middle 60's in atlantic city. 67 degrees in dover, today where we had a severe thunderstorm, pass through but now much quieter activity. most of the shower and storm activity off shore. a few lingering showers that continue to move their way east/north east ward across parts of the delaware valley. we could pick up rain in the next couple of hours, and then for your day tomorrow, the the forecast high, 69 degrees, just unbelievable warmth. the record high temperature is 68, setback in 1964. we will talk about more temperatures, high temperatures, to expect across the the area for your christmas day and chance of thunderstorms in your full forecast in just a few. >> lauren, thank you. if you are a true last minute shopper the weather was on your side today. even with the rain warm temperatures made running those last fewer rand easier. "eyewitness news" reporter alexandria hoff joins us live from the gloucester premium outlets. alex, are people still shopping. >> reporter: i don't know if they should be still

shopping because these doors are supposed to close-up at 6:00 o'clock. that starting right now. chestnuts roasting on a open -- nope, jack frost, nipping at your -- um-hmm. >> love it, love it. it doesn't to have snow for a while yet, believe me. >> reporter: this very balmy, christmas eve has things feeling backward at the gloucester premium outlets ape perhaps busier and more festive for it. >> i think our shoppers are enjoying it and drawing more crowds out. >> reporter: crowds were dark through you to cash in on lt minute deals, some sported santa hats and short sleeves. >> i didn't grab my coat, i didn't grab anything just out and about hoping the rain stops and then just put the cap on just to be, festive. >> it feels like we're having a good time and just trying to look out for mom and make sure she has a good christmas. >> reporter: in this case you should look away, some of the most steep sales are on winter wear which has struggled to sell due to the warm weather but on this day weather and

tightening christmas deadline seemed to have the the opposite effect. >> pretty much just looking around for the the most part, just take up the seasonal feel. >> reporter: as seasonal as feeling can be when it is 70 degrees. >> you know, get that cold in the atmosphere it brings everything. i feel like i'm in california right now. >> reporter: i think that there is an art to this last minute shopping, and it has nothing to do with snagging the best deals, if it really is more about embracing, first of all your lateness and getting out here and enjoying it. that is what people say in that weather that is not hurt. reporting live, i'm alexandria hoff for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> embracing your lateness, thanks, alex. santa's helpers are out in force to get gifts under the tree in time for christmas and as john mcdevitt from kyw news radio reports last minute package deliveries are being received with open arms. >> when packages are made

especially so many this time of the year is there a system at city view condominium complex in the art museum area front desk concierge, logs them in. residents are notified, including by a phone call, e-mail or a monitor display on the lobby. also packages will be placed inside for permission from the occupants. >> i have had it opened, most small area where i can see the door and i acknowledge people. >> little system. i have it done. it works out. >> reporter: resident jeff calls her mrs. santa claus. >> she makes sure we get all of our packages. santa delivers but she's the l will if that does all of the hard work. >> reporter: behind this wall of packages at city view condominiums front desk and with christmas sales and returns, folks are expected to be taking care of packages until february. the ant one hall is treated like santa himself this time of the year. >> i'm told i love you by many different people that i never met or seen before in my life before. they are like i love you.

i'm like okay. i'm mr. fedex but if you love me, that is great. >> it is a lot of fun. >> reporter: john mcdevitt for kyw news radio for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". an italian tradition is being celebrated in our region tonight. >> it is a very tasty one. "eyewitness news", at this italian restaurant in south philadelphia where feast of the seven fishes was prepared. it is a massive meal, normally has the the daze before christmas, appropriate. the owner explains significance behind the feast. >> the feast of the seven fishes, it signify seven miracles of geez that is performed over it. there is no set fish that is done. >> reporter: restaurt has over 100 reservation this is christmas eve and they say a lot of people make reservations tonight, for next year. meanwhile in other news police are investigating a crash involving a fire truck in pottstown this evening. a vehicle struck the fire truck on north hanover street around 1:30 this morning, that kara appeared to flee the scene continuing on to hit a building.

