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here's abc's alex perez. >> reporter: it's the ultimate extreme thrill. 5500 feet high above the mountainsefying death as they hang from the skids of a helicopter. seconds away from their big jump. it's the magic these four friends have been making since 2008. marshall miller, jesse hall, neil and j.t. holmes. they formed the gopro bomb squad. >> with your friends, you get to hang out with your friends from a helicopter. >> reporter: "nightline" had full access as they gear up for a jump. and they put us right to work. >> over there by the plane. and -- >> reporter: they used to have day jobs. >> get this party started. >> reporter: in catering, finance and real estate, saving money to travel for dives. then miller approached gopro for sponsorship and turned their hobby into a profession. they won't say how much they're paid, but now they trek the globe. base jumping off mountains in switzerland and among the fjords of norway, in alaska, pulling off amazing feats with precision, like landing right on the 50 yard line at the raiders game. on the home front, miller it a father of two who dit

>> alex perez, braving the elements in milwaukee for tonight us. thank you. and we're joined by lee goldberg from our station here in new york. lee. we have this highly unusual weather out in the northeast, but in other parts of the country, severe. >> reporter: it looks like a weather map from 1998. a lot of the ice is leaving the northeast. the big snows are starting to leave the great lakes. rain along the east coast. heavy rainfall along the i-95 car door on monday. the worst weather to the north is leaving. but look at the highs. 70 in new york city. the all-time december high in new york city is 75. it was in the low 70s today. three to five inches in new york city during the work week. look at the pictures out of central park. snow cover in the week and folks are jogging in shorts and t-shirts. no evidence of the previous snowfall. but now things will start to change. >> unbelievable. what's the outlook for christmas? >> reporter: cold, but thankfully pretty quiet. if you look at the cold air which is already over the upper midwest and the great lakes,

abc's alex perez walks us through the stunning tape. >> reporter: take a look at the jaw dropping scenehat played out in kingston, ontario tuesday. look closely, right here at the end of this huge construction crane with a raging fire below, one man, the crane operator. he inched as far away as possible from the 1,000 degree flames. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: trapped on the very edge of the boom, clinging for his life for more than an hour. the military chopper arrived but this rescue would be a tough one. >> it was just a little tiny platform basically so we were trying to get him to stand up. >> reporter: watch here. after what seems like an eternity, the arrest curer is able to secure the man in a harness. after plucking the operators who suffered only minor injuries to safety, the rest is up to the pilot. >> my life was in the hands of the flight engineer and the pilot. those guys have to be on their game. >> reporter: luckily for this man they all were. alex perez, abc news, chicago. >>> and now we head to rome where today the world watched as pope francis delivered his final mess

alex perez tonight. thank you. >>> they're preparing for a giant crowd to gather in new york's times square, 1 million people. in fact, quite a crowd already tonight. among them abc's meteorologist ginger zee. in some spots you were telling me the coldest air of the season so far? >> reporter: we keep saying the coldest air this season. let's get right to the numbers. by tomorrow morning we're taking dangerous cold for so many folks. 26 below will be the wind chill in minneapolis. we'll see a lot of those numbers in the single digits. i'm standing right here in times square with such a crowd already behind me. we're going to have so many folks enduring temperatures that feel like they're in the single digits or low teens. the actual air temperature is going to be just under freezing. >> if you can hear me you already have your eye on the first big storm of the new year? >> reporter: yes, i do, that's tuesday night into early wednesday for chicago. that's where that low pressure system is going to come ac

>> alex perez leading us off from chicago on this christmas eve. alex, thank you. >>> you heard alex report on christmas dinner likely in the dark tomorrow for so many across the country and of course the big chill on the way. i want to bring in chief meteorologist harvey leonard from the powerhouse abc station in boston, channel 5. always great to have you. this is tough news, power still out tonight for so many across new england. >> absolutely. 80,000 homes alone in maine and over half a million homes are still without power across parts of the midwest and the northeast. >> making matters worse, it gets very cold in the next 24 hours. >> it really does, very cold tonight and even the high temperatures that we're going to show you now for christmas day are certainly not that high. still below freezing in the northeast, 20s to around 30. atlanta will be in the 40s. cold in the upper midwest where it could be snowing across a good chunk of michigan. >> so many children waiting for santa tonight. who wakes up to a white christmas in addition to pres

