Christmas morning coming up. Shaina good morning, everyone. Thanks for waking up with kcci 8 news this morning. 25. Merry christmas, everyone. A lot of people were very excited to see the snowfall yesterday and it might stick around in some areas. Jason i think it will, with the almost 10 inches. We will continue to see that linger on the ground as we have temperatures will help to melt some of it. It will be hard to get rid of all of it. Fog today because of low level moisture and disabilities to the central portions of the state around the quartermile range. A halfmile in ottoman. If you are headed out and about, note that it could be a little bit slick and disabilities could be down disabilities could be down. Cloud cover lingering and a system off to the southwest but snow cover a cousin that but there could be one to two inch totals on northwestern edges of the state. A bit of a mixed bag of precipitation and light rain into south and central portions of the state. Plan on cloud cover, bundle up early. Into the afternoon, 38 degrees, a very mild Christmas Day. Thanks, jason shaina thanks, jason. The snow on thursday meant a lot of traffic headaches but for many people it also meant the christmas they had been hoping for. Kccis vanessa peng shows us how iowans feel about snow on Christmas Eve. Just like the ones iowans used to know. It just wouldnt be christmas without snow. Mother nature brought what many had been dreaming of. I think its beautiful. I expect to see snow around this time of year. So far this winter, its been relatively mild. When i saw the snow i was like its about time. Some iowans cant imagine its the tradition i mean, you think of snow you think of christmas, you think of presence, you pick a family. Others will take green or david madsen i would have enjoyed it either way. Im on the fence about it. I guess snow, or no snow, its nice. Will take a quick sample of the white. And decide that maybe purple is the kind of christmas they want. Christmas. Purple christmas is when the snow is purple. Grape. Shaina as the snow began to fall thursday, the d. O. T. Was forced to shut down part of interstate 35 after reports of multiple accidents. Traffic between ames and story city was brought to a standstill after dozens of crashes and cars in the ditches. The tow trucks were very busy and people traveling southbound to des moines told us they just that fast. This semi was stopped and we all stopped behind it, and i got run into from the back. And it kind of caused a chain reaction. The number of cars its just going up everytime you turn around theres another one going in. Its one person after the next semis versus cars cars smashed in. Shaina a live look now at the you can see most of the state is clear this morning. There are patches, particularly to the west, between des moines central iowa. The roads are partially covered but no completely covered roads so things looking pretty good for the majority of the state. Be careful if you are in one of be slick. There was wild weather around the country thursday. Including two more reports of rare winter tornadoes. Now heading to Northern California to determine the strength of those tornadoes. Powerlines and trees were brought down, and residents in modesto say the storm was unlike anything theyd ever seen. Homes and cars were damaged. Meanwhile, people in the south are still cleaning up after several deadly tornadoes across mississippi, arkansas, and tennessee. At least 14 people were killed, dozens of homes were destroyed, and thousands were left without power. Mississippis governor declared a state of emergency thursday. It is difficult, particularly this time of year, to see such damage and know the heartbreaks that go with that damage. Shaina another big storm is developing in the Southern Plains right now. Its forecast to bring heavy rain and blizzard conditions to the region this weekend, and the first snow of the season for the unseasonably warm northeast next week. The Stormy Weather caused big problems for flights across the country thursday, especially along the gulf coast up through the northeastern part of the country. Tracks airline flights, showed 550 flights had been canceled nationwide with 4200 delays by midday. Atlanta had the largest delays, largest percentage of delays, but many flights also were late in new york and washington, d. C. A different kind of problem at the des moines airport involving a Des Moines Police officer. 23yearold officer brady pratt drew his gun from his holster, while, according to him, he was practicing his quickdraw at the airport on wednesday. He says he accidentally had his finger on the trigger and fired a shot. Officials say the bullet went into the ceiling, and no one was hurt. The Police Department says there will be a review of the shooting, and discipline for pratt is possible. Sports news, the iowa hawkeyes are spending Christmas Day, in pasadena this year. The team headed to the Eastern Iowa Airport thursday, hopped on a plane, and took off to california. Its the teams first trip to the rose bowl in 25 years. They made it to pasadena just situated before an official team welcome tomorrow at disneyland. Iowa will face the stanford cardinals at 4 00 p. M. Iowa time new years day. Thats one week from today, you can watch it on espn. Eastern iowa police are warning hawkeye fans about fake rose bowl ticket scams. Investigators say victims are buying tickets through craigslist. Then meeting the seller to get them in person. Some of those tickets turn out to be fake. Police say to try to only buy tickets from a trusted source. Count on kcci for Team Coverage from pasadena as the hawkeyes take on the stanford cardinals on new years day. Our crews will be live at 5 00, 6 00 and 10 00 starting tuesday. Well also be live all morning friday leading up to the game. Be sure to like kcci on facebook and download our mobile app for constant updates. Time for another check of the weather. Jason there is a chance we could see a little bit tonight, not in the metro but