.

after all, it is the first good rain we've seen in awhile which for some was good for business. >> there was more work available because it was dry. >> reporter: daniel is in construction. he ventured out on a milk run for his toddler. others were shopping for friday night fun indoors. >> the chips, movie and a bottle of wine. there is nothing else. stay in closed doors tonight. >> reporter: yes, sounds like a good time. the first gentleman was hoping to rent "money ball" and the second guy was picking up my favorite vanilla bean ice cream, and apparently he has caramel at home. it is a good night to stay at home and watch some abc7 news. >> thank you ama. well, it is raining in the sierra. this is the view from the cal trans camera at the squaw valley turnoff. there are no chain controls right now on interstate 80 or highway 50 into the tahoe basin. so far the storms have been a bit of a disappointment for

the ski resorts. they picked up only a couple inches on thursday, but the snow level is expected to drop by tomorrow morning. the rough weather did not deter some rough behavior by occupy protesters in san francisco. hundreds have been on the streets. windows have been smashed and more. there have been some arrests. sergio quentana has been on the streets all night and has this report. >> the system we are living in in so many ways right now is basically stealing everything people already have. >> officers entered the vai -- the vacant hill to find occupy yes, sirs. police tried to stop them with a line of officers at one of the doors of the hotel and the confrontation there got loud for a few minutes. besides breaking into a vacated building someone busted out several windows at the bentley car dealership. this is a march that weaved

through much of downtown and tangled up traffic along the way. >> what do you think? >> i agree with the movement and all of that. >> in anticipation of the demonstration, wells fargo boarded up their branch at market and drum, and a bank spokesman says they closed early just to make sure employees were safe. the bank of america branch across the street closed early. at the start of the march, organizers choreographed a dance during a rally at justin herman plaza. the group estimated about a thousand people, several elementary school students were there. >> we are here because we think the school should get the money that the banks are getting. the schools need it more than the banks. >> reporter: i will tell you what, that rain did not slow down this crowd. they made it from the financial district here to van ness and guery. and the occupied portion of the now abandoned cathedral

hotel. we understand there were three people taken into custody fortress passing. most of the people who made it into the hotel were released by police officers if they decided to go peacefully. we know in that piece of tape we showed you there was a confrontation with police officers. two officers were injured during the confrontation. reporting live in san francisco, sergio quentana abc news. >> the oakland mayor had an occupy moment of her own in washington, d.c. quan was in dc for a meeting of u.s. mayors when her cab was swarmed by occupy washington demonstrators. police say they were staking out the hotel where she and other mayors were staying. police broke up the small mob and the cab drove off. quan attracted national attention for what they call the poor handling of the occupy protest. a kidnapped 12-year-old girl is safe tonight and the man who abducted her is dead after being shot by police.

san jose police shot and killed 42-year-old le this afternoon. now investigators are trying to figure out why he kidnapped his girlfriend's daughter. the 12-year-old was abduct they had morning from her home and an amber alert went out immediately. a tip lead officers to a townhouse where investigators say le was holding the girl hostage. >> the suspect opened fire on the officers as they approached the apartment. he fired several rounds from inside the apartment. at this time the officers believed the victim was in imminent danger. >> because of the gunfire police decideed on a hostage rescue and forced their way inside where the s.w.a.t team shot and killed le. the 12-year-old girl was not hurt and was taken to be checked out and then reunited with her family. reno police say an elderly man has admitted to accidentally starting a fire that forced 10,000 people to abandon their homes. the fire broke out after noon yesterdayment 80 mile-an-hour winds spread the flames that

engulfed more than six square miles. 29 homes burned to the ground. the fire is 50% contained tonight. 2,000 of the 10,000 evacuees are back home this evening. the man who started the fire says it began after he discarded fireplace ashes. police say a pair of thugs are using fake craigslist ads to lure people to oakland where they are held up in oaknd la. they place an ad advertising a car for sale in different communities in oakland. at the last minute people respond together ad are told to meet the seller in oakland off 580 and harrison near lake merritt. when they get there, they are robbed by two men again with guns. well the republicans battle it out on the eve of the south carolina primary. up next, the the candidate showing the most momentum. and then this -- >> ♪ so in love with you ♪ >> how about that? the president sings to an adoring crowd today.

