It’s very windy but the big balloons will fly at Macy’s parade

The balloons will fly high at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on Thursday morning.

The NYPD said that their officers got the "all clear." New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sent a similar message on his Twitter account around 8:15 a.m.

Gusty winds for Wednesday night and Thursday morning threatened to ground the balloons for the first time since 1971. But they did not reach the city's threshold of sustained winds of 23 mph and gusts of 34 mph.

"The top wind gust I could find for New York's Central Park overnight was 35 mph, ever so slightly above the threshold for the balloons to fly. But we can be truly thankful that the fiercest wind gusts are behind us now," New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said.

He said the day will still be blustery with gusts over 30 mph until sunset.

"I am so glad Mother Nature decided to cooperate. My kids can't wait to see Olaf, Chase, and Astronaut Snoopy," Zarrow said.

There will also be the return of Pokemon superstar Pikachu, and a new 44-foot-tall SpongeBob Squarepants balloon. Each of those requires 90 human handlers, according to Macy's.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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