outside from our sutro camera. it's kind of quiet now. there is rain on the way. frances is tracking the storm. good morning to everyone out there. thank you very much for being with us on christmas eve. we have a lot to talk about. merry christmas to all. >> yes. we'll check in with frances. i just like to see your tree. it brings me all the holiday vibes. look at your ornaments. okay. >> good thing you can't zoom in on my hand made ornaments by my kids. from afar it looks great. we have a mostly dry day. you'll notice with live doppler 7 that clouds will start to increase. we have lots of cloud cover around the bay area now. they will increase throughout the day. and here's your day planner as we look out from the east bay towards san francisco. sunrise at 7:23. temperatures in the 30s and 40s. increasing clouds throughout the alphabet wi

afternoon with a possible sprinkle. temperatures topping out in the upper 50s, low 60s today. i'll tell you about the rain coming up. >> thank you. this morning a church in san jose is preparing to hold an indoor christmas eve service even though it's not allowed. the church is already facing a million dollars in fine for defying health orders. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is live at cavalry church with more on this. >> the pastor says he has no intention of paying those fines. he does plan to keep holding indoor services. they are large gatherings. they usually attract an average of 700 people here at cavalry chapel. indoor worshipping services are banned in the county health order. officials are appealing to people asking them not to come here and gather on this christmas. they're wondering why he won't follow the typical legal process

and let this play out in court. >> i don't know what kind of legal advise they're getting, but i would never advise a client to defy a court order. they're not following any of the rules and process we have set up. instead, they've just decided they're going to defy all of tha that. >> an attorney for the church believes the first amendment protects their right to worship together. today's christmas eve service is set for 5:00. this matter has a court date of january 14th. live in san jose. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> thank you. the i-team discovered that the church received money through the paycheck protection program. you can see that full story by going to our website, abc7news.com/i-team. covid-19 is projected to be the third leading cause of death in santa clara county. this morning there's fear that

travel and gatherings over the christmas holiday will send the county over the edge. here's dan ashley. >> i urge, urge, urge anyone who is considering gathering to stop.rates in santa clara county are at all-time highs due to a surge of new infections following thanksgiving. the fear is another post-holiday spike would collapse the county's health care system. >> we are going to be in an extraordinary crisis here in santa clara county. >> county health officials say hospitals may soon need to ration care, even for people who don't have covid. >> we are talking about people in gurneys without a bed to go to. we are talking about people not getting hospital care. >> the county's public health officer is begging people not to travel even locally by car and to limit gatherings to only those you live with. if we don't, she warns the consequences could be dire. >> if we have a surge on top of a surge, we will definitely

break. >> santa clara county recorded the most cases and most deaths in the bay area throughout the covid-19 pandemic. more than half of icu patients in california hospitals are infected with covid-19. statewide available capacity has dipped to 1.1%. all of southern california and the san joaquin valley have been out of regular icu capacity for days now. the bay area is fairing better, with 11.4% availability. some tahoe officials are calling on airbnb to stop short-term rentals during the state's stay-at-home order. representatives with el dorado, placer counties and truckee are asking for a ban on rentals until the 1st of january. they're asking san francisco-based airbnb to inform hosts and guests of the order and to cancel reservations in

violation of the order, but airbnb has not commented. new developments in the coronavirus crisis. yet another new variant of covid-19 has been detected in the uk. this was originally identified in south africa and is believed to be more contagious. jobina is at the live desk with the details on this. jobina? >> good morning, kumasi. officials call this second new variant extremely concerning. they believe this version of the virus is spreading faster. this time two people had been in contact with others who had recently traveled to south africa. that's where this new strain is believed to be ripping through the country in record numbers. dozens of nations have banned travel from the uk. the u.s. has not implemented a ban yet. ban yesterday. pfizer and moderna plan to do more testing with the new variant but they say they are confident their vaccines will still work.

