♪ from the cbs broadcast center in philadelphia, this is cbs3 eyewitnesses news. forget the sweater, you'd be better off in some festive shorts on this christmas day. a look at rittenhouse square where some folks are out enjoying the unbelievably warm temperatures. really is something out there. good afternoon to you. merry christmas. i'm nicole brewer. we had record warmth yesterday and we're chasing another record today. meteorologist katie fehlinger is out on the cbs3 sky deck. katie, how high are we going to get today because i see no coat. >> i know.

>> that's a good sign. >> really rare for me because i'm always the one in the room freezing cold. when everybody else is just sweating. so that really tells you something. but we are expect to go at least challenge if not bring a couple of new records into the books here around the delaware valley and we're awfully close in philly as we speak. let's go ahead and take you on a tour here of what we actually would need to hit in order to at least just tie the record, right? so in wilmington have to hit 70. ac have to do the same. here in philadelphia, hit 68 degrees at least at philly international to actually tie the record and we're very close right now. in allentown you'd only have to get to 65. now, around the region as a whole fog was big issue early this morning. most of that fog is now really lifting out getting scowered out the sun has been up obviously for while. a little hint of moisture on storm scan3. you can see more of it building in across really just the central spine of appalachians some of that is going to head our way by tonight but generally the afternoon here on christmas is looking pretty good.

he is special physical you got fun gifts that require you going outside perhaps to play with. this afternoon not the worst for any of those activities. but we do still have some fog issues back across reading and allentown where you're under a mild or even half a mile visibility, and some of that gray sky certainly with us in our live neighborhood network as we speak. quickly looking though at what the expectations are for daytime highs, yeah, it would be a record as long as we hit 69 degrees here in philadelphia. again the record to beat is 68. we're awful close no as we speak. but later in the day nicole we'll have to dodge some showers and we'll track that wet weather for you. somewhat unsettled pattern in the next couple of days. all the details on what's lying ahead coming up a bit later in the show. send it back in to you. >> katie thanks. on christmas morning most children are opening up gifts. but some are spending their holiday helping the homeless. men and women without homes were treated to some hot food and gifts at love park. church and community groups provided the items with help from the robinson family who are moved to help after meeting with

homeless veteran. 10-year-old mark met that vet and the meeting inspired him. >> sad looking at the people outside. >> he went and talk to his sisters and they decided to give up they christmas to help the homeless. >> they forfeited they christmas for this, you know. so, you know, i love my kids and we going to do everything possible to help out because we're blessed and, you know, it's just giving back. >> incredible kids. join us nor more on the family and christmas commitment exclusively on "eyewitness news" beginning at 5:00 o'clock. festivities fort annual reenactment of washington crossing the delaware are underway at we speak. it's happening at washington crossing state park in bucks county. here's video of last year's reenactment for you. in 1776 general george washington and his troops crossed the delaware river to titusvulle, new jersey, for a surprise attack against hessian foes at trenton it turned the tied of the revolutionary war. the reenactment has served as holiday tradition since 1947. at the vatican under heavy

security pope francis condemned terrorism and had in his christmas day message and also urged the international community to unite and to end atrocities. anna, reports from vatican city. >> pope francis condemned brutal acts of terrorism in his christmas day message and prayed for an end to war and human suffering. he also offered hope. >> the grace of god can convert hearts and offer mankind a way out of humanly inn soluble situations report roar tens of thousands faithful packed saint peter's square. he uses his influence and who he is in his role in the catholic church to bring our attention to the things that jesus would want us to bring attention to. >> reporter: security was heavy and pilgrims had to go through two security checks before entering. >> it's part of life right now so i'd rather know that we're safe here. >> reporter: the pope also spoke of those who are closest to his heart. the poor and the disadvantaged.

>> at the community of -- members are taking the pope's message to heart. the catholic charity feeds over 200,000 homeless on christmas day. >> this is the revolutionary. this pope said the gospel is not only spirit or religious but the gospel is political program to change the world. >> this member says france's dee vogue to the poor is contagious. the number of volunteers is up not only among catholics but also among non-catholics and even non-believers. cbs news, the vatican. >> meanwhile someone thousand well wishes spent christmas outside england church waiting to catch glimpse of the royal family. the queen, prince charles and his wife left the church first followed by prince harry, prince william and his wife kate. young parents left two-year-old george and seven month old charlotte at home. what a siting there. coming up on cbs3

"eyewitness news", a sol vague army volunteer gets a huge holiday surprise. see the incredibly generous donation and find out where it happened. and a live look at center city from our cbs3 studios. we're talking about the chance for more record warmth. katie has your christmas forecast coming up and as we step aside for just a moment please enjoy a performance by mount st. joseph's academy swede mad delmadeleine. ♪ ♪

♪ jingle bells ♪ ♪ jingle bells ♪

♪ jingle bells ♪

[slow, building african-style music]

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welcome back. morristown church swapped out candles for lightsabers on christmas eve. their services had star wars theme. yes, we've heard it all. they featured dancing storm troopers and nativity scene with princess lea as mary. the pastor who dressed as hans so local star wars fan and compares the book of revelation to the battle with the dark side and a little bit earlier i said this is one of the cases you say to each his own and you just leave it at that. the eagles need a win tomorrow night to stay alive in the race for the playoffs nfc east washington is in town. if they win they win the entire division and the bids are grounded for the season. the game also marks the return of former eagles pro bowler receiver desean jackson. the big game of course right here on cbs3 for you. we'll get you ready for all the action with our pre-game show beginning attache 7:00 o'clock followed by kick off live from lincoln financial field 8:25. it's all here on cbs3. we'll take a short break and

as we head to break, enjoy this performance from the philadelphia boys choir and coral. merry christmas, everyone. ♪ angels we have heard on hi ♪ ♪

