christ. nbc 10 at the cathedral basilica of saints peter and paul where christmas mass was celebrated. but it certainly doesn't feel like christmas outside with the record warmth we're having. we spot add number of people wearing shorts earlier today. but much of the area is now seeing rain. here's a live look at the blue cross riverrink at penn's landing. the rink is closed today, but between the showers and mild temperatures, it's not exactly ice skating weather. good evening, everyone, and merry christmas, i'm ted greenberg. if you were hoping for a white christmas, you're out of luck this year. instead we saw temperatures in the upper 60s, low 70s in some spots and, yes, more rain. let's go straight to nbc 10 first alert chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. glenn, it's really wet out there now, with some areas getting hammered with inches of rain. >> yeah, ted, it's now widespread we're getting that much rain, but the rain itself is widespread.

much of the area is being affected, and fortunately there's not a lot of traffic, but the roads with wet and the rain is heavy in parts of the area. look at the live radar here, we've got lots of yellow and even the reds, which indicate the heaviest rain from the philadelphia area, down through northern delaware and into salem and gloucester counties, camden county getting some heavy rain right now. and more back to the west, but it is going to be moving out. as you can see, it's a limited area, but we've had radar estimates of up to three to four inches of rain near smyrna in delaware, over towards vineland in new jersey, and that's why there's a flood advisory for those areas until 7:00. the future weather computer showing that as we go through the next hour or two, that this area of rain gradually moves out. and so conditions will be

improving later tonight. more on this record warmth, we're not done with that and more rain, too, coming up with the seven day in a few minutes. >> glenn, thank you, see you then. in bucks county, a christmas tradition, george washington and his troops made their annual trip across the delaware river, but these reenactors didn't face the same challenges as the actual crossing during the snowstorm nearly 200 years ago. the warm weather brought thousands of people out this afternoon. >> reporter: the fog had largely lifted by the time george washington hit the water. every christmas you can count on it, the general crossing the delaware in a revolutionary re-enactment. it happens, rain or snow, but in this case in shorts. >> it's like summer, it's amazing. >> reporter: this is the 63rd year crowds have gathered for the tradition. some remember the chill of years past. >> scarf, mittens, hat, bundled up. my mother put scarves on us and

boots and we'd have to get through the snow and they usually had ice. it was, like, freezing. >> reporter: check out the crowd from a couple years ago bundled up along the shore. and back on that day in 1776. >> it was probably in the lower to mid 30s and the weather started with rain and sleet, then snow, and just kept getting worse. >> i come out because it's almost like a glimpse back in history to see what happened and where it happened at first glimpse. >> reporter: melissa comes every year. >> it's usually a lot colder than this. >> reporter: this is something some families come to every year, but as we talk to people in the crowd this year, we realized there were a lot of first timers. they didn't want to brave the cold weather in years past until the weather looked something like this. >> i've been wanting to come for several years, and as soon as we found out it was going to be warm like it is today, oh, got to get up there. >> reporter: for some, though, the weather helped revive a tradition. >> each christmas i always bring it up and i get that look, dad,

you know what, little cold. so finally this year we were able to come back. >> reporter: no excuses this time. in washington crossing state park, i'm lauren mayk, nbc 10 news. >> stay on top of the changing weather this holiday weekend with the nbc 10 news app. there you'll get updates on the forecast around the clock to make plans. it is a free download. thousands of catholics mark this holy day at the vatican, where they listened to the pope's christmas address. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> spread mercy in a world torn by war. pope francis touched on that theme today while speaking to a crowd under heavy security in st. peter's square. he denounced terrorist attacks and praised countries that have taken in refugees. the pope also issued consolation to christians being persecuted for their faith. ♪ archbishop charles chaput and