abc news reporter alex perez walks you through a stunning piece of tape. >> reporter: take a look at the jaw-dropping scene that played out in kingston, ontario, tuesday. look closely -- right here, the end of this huge construction crane with a raging fire below. one man, the crane operator. he'd inched as far away as possible from the 1,000-degree flames. >> my god! >> reporter: trapped, clinging for his life for more than an hour. >> thank you, lord. >> reporter: a military chopper arrived, but the rescue would be a tough one. >> we're trying to get him to stand up. >> reporter: watch here after what seems like an eternity. rescuers are able it secure the man in a harness. >> yay! >> reporter: after plucking the operator, who suffered owner minor injuries, to safety, the rest is up to the pilot. >> my life was in the hands of the flight engineer and the two pilots. those guys really have to be on their game. >> reporter: luckily for this man, they all were. alex perez, abc news, chicago. >> just incredible. >>> coming up next on abc 7 news at 9:00, the people who are buying up all

abc's alex perez has the story from chicago. >> rack after rack, the massive storm creating a nightmare rain lead to go a dangerous glaze of ice across the central part of the country. parents along the storm's path, crews working nonstop to de-ice planes. in bart elseville, oklahoma, look closely. the rain even freezing on this bird's feathers. the ice buildup so thick, trees snapped and crumbled under its weight. >> the trees are coming down pretty quick. >> and threatening homes. >> it crashed and hit the house. in kansas, many cars ended up upside down. some even stranded. the pickup truck slid off the highway, killing the driver. in amarillo and other parts of texas, first responders struggled just to keep up with the crashes. treacherous road conditions in vermont caused this roll over on i-89 and nice michigan, thick enough to cover this car window. and it's not just snow and ice. overnight the storm spawning possible tornado in arkansas, causing this 18-wheeler to overturn in west memphis and destroying at least eight homes in chico and flooding entire neighborhoods. now much of

our alex perez put the temperature to the test. >> reporter: we took one of our t-shirts, put it in waternd hung it outside and within 15 minutes this is what we got, stiff as a board. >> reporter: d.c. shut down, many people staying home. lisa from alaska made her way in the snow. >> it's wetter than it is white. >> reporter: if you didn't have to drive, it was winter wonderful. the first of many snowmen and know dogs in what feels like an already long whip of winter. here we go. coast to coast, 32 itself would seem balmy. let's talk about how far from average we're going to see. the number on this graphic is going to be four below. that would be a high in minneapolis. the box next to the number is the departure from average. so it's 32 degrees away from what is average in minnesota. you see dallas right there and diane, in the east coast, 20s through the end of the week. i'm going to need a hat like this and so will you. >> thank you so much, ginger. >>> from that brutal cold comes an amazing survival story, a family, four children in the car found alive two days after they vanished in

alex perez, abc news, milwaukee. >>> after spring-like warmth here in the east, get ready for a wet,d and chilly changes. >> and potential for an icy commute. let's check in with meteorologist jim dickey at accu-weather. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john and diana. many spots over the weekend, new york city, philadelphia, d.c. setting new record highs. many spots in the 70s. that is changing here. arctic air in the northern plains upper midwest these are the highs through the morning hours. minus one minneapolis, minus 25 in bismarck. that cold air filtering in. running in to the warmth that's in place. or was in place. after the air masses collide we will see soaking rainfall along the 95 corridor including new york city, boston, philadelphia and d.c. rain stretches southward to the gulf of mexico. steady and heavy at times but by christmas we keep it cold. many spots quiet throughout the day. john and diana, back to you. >>> here's a look at the weather. rain/snow and ice in the pacific northwest, dry in the southwest. snow showers in kansas and the great lakes. >> cool in t

abc's alex perez on what ups is now saying. >> reporter: it's the christmas headache shoppers weren't expecting, customers counting on ups to deliver packages on time but ending up with delayed notices instead of gifts. our own viewers airing their grievances. >> ironically, our items are sitting in bethlehem, pennsylvania. >> ups made my naughty list this year. >> reporter: ups and fedex which also saw delays say the problems were created by what they called a perfect storm, bad weather, more packages and a shorter delivery season. both spent the day apologizing to customers, saying they expect to deliver all the delayed packages today and fedex saying every single package is important to us. the pressure getting to those delivery people, too. one ups driver who has been at the job for 27 years said this has been the worst christmas ever. ups refuses to say how many packages were affected, but finding outrage wasn't hard. the sister of one of our own abc producers paid extra to have live lobster delivered from maine for christmas eve dinner in chicago. the package showed up today, tw