the the driver of that car was taken into custody for suspicion of driving under the the influence. this was the scene this afternoon in the bucks count a long u.s. route one, a tractor trailer rolled over and spilled an entire load of peanut butter that it was carrying. the accident happened just after 1:00 near intersection of mapel avenue in langhorne. the the driver wasn't injured. chopper three also over feasterville today's mergecy crews responded to the 300 brook of philmont have avenue around 11:15 this morning. a car crashed in the flatbed semi and as you can see it beast came wedged underneath. dispatch tells thaws one person was taken from the scene from paramedics and their condition is unknown. philadelphia police need some help catching a northeast philadelphia tire slasher. a surveillance camera catches the suspect on the 400 block of heller man street earl will i tuesday morning, and look near the the blue arrow on the upper left of your screen as he disappears behind some cars, police say, that is when he slashes the tires, on a total of seven cars. if you have any information,

call the philadelphia police. pennsylvania's budget battle remains unsettled, even with the spending bill on governor tom wolf's desk. the $30.3 billion deal doesn't contain the increase in public school aid that the governor wanted. he now has ten days to sign the spending bill but it is unclear if he will or when he will do that. pennsylvania has been without a budget for six months. still to come tonight on "eyewitness news" at 6:00, showing their christmas spirit and they are going viral, new jersey that is taking the internet by storm. there is nothing about it. >> believe it or not that guy is talking about one of of his christmas presents and rahel solomon had the unpleasant task of finding out weirdest things people have been given. you won't believe their answers, lauren. we have had wet weather yesterday, today, tomorrow more wet weather in the forecast and even into saturday i'll talk about that plus the unseasonal heat, coming up for your christmas holiday forecast, in just a

minute. who knew best quarterback in the nfc east could be curt cousins, hear what the eagles are saying about the washington qb, and sixers make a trade today, find out who is coming to town. that is late inner sports.

coming up tonight on "eyewitness news" at 11:00 a holiday tradition that is all about tea and teddy bears. our vittoria woodill has date for high tea and she's bringing along some of the cutest companions, it is a taste with torey, tonight, at 11:00. and another holiday tradition is underway in south philadelphia. >> disney on isis back at the wells fargo center celebrating 100 years of magic. families spent part of the christmas eve taking in dazzling ice skating performances by mickey, mini and over 50 characters. the the show runs through january 3rd. pope francis just celebrated christmas eve mass in st. peters basilica. >> ♪?

the pontiff joined by catholic faithful recalled the birth of jesus christ, thinks pope francis only public mass for christmas, but tens of thousands are expected to crowd st. peters square thomas the pope delivers a traditional speech. here in fill roman catholics gathered in the last hour at cathedral basilica of saints peter ape paul for christmas eve vigil mass. midnight mass will also be celebrated later tonight, and the tradition of midnight mass is believed to have started back in the fourth century with pope. new jersey high school's special christmas song is turning into a viral sensation. listen to this. >> ♪ always love that song. these are kid at notre dame high school in lawrenceville,

lip singing all i want for christmas. more than 1300 students and staff at the school participated in the video and so far it has already gotten more than a hundred thousand times. you can get until the holiday spirit tonight with our very philly holiday. we will take you on a tour of the most philadelphia things to do this holiday season. here are sometimes, in case want to check it out including 10:30 tonight on the sister station the the cw philly and then tomorrow you can watch it just after midnight on cbs-3 at 12:30 in the a afternoon on the cw and then at 3:00 p.m. on cbs-3. we have a full schedule for you at cbs philly.com. and for many of you, all of your christmas shopping is, done, but have you ever been on the receiving end of a really strange or just bad christmas present. >> yes. "eyewitness news" reporter rahel solomon went out and asked people that very question at reading terminal market. >> reporter: on a wet, warm, christmas eve we're taking a look back at the gifts of the christmas past.

