the famous ball to drop. about this time tomorrow, new york's times square will be a wash in a sea of people. with a live look there at the scene. more than 1 million are expected to pack the square welcoming in 2017. it is the weather that everyone is keeping a close eye on as they prepare to celebrate. the start of the weekend has been a windy one as we take a live look at the flags. of course the beauty of live tv, it never corresponds with what you say. i promise it is windy. the scene in ocean city, the winds whipped around snoi. a lot of people ask what the weather will be bringing. also a look at new year's eve festivities. glenn, i am upon not lying. it is windy. >> it is not as windy as it was.

let me get out of the way and show you. we use this here for winds all of the time. we are not seeing anything like what we saw a couple of hours ago. the wind really has diminished across the entire area. we are seeing this hour after hour after hour. as we go through the night tonight, it is going to continue to die down. there we are with the big crowd. they are going to be able to make snow during the nighttime. the snow flurries that we had in new jersey, they are gone. partly because the wind is diminishing a little bit. still snow in central pennsylvania. 33 in allentown. 36 in trenton. already down to 33. that is an indication of low

winds because we do get the temperature to drop quickly. the wind diminishing when we go through the evening. new year's, dry conditions. not much wind. a little above average temperatures. >> new year's eve means a big night on the waterfront here in philadelphia. big crowds will gather here in the shot for 2017. nbc 10 looked at one of the barges where the fireworks will shoot off. we saw the people loading the shells, the whole thing is computerized. each shell will be set off by a laptop. it is a double dose, first at 6:00 and the second at 12:00. that is how it looked last year.

the show's producer told us that they are using special fireworks and going to the water to light up the river. there are even bigger shells this year meaning much bigger fireworks. the free show does not come easy. >> the preparation you don't believe. two shows that will last 23 minutes for both shows, there is probably 700 man hours here. >> some of the fireworks will shoot up to 1,000 feet in the air. nbc 10 will be broadcasting the fireworks live at 6:00 tomorrow, speaking live of the show. and don't miss round two from sugar house casino and pens landing. preparation is underway for the mummers annual new year's day parade. crews unloaded trucks of fencing to be put up. 15th was closed so that equipment could be unloaded.

no parking in that area from now until monday. and people are flocking to their local liquor stores to stock up to ring in the new year with bubbly. champagne bottles as far as the eye can see. sparkling wine sales are spiking across the country. big weekend for businesses in the shore, ted. >> huge weekend at the shore. 1 of 20 venues for ocean city's first night celebration. you can see the balloons are up. they are ready to drop as communities along the coast are getting set to ring in the new year. atlantic city is the place to be on new year's eve for vaughn hendricks. he checked in to cesars, the casino where he will welcome 2017. >> i don't have to leave the hotel and i still have all of the fun as if i was outside down

in new york city. >> it is the biggest night we have in atlantic city, the biggest party night. >> the big bash comes with a glittery mardi gras theme for more than 1,000 vips. >> they paint everything and put it together and it takes them weeks if not months to do all of this. >> in ocean city the focus is on family friendly fun. we found a city stream of people buying and picking up their admission buttons. >> they have a lot of entertainment and things to do for everybody. >> also today final rehearsals for some of the live performances set to take the stage during tomorrow's alcohol-free celebrations featuring events at 20 venues and fireworks at midnight. >> kind of like the summer crowd a little bit. >> this year marks a milestone

for the first night, the 25th anniversary. >> a lot of first nights have gone under and we have been succeeding. >> the first time here for new years. because it is such a great family resort, we wanted to check it out. >> they put a cap of 10,000 on first night button sales. a lot of folks decided to buy their buttons in advance this year. >> the famous times square ball went through a test run today. the ball made its way up the 130-foot pole. the ball is made up of more than 126 shiny crystals and weighs almost 12,000 pounds. it will make the way down the pole before midnight tomorrow.