our alex perez put the temperature to the test. >> reporter: we took one of our abc chicago t-shirts,t in water and hung it outside. within 15 minutes this is what we got, stiff as a board. >> reporter: much of d.c. was shut down. even a national transportation hearing was cancelled. many people staying home. senator lisa murkowsky from alaska made her way in the snow. >> it's wetter than it is white. >> reporter: if you didn't have to drive, it was winter wonderful. the first of many snowmen and snow dogs in what feels like an already long whip of winter. here we go. coast to coast, 32 itself would seem balmy. let's talk about how far from average we will be. the number that you are going to see here on this graphic is going to be four below. that would be a high in minneapolis. the box next to the number is the departure from average. so it's 32 degrees away from what is average in minnesota. this is not normal. look at seattle well below, dallas right there, and diane, in the east coast, 20s through the end of the week. i'm going to need hats like this and so will you. >> our meteo

here is alex perez. >> reporter: two days after christmas, u.p.s. says they are still making those late deliveries. mrs. burns never got the dolls she ordered to put under the tree for her 7-year-old sister. you expected guaranteed delivery before christmas. what did you get instead? >> a bunch of run around. >> reporter: u.p.s. coming under fire from connecticut senator, richard blumenthal, who is demanding the shipping giant refund all customers affected by the delays. >> i'm asking, in fact demanding that u.p.s. and fed ex both commit they will make full refunds by december 31, end of the year. >> reporter: u.p.s. said it would only reimburse customers and retailers who paid for guaranteed delivery by air. and we're learning more about what created the delivery debacle. u.p.s. says the problem began when their fleet of planes was overwhelmed by last minute surge in guaranteed delivery orders. even though the carrier added 23 planes to their fleet of 400, it just couldn't keep up. so consumers should check with their online retailers, many are off

alex perez, abc news, chicago. >> as alex mentioned, the upper midwest is getting snow today.overage this morning. good morning, jim. >>> good morning, john and diana, and merry christmas. early morning low temperatures 8 in minneapolis, 12 chicago and even colder in the northeast of new england. the core of the cold set up shop here. minus 4 in burlington. 7 in portland. tough to believe many of these locations this previous weekend were in the 60s and 70s. winter is back with a vengeance. 23 in new york. one of the coldest christmases in years in many locations. we are tracking a little christmas morning snowfall that is streaking across the upper midwest to the great lakes. fairly light. a couple of inches piling up. travel issues along i-75 in across michigan. john and diana, back to you. >> thank you. >>> severe storms in britain killed at least four people and dangerous conditions are not over. severe flooding is stranding passengers. cars stuck on roads and drivers had to be rescued with inflatable rafts. passenger train service interrupted because the tracks are washed

abc's alex perez has the story from chicago's o'hare airport. od morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, beeianian that. it has been headache after headache. here at o'hare and many airports they're still playing catch-up with delays. this winter storm has been relentless. wreck after wreck, the massive storm creating a nightmare during the busy holiday travel weekend. rain leading to a dangerous glaze of ice across the central part of the country. and airports along this storm's path, crews working nonstop to deice planes and in oklahoma, look closely the rain even freezing on this bird's feathers. the ice buildup so thick, trees snap and crumb under its weight. >> those trees are coming down pretty quick. >> reporter: and threatening homes. in kansas, many cars ended up upside-down, some even stranded. this pickup truck, slid off the highway, killing the driver. in amarillo and in other parts of texas, first responders struggled just to keep up with the crashes. treacherous road conditions in vermont caused this rollover and ice in michigan,

