That happened just after midnight. No suspense there. Well be back in the mid and upper 60s this afternoon. Got a full moon, a few clouds around, a calm east river in new york harbor. A lot of fog along the coast. We drop below 60, chilly, 59 degrees, 7 18 is the sunrise. A little chilly north and west. The visibility is down not as bad in islip anymore. Still in parts of long island down the shore it is very low and even into North Central new jersey. The fog advisory was a allowed to expire on the island. It still goes until mid to late morning in parts of central and southern new jersey. Be aware of that. Clouds around, well have thin spots, get a little sunshine after the fog leaves us. Well dry during the Daylight Hours into the mid60s. Humiditys down, and then some showers come back tonight. Lots and ups and down, a chill or a wintery mix will get into that and track santa. He may have finished with over 9 billion gifts delivered. A lot of cookies as well. Breaking news on long island. A mother and her two young daughters spending this christmas in the hospital. Two of them fighting for their lives. They were hit by a car while crossing old country road last night in the Nassau County hamlet of hicksville. Eyewitness News Reporter kala rama outside Nassau University hospital. Kala. Reporter i just got an update and their conditions have not changed in the last hour. That mom and her 4yearold are in critical condition. Her 11yearold daughter in serious condition in the hospital this morning. The three were crossing old country road when they were hit by a gray honda accord headed south on new bridge road. Police say the victims were apparently crossing near the intersection when the crash happened just before 10 on Christmas Eve night. The driver who lives nearby did stop at the scene after this tragic crash. Hes being interviewed by police. The 43yearold mom and her two daughters were rushed to the hospital. For a number of hours as they investigated the scene. No charges have been filed against the driver. Police consider this a tragic Christmas Day crash. Were live in hicksville, kala rama channel 7 Eyewitness News. New this morning, a 14year old is under arrest in a sex assault that took place last week in brooklyn. Police say kevante davis of westchester is the person seen in this surveillance video. Testifies taken at a subway it was taken at a subway station december 16th. That was after a 33yearold woman was sexually assaulted and robbed in her East FlatbushApartment Building the celebrations across the tri state and around the world. Thousands gathered for Midnight Mass at st. Patricks cathedral. Cardinal Timothy Dolan leading the faithful on this holiday and shining a light on the controversy over refugees in america. The cardinal weighing in on that controversy. Mallory hoff at st. Patricks cathedral with the coverage. Mallory. Reporter the cardinal did he welcomed two Refugee Families but said he would not stand. Take a look at the video from Midnight Mass here overnight. He welcomed siblings from el salvador, the brothers 17 and of retribution. He also welcomed a muslim family, a mother, father, and coast. Cardinal dolan discussed the popes visit to st. Patricks which was three months ago parishioners explained that Midnight Mass at st. Pats is something to experience. Its magnificent, the music is great and dolan is terrific. I was born in brooklyn, and we never have been before. First time. It was very special. Ive been coming every year with my brother. It was great. As a catholic its been very special for me. Reporter there you heard from people who have been coming year after year, and those here for the first time. Throughout the day. Live from st. Pats, mallory hoff channel 7 Eyewitness News. From st. Pats we go everywhere else around the world. Pope francis delivering his annual christmas message to the city of rome and indeed the globe. Take a look at live pictures from st. Peters square in vatican city. Beautiful blue sky there just saw in an earlier picture. 80,000 people filling the square. A year ago tens of thousands there today. Todays message follows last nights mass at st. Peters basilica, the pope noting jesus simple beginnings as he called on society to give up what he calls its intoxication with consumerism. And in bethlehem in the west bank, a service held at the church of the nativity built at the spot where christians believe jesus was born. Thousands of people crowding into the manger square for Christmas Eve celebrations. Tensions have been heightened recently after a new wave of violence between palestinians and israelis. Republican president ial front runner donald trump heard the message of christmas in florida. He attended a 10 30 Service Church in palm beach. Its the same church where ten years ago. One of the guests at their 2005 nuptials was Democratic Front runner hillary clinton. We