>> what is strangest thing you have ever gotten for christmas. >> oh, my god strangest thing i have ever gotten for christmas? >> i don't know. >> reporter: anything strange, crazy. >> well,. >> i have no idea. >> reporter: what is strangest thing you have ever gotten. >> i don't know. >> reporter: for many the answer wasn't easily found, for others it just wasn't so black and white. >> in fact, more like blue. >> this is actually from my grand mom because i had a couple ugly christmas sweater parties. >> reporter: does grand mom know that. >> grand mommies here right now and ier with it for her. family tradition. this is a good gift. this wants even a gift though. >> reporter: so this is gay gift. what is the worst gift you have gotten. >> you will get me in trouble now. >> reporter: we did find one man who could clearly give us a answer, fruitcake and quite a few over the years. >> there is nothing about it

that i like, you know, cake sound great but the the fruit in it, no. >> reporter: while many were truly stumped by the question what we have discovered is that what one man may hate, another could truly love. >> craziest gift i have ever gotten for christmas and i ask for it every year is the homemade fruitcake from the boss's wife and i love it. >> reporter: on this unseasonably warm christmas eve, some hearsay the holiday spirit ace alive and well, because it is not about the gift. >> i think i always gotten the gift i wanted. i don't think there was ever a time when i hated one of my gifts. >> reporter: just about the gesture and person behind it n reading terminal rahel solomon for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". breaking news now chopper three is live over route 70 near cuthbert boulevard in cherry hill. it is now you closed in both directions, after an accident took down a pole and power lines there. you can see some smoke and sparks on the left side of

your screen. we also know at least one person is trapped inside that vehicle will. we will continue to monitor that situation and bring you you breaking updates as we get them. well, we also want to give you an idea of just how warm it is. >> very warm. >> so to that end lets take a look at the this. this is video from joann rogers from medford lakes, new jersey. you can see kids taking a christmas eve dip. why not. it is one way to take advantage of the warm weather for the holidays and ones they will be telling their grand kids about. remember that christmas we went swimming. >> it is just incredible. going swimming on christmas. temperatures in the 70's but at this point for the month so far we're getting used to it, all of these days in the 60's and 07's in philadelphia, breaking records here. breaking records there. and again as we head into our christmas day another record is in jeopardy with high temperatures, soaring up to near 70 degrees. a very mild christmas holiday inn store and conditions are quiet. we will look live at a very a

appropriate bethlehem. there is a christmas-y type town. we are looking at nice people out d about on this mild christmas eve. we can enjoy those outdoor activities, and santa, he is outdoors as well, cruising the skies right now. he is in northwestern africa on our santa tracker last seen in mal i and heading westbound, and he will cruise his way over the atlantic as we head in the next several hours and overnight tonight and headed toward the delaware valley. where he will, encounter this very warm air mass high temperatures today, 71 degrees in philadelphia, smashing a record high temperature. we have records in allentown, mount pocono, trenton, atlantic city, you name it, it was a record high temperature today and we are still very mild at this late hour. sixty-seven in philadelphia 61 in allentown. temperature right the now 66 degrees in wilmington. it is muggy. dew points tell us about that moisture content at the

surface and dew points up in the low to mid 60's, that is muggy by any seasonal standard, let alone as christmas eve and christmas day approaches. the christmas eve tonight, chance of the passing shower or rumble of thunder. low of 58 degrees. for our high tomorrow 69 degrees, mainly dry during the day time hours and we will see better chance of the wet weather showers and few thunderstorms as we head in the evening and another round of record heat. atlantic city bee could tie a record high temperature. record for tomorrow is 70. in fail we will break the record high temperature. we will get close in allentown tomorrow to your record of 65 degrees and we're not only ones dealing with this very unseasonable near record warmth. check out christmas day, comet, north carolina 71 degrees for the high temperature. chillier in rodolph 49 degrees right now as we look at noel, missouri, 63 degrees and christmas scene towns heading down to florida, and christmas, florida 81 degrees

a high temperature and there is chilly air but we have to go out west to holy, washington with the high of 38 r california, looks like a high of just 24 degrees tomorrow storm scan three has a few sprinkles working their way out of burlington county heading to the east/north east otherwise quiet conditions and if you are heading out and about on this christmas eve you might want to have the umbrella just in hand just in case if you are going out to the link. fast forward to saturday, kick off, eagles taking on washington 8:25 but very mild temperature in the lower 50's. the little bit of the northeasterly breeze there but we have a chance of showers and that is going to stay consistent over the next several days. i think mainly late day showers and rumble for our christmas holiday: very warm. cooler by saturday, 56 work a high temperature and then we will shoot backup once again 70 degrees that will break another record on sunday, and then we will get more december

like but still well a a above average into monday 49 degrees but will be a bit blustery. it will feel chilly especially after turning around from 70 on sunday to 49 on monday. >> no kidding about that. and jimmies been tracking santa a. >> i'm obsessed with this. >> so what is the latest. >> now the sahara desert, right over the the heart of the desert, somewhere in algeria. >> my gosh. >> he moves faster than star light. i did research, faster than star light. this is good stuff. >> those reindeer has serious fast skills. >> yes, compactly. >> very fit reindeer. >> you keep an eye on that, we will take a short break we will be right

