now at 5:00, a bay area church hit with crime. thieves take money for the needy in middle of mass. some still getting trees for christmas. how the bay area is getting ready even on christmas eve. expert criminals targeting multiple bay area beaoutiques, w the grinches are stealing christmas. and tracking santa as he makes way to the usa. meteorologist drew tuma, new storm moving in, the forecast.

what's weird is he actually shook my coworker's hand when they left. >> group of high-end criminals caught on camera, christmas grinches with expensive taste. multiple stores about how they got away. bay area church is target of criminals right before christmas eve, money meant for needy stolen but may have left a trail. >> i'm dan ashley. >> i'm dion lim, thanks for joining us. south bay, lady of guadalupe church asking for help this christmas eve after two thieves stole thousands of dollars meant for kids. >> unbelievable. >> julian glover is live with more on the effort to catch the thieves and get the money back. >> reporter: good evening to you both. there's a mass happening for the kids here at the church this evening. lot of kids and families walking around the church this evening.

exactly what the money, donations that were stolen, were meant for, the kids. leaving many people in the community asking why two people would do something like this. >> never expect someone to come here with intention of stealing. >> reporter: but that's what these thieves have in mind. parishioners are still inside the church but won't stop these two. takes hooded intruders less than 30 seconds to mosey into the church, one yanks up donation box with no problem and nearly hit woman in red jacket as they leave with the cash leaving the father stunned. >> never thought someone would come in, pretend to be part of the assembly and leave. >> reporter: just finished a baptism when they snuck in. family kneeling just seconds before the two strike.

>> robbing gifts for children. >> reporter: thousands of dollars stolen proceeds for candle selling that gives out for celebration in early january. >> i was married here 50 years ago. it got to me. >> reporter: stepping up to make sure this holiday tradition isn't ruined by cold-hearted thieves. >> there's a lot of desperate people doing desperate things, it's a shame but will come out in the wash. >> upsetting but at the time, inviting the community to pray for the two individuals. >> reporter: the san jose police department are investigating this theft, so far no suspects or lead, church offering up forgiveness for the two people behind the heartless crime. julian glover, abc7 news. >> christmas holiday traffic

with wet weather on the way. >> gearing up for christmas, snow in tahoe. >> been super busy. everybody's so excited for the season. powder's up there, all the good stuff. >> just listened to message from a buddy skiing with his wife. abc7 news was there with families trying on ski clothes and boots at sports basement store. >> excited for the surge in snowfall in the sierras. traffic getting out of the bay areas in usual slowdowns, interstate 80 a. >> cal trans says beprepared. both interstates are open, don't need chains but there's a chance you'll need them after the snow later this week. take them with you. meteorologist drew tuma, giving us idea of the road

conditions, timing. >> rain arriving along the coastline next hour or so, will become more intense after midnight. today has been rather dry but next storm moving in as we speak. zoom in, light shower moving into the coast around 5:30. san francisco will see light showers around 6:11, oakland before 7:00 and concord around 7:30. system is not large but moving in next 24 hours. it's into california,en then o of here tomorrow night. storm impact scale, number one light system tonight and christmas day. tenth to 3/4 of inch of rainfall and rough surf along the coastlines. christmas eve, isolated chance early on but best bet for rain is close to midnight tonight. hour by hour, time out the storm

in the full accuweather forecast. >> get the latest on the rain with live doppler 7 on the website and abc7 news app. click the blue live bar at the very top. keeping eye on the travelers with down to the wire flights this eve. seen a handful of delays last hour or so, minimal at oakland and san jose international airports, little bit worse at sfo but not bad. good tool is flight aware's online misery map. shows you problem spots across the country based on the delayed and canceled flights at each airport. been a few canceled and number of delays out of san francisco. usual suspects, chicago o'hare, sfo, l.a. and new york area causing trouble today. lighting up the menorah in

union square, check it out, beautiful out there. ceremony got under way a few minutes ago, one of several lightings happening around the bay area this week. third night of the jewish holiday that commemorates mack abees victory. and oil that miraculously burned for eight days. rushing to grab late christmas gifts, some people have way of doing things, last minute works well for them. time lapse for our cameras showing the busy spots. crossroads shopping center in walnut creek and emeryville as well. >> gives me anxiety to be honest. >> it does. christmas eve, clock is ticking down for people buying last-minute gifts, getting their