are for the 15th year taking your emails, both tweets, facebooks, social media and to my own personal email bill. S. Ritter abc. Com. All the of the messages of your own personal hopes and dreams as you reflect on this Holiday Season and the year ahead. Were reading them several times a half hour. Merry christmas to the entire staff at Eyewitness News. Want to say Merry Christmas to the entire tristate area. I hope everyone enjoys this day. Lets be thankful for life whether the circumstances are good or not. Brittany writes this Holiday Season with all the commercialism and craziness feel jaded, caned of like minds with gratitude. Field so that they can inform you ask thats what their goal is, and they are bred to do this. They love too it. We all love to do it. The ones in the field take risks and our camera crews risking their lives sometimes to bring you the latest information and keep your family safe as well. This is from william. Everyone regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or sexual prereference could put their differences aside and appreciate each other as people sharing a mutual existence on the planet. Arent we all neighbors sun sky and galaxy. Back to star wars somehow. We have time for one more. This is from Karen Davidson i want to wish my husband diley and mother gera a happy and christmas. And one more real quick, karen rogers says she wishes everyone a Merry Christmas but says im thinking about the people in the terror attack, the families in San Bernardino thinking what theyre going through this Holiday Season and we are too. And karen thank you for keeping still ahead on Eyewitness News this morning, we will tell you about some news, a developing story overseas a gas explosion ripping through a predominantly Christian Village in nigeria as families gathered on Christmas Morning there. We also have new video of the devastation from down south tornadoes overnight. And were not seeing any snow here, but not the case in further west. Well tell you where this storm is causing some Christmas Morning headaches. Hey, weve been through that over the years. But not this its the holidays, which means a house full of people, who all want to get online. So hurry and get verizon fios. And right now, for only 79. 99 a month online, you get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for your first year. Plus, with a 2year agreement, fios gives you 400 back, and all the premium movie channels for a year. So go online or call now for this great offer. Ch we have a development on a tragic story that happened yesterday in nigeria, more than 100 people are killed after an explosion at an Industrial Gas plant. It happened in a predominant Christian Community as families lined up to fill their tanks with cooking gas for christmas. The tanker truck ignited the blast when it left the plant without waiting after discharging fresh gas. The plant took hours to get the fire under control. A horrible situation there. Last Minute Christmas Shopping was shattered by gunfire at a mall in north carolina. Police in charlotte say an off killed and also killed a man who pointed gun at him. The gunfire was apparently sparked by a fight between two groups. The offduty officer was working at the mall when he heard the shots and confronted the gunman. The officer is now on administrative leave pending an investigation. Tough news on this Christmas Morning. We have more tough news. The cleanup continues across several Southern States after deadly storms and reports of two dozen tornadoes. And at least 14 people were killed in mississippi, tennessee, and arkansas when Severe Weather hit seven states wednesday night. Mississippis governor issued a declaration of disaster after the storms destroyed at least nine homes left dozens badly damaged, and there are still thousands without power this morning. And then there was this, a rare funnel cloud in Northern California spotted yesterday afternoon, el dorado just a short time after a Tornado Warning was issued in the area, folks there were told to go to the lowest level of the fortunately no reports of any injuries. And farther north a heavy snowstorm caused some problems on the roads. Plows were out in reno after 20 crashes on major roads yesterday morning including one involving two state troopers. No one hurt there. Now as we deal with record warm temperatures, people in reno will be celebrating a white christmas. Big drought in california for so many years and now el nino is helping to break that, but we according to meteorologist lee goldberg, we are getting the is it benefits, the record warmth is one of the fallouts from el nino. It is. Its typical evolution we have. Its a very mild start to a winter. The west coast gets belted with its moisture and what happens as the season goes on, the moisture shifts south and comes across and starts coming up, and we have more coastal systems and eventually we get cold enough. Tracking santa, last stop back at north pole. Get some rest after a long night of successful work. We have clear to partly cloudy skies. Theres the full moon. Looks like its setting with cloudiness. Were at 59. The the northeast wind is light. A pair of 6s. Your highs after midnight good enough for the warmest christmas on record. The coldest one in1980 at 1 below. Soho at 59. Brighton beach at 58. We saw kala rama in hicks vim. A lot of fog on the island and down the shore and more clearing north. Thats why its gotten a lot cooler. 