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Thanksgiving Storm to Bring New York Needed Rain at Wrong Time

(Bloomberg) -- New York is in for a wet Thanksgiving, as a fast-moving storm brings the Northeast badly needed moisture that could complicate travel plans and rain on Macy’s famed holiday parade.

The storm is expected to drop up to an inch (2.5 cm) of rain across northern New Jersey, New York, and Boston starting early Thursday morning, with heavier rains 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 fall, leaving 97% of the Northeast abnormally dry and more than half of it in drought. Thursday’s storm should tamp down the risk of brush fires while easing pressure on the upstate reservoirs that provide New York City with drinking water, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist at the US Weather Prediction Center.  

“I know a lot of people don’t want precipitation on a holiday, but a lot of the Northeast 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 8:30 am local time Thursday. Crowds will have to contend with “nice, solid, borderline moderate rain,” Kleebauer said. Expected light winds could also create headaches for crews handling 50-foot-tall balloons of Snoopy and Bluey, among other characters. 

Macy’s Inc. did not respond to a request for comment. In the past century, Macy’s has never canceled 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.

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