in northwestern parts of the state have potential. Yesterday six fell six inches fell in story city. At the studio, we did not see a lot but nobody has seen that much in the eastern portion of the country for the most part. As far as snow. Not a white christmas. Or most of iowa, not a white christmas. A dusting from des moines to lamoni and a heavy band through Council Bluffs to mason city. Nice to see the snow. Today, not going to be any snow, especially in central portions of the state as we climbed up to 38 degrees, more chances of a mixed act of precipitation through the weekend, a high of 42 on saturday. In the holiday spirit of giving, a group of volunteers is helping provide meals for families in need this christmas. Kccis emmy victor is live at Mercy Medical center to tell us more about it. Emmy they have the responsibility of making 5000 meals a day for patients and staff. An extra 350 today for those in the Community Less fortunate. Joining me to tell why are you doing this . To give back to the community. People that cannot leave their homes, they can get their meals. Our volunteer workers and everybody else, it is great. Emmy some people you are meal, what are you doing to safe . Doing a green castle, mashed potato, stuffing, traditional christmas meal. Emmy the phones have been ringing off the hook, who is people that cannot leave their homes. They have already been preordered. They will be delivered to their homes. Emmy you guys have been hard at work all morning and they will be preparing meals all the way until 10 00 when they started doing the delivery, an all hands on deck ross as. Very excited very hands on deck process. We will show you more on how far they have gotten. Shaina looking forward to it. Holiday shipping rush, a lastminute decision by fedex that might help your packages make it under the tree today. Christmas at the vatican, the message pope francis has for christians around the world this holiday season. And an omaha woman gets a special surprise. See the display her family has been working on for more than 3 years. And a live look outside at i235 the few people that are out there are moving right along. Completely up to speed with no problems. The partially covered roads to the west and north of us but in the metro things looking fine. If you have to head out, you day and have a Merry Christmas this is iowas news leader. This is kcci 8 news this morning with eric hanson, elizabeth klinge, kurtis gertz, and right now coverage with shaina humphries. Jason Merry Christmas, it is 6 14, i hope you are getting your presents unwrapped and got everything you wanted. Some of us got the snow we wanted. 26 degrees to start off. Little bit cooler but still not bad. Some fog to get through, dense fog about the area, mainly central portions of the state. A quarter to a half mile, even outside of this area, some fog. We will keep the cloud cover all day long, a sad thing because we have something epic happening, a full moon on Christmas Day, the First Time Since 1977 that has happened, the next time you will not see this for another 19 years. You can look at a full moon pretty much anytime you want but it is kind of cool. Starting off with patchy, dense fog, mid30s i noon and a little bit of snow melt. More chances of the way on the way. Shaina christians from around the world gathered in bethlehem last night to celebrate christmas. But in recent months, bethlehem has been a focal point for clashes between israeli troops and palestinian protesters. Before the celebrations began last night, israeli authorities said 3 palestinians were killed in violence across the west bank. Christian worshippers also gathered in saint peters basilica thursday for the popes traditional Christmas Eve mass. Theme of love and mercy and encouraged all followers of jesus to live simply with compassion. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the vatican again this morning to hear the pontiff deliver his Christmas Day speech. And in omaha, its a christmas and birthday surprise rolled into one. Seven children had a mission to make their moms 75th birthday extra special. Devonte mckenith shows us how. Tis the season for christmas decor for this family. But what you see here actually started in 2012 on independence day. Thats when it was dads 75th birthday. 75 american flags placed in the front lawn. My dad knew i was behind it and he said you did it for me, you need to do something for mom. 3 years later, all 7 of ernies kids did just that. Shes going to be very surprised. Christmas trees. They made their mother carols 75th birthday, one heck of a surprise. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you happy birthday dear carol happy birthday to you the effort of getting all the trees started back in 2013. The signs, looking for the 75 and sensational birthday girl, were made as her son traveled with precious cargo from texas to omaha, just to make this day one of a kind. Car was loaded with 32 trees plus the metal sign. Tenhour drive. Every tree placed with care. Unlit. Now one of the brightest homes on the block, represents one of the brightest people in their family. Sheet will note it is special. She knows shes a special lady to create us and i just want to give her a special memory of turning 75. In omaha, davonte mckenith. Shaina carols birthday is exactly one week before christmas. Were told she was named after christmas carols. In your money news now, u. S. Markets are closed today for christmas. But on thursday wall street couldnt hold onto gains made earlier in the week. It ended the day mixed. The dow lost more than 50 points. The nasdaq was up more than 2. And the s p 500 fell about 3. Worried about the christmas delivery making it under the tree in time, theres still hope. Fedex says it will operate today in some markets, even though its christmas, to ensure packages scheduled for christmas delivery make it. Its also keeping its locations some locations open across the country today from 9 00 a. M. To 1 00 p. M. So people can pick up packages