Forecast: Dry for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; balloons likely to fly

The pre-Thanksgiving rush kicks into high gear Monday, and at least at the start, the weather will cooperate. By Thursday, though, anyone heading into Manhattan for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade be advised: Wear something rainproof for the post-parade walk to the car or the subway. 

As of Sunday evening, the National Weather Service was predicting a 60% chance of rain for Long Island and New York City on Thanksgiving, "mainly after 1 p.m." with a high in the mid 40s, dropping down to 43 degrees in the evening.

Or, put another way: Just in time to make the drive home for Thanksgiving dinner one best taken slowly.

Before then, spectators at the parade, which starts at 8:30 a.m. at 77th Street and Central Park West and ends at Herald Square, can expect a breezy day — with winds at 15-20 mph — but not brisk enough to keep the Pillsbury Doughboy, SpongeBob SquarePants and 20 other giant balloon characters from making their way along the route.

The city mandates that the iconic balloons cannot fly if sustained winds exceed 23 mph and isolated gusts exceed 34 mph. Those rules were implemented after the 1997 parade, when a Cat in the Hat balloon buffeted by strong winds toppled a lamppost, severely injuring several spectators.

The NYPD has promised to be out in full force at the parade. At a security briefing Friday, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said: "We have assets that you’ll see out there and assets that you won’t see," according to published reports. "We will be highly visible and ready to go."

After the parade and the holiday feasts, temperatures on Long Island will drop to about 35 overnight into Saturday, the weather service said.

Long Island will get a preview late Monday into Tuesday of what's to come, when clouds roll in and rain is forecast. The high Tuesday will climb to 56. The evening low will dip to about 40 before Wednesday brings more sun and a high about 47.

Clouds roll in late Wednesday with a low of 42, setting up the rain by Thanksgiving afternoon.

On Friday, there’s a 30% chance of rain; by late Friday into Saturday there’s a small chance of snow mixed with rain on eastern Long Island, Joe Pollina, a meteorologist with the weather service's Upton office, told Newsday.

Saturday is forecast to be otherwise mostly sunny, with a high of 41.