storm clouds, wet wind shields and slick roads this is your winter weather trifecta you're facing in the bay area from rain here and snow in the sierra and what's in store for your holiday we have your complete storm watch coverage. good evening. the big story around here, the rain moving across the bay area. let's look at live doppler 7 hd. showing plenty of green. though scattered showers making things dicey for last minute shoppers or those who are traveling trying to get out of town for this holiday.

drivers saw heavier downpours. cell phone video shows the commute along i 1401 and across the bay people are seeing wet weather as well. that's where we find amy hollyfield. how does it took right now? >> reporter: the sun is even shining down on us but it has already been wet. we see some clouds indicating more is to come and for those who are out working in this, well it makes life a little more difficult. rain rolled in as promised while most of you were probably sleeping. this was the scene in novato. a good soaking. more is expected. which makes life tough for those delivering mail. >> last seven customers kidded me why is my mail wet? they understand. it's hard to keep it dry. >> reporter: rain is not great news when you're a dog groomer. it takes a lot of work to make them look this pretty. to have them walk right out of

here and into the rain is tough watch. those caring for the dogs hope they don't muddy up their salon hair. >> most of the backyard is paved, so let's just hope for the best. >> reporter: the rain dampened the plans of the north bay corvette association. every christmas eve they drive their corvettes for breakfast but some left their sports cars behind. >> rain impacted severely. if it had not rained we all would have had corvettes. they don't melt. they don't rust. but it's a pain to clean them. >> reporter: he doesn't want his treasured car to get dirty so he'll be in the suv instead. >> i'm not going to fit in. >> reporter: these cars may be fast but the rain came along at a slow pace with breaks in between showers throughout morning in all making it tough to complain. >> i love the rain. it's nice out. it's nice when it stops coming

in buckets. >> reporter: the showers have been sporadic, giving us breaks in between. there's a lot of hope out here that that will continue. reporting live in vallejo. >> every iteration of the rain and sun, thank you. now look at this. all that snow. this is what amy did not see. fresh powder coming down along interstate 80. this happened this morning in nevada county. don't forget to put on chains if you're headed that way. chains are required along part of i-80. >> we're getting our first look at snow on mount hamilton. these are white out conditions. snow and rain expected to continue this christmas eve. our meteorologist joins us now with your holiday outlook. how does it took out there right now? we saw blue sky in amy's live shot.

>> we have mixed conditions. let's show you the loop over the last couple of hours. some areas are sunny and notice the area of pink there that's some of the snow we saw falling. near mount hamilton. right now as we zoom in and just freeze where we're seeing the heaviest rain is across the bay right now, right into heyward along 880. no flight delays reported right now out of sfo, oakland and san jose but i'll show you over the next few hours more showers, we'll don't see this throughout the afternoon. i'll let you know how much you can expect in your neighborhood and we'll see some very cold numbers and i'll have that next. >> we'll see you in just a few. you can track the holiday forecast while on the go with the help of our abc 7 news app. you can down it for free. make sure you enable push alerts to get breaking news. >> severe weather in the midwest could impact your holiday plans if you happen to be traveling

later today. search-and-rescue teams in mississippi are looking for three people after yesterday's tornados. at least seven were killed across the southeastern u.s. we'll have more on that lingering threat, that's coming up in ten minutes. this is a christmas eve pro tip. if you want to avoid the final countdown crowds hit the stores on this day at 3:00 a.m. we'll find out how many choices last minute shoppers have today. >> reporter: if santa ran out of gifts not to worry there are stores like kohl's and toys "r" us who have been open all night. nancy hickcock works two jobs and this is her first time to shop for anyone on her list. she says what fun it is to shop and buy when it's not as crowded. >> i feel very relaxed. i get what i got. >> reporter: the manager said they finally have some relief

after attending to long lines until 3:00 this morning. retailers made their shelves stock with goods. >> i got some nice earrings for my wife. they were 43 bucks. all diamonds. >> some stuff for kids. some frozen stuff. >> i think i saw a lot of deals. just came from best buy. i'm here working on number two and then off to costco. i have a busy day ahead of me. >> reporter: a busy day. shoppers will continue to dash through the stores until the last minute. >> the best deal is no line this early in the morning. that's the best deal. >> they look like they could use a nap. kohl's, macy's,

hackers are using hand-held devices to copy numbers off of those cards. also look to see if the packaging has been tampered with. register the card as soon as possible. avoid buying those cards from display stands that anyone can access. a lot of you will get starbucks cards. starbucks expect to sell more than 1700 gift cards per minute today. even with those sales they come in number seven of all gift cards. what's number one? visa followed by amazon. speaking of amazon, the frantic final hours of the shopping rush had the company in overdrive. already amazon is looking ahead to next year. the company has created its own delivery system. they bought thousands of tractor-trailers and even boeing