glide in san francisco is continuing its annual prime rib christmas eve luncheon today. this is the 27th year that glide and house of prime rib have teamed up. the restaurant is donating 3,000 pounds of prime rib. because of the pandemic, organizers are boxing up meals and handing them out in front of glide on ellis strit. street. they will hand out 1,400 meals today starting at noon. coming up, a breath of relief forev dozens of bay area transit workers who get to keep their jobs for now. and one stanford covid patient's incredible survival story and his long road to recovery. and here's a live shot in san jose. it's currently 40 degrees. we have lots of cloud cover throughout the day. temperatures will be milder. san jose will hit a high of 62. i'll let you know what your

good morning. today mostly cloudy with temperatures on the mild side. upper 50s to low 60s. get ready for a wet system for christmas day. it's 1 out of 5 on our sail impact scale. it could be breezy and gusty as well. i'll show you the forecast animation. 8:30, possible sprinkles in the north bay. by the afternoon hours is when we get the more moderate rainfall, starting first in the north bay and sweeping south throughout the evening hours. trickling off into saturday morning. there's a winter storm warning in effect as well. don't drive to and from tahoe tomorrow into saturday afternoon. jobina is keeping an eye on the roads. she has a very serious crash you

need to know about. jobina? >> thank you so much. the yes. a sigalert has been issued in napa because a man was hit by a vehicle on the roadway right now. very major injuries have been reported. emergency crews are on the scene. as we bring in the map, i want to show you the area impacted. because this is not a major commute corridor, we're not seeing a big slowdown, just a minor yellow spot there. this is on southbound 29 past soscol creek road. heads up for anyone traveling through the area. two lanes are blocked. again, major injuries reported. a live picture outside and let's check out the toll plaza. we did not see metering lights on yesterday or the day before. i don't expect them today as so many people have the day off. look at our essential workers making their way in. one more look here, a live picture, checking out walnut creek and 680, things are moving smoothly aside from that one major incident in napa.

kumasi? >> thank you. good news this morning. this holiday really for nearly 150 golden gate transit workers who were facing layoffs in a matter of weeks. the bridge district voted to delay the layoffs of bridge andg transit workers. president trump has not signed the stimulus bill yet, demanding a bigger check for individuals. both the management and union say they're optimistic. >> it's still contingent by the president signing this bill. whatever happens in washington, we know the money will still be coming. >> the transit dwriistrict face $48 million deficit due to a sharp decline in ridership and bridge traffic toll revenue. still ahead, not falling snow but falling iguanas. we'll tell you what's behind

this unusual phenomenon and of course it's happening in florida. and the last minute effort to save a chinatown restaurant that's been open for more than 100 years. and at 6:12 as you wake up with us on this christmas eve. hopefully you're nice and cozy in bed with nowhere to go. looking live at

san francisco supervisor aaron peskin is trying to save an iconic chinatown restaurant from closing. the 100-year-old far east cafe is closing its doors due to the pandemic. peskin says he is asking the board of supervisors for $1.9 million in aid for restaurants. he pleaded with owner bill lee to wait on closing. >> bill, i beseech you and your investors and your landlord to

hang in there a little bit longer. >> lee didn't make any promises, but peskin's office tells abc7 that lee may stay open until supervisors vote on the aid package in january. the albany bowl is another economic casualty of the covid-19 crisis. it's been a fixture in the east bay for decades and is now closing for good. the billiard room, restaurant and sports bar was a popular spot for uc berkeley students and high school kids. the east bay times says the owner spent $700,000 out of his own pocket since the shutdown and can't keep going. foster farms must provide workers with masks after a deadly coronavirus outbreak. it happened at a chicken processing plant in california. a judge ordered them to comply with a number of covid-19 health rules. the breakout at livingston

facility killed nine people and hundreds more were sick earlier this year. foster farms says it is following safety rules and repeatedly testing employees. this morning we have a remarkable story of faith, perseverance, and victory over covid-19. it happened for a patient at stanford. as dion lim discovered, the exclusive story of how he got there is just as inspiring. >> reporter: patrick shannon watched his father john experience some of the worst that covid-19 can dish out. first, the infection. then an immune response so severe it ravaged his organs. >> if you looked at him the first day i saw him, you would not have thought he was alive. >> reporter: with lungs and kidneys failing, doctors in tacoma, washington gave his father little chance of survival. rarely leaving his bedside, patrick didn't give up emailing major transplant centers including stanford. dr. john mcarthur said they initially had concerns as well.

