we're bringing you live team coverage tonight from philadelphia to berks county and atlantic city. we'll begin here in studio where it's a little warmer. glenn, first snow and then more brutal cold? as low as those feels like temperatures went in the core of this cold blast, it's going to be worse by new year's day. up here in camelbin back and poconos, it's going to be feel like it's 20 below zero on new year's morning. the first alert covers the entire area as we've been saying. it's a double whammy here. the snow part starts early saturday morning and the worst of the bitter cold ends about 8:00 a.m. on tuesday. subzero wind chills through much of the area with this cold air mass. the amount of snow, not as big a deal as the slipperiness. it's moving fairly quickly, it's a sure bet it's coming in. it's a sure bet it's not a major storm, but it may only take an inch to cause some roads to be slippery. there it is, 7:00 a.m. it's just getting started. and once it does start, it's a steady snow for many hours through the late morning, midday hours. it could be ending in delaware firs first. by the middle of the afternoon it it should be winding up except for ocean county. we're not expecting anyplace in particular to get a lot of snow out of this. the round one is the dangerous cold leading to the snow sticking. round two is the dangerous cold coming after the snow that puts those feels like temperatures back below zero in many areas. right now, it's 22 in philadelphia. teens north and west, reading is at 16. it feels like it's 6 in potts town and 5 in reading. it will be much colder than that by new year's morning. we'll get into those numbers coming up. this latest round of numbing cold is hitting us right in the middle of new year's eve festivities. that means a big freeze for the big holiday events here. we're talking about the eagles' game, fireworks and the mummers parade. we're live from the blue cross river rink. miguel, people will need to get creative to stay warm. you're on the ice? >> reporter: people are definitely going to have to get creative to keep warm. the cold is not keeping people indoors tonight. i'm not the only one on the ice tonight. a lot of people i've been speaking to, they say they're going to come back out sunday night to enjoy fireworks, they're just going to layer up. >> i know we need like, three layers of clothes. but we're going to the last home game. >> reporter: the bitter blast isn't keeping this hfan away. >> we're going regardless. >> reporter: she plans to brave the elements come sunday. she's planning ahead. >> it's going to be brutally cold. we'll have layers of cold. we're going to have a blanket. we're trying to find hand warmers, but we're going. this is the last stretch. >> die-hard fans will be there in full glory early for the long hall. >> reporter: fans might be out and about, but this woman has other plans. >> if it wasn't as cold we would vun venture out later. >> reporter: she's skipping this year's fireworks and may even skip the mummers parade. >> it's going to be a deterrent, the weather, definitely. >> reporter: just because a lot of people have been calling in to ask, anyone that bought tickets for the mummers parade, as of right now they're still having that. if they do reschedule, you can get a refund. i talked to some of the organizers, you have to go to the independence visitor center. you can get a refund there if any rescheduling does end up happening. i'll send it back to you, i'm going to enjoy some more skating. nbc 10 news. >> thank you so much. look at that, he is off to the races with so many more people who clearly isn't deterred by the cold. if you don't want to watch the fireworks in the freezing cold, stay inside with us at nbc 10. we'll bring you sugar house casino's new year's eve live. bitter cold added an extra layer of trouble for firefighters this morning. water being used to fight the flames, iced over heavy equipment. it was so cold the fire department called 100 firefighters to the scene so they'd have enough manpower to deal with the conditions. a story of fire and ice today for firefighters all around our area. like this fire tonight in horsham that engulfed an entire home. crews tell us battling fires in these temperatures is always tough especially with fire hoses freezing and everyone moving a little bit slower. do you want more proof that's it's cold outside? take a look at this picture. an icy mess in south philly after a water main break flooded the corner of 32nd and reed streets. it left a van practically incased in ice. crews from the philadelphia water department have been on scene working to fix the problem. the break luckily didn't force any neighbors out of their homes. not everyone is hating this cold stretch. the big freeze is heating up business at ski resorts like this one. the chair lifts stayed busy in bear creek mountain resort in berks county. steven fisher shows us how it's the beginning of a busy holiday weekend there. >> reporter: mother nature has cooperated with ski resorts so far this year. today in the lehigh valley temperatures hovered around 20, which is good news for bear creek. all this snow that they just made, there's no fear of that melting ahead of a very busy holiday weekend. the slopes at bear creek were full with plenty of people and snow. >> our team went real hard the past few nights and we're now 100% open with all trails. >> reporter: in these subfreezing temperatures, playing right into their hands. >> no fear of the snow going anywhere anytime soon. >> reporter: this time last year bear creek looked far different. >> it didn't open until after the first of the year. when we heard the chair lifts were running and most trails were open we decided to make the trip up. >> reporter: many fought back against the cold with hot chocolate and layers. >> when you layer up you're fine. you just need to take a break. >> reporter: if today is any indication the cold won't keep people away this holiday weekend. more frequent skiers say they're already