41 in poughkeepsie and 45 in andover. Those are actually closer to typical daytime highs in december. Early fog at the coast, clouds will break for sun at times. Clouds thicken again late day and watch out for a couple drizzles or some showers as we go through the overnight. A lot of high clouds around. There will be some thin spots and some filtered sun at times. The fog should thin out along the coast. Clouds will hang tough at the shoreline. As complicated situation because theres a front draped right along the coast. Area, feels a little drier, a little bit more breaks, and then fog and more humid still at the coastline. This high a little more to the south and isologous to get some brightening. The high moves away and this moisture can come back up and thats why were forecasting more rain tonight into tomorrow. You can see how the clouds hug the coast. Then some light showers and drizzle tonight ask into the day tomorrow. Looks like the afternoon tomorrow, a little better chance of seeing some showers. The big difference tomorrow, well be 66 today and only 52 tomorrow. 66. Front settles to the south. Occasional showers and drizzle on the cooler side of the front, and then this front busts north again and were again. Forecast. Record warmth, its already happened. Happened just after midnight. Well get right back to that 66 with a few breaks. Light rain over southern new jersey. A little rain or drizzle tonight, not a lot. Dinner. Occasional rain and drizzle. Sunday, monday a lot cooler but dry and sunny. Tuesday could be a slippery morning commute well north and west, a little taste of winter there. Theres more to come later in the season with this type of pattern. We are taking your emails and thoughts on tweeting us, posting on facebook. We have a message from jill that we actually received on the earlier side so we were able to put it into a nice graphic wishing everyone who celebrates a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy new year, a special shoutout to Diana Williams and to the family of Lisa Colagrossi. Of course we lost lisa in march, and we are thinking of her boys and her husband and diana who has been public about her familys struggles in this past year, her husband dealing with a rare form of blood cancer. Stem cell transplant. And was injured very badly in a motorcycle crash. So he is receiving hes had surgeries and treatments and tough times for her family. So many of you have responded to it. This is a viewer hack med thinking about todd, Lisa Colagrossis husband and her sons davis and evan. A lot of you thinking about our Eyewitness News great family member, Lisa Colagrossi who we lost this year died of a brain aneurysm, and you know what, we have the same relationship with you. We get close to you, you get close to us, and we miss her every single day. Yes, we do. At this news organization. A powerful picture of diana, of doug and embracing on facebook. You have to see what she writes about it. It gives such perspective and shows how powerful she is. Wishing all my family, friends, relatives, neighbors and coworkers and everyone a very Merry Christmas, happy Holiday Season, a wonderful kwanzaa, everything coming from richard. Thank you. Detective john madden of writes, this is a very sweet sentiment. Many families have empty seats around their holiday tables. Lets say a prayer for those families and those who gave their life so you and i can he suggests lighting a candle in honor of the Law Enforcement or fdny and having it be yellow for military, blue for police, red for firefighters and this is written in memory of Police Officer david willis when died in the line of duty in 1995. Thank you for that. A good thought indeed. This is from agita who says ive been watching abc for 40 years, charlie gibson, diane sawyer, sam donaldson, hew downs wishes. And this is a fan letter from lauren from someone named mtg as in meeting, thank you all for working. I cant wait to celebrate your birthday with you later today, which is his daughter ellie. Id also like to ask lauren out to dinner and drinks. Oh, sure. The marriage requests for lauren are over here for right now. Have my secretary get back to those. Thank you for your cards and letters, well read more of them as the morning continues. 