The freeway flooded. Caltrans crews kept busy and theres still a lotf work to be done. The wind brought several trees down at this horse ranch in petaluma. Sadly, a tree fell on a horse, killing that animal. Rob is tracking the wind and the next storm, but we begin with jodi hernandez. She joins us live in alameda where finally its a little dry. Thats right, jessica. It wasnt that way this morning. Were in alameda on park street. This muddy hole you see behind us is where a giant tree used to stand until early this morning when it got really stormy. We just got our hands on some incredible Surveillance Video that shows what happened. Take a look at this. Just seconds after a car passes by, the 45foot tree comes tumbling down right across the street. It could have been disastrous. It shows just how dangerous our droughtweary trees can be when they get a soaking. Public works crews in alameda spent the morning cleaning up after this mornings storm sent a 45foottall fikes tree tumbling down across park street, one of the busiest streets in alameda at around 4 30 this morning. We had a lot of rain yesterday, after not getting rain for a long time. So it weakens the root structure. It doesnt take much. All across the bay area, similar scenes. After trees weakened by years of drought gave way. In petaluma, two eucalyptus trees fell on a horse stable, killing a horse inside. With el nino on the way, it may be just a taste of whats ahead. Many bay area cities are using social media to urge people to prepare. Contra costa county has even set up a special el nino website with tips on how to get ready for the rain. Im concerned, but i think everybody else is concerned, too. The only thing we can do is just try and mitigate things before they happen. In alameda, folks are feeling pretty fortunate. Had the tree fell during the morning commute, it could have been disastrous. It could have been, you know, a real tragedy. If it had fallen and hit a car, somebody could have easily died for sure. Again, with el nino on the way, everybody is being urged to gear up. In alameda, im jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. A lot to look at there. Thank you. Lets bring in rob. Juggling a lot of elements during this christmas week. Wind, rain, and maybe bay area snow. The storm we had this morning from 6 00 to 8 00 brought wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour. Out at lucas valley in the park, 75mileperhour wind gusts. Thats going to cause tree damage. The altamonte pass, 40 to 50mileperhour winds which have come down now. Wind speeds 20 to 30, but still a little light rain falling for parts of the bay area. Remnant moisture of yesterdays storm giving us light rain at times for now, enough to measure up maybe on the coast overnight, but nothing like the rain last night. Things beginning to wind down as the attention returns to the cold system dropping out of the gulf of alaska. Another round of rain with hail, but snow levels dropping to 3,000 feet, including the hills around the bay area. Temperatures dropping as we get into Christmas Eve and freezing temperatures likely as we get into the weekend. Its officially winter. Its going to feel like it. Highs in the 40s. Well detail the timeline of the next sfotorm in a few minutes. With more rain in the forecast, you can track our Doppler Radar live with our free nbc bay area app. Our latest forecast is always there as well. 24 7. Just into the newsroom, a Mental Health evaluation turns deadly in heyward. Police and paramedics were trying to restrain a 42yearold next to the middle School Saturday afternoon. Nelson was put under involuntary psychiatric hold and then put in a patrol car. Police say thats when he became violent inside the car and had some sort of medical emergency. Nelson was taken to the hospital where he later died. Now, his death is under investigation. A man shot in the back by San Jose Police spoke out today after a jury ordered the city to pay him millions. He was in a wheelchair today for the News Conference at the Oakland Office of his attorney. He and his family requested their faces not be shown. San jose Police Officer shot him january when he responded to a call of a man with a knife. His attorney filed a federal lawsuit claiming the officer overreacted, shooting him in the back. A jury agreed and awarded him 11. 3 million. Still have some bullet fragments there, but he has no feeling whatsoever from the waist down. The San Jose City attorney nor police returned our calls for comment today. Two sides are set to return to court early next year to review the terms of the verdict. A grieving widow is finally getting answers. The federal government is making a change prompted by our investigation. Nbc bay areas Investigative Reporter vicky nguyen first exposed the story about 18 months ago. This is have about the postal service. What is the change . A major change. Benefits for the widow and the final chapter in such a sad story as she finally finds justice. Her husband sam worked for the u. S. Postal service for 28 years. In august of 2014, he suffered severe head trauma during his shift at this postal facility in west oakland. He later died. Twice, the office of Workers Compensation denied