peak. this afternoon, nbc 10 inside a bustling philadelphia international airport today. the airport says the number one destination is florida. >> here at home, it's expected to be a wet start to the holiday weekend. on first alert radar you can see a system packing some rain for saturday. it's moving this way. meantime, a few flakes are possible for parts of the area early christmas morning. we have team coverage of the countdown to christmas with nbc 10's miguel martinez valles out with stoppers but we begin with meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz and the all important forecast. this is one area that would like to get some snow tomorrow but you're going to get rain. even in the pocono mountains. it's pretty crowded right now. tomorrow not exactly a great day at the slopes. but after tomorrow it is going to be incredible. now, this is one of the areas that could see a white christmas for at least a couple hours.

49 in philadelphia now. we've gotten up to at least 50. it's above normal for the temperatures here. but if you think it's warm here, it's in the 50s, pittsburgh, into cincinnati and even 60s further to the south. we're getting warm air coming in, and then the cold air is going to come in. lots of ups and downs over the next few days. see all the clouds now, but no rain close by. that's a lot of rain, though, that's moving up from the ohio valley and the tennessee valley. it's moving in our direction. let's take a look and see when we're expecting this. not so much through 10:00, but in the middle of the night. and when you get up tomorrow morning, and it's not going to be that cold. look at the temperatures, they don't drop overnight at all. tomorrow from start to finish, it's on the mild side. 48 in the middle of the night at the jersey shore. the rain is going to take a

little while to come in, but by tomorrow morning, it's covering most of the area. it's going to be a wet day tomorrow. but a mild day, more hours of rain to the north. of course, colder weather to the north. but that is one wet day. things are going to change. we have some chances of snow, too, coming up later next week. we'll get into that in a few minutes, too. >> all right. you don't have to dodge anything in the way of weather today. our coverage continues live at the cherry hill mall. i'm sure you have plenty of company there. >> reporter: i definitely did. i'm here at the mall. it took me about 20 minutes to find parking. a lot of the shoppers i spoke to say they experienced the same thing. you can see some of those cars looking for a spot to park now. a lot of those shoppers they're here today, they're going to be here tomorrow and they are trying to cross off those last minute christmas lists. it's the weekend before christmas, and along with the

bell ringers and carollers, come the last minute shoppers. >> we haven't done anything. this is last minute. i always wait till the end. >> reporter: mike quinn is here to get gifts for his wife and kids. luckily for him, they made a list. >> i want lego and minecraft and i even want star wars legos. >> reporter: checked it, probably more than twice. >> legos are super big. >> reporter: kate and lacy are finishing up their gift getting. >> lots of toys for the baby. all of the family. literally last minute, everything. >> reporter: lanot everyone at e mall was looking for christmas gifts. >> for my future ex-wife. >> reporter: good luck with that. those who were snagging the last minute deals tell me they'll be out shopping until the christmas eve deadline.

>> probably till sunday, the 24th. right before the major dinner. >> reporter: and mall officials tell me they're expecting around 150,000 people here over this holiday weekend. reporting live, miguel martinez valle, nbc 10. there is a warning for parents from the cherry hill police chief. think twice before you drop your kids off and let them wander around the mall alone. >> it's not a daycare center, it's not a park. if you're going to take your kid to the mall you need to stay with your child. make sure they're supervised and not leave them unattended. >> police are already using unmarked cars and have undercover officers patrolling the mall. all right, back to the holiday travel now. a live look at philadelphia international airport. planes coming, planes going. if you're flying and bringing

presents with you, this heads up, don't wrap the presents. security might have to unwrap them during the screening process. take a look at this, this is the website flightaware.com that tracks all the flights that are in the air at any given time. you can see how many flights are out there now as people try to get home for the holidays. others are trying to avoid the cold like this family headed to c cancun. >> we'll see the beach and temperatur warmer temperatures we hope. >> not everyone is flying. some of you are it haddihitting roads. i-76 and 676, stuff is starting to jam up. trains are expected to be more crowded than normal. you're looking live at 30th street station. whether it be travel, weather or mall shopping hours, the nbc 10 app is all you need during the countdown to christmas.