meals. >> lauren martinez is live. what is it like out there? >> reporter: it is a hot spot, a little cold but beautiful. christmas tree is glistening, and as dion mentioned, there's a second candle lighting of the menorah under way right now. also a lot of shoppers. been a mad dash across the bay area to get last-minute aernds done before the stores close tomorrow. christmas shopping countdown has begun. >> cars lined up down the pier, busy since we got here. >> reporter: delancey street christmas trees cutting and wrapping for free. customers filled the honey baked

store. one couple came back because the morning line was too long. >> two blocks down. it was cold, decided to go home and come back. that's what we did. this isn't bad, and they move it good, they really do. >> reporter: traditional meal people say is worth the wait. >> we do it every year. it wasn't bad last year. this time it's bad. >> reporter: for a lot of people, not their own stop. >> still have to go to costco, buy my cake, yep. >> 20 more minutes, i can shop 20 more minutes. >> reporter: and there's more of a rush for those celebrating on christmas eve. >> hungarians, and in hungary christmas eve is the big celebration. we're just chilling on the 25th and 26th. >> reporter: now according to a survey, 6% of the u.s. population is doing their last-minute shopping today. not afraid to admit i'm part of

that 6%. reporting live in san francisco, lauren martinez, abc7 news. >> good, me too, i don't feel so alone. thank you. jump online and we've posted list of stores still open around the bay area. most close at 6:00, you have to run. list at website, abc7news.com. oakland police patrolled the city with a special passenger on board today, santa claus. >> spent morning loading up toys and christmas dinners in police vehicles to deliver to low income families. about 70 families received gifts from the police union. >> picked out by officers throughout the year on patrol in the city. kids were delighted to see santa and officers deliver needed gifts. also in oakland, iranian refugee founded bay area tech company has donated enough money to cover outstanding lunch debt

for hundreds of students. donated over $15,000 to oakland unified school district. he was not allowed to go to school in iran because of his faith. he said if students don't have access to food, they don't have full access to education. >> that's part of the spirit of christmas for sure. some spreading holiday cheer but real-life grinches on camera. >> targeted luxury stores possibly all over the bay area. plus -- >> my christmas wish is to get all the video games in the world to play overnight. >> all of the games. what is santa on the hook for? we'll hit the streets to find out. in spirit of christmas, asking you tonight, which christmas song deserves the right to be called america's favorite? mariah carey's "all i want for

christmas is you" or brenda lee's classic "rockin' around the christmas tree". >> we share what the bay area

not your average thieves. sophisticated crooks hit up several stores in pacific heights, high-end stuff for thousands of dollars. >> each told the same story. employees are talking and sharing surveillance video with police and melanie woodrow. >> reporter: dion and dan, the story these thieves were telling the stores is they were here visiting from paris. apparently very engaging, talkative, one of them talking,

others were walking. shops on fillmore are no stranger to thieves. >> i've had shoplifting before, not as good as this time. >> reporter: but these sophisticated shoplifters got past employees at several stores this month, saying they were visiting from paris. surveillance video from mio, stuffing jackets worth thousands under outer wear. >> pros are so good, can do it in front of you, you never know. >> >> reporter: no masks or smash and grabs, crooks were engaging. >> able to distrac the sales people on the floor, quickly, precisely. they knew what they wanted. >> reporter: employees couldn't tell anything was missing until they were gone. >> does make me ill. >> hit up vintage

scarves from estate sales. >> never had issue in past. >> reporter: this woman looked at scarves. >> held up a bunch in front of coworker's face. >> reporter: man stuffed a purse up his jacket. this is a picture of the handbag. >> he shook my coworker's hand when they left. >> reporter: both stores have shared the video with san francisco police. police are investigating whether the people in both videos are the same. sfpd says there's been a decline in theft-related crimes and robberies city-wide. they do patrol the area but not sure will make a difference given how sophisticated the criminals were.

melanie woodrow. >> sophisticated? crazy, unbelievable. to christmas in the park, to talk to children about holiday wishes. >> predictably sweet and brutally honest. >> one of my christmas wishes is hope my family will have a very nice christmas. >> one of my christmas wishes is that we -- it's more peaceful here. >> i want new ugg boots. >> some things for my new puppy. >> my christmas wish is for me to get all the video games in the world to play overnight and never have to watch dumb news. >> what did he say? i hope his parents aren't watching right now. >> he didn't mean it. cute stuff. something we've come to expect as warriors fans,