727 jets. mountain view police need your help tracking down a couple of people trying to ruin christmas. police released this latest video of package stealing. this man took off with a box. they are looking for this guy. he stole two packages from a home on hamilton avenue last week before taking off in a dark colored four door sedan. dreaming of a white christmas? bet you never thought you would see this. the deadly and dangerous weather tearing across the midwest and what could it mean for your last minute travel plans. and a helicopter spin out that will hav

that is scary every time you see it. stunning video out of fiji. the helicopter landing goes wrong. the helicopter lurches towards some trees. tourists were inside that compartment. somehow all six people on board are just fine. aviation officials trying to figure out what caused that crash. a christmas eve tragedy, lives lost, homes destroyed, tornadoes packed a deadly punch when powerful storms swept through parts of the south and the midwest. you're look right now at just one of these homes that got shredded by the storm.

we show you how many of these tornadoes hit just before the holiday. >> reporter: it's a big tornado in front of us. destruction and devastation across seven states including mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. >> it makes you feel terrible, you know, and you want to run and help. >> reporter: at least 24 reported tornadoes touching down ripping homes apart and forcing tractor-trailers on to their sides. >> oh, wow. looks like there's two. >> reporter: even drivers terrified watching these two twisters become one huge tornado right before their eyes. >> monster tornado heading towards holly springs. >> reporter: holly springs, mississippi hit especially hard. >> i'm seeing devastation that i haven't seen. >> reporter: parts of the town destroyed. two people killed, including a 7-year-old boy. >> it's a death like in the case

of this young person, or the devastation to the homes of all these people right here on christmas eve, it's very, very hard to deal with, but, you know, we'll pull through. we asked the people to pray for our community and the people here. >> reporter: with that vow to rebuild a promising sign of the town of clarksdale homes reduced to rubble but this christmas tree still standing. again their home was torn to pieces but the homeowners are grateful they survived. in the meantime authorities say damages are still being assessed and so right now all they can ask for are prayers. we're giving you a live look, flight aware.com. luckily not a lot to talk about even though we have some rain. flightaware.com reportsle 688 flights have been cancelled across the u.s. sfo not showing much of a

problem. the real problem is across dunn and that's atlanta. if you were planning on connecting through atlanta you'll see a lot of delta flights with some two hour delays. that's the average at this point. the busiest travel days coming up are the next two sundays. good luck. let's check in with francis with a look at our forecast. >> sunshine, rain, even snow and possibility of thunderstorms. i'll let you know how long the rain will continue and if santa will have to deal with a wet christmas. >> santa elves out in full force in san francisco. what you should do in the final hours to make sure every local family has a merry christmas. >> a tree giveaway may have some thinking more

sure sign of christmas when santa's elves are in front of lefty o'doul's. check out this scene. volunteers collecting toys for kids in need. it is so easy to help them out. you don't even have to get out of your car. right now they are accepting curb side donations. it's a long standing tradition. >> we're trying to raise about 15,000 toys so kids in san francisco have a toy for christmas. we're doing quite well. we've been busy all day. it is snowing. come on down and join us and donate a toy. >> before you panic, it's not actually snowing. that's a snow making machine they have there to get you in the mood. you can donate a toy until 11:00 tonight. this lady has a great excuse to drive in the rain.

she's bringing home a few trees on her convertible. it's the only way to bring two of them home. the delancy tree farm continued its tradition giving away free trees. >> i want to make sure people knew it wasn't actually snowing in downtown san francisco today because people would lose their mine. >> we have snow in the bay area but not here. >> higher elevations. how does it took out there? >> pretty good. we have everything. live doppler 7 hd. you can see up towards the north, eureka we had thunderstorms and lightning strikes over the past hour. notice how this cold air is sweeping south. so this is going head towards our area. you see the pink and white. that's snow. so once that cold air moves down that's where we'll start to see snow as well and we're also seeing some rainfall now.