tap the app for up to the minute information this holiday season. adults tossed kids out of a window to save them from a fire this afternoon in kensington. a neighbor caught them. the adult jumped to safety as well. the fire started just after 2:00. crews had the fire under control in about 15 minutes or so. this is video that we obtained from a viewer. authorities say four people were taken to the hospital, none of the injuries appear to be serious. an 83-year-old woman is dead after she was hit by a vehicle in south philadelphia. it happened around 6:30 this morning at 24th street and washington avenue. a white car stayed at the scene, but a second vehicle, possibly a black suv sped off. unclear at this point if one or both vehicles hit her. police are now searching for that suv. new details about a deadly hit and run. police made an arrest, the

driver of the car ran a red light and t-boned another vehicle. the passenger in the back seat died. a man and woman in the vehicle did not check on the victims. they just walked away from the scene. they left their car behind. today agnes lawless was arrested. officers are still trying to track down the man seen in the video. president trump says he has no regrets in his first 11 months in the white house. the president signed the new tax bill into law. the president said he wanted to keep his word and signed a $1.5 trillion sweeping tax package before christmas. it's the first major change to how americans pay taxes since 1986. corporations and the rich get the biggest gains and the middle class and low income families will see smaller cuts. americans will start to see the difference in their paychecks in february. >> consider this very much a bill for the middle class and a bill for jobs. and jobs are produced through company and corporations.

you see that happening. corporations are literally going wild over this. i think even beyond my expectations. >> president trump arrived in florida for his christmas vacation at mar-a-lago about two hours ago. the president decided against having an end of the year news conference. supporters greeted the commander in chief who picked up a child and lifted him up. one sign caught his eye, it says keep on tweeting, which he couldn't resist showing to the gathering. a shutdown prevented for the second time this month in washington. congress passed a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown so lawmakers can head home for the holidays as well. the president signed that as well. the issues on the table for next year, immigration, healthcare and the federal budget. a historic christmas tradition has been saved thanks to 21st century ingenuity. organizers feared they would have to cancel the reenactment of george washington's crossing

of the delaware river. organizers are donating homemade boats. police are tracking down the man who officers say shot four men in the street in southwest philadelphia. we have new information since we brought you this as breaking news at 11:00 last night. we learned the expect and tsusp mother of his children got into a fight and she was assaulted. the suspect pulled out a gun and shot all four of them. one of the men died early this morning. the other three are in the hospital. family and friends will remember a fixture in the community who was murdered. there's a vigil planned for 85-year-old willie kwocooper. he lived on addison street his entire life. people will gather outside of his home at 6:30. police have not made any arrests. we have new information on a

deadly crash that killed three teenagers in burlington county. police have identified a second victim as a 16-year-old nicole ross. ross and 18-year-old xavier wells were both inside a stolen car when it crashed into a pole in tabernacle on monday. the driver of the car has still not been identified. new video shows a vandal in action. you can see someone get out of an suv and throw a rock through the window of a house in south philadelphia. it happened earlier this week on morris street. police are searching for that suspect. there is no room for passengers on this septa bus. that's because it's stuffed to the gills with toys. septa employees donated the gifts as part of their yule toy drive. this morning, they loaded them all onto this bus in center city. now those gifts are on their way to children in need this christmas. >> it's an amazing outpouring. for this to be our best year ever, the employees really get behind this. and other things that we do to give back to the community.

>> septa says this year the bus was stuffed with more than 18,000 toys. i want to give you a live look at lincoln financial field in south philadelphia. three days to go until the eagles' christmas night clash with the raiders right here with plenty of people in santa costumes expected to be at the game. the birds are looking to bury the hatchet with st. nick. we head to marshall harris. >> there's a fun video out there the eagles put together. >> yeah, philadelphia sports fans have been getting a bum rap for years. one of the incidents people try to use as evidence, how horrible the local fans are happened almost 50 years ago. december 15th, 1968, when during the christmas themed halftime show fans pelted santa with snowballs. but now appears the eagles have gotten santa and a snowball to, yes, bury the hatchet.