new york does not have the market cornered in terms of dropping things on new year's eve. that is a 200-pound peeps chick. the scene last new year's eve in bethlehem. tomorrow night's peep drop is set to begin at 5:15. the fungus that will fall from the sky with the annual mushroom drop at the stroke of midnight. this is the scene last year. it is known as the mushroom capital of the world. the fourth time the town lowers the massive mushroom ushering in a new year. all things new year's eve log on to our website. you will find a list of events and up to the minute weather updates. gyms are scrambling to cash in

on new clients look to fulfill resolutions for the new year. lithe has three locations in the area. now more on their abrupt closure. >> like clockwork local gyms and studios get ready for the annual resolution rush. >> it is really crowded. everybody thinks that is their new year's resolution. >> at plume fitness in northern liberty, instructors offer pilates classes to get your muscles into gear. >> in order to help people reach their fitness goals and transform their bodies inside and out. >> christina runs the workouts here. her advice is to shop around. find a caring fitness community that works for you. >> the most important thing is to stay inspired. so many opportunities to work out in philadelphia. people need to jump and around

to start exploring the city. >> but for fitness buffs in philly, one less option in 2017. the uber popular lithe method gyms suddenly shut down. their unique workouts were based on cardio dance and cheerleadering but the owner had to close the doors after being sued by a landlord at the new york location. the shut down is leaving hundreds of dedicated philadelphia women without a weekly workout. >> it is like a religion. they are in there every day. they love it. they inspire each other. i so wish that we were open right now. because i know that, you know, that they need it. >> the lithe method says they put in a new settlement offer in the legal dispute and hope to have the gym open in the new year but it may be under a new name. >> can bill cosby get a fair

trial in montgomery county? his lawyers say no. they asked the court for a change of venue. a year ago cosby was charged with drugging and molesting a temple employee in 2004. the district attorney said he is not opposed to moving the trial. a business owner says he was scammed by someone he trusted and since reporting the crime learned he is among a long list of others. he makes and sells security devices. one of his top executives bilked his company out of $2,000. other owners had similar experiences. >> he does not have a victim in the past that has brought charges and punished him. very easy to move on to someone else and victimize them. >> patrick thompsoned is charged

with theft and other crimes. his lawyer declined to comment on the case it. he wants others to report crimes when they happen to protect others. >> a peeping tom caught on camera. the suspect grabbed the chair, propped it against the house and used it to look inside. police believe he is responsible for a similar incident at a different home. give police a call. >> a server now at a sam's casino that landed a man in jail. police say the man tipped a server with a valium pill. he is facing charges with possession of intent to deliver a controlled substance. new year, new laws. another live look at the scene

at times square. >> today's winds are dying down. see what you will be getting as we go through the weekend. we have rain and snow in the forecast. about bassett.

you really can custom make your furniture exactly how you want. it's all about customization. the possibilities are endless.

>> let's than 32 hours to go until we welcome in 2017. this is a live look at times square in new york where a massive crowd will gather for tomorrow's new year's festivity. throughout the day we have been checking in with george spencer who is breaking down the changes in pennsylvania, new jersey and delaware. drivers are likely to feel the biggest impacts in the new year. >> drivers it is. many heard about pennsylvania's gas tax going up. the gas tax is already the highest in the country. it is likely to go up by about eight cents a gallon every time that you fill up your tank. that is not 2017's only impact on the roadway. >> i am okay with it as long as they are using the money to fix the roads and the potholes. >> yes. >> he is willing to bite the bullet so long as the funding

pays for road projects and transit improvements. but starting just a week in to 2017 towles along the turnpike will go up again. a 6% increase. on the topic of six, a highlight for the commonwealth's beer drinkers. six-packs can be sold at beer distributors. continuing the theme across the river in new jersey, 2017 brings in a higher minimum wage. that increase is just six cents. >> that is a lot if you tack it on. you add it up over time. it is a lot. >> also in jersey the new year brings changes for the birth parents of kids adopted in that state. the adults who were adopted will be allowed to know the names of