local catholics celebrated catholic mass. nbc 10 in center city, where holiday prayers and hymns filled the sanctuary. ♪ from our south jersey bureau, celebrating christmas together. that is the theme at this holiday mass, with three gloucester county church communities. >> really nice, you know, so far today i've seen several people that were neighbors that i grew up with, people that i went to school with. so it's really nice to see everyone under one roof at the same time. >> st. john's parish, st. joseph's, and st. michael's merged five years ago, but they've always worshipped at separate sites until today. now to a christmas feast for those most deserving this holiday season. nbc 10 where 500 free meals were

cooked for the town's less fortunate. the annual event also provides christmas dinner to go. there's a pickup and delivery service for anyone who's physically unable to drive. world leaders use this holiday to send merry christmas messages and offer words of hope and peace. meanwhile, troops overseas honored those killed this week. nbc news correspondent edward lawrence has the story from washington. ♪ >> reporter: a somber christmas in afghanistan, where military members honored six americans killed this week by a suicide bomber. >> this was especially important here where we got the opportunity to remember those who we have also lost. >> reporter: more than 200,000 u.s. troops are spending christmas far from home, including 4,000 celebrating in the african country of jabuti. back in the united states, the commander in chief recorded a message with the first lady. they thanked those serving in

the military, while reminding the nation about the christmas spirit. >> treating one another with love and compassion, caring for those on society's margins, the sick and the hungry. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: pope francis also offered his message of hope. he called for renewed talks between israel and the palestinians. the pope spoke out against terrorism and prayed for those affected by terrorist attacks, specifically mentioning the one in paris last month. [ speaking in a foreign language ] as many celebrated, people in mississippi and several other states hit by tornados the last few days cleaned up. at least 14 people died. in holly springs, mississippi, the community stepped up. >> we have red cross assisting people that have lost their homes. we've had numerous churches open up their doors and let people stay the night. >> reporter: others helped those less fortunate from coast to coast. in washington, d.c., a man who was almost on the streets started a group who fed hundreds of homeless.

it's an annual tradition pulled off with volunteers. edward lawrence, nbc news, washington. back here at home, a philadelphia museum gave local families a chance to get together for fun, kid-friendly activities. ♪ the national museum of american jewish history on independence mall held its annual being blank at christmas event. organizers wanted to give people of all beliefs an opportunity to get together to enjoy music, arts, and crafts, and face painting. >> really proud of the national museum of jewish history to host days like this regardless of what people observe or celebrate. >> some children in attendance had a chance to mold clay into doves as a universal symbol of peace. a special cookie delivery today in northeast philadelphia. members of the son gog baked the treats for police and firefighters working on christmas day. members of the congregation spent the last two days baking

over 500 cookies as a way to say thanks. well, the malls may be quiet tonight, but that will soon change. the day after christmas could be the busiest shopping day of the entire year, and american express survey found that more people plan to shop tomorrow than black friday or cyber monday. many shoppers are looking forward to the post-holiday sales, while others want to use gift cards they received. but if you got a gift card that you don't want to use, you have options. target is now offering an exchange program that allows you to turn in a third party gift card for a target gift card with a lesser value. you can also use websites like card pool and card cash, while coin star will give you cash for gift cards. we've got more christmas coverage still ahead, including this story from nbc 10's mitch blacher. >> it's a break for training from coast guard recruits. how one group in new jersey gave them a christmas to remember. that's coming up.

also this evening, police in chester are investigating a christmas day double shooting. officers were called to the scene here along remington street around 2:00 this afternoon. a man and a woman were both shot, suffering non-life threatening injuries. police are still searching for a suspect. from our delaware bureau, the cause of a christmas eve fire at a popular bakery remains under investigation tonight. flames tore through the bakery just minutes after closing time last night. christmas eve is one of the busiest days of the year for the bakery, and this year was no different. the owners tell nbc 10 they are working to assess all of the damage before they begin restoration. investigators are looking for the cause of a basement fire in philadelphia's oxford circle section. nbc 10 on the scene where the fire broke out around 4:00 this morning. firefighters put it out within minutes. no people were injured, but we're told a pet cat died in that fire. philadelphia police are investigating a home invasion that was foiled by gunfire.