for "good morning america," alex perez, abc news, chicago.ns that we are tackling on our holiday "heat index." >> already? >> no time like the present, robin. >>> about to be reunited with some of our brave troops with their families. and we're back with them for their first holiday back at home. a wonderful story for you on this christmas morning. >>> and the great andrea bocelli performs a christmas classic. >>> plus, what about you? >> yeah. coming up. >> he's here. >> that's right. >> we're cooking. >> french toast. >> all of that coming up. merry christmas "gma," from times square. ♪ there's a feeling of christmas ♪ [ male announcer ] when you feel good, no one is immune. emergen-c has more vitamin c than 10 oranges plus other antioxidants and electrolytes to help you come down with a serious case of healthy. emergen-c. making healthy contagious. with mcdonald's dollar menu at breakfast. home of the irresistible sausage burrito. ♪ and freshly brewed premium roast coffee you love. plus other amazing tastes for just a dollar each. ♪ every

and alex perez has been working this story for us overnight. alex, good morning. >> reporter: david, good morning. the crews working through the night. half of the town not taking any chances. and following the voluntary evacuation order. this morning, crews are desperately fighting to extinguish massive flames now threatening an entire town full of people. 300-foot fireballs filling the skies over casselton, north dakota, after a grain train derailed, striking another train carrying crude oil. and sparking a series of thundering explosions. >> it was the third explosion that rattled the house. the doors and the windows were shaking. >> reporter: those flames creating frightening dark clouds that could be seen for 15 miles. >> it was like nighttime. it was just dark. the entire sky is blacked out. you can't see anything. >> reporter: fumes from the blaze, so potentially toxic, authorities are now telling casselton's residents to evacuate. warning anyone south and east of the explosion could be in danger. >> our job is to protect the citizens of

for "good morning america," alex perez, abc news, chicago. >> such a strange one.he family has now hired a private investigator. they're offering a $10,000 reward for any information that can help patrick. >>> and it's time, now, for the weather. ginger zee has that. >> good morning to you. we want to say good morning to chicago. look at this. chicago, 38. that's some warm weather compared to what you've seen the last two weeks. paducah, kentucky, you're warming up, too. look at the ice and snow above it. and right back here, you'll start to get the cold and windy stuff behind that low pressure system. it's very short-lived. 63 for little rock. 54, kansas city. dallas, close to 70. houston at 72. corpus christi, 77 for you. the mild weather holding on for a little b >>> good morning. i'm mike nicco. the big story sunshine, breezy, healthy air. you bet. we've got it in mid to upper 50s. pretty close to average. here's your accuweather seven-day forecast. some frost inland tonight. and abo >> this weather report brought to you by folger's. and coming up next, i'm goi

. >> reporter: i'm alex perez in chicago. >> anything that works, right?ation. >> yeah. it is hard when you're a little overweight and people are like size negative 2 coming out of the gym, wearing tight clothes. if you've ever had a baby and right after having a baby it's hard to get back. it's nice they have a safe place where they're supported. >> i would imagine they feel more comfortable there, a lot of folks. all the gyms i've worked out, all the times you see somebody big, me personally, i walk by and think it's great you're here. way to go. >> texas, and ottawa, tea. ations, texas and great. that you are here. >> other locations, texas and otta ottawa. [ mom ] be right there, baby. [ muffled noises ] oops. ow. sorry. [ baby crying ] ♪ [ female announcer ] new pampers. unlike ordinary diapers with 2 layers, pampers have 3 absorbent layers, to stay up to 3 times drier, so babies can sleep soundly all night. ♪ wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers. [ music playing ] ♪ >>> well, it was a christmas week filled with naughty and nice gifts from mother

our coverage begins with alex perez in minneapolis. >> reporter: bitter and biting. of minnesota, 30 to 40 below windchills. >> man, this is arctic. >> reporter: across minneapolis, those forced to walk outside walked quickly, said little and bundled up. >> what does it do to your body to be outside? >> makes you shake. >> reporter: this family out with their 3-month-old daughter. >> reporter: the baby carrier completely sealed. you won't believe this popular waterfall in minneapolis turned into a crystal palace of ice. it is completely frozen over. in manitou, wisconsin, 14 below zero. so cold this shelter quickly filling every available bed. >> frankly, on nights like tonight we just make room. we just make room. >> reporter: here in minneapolis, the city skyline is swallowed by the steam as it rises and they try to keep those buildings warm. the cold is expected to linger here in the midwest all week. alex perez, abc news, minneapolis. >> as we mentioned, the arctic air mass is covering a huge part of the country. >> we will get the latest from accu-weather meteor