>> it's fine. >> seriously, it was like weird or -- >> it's fine. honestly, it's fine. >> are you sure? because you're acting kind of -- >> dude, we're cool. i've moved on. >> you know i didn't even want to get thrown. >> okay. >> i was minding my own business. >> you literally slammed into my face. >> you were literally the worst santa i'd ever seen. >> honestly? surprised they didn't throw you harder. >> i believe aretha said it best, i'm willing to forget you but i can't forgive. broadcasters don't bring it up during monday's night game. we have more hijinks at 5:45. the rookies put on a concert singing christmas songs. unfortunately, this ain't the voice.

>> sounds good, thanks for that. it's the raiders versus the eagles. we're getting you set with eagles game day kickoff christmas eve day. 9:30 a.m. followed by game plan sunday at 10:00. turning to the weather now, we have a live look at camelback mountain in the poconos. they could see a few flakes coming up this holiday weekend. we have team weather this afternoon. steve is looking ahead today the deep freeze that's headed our way. >> glenn is starting off with a look at what's on tap for tonight. >> it's not going to be all that cold tonight. certainly not feeling like winter has official started. 49 degrees now, despite the clouds that we've had all day. and mid to upper 40s else where. we've had clouds everywhere, but nobody has seen any kind of rain. not yet.

let's take a look at the suburb said, chester, montgomery, bucks county, and we're well into the 40s. nobody is even close to the 30s. west bradford and unionville, malvern at 46. st. david's 47. new hope, ri46. tomorrow they should be a little bit warmer. after that, may not see temperatures like that for a while. we've got clouds coming from west to east. you don't see anything on the radar that close by. but it's getting here. it's into west virginia now and it goes all the way back into texas. that's a large area of rain. and we're going to get a number of hours of it tomorrow. let's go starting at 9:00, the future cast and hour by hour. you can see by the time you get up in the morning, it's raining.

least amount of rain tomorrow in southern delaware and south jersey, further to the north it may stay in the 40s and be a pretty rainy day. that's pretty nasty. there's saturday night, and the rain is starting to move out setting us up for decent weather on sunday. but it will be on the chilly side, highs only in the mid40s. then sunday night, christmas eve, we've got a little disturbance coming in. it's colder air, and the kids may have to stay up pretty late to see it and you may have to be far north and west of philadelphia to see it, but it may be there, a white christmas for some people. poconos, lehigh valley, berks county, maybe upper portions of montgomery, bucks. and then it's gone by morning. you know, if you wait till early morning, it's going to be gone and there probably wouldn't be enough snow to stick anyway. it would be rain in the

philadelphia area. tomorrow, some of these temperatures, 58 in fairmount. 56 in elwin. 46 in allentown and easton. and southern parts of our area, newark and dover is 62. rehobeth beach, 64. that's quite a contrast across our area. of course, that's why we do neighborhood weather. steve is here to tell you every neighborhood's going to be frozen next week. >> that's right. saver those 60s you see behind glenn. i've got the bad news if you do not like cold. santa is throwing another gift in the mail for the end of next week. i'm calling it a winter attack. anywhere from december 26th all the way through the finish of 2017, we are going to be frigid and then eventually snow covered it looks like. we'll keep an eye on that. let's talk about the cold. this shipment of arctic air that will be coming down from canada will be impressive. this is christmas day.