nbc 10 was on east eleanor street, police say a home owner fired a rifle at two intruders just after midnight. they took off without taking anything, and it's not clear if either of the robbers was hurt. in salem county tonight, a man is dead after his car crashed into a house. nbc 10 was on the scene in pennsville. we spoke with the police chief, who gave us details of the accident that happened around 1:00 this morning. >> car left the roadway, traveled about 150 to 200 feet off the road, took out a utility pole, a fence on someone's residence, and then struck the side of the house here on south broadway. >> no one inside the house was hurt. police are still looking into what caused that deadly crash. coming up tonight, a christmas to remember. we'll show you the tradition some local coast guard recruits took part in that's been going strong for decades. plus -- running wild no more.

why the emu who ruffled more than a few feathers in delaware now has a place to call home. glenn? >> and i'm tracking more rain and record breaking temperatures for part of your holiday weekend. i'll tell you what to expect in my nbc 10 first alert seven-day forecast.

merry christmas. happy holiday. >> taking care of those who served our country. nbc 10 in center city this afternoon as a local charity handed out christmas meals, desserts, coats, and blankets for homeless veterans who otherwise would be spending the holiday by themselves. >> it's an amazing thing to see veterans empower other veterans. when you have an organization where the organization is designed to help veterans. >> the group handed out 150 meals today to people living on the streets and staying in rescue missions. they will soon work to protect our coastline and be ready to save lives on the water, but these coast guard recruits took a break from their intense training in cape may this christmas by finding good food, high spirits, and some welcoming company. nbc 10's mitch blacher has the story from millville in cumberland county. >> reporter: inside the lodge 580, arlene hickman is running the kitchen. >> they'll put them on here and slide them over.

>> reporter: the social coordinator is starting a tradition she hopes takes hold, giving recruits a break is all part of the coast guard's operation fireside. >> just a waiting game. >> reporter: she didn't have to wait long. recruits like daphne got their first real break since boot camp started. she's one of five women in her company. >> i'm happy, i'm very happy. i feel good. >> reporter: between phone calls to family and platefuls of food, you could see the elk's work paying off. daphne confirmed it. >> you can tell people love it here. >> reporter: they prepared for more than 70 recruits here, 50 volunteers have shown up. they are teachers, they are police officers, but arlene hickman runs the show. >> we are hoping that they just enjoy their christmas, because they are away from their families. >> reporter: in millville, i'm mitch blacher, nbc 10 news. >> most of the food served today was donated. the buses the elks rented to drive the recruits to the lodge were also heavily discounted.

one local family decided to devote their entire christmas to making the holiday brighter for others. instead of exchanging gifts, the family of camden fire marshal jennifer barientos-morris chose to spend the day delivering presents to childrens and families staying at the ronald mcdonald house of southern new jersey. >> why not give back to those who may be less fortunate or maybe not even home to spend christmas with their families? >> she was inspired to spend her holiday at the ronald mcdonald house after conducting an inspection there in april. we've got new information about this emu that spent part of the fall running wild across parts of delaware. the six-foot-tall bird now called mr. eddie horace has a new place to call home. adoptive mom and her family

housed him at their animal rescue and fell in love. just in time for christmas, they decided to make him a permanent member of their family. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> well, we had a pretty amazing morning out there, but now things are getting pretty nasty, and we've got a rainy evening across a good bit of the area. we have colder weather coming in tomorrow, but the record warmth is going to return on sunday. we have rain falling right now across much of the area. the temperature is 65 degrees. the wind is calm. you don't see that with heavy rain very often. it's 65 now in philadelphia, 60 or better across most of the area, except for the poconos and allentown. look at this, 64 in atlantic city, and in wilmington set a record in atlantic city today, and there are going to be more

records before this is over with. we tied the record officially in philadelphia at 68. atlantic city broke the record, and mount pocono broke a record. 63 degrees, other places close to records. now here we got the problem. this area of reddest mated rainfalls in new castle county and going into new jersey. see these red areas near smyrna over 3 and a half inches of rain, middletown 4 inches. salem and gloucester counties, bridgeton and vineland, around three inches of rain in a few hours. there's probably flooding going on there, at the very least some street flooding. flood advisory goes until 7:00, but if anybody's driving out in that area, you've got to watch out, because that's a lot of rain in a few hours. and you can see it's like training from straight west to east. that's the kind of setup that often leads to flooding.