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don joins us with a little peak ahead a at saturday. >> yeah, yeah we're talking about the head man for washington. elton john, whitney houston, mariah carry, all three played in the background in groups before they became break out

stars. fans in d.c. hope curt cousins can dot the same. was rg1's backup before becoming the starter this season and now, his team is one win over the eagles away, from becoming division champions. the bird have a lot of respect for cousins. >> obviously they are getting great quarterback play. the curt cousins is playing outstanding. he is completing a a high percentage of passes. he is very active with his feet. he he had a 13-yard touchdown on sunday. >> he is a highly accurate thrower, good decision maker and they are hitting on all cylinders. it will be eye challenge for us to step up and beat them. >> he has the the best voice in the business right there. >> yes. >> just like weather, this december, cousins is heating up, washington is two-one. cousins completing 75 percent have of the pass west six touchdowns and just one pick. washington visits the link saturday at 8:25 right here on cbs-3, our pregame show starts at 7:00. jerry's world istarting to take hold, by jerry we mean

sixers newly appointed chairman of basketball operations jerry co angelo. they have traded 22nd round picks to new orleans for point guard iish smith. he played here last year before leaving as a free agent. to make room for smith team released tony wroten, he has only played eight games this season after returning from a acl injury. he was averaging eight points, two assists and three turnovers per game. poinsettia bowl, this one, was all boise state the but northern illinois did have a highlight and you are looking at it. turner with the return, 96 yards to the house. always an electric play, a a play we don't see in the nfl anymore a kick off return, going the distance but boys i wins, 55-seven, your final score. go daddy bowl bowling green with the the ball on fourth down not exactly the the waste you draw it up. it looks whacky and here's y quarterback matt johnson, actually fumbles the snap,

find a waste to hold on against his leg and then throws it deep to roger lewis, 45-yard touchdown, but georgia southern wins 58-27. >> that is just a lot of athletic skill there. >> yes. >> hand/eye coordination. >> one of the highlights was from the poinsettia bowl is poinsettia, how do you see it. >> i say poinsettia but i don't know if either is incorrect. so people will correct you. i feel like jim's ready to correct uglies will tweet something out shortly. >> it is poinsettia. >> i think that is the way it is. >> potato, powe tait other. is. >> potato, powe tait other. >> you decide, w you can save over 500 bucks when you switch to progressive. that's a fact. but this whole "blondes have more fun" thing... ♪ standing by for fun. ♪

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we want to update you on our breaking news chopper three back live over route 07 near cuthbert boulevard, where a car crashed into a pole, bringing live, wires, down on top of it. you can see the the crews have arrived there, and, we're told someone is trapped inside the car, no word on if they are injured or what caused this crash. pse&g is on the scene to cut the power. traffic is backed up in that area and probably will be for some time. stay with "eyewitness news" for the very ratees, here on tv and at cbs philly.com anytime. thanks for watching "eyewitness news" at 6:00 we are back at 10:00 o'clock on our sister station cw philly and back here on cbs-3 at the 11:00. up next "cbs evening news". tonight christmas eve and potential for stranded travelers. coming up new airport security regulations and what you need to know about hitting the road. in for scott pull think evening here now is jim axle rod.

a state of emergency after deadly tornadoes hammer the south and midwest. also tonight, the seasons are out of what can in this first week of winter. t times are up. a deadly shooting in a mall in charlotte. as n.b.a. stars take aim at guns violence. >> i heard about a shooting involving a 3-year-old girl over the summer. my daughter riley is that age. >> axlerod: and santa's little helper who can't get to sleep on christmas eve. >> i'm going to tell you a story that can make you feel very sleepy! captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> axlerod: good evening. scott's off tonight. i'm jim axelrod.