6 20 right now. A Christmas Present for actor Robert Downey junior. The governor of california erasing one of the demons of his past. And this morning as we said we are reading your holiday greetings at bill ritter, at lauren glassberg. So many of you have been writing us, so many beautiful thoughts for this Holiday Season and the year ahead. Keep them coming. Well be reading them throughout the morning. Im sergeant tamika deslow, this message is from the valuen teen family out of bronx new york. Especially to my nephew loren ju i have asthma. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. Breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Do not take breo more than prescribed. See your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. Ask your doctor if 24hour breo could be a missing piece for you. See if youre eligible for or actor Robert Downey junior is getting a Christmas Present from californias governor, a pardon for his 1996 drug conviction. Down knee was convicted of felony drug possession after authorities found heroin, cocaine and a gun in his vehicle. In 1999 he served nearly a year in prison after acknowledging that he violated his probation, and since then the ironman star has gone on to become one of hollywoods highest paid actors the big ballpark in the bronx, Yankees Stadium hosting the pinstripe bowl, duke and indiana doing batting for the george m. Steinbrenner trophy. Heres a look at the stadium. You can watch the game by coincidence right here on and were going to start that at 3 30 in the afternoon, look at the stadium. It. Football stadium. Different construct. Feels like baseball weather doesnt it. We do have a couple a minute for a couple different e mails. Were reading your email all morning. Anybody have one or two they want to read really quickly . I have one from pop pop nick. All right, bill please help me thank and wish my family and friends a very Merry Christmas. They helped me through all my treatments and say Merry Christmas to my new granddaughter, sofia rose. Done, pop pop, thats it. Lee. From carl, i have a weather related question, have we heard the last of the infamous polar vortex. Im glad you asked me because the polar vortex is always there. Its just a matter of if a piece of that air mass comes in and breaks off and comes down. Thats not the pattern this year, although some of that it. Im sure well get some polar air. Greeting . Yeah. This is what night when i came in from my jury duty. Thats our plumber dennis, the bathroom, had one of those really flusho meter things and it was flooding my bathroom. Merry christmas right, and its kind of sank i can in there right now. Its clean water and the floor is clean. Its just kind of very moist everywhere. I just decided to stop there because i was going to go out with the family for dinner. If i hadnt the whole house would have been flooded. You are lucky. Its a miracle. Putting your bathroom on the news. Have you tried prune juice. I had no idea where you were it was just the flushometer. I dont know what dennis called it, the plumber but i called it a flushometer. Plumber bill. Were closing in on 6 30. Lee cant believe i put my bathroom on television. Still ahead on Eyewitness News this morning for christmas, two children and their mother, this is such a sad story. Two are critically injured in a car crash. Police investigate exactly how this accident on long island happened. A wild scene during Christmas Eve shopping, one woman pulled out a stun gun. And fedex will be working overtime today, if it absolutely has to be there today. Is that coffee . Yea, its nespresso. I want in. Youre ready. Get ready to experience a cup above. Is that coffee . Now new yorks number 1 news, channel 7 Eyewitness News this morning. As we begin the last half hour of Eyewitness News on this Christmas Morning, we have breaking news, Christmas Eve violence on the streets of new york, two teenagers shot, one of them this morning is dead. Police now investigating what led to this gunfire. A live picture from st. Patricks cathedral this shares his message of hope for new york catholics. And if you were hoping for a white christmas, forget about it. Isnt that beautiful. That is beautiful. Is this san diego weather . No, were warmer than san diego. Temperatures in new york city already breaking alltime records. Goldberg, glassberg and ritter here on this Christmas Morning substituting for the usual crew who are celebrating christmas. Good morning everyone, and Merry Christmas. Im bill ritter. And im lauren glassberg, lori, ken, bill, heather off today. Lori mentioned she was cooking since 3 in the morning. Shes an expert cook and i stand corrected, ms. Stokes, everyones raving about your cooking. And bill brought bagels. The stage hands are complaining because theyre shedding everywhere. Lee had one very early this morning about 4 00 in the morning and he said they were pretty good. Veggie cream cheese was