and so we do have to keep an eye on that. there's plenty of rain in the philadelphia area, but it's definitely heavier to the south and new jersey. now, this is a relatively small area with the wet night, but there's more back to the west, and that's going to be affecting us in the next few days. we do have a chance of a little bit of light rain for the eagles game as we go into saturday night. it's going to be kind of mild. starting off at 50 degrees, temperature may actually go up as we go through the game, but then on sunday it gets really warm. rain, some of it heavy this evening, then unseasonably mild. 50 degrees for the low. remember the average high is 42. so it's colder tomorrow, much colder. that's still above normal, chance of some light rain from time to time, northeast wind doing that. then it's way back up to 71 sunday. we cool down quite a bit early next week, but still way above average.

next storm comes in, heavy rain and another storm on thursday. just before new year's eve. hi, i'm ron berkman. come x;?czup, the eagles runnine is an enigma heading into a must-win game, and sam bradford talks about his progress at quarterback.

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this is sports desk brought to you by xfinity. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. >> hi, i'm ron burke from comcast sportsnet. benny logan and byron maxwell listed as questionable for tomorrow night's game against the redskins. logan has a calf injury, maxwell a shoulder injury. neither player practiced this week. demarco murray was on the field

for only eight snaps last weekend and had just two carries, but offensive coordinator pat shurmur says matthews and sproles deserve their playing time. >> if we had one running back that was far and away better than the other ones, then you would see probably a guy get the very, very most of the snaps. we just happen to have guys that we think are good and we don't mind when they are in there. sam bradford has never played in a playoff game, so tomorrow's game is about as important as any in his career. he said this week his surgically repaired left knee is feeling better than it did at the start of the season. >> even though i went through everything, i think it was still maybe a little bit sore coming out of training camp, and i just feel like it's gotten stronger as the year's gone on, but also i feel like i have more confidence. i think until you get out there and actually play in a live game and take some hits, i think, you know, you're always a little bit cautious and it took me to get

out doing that to really trust it. >> join us for a special live edition of eagles game day kickoff tomorrow at 7:00. we'll get you set for the big game and we'll be back for game day final. nbc 10 is your official station of the philadelphia eagles. nba play today, heat hosting the pelicans. they game in regulation. davis for the win, he misses everything. overtime, all about miami. wade and chris bosh score 30 points. 94-88 the final. heat now 10-2 all-time on christmas. wade is 10-1, both are nba bests. that's sports, i'm ron burke. we'll be right back.

♪ more people protect their homes with state farm. talk to a local agent or find one at statefarm.com all right, we still have issues with the rain, and this is talking about northern delaware and parts of new jersey here. and you can see from smyrna, all the way over to vineland, some heavy rain. they've already had more than two to three inches of rain in some spots, so if you're driving

out there and you see flooded roads, turn around, don't drown. >> thank you. thanks for being with us. nightly news is next. see you at 11:00. merry christmas. tonight, the rising toll from those violent storms. tornados tearing across the south. a growing tragedy tonight as homeowners struggle to pick up the pieces and search teams look for any remaining victims. the celebration across the country and around the world this christmas. a holiday of weather extremes. record heat and snow and some feeling frozen out when the holiday packages didn't make it in time. grown revolution. up to a million get them for christmas, wait until you see the incredible ways they are changing how so many live their lives and do their jobs. and hollywood versus the nfl. a blockbuster new film and a doctor that made a