gather for christmas eve and the first night of chanukah. >> it's going to feel a little more winter doct-like, for calia standards anyway. in the peninsula and the tri valley, staying in the 40s, the south bay as well. we're expecting overnight lows to drop to the 20s and poll tss the 30s for the north bay. santa rosa and napa, the possibility of 27 to 32 degrees. that's why the national weather it w service has issued a freeze warning from midnight until 8:00 a.m. christmas morning. please bring your pets indoors. temperatures remain in the 40s, and they'll stick around in those 40s overnight. if you're heading to christmas in the park, i know it's looking beautiful out there. nice clear skies overall. those 40s are quickly don't turn

into 30s by the time we end up going pretty late tonight, so bundle up, it's a chilly night and off to a cool start to your christmas morning as well. i'll have a look at your christmas day coming up in just a moment. use our live doppler radar to get a detailed forecast for your community on our nbc bay area app. this is what it looked like this morning, we have the wrong video up but trust us, there was a lot of snow along interstate 80, there it is. it didn't stop visitors and locals from enjoying the winter wonderland. >> we're from the bay area, we don't get a white christmas. it was so cool to drive up here and see the white trees. it's awesome to be up here at christmastime. >> there it is. ski resorts are especially business today for the holiday

weekend. it looks like a lot of nice new powder up there. it made for a difficult commute for drivers this weather driving to or from southern california. snow forced the closure of interstate 5 at the grapevine for several hours. chp had to escort some cars through the wintry weather, but i-5 is now open. >> the last-minute rush at the malls certainly made retailers happy. chuck coppola was in the south bay for us. chuck, what about shoppers still checking out? >> reporter: they're all starting to leave the mall now. we're on the santa clara side of available valley fair mall. we made our way from the food court to the parking lot. you see passengers packing their bags and taking off. it's nothing like the gridlock we saw earlier, weeks ago. the mall closed at 6:00 p.m., just a few minutes ago.

inside, store managers tell us, it was a pretty good season, a little stronger than last year. the last-minute shoppers said today was busy here but not nearly as busy as they had expected. >> i haven't gotten everything yet. as long as i got my wife out of the way, i'm good. >> reporter: how did dad do today? >> he did good. i helped him. good for mom. >> reporter: did you expect to see so many people today? >> yeah, but this isn't as much as i usually see. kind of low today. >> reporter: what do you think of shopping the day before christmas in the united states? >> too crowded. too many people. everything is like, discount, discount! >> reporter: that shopper is visiting from singapore, he has relatives here. there was no line of cars leaving, at least not at 5:00 p.m. the mall reopens monday at 8:00 a.m. and stays open until 10:00 p.m., after a very much-needed rest for mall employees.

behind me you see the intersection of forest and monroe, santa clara, one car. pretty quiet. chuck coppola, nbc bay area news. it looks like santa's workshop but it's actually lefty o'douls in san francisco. a last-minute push for toy donations for underprivileged children around the city. organizers hope to beat last year's record of 10,000 toys. in order to do so, they'll need some help. >> come down to give a toy. donate online. do what you can. because your help can help a kid. >> the toys will be delivered to community centers and churches around the city. the restaurant is accepting donations until 2:00 a.m. what was supposed to be a charitable toy giveaway in santa clara county has turned into a contentious dispute with harsh words exchanged between county leaders.

nbc bay area's tom jensen is live with the details. >> reporter: county deputies caught word there were free toys being given away. what happened next stirred up quite a controversy between the county assessor and the county executive. this is what is supposed to happen to a million dollars' worth of toys donated by dynacraft wheels corporation, going to poor families for christmas. >> they're nice. it's pretty nice what they're doing for us. for the people that can't afford one of these. >> reporter: the county assessor learned this week, some of his staff and other county employees were given dozens of the toys, even though they were supposed to go to the needy. he says no one really knows exactly how many toys went to county workers. >> there's no way to determine that, that i know of, other than

it's been estimated somewhere between two and three dozen. >> reporter: assessor larry stone told his employees they need to return the gifts so they go to the right people. but he says the county executive downplayed the giveaway and immediately told workers they aren't legally obligated to return the toys. in a strongly worded written statement, county executive jeff smith told nbc bay area news that the toys did go to less fortunate families and took a stab at the county assessor, saying he jumped to conclusions, failed to educate himself about the facts, and called the press with what he thought was a hot story. his assistant told us county employees got two dozen toys. >> we would have said, these are for local income families, if you know of some, we'll give you some to take to them. >> reporter: the county assessor

disputes the story. >> he's flat long when he says we got ahold of the press. he didn't. he didn't educate himself as to how this story started. >> reporter: everyone seems to agree that no county employees did anything wrong. meanwhile, more than 500 of those toys did go to needy families today. the kids who opened them tomorrow will probably never know the controversy surrounding their gifts. tom jensen, nbc bay area news. >> thanks, tom. it is a sign of the holiday season. so-called porch pirates ripping off packages from front porches. belmont police are searching for this man seen taking a package on tuesday afternoon. the suspect rode up to the home on a bike and was wearing a tan backpack. after intense scrutiny and a probe from the state of new york, president-elect donald trump says he's shutting down his charitable foundation. his lawyers have not announced when the foundation will