heavier rain with orange and yellow just moving past 101, palo alto and towards the south bay. here we some clouds over the bay, gray skies. temperatures on the cool side. rear running about five degrees cooler. san francisco is 47. oakland 49. we're only in the low 50s and high 40s. from the east bay out towards the golden gate bridge, it will be breezy. santa rosa currently 50. 50 in novato. now we have some blue skies and clouds but things will continue to change. cold front moves through the bay area throughout the day today. tomorrow it will be bright but very chilly for christmas day. we expect the next rainfall to move in sunday night.

the umbrellas will probably have a little bit of a break this weekend. now the storm impact scale, this one for today is a level two, moderate which means we could get up to half an inch of rain, heaviest from south bay, look out for gusty winds in the afternoon up to 45 miles per hour. and the snow levels down to 2,000, 3,000 feet. we'll see them on the bay march mountain tops. so 12:00 we'll see some breaks in the clouds or rain cover. but here at 5:00 notice we'll see some spotty showers, even heavy at times moving in and, again, the snow levels still dropping down and reaching some of our mountain tops in the south bay. then notice tomorrow morning most of it has gone. we'll be waking up to clouds in the south bay but then clearer skies and then really cold temperatures in store for us. also here's a look at the rainfall intensity. most of the rainfall in the afternoon and into the evening, afternoon highs on the cool

side, only in the throw mid-50s. for those of you heading out to midnight mass it will be chilly. you probably don't need to bring your umbrella, can you have it in the car just in case, but you'll need a hat and a really thick coat. here's the seven day forecast. the wintry shower continues into evening. bright christmas. chilly temperatures overnight friday into saturday. there's freezing numbers in the valleys. then we'll have a break on sunday before light rain moves in. also of course you mentioned snow in the sierra and the chain requirements. i recommend bringing food in case you get stuck. >> i hope that doesn't happen to anyone and they can just enjoy the fresh powder. merry christmas. tonight could be the final farewell for the silver and black at

raiders fans are being assured that the owner wants to stay. the city plans to presents and updated proposal to nfl next week. tonight's kick-off is happening at 5:25. raiders neighbors and reigning nba champions warriors are poised for a finals rematch tomorrow christmas day. they went basket utah last night. warriors undefeated at home so far this season. they are trying to keep that streak alive tomorrow when lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers visit oracle. watch that rematch of last year's finals on nbc 7. it starts at 2:00 p.m. steph curry's wife will join rachel ray on her show. she has her own cooking channel on youtube. he san jacinto some crafting tips that she says anyone can

pull off for this holidays. rachel at 1:00 p.m. right here on abc 7. kids, we are tracking santa. we'll show you exactly where he is. and did you hear about his face to face encount

that sound. like nails on a chalkboard. but listen to this: (family talking) that's a different kind of sound. the sound of the weekend. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. it's always worth remembering... that icing the cinnamon rolls is a privilege not a right. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop.

have no fear santa claus is making his way to the bay area. this morning he even got a helping hand from some air force pilots. >> ho, ho, ho, merry christmas. >> santa looking very animated there. he's carrying lots of cargo. the royal australian air force escorted is a at that as he made his way through the middle east. where is he now? n he's currently over iraq and delivered more than 2 million presents to good boys and girls around the world. if you want to track santa yourself we have a link on our website. i saw some of those packages were marked for you. >> thank you. >> and your family. so hopefully there's some left for the rest of us.

>> it will be a cold evening if you're headed out tonight. but i would take all those presents. >> you want to share? >> hope you have a merry christmas eve. who want tubes millionaire is next. here's a beautiful look at the golden gate bridge. gives you and idea of the day ahead. clouds on one side, sun on the other. have a great one.

>> there are some people in this world with the attitude, "hey, it's only money." you won't be seeing any of those people on our show today. it's time to play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ thank you very much. hello, everybody. i'm chris harrison. welcome. are you guys ready to play "who wants to be a millionaire"? [cheers and applause] me, too. our first contestant is an educator who's been rewarded for her unique ways of motivating students by being named teacher of the year not once, but twice. from sparr, florida, please welcome jill stephens. [cheers and applause] hi, jill. >> hi. >> good to see you. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you as well. welcome. >> thank you. [cheers and applause] >> what do you teach? >> i teach biology, marine science, and environmental management. >> failed, failed, and failed. [laughter]