♪ angels we have heard on high ♪ ♪ ♪

♪

salvation army is used to people dropping coins into their red kettles during this holida holidays. this year one bell ringer got a big surprise. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> john has been a bell ringer for the salvation army for four decades in glendale, california but he's never gotten donation quite like this one. a donor who wants to remain anonymous slipped a $5,000 check into shepherd's bucket. he says he doesn't know who did

it because he looks away when people slip those checks in. but wow, what a generous donation. >> i just love that. around the holidays. >> yes. >> just people are so good hea heart. >> they really are. >> many more good people than bad people. >> absolutely reaffirms your faith in humanity. >> it does. when you hear stories like that. >> man this forecast, katie. (laughter). >> you saw me i out on the sky deck even i don't need a coat. what is happening? >> i know. >> it reaffirms my thought that mother nature is gone crazy. >> i know. what is happening? this entire month we've been talking about it since december began. not one day has even been average. >> i know. let alone below average certainly when we've been talking about past couple of years with the polar vortex just shooting all that polar couldn't made yann and arctic air our w way, we've barely had any polar air masses dropping in. not even here but let alone across the rest of the united states. there's definitely been cold air come our way but it hasn't been enough to send us into any kind of cooler than average territo

territory. you'll see a lot of red sort of orange red blocks on this -- from the past couple of weeks. on this calendar that we've got here and yesterday we were 32 degrees above average. absolutely unreal. so the wint cold is absolutely on hold right now. 20 to 30 degrees above average where we have generally been in the last couple of days. and record breaking territory as a result of that. we hit a record wednesday we had one yesterday. we expect one today and we're also expecting one on sunday. every day as we just showed you in december this year has been above average. sending to us 12.7 degrees above the norm and it does mean that this will very likely become the warmest december that we have ever had since records began much that's big deal. storm scan3 is definitely showing some science of life off to our southwest all of this moisture starting to lift in and by the time we hit this evening maybe late afternoon we could even start to see a couple of showers unfortunately though for the folk in the deep south we once again have very strong thunderstorms. our pattern not so much severe

issue but we do have a series of fronts. there's one today. another starts to lift in by tomorrow. and we will continue to track these fronts one after another that's why we're kind of all over the place with temperatur temperatures. another record breaking day come sunday. we're back into the 40s on monday. even still though a lot cooler but still not average. we'll still remain above the norm. we do have a new record in atlantic city. since last check we're now up to 71. their record was 70 and now we've got new one there. we're at 67 currently at the airport. but we expect to hit 69 here merry christmas to you, folks. nothing terribly cool do you this at all. but it certainly is a warm day. as long as we hit 68 we're doing to at least tie the record. let's jump to all important eagles forecast. taking on washington tomorrow. down at the linc 51 degrees expected kickoff temperature and we expect also a little bit of dampness out there especially by evening it looks like we'll have a lot of clouds out there, too. so merry christmas as we said. lots of he been and flow on this forecast here an lot of unsettled weather as well but it looks like the instead yesterday

rain coming up next waits until tuesday but we might see steadier pockets tonight, too. just all over the place. >> yeah. >> something to watch. >> every day is above average. >> we'll take it. katie, thank you. >> it's time to check your philadelphia job market report. here's cbs news business analyst jill schlesinger. >> reporter: in ideal world well would find satisfying work that also pay as december sent salary. pay scale the website with focus on compensation can't land you one of those jobs but it can tell you which college majors are most likely to lead to meaningful work. the companies annual survey asked college grads if they feel their jobs make the world a better place? majors that prepare students to directly work with and help people elementary education or pastoral ministry got high marks so did high paying engineering majors but the major at the top of the list with 97% of grads say they do meaningful work is medical laboratory science. this area of study prepares students for exciting challenging and dynamic careers

in places such as hospital labs and clings, forensic labs, veterinary clinic and industrial research labs. professionals in this field are in high demand. and with future growth predicted to be above average for all professions. here in the philadelphia area, they typically earn nearly $64,000 a year. if you like solving puzzles and problems and the idea hands on science then focus on clinical laboratory science could lead to a lucrative and rewarding field. i'm jill schlesinger for cbs3 "eyewitness news"

check this out. in upstate new york there's a celebrity pumping gas this holiday season. olaf the snowman from the movie frozen. danielle, dressed up as santa and an elf earlier in the season. kendrick work at the quick fill for eight years. when he's not in costume he greets customers with a song or dance. that's who i want pumping my gas. >> i'm were you. >> that's "eyewitness news" at noon. i'm nicole brewer. for katie and all of us here thanks so much for watching. >> a we are back at 5:00. >> a great thanks to many of our cbs family behind the scenes. >> have a great day, everybody. thanks for being here. ♪

>> victor: isn't that something, huh? merry christmas. do you like it? >> faith: it's beautiful. >> victor: okay, my sweetheart. okay, okay. >> faith: is she magic? >> victor: oh, yeah. i think she's magic. >> nikki: she is if you want her to be. >> victor: you see? >> nikki: here you go, honey. >> nick: thanks, mom. i should, uh -- i should be leaving soon. >> nikki: why? where are you going? >> nick: well, faith isn't happy with me right now. she'll have a lot more fun with you and dad if i'm not here. >> nikki: all right. well, we'll bring her home a little later. >> nikki: well, change of plans on that. i thought faith would want to be with her mom tonight. >> nikki: what does that mean? sharon's picking her up? >> nick: yeah. so it's just another reason why i shouldn't be here. >> faith: i think i'm gonna name my angel katherine. >> victor: oh, you mean after katherine chancellor. >>