feeling pretty confident right now that we are going to stop with that turkey thing. that s my turkey thing. sorry. look. tom turkey is here. same as your turkey there. the winds are calm. what s giving me even more hope, all these guys in these very colorful uniforms, these are the balloon handlers. there s the man of the hour, astronaut snoopy. that s the 40th iteration of snoopy in the 93 years this parade has been going. incredible the long lasting nature of the peanuts characters. they will make the decision on whether the balloons fly just minutes before they step off at 9:00 a.m. eastern. i got to say, i am shocked at how calm it is right now. the wind howled for much of the night where i live. by the time i got here, though, it had calmed down quite a bit. as long as it doesn t get over that 23 miles per hour or gusting up to 34 miles per hour. they want to avoid what happened
when they come through the intersections here. they have a police sergeant. they have a wind meter with them. they basically stop before the intersection. they whistle them through and make a run through the intersection as they re trying to get through, but a lot of these balloons are scraping along the road. look, trying to go through an intersection right now. we ll see how it does. but the wind has been a little squirrely. sometimes gusting, you know, probably in the 20s or so, but it s very, very difficult for these balloon handlers to keep track of them. all that said, the people here having a great time. happy thanksgiving. happy thanksgiving! reporter: enormous, enormous crowds as always. and we have the marching band coming through, and they re actually playing. so it s nice to get a little bit of them as well. 1,000 clowns. 1,200 cheerleaders and dancers. a massive undertaking. some 8,000 people it takes to put this show on every year as
walk with balloon handlers on the parade tomorrow and will have machines on their hands tracking wind gusts. there s a lot of factors that go into that big question that 1 million people are asking. we ll know more tomorrow and we ll certainly be tracking a that tomorrow for you guys. we ll keep an eye on that one. let s bring in ivan. fill us in on who could get hit the hardest and how long these storms are going to impact people. you and i could be late to grandma cabrera s house. hit s che we re in the clear for minneapolis. storm number one, the worst of it is going to be the wind not so much the snow or the rain. here are the winds, anywhere from 50 to 55 miles an hour, gusts to 65. although right now that has not
is a very good sign. organizers announcing that winds are 10 miles an hour, gusting up to 20, so well within that 23, 34 range for not allowing the balloons. they have thousands of balloon handlers to keep them going. you can see these balloons down here as well. these are the smaller balloons. it is 43 smaller balloons, 16 of the bigger balloons and right now it looks like they are in very good shape. you were interested in clowns earlier. i have something special for you here, john. i have a clown. where is he? matthew! matthew from new jersey. eight, nine years as a clown? yes. and is the coldest it s ever been? so far. it s not that bad, though. it s cold, yes. it is cold. it is cold. how cold is it, matthew? i have no idea because i m under here. but you are cold. and do you always dress as a prisoner? no. i have been different clowns. i ve been a nutty professor.
manhattan, drying 3.5 million people and in today s world safety is a major concern so there s a ton of added security. the police department screened the balloon inflation ceremony during the parade and counterterrorism resources, on the lookout for little for tax using checkpoints, barricades and bomb sniffing dogs, nypd says dogs can pick up the scent of explosives from hundreds of feet away. new york s police commissioner says there is nothing to worry about. there are no credible threats or specific threats against the parade or the city. so many police officers of law enforcement, it will be a safe day. blended in with all those performers and balloon handlers there will be thousands of unicorns and plainclothes officers and the streets block any vehicles from getting into the parade and bundle up because it is going to be bitterly cold