take a look at these. a viewer emailed us this picture of their dog keila playing in the snow in the southwest. this is from debbie hiltner. she snapped this shot in sandy valley. in anthem some viewers got just enough snow to build a snowman. who's to say it can't feel like christmas in a desert? the weather cooperated with that christmas spirit we're all feeling and dropped about six inches of snow on mt charleston. right now it's another cold night for southern nevada. here's a live look at las vegas. a hard freeze warning is in affect for some areas in clark county. meteorologist carlo falco is tracking the deep chill for us tonight. carlo, how cold is it getting tonight? (giant) r (l) this christmas several tornado warnings and flash flood warnings are in affect throughout alabama.

this christmas several tornado warnings and flash flood warnings are in affect throughout alabama. you can see the big storm moving across the the southeast right now. the governor of alabama has issued a state of emergency

excessive rains and flooding. roads and bridges in some places are washed out or impassible. emergency crews are warning motorists not to drive through high water because it can be dangerous and unpredictable. firefighters and paramedics have been going door-to-door in some neighborhoods to reach those trapped by flood waters. the national weather service has issued multiple flood warnings across north alabama as heavy rains continue to fall. there's storm damage in georgia too. flooding in fayette county washed away an entire road! people across the south and mid-west are picking up the pieces after this week's deadly pre-christmas tornadoes. at least 14 people died in mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. a mississippi bank surveillance camera caught this compelling image of a wedge tornado as it roared through holly springs. at least 14 tornadoes slammed the state, killing seven people. among the dead -- a 7-year-old boy who was in a car with his family near holly springs. he is the youngest of the victims. a white christmas is just a

coast. some areas had their warmest christmas on record tonight meg maker reports.. people in new jersey spent christmas on the beach. --reporter pkg-as follows-- no shirt no shoes no problem this christmas in belmar-- surfers were riding the waves - bc its so warm out (billy swenson, belmar resident): "how was water? i wasn't wearing gloves today like. it was 52 degrees i think." and anyone up for some volleyball? (joe orecchio, enjoys warm weather): "since 8am no better way to start christmas day off with my new volleyball i got for christmas and my buddies,' (butted to) (steve sienkiewicz, enjoys warm weather): "not a normal christmas, i would usually be usually be sleeping or wrapping last-minutes presents but this is my, probably the best christmas present i'm going to have today." belmar mayor matt doherty rode his bike over to the boardwalk to chat with us... (mayor matt doherty, belmar, nj): "i've been out riding my bike with my daughters all morning their new christmas gift!" and says this unseasonably warm weather has been great for business (mayor matt doherty, belmar, nj):

coming to town it's always good for our small businesses," beach chairs in december -- some experts are attributing warm weather to the el nio phenomenon. but they also say that climate change probably plays a role as well. christmas morning has come and gone. the presents are open, and the empty boxes are outside for recycling -- right?! as one minnesota police officer tells us, that's exactly what thieves are counting on. criminals can take notice of what big screen t-v's and other electronics you have... by the trash you leave outside your home. officer rob zink st. paul, mn police "they drive up and down the alleys and the streets right after christmas and they take notes of addresses whether they're gonna come back in a day, come back in a week or come back in three months. they know exactly what's in the house now." police in saint paul have a new program to help reduce these burglaries. they've set up a recycling container in the western district parking lot. people can drop off their empty boxes -- day or night -- until january 8th. from rome to bethlehem, the

how is christmas day celebrated around the world? cnn's dianne gallagher has this year's highlights --reporter pkg-as follows-- a beautiful christmas morning in rome... "buon natale" before the thousands gathered in st. peter's square, pope francis delivered a christmas message of peace... "a day of peace, which makes for "a day of peace, which makes for encounter, dialogue and reconciliation" calling upon the international community to direct attention to regions in turmoil... praying for the victims of recent terror attacks in places like paris, lebanon, egypt. and imploring palestinians and israelis to resume peace talks and to find a way to live in harmony ... which, for many in the biblical birthplace, may seem out of reach today...violent clashes between palestinian protestors and israeli forces have been going on for weeks, just a few miles away from bethlehem. a popular tourist destination at this time of year, many are