solid. Good morning south florida. Its 60 degrees. We hit 70s yesterday. Merry christmas. Really been beautiful. Christmas eve was only 3 degrees cooler than july 4th. It is officially the warmest christmas on record. That happened just after midnight. Were cooler now but well get back to that warmth later today. You saw that gorgeous sunrise. It was incredible, 59 degrees, sunrise at 7 18. Right now temperatures near 60. Lower on the island, a lot of fog and cooler and more breaks inland, 42 in sussex. Look at the visibilities down the shore. Belmar at a half mile. Islip has improved but nassau and the north shore of suffolk lots of fog there, the fog advisory on the island was allowed to expire. We still have the fog advisory central and southern new jersey at well get into the mid 60s and have the umbrella headed to christmas dinner. Many issue record warmth over the weekend. Thats all coming up in just a few minutes,. Breaking news this morning, a stretch of old country road in hicksville has reopened following a terrible accident last night. A mother and her two daughters seriously injured in a crash while crossing the street. Eyewitness News Reporter kala rama outside Nassau University hospital where all three victims are recovering this morning. Kala. Reporter right, lauren, that mom and her two daughters spending Christmas Morning in the hospital now after being struck by a car. That mom and her 4yearold daughter in critical condition. Her 11yearold daughter in serious condition the three were crossing old country road when they were hit by a honda accord headed south on new bridge road. Police say the victims were apparently crossing near the intersection when the crash happened just before 10 last night Christmas Eve. The driver who lives nearby did stop at the scene after that tragic crash. We just learned hes 39 years old. His name has not been release. The 43yearold mom and her two kids were rushed to the hospital. Police roped off the area to investigate the crash. At this time no charges have been filed. They consider this a tragic accident on Christmas Eve. Were live here in hicksville, kala rama channel 7 Eyewitness News. Thank you. We also have breaking news in the bronx, also tragic a teenager killed on the streets of university heights. Police say 16yearold Justin Morris shot at least twice in the back last night. This happened on jerome avenue. Detectives say he was part of two groups that got into some kind of argument. Morris died at the scene. A 19yearold now recovering from three gunshot wounds. Police still searching for the shooter. And new details on a deadly accident in brooklyn. A 23yearold driver facing charges. Hes charged with failing to yield, a 77yearold woman was crossing the street yesterday when she was hit by a van. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Now on this Christmas Morning, christians celebrating christmas around the world. This morning at the Vatican Pope Francis speaking to catholics from the balcony at st. Peters basilica. He used his Christmas Eve homily to call for simplicity in this day and age of consumerism. Here in new york, cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrating mass with those who otherwise couldnt because of their work. Dolan celebrating with firefighters at engine 54, ladder 4 battalion 9 in midtown manhattan, one of the firehouses that responds to anything at st. Patricks cathedral. Speaking of the st. Pats, mallory hoff has been there all morning outside st. Pats with last nights mass and a look ahead at whats coming up this morning. Reporter good morning. 2,000 people were here last night. As you can see behind me just in the last half hour folks have started to arrive for a 7 a. M. Mass. Now this is video from last night. Cardinal dolan welcomed both families have received help from catholic charities. He welcomed siblings from el salvador, the brothers 17 and 19 fled terror and the threat of retribution. He also welcomed a muslim family, a mother and father, their three children from ivory coast. I think you would unite with me as we celebrate this night when jesus was born away from home into a family that would soon flee as refugees for safety from an oppressive king into egypt, i think you would join me in welcoming those two families. And throughout the morning weve spoken with people who say they look forward to mass here every year and others who are attending for their first time. Mass will be held throughout the day. Live from st. Pats, mallory hoff channel 7 Eyewitness News. Thank you. Happening today jersey city who were killed in a tragic christmas night accident. Shawn carson and robert win died when their cruiser plunged off an open drawbridge and fell into the hackensack river. We all remember that terrible accident that christmas night. The officers were crossing what was then known as the lincoln highway bridge while responding to a call. This was on christmas night 2005. Two years later the bridge was renamed in their honor. In a few hours Queen Elizabeths annual christmas message will be broadcast across great britain. The queen will emphasize that light can help triumph over dark times. The monarch will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii by thanking those who served. The royal family will spend the day at their estate north of london. 