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>> now from abc 7, live breaking news. dan: that breaking news is in

colorado, where we are seeing truly terrifying images of wildfires ripping through homes. flames are being fueled by winds gusting up to 115 miles an hour, hurricane force. more than 30,000 people are under evacuation warnings. it is an eerie scene we have grown accustomed to in the bay area in recent years. there are two major fires right now, there south of boulder. boulder is about 30 minutes from denver. abc 7 news reported j.r. stone has been following the story closely for us and is in the newsroom with the latest. reporter: an intense situation tonight. i've been talking with those who don't know if their house is still standing in doubt and those who have lost pets. this is because of the most destructive fire in colorado history. when that has already burned at least 1600 acres. heartbreaking images coming out of colorado as more than 500

homes have burned to the ground. as to wildfires have torn through the cities of superior and louisville in between older and -- denver and boulder. this man, driving through flames to get to safety as evacuations were issued for tens of thousands of people. >> i would say within 25 minutes, the situation completely changed. >> it was when the winds shifted around 5:00 or so. it switched 10 minutes later to hate, get out. reporter: not only was smoke seen, but flames too. costs estimated as strong as 115 miles per hour. officials believe downed power lines started the fire. >> these high winds are making it uncontrollable. >> i swear, i couldn't open my door. reporter: at least six people were injured. the situation was so bad, not

only were homes evacuated, but stores and restaurants, too. one of the evacuations happened at this chucky cheese location, sending parents and kids running. the governor declaring a state of emergency as homeowners learned of their losses. >> it is devastating to see this. this time of year, a friend of mine, whose parents are in florida and they lost their home. they just got a call from the neighbor to let them note their home is gone. >> it happened so fast, it is hard to digest it. i'm grateful for this area. it is beautiful. i hope this is a rare occurrence , hope everyone is ok and we recover from this. reporter: many of those i talked with this evening are hoping that snow comes soon. and are literally waiting in hotel rooms. at this point, no deaths blamed on these fires, officials are

watching and waiting while structures burn. dan: incredible images. thank you. the conditions in colorado, something we are familiar with in the bay area. abc 7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. sandhya: the conditions will be better. snow is beginning to develop as you look at live doppler 7 tonight. on satellite and radar, you will notice snow showers right over colorado. they will be increasing as her going to the next 24 hours. we do have winter storm weathers -- winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories going into saturday morning. that snow will help the smoke down, help with the conditions there. numerous reports of wind gusts over 90, 100 miles per hour. the wind gusts will be between 15 to 29 miles an hour in that vicinity. not terribly strong.

as you look at the national outlook, it will be dealing with this note, 35 degrees in denver going into tomorrow. be back with a look at the local forecast, which includes the holiday weekend, coming up. dan: we've been sending out alerts about wildfires through the abc 7 news app. it is one way to stay on top of breaking news on your mobile device. be sure to enable the push alert so we can let you know as soon as news breaks. moving on, demand for covid testing remains high in the bay area. the new paris comfort -- concert venue in oakland has been transformed to a covid testing site. the site is excepting both insured and uninsured patients. it showed -- shows were scheduled have all been canceled. the signs as only at the alamein he farmers market testing site. there was a long line of cars tonight.

it will be open again from 8:32:10. the site does -- 830 police and fire departments around the bay area are being hit by covid fairly hard. the oakland police department confirmed it has 23 officers out . 20 deputies with the alameda county sheriff's office have been infected. at least 40 cases in the san francisco fire department. san francisco police and santa rosa police tell us they have officers out because of covid, did not give us a number. for the third date in a rote, the united states reported a record number of covid cases. the average, more than three hundred 16,000 per day now. health officials fear new year's gatherings will only add to that surge. abc news reporter morgan norwood explains the list of those eligible for booster shots is about to expand. reporter: as the pandemic rages

on, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, children may be next in line for an extra shot of protection. the new york times reporting the fda is expected to expand pfizer's boosters to 12 to 15-year-olds as monday. as a record number of children fill american hospitals, at the rate of 180 per day. >> i'm saddened by the fact we are seeing more kids with it now. reporter: an average of 360,000 cases per day, causing shortages across multiple interest -- industries. in houston, hundreds of health care personnel sick with covid and unable to come into care for patients. >> our numbers were 390 three yesterday. that number is 415 today. reporter: while some hospitals struggle to hold the front lines, another may be harder to come by.