>> we actually did a video phone call so i could see what was going on with his father and he was so weak, he couldn't lift his head off the pillow. >> reporter: doctors left the door open to a transplant if john could regain strength. it took months of recovery and more video phone calls. >> i was thrilled and i said all right, let's bring him down. >> reporter: challenges lay ahead. a surgical team would ultimately spend parts of two days performing a lung transplant and then a kidney transplant. he said the destructive toll from the covid-19 infection was visible on the operating table. >> it's pretty destructive. it really basically disintegrated his lungs. >> i didn't go to sleep that night from 2:20 in the morning one of the surgeons called me to tell me that the transplant went well. >> there's that. the ankle weights. >> reporter: from temporary housing near stanford, his son

showed us the ankle weights and bicycle he's been using since the transplant. free of covid and with new lungs and kidney, john threw himself into the challenging process of rehabbing his body and after three months of work, the results are nothing short of remarkable. >> looks amazing. it's extraordinary. he looks amazing. >> reporter: after months after being hooked to machines, john now walks without aid, taking strides towards a new life. it's a recovery stanford doctors attribute in large part to the determination of his son. >> he was at his father's bedside basically the whole time his father was in the hospital. >> you know, this is a great medical story but also a great family story. >> reporter: and though his voice is still weak, john's feelings for his son are strong. >> yeah. >> dion lim, abc7 news. >> we wish john a continued recovery there. the family has created a gofundme page to help with

medical expenses. patrick and john are now looking forward to returning home to washington state. 'tis the season for falling snow and apparently falling iguanas. it's happening. oh. do we need the video? i could have imagined it in my mind. oh. no. >> they're out cold. >> this is too much. okay. let's explain. the temperatures in parts of the state, they are soon going to drop into the 30s. and that could lead to cold-bloodeduanas becoming stiff. so stiff they can no longer hold their perches in the trees and they suddenly fall. locals were warned to keep a lookout for the -- goodness. how many do we need to see? will they warm back up and get it together? >> i think they jolt themselves

awake after that thud to the ground. >> can you imagine walking around -- >> one of them was starting to move. it seems like maybe when the temperatures warm back up again they'll move again. >> i hope they thaw out. it's scary. >> well, hopefully this afternoon you will come back to life with some slightly milder temperatures hitting the low 60s today. for now i want to show you live doppler 7. we're starting off with cloudy conditions at this moment. but mostly dry throughout the day. there's a chance of a possible sprinkle. temperatures right now in the 30s and 40s. pretty chilly in the north bay. santa rosa at 32. napa at 39. we have a lot of mid 40s around the bay. san mateo and union city at 39 degrees. there's quite a bit of fog through the central valley. a dense fog advisory continues until 10:00 this morning.

at fairfield, visibility dropped to a fourth of a mile. in napa, novato, santa rosa, less than five miles or so. live view from the exploratorium. looking out towards downtown san francisco. looks really pretty right now. mostly cloudy, possible sprinkles today. get ready for a wet and windy christmas with another storm arriving on sunday. highs today in the upper 50s to low 60s. san francisco, 60 degrees. oakland, 62 as well as san jose and napa at 57. antioch at 56. temperatures overnight will be in the 40s, some 30s as well with the fog returning through the valleys. fairfield one of the chillier spots at 32. milder around the bay. san francisco 47. oakland and san mateo at 46. here's the accuweather 7-day forecast. possible sprinkles today. mostly cloudy. wet and windy tomorrow afternoon into the evening, lingering into saturday before another storm