that way. Volunteered to work the holiday. Much of the northeast enjoyed mild weather this Christmas Eve even santa claus himself took time out of his busy schedule to play a round of golf. Its a lot harder here in maine. Im used to playing on the hard grounds up in the north pole, but were able to weather through and make it a good round. Nice and relaxing before the big trip. Shaina the owner of Hermon Meadow Golf Club in maine says he cant believe his course is still playable on Christmas Eve. John snyder says in 22 years of business hes never been open this time of year. But he was overjoyed when saint nick stopped by to play 18 holes before heading out to drop off gifts. He would have had to go to maine situation. Jason i was confused, santa claus should not be carrying his clubs. We saw snow, some of us picking up eight nine inches. Now dealing with lowlevel moisture creating a nice dense layer of fog. Visibility down to a quarter to a half a mile in the dense fog advised areas. Be careful. Besides that, cloud cover will continue throughout the day and another system that will push to our northwest. He could see a little bit of precipitation from that, mainly after the 6 00 timeframe. Before that, not bad besides the clouds, well above average, 38 degrees with the average at 32. A system moving in situated to the southwest now, the area of High Pressure will get out of the are and as it does so it will make way for more cloud cover as it thickens. The snow pushing to the extreme northwestern portion of the state and a bit of a snow mix through the central portion of the state through around more reasons to be safe if you have travel plans. The snow we have gotten, not that widespread, central portions northward coming in the mix. Out to the east, have not seen much of anything and that will continue for a little bit longer feared the next system should fill in spots that do not have it, to the northwest, teacher cast, most of us futurecast, most of us do not get in on the action but it thickens the crowd into the afternoon. The first signs of the system pushing through into the evening overnight. Some spots do look to pick up a little bit of snow. Extreme northwestern portions of the snow, an inch or two, otherwise a mild day. Midtoupper30s and the next we have a chance for a little bit of a mix throughout the day next significant system will more reasons to be safe. Shaina enjoy the warmer temperatures and slightly downhill. We will enjoy it. Still ahead, timeless tradition. A look inside the white house, as the obama family celebrates capital. Hey this holiday, u. S. Cellulars giving you 15 gigs of data for just 70 but i wanted a pony. [ gasps ] youre getting data. Ponysized data . U. S. Cellular sized data. 15 gigs of good, strong data you can actually use because it works in the middle of anywhere. Id like 100 youre getting 400 in promo cards yes switch to u. S. Cellular and get 15 gigs of data for just 70. Shaina welcome back. In a few days itll be time to take those holiday decorations down. So enjoy them while they last. That is what thousands are doing at the white house, which has been giving tours all season long. Our Nikole Killion takes us along and introduces us to some of the volunteers who actually decked those halls. Welcome to the white house. At the white house, a timeless tradition i want to once again thank all the terrific volunteers for creating this Winter Wonderland of american traditions. And its no easy feat, these behind the scenes photos from the first lady capture the before and after as nearly 100 volunteers from all across the country trim every tree and deck every hall. We go home dead tired at the end of the day. We come back with a lot of energy the next morning. Its been great. Ellen carley of michigan assigned to the china room where fashion icon carolina herrera. It looks very pretty. This year, there are 62 trees. And more than 70,000 ornaments, like these in the library. All the ornaments on the trees are hand crafted. They feature marbleize paper from hand bound books. Beyond the branches, theres a garden full of snowmen, the traditional gingerbread replica of the white house in dark chocolate, and in keeping with the first ladys joining forces initiative this is if a military family wishes to write a note we have the paper and the a decorators dream come true. It is an experience of a lifetime. Thanks to helping hands that make the peoples house merry in washington, Nikole Killion reporting. Shaina in case youre wondering, volunteers were selected after submitting an Application Online to the white house earlier this year. They were announced this fall and came to washington to decorate the week after coming up in our next half hour bowl bound. The hawkeyes are in pasadena. Hear from longtime broadcaster bob brooks about the last rose bowl trip two decades ago. Plus, christmas is here see how some officers in massachusetts stopped a grinch. Recruited, medial who shaina kicking off your christmas weekend with a nice coat of snow from thursday. And we could see more tonight. Jason has the storm team 8 forecast. The mostwatched morning news in central iowa. This is iowas news leader. This is kcci 8 news this morning. Shaina and a very unusual Christmas Service for the star wars enthusiast. See how one church in new jersey is using the force to tell the christmas story this year. Good morning and Merry Christmas to all. Jason. A white christmas. Jason presence falling from the state from the sky. The south did not see much. Some people got more than they bargained for. It will be melting today. Cooler temperatures to start, midteens in carroll, webster these are wind chill temperatures. All the moisture has helped to drive us some fog, a quartermile visibility for des moines. Visibility will likely be down fog. Besides that, cloudy. We have a full moon. The first time on Christmas Day since 1977. 38 we are topping out along with cloud cover, more on the chances for snow coming up. Shaina thank you. Right now crews with the