monoclonal antibody treatments are less effective with omicron. officials in oakland worried this date supply could run out -- the state supply could run out by january. with millions of americans preparing to ring in the new year, health experts sounding the alarm about holiday gatherings. >> that will be a risky situation that i would recommend against. dan: sing canada sing canada sia sounds like march of 2020 all over again. in the province of québec, there's a curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. indoor sports are kueng to be allowed, all places of worship are closed except for funerals. abc 7 news reporter gives you a look at the precautions being taken. reporter: in downtown san jose

thursday, a packed house for a magical circuit christmas. nearly twice 500 seats sold, but a wave of calls and concerns before curtain went up. >> they went to know if we were having a show, if everyone was good. they went to get an idea of what is happening. reporter: they say the company has taken steps to address covid-19. stopping food and beverage inside the theater, so there's no excuse to take off your mask. elsewhere in san jose, evidence the pandemic is impacting new year's eve plans. at haberdashery sj, the owner or says -- stripes stuff being stretched thin. >> i tested positive myself. i'm sitting here quarantine. it is -- it looks like i'm sitting in my bar, it been sitting by myself or week. reporter: just across the street, marquis with the message new year's eve dj dance party.

christmas in the park organizers say the outdoor element is allowing them to continue with new year's eve activities. they anticipate the omicron variant might impact the number of visitors. >> the ones that feel safe and comfortable will come out. ones that don't will probably stay home. it is hard to determine how may people are going to be there. reporter: we spoke with my that say the rise in cases will mean a quiet night in. >> no one needs to be sick. >> event is less deadly is that more transmissible -- even if it is less deadly, more transmissible. >> i'm kind of mad. dan: you can celebrate new year's eve from the comfort of your home. we will show you the times for the ball drop on abc 7. dick clark's new year's rock and eve with ryan seacrest is on it 8:00 tomorrow night with a short break for abc news at 11.

-- 11:00. from time off to timeout, the unusual place where he woman was forced to 14 after testing positive for covid. >> all these folks were waiting for covid test. what was behind this extremely long line today in half moon bay. december has set records and sierra. experts why it is drought is over. all of that coming up. here's a look at what's ahead on jimmy kimmel live. >> you're going to like the way this looks. >> starring daytime emmy award winner jimmy kimmel live kris kringle. ♪ >>

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dan: new at 11:00, the search for skier that disappeared on christmas day. has become a recovery operation. he was a scary -- experienced backcountry skier. they mounted a search extreme weather conditions. plosser can sheriff's office has determined there is no realistic possibility he has survived, sadly. bernard newsom has declared a state of emergency in the number of counties because of winter storms. he made that announcement to help recovery efforts in the sierra and southern california as well as the bay area. those counties include alameda,

murray -- marine, santa cruz. state agencies will provide personnel and equipment to help with storm clearance. there's so much cleanup work to do. even with all the snow in the sierra, it is too soon to think california's drought is over. as laura anthony explains, it is what is next -- left next spring the accounts. reporter: what a difference a few good storms make. in california's stosur race past , this was sometimes conducted with more dirt than snow. not by a long shot this year. >> our survey today reported a snow depth of 78.5 inches and a snow water content of 20 inches. that results in 202% of average to date. >> if it stopped snowing today, this sierra would have 80% of the average snowfall for the entire season, ending april 1.

overall, the statewide snowpack is 160% of average for this date. >> with all that rain, it primed our watersheds so any type of future rain or snow would be able to run off. reporter: a bounty for sure. california water experts cautioned against too much optimism too soon. , well below the snowing mountains, some reservoirs are still below where they should be. shasta just 49% of average. orville, 72%. folsom is brimming. state water managers are thinking of releasing some water. a great start doesn't always end with the bountiful water supply. in 2013, december was great, the spigot abruptly shut off. >> we still need january, february, march to come in. we are hoping for that april 1% of average to get higher so we have more runoff to fill up those empty reservoirs. dan: the mayor of

city is facing a dire situation, with people trapped in their homes without heat. thousands of pg&e company -- customers and sierra communities lost power this week. the company is telling them to prepare for an extended outage lasting through this weekend. neighbors and koufax are pulling together, upping provide food, shelter and charging stations to those in need. >> people been showing appear wet, very cold, hungry, wanting something to eat. >> or passing a breakfast burrito staying one who is hungry or needs help. dan: the mayor telling residents to reach out to her directly if they need help. dungeness crab season has arrived at half moon bay, just in time for new year's eve. lines were long as aficionados came from around the bay area to sap up fresh crab off the boat. pent-up demand after weeks of delays. despite the bad weather, there

was no shortage of crab at $10 a pound, cash only. one man took home 10 crabs, money no concern. >> a couple hundred bucks. crab is two pounds, 200 bucks worth of crabs. >> is it worth it? >> best crabs in the world. dan: he looks excited. those crabs are going to be turned in all kinds of food to share with the family. the star of the commercial season was delayed to allow whales to migrate safely for the winter. they did, now commercial crab season is on. a chicago schoolteacher's quality trip to switzerland took quieter because of covid. she had to quarantine in an airplane bathroom. she says her throat started feeling sore and scratchy about an hour and a half into her flight. she headed to the bathroom, took a rapid test, sure enough, she had covid. >> i freaked out.

