This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day may be without an iconic sight Thursday, its balloons.
A storm system is expected to move through the Northeast beginning late Tuesday and extended into the day Wednesday. It is supposed to be gone by Thursday, however, windy conditions may still remain which would force the parade to go on without the giant balloons.
The guidelines are balloons cannot fly in the parade if sustained wind speeds are above 23 miles per hour or if gusts are more than 34 miles per hour. The rules were created after four spectators were injured in a balloon accident caused by strong winds in 1997.
Currently, the National Weather Service is predicting sustained winds between 18 and 21 MPH and gusts potentially reaching 40 MPH.
It has only been deemed too dangerous to have the balloons fly in the parade once in history and that occurred in 1971.