you see all these white, think of that as numbing colors. let's follow it day by day. tuesday, you'll see that colder air steps into the northeast. you see the purple shadeingsish that means we go from the 50s to likely 30s on tuesday. notice the colors get pinker, not a good thing for cold air. that's the cold air settling all the way down to the south as we head into the southern states. if you're traveling this christmas you will be dealing with the chill. the hard hit of cold is friday, saturday and into the beginning of our new year. now, what about snow? of course that's the million dollar question. glenn showed you the brief brush of snow christmas eve night. that's out of here quickly. that's not a big deal. let's keep an eye on the system oo the we to the west. thursday, it's this system we'll

have to follow across the country. it's in chicago on the 30th. and this particular model, the european model has a heavy hit of snow on new year's eve. does it actually happen? that remains to be seen. the american model is a little bit faster and doesn't have quite as much snow, but it still has a sizable storm. this is what you need to know, each day gets colder next week. daytime highs in the 20s and 30s. nights in the teens. we'll be tracking that potential snow there for the end of next week, guys? now to a scandal rocking the ms. america pageant. contestants are calling for the ceo to be fired. officials have plenty to say about the scandal. >> reporter: erin, as you can imagine they definitely do. both the current and incoming mayors here in atlantic city tell me they are both shocked

and saddened by what they say was the sheer vulgarity of these e-mails. ms. america, there she is. >> i loved it because i've seen it go up and down the boardwalk. >> the pageant has long been part of the fabric of atlantic city. >> it's disgraceful. it's ridiculous. any woman who would continue to be a part of this, you're not helping the juyounger generatio >> reporter: she was shocked to read the huffington post's publication of the e-mails. they spoke about a recent former

winner, preparing for her new career as a blimp in the macy's thanksgiving parade. and brought up accusations referring to her active sex life. reeves has a 9-year-old daughter who competes in dance. >> when you see your daughter striving to be something on stage, you have to think about what's going to happen when i'm not there when she gets older. >> reporter: i spoke to ms. new jersey 2015 and she said contestants do tremendous work in our kmants communities and e these women. the mayor is outraged by the derogatory comments by ms. america organization ceo and other execs, calling the exchanges unacceptable. he says he hopes the organization does the right thing and asks everyone involved to step down. now, atlantic city's mayor elect

told me a few hours ago that it might be time for atlantic city to quote, step out or bow out of the spotlight of the pageant that dates back to 1921. he says number one, it's for revenue reasons, then he said this e-mail scandal that it is simply the last straw. we'll have more on some of that fallout when we see you coming up tonight at 6:00. we're live in atlantic city, i'm cydney long, nbc 10 news. >> we'll see you then. first we want to bring you back to the breaking news, neighbors in bethlehem township are being kept in their homes as police confront a gunman. >> police say that gunman fired shots at them from a home. police have surrounded that home and have shut down streets in the area as a precaution. these are some photographs from the area. nbc 10's drew smith is also headed to the scene. he'll bring us a live update with more information. we have the story of a $100,000 backpack mystery. >> someone lost it and now it's a matter of just tracking them down. the exclusive story coming up.

plus, police surprise. the unusual items that officers are dishing out to drivers they pull over. here's a look at the closing bell on wall street, where all three major markets were down slightly heading into the christmas weekend. michael: i'm thankful that

i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov.

police officers in altoona, wisconsin, are guilty of some pork barrel spending here, but in this case it's a good thing. drivers think they're getting pulled over for a ticket, instead they get a ham. yes, a ham. an anonymous donor gave the department $500 to pull off the holiday surprise. that will make for a nice christmas meal. >> absolutely. it's a pricey case of lost and found. police want to track down the owner. >> one police department in bucks county holding onto the

back pack. they want to hear from you if you lost it. another warmup on the way for the weekend, plus we're tracking rain, maybe even a few flakes. it's next at my forecast. loved ones are reunited with family, first thing one man plans to do as soon as he gets home.

now to a $100,000 backpack mystery. it's what was inside that backpack that makes it worth that kind of money. the bag was filled with drugs when it turned up in bucks county. police want to find who left it behind. deanna durante join us live.

