By Gus Saltonstall

This year’s Thanksgiving in New York City will be a wet year.

Rain is forecast to begin early Thursday and continue throughout the day. According to the National Weather Service, the city is expected to receive a total of about an inch of rain in 24 hours. Temperatures range between 41 and 51 degrees.

What does the rain mean for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

The Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place rain or shine, but the strength of the wind will affect what the procession looks like.

Parade organizers told West Side Rag in an email that, per city policy, giant balloons like Snoopy and Ronald McDonald will not be operated if the parade has sustained wind speeds of more than 23 mph and wind gusts of more than 34 Miles per hour rule route.

Fortunately, winds are expected to reach only 21 km/h on Thursday, with gusts up to 25 km/h.

Wind regulations for the Thanksgiving parade went into effect after the event in 1997, when strong gusts made it nearly impossible for balloon pilots to control them in the sky.

Here is a New York Times description of the balloon carnage from the following day of the 1997 parade.

“For a while the balloons seemed to drop like flies. Barney sustained significant damage and had to be removed at 51st Street. The Pink Panther succumbed on 42nd Street. Quik Bunny and the Cat in the Hat hobbled off to 36th Street.”

This year, the same six-story-high Cat in the Hat balloon crashed into a lamppost at 72nd Street and Central Park West and hurtled toward the ground.

Several people were injured and the city was sued for hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, the next year’s event organizers introduced new size rules to make the balloons smaller.

Back to this year’s parade. If you go there, you can expect to see the balloons, but wear a raincoat. (Umbrellas are not allowed.)

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