>> and hundreds of websites went dark this week, but was congress listening? and then later on "nightline." >> i'm terry moran. carolyn and dan coming um next on "nightline" a tv weather man is lured to a fake nightclub by two beautiful women where he was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars as part of a russian mofia scheme targeting businessmen and tourists there. and a psychic who says she can

republican front-runner mitt romney is hoping his lead holds one more day after slipping 14 points in just the past week. romney and rival newt gingrich are locked in a heated fight to win the south carolina primary. it is the first in a southern state. gingrich's numbers have surged in recent days. even in an interview with gingrich's ex-wife and threatened to derail his momentum. >> i think the destructive vicious negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country. >> south carolina is an uphill battle for a guy from massachusetts. i knew that. the fact is right now it looks like it is neck and neck.

that's a good spot to be in. >> the two candidates are set to appear at the same breakfast at the same time tomorrow. both declined to reschedule. as for president obama. >> ♪ i'm so in love with you ♪ >> he's he has some pipes. who knew? the crowd at the apollo theater loved his version of al green's "let's stay together." this is one of four re-election events. the president attended them yesterday in new york. green was also at the event. while we are talking singing, the r&b singer best known for the romantic ballad "at last" has died. >> ♪ at last ♪ >> etta james passed away at a los angeles hospital this morning after a battle with leukemia. her raw, passionate vocals can be traced back to triumph and

tragedy. the 73-year-old was one of american music's first bad girls. james scored her first big hit as a teenager but it wasn't until she moved to san francisco that she started singing the blues in the jazz district. new state jobless numbers are out and they offer a glimmer of hope. it fell to 11.1% last month thanks to a seasonal retail hiring and job growth and construction information health and education and even government. a break down of the bay area shows unemployment remains lowest in marin, san francisco and san mateo counties at 7.3%. it is higher in the south bay at 8.9% and highest in the east bay at 9.3% there. bowing to pressure by a one-day on-line blackout and the ire of millions of users they took two anti-piracy bills off line indefinitely. the senate's protect intellectual property act

pipa and sopa were designed to stop the on-line piracy of movies and the like which costs billions of dollars every year. critics say the bills would lead to sensorship and stifle innovation on the web. on wednesday on-line giants including wikipedia and craigslist staged a one-day blackout and google signed up more than seven million people to the petition drive. >> well, it is wet out there. there is a lot of standing water on the roads right now jie. and there is more coming all weekend. sandhya patel is tracking it for us. >> that's right, dan and carolyn. i want to show you live doppler 7hd so you can see where the rain is. it is starting to let up in places like ukiah. we are still seeing pockets of rain napa toward fairfield and downpours in the east bay, san francisco, the peninsula. it is clearing indicating that it is widespread. gusts from 25 to 45 miles an hour. it is windy in spots, but some heavy rain falling in this area, and right around the

monterey bay and san jose you can see some steady moderate and heavy rain coming down. in the sierra, nevada it has been raining in the tahoe area all day long. and it is still heavily raining right now. as you can see here some of this has switched over to snow. i want to show you a time lapse from our heavenly camera. 8300 foot elevation. yes, we picked up a little snow but it is way high up there. freezing level is 8000 feet. most is falling in the form of rain. and rain is exactly what we got in the sunset district. this photo was posted by susie l. this was a view from san francisco. it is rattling the windows in livermore. she is talking about the wind. and another one the wind is blowing might have patio umbrella off the table. a lot of people talking about how heavy the rain has been tonight. the rain and wind will be heavy at times for a couple more hours.