70 years since world war ii, 15 years weve been doing this, reading your emails and tweets and facebook posts, although back when we started after the 9 11 attacks in december 2001 deciding to get Community Talk along, talka thon on Christmas Morning. It was just beautiful then, and it still is nice. So many wonderful emails and posts and were going to read them again right now. People are also tweeting their messages too. And facebook, which is nice. A lot of them and thank you for your pictures as well. Bill, lauren, lee thanks for being here this morning, you guys are a family, let there be peace on earth. Good thought. Love watching you guys Christmas Morning, wishes for peace, phyllis i wish for a peaceful world. Big theme there. And i wish all the Eyewitness News team a very Merry Christmas. Special thought. One other one i want to pass along, hold on. Bill, loved the bathroom segment. It was awesome, shallot and howie in boston. Thats lees parents. Your son didnt like it so much but thank you. This is from. Its nice that theyre up watching. Mom and dad always watch. Michelle, im a cancer survivor being able to celebrate another christmas with my son is the best gift michelle. Good for you. Diane writing that she just wants to thank us for doing this Christmas Morning broadcast for so many years and she would normally be working her night shift at hospital but shes been up wrapping presents and a quick shoutout to all the nurses and staff working hard at sbmc livingston new jersey regardless of the holiday or the weather those angels are always there for everyone and anyone. This is finish meteorologist bill evans, says i love him and have bill tell maximus i love him too. And maximus is. The huge white dog that is out every morning and bill always gives him treats. Bill has a way with him. Like the mascot for the show. Hes fantastic. And some of the white dogs, i dont know if it was maximus or maximus has friends now who reindeer yesterday, it was very cute. Very cute. Anybody have anymore . I have one from trudy or Gertrude Smith writing that shes come a long way defeating cancer now in remission. So fortunate to have her health this christmas. So many people thinking about health. So many cancer survivors who have beaten this disease and more to come. Good for you for being strong. Also one saying happy hanukkah. It was a great hanukkah. Early on this year. Sometimes it coagulates with christmas. This year it was very early. Steven from maryland, 66 going up to 68 today, thank you for the weather report. He wants your job. Well take more of your letters and emails coming up in this next 20 minutes. Coming up a rare celestial sight we will see this Christmas Day. Also ahead, a state of in this country, several days of rain, some tornadoes, and extreme flooding. A dangerous turn when one piano music. Wow. Im glad you finally made it, dad. You have to experience this city. Thats what you always say. You were right about the food. Yeah . Welcome. Only in new york, right . I guess so. And a real astronaut. That was something. Hi john. Hey kevin. One more. Didnt you want to be an astronaut . Be an astronaut . Yes, i did. Theres still time. Ahhhh its beautiful, isnt it . Done done. Book priceless experiences around the globe with. Your world mastercard. Only at priceless. Com ok, were here. Heres dad. Mom. The twins. Aunt alice. You didnt tell me aunt alice was coming. Of course. Dont forget grandpa. Can the test drive be over now . Maybe just head back to the dealership . Dont you want to meet my family . Yep, totally. Its practically yours, but we still need your signature. The volkswagen sign then drive event. Zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta and otherselect models. New this morning, the search is on for a woman target employee on long island. Police say victoria diam attacked a worker who tried to detain her from shoplifting yesterday afternoon in riverhead. The 33yearold is accused of tasing the target employee with a stun gun and then taking off. The employee was treated at a nearby hospital. A state of emergency in effort this morning across several counties in georgia, heavy rain causing severe flooding. The roads with a mess last night. This is in north georgia. Crews working to clean up the flooding right now. Drivers heading out for the holidays. They were left sitting in traffic. Rain still hitting the area today expected to create more approximate on the