getting used to the weather. >> yesterday was a lot more jolt to the system. >> reporter: all the hotel rooms here at bear creek have been sold out for this weekend. there is some room on the slopes, but this weekend they expect every single trail to be packed. reporting at bear creek, steven fisher, nbc 10 news. coming up, we're taking our cold coverage to the jersey shore. this is a live look at beach avenue in cape may tonight. four towns are now calling off their polar bear plunges on new year's day because of the dangerous cold. we'll show you how one town won't let the cold ruin their plans. take the free nbc 10 app with you no matter where you're heading this weekend. track tomorrow's snow as it reaches your neighborhood. use our live interactive radar. sign up for those very important first alert weather alerts. let's get into some of the other headlines we're following right now at 6:00. the apartment building fire that killed 12 people in new york city, we've now learned it was started by a little boy. investigators say a 3-year-old was playing with a stove before the fire started. his mom didn't close the apartment door when they ran out. that fire spread quickly throughout the entire building. philadelphia is set to finish the year with more homicide than it's had in five years. as of today, 314 people have been killed in the city. that's the most since 2012. officials say violence related to the opioid crisis has contributed to the increase in killings. the nfl is changing the way it deals with concussions. it follows an incident involving a player from our area. take a look. texans quarterback tom savage was allowed to return to the field after this hit left him on the ground with his arms shaking. one of the new changes includes the addition of a centralized neuro trauma consultant who will monitor feeds of all games. that person will be able to contact staff on the sidelines if they see anything that deserves further evaluation. speaking of football, still ahead, shoutout from a former president. your official eagles station talks to the birds player that is getting attention from barack obama. surging jackpots. two chances to will $300 million. a no matter how much money, there's no escaping the bitter cold this weekend. how cold it's going to feel for your new year's plans after snow passes through tomorrow. two million people will be packed into times square to watch the ball drop. ki conditions will be freezing for everyone there and for everyone celebrating in our area. first alert meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is tracking the cold just in time for your new year's holiday in a few minutes. you could be bringing in the new year as a millionaire many times over with two giant jackpots up for grabs. that prizes for both the powerball and mega millions are well above $300 million. lottery sales are heating up. tonight's mega millions jackpot sits at $306 million. tomorrow's powerball drawing will be worth $384 million. some lottery players are dreaming of a warm escape to start 2018. >> absolutely. absolutely. i take a vacation. my wife loves the heat. >> i be in jamaica right now. >> this is only the second time in u.s. history the lottery players have two shots at jackpots of more than $300 million. now to the jersey shore tonight where a polar bear plunge all across the shore, bone chilling traditions, many towns on new year's day have postponed their plunges because of the cold. a brave group in new york ciatl won't be deterred. ted greenburg has their story all new at 6:00. >> reporter: it's still a go. the annual atlantic city polar bear plunge for charity proceeding as planned as noon new year's day. despite the frigid forecast and 37 degree ocean. >> i've done it over 30 years. we've never stopped and i'm not going to let the weather stop us this year. >> reporter: single digit wind chills expected on monday were enough for robert's place in margate to put its plans on ice. >> we're still going to be here, still going to party. >> reporter: the polar plunge postponed until january 13th because of safety concerns. plunges in ventnor and ocean city also canceled. >> most people should not be doing this. >> reporter: atlantic city's fire department will have rescue swimmers in dry suits at the plunge here and ems crews on standby. the fire chief says people who have been drinking or those with certain health problems are especially at risk. >> anybody who has heart conditions, cardiac issues, we advise them please don't. >> the majority of the people run up to their knees and waist and come out and warm up. it's risky if you don't use your head. >> reporter: getting set to dive into 2018 with a brutally cold splash. ted greenburg, nbc 10 news. no matter how cold it is, philadelphia's biggest new year's eve tradition will go on. a live look at the blue cross river rink on penn's landing where you can see two fireworks show. one at 6:00 p.m., the other at midnight. you can see both shows live on nbc 10. it will be freezing football weather for eagles' fans on sunday. a live look there at the link. the birds are ready for the brutal cold. let's hope the cowboys aren't. on saturday we're trying some snow. you can see it heading toward our area on the first alert radar. a first alert goes into effect at 5:00 tomorrow morning. we could see the very first flakes. first alert meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is now tracking that snow. before we get to that, the cold tonight glenn? >> it's going to be cold tonight but it's going to be way colder by new year's day. a high of 25 today. we might not even hit 20 on monday. 20 for the high at potts town. it will be in the teens for highs. right now it's in the teens in north and west. the warm spot is wildwood at 25. in philadelphia itself, it's 22 at the airport, it's already down to 19 in west mount airy where i grew up. 20 in parkwood. 20 in andorra and parkside. 