the church of the nativity following a u-s travel warning and on this christmas, many in the united states are spending the holiday cleaning up... searching through wreckage in the wake of the deadly storms that swept through the southeast on wednesday, leaving 14 dead and scores injured. while the northeastern part of the country is experiencing record- high temperatures... making it anything but a white christmas. the first family also enjoying a warm christmas... celebrating with family and friends in hawaii. the president and first lady released their annual christmas message... "our family celebrates the birth of jesus and the values he lived in his own life...treating one another with love, and compassion, caring for those on society's margins" the obamas called for americans to think of the military service men and women, and especially their families... to give thanks for their sacrifices on this special occasion. in washington, i'm dianne gallagher. now to your red, white and blue

it looks like the libertarian party has its candidate for president. john mcafee entered the white house race as a libertarian thursday. the 70-year-old cyber-security pioneer is known for his popular computer anti-virus software. he originally planned to run for the highest office under his own cyber party to, quote, "disrupt the political status quo." but mcafee says a representative from the libertarian party contacted him tuesday about representing their party. the convention is in late may in orlando, florida... and he is likely to receive the nomination. california police arrested a man after an hours-long standoff in south sacramento. the county sheriff's office said the man fired off a gun early friday morning then holed up inside. a woman managed to escape the home after swat teams surrounded the property. officials had to evacuate residents living nearby. no other details were made available. not everyone has a home to go to at a christmas.. or a family to share a warm

that's where catholic charities of southern nevada comes in. today they served about 15- hundred meals. the dinner included pork loin.. stuffing.. twice-baked potatoes, broccoli polonaise..biscuits and pie. catholic charities of southern nevada has been serving our communities less fortunate since 1965. coming up on action news. did grandma buy off the list? a las vegas based company is giving you cash for unwanted gifts. plus-- a feathered friend certainly didn't get an invitation...but wait til you hear where he made himself at home.

nasdaq up 3 sp500 down 3 and it's a very merry christmas in local gaming. ceasar's jump more than two percent. only las vegas sands droppped less than a percent. if you're not happy with your gift, not to worry -- zappos is giving you a chance to cash in! starting at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, they're offering a $100 gift card to customers who aren't happy with their presents.. in exchange, the company will

have to call the company, and you'll want to do it early.. because they're only giving gift cards to the first 500 people who call. we've posted an article with all of the information on our web site.. ktnv.com. holiday travelers beware.. gas prices may be rising. today's average in las vegas jumped to $2.54 for a gallon of regular. that's a two cent jump from last week. the national average is still looking pretty though at $2.00 a gallon. that's tonight's 'financial focus.' let's go to bryan scofield and 'weather first.' . a hard freeze warning is in effect for the northwest and southern corners of clark county for saturday night with temperatures expected in the teens and a high wind warning is in effect for lake mead and the colorado river valley through tomorrow. winds are expected to gust to 60mph down the colorado river valley and there could be gusts to about 70mph at the hoover dam. the hard freeze warning is in effect saturday night with

as 10 for pahrump, primm and searchlight. for las vegas there is a chance for sub-freezing temperatures tonight, but strong winds will keep temperatures at or just slightly below freezing for the most part. the winds will increase tomorrow as a secondary low pressure area passes from our northeast to our southeast. the winds, along with a reinforcing shot of cold air mean that wind chills will be in the 20s to start out, and 30s for the majority of the day. the sunshine won't do too much to warm things up as highs will be in the mid 40s, and some areas outside the valley won't break out of the 30s. a wind advisory is possible for the las vegas valley tomorrow. sunday the winds will die out but very cold air aloft will

temperatures chilly around the valley. highs will in the upper 40s with a few more clouds around. the downside to the winds dying out is temperatures will fall very quickly sunday night, and lows are expected in the upper 20s around the valley. freeze watches and/or warnings are possible for the las vegas valley sunday night into monday. high pressure starts to nose in for tuesday and we'll slowly warm back to normal by new year's eve. high temperatures will remain near normal and new years day looks very pleasant with sunny skies and highs in the mid 50s. a police officer in louisiana crashed his patrol car on

