For fans of parades and big balloons, the 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade forecast may be the most important of the year.

Luckily for fans of the event, there have been no storms that it can’t weather.

In fact, the parade has never been canceled due to weather. The only years without a parade since its inception in 1924 were during World War II.

However, that doesn’t mean the forecast won’t have any impact on planning for the big day, especially when it comes to whether the iconic balloons will defy gravity for the event.

In 1997, strong winds with gusts of more than 60 km/h made flying the balloons, which can be as high as six stories high, impossible.

Barney and Pink Panther’s balloons had to be stabbed and trampled by police to deflate them. The Cat in the Hat balloon hit a light pole with such force that debris fell on spectators, leaving one woman in a coma for 24 days after she was hit.

Strong winds are actually amplified in New York City thanks to the “Venturi effect,” when winds are compressed through New York streets and between tall buildings.

(MORE: How weather affects the Macy’s Parade)

In 1998, following the events of the previous year, the city adopted guidelines banning balloon flights when sustained winds exceed 23 mph (37 km/h) or gusts exceed 34 mph (54 km/h).

Remarkable parade weather in recent years:

The coldest parade took place in 2018, when the temperature in Central Park dropped to 17 degrees on the morning of the parade. That was the second-coldest low temperature on record for Thanksgiving.

The cold was so bitter that some musicians in the marching bands struggled to play, although Kelly Clarkson still brought the ‘Heat’ with a live performance of her hit.

Looking on the bright side, the hottest parade in 1933 had a daily high of 69 degrees. This may have been more comfortable for the participants and spectators, but it may have been a disappointment for anyone who considers Santa’s arrival at the end of the month. parade to start the Christmas period.

In 1989, parade goers were treated to New York City’s first White Thanksgiving in 51 years. Light snow started in New York the night before the parade, and by the afternoon there was more than 4 inches of snow in Central Park.

Still, 1.8 million spectators and demonstrators showed up for the parade.

Snow was also a major part of the day in 1938, when 3.9 inches of recorded snow fell. Other than those two years, more than 0.2 inches of snow has never fallen during the parade on Thanksgiving, so it’s a pretty rare and magical sight.

Some in this parade are doing well:

Rain is slightly more common, and the record for heaviest Thanksgiving rain was set in 2006, when 1.72 inches of rain fell over the course of the day, some of it during the parade itself.

The balloons had to be flown much closer to the ground than normal due to gusty winds, and they were only able to fly thanks to a lull in strong sustained winds that peaked at 40 km per hour that day (gusts peaked at 55 km per hour).

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist at Weather.com and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.