arrives on sunday and then continues into monday. stay with

good morning. i'm abc7 meteorologist frances lawson. we're waking up to a cloudy morning with temperatures in the 40s and 30s. this is a pretty view from emeryville looking out towards san francisco. dry for the most part today. but then get ready for a wet system that arrives tomorrow afternoon for christmas day and continues into saturday morning. i'll have the details with the timing and when another system arrives after that as well. kumasi, julian? >> better find those umbrellas. thank you. "good morning america" is coming up at 7:00 on abc7. >> rob marciano has a look at what's ahead. >> hello julian and kumasi. great to be with you on this christmas eve morning. lots coming up on "good morning america" including a huge storm that has gone from the west coast to the midwest and heading towards the east coast. this brought blizzard conditions

to parts of the midwest. we'll track it as millions hit the road. also ahead, new concern over another variant of the coronavirus in the uk as much of that country goes into lockdown. the growing hope at home. more than 1 million people receiving their first vaccine dose. dr. zha has what we need to know as we head into the holiday weekend. and some great last-minute shopping ideas. if you have not checked them off on your list, people getting to and from where they need to go behind me. i have a couple items i need to get. and it's our finale of the 12 days of christmas cookies. a delicious way to wrap up and head into the big night tonight. i hope you have been nice and are on the nice list. i'm sure. merry christmas to both of you. >> thank you. 30 families in the east bay received a special gift from the 49ers. they provided this video of

staff members including sour dough sam delivering gift bags to the central comets neighborhood of fremont. the bags are filled with groceries, gas gift cars, 49ers gear and family entertainment. the niners hope the gifts will make things easier for those families this holiday season. new at 6:00, christmastime is here. one house in the east bay is getting into the holiday spirit with their extra festive light and music display. ♪ >> okay. abc7 meteorologist mike nicco shared this video with us of a home in danville all lit up for christmas. the lights light up to the tune of "little drummer boy." along the side of the house you can see the reindeer pulling santa's sleigh. i stayed out late.

i was looking at christmas lights last night. listen, it was worth it. i went to union square, tom and jerry's house. it just made me feel in the spirit. >> we have to do everything we can to get into the spirit. people going above and beyond to create these displays, we better check them out. coming up next, heads up for last-minute holiday shoppers. the retailers still offering same-day delivery this christmas eve. ♪ and a caroling protest in napa. the what these carolers say th

now at 6:30, plans for an

indoor christmas service amid rising covid cases. we're live at the church apparently planning on defying health orders again today. and who is next in line for the covid-19 vaccine. new recommendations from an advisory committee. and if you have some last-minute holiday shopping to do, some retailers will be open for a limited number of hours today. others are still offering same-day delivery if you are super last minute. >> super, super last minute. no judgment, but a little bit. >> right. >> good morning. it's december 24th. it's christmas eve. we'll get to those stories in a bit. first we are checking in with frances for a look at our forecast. >> hi, guys. good morning, everyone. we're starting off with cloudy conditions and i'll show you that with live doppler 7. mostly dry today. so if you are doing your last-minute shopping, today is a good day to get that done. there's a chance of a possible sprinkle throughout the

afternoon. here's a live view from the east bay looking out towards san francisco with your day planner. sunrise at 7:23 this morning. temperatures right now in the 30s and 40s. by this afternoon, we'll top off in the upper 50s to low 60s. fairly mild afternoon, despite the increasing cloud cover. we have rain on the way for christmas day. but it looks likely to hit most of the north bay later on in the afternoon. i'll have those details coming up. >> all right. thank you. santa clara county leaders are begging residents to cancel holiday plans beyond immediate households. they say the danger of covid-19 brought the health care system to the brink. despite that urgent warning, a san jose church is planning on holding christmas eve services today. amy hollyfield is live in san jose. here we go again. this church has been defying health orders for months now. >> here we go again. cavalry chapel is refusing to close.