21 at graduate hospital. teens in the city at this time of night. and you can see the clouds starting to come in from the west. there's the area of snow racing through ohio. and it's coming right at us and there's nothing to stop it. the first flakes could potentially be evaporating before it hits the ground. eventually it's going to be hitting the ground and it will be accumulating. it's not just flurries, it's hours' worth of a steady snow. and it will accumulate some, but it will not accumulate a lot. here we are in the afternoon, it's already tapering off. north and west it's already over in delaware. now it's at its heaviest in burlington and ocean counties in new jersey. by 4:00 in the afternoon, it's out of here. so that's it. that may be it for snow threats for the next week. how much snow? generally a coating to perhaps as much as a couple inches. it could be a little bit more in some of the higher elevations, north and west. lesser amounts in southern delaware. everybody gets the bitter cold air behind this. we start off with a southerly wind tomorrow. it's pretty cold for a southerly wind. and then in the afternoon, we're feeling like we're in the teens. by later on at night, we're feeling like single digits. then sunday and monday, that's the core of this. it's just brutal. 1 at 7:30 in the morning and below zero else where north and west. the eagles game finishing up, it's feeling like 6. and then look at mount pocono, feeling like nearly 20 below. we are 2 below around midnight. for the morning, new year's morning when the mummers would be going out, 5 below zero in philadelphia. 5 below in dover. 4 below in cape may. that's brutal. even at noontime it's barely above zero and not even everywhere above zero. so it's not quite as cold tomorrow as it's snowing. brutally cold sunday and monday. monday is the coldest of the cold. of course, for the eagles game, it's going to be feeling like single digits as we go through the game. worse than this past monday night. i'm marshall harris. the eagles, they practiced outside in that cold today. doug pederson discusses the starters' playing time on sunday. one bird gets special recognition, that's all up next in sports. marshall harris here from nbc sports philadelphia. doug pederson says the starters will play against the cowboys, but didn't say how much. he was asked if it was similar to a preseason situation. >> i'm not using the term preseason with our guys. it's still a regular season for us. i've got to be smart with it, obviously. and i'm not putting anybody on a pitch count or a number of plays. i want to see execution by our guys going into the post season. >> the eagles practiced at the link today. the eagles have had practices during camp, it's never been done in season. the practice field was frozen. chris long had an exciting day. he was mentioned by president barack obama for donating his salary this year to charity. long is using the money to fund scholarships in his hometown. president obama was posting some of the biggest positive stories of the year and long's was one of them. long was grateful. >> it's cool. i mean, you know, at the end of the day that's an honor. so listen, that's the whole point of trying to do good things in the community is spreading positivity. it's an honor to be mentioned. >> after blowing an 18 point third quarter lead last night in portland, the sixers continue tomorrow in denver. joel embiid will not play. the flooir -- flyers have a chance to rebound tonight. tampa bay beat montreal last night. bryan elliott will make his 13th consecutive start for the flyers. i'm marshall harris, we'll be right back. el: broke, homeless, selling my body to get high, locked up, a slave to heroin - that was my life. married, a homeowner, a professional, recovering and thriving - that's my life now. i got help. you can too. new years means a new day for those struggling with addiction. don't suffer. don't wait. choose help. call 844 reachnj or visit reachnj.gov your husband wants to stay free from artificial ingredients. you want to stay free from artificial preservatives. and your debit card wants to stay on a diet. fill your cart with small victories like giant's nature's promise brand. great prices on over 1,300 items. eat well for less. only at my giant. but the living room's pretty blank. it's really nice when clients come in and have done some of their own research. working with a bassett designer was really easy. just kind of ties in very well. we love it! let's check on the weather. a live look at center city where it's dry now. the wind is blowing. glenn, that's going to change tomorrow, right? snow is coming? >> yep, the wind is going to be blowing the snow in here. once the snow goes past us, then it gets colder again. so whatever snow falls on the grass for example is going to stay there for a good while. and then on sunday or saturday night, actually, it starts getting cold. sunday night to monday morning is the worst of the worst where it's feeling like it's 5 to 10 below, even in philadelphia. the middle of the week, not as terrible. wednesday might actually get up to freezing. then we get another shot. thursday, friday, saturday, bitter cold again. so it's a long time till we get above freezing. but later in january, things will change. >> look forward to that. thank you so much for watching, up next nbc "nightly news." tonight, the cause revealed in a horrific apartment fire that killed at least a dozen people. five of them children with no way out. >> i have the taste of smoke in my mouth. i have the smell in my nose. i have their faces embedded in my mind. >> tragic lessons for us all about how easily a fire can start and how to keep it from spreading. the president says china was caught red handed selling oil to north korea and says there will never be a friendly solution to the north korea problem if those sales continue. a mother's mission, helping people addicted to opioids find a way forward. for her, it's personal. with apple in damage control over slowing down its phones, we'll meet the young man who discovered something was rotten. the police chase