death benefits to his family, saying it was unclear how he got hurt because there were no witnessed. Last week, we aired a story about the governments decision. The next morning, the office called her attorney with a new plan. I go, what . It was just absolutely amazing. It was it was as if they had watched the tv show, the newscast the night before and they reacted to it. Im thankful for nbc for helping us out and supporting us for this fight and also to corey and also for my family. Who has been very supportive. The office of workers comp denied our interview request, but emailed us to say when the program became aware of the denial of benefits, the director ordered a review of the evidence. More on the action the government is taken now. Thats happening tonight at 11 00. Well see you then. If you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call or you can send us an email directly. New at 5 00 tonight, with christmas now less than 72 hours away, thieves are getting a little more brazen. Police telling us the grab and run robberies are on the rise, especially in tony walnut creek. Take a look at this video from the apple store. A suspect rushed in and stole several phones right there. Happened yesterday, just a few blocks away, the suspect caught on tape vandalizing the front of a jewelry store. Coming up tonight at 6 00, well show you the tactic police are using to track down the thieves and how you can protect yourself. Thats after nightly news tonight. Fresh powder and some fresh video for you. The sierra is getting slammed, as you probably can imagine. 37 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. This was specifically at kirkwood, but the resort, well look, theres no one on the slopes. A ghost town today. It was closed for business. A similar story for sierra at tahoe. Whats the problem . Getting there. The roads are nearly impassable. The winds are dangerous. And theres a risk of an avalanche. Both resorts will reopen tomorrow. Now, caltrans is working around the clock. This is interstate 80 today. Chain controls no longer in effect on 80 or highway 50, at least for now. A lot of snow in the north pole as well. But as we know, santa doesnt need chains for his sleigh. Santa and his elves are hard at work dwrrb. Only 72 hours left. The clock is ticking. 48 hours before he departs with the sleigh. You can imagine the lastminute preps are reaching fever pitch up there. Bob redell is live at the north pole tonight. You always get invited back, so you must be santas favorite. You would think so, but then again, im standing out here and not inside where its nice and warm. Merry christmas, and of course, this is the very sleigh that santas got to be filling with toys within the next 48 hours. The pressure is on here at north pole. You can see families are going in, submitting their lastminute wish lists. The elves are inside in the back. Theyre scrambling to get the toys together. What santa has been doing, performing these lastminute reindeer test flights. Something thats never been seen before until now. Santa allowed us to document rudolphs final flight test. Big jump. There you go. All right. Good boy. Before his Christmas Eve journey around the globe. Rudolph did great. Hes ready to go. As for the rest of the eight tiny reindeer, who with every bite of food are not so tiny anymore, santas main handler confirms theyre ready as well. Assuming they can get along. This is like having a house full of frat boys. Looking great. Theyre looking great. Theyre ready to go. Theyre getting a little antsy, i think. Raj and jess, i just checked the temperature, and its around zero degrees, which believe it or not, is quite warm for the north pole. The forecast for thursday night, Christmas Eve, theyre calling for 40 degrees below zero. Its considered to be very, very cold. Im sorry, im getting something in my earpiece. Yes, what . You got what . We have leaked Security Camera footage from santas secret toy shop . Oh, my gosh. We have never been allowed in before. This has never been seen before. Obviously, we have some elves. For sure. Like a star wars light saber. One of the hottest toys this holiday season. And i dont know if you realize, but the elves actually test out each individual toy to make sure it works before putting it on the sleigh. And you know, im not sure thats the guy who should be testing out the toys. Did you see . I counted three osha violations there. Not a safe work place. I know santa has reassured us that the toys will be ready. That is so cool. Bob is in the north pole. Hes not in a studio next to us with a green screen. Hes there. And its like zero degrees. Hes in tight with santa and the elves. And apparently, a little bit with vixen, too. Travel safe, bob. Thanks for joining us from the north pole. From the north pole to the streets of oakland, the special way that two men are spreading christmas cheer in their old neighborhood. Also, does it look familiar . The trouble police say this man is up to, and the evidence they spotted in the back of his car. Plus fremont man accused of plotting to join a terrorist group is denied bail. All the details on the federal Court Hearing in San Francisco coming up. A fremont man accused of plotting to