roads throughout this holiday weekend. New yorks already broken the record for its warmest christmas set more than three decades ago. People are celebrating the season outside obviously not making snow men but jogging in shorts on Christmas Eve and enjoying Christmas Eve dinners outside. The warm weather is welcome for anyone who doesnt look forward to snow. But these things come in cycles. Next year well have 3 feet of we might. Probably. This morning the temperature hit a record 66 degrees in central park. That beats the record of 64 degrees set in 1982. I was at a my inlaws have a family dinner Christmas Eve dinkier there were two people in shorts, one person in flip flop and a tie. Its a polish dinner, Christmas Eve dinner, and you know what they say about polish food, for some reasons three days later youre hungry again. Here i am eating bagels. Did you eat any pirogies . I had five pirogies. Apricot and cabbage. Yeah. And my motherinlaw makes them. Not the bagels. They were gone, hundreds of them gone. Ill be hungry on sunday. Lee. All right, we have a beautiful sunrise, look at this theres the empire, a great view over central park i want to show you as well which is caribbean, and this looks, i mean like a florida sunrise this time of year. Beautiful gold and ambers and blues on the horizon as we look east. Theres the skating rink in central park. Just sweating it out. 59 degrees, partly cloudy skies, a northeasterly wind at 3, warmest christmas of all time, last year was pretty mild at 62. Had some flurries whoa previous years and it was chilly in 2011. 2009 we woke up to 2 inches of snow. The average high is 40. The average low is 29. We havent gone below freezing so far this season. For central park, some breaks in the clouds. It goes back to mostly cloudy, should be dry during the Daylight Hours. Get back in the mid and upper 60s. Clouds are going to hang tougher. Same things with fog. For the north and west suburbs, youd see more sunshine here through a good chunk of the day. Heres the christmas planner, fog, partly to mostly cloudy through the day, middle 60s. Rain holds off until this evening. Central and southern new jersey off and on, same idea for tomorrow. Futurecast, a little chill where weve had more clearing north and west. 65, islip. 62 belmar. During the day clouds are hugging the coast. More breaks from the city northward and then during the evening hour there will be some showers around. Best chance will be south and east of new york city and that will continue into tomorrow. As we go into the day on saturday, the best chance of seeing rain or drizzle is in the afternoon. Its spotty in the morning hours. I can actually show you that in the sevenday with this futurecast. Theres not a lot going on on radar, the big difference will be the temperature tomorrow, only 52. Sunday 67 degrees, and for jets patriots, 64 at kickoff. Again, limited sunshine. Might need the umbrella for the fourth quarter. Dramatic drop on monday. Rain comes in tuesday. Could be a little icy mix north and west for the Tuesday Morning commute because the rain arrives and its still pretty chilly. 50 the long range outlook for new years eve not bad at all. Well probably be in the 40s. Although the highs to start the first week of the new year only in the 40s. Closer to average the first week of 2016, and thats a what i thought. Id thought wed wait until the third week of january to get back to that. Not bitter cold. Just back to normal at least for a few days. No rain. It does look actually dry, some showers new years day. All right. We have been taking your e mails every year since 2001 in december after the terror attacks we wanted to get this conversation going, and once again, hundreds of you have responded, email, twitter, facebook, we have a couple let me just say one guy tweeted me now bill saying wishing happiness and health. Everyone lets work to solve homelessness. Homelessness in new york city at or near record numbers upwards of 60,000 people without a home that we know about, and the mayor now absolutely stepping up his efforts to try to solve this problem. This is e an email we seemed from july is a row mara who says shes blessed to have the last name romero and thankful to have the family i have being adopted no words can explain how i feel when i attend family gatherings knowing they saved my life as a baby. She lives in upper manhattan. On a lighter note from scotty b. Doing my marathon christmas shift at z100. Nice nice. I talked we had a message from michelle whos a cancer survivor her 12yearold son was her greatest blessing, she said thank you so much for that special gift. My son was able to hear the message and that was the best on this Christmas Day. So our pleasure. Thats awesome. Sonia writes Merry Christmas to all who have taken the time to give to those who dont have anything, and thats really what the season is supposed