hundreds of people at sfo.

it was expected, but not this sudden. tonight the san francisco 49ers fired head coach mike singletary hours after the team lost the 10th game. for more let's talk to sports anchor rick quan. this all followed a nasty scene on the sidelines with singletary and his quarterback, troy smith. >> there was a nasty incident. but the 40 nipers were under performing and not on the right track. the team owner promised changes would be made, and he wasted no time firing head coach mike singletary. during his two years as head coach, the fiery hall of famer had a run in with players and the media. today he got in a shouting match with quarterback troy smith after he threw an interception.

many had san francisco winning the nfc west, but they lost their first five games. next week is the season gnaw nationally against arizona, and here is what some fans think of the change. >> i think it is great. i think it is what they needed for at least this season, and maybe some other personnel changes may be needed, but definitely the coach. >> it should have happened earlier. it should have happened before the bye week, weeks ago. >> you have davis and crabtree out there and you can't make it work? that's all bad. >> besides a new head coach, they are looking for a general manager. we will hear more from the 49ers president when he holds a news conference in santa clara. >> who think the topics are? >> the top of the list is jim harbough the stanford head coach. but he may be quartered by michigan, and so there will be

competition for him. he would seem to be a good fit here. on to other news, a powerful blizzard is bearing down on the northeast tonight dumping a foot and a half of snow in some areas while paralyzing traffic in the air and on the ground. a gliz -- blizzard warning remains in affect for new york city and parts of new jersey that could see 20 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. more than 1400 flights were canceled out of new york city's three major airports alone leaving thousands of post christmas travelers stuck for now. u.s. airways has canceled 110 flights for tomorrow and other airlines don't expect normal operations to resume until tuesday. it was a frustrating day at the airport for many. >> we were supposed to leave at 5:30, and they are opening up new reservation for tomorrow morning. >> they have given us a flight for tomorrow morning, but then they said don't count on it. >> they canceled service from new york to maine and bus

companies halted routes up and down the coast. they declared a snow emergency and urged people to stay off the roads. it was so bad the nfl rescheduled tonight's philadelphia eagles game against the minnesota vikings for tuesday. and the grounded planes on the east coast caused a domino affect that stretched all the way to san francisco international airport. that's where johnal stone is tonight. -- john alston is tonight. >> a lot of travelers are m ka pd out hoping the flights will go out tomorrow morning. but the system is so clogged up by this storm, some travelers were told they may be stuck in san francisco for days. with all flights to the northeast canceled, the jetblue ticket counter at sfo looked like a ghost town. a few showed up trying to negotiate a seat on the next flight. this college student drove from chico to hear the bad news. >> i have to wait four days. >> four days you have to wait? >> thursday, next friday.

>> she is trying to get to new york city where the storm scuttled more than 800 flights on sunday morning. now she will have to wait until almost new year's eve. >> i will stay at my friend's house. my friend's house is far from here. so it is very tough for me. >> all day the east coast flights out of san francisco dropped like dominos. united canceled a dozen. american and delta canceled a half dozen each and the same for continental and virgin. that was a fraction of the hundreds of cancellations nationwide including trouble here in boston. that's where katie lewis is heading. not realizing the weather situation her father drove her all the way from lake port hoping to stop for donor on the way to sfo until they learned her flight was canceled. >> dinner got skipped and we decided to drive on down and visit face-to-face. we couldn't get through by telephone and the lines were just too jammed. >> katie was shooting for a

monday afternoon flight to boston. >> nonstop tomorrow to boston and leaving at 1:00. >> fingers crossed? >> yeah. hopefully it won't get canceled again. gite boards at sfo show flights scheduled to leave early monday morning. visiting san francisco from new york is actually glad her return flight was canceled. >> i'm a little happy about the situation, actually. >> you are happy. >> yeah, because extension for my holiday. >> she's at a stand by flight for tomorrow morning. she was hoping she has to wait until thursday. much less of an impact in airports like oakland and san jose where there are fewer cross country flights. there were cancellations there as well. live at sfo, abc7 news. >> thank you, john. and for a better look at this blizzard, let's talk with lisa argen. >> well, we certainly have a lot of snow in the northeast. as we go in closer you can see

the area of low pressure where the smell was coming from continues to pull northward from the mid-atlantic. as it does it will be wrapping snow around it through new york and from new england and right through connecticut. blizzard warnings here, and this will continue through the overnight hours with an additional 10 to 15 inches from new york city to connecticut and all the way up through maine. so behind it we have very gusty winds with winds up to some 50 miles an hour. the good news is by tomorrow morning, some leftover snow in new york city. but still cold, 29 degrees. 30 in dc. it is quiet in the nation's midsection, and we have yet another storm to talk about for the bay area. it is spreading heavy rain of our own and gusty winds. details on that a bit later. eight americans have been killed in a tour bus crash iny egypt and a couple survived the wreck. officials say three tour buses were traveling together in

southern egypt around dawn when the middle bus crashed into a parked dump truck. six women and two men were killed. 19 other americans. they egyptian and tour guide were injured. he says his 76-year-old mother suffered a gash on her leg and his 87-year-old father had bum -- bumps and bruises. >> the chairs around him crumbled in, apparently forming a roll cage which probably saved his life because from what i understand , and i wasn't there, so it is not factual, but the people in front of him died and the people behind him died. >> he says he is leaving for cairo tomorrow to bring his parents back to san francisco where they lived. his father is a retired fbi agent. laura, his mother, is a retired french professor. >> shoppers returned to the malls today to take advantage of the after christmas sales.