blockbuster matchup of dubs dynas dynasty against another heavyweight. >> this is different this year, going through rough patch, injuries to klay thompson and steph curry. >> but a chance for christmas upset against one of their most bitter rivals. >> young warriors go against james harden and the houston rockets on national tv, 2:00 p.m. on abc7. for those tracking santa today and tonight, norad tracker we've been using, and google has realtime santa following feature. 2:00 a.m. our time in russia. santa on the screen. you can see how many gifts he's delivered with live feed and google earth pictures from his journey. of course there are also games as well to play along the way. >> never clear if santa likes

all this technology by which we track him so closely. >> it doesn't matter, we have it and santa goes long for the ride with his reindeer. reindeer. re. down to the second we know where he is, moving into brazil as we speak. here, rain is moving in. live doppler 7 is showing clouds have thickened, tracking light showers ahead of the front that will move through while many of us are sleeping. marin county, light sprinkles, san rafael, lucas valley. picture on the golden gate bridge camera. clear skies early, started with sunshine but clouds over the entire region. accuweather highlights. rain developing west to east. along the coast, finish in

inland east bay. it's rainy start to christmas but entire day not wet. by the evening expect drier conditions to prevail. it's chilly, 48 in napa, 51 in the city. santa rosa about 49 decrease. live doppler 7 with satellite, tracking the cloud cover, thickening throughout the afternoon and evening. disjointed system. area of low pressure forcing front here well to our north, not a lot of rain but rainy first half of the holiday. beach hazard statement in effect, risk of rip currents and sneaker waves. very active ocean current next 24 to 48 hours. storm impact one, light to moderate rain.

tenth to 3/4 inch once the storm is said and done. track the light showers along the coastline, heaviest rain looks to hold off until early tomorrow morning. by 6:00 tracking pockets of heavier rain. scattered showers through 11:00 a.m. and later on in the day the showers will move south. finish the holiday on dry note. accuweather seven-day forecast, next seven days for you. heaviest rain in the morning on christmas. but dry out, brighten up thursday, friday, saturday, next chance of weather coming sunday. >> it's great. i'm getting new roller skates

it helps to have someone in your corner. that's why there's covered california. we're the only place where you can get financial help to pay for your health insurance. new this year, almost a million people could receive additional financial help from the state to help lower the cost of health insurance... more for those already getting it, and new help for many who haven't gotten help before. so check to see how much you could save. it only takes 5 minutes. the last day to enroll is january 31st. so get covered today.

headline dominating business news, uber cofounder is severing all ties with the country.

>> travis kalanick leaving the company. >> eight years after the societal change that we know now, ousted as ceo out of the company for sexual harassment and discrimination scandals. >> and now will depart from the board seat. recently sold more than $2.5 billion in uber shares. hasn't said who will fill his seat. which christmas classic deserves to be billboard hot 100? >> one of your choices. ♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ >> the other, brenda lee's 1958 original "rockin' round the christmas tree". >>

you know when you go to ross for a few gifts and realize... oh yeah! you should've gotten a cart? that's yes for less. get gifts for everyone on your list and save 20 to 60 percent off department store prices. at ross. yes for less. department store prices. it looks like this. for heart failure look like? ♪ the beat goes on ♪ entresto is a heart failure pill that helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body.

don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. ♪la-di-la-di-dah don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. ♪the beat goes on yeah! and you're not sure who'll be more excited... ...you... oh, yeah. ... or them? ahhhhhh! that's yes for less. be a rock star this season and save big on gifts they're gonna love. at ross. yes for less. coming up on abc7 news at

6:00, car insurance companies track your own move for discount, how much it could save you. >> record broken, super saturday. owner of home says decorations were inspired by different kind of force. >> all in half hour at 6:00. finally may be two top christmas songs this year, according to billboard hot 100. >> first time ever, two holiday songs topping the charts, led by mariah carey. ♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ holiday smash hit "all i want for christmas is you," number one from last week, but "rockin' round the christmas tree" just hit number two. >> both fabulous

wor"world news tonight" with da muir is next. >> thanks for joining us. >> see you at

tonight, on this christmas eve, several developing stories as we come on. travelers stranded at two key airports. the blanket of fog in the midwest. what was supposed to be an easy travel day turning into a big mess for families and friends stuck in limbo. and the storm now gearing up for the trip back home. the christmas gift threat. north korea's power play. will they test a long-range missile over the holiday? the troubling satellite images and tonight, the response from president trump. hotel explosions. back-to-back blasts. guests rushed to the hospital. firefighters on-scene during the second explosion. two of them injured. the investigation under way. new tonight, the baby back home in her father