to be about. So nice to remember those people. Like those Police Officers theyve got presents. Anybody else. A new inspection sticker. If not i have a message from the big guy. Why dont we read that . The president and ceo of the Walt Disney Company who started right here at abc from bob iger, bill, lauren and lee everyone at channel 7 Merry Christmas to all, day in and proud. Abundance, Health Happiness and peace in 2016, and thanks for working today, best wishes bob iger, ps did i forget, may the force be with you all. Yeah. Thanks bob. And hes wrigley this morning sharing star wars secrets and tips. Bob iger has done a great job with this company. He started here at abc as a sports production assistant, i think, and has just worked his way up. Now of course the big guy is here through 2018. This company is lucky to have him. It just gets bigger and bigger every year, more successful, yeah. Thats the main thing. This morning, it has been our pleasure and honor to share your thoughts. Keep writing, you know, well respond on twitter and facebook. Thanks for spearheading this through the year. Bill gets so excited to do it, and hes always nervous that youre not going to get a lot of emails. And then we get hundreds. And we are inundated so thats a testament to your loyalty as viewers, and we appreciate that. Coming up on 6 51. If youre waking up with a few presents missing from beneath the tree we night know why. Fedex says sorry. And today they say theyre trying to make up for it. Sorry. And we want to see your photos of your Christmas Morning celebrations. Send them to us on facebook, abc7ny. Kids dont stay little forever. So help them get the opportunity they need. Its never too early or too late to save for college. And you may get tax benefits if you pay income tax in new york state. Someday youll look back and be glad you got started. Nys 529 College Savings program. Abc7 and your Tristate Ford dealers thank you for helping protect our children. Fedex delivery men will be out in force today making up for packages that didnt make it under the tree in time. Fedex says it wasnt able to make all scheduled Christmas Eve deliveries and to try to catch up, it will deliver packages today and will open its express offices so customers can pick up packages. Fedex blames the delays on bad weather in parts of the u. S. And a last minute surge of holiday shopping. Tonight something that hasnt happened since jimmy carter was in the white house. Were talking about that, a that hasnt happened since 1977. Contrary to the weather its called a cold moon. The long night moon. A long night with the moon. Viewing time will be just after 6 00. Good bit of trivia there. Cold moon, long night moon good night moon. Good night moon. Good night cow jumping over the moon. Its 6 56. She has a 2yearold right. Coming up, lee, mr. Long night moon himself has another check on the record breaking christmas warms. And a live picture outside st. Patricks cathedral, more there is a place where the cold melts away the hustle and bustle dies down and the only thing left is whats truly important. The radio city Christmas Spectacular presented by chase. You bring the family, we bring the joy. Dont wait celebration of christmas continues this morning at st. Patricks cathedral. Mallory hoff is right there where mass is set to begin in a few minutes. Mallory. Lauren, bill it certainly is. At Midnight MassCardinal Dolan welcomed two Refugee Families. He did not identify them or ask them to stand but said the community should welcome them. As you can see here, people have ride waiting for arrived waiting for a 7 a. M. Service to begin. Mass will be offered throughout the day. Many people telling us this morning they look forward to this mass year after year. Others say theyll be here today for the very first time. Live from st. Pats, mallory hoff channel 7 Eyewitness News. Thank you. Thanks mallory. Its warm out there. Already 59 degrees, which is 19 above where we should be for well go to 66. Sevenday accuweather forecast, clouds a little sun, theres a lot of fog on the jersey shore and the island. Chilly monday, you get it, up and down we go. No big snows in the forecast. We want to thank you for sending in all the emails, tweets, post, you know, the most important one so many of you have said its very simple. Peace on earth, and i couldnt think of a better holiday wish. Anybody have any other thoughts, quick ones. No, i think we should eat more bagels. Someone sent me a picture of pirogies and they said lee they love the picture of my exploding toilet this morning. That got a lot of traction. And it also helped ruin a floor. We have to replace the floor. Thanks for watching. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Thanks for being such loyal viewers. Im lauren glassberg. And im bill ritter in for ken, lori, bill, heather were going to be here throughout the