health officials are appealing to the people asking them not to come here and stay home for christmas. indoor worship services are banned under the state order that says we all must stay at home. this church now faces more than $1 million in fines for defying the order. it's not just the church. the county has also issued fines to the individual people who are making this happen. the pastor said he is not paying the fines and he is willing to go to jail. county officials say they will keep pursuing the case. they have a hearing in january and that the church cannot violate this order. >> there are real consequences to that. and they may not come quite as quickly as all of us in the community would like. especially given the fact that they are then contributing to the risk in our community. the consequences will come. >> an attorney for church

leaders argues they have a right to exercise their first amendment right to gather and pray and celebrate christmas. earlier this week a federal judge upheld governor governor newsom's stay-at-home order including the ban on indoor worship service. today's christmas eve service is set for 5:00. services here have typically drawn an average of 700 people. so they are large gatherings. live in san jose, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> thank you. in the north bay, carolers are defying the state's lockdown order. a group gathered in napa last night, most of them not wearing masks. ♪ about 40 people gathered at veterans park for a defying newsom caroling event. they wanted to show support for the napa business community and highlight what they see as inconsistencies in the state's reaction.

>> for christmas we're not supposed to sing but we can go shopping. so there's a whole bunch of -- it's okay to do this, not okay to do this. so when is it okay? >> actor kirk cameron is facing criticism for hosting similar large gatherings in southern california. about 100 people few of them wearing masks showed up for a caroling event at a mall in thousand oaks on tuesday night. california surpassed 2 million covid-19 cases. the first state to report this grim milestone. this comes as pandemic relief for millions of americans is still on hold. jobina is at the live desk with the details. good morning. >> good morning. today democrats plan to bring up president trump's proposal for more stimulus money. house republicans are likely to break with the president and block it. this comes as federal unemployment benefits are set to run out on saturday. republicans want to keep the overall price tag of that bill

down. but time is running out. i'll send it over to you, kumasi. >> thank you. now we do know that the government is headed towards a shutdown in just a matter of days. federal unemployment benefits are set to run out on saturday. sonoma county's health officer is urging people not to gather with friends over christmas. >> we know 89 positive cases were linked to thanksgiving gatherings. in some instances where people gathered outside of their household, 50% to 100% of the guests at the gatherings ended up testing positive for covid-19. >> the county announced it received 5,800 doses of the moderna vaccine. it's expecting 3,000 next week. san francisco supervisors have passed a resolution asking the city school district to come up with a plan to get students back into the classroom for in-person learning. the supervisors did not set a date, but they're asking the district to work with teachers

and staff to outline financial and operational needs that the city could help with. the board of supervisors passed a resolution last week asking governor newsom to prioritize public school educators for the first phase of vaccinations. california secretary of state alex padilla says he will meet with chuck schumer over the weekend to talk about his future in the u.s. senate. the two will discuss which committees padilla will be involved in. >> it's committees not just important to me but also most impactful for california. the starting point looking at where senator harris is currently vacating and where senator feinstein is. >> padilla will be the first latino to represent california in the u.s. senate and weber will be the first african-american to be secretary of state. president trump announced a second batch of pardons fiving

the crimes of two former associates, paul manafort and roger stone. manafort initially agreed to cooperate with mueller and then lied to investigators. stone never cooperated at all. the president pardoned nearly 50 people in the last week. former democratic presidential candidate andrew yang may be throwing his hat in the ring for mayor of new york city. he filed paperwork yesterday indicating that he has formed a mayoral campaign committee. this allows him to start raising money for a possible run. the announcement would not come until after the senate runoff in georgia which yang is focused on. he would be the second asian american candidate to run for mayor and appear on the ballot. coming up, despite covid, a north bay business is planning a huge new year's eve party. why it appears the county can't do much about it. and the writer and director

of wonder woman 1984 is talking about her new movie that will be released tomorrow. first we want to check in with jobina and something that is really going on on the roadways right now. >> yes.julian, that sigalert i was following in napa has been upgraded by the chp. they called out a coroner because this has turned into a deadly situation. so as we bring in the maps here, want to point out the area. there's just a minor slowdown there. this is on southbound 29. it's also past soscol creek road. that's the specific area, where you see that yellow line sigalert in effect. emergency crews are on the scene. a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle. that's what led to this this morning. also we do have a fog advisory issued by the chp for the altamont pass. i want to bring in a live picture showing off emeryville. headlights making their way westbound towards the maze.