>> do they have any clues to go on? >> reporter: they spent yesterday trying to figure out where the backpack came from. it was lost up in ben salem township. the bag may not be that valuable but the contents are sure are. investigators want to find out why it was left so close to a school. it was just a simple black backpack. the mystery began on wednesday when a single bag was spotted by officials. >> 10,000 baggies, four bricks of heroin with a street value of $100,000. >> reporter: we're not naming the school at the request of police who waited for the woman seen in the video. >> she had found it that morning in the parking lot and thought it was a kid's back pack and put

it up on the loading dock. very strange this case. >> reporter: police say these drugs were not being sold in the area. they know that for sure because of the way they're packaged and labelled is the first clue. >> we know through the packaging and through intel that these drugs were headed for trend. they weren't destined for ben sal salem. this was a pass through. somebody got off at the wrong exit. someone out there lost $100,000 worth of heroin. and i would venture to say that person has got someone to answer to. >> reporter: investigators say it may actually be safer to come here and own up to what you lost than going back to whoever really owns that bag and telling them that it is gone. reporting live in ben salem township, nbc 10 news. >> somebody is in quite a fix. turning to your first alert weather, cloudy and mild in atlantic city. pretty thin crowd on the

boardwalk there today. christmas village, a view from above abo above. still some shoppers out there. penn's landing, skaters enjoying a clear night at winter fest. glenn "hurricane" schwartz is back with a first look at the forecast. >> milder temperatures out there and we like it, glenn. >> you're not going to be happy for very much longer. by sunday, things are going down. next week is just going to be downright frigid. we have good driving conditions out there at the moment. tomorrow, not so much because of the rain that's going to be moving in. it's way too warm for snow. and it's 46 in allentown. pottstown, reading, trenton. 49 at philadelphia. it actually got into the upper 50s, hrehobeth beach. a lot of clouds all across the area and the rain continues to

get closer and closer, getting through west virginia now. it's obviously moving straight up in our direction. we've got some wet weather coming tomorrow. here's the future cast, we'll go through the night tonight. maybe a few sprinkles up north. but when you get up in the morning, it's going to be wet and we'll have hours of rain, especially from philly northward. further to the south, there won't be as much rain. it will be much warmer into the 60s. but it could even be a thunderstorm down there tomorrow afternoon. take a look at this. that's later on tomorrow. and as that system comes through, there could be some thunderstorms. then behind it, we start drying out and that's when the colder air starts coming in. it will not be in tonight. by 11:00, we could be seeing some of the rain in philadelphia. look at the temperatures, they really don't drop at all. by 7:00 a.m., it's raining just about everywhere. i'll tell you when we're likely to see some snow next week.

some of you could even see it for christmas eve. that's coming up. >> all right. here's a look at some of the others stories we're following county by county. north hampton county the beth of a 2-year-old boy found in a bathtub was ruled a homicide. his mother is charged with manslaughter. last month, police found the toddler in the tub with the water running. they say the mother was in another room passed out. the bucks county home of a convicted child rapist will soon be up for sale. lee kaplan transferred his house to the district attorney's office. the money from the sale of the home will go to kaplan's victims. kaplan is serving decades behind bars for abusing children gifted to him by their parents. in atlantic county, authorities are expected to approve plan that would add a gas station and car rush to the

new hard rock casino in atlantic city. the hard rock is taking over the former site of the trump taj mahal. new developments in the story that has the attention of millions of iphone users. apple admitted it might be purposefully slowing down your phone. now some users are fighting back. plus. ♪ ♪ taking time to go carolling this weekend. what new research reveals about singing in groups and what it can do for you. those stories and more ahead on nbc 10 news at 4:00. all new at 5:00, preventing deadly train crashes. the nbc 10 investigators uncover how many lives may have been saved if more railroads were equipped with critical technology.

apple admitted it's slowing down your older iphones. the technology giant is facing lawsuits. apple said it has algorithms in place to help keep an iphone running longer even with an older battery. two people brought a class action lawsuit against apple. they hope to get the case certified to cover everyone in the u.s. that owed an iphone older than the iphone 8. poinsettias are a popular plant this time of year but a lot of people are worried they're poisonous. studies show that 95% of reported problems is unrelated to poinsettias. ♪ ♪ the stress of the holidays have you feeling blue?