officially close, but they will have to wait until the new york attorney general's office finishes its investigation. the ag's office has been looking into the foundation prompted by reports accusing president-elect trump of using donations to settle lawsuits. tunisia's interior ministry says police have arrested the nephew of anis amri and two others as terrorism suspects. nbc's lucy cavanaugh reports from london about the suspect and his jihadist connections. >> reporter: it may have been a ring of sorts, three suspects arrested by tunisian security forces, who say police nabbed anis amri's 18-year-old nephew in their tunisian hometown. amri was suspected of driving that truck into the berlin christmas market. 12 people were killed. he apparently wired them cash until he could join them in europe.

amri allegedly urging his nephew to adopt isis ideology. the nephew reportedly said his uncle was a prince of a jihadi group. the other two suspects we don't know much about except they were arrested in tunis. authorities will be looking into the group's backgrounds in the days ahead, as well as how a.mr crossed so many borders with authorities on high alert. lucy cavanaugh, nbc news, london. ahead, a devastating injury puts a team's dream season in jeopardy. working here has changed my life. >> a south bay school says thank you to a man who does so much for them. but he says it's just the

opposite. it's tonight's "bay area proud," straight ahead. we're tracking a cold christmas in the bay area right now. 48 degrees in san francisco. a look ahead at your christmas day forecast, coming up in just a bit.

and a lesson that students at a south bay high school have been taugh.. judge people by who they are, not what they do for a living. it's a lesson that students at a

south bay high school have been taut. here's tonight's "bay area proud." >> reporter: traveling the halls with delmar high school with jesse ramirez feels less like hanging out with the custodian and more like riding shotgun with the most popular kid in school. >> everybody knows his name. >> reporter: it's as far from jesse's actual high school experience as possible. >> tough times. growing up, it was difficult for me to learn, to retain things. eventually i would just shy away from everyone, because it got to a point where it was embarrassing for me. >> reporter: it was so tough, jesse admits, he even worried about taking the janitor's job here five years ago. worried that the kids might look down on him. but jesse needed the work.

it turned out, he says, to be the best decision he ever made. >> working here has like really changed my life. >> reporter: that's because jesse made it a point this time around to be the kind of adult for kids at school that he wishes had been there for him. >> seeing a student, you know, being by himself, you know, being a loner in the corner, reminds me of what i went through in high school. so i kind of like reached out and just kind of let my ears and my voice reach that person, and it just kind of grew. >> reporter: the students seek out where he isjesse all the ti impromptu counseling sessions on campus, some lasting more than an hour. >> he does that for kids, it's insane. >> reporter: even with how much

he's grown, jesse still says she's pretty shy. >> can we have jesse come to the floor? >> reporter: and more than a little bit nervous when he was surprised in front of the whole school at their winter wishes rally. both students and staff had singled out jesse for all he does and wished something nice be done for him. >> and last but not least, we got you four football tickets to the 49s game. >> reporter: which they did. it's hard to figure out who is getting more out of this relationship, jesse or the students. this much, though, we do know. they have learned from him that in this world, great things happen when you judge someone for who they are, not what they do. garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> those are great stories to see, especially this time of year. >> i agree. we're waking up with some cold weather. >> yes, get ready for some hot

chocolate. we have some freeze warnings for parts of the north bay. 48 degrees as we look to the san jose area, in the 50s. a look right now out near oakland, also seeing those 50s in the forecast. but these are expected to drop overnight. but down here in the south bay, out near the east bay, we're expecting 40s and 50s. if you head to the north bay, that's going to be a whole different condition out there. freeze warnings are expected to remain in effect for midnight tonight until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow christmas morning. that's because protected valleys and areas of the north bay could be seeing those temperatures drop between 27 and 32 degrees into the early morning hours. if you're waking up nice and early tomorrow to open those gifts, i hope you have some brand-new pajamas and new robe in those presents because that's snow we're checking out here.

we're continuing to cece era snow fall tonight and into the early morning hours. this morning was the worst commute if you were heading up to lake tahoe. futurecast right now not showing any rain in the forecast. that anythi thankfully that storm system made its way out yesterday and all that's left is the cold mass. cloud cover from san francisco to san jose, which means we could see early patchy morning fog. the next system that was going to bring the threat for some potential rain, looks like it's far off to the coast. it doesn't look like it's going to affect our christmas night plans. we have a few scattered showers in the forecast for christmas night. right now it's actually looking pretty dry. as far as that sierra snowfall, there was a winter weather advisory that did remain in effect until 6:00 p.m. tonight. that's because travel conditions were really bad earlier today. they could be gueetting gusty tonight again. if you're heading up to a cabin early morning, watch out for slick road conditions.