if you're going towards the bay bridge toll plaza, we do not have metering lights on there. we will show off that area. it's been completely clear all morning long. i don't expect to see those metering lights because so many people are off for the holiday. i want to check in with frances who is joining us here this morning with her beautiful tree and homemade ornaments. hi, frances. >> hi, jobina. good morning, everyone. jobina mentioned fog in the altamont pass and we have fog in the north bay as well as cloud cover. mostly cloudy today. the clouds will thicken up throughout the day bringing us a chance of possible sprinkles throughout the afternoon but very unlikely at this point. it's just out there. temperatures right now are in the 30s and 40s. pretty chilly in some spots especially in the north bay like santa rosa, 32. around the bay, mid 40s for many parts. 46 in san francisco and also in oakland. the highs today will be on the

mild side. upper 50s to low 60s. oakland, 62 as well as san jose. chillier inland like antioch, 56 and napa at 57. lows tonight in the 40s and 30s once again. so a little bit chillier with some fog expected. especially through antioch, fairfield and in through the central valley. here's the accuweather 7-day forecast. possible sprinkles today. mostly dry if you want to get your last-minor last-minute errands done. we have another system arriving on sunday. the now, more high temperatures where you live brought to you by disney's "soul" streaming only on disney plus starting tomorrow on christmas day. >> life, is full of possibilities. you just need to know where to look. >> streaming this friday on disney plus is the movie critics

are calling peak pixar. disney and pixar "soul" is visually glorious and a joy to behold. "people" magazine says it is the best movie of the year. disney and pixar

welcome back. thank you very much for being with us. the cdc says a million americans have already been vaccinated. that includes more than 120,000 californians mostly front line health care workers. so who will be next in line? the state advisory committee met yesterday afternoon to answer that question. j.r. stone has more on what was decided. >> reporter: a community vaccine advisory committee made up of dozens of people from california's health divisions made recommendations wednesday on which of the states essential workers should receive the covid vaccines next. the most immediate groups include education and child care workers, emergency service

workers, including fire, police and corrections officers, food and ag workers including grocery store employees and most importantly all individuals 75 years old and above. >> 75-plus, they're just they're outliers. they're ten times, 20 times higher death rates. >> these workers will likely be part of the tier-1b group to receive vaccinations in january and february. other groups receiving the vaccines during that time period will include all high risk 65 to 74 year olds, essential workers in transportation, critical manufacturing and facilities and service workers ahead of the united educators of san francisco say this is recommendation would be a win for teachers and says that this could help when it comes to getting schools back open. >> i think the potential is there. some of our buildings and structures need work. >> reporter: those in the committee are recommending

prisoners be included in this tier to get the vaccine, something that would cover county and state facilities, but not federal ones. j.r. stone, abc 7 news. unionized health care workers are calling for more transparency in the way the vaccine is distributed. sciu local 1021 is asking that minority communities be prioritized. many of the union members are front line workers at san francisco general and some shared their stories about why they got vaccinated. >> as a latin person of color i said yes because our community is being affected by alarming rates. >> my hope is this is the light at the end of the tunnel because as a community we're tired. we miss each other. we miss human touch. we miss our family and friends. >> the union is urging members to receive the vaccine just as soon as it's available. if you have any questions about the vaccine, go to abc7news.com/vaccine. you will see a big blue box there.

once you click on that, it will take you to a form that will send your question to our abc7 news vaccine team. this morning there are serious concerns about plans for a huge new year's eve party in the north bay. graton casino is hosting the private event with 4,000 people expected to attend. the county public health officer says she has been in touch with the casino but she has no jurisdiction over sovereign land. >> they are planning to do things with as much mitigation measures as they can in terms of limiting their indoor capacity to 20%. >> in a statement the tribal chairman said team members at graton are tested for covid-19 every two weeks and wear digital devices to ensure social distancing. bars will remain closed and walk-up alcohol service ends nightly at 9:00 p.m. fremont police are investigating after an amazon delivery driver was carjacked.