they jammed into san francisco's westfield center for what is traditionally the third busiest day of the year behind black friday and the saturday before christmas. economists say the crowds are a good sign that the economy is making a come back. here is abc7's thomas roman. if you are looking for deals on clothing, jewelry and toys, retailers offer you more for your money today. shoppers like mary is hoping she is the rule and not the exception. >> i think i am, actually. i realize i did spend a little more. there has been more parties and been more presents and i think they are feeling better this year. >> after christmas sales account for a large portion of retailer income. they believe sales are a little flat. >> people are spending more, but there are not as many spending. >> reporter: they predict consumers will spend $41.5 billion starting november

1st and ending december 31st, a more than 3% increase. according to professor kate yarrow of golden gate university, the figures may below. >> what they are doing is spending five and a half percent more. that's in stores. on-line it is 17, 18% more. so it has been a stronger holiday season than anyone predicted, retailers or consumers. >> the san francisco union square area, some shoppers while concerned about the economy say they are spending as much or a little more than they did last year. >> i was concerned about the economy. they were having some very good sales. we can buy now and pay later and that's what we will do. >> it is a good indicator of how people feel about the economy. if people feel good about spending, an economic recovery could be on the horizon. >> when consumers are spending money there is more jobs. when the unemployment numbers improve, people feel more confident, and it is a snowball. so it is good for the economy

for people to spend money. >> they say the discounts retailers are of onering are not as steep as last year. she says it may be an indication that they are looking at better sales projections and hope to make a better profit this year. thomas roman, abc7 news. a set of strange circumstances followed a fire at a marijuana dispense re today in san francisco. police say the nor cal herbal relief center is licensed, but they are not sure if they are licensed to grow the pot in the back room. the building's electric meter was bypassed and the grow lights were running on stolen electricity. the fire was distinguished and no one was hurt. a motown singer was -- has passed away. she was the first so sing soul music. and tickets are about to get cheaper for some concert. and a year in technology.

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r&b singer tina marie has died. "lover girl" was one of her hits from the 1980s, but she actually made history when she was motown's first white act. herman for was rick james. marie's publicist says she died in her sleep of unknown causes at her los angeles home. tina marie was 54 years old. a look back at the year in technology reveals that 2010 was the year of the book. the e-book that is. in his drive to discover report, richard hart looks at some of the technological firsts over the past year. >> in january of this year analysts reported that for the first time more people watched streaming movies from fleet -- from netflix than dvd movies. netflix watcher feed flix writes "it is likely 2010 will be the first year when netflix dvd shipments will plat --

plateau." it surpassed 20% traffic during prime time hours. there is hope for quality video. this was the first year when dvd players lost market share to blue ray players. for the first time amazon sold more e-books for the kindle than the hard cover books. e-books will out pace the paperbacks this year. the american publishers association says hard cover book sales increased 22% during the out going year. you and i are reading more than ever. digital camera shipments from japan fell almost 4% in october from a year earlier. some attribute it to a related trend. more photographs taken with phones than with cameras. a nokia executive told routers that soon mobile phone cameras will replace conventional cameras. finally the new york yankees became the first professional sports team to ban ipads during a game for security reasons, they say. with the first steps in 2010, richard hart, abc7 news.

and you will see your favorite musician in concert, and it is about to get cheaper to see them. several concert promoters say they plan on making shows more affordable after high prices get music fans away from summer concerts. tickets for some shows could go for as little as $10. some bands are hoping to make up the lost revenue by selling more merchandise. well let's talk to meteorologist lisa argen in for leigh glaser. a lot of rain on the way. >> a lot of rain on the way. but we have had some showers throughout the evening hours mainly in the north bay. and those really have not dissipated as of yet. i'll show you the live doppler 7hd in a moment. this is fairfield and look at the wet weather. there has been some persistent rain from novato and pushing down through san rafael and over into berkeley.