grab friends and go carolling. most participants said group singing helped boost their mood and their ability to function. it improved their social skills and their sense of belonging. some people have their weddings on the water, but this couple decided to have their under it. they tied a soggy knot in the florida keys. the couple met there a couple years ago. since they couldn't say i do, they used underwater tablets to exchange their vows. >> there's the officiant right there. oh, nod. yeah, yes, it's done. >> amazing. >> is that something women would buy? >> watch out, it's a shark. in most case as coffee mug

would suffice as a gift for a teacher. >> but these parents had another idea. the holiday weekend is underway. we could see mild temperatures to rain and even some snow for parts of the area. i'll break it all down next. gift card warning. the red flags you need to know about before buying one as a gift. all new nbc 10 responds next at 5:00. michael: i'm thankful that

i'm alive and have a second chance. james: i'm thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. darlene: i'm thankful to be able to help people in crisis. vanessa: i'm thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. christie: new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. but if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know: we are here for you. this holiday season, choose help. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov.

here's a question for you, did you get a gift for your child's teacher? >> a couple in ohio decided their kids' teacher deserved something special. they ordered special bottles of wine and each one has a picture of their son jake, with the message our kid may be the reason you drink so.

enjoy this on us. jake's older brother posted a picture on twitter. >> it was more of a thank you because i know i can't spend six hours in a room with my little brother and they've been doing that every day for however long he's been in school. you know, they got a good kick out of it. they thought it was really funny. >> dj describes his brother as the class clown saying he's not a bad kid, he's just that kid. >> now that is creative. >> very. that's a lot of bottles. how many teachers does he have? >> maybe they need more than one. i don't know. >> i bet glenn "hurricane" schwartz was teacher's pet. >> of course. >> well, i wonder if anybody has heard from that kid? what does he think of that? >> having his face on the bottle of wine. >> will he have to get therapy because his parents are doing that to him? 49 right now in philadelphia. did get into the 50s today. the average high is 43. we're in the mid to upper 40s

across the rest of the area. even with all those clouds that have been around all day. at the jersey shore we have a southwest wind. it's still over 50. ve ventnor, egg harbor, 50. cape may point at 49. ocean temperature is 42 right now. a lot of clouds, no rain yet. it is on the way. if you're headed out and going to stay out late tonight, bring the rain gear because that rain is on the way. there's no way it misses us. here we go tonight and tomorrow morning, raining all over the place. southern delaware could get the least amount, the least number of hours of rain. it will be the warmest, well into the 60s but you could end up with thunderstorms late in the day. we have rain over much of the area, and then you saw that line of heavy activity moving through late in the day and into the early evening. then we dry out as we head

towards sunday. sunday is colder. we're only into the mid40s on sunday. it's a way nicer day than saturday. then we start seeing the moisture coming back. a weak fast moving system. this is christmas eve. this is kind of the middle of the night, too, so you might have to have the kids stay up really late if you want to see a technical white christmas. poconos, berks county, especially the chance of doing that. it may only be an hour or two. from philly southward it looks like it may be warm enough for rain. it's gone well before sunrise. so it's not going to last long. later on during the week, it's a different story. mild weather tomorrow, 56 in chestnut hill, 59 in langhorn. only 46 in allentown and easton. compared to the 60s, i'd say in delaware, big temperature contrast there.

maybe a 20 degree contrast at times during the day tomorrow. everybody's going to be seeing their share of rain. so saturday it's the showers, mild, 58. sunday, it's dry until sunday night. we get that wintry mix for a couple hours. then monday, cold winds throughout the day. so the temperatures are not getting out of the 30s on christmas day. we've got winds gusting over 30 miles per hour. by tomorrow night, feeling like -- or monday night, feeling like it's in the 20s. that just so happens to be the time that the eagles are playing. and so you're going to the game? be prepared for some cold. it's not going to snow or anything, but it's going to be cold. temperatures dropping cinto the 20s, the wind enough to make it feel like it's in the teens. and then later in the week, here we go into wednesday and