i ran out of the bathroom and into the first person i saw. dan: that person was a flight attendant, who sent her back to the bathroom where she spent the next four hours in isolation. she passed the town i'm -- she passed the time making tiktok videos. they took care of her. when the plane stopped in iceland, they took her to a hotel where she spent 10 days in quarantine. rocky dropped off a care package while she was there. let's turn our attention back to the weather. meteorologist sandhya patel is here as we enjoy this nice dry spell and prepare for more rain. sandhya: that rain is coming in early next week. as we close out this year, it is on a drying out. we are going to begin 2020 on a cold one. it is getting very cold. almost near freezing, napa 35 degrees. 36 in santa rosa. only getting pull -- colder as we had for the next couple of

days. let's talk about new year's eve, bright, sunny at noon. sun us down at 5:00, still sunny around the afternoon. 8:00, you're going to notice those temperatures coming into the 30's. you'll need those coats and jackets if you're outside. mid-30's to mid 40's. even colder by the time those temperatures bottom out around 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. i will show you a picture from kingsbury. snowing right now. they have a breeze there. certainly december like. let's check out the tahoe forecast. first i want to talk about the snow survey of the season, taken at fill station. this note at 78 point -- percent of average. statewide, are snowpack is 160% of average. slight chance of a few flurries tomorrow afternoon in tahoe. it is going to be getting very frigid.

saturday sunday morning in the single digits. live doppler 7 showing you for the right now. our drop -- drought situation has improved. last week we had most of california in extreme to exceptional drought. as of today, that extreme and exceptional drought has shrunk. as you look at the bay area, most of us are in the severe category. some areas extreme. while we are not out of the drought, this is certainly an improvement. it is noticeable and encouraging. from our emeryville camera, you see a beautiful view of san francisco. dry for new year's eve and that holiday weekend. a wet, windy weather pattern next week. tomorrow morning, upper 20's to low 40's. grab your heavy winter coats before you go. for the afternoon, did 40's to low 50's. pretty nice-looking day. we have a coastal flood advisory saturday morning and monday morning.

as king tides coming up. minor coso and bayside flooding. this tides will be over seven feet saturday through monday. next week, monday, tuesday, wet pattern going into wednesday. then we will switch it up going into an unsettled pattern for the end of the week. accuweather seven-day forecast. dry for the last day of 2021. start of 20 -- 2022. fog on sunday, chili as well. level 1 system monday through wednesday. time for those flannel pjs. dan:

dan: the return of the rose parade on new year's day. the final preparations are underway. tomorrow morning is the deadline for the floods to finish so the judges can pick winners. some of them had a head start. eyere being t for the 2021 parade, that it was

canceled. you can watch the parade right here in abc 7. starts at 8:00 new year's day, saturday morning. warriors tonight did not go as planned. they f

>> abc 7 sports, sponsored by river rock casino. reporter: good evening. we should be showing you warriors highlights. their game in denver was postponed due to covid protocols. the nuggets didn't have enough players. klay thompson was on steph curry and andrew wiggins's team. clay scrimmaging with the starting unit, that is notable. >> clay comes back, going to mess around. he is going to start. we will see what that means in terms of the rest of the rotation. >> reporter: shark some flyers. getting his first game --

captain ties it up at one. just two minutes later, brent burns lights a lamp for his third of the year. san jose has the two banks one lead. -- two banks one lead. sharks when it three banks -- 3-2. jimmy garoppo garoppo again. it looks more likely this guys -- that's all anyone wants to talk about 49ers camp. >> i've been going ask me anything other than train jimmy questions? i think there's been a huge improvement. i think he's been better than that. he looks more mature in the pocket. yet that leadership quality. he is not shying away from it. he speaks his voice when he needs to. that's about it. i think he's done a good job so

far. reporter: my new favorite thing ever, dumping things on college football coaches. we have a new undisputed champion. release the mayo. he got 4.5 gallons of mayo dumped on him for winning, with air quotes, the dukes mayo bull. -- full.

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dan: that is our report this thursday. for sandhya patel, all this thing -- all of us here. we appreciate your time. right now on jimmy kim, staying -- on jimmy kimmel,