join a terrorist organization went befor a fremont man accused of plotting to join a terrorist organization overseas went before a federal judge today. The question now, among the questions now, should adam shaffi be allowed to go home before his trial begins . Pete joins us from the federal courthouse in San Francisco. And pete, what was the judges decision . Well, raj, the judge decided that adam will be denied bail and will remain in federal custody, and it was bad news for those who came out to support him today. Appearing in a red jumpsuit before the court, 22yearold adam shaffi was denied bail by a federal judge. Considered to be too much of a flight risk, which means more time behind bars. Obviously, were disappointed, but we intend to take it to the district judge on appeal. His plot to join a designated terrorist organization by the u. S. Court paper shows it was his own father who raised suspicions about him in 2014, contacting the u. S. Embassy in cairo during a family trip to egypt after adam went missing. He returned days later, but his father feared he was being recruited by extremists. After close to a year of surveillance by the fbi, he was arrested july 3rd after agent stopped him from boarding a oneway flight to turkey. They intercepted phone conversations between him and friends in june. Saying, quote, im completely fine dying with these guys, referring to joining the terrorist group, and talking about entry points into turkey. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer said he was going to syria to be around people like himself and help refugees. A family friend at court today told me the judge has it all wrong. Theres no reason for him to stay in jail. Hes not a risk for anybody. And he will remain in federal custody. As for the next Court Hearing, its scheduled for january 14th. Nbc bay area news. Okay, pete, thank you. Our next story is about santa claus, who is never forgotten where he kale from. In this case, not the north pole. Its the fruitville neighborhood in oakland. Where he returns to spread a special brand of joy. Garvin thomas is here with that story. Christmas just keeps getting busier and busier for alex cox and allen smith. Through their oak love nonprofit, they delivered thousands of gifts to the kids of oakland with the help of motorcycle clubs and church choirs. Still, at the heart of what they do is something simple love of their hometown. Merry christmas to you. Merry christmas. Like most kids their age, these students at Oakland Castle Mont primary academy are happy to believe santa and his elves have traveled all the way from the north pole to hand out some much appreciated presents. Truth is, though, this is knuckle head santa. Im his cousins brother. Our sisters mothers side. And he along with number one elf chaz are really from just down the block. Though it did take them a long time to get here. 29 years. Yeah. Alex cox, on the right, is knuckle head. Allen smith is chaz. Their friendship began in high school in oakland in the 1980s, playing baseball together. We were the two least athletic guys on the team. And we pretty much sat at the end of the bench. The two have remained close over the years. Serving as best men in each others weddings. Each becoming successful professionals living in the east bay. In some wayser both having left oakland in their lives rear view mirrors until one day. It was Christmas Eve seven years ago. The two got the wild idea to dress up, hop in chazs convertible, and hand out candy canes and toys to kids. It was like, well, where are we going to go . And it was like this moment of, lets go there. What alex meant was his childhood house, on oaklands 38th avenue. A troubled home in a rough neighborhood. It was a place of some very unhappy memories for allen. Something i just wanted to forget about for a while. But that day seven years ago changed everything. Knucklehead and chaz were such a hit, the two decided to return the next year and the next. Now, showing up at a whole variety of oakland holiday events, handing out thousands of presents, and even more smiles. The biggest smiles, though, reserved for chaz and knucklehead. I want everyone who knows me to know that i care. Its who i am. Its how i operate. They are hilarious. You got a glimpse of his dancing skill there, but if you go to my Facebook Page, youll see the real knucklehead santa getting down. I encourage everyone to watch. It will be the 30 best seconds of your day. What a great idea. Really sweet. Thank you, garvin. Lets bring in rob. I dont know how you can top a knucklehead santa. Im going right to the Facebook Page and website after this weather cast. Right now, keeping on the christmas theme. Still 58 degrees in san jose. A little breezy. Misty skies into San Francisco at 56. And into the trivalley right now, still some light rain around dublin. The cameras bouncing around as we still have winds 20 to 30 miles per hour. A little light rain still being wrung out of the clouds, racing up and over the east bay hills. The Peninsula Hill tops and around the south bay, too. Still see the chance of light rain at time. Really from now until tomorrow, a transition to drier weather, areas of morning mist, and during the