thursday. bitter cold all that time, so when that moisture comes in eventually, it's cold enough for snow. and the models either disagree whether it comes in friday or saturday, but we have the potential for accumulating snow later on next week. either friday or saturday the way the timing looks now. look at the temperatures. highs only in the 30s monday and tuesday. and then you wish they were in the 30s the rest of the week. highs in the 20s, lows in the teens. and there's that snow friday into saturday followed by even colder weather as we head into the start of the new year. new year's eve, you are going to be freezing. and there may very well be snow on the ground by then. >> you'll be watching that? >> yeah, we're going to be quite busy next week trying to figure out that next storm. >> all right, glenn. christmas has come early at

one local school and the festivities are a little different for many students here. that story is straight ahead. hi, everybody. i just wanted you to know that somebody out there is trying to scam you. >> the warning from oprah that had her setting the record straight to all of her fans.

christmas came early today for local students. this was the scene at shepherd elementary school in philadelphia. tis the season, the festivities are different for many students at that school. >> telemundo 62 tells us why.

>> reporter: no coal for any of the 190 students at shepherd elementary school. they were all on santa's nice list this year. the jolly guy even made a surprise stop at their school. but santa wasn't the only guest this afternoon, officers from the philadelphia police department volunteered to be a part of the special day. >> we are bringing them this moment of joy, knowing that this is their only gift. it's hardbreaking. >> reporter: this year this part of the city has seen a growing number of puerto rican residents who are struggling to make philadelphia their new home. it's a challenge. >> we have a family that just got here this week. no place to stay. no friends. >> reporter: hurricane maria drastically changed the life of many. these children now have to spend christmas away from their homes and away from their families. like anna and her family who recently moved to upper darby looking for a new beginning, but

so far has only brought her tears and fear. she was robbed at gunpoint two weeks after her arrival. >> they absolutely will recover with the right resources and support. >> reporter: in north philadelphia, nbc 10 news. i hope the road becomes easier for all of them. thoughts fired at police officers in bethlehem township, now neighbors are forced to stay inside their homes. nbc 10's drew smith is on his way to the scene with the breaking developments. plus. the latest deadly train derailment, top of mind for travelers today. >> it's in the back of my head, but i try not to think about it. >> a train safety system again missing from the tracks and new reporting is revealing hundreds of deaths that never had to happen. winter warmup. some of you will see

temperatures tomorrow in the 60s, while others of you not so much. i'll walk you through neighborhood by neighborhood of what you should expect. i'm aundrea cline-thomas, we're live at the airport with more holiday reunions.

we continue to follow this breaking news from the lehigh valley. a gunman fired at police officers in bethlehem township. now neighbors are being told to shelter in place.

>> this has been going on for several hours now near second and dennis streets. police have shut down streets in that area. and they have the home in question surrounded, but it is unclear if anyone has been hurt. nbc 10's drew smith is near this scene in bethlehem. he's trying to sort through the road closures to get to the staging area. he'll have a live report as soon as he arrives. also tonight, the holiday travel rush, time to hit the roads, rails or skies. you're looking live at interstate 95 and philadelphia international airport. we're keeping our eyes on the weather as well. enjoy this warmup before christmas. here's a view from the comcast technology center in center city. the weather is going to change. you're looking live in allentown, temperatures in the 50s today. you don't need your puffy coat if you're out shopping tonight. let's get straight to our team coverage. aundrea cline-thomas is at philadelphia international, she

has the heart warming story of a man who just returned home. >> first let's see how the weather is shaping up. here is steve sosna. >> we have the first parts of the weather system that will bring us rain on saturday, patchy drizzle in the bailtimor area. you don't need the umbrella tonight i would say through 9:00 you're fine. eventually this will catch up with us. this is a plume of moisture that goes all the way from west virginia down to texas. when you see this, you know that rain is almost a good certainty. we'll see that rain picking up overnight tonight and especially during the day tomorrow. for the next 12 hours, we're not really going to see much action with our temperatures. they flatline around 46. after midnight you'll start to see showers developing. this will be part of our warm