Thanksgiving Day predicted to be cold, windy: Will Macy's balloons fly?
Will the balloons fly this year? Forecasters say winds are likely to be just under the limit that would force their grounding. Credit: David Handschuh
Don't ground Spider-Man just yet.
Though the National Weather Service is calling for a breezy, gust-driven Thanksgiving Day, there's a reasonable chance it'll all be just shy of wind limits that would force the grounding of those Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.
The weather service is calling for an abrupt temperature drop overnight Wednesday into Thursday, making for a cold Thanksgiving with steady winds of 10-15 mph with gusts as high as 31 mph in Central Park on Thursday.
Regulations in place since 1998 mandate the grounding of those parade balloons if sustained winds of more than 23 mph — or, gusts of at least 34 mph — are present. For paradegoers that means the projected Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon lineup might just slip in under the grounding limits.
Weather service meteorologist James Connolly said on Tuesday: "It does look like it's going to be breezy on Thursday, for sure. ... It's definitely going to be windy in the afternoon. But in the morning there might be a little bit of calming down — with gusts of about 25 mph in the forecast for morning."
The 99th annual Macy's parade is slated to run from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
The parade, to be broadcast on NBC and Peacock, will feature 18 giant helium balloons, 33 mid-sized balloons, 29 floats, 33 clown groups, 11 marching bands, nine performance groups, a host of other musical stars and even Santa Claus, according to the official Macy's website.
Four new balloons scheduled to make their parade debuts include: Buzz Lightyear by Pixar Animation Studios; Mario by Nintendo; Pac-Man by Bandai Namco Entertainment; and, Shrek's Onion Carriage by Universal Pictures' DreamWorks Animation. They're scheduled to join a host of fan favorites, among them: Disney's Minnie Mouse, Beagle Scout Snoopy, Bluey, Dora, Noorah, SpongeBob SquarePants & Gary, Smokey Bear, the Pillsbury Doughboy and, of course, Spider-Man.
The wind regulations were put in place following a 1997 wind-driven crash of a parade balloon into a lamp post that seriously injured a paradegoer.
The weather service said temperatures will be 60 degrees Wednesday, accompanied by rain, then they will plummet into the low 30s or upper 20s overnight with a high in the mid 40s Thanksgiving Day and at least through Saturday.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
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