and we have the latest, now, from abc's alex perez in chicago. ex, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, josh. we've been talking to a lot of people who have been here trying to track down their packages. in many cases, they tell us the damage was already done. they didn't get their gifts when they wanted them most. this morning, a chorus of frustration from customers like debbie ruiz, who paid extra for a guaranteed delivery of a new smart phone on christmas eve, but the gift didn't arrive until the day after christmas. >> i'm supposed to be out running errands and taking care of business. but i couldn't because i wanted to make sure i was there for the package. >> reporter: our own viewers, also sounding off. >> u.p.s. made my naughty list. >> our package is in bethlehem, pennsylvania. >> my package is still apparently in jamaica. >> reporter: u.p.s. and fedex, which also saw some delays, blamed the delivery delays on what they call a perfect storm, bad weather, more packages and a shorter delivery season. while both companies have apo

that's exactly where we find a bundled up alex perez this morning. ex, we worked there for a long time. it's a cold city. and it certainly is this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, ginger. according to our thermometer, it is about 3 degrees below zero here in chicago right now. in some areas, it feels like 15 below zero. some 95 million people are traveling for the christmas holiday. and many of them are running into an ugly, wintry mess. this morning, a treacherous mix of rain, snow, and ice is creating havoc for many americans and their holiday plans. from the deep freeze in the midwest -- to the dangerous ice storms in the northeast, where thick ice coats roads, trees and power lines. causing mass power outages, forcing families to scramble, right before christmas. >> we get a little heat from the stove, you know. because it's gas. >> reporter: more than 300,000 are without power in michigan alone, with crews working nonstop just to keep up. >> when they get one line repaired, now another branch is coming down, so it's just -

alex perez has the latest. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, george.yle van winkle's family says they don't know why he wasn't in the stadium where they thought he was. this morning, they and so many others are desperate to figure out what went wrong. this morning, kansas city investigators are hunting for answers. kyle van winkle's mysterious death has police and chiefs' fans wondering what exactly happened outside arrowhead stadium. >> more than anything the fact that it happened so close to us. >> reporter: it was sunday evening. thousands of fans packed inside arrowhead. watching the broncos and chiefs game. suddenly, panic in the parking lot. about 5:20 p.m. sunday, police say they were called to parking lot a, after the owner of a green jeep who was with his son, finds a strange man inside his vehicle. that man, according to police, was 30-year-old van winkle. this man says his relative was there in the parking lot and heard the commotion. >> apparently, a person came out swinging. so, i really don't know what happened after that. >> reporter: th

abc ice alex perez has the story. >> reporter: this morning, christmas is filled with the sound of generators to work through the holiday to complete repairs, while thousands forced to cancel christmas plans and deal with the bitter cold. >> we're burning the candles inside the house. >> reporter: in lindiville, vermont, families doing what they can to salvage christmas dinner. >> we put the turkey out on the front porch because it was colder than in the refrigerator. >> reporter: in the northeast, they're coping with the worst ice storm they've seen in 15 years. >> it's the scariest part of the whole thing was last night, listening to the ice crackle. and you could hear it crackle. and then, the trees just falling. >> reporter: over in maine, sidewalks became skating rinks. as people struggled justice u.s. to stay on their feet. it's been a christmas nightmare for repair crews. >> it's wreaking havoc on the roadways. >> reporter: in the midwest, deep freeze. chicago saw its coldest christmas eve in nine years. what does it feel like walking out there today? >> like you're walking in a meat f

and that is exactly where we find our alex perez this morning. >> reporter: well, ginger, good morningthe weather crossed the line where it is dangerously cold. the big concern in many places is the ice. to give you an idea how quickly it stormed. we dipped this newspaper in water. in about ten minutes, it was frozen stiff as a board. snow blowing cold and strong. parts of the northern plains this morning under windchill advisories. some areas feeling like 50 below zero. blustering 40-mile-per-hour winds in minnesota this weekend bringing the wind chill to negative 42 degrees. hurling snow across highways and creating whiteout driving conditions. overnight in duluth, snow buildup, causing this overhang to buckle. for some, a near miss. >> he had just stepped outside and saw the thing collapse right in front of her. >> reporter: in the northeast, it was a whole lot of rain ahead of the cold. and then parts of new england, a fresh shot of snow. utility companies bracing for more wide-spread power outages. tree crews in maine, trimming icy branches, hoping to keep the coming snowfall from