so showers are not out of the picture yet and on the paw peninsula around half moon bay we are looking at spotty, light shower activity. we weu8 continue to wind down and with the cloud cover, 54 in fremont as well as half moon bay, but later on we will see the clouds begin to clear. but this afternoon, nice time lapse for you from our east bay camera. a pretty cloudy day. a little more sunshine tomorrow. the spotty showers are winding down. we already have fog. santa rosa and napa. and that will become more dense through the overnight hours. then partly cloudy sky tomorrow. the numbers are dropping through the 40s in the livermore valley to about 40 degrees and 41 concord. 47 at the coast. so the high pressure is in control tomorrow. that's going to bring us our dry weather. but it is this system in the gulf of alaska that will link up with another low pressure

that is spreading the heavy rain on tuesday tomorrow is our dry day. by 9:00 in the morning, sonoma county is wet and marin county follows with alameda and concord and look what happens at 7:00 at night we are looking at pretty heavy rain. the front doesn't push through until midnight, and when it does much, much colder air behind it. low snow levels, maybe a dusting on mount hamilton. gusty northwest winds into wednesday. and we are looking at hefty totals, especially the north bay mountains. three quarters of an inch in san francisco. an inch and a half for oakland. livermore valley, less than that. but the santa cruz mountains and parts of the south bay an inch to about three inches of rain. pretty good storm with gusty winds as well. tomorrow, enjoy the brief break, 56 san francisco and 57 in fremont after the morning

fog. partly cloudy skies. upper 60s and a mild afternoon. here comes our rain and our gusty winds, and then once this system moves out, much, much cooler. still looking maybe at some rain for new year's eve and maybe new year's day. >> thank you, lisa. on to rick quan in for shu. the big story is the removal of 49er coach mike singletary. >> a lot of people thought they would wait until after the season finale. the thinking is let's get it started right now. coming up in sports, we will have more on the singletary firing. firing. he released a

today, we gather to recognize the selfless decision of one of the most influential women of our time. the woman who, after having one too many drinks, chose not to drive home buzzed. here today to honor rachel is the family whose lives she spared.

of the show, the 49ers have fired head coach mike singletary. san francisco was a pre-season favorite to win the nfc west, but with a 5 and 10 record, they will once again not make the playoffs. a hall of fame linebacker with the bears he brought his intensity to the sideline, but

it didn't translate into a win -- winning formula. today he got into a shouting match with troy smith. today he appeared over his head. last season in his first full season with the head coach he went 8 and 8. tonight singletary released a statement. he says one of the greatest experiences in his life was having the opportunity to coach the 49ers. the players were what made it special. he also thanked the fans and apologized for not giving them more. after the ugly loss to st. louis, singletary of on erred no excuses. >> a personal failure. i'm the head coach of the team. and obviously i wanted us to do better and felt i could do better. but there are obvious question marks that i hoped would be answered as the season went on. and i'm not going to go into that right now. but obviously they were not

answered. when that happens, then you end up out of the playoffs. >> the 49ers got off to a slow start at singletary's finale. he is sacked for a safety and 9-0 rams. but san francisco would take the lead thanks to a couple of big plays. the punt return and finds the seem and takes it to the house 78 yards for the touchdown. that cut the lead down to two. then late in the second quarter and smith delivers a strike over the middle to michael crabtree. he is gone for a 60-yard score and san francisco lead at the half. then they scored again and sam bradford rolling right and threw across his body. st. louis on top, 22-14. and alex smith replaced troy smith and he loses the football and the rams recover.

25-17 was the final. and so ends the mike single -- mike singletary era in san francisco. and way will turn our attention -- and we will turn our attention to the raiders. they got off to a great start thanks to

the raiders were only playing for pride because kansas city won earlier in the day eliminating oakland from the playoffs. if they could beat the colts, the raiders would avoid their first losing season since 2002. oakland got off to a fast start on the opening kickoff. jacobi ford does it again. taking it up the one yard line and the rookie goes all the way 99 yards. it is his third kickoff return for a touchdown this season, a club record.

down 10-7 in the second and the raiders still leading as janikowski gets a 59-yard field goal, one of four he had. just before the half, peyton manning finds tami, 18 yards with the score. the colts lead 17-13. now in the third and this time he hits blair white. manning threw for three touchdowns and the colts would eventually go up by 12. in the fourth the raiders try to mount a come back. jason campbell to zach miller. oakland trailed by five. but they would not get the ball back on third and two. manning fools everyone with the naked bootleg. the colts run up the clock and win by a score of 31-26. oakland falls to 7 and 8. >> we expect to win afc west and win the playoffs. >> the only thing about this season is losing a lot of close games and winning a lot of big games and not being able to finish some of the

close games. >> the little ceasers bowl between florida international and toledo and under a minute left and fiu was facing a fourth and 17. the hook and lateral works for a first down. that lead to jack griffin's 34-yard game winning field goal. the golden panthers get their first win in history 34-32. of course, our big story is singletary is out as head coach. >> thanks a lot, and thanks for watching. for watching. good night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

today, we gather to recognize the selfless decision of one of the most influential women of our time. the woman who, after having one too many drinks, chose not to drive home buzzed. here today to honor rachel is the family whose lives she spared.