Thanksgiving storm to bring New York needed rain at wrong time

NEW YORK – New York is in for a wet Thanksgiving, as a fast-moving storm brings the North-east badly needed moisture that could complicate travel plans and rain on Macy’s famed holiday parade.

The storm is expected to drop up to 2.5cm of rain across northern New Jersey, New York and Boston starting early on the morning of Nov 28, with heavier rain possible along the Atlantic coast north to Portland, Maine.

At higher elevations in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and Pocono Mountains, the rain will likely turn to snow throughout Thanksgiving Day. 

The region has been starved of rain this autumn, leaving 97 per cent of the North-east abnormally dry and more than half of it in drought.

The storm on Nov 28 should tamp down the risk of brush fires while easing pressure on the upstate reservoirs that provide New York City with drinking water, said Mr Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist at the US Weather Prediction Centre.  

“I know a lot of people don’t want precipitation on a holiday, but a lot of the North-east could really use it at this point,” he said.

Wet weather is expected to settle in over Manhattan just in time for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which begins at 8.30am local time on Nov 28.

Crowds will have to contend with “nice, solid, borderline moderate rain”, Mr Kleebauer said. Expected light winds could also create headaches for crews handling 15m-tall balloons of Snoopy and Bluey, among other characters. 

Macy’s did not respond to a request for comment. In the past century, Macy’s has never cancelled the parade due to inclement weather.

The parade was called off three times during World War II to help preserve rubber for the US military. BLOOMBERG