Mother Nature might rain on New York's parade.
Storms expected to move across the Northeast threaten to cancel the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
So far, the forecast for Thursday morning calls for clear skies, but a storm system could arrive earlier than expected, FOX Weather meteorologist Cody Blood told the paper.
“It's 100% possible that the system will come knocking on our door, but we don't really know the timing yet,” Brad said.
Either way, it will be colder along the route through midtown Manhattan, with highs expected to reach just 44 degrees Thursday under cloudy skies.
Early forecasts predicted visibility and winds would not interfere with the festival, and the event began at 8:30 a.m. at West 77th Street and Central Park West.
Forecasters predict Monday and Wednesday will be the best time to travel for Turkey Day, as the storm is expected to move through northern states on Tuesday.
On the West Coast, early Thanksgiving travel will be disrupted by heavy rain, strong winds and mountain snow, especially in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. The region was flooded last week after a “bomb cyclone” left hundreds of thousands without power and left at least two people dead.
For many in the Northeast and Great Lakes region, post-holiday travel will become more difficult due to storms that could bring showers to coastal areas and a white Black Friday inland. Probably.
“Friday is shaping up to be a very bad day for travel because there is a low pressure system just offshore that will likely bring strong winds, rain and possibly snow,” Brad said.
But there are signs of hope, he says.
“This potential parade of systems that could bring more precipitation (1 to 2 inches of rain) each time will go a long way in helping us get out of this drought.”
New York City remains under an ongoing drought warning for the first time in more than 20 years, despite Thursday's much-needed rain. The region's annual rainfall is still nearly 8 inches short of normal rainfall totals.
Saturday and Sunday should be better travel days. Experts advised.
Nearly 80 million travelers travel more than 50 miles during their vacation, 72 million of them by car. AAA predicts. That's 1.3 million more travelers than last year.
Air travel is also expected to reach new heights. More than 5.8 million people will fly on domestic flights, an increase of 2% from last year and nearly 11% from 2019.