afternoon, well see increasing high clouds and then rain holding off until late tomorrow night. So during the day tomorrow, temperatures running a little cooler. Not the 60s we saw today. Mid50s around san jose over towards San Francisco. In the north bay, highs in the mid50s. Still a chance of light rain around the hilltops even into the early afternoon, and around the trivalley, nose numbers in the mid50s. Okay, here comes the next storm. Christmas eve, right around thursday morning, youll see the widespread rain return around 6 00. Heavy rain at times from 4 00 a. M. To 10 00 a. M. , and in the afternoon, scattered showers as cold air flies into the bay area. The scattered showers will be the opportunity to see snow showers maybe as low as 2,000 feet in parts of the north bay mountains and closer to 3,000 feet south of san jose. That, again, is for thursday afternoon. A colder cystment, so unlike the last one we went through, it doesnt have as much moisture to work with. May still get about an inch or two of rain in the coastal hills, but generally about a quarter to a third of the rain we saw with the last storm. For the sierra, another 1 to 2 feet of snow. You could see chain controls in placerville and colfax. In the foot hills, winter storm warning at 2500 feet. Once skies clear on thursday, Christmas Day looks chilly. Dry for the bay area. As we go through the weekend, a slight chance we may see a few showers for the north bay on sunday. The temperatures arent going to get your attention this weekend. Chilly with temperatures in the low 50s. Look at a sneak preview of the morning temperatures saturday morning and sunday morning as the cold canadian gulf of alaska air sweeps in, frost advisories and freeze warnings could be possible this weekend as temperatures in the valley drop into the 20s and 30s. And the next chance we could see a few sprinkles, maybe something in the north bay, but overall, a cooler and drier start to the weekend, but frost and freeze warnings will be something we have to watch starting as early as christmas night. Thanks, rob. Just ahead here, a change of plans. The problem that forced nasa to call off its next mission to mars. A threecar crash in san jose leaves a man dead and another behind bars. Mug a threecar crash in san jose leaves a man dead and another man behind bars. Want to show you a photo. Investigators say he was drunk driving when he ran a red light, caused a chain of crashes, and then left. Happened around 11 00 last night in south san jose. You can see the street just riddled with debris. Lots of slick spots and puddles of water. Police say they were on the hunt for the man after reports of his reckless driving and other accidents right before that fatal crash. Well, theres a grinch in Mountain View stealing presents off porches. Youre looking at surveillance photos from last wednesday. This is at a home on hamilton avenue. This man just casually walks to the front stoop, picked up two packages and then gets back in his car. A short time later hes caught on camera at another nearby home. If you look closely, you can see a bunch of boxes in the back of his car. Well, nasa suspending its next mission to mars for at least two years. Its not launching the aircraft in march because of an air leak. Nasa says the leak could affect how the aircraft handles mars harsh conditions. Nasa adds it will not slow down the timeline for sending humans to mars. A superhero surprise for kids at a bay area hospital. Thats next. A south bay burglary ring busted. Why children as young as 15 were recruited to break into coming up tonight at 6 00, a south bay burglary ring busted. Why children as young as 15 were being recruited to break into homes. Kids at Kaiser Hospital got a very special surprise today. Batman showed up. This is at kaisers pediatric unit in santa clara. Of course, batman doesnt come alone. He brought belle, captain america, even a storm trooper. Theyre called heroes for hope, and they gave away stockings stuffed with goodies. More importantly, see a lot of smiles there. The characters say they inspired kids to be heroes. Jesse was there as well. Look at all those fun characters. Very nice. Really nice to see that. Nice to be indoors, too. No costumes getting wet. I want to end with good news out of the sierra. Numbers have just come in statewide. 111 of average just two weeks ago. That was at 59 . Snow continues to add up. We like to see that. Thanks for joining us. Lester hold is next with nightly news. Tonight, shock waves from Donald Trumps vulgar attack on hillary clinton. A sexually derogatory word and a crude comment about a bathroom break leaving many asking has he finally gone too far. The warmest Christmas Ever. Records shattered. In the 70s where we usually see snow. And a major threat for lastminute travels. 38 million at risk. Historic landing, a spectacular feat for the future of space travel. And tonight the rocket man behind it dreaming of a city on mars. Targeting cancer. A little girl becomes the first child of the world to receive a revolutionary treatment that saved her life and could save many more. And santas little helper, the amazing dad who turned his son into elf on a shelf with the help of a little photo magic