it happened at 1:20 yesterday afternoon on beard road near whitehead lane. according to the "mercury news," the driver was forcibly removed from the seat of his van. he wasn't hurt. police later recovered that van in union city near the b.a.r.t. station. they don't have suspects at this point. it's not clear if packages were taken from that amazon truck. time is really running out if you're looking to get those last-minute christmas gifts. target is offering same-day delivery today, it's on orders placed through the target app and online. amazon is also promising same-day delivery. stores open today including barnes & noble, bed, bath and ad beyond, costco and macy's. zoom is reportedly looking to branch out after having a very good 2020. it was a big year for the

company due to the need for video conferencing during the pandemic. now a report says zoom is looking to get into email and calendar services. it may begin testing the email product in the coming months. analysts say it's a good idea with more workers likely to return to offices next year. a big honor for marc benioff. he has been named ceo of the year. the san francisco company has done well in the business world in 2020. shares are up nearly 40% and just recently acquired slack. cnn notes benioff is about more than the bottom line. he speaks out about social causes like gender and racial equality as well as homelessness. the company helped secure ppe for front line workers back in april during the pandemic. the critics have spoken and they're calling wonder woman 1984 the superhero 2020 needs. this morning we're hearing from patti jenkins who wrote and directed the film. >> as a super fan of wonder woman myself, i had been waiting to see this movie. so the first movie, there was a lot of pressure. the second movie there was

pressure to live up to the first movie and to do something new and fresh and, you know, i'm super happy with where we ended up. >> wonder woman 1984 will be released tomorrow and available to stream on hbo max. patty jenkins also is directing a new"star wars" >> between that and "soul" we have good options for christmas. we'll be watching. >> the abc7 yule log, too. getting into the christmas spirit. i think we all need that. >> mm-hmm. >> yes. good one, julian. tomorrow will be a great day to stay home because it will be wet and windy in the afternoon. but for now i want to show you this pretty live shot looking out towards the bay and the bay bridge. today will be a great day to get outside and go for a walk or do any of the last-minute errands

you need to do for christmas. we have mostly cloudy for today and then possible sprinkle because of a system to our south moving through. you can see the high clouds in the distance with this live shot. turning wet and windy for christmas tomorrow afternoon. the morning will start off dry. a colder storm arrives on sunday afternoon. highs today will be in the upper 50s to low 60s. san francisco 60. the oakland, 62 as well as san jose cooler inland. get ready for the storm tomorrow. we rank it 1 out of 5 on the storm impact scale. spotty showers are possible during the morning hours. most of the rain will arrive in the afternoon and taper off to showers in the evening for saturday morning. it will be breezy to gusty in the afternoon. especially in the higher elevations. we'll see the strongest winds. the forecast animation shows that at 8:30 in the morning, most sprinkles are likely in the north bay. dry for everyone. check out 130.

we have more moderate rain with areas in yellow there hitting the north bay as the system slides south, it breaks up into showers. by the evening spotty showers, possibly lingering into saturday morning. there's a winter storm warning in effect if you're heading to and from the sierra tomorrow afternoon through saturday afternoon with up to two feet of snow expected in the highest peaks. travel is not recommended for other reasons as well. here's the accuweather 7-day forecast. so, again, possible sprinkles, but unlikely today. just wanted to give you a heads up. tomorrow for christmas, wet and windy. you saw the rain mainly arrives in the afternoon. then linkers into saturday. saturday will be another great day for the most part to head out and get some stuff if you want to. sunday, our colder storm arrives in the afternoon. lingering into scattered showers on monday. >> all right. thank you. we're used to seeing snow out in tahoe, but how about a white christmas in the south

bay? a family in san jose made it happen. so dustin dorsey shared this on twitter. he says the family hired a company to turn their front yard into a winter wonderland. get out and enjoy it. a local 12-year-old is demonstrating how good it feels to give to others. he is obsessed with steph curry and wanted to share that with other kids. wayne freedman has the story of selflessness in san ramon. >> reporter: let's talk obsession in a moment. the good kind that you find in a 17-year-old basketball player from san ramon. >> he's out here six days a week and he has practice daily. >> reporter: usually wearing steph curry gear. >> when i wear steph curry gear, i can make all my shots. >> reporter: in his bedroom it's