they're expecting from one to four feet of snow. they'll be waking up to a very wet and nice winter wonderland out near the sierra and lake tahoe. let's take a look at your 3-day outlook commute. lake tahoe, the gustiest conditions were tonight. as we head into sunday and monday, it should be clearing also out near monterey. monterey did see some showers early morning on. here is a look at what we're tracking the next a couple of hours. nice conditions, clear skies, dropping down to the 40s for christmas eve for bay and inland. here is a look at your christmas day forecast. it's going to be beautiful out there. we're expecting to see some nice 50s in the forecast over the next seven days. we're not seeing much change in terms of rain, but we are going to keep the 50s in the forecast for san francisco and we're also keeping the 50s for the forecast inland. it's going to be a beautiful start to your christmas morning tomorrow, perfect way for santa to make his way to the bay area. he won't be afraid to come in here with all that sunshine

tomorrow. >> he'll be making good stops. we'll be right back. just made the east bay regional

park district -- a little bigger. a former football star with two super bowl rings just made the east bay regional park district a little bigger. he donated two properties near antioch. who is he? and why did he do it? here is nbc bay area's joe rosato jr. >> someone has to have the dogged stubbornness. >> reporter: there are a few qualities gordon grevell has in life, which he developed in his previous career. >> i played three years in the

nfl, starting right tackle. >> reporter: these days he's more likely to tackle big real estate deals, like this antioch ridge line his company, sun crest homes, bought more than 30 years ago with plans to build 50 high end homes. >> it's named sierra vista. >> reporter: it took decades to get all the permits in place. >> then we had the recession. the bay area imploded. >> reporter: rather than plow forward with his plan, he recently decided to pass. >> it made more sense to donate it to the park district than to build it out. >> reporter: his company donated the 50 acres to the east bay regional parks district. the deal was signed this week. >> it's valued at about $3.5 million. so a very generous donation. >> we had a dairy operation. >> reporter: it joins the park district's purchase of 191 acres of land at the entrance to the

nearby black diamond regional preserve. >> with this company comes open space as well. >> reporter: the land, which the park district is buying from the antioch school district for around $300,000, comes with an early 1900's farm. >> the roof of the dairy barn is starting to cave in. >> reporter: the district hopes to restore some of the farm buildings to use as interpretative spaces. >> i look forward to elementary kids coming and walking in this old barn. >> reporter: the new acquisitions mean more than 250 acres around antioch will remain open space, even as new development crowds its edges. >> what it means is this landscape and wildlife corridor will be preserved in perpetuity. >> reporter: it's what you might call the result of an open field tackle. joe rosato jr., nbc bay area news. the news is lighting up social media right now.

a tough break for the raiders today. we'll be right back with a look at sports.

hey, guys. the raiders took a step toward winning the afc west title with a victory over the colts on saturday. but their win came at a steep price. in the fourth quarter, oakland quarterback carr broke his fibula while getting sacked. carr will have surgery tomorrow and is out indefinitely. though it's a crippling loss for their super bowl hopes, they know they can't dwell on the loss of their star quarterback. >> it obviously is a blow. that's what teams do. teams have to find a way to pick up and move on. and, you know, rally around the next guy the best we can. that's what you do. and it will be incumbent on the offensive line and the backs to do more and the defense to do

more and special teams to do more. and as a team, pick it up and do more to fill in, you know, but obviously that's a big setback. >> i'm ready to go. i feel great. it's been great, you know, just kind of working with derek in the past few years and working together and seeing what he's done on the field, trying to learn from that. but i'm ready to go, i feel great. i know this team, these guys around thme, this staff, this organization, will do a great job of making sure we keep moving in the right direction. >> meanwhile in l.a., the 49ers with an exciting come from behind victory over the rams, down 7 with less than a minute left, colin kaepernick finds rob streeter for the touchdown. on the conversion, oh, yeah, kaep run it happen in himself.

22-21 the final. that's it for sports. more news after the break. may be wondering if and when

santa claus will slide down their chimney to deliver his christmas cheer. this christmas eve, the little ones may be wondering if and when santa may slide down their chimney to deliver his christmas cheer. they'll be able to keep tabs on jolly st. nick by using norad's santa tracker. for 61 years, the north american aerospace command has had its eyes in the sky so you can follow every stop on kris

kringle's magical journey. we're told he's over bermuda and will be making his way to the bay area tonight, wouldn't miss out on those adorable little boys and girls here. >> we'll have a great commute. >> and great weather too. see you back here tonight at 11:00. until then, have a good evening.

history. a husband and wife bravely stay behind and save much more than just their home. >> we can never thank them enough. he lost his best friend. the one with the unusual name. >> he couldn't believe what he got back. >> he put a roof over his head and put his feet down. >> she couldn't help all the homeless in san francisco. but she could help the one she cared most about. >> here is nbc bay area's garvin thomas. >> thank you so much for joining us tonight. we're going to