more snow for the sierra. the next storm arrives on sunday. not as intense. this is the strongest of the three storms. this is the second one. the third one is due in on sunday. just watch out for the heavy rain and wind the next couple hours. and then things will wind down. i want to show you what it is going to look like on sunday. this storm in the pacific will be moving through and it will bring a third to two-thirds of an inch of rain but nothing heavy duty. the heaviest will move through. it is a soaker for a few more hours, and just scattered showers for your saturday morning. you will see sunny breaks on saturday afternoon. by sunday morning here comes some showers. that will move through and we will see some more widespread rain around 3:00 p.m.! this is when the big game is taking place. it will be breezy. temperatures in the mid to

lower 50s for the game. take the rain coat or poncho. still cat -- still scattered showers. rainfall totals when all is said and done, two to three inches and three to four in the north bay mountains. peninsula, an inch to an inch and a half. in the south bay, one to two inches of rain by monday morning. the winter storm warning in will saturday and 8 to 14 inches of snow. above 5,000, certainly windy there. one to two feet expected at the highest elevations around 7,000 feet. you will have a chance to get there, but give it time. high surf advisory 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to 10:00 a.m. on sunday. it is expected to build up to 18 feet. watch out for the hightide the highest of the month coming tomorrow morning. the highs tomorrow in the 50s. the accu-weather seven-day forecast rain again for sunday into early monday. dry and milder pattern in the 60s.

more than four inches of rain. this is the storm total. love the reports on twitter and facebook. keep them coming. >> thanks sandhya. coming up next san francisco is about to hold its biggest football game in years. >> the may's message to the 49er fans next.

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well, we are on the cusp of the biggest pro football weekend in san francisco in 16 years. the niners as you know host the new york giants on sunday in the nfc championship game. mayor ed le presented the team owner with a picture of the building and lit up with niners colors. le had this message by the way for 49er fans. >> be safe. do not abuse your celebration and our celebration. respect fans who wear the giants uniform. >> undercover police will be there, and they will be patrolling for any abusive or rowdy fans.

kickoff is sunday afternoon at 3:30 at candlestick park. >> and we loved seeing your 49er fan photos. take a look. little alyssa from san francisco, a fan to the core at 16 months. and this dog actually thrilled to be wearing -- >> a happy face. >> yes her happy face. this is a victory smile we are told. and we have a feline fan who is not so happy to have the helmet on the calico's head. we would love for you to share your 49er pride. up load your photo. you report at wgo-tv .com. >> thanks to everybody who sent in their stuff. we are close. >> very close. >> giants and niners and jacobs says he can't wait for the 49ers to get physical with him. i think pierre thomas said the sale thing. dante's inferno in [ male announcer ] if you like action movies...

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(speaking in international language) anand he said unto them go ye into all of the world and preach the gospel preach the gospel to every creature in the world. ♪ (applause)

good evening. whenne thing about the 49ers leaps out at you the physical play of the safeties. they will knock you out. well, not you, but you know what i mean. i hope they don't knock you out. early first quarter and pierre thomas was about to go in for a touchdown and he was crashed. it changed the entire game. you know dante will be bringing it sunday in the nfc championship against the giants. >> i believe the intensity is going up another notch. when our preparation and those guys doing some talking and i think that was going to be there. i expected the running backs to run a little harder and the receivers to run a little harder and get there a little faster. you can expect for us to hit a little harder. i don't know about a blood

bath, but it will be a really, really physical football game. it is two really good football teams, and only one of us can win. only one of us can reach that ultimate goal and that's the super bowl. >> we will see how it turns out on sunday. steph curry returns to the warriors tonight. curry good to go after sitting out eight games with a bad ankle and a controversial finish with the indiana pacers. ankle seemed fine. step back and jumper. 12 points in 29 points. -- 29 minutes. with authority. warriors up by two. lock at dominic mcgwire. warriors up one after three. warriors down two and he had 25. warriors get it back with a chance to win. he kicks it away and take another look. he clearly kicks the ball. that's illegal.

turnover. warriors do not get the call. mark january son could not believe -- jackson could not believe it. no good. warriors drop a heartbreaker at home 94-91. a better finish in l.a. timberwolves down late. rubio tie tups with 20 seconds -- ties it up with 20 seconds left. kevin love good night, game over, drive home safely. the former ucla brew win is back home. i'm the man. i'm the man. come and hug me. they beat the clippers 101-98. >> you may hug me. >> the a's traded away almost all of the name players, but they could bring a name from the past, manny ramirez. the a's seem to be very interested in signing man ram. 10 years ago manny was feared. now he is 39 and coming out of retirement after a steroids ban. i don't know how to say steroids in