don't worry, he's okay. and now he has quite a story to tell. kimberly curth explains. --reporter pkg-as follows-- (nats - traffic) it was supposed to be a routine overnight patrol for covington police officer lance benjamin... until he came across a perp like no other. (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "one i couldn't put exactly put handcuffs on." you may be wondering who? (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "aw man he clawed up my shirt." who would do such a thing in a police cruiser on

benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "started pecking the back of my head." this guy, miles an hour, suddenly i felt something hit the left side of my face. so i'm thinking okay maybe it was a football or something. and then i felt some scratching on the back of my head and some pecking." that's right an owl flew right into his open driver's side window, and made himself right at home. (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "slapped me a few times with his wings, kept on going with covington, la police dept.) "there's an owl in the unit there." but only after benjamin's defensive driving training was put to good use. (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "i tried to keep control of my car, went into a ditch, avoided some trees. finally was able to stop the car put it in park get out and there he was just chilling out in the car." thankfully, no one he's in the wind. (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.) "we rolled down the passenger side window. um and after about 45 minutes he finally flew out." now, (officer lance benjamin, covington, la police dept.)

now on. hopefully i don't have to have any more owl encounters. yea, i bet he got a hoot out of that." officer benjamin got a tetanus shot and some antibiotics -- just in case. after all that, he returned to work the rest of his shift. coming up later.. in tonight's abc primetime lineup on channel 13: at 8 o clock is cma country christmas from nashville, tennesse...followed by 20-20 at 10 p.m. then join us back here for action news at 11 dialing the wrong phone number can be awkward. but when you dial the wrong number from outer space... it can be really embarrassing. that's what happened to british astronaut tim peake recently. he arrived at the international space station december 15th. when he realized he'd misdialed, peake tweeted his regret. and this is what he wrote: "i'd like to apologize to the lady i just called by mistake saying, 'hello, is this planet earth?' not a prank call... just a wrong number!" coming up..

brand new shark. plus.. have yourself a white christmas dinner. we'll look at the benefits of winter white fruits and vegetables.

of shark in the pacific ocean. check out the "ninja lantern-shark." a cal state graduate student and her professors found it. its jet-black color keeps it camouflaged in deep ocean water... and inspired the student's young cousins to add ninja to its name. something else about the ninja lantern- shark that's pretty cool: it also glows in the dark. health experts recommend that adults eat about 2 cups of fruits and up to 3 cups of vegetables each day. often we're encouraged to reach for ones that are rich and deep in color. in today's health minute, holly firfer tells us that the winter months offer other produce options that may not be as flashy, but are still good for our health. --reporter pkg-as follows-- we often hear, the more colorful your produce, the healthier. but winter whites - fruits and vegetable that are pale in color are packed with healthy nutrients as well. veggies such as white potatoes, cauliflower, turnips, onions, garlic and even parsnips - which look a lot like a white carrot. (marisa moore/registered

and nutrients but they also have some compounds in them that help to fight cancer, fight heart disease as well as keep your blood pressure in check, as well as cholesterol levels. and though potatoes often get a bad rap, it's what we put on them, not the vegetable itself that's an issue. (marisa moore/registered dietitian) white potatoes are virtually fat free and they are also a good source of vitamin c compound that has been shown to reduce the risk for prostate and stomach cancer. and onions have nutrients that help with digestion. and when it comes to winter white fruits, top of the list are the pale flesh fruits such as apples and pears. (marisa moore/registered dietitian) there are some studies to show that eating an apple or a pear a day can help lower the risk of stroke. we can get most produce year round, but when we buy what's in season it's usually cheaper and tastes better. for today's health minute, i'm holly firfer. carlo has another look at your forecast in just a bit. your watching channel 13 action news.

but we hope to see you again later tonight for action news.. live at 11. thank you for joining us. "inside edition" is next.

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