steph curry all morning, all afternoon and all night. but there's one thing he wanted that he didn't have, one of these steph curry jerseys. but his mom felt he should earn it, and he did, nickel and dime at a time. but when it came time to buy, a revelation. >> i could have bought it to myself or given it to someone who needed it more than i did. >> reporter: fast forward to this meeting on a playground in oaklan oakland. >> this boy and his brother javier all share basketball and a love for curry. >> any idea what's going on here? >> no. >> reporter: blame griffin's grandma for putting it all together. she's on the county school board and knew just who to ask to find that someone. >> she called back in ten minutes and said they had just the boy. >> merry christmas. >> oh, thank you. >> reporter: first the jersey, then shoes for javier. and one more bonus, the latest kicks from steph. >> these shoes? >> reporter: talk about a christmas surprise. >> seeing the joy in their eyes.

seeing a young boy open something he never dreamed he would be able to own. >> reporter: and a timely selfless act from griffy who gave up the jersey he always wanted in exchange for something better. >> the reward of giving. >> wayne freedman, abc7 news. >> i can see him getting a thank you from the warriors. the winner is fire station 38 in pacific heights. san francisco fire crews received a 70-year-old contest to bring holiday cheer to the neighborhoods during the pandemic. firefighters at 17 stations scrambled to decorate their fire houses in two weeks. station 38 is the winner with an animated train, plenty of lights. the displays will be in place until the end of the year. >> i'm glad they brought that back. you know what else they're bringing back? >> what's that? >> lotion. >> let's go. when you don't have to get ready because you stay ready.

>> what kind do you have? is it holiday lotion? >> i don't have a scented holiday lotion. it says calms and relaxes. >> that's what we need. that's good. that's good, friend. >> all right. i'm in my zen now. >> yes. put on the little yule log. >> i'm ready to go. >> coming up next, the 7 things you need to know today. and abc7 has launched a new streaming app. wherever you are you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our new bay area app on apple tv, android tv, fire tv and on roku. just search abc7 bay area. download it for free today.

it is 6:57, here's the 7 things to know this morning. number one, there's some concern this morning that travel and gatherings over christmas will send santa clara county over the edge. covid-19 case rates are at an all-time high due to a surge of infections after thanksgiving. number two, cavalry church in san jose has been defying health orders and plans to hold a christmas eve service indoors today. the church faces $1 million in fines and it has an average of 700 people attending services. number three, graton iskcas is hosting a private party on new year's eve with 4,000 people planning to attend. the county health official said she has no jurisdiction over sovereign land. this morning, house republicans have blocked a bit by democrats to give americans $2,000 stimulus checks that the

president has demanded. this as federal unemployment benefits run out on saturday. number five, rain arrives tomorrow in the afternoon for christmas. it continues into saturday morning. then we get a break before rain returns again sunday afternoon. continuing into monday. but for today, mostly cloudy, so take advantage while you can. >> number six. a live look showing off our south beach camera here. check out the bay bridge. very light. no metering lights to report. you should have a relatively clear commute if you need to head in somewhere today. number seven, santa is on the move this christmas eve. this is a live look at the norad santa tracker. he's heading for china. he's already delivered more than 1 billion gifts. go, santa. >> they have to update these graphics. i'll just say it. i feel like we've been looking at the same graphics for the last 20 years. >> all you need to know is where

he is. >> the kids are like what is this? good morning, america. white christmas eve. the monster winter storm on the move right now taking aim at the east coast. already wreaking holiday havoc on the roads. the big blizzard warning in the midwest. dangerous conditions in minnesota. the governor activating the national guard. standing by for rescues. we're tracking the latest threats as millions of americans hit the road for the holiday exodus. pardon blitz. president trump wiping out convictions for 26 more people including longtime adviser roger stone. former campaign chair paul manafort and jared kushner's father while the fate of that covid relief package and the hopes of millions of americans in need of aid hang in the balance.