the birth parents unless the parents get their names removed. dog lovers will get a discount on the dog license down to $7 from the previous $10. now there is one other big change for pennsylvania drivers coming in 2017. the registration stickers that we all placed on our license plates, they are going away. they will be replaced by electronic monitoring. >> they have not had a lot of natural snow. but the folks in the poconos, a big crowd there. they are able to make snow. the slopes are nice and white. they are go to get natural snow later this week as well. it is 34 in the lehigh valley now. 30s across the rest of the area and parts of south jersey, even

colder than that. we had snow flurries coming down, all the way to the shore. but more back to the west that have not made it to this area. look at this. they got nice snow flurries today. we are going to be dry for a while. we don't have any big storms coming. northwest winds coming over the lake, that is go to get shut out. no more lake-effect snows for the travels this weekend. we are watching from the south, the system coming up. there we are. it is sunday night. there is still nothing going on.

then the clouds and the light rain or drizzle comes in monday morning. monday afternoon. a little bit more rain. it does look like tuesday will be significantly wetter than monday. now as we go through tomorrow, you will notice the wind direction. southwest. northwest coming over the great lakes. not coming from the lakes. that is a warmer wind. after the cold morning, 26 in fair mount. 25. 26 in redding. going into the 40s in some places that stayed in the 30s during the day today. 46. 44 degrees. new year's eve is looking dry. not much wind. these temperatures are a little bit above average for that time of night at that time of the year. for the mummers, we are seeing pretty good weather too.

46 at 2:00 p.m. not much wind and dry. similar story in the afternoon. a lot of sunshine. above average temperatures. the wind not all that strong. the weekend is great. we have rain and snow coming for snx week. we will get into that a little bit later. >> hey, which quarterback will play for the cowboys this weekend and what does carson wentz think of his roller coaster rookie season? that is next.

this is sports desk brought to you by xfinity.

>> the cowboys coming to the linc with a 13-2 record and securing home field throughout the playoffs. that leads to speculation about which quarterback will play. you might see all of them. tony romo is expected to see regular season game action for the first time since november 2015 and mark sanchez, a back injury in the preseason cleared the way for dak prescott to take the job. he is doug peterson on the possibility of facing number 9. >> anything is possible in the last game. you know i would expect -- it does not surprise me. knowing where they are perioding, getting him snaps would be beneficial. that would be something that i would even consider if we were in that situation doing that with our backups. >> speaking of signal callers, carson wentz turned 24 today.

eagles sunday kickoff sunday at 9:30 starting the power hour of coverage here on nbc 10. here is wentz in his roller coaster rookie season. >> 3-0 to start the year. kind of came out guns blazing. but it was tough to deal with the losses. being in all of those games, all close games having chances to win and not sealing the deal late in the ballgames, that was frustrating. >> joel embiid is expected to return to action tonight in denver after sitting out last night in denver. you can seet action 9:00 on -- the logo of the arch rivals was up in an attempt to get people to boo.

maybe the sixers should try that with a cowboys logo. flyers visit the sharks tonight. gudas will also be out with an upper body injury. last night the power went out at alex ovechkin's house. without power the gate would not open. the star was trapped outside of his property. they had to hold a ladder while ovechkin in full suit scaled the wall. pretty funny there. lifestyles of the rich and famous. all right. we will be coming right back.

>> after this nice weekend, a little rain monday and more tuesday. at the end of the week and into next weekend, snow. very favorable pattern.

maybe significant snow. >> dry this weekend for sure. thank you so much for watching. up next nbc nightly news. tabernacle. tonight, praising putin. president-elect trump calls russia's leader, quote, very smart, for defying calls to retaliate against the u.s., shrugging off punishments from president obama. and inside the secretive russian compound shut down today by u.s. authorities. breaking news, after three years of freedom, will knedy cousin michael skakel be sent back to prison for a four-decade-old murder? snow emergency. as much as two feet of snow, across a wide swath of the country. will it impact new year's plans? mystery flight. a plane over the great lakes suddenly disappears. what happened to the six people on board? and uber rescue. when he