Nasty weather on tap for New Year fetes at Rose Parade in California and revelers in New York City

By Canadian Press on December 31, 2025.

Two iconic celebrations to ring in the New Year — the Rose Parade in Southern California and the midnight ball drop in New York City — are in for some rough weather.

Marching bands, floats and throngs of spectators are bracing for a rare dose of New Year’s Day rain and even thunder at the prestigious Rose Parade in Pasadena. Across the country, in New York City, hats and gloves were as necessary as noisemakers Wednesday for what could be the coldest ball drop in many years.

Rain forecasts for the 137th Rose Parade, which has been dry for 20 years, have grown all week.

“It’s looking like a wet one,” AccuWeather meteorologist John Feerick said. “It may not be raining the whole time. There could be some pretty good downpours. A rumble of thunder or two is not out of the question.”

People were allowed to show up Wednesday to secure spots along the nearly 6-mile (10-kilometer) route in Pasadena, but predictions of overnight rain could make the wait miserable. The two-hour parade starts at 8 a.m. Thursday and is typically attended by hundreds of thousands of people, in addition to millions more watching on national television.

Organizers are making only small changes, said Candy Carlson, communications director for Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the group that organizes the parade ahead of the Rose Bowl college football game.

The tops will be up on convertibles carrying grand marshal Earvin “Magic” Johnson and other VIPs, she said.

In New York City, forecasters predict temperatures in the low 30s Fahrenheit (around zero degrees Celsius) amid snow flurries when hundreds of thousands of people witness the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

The midnight temperature in New York could be “the coldest since the cusp of 2017 and 2018,” AccuWeather meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said.

Elsewhere, rain is possible in Las Vegas, where several casinos will be shooting fireworks from rooftops. During Nashville’s Big Bash, a New Year’s Eve event at a park, temperatures will be in the low 30s when an illuminated music note drops at midnight in the Tennessee city.

New Orleans will be in the mid-40s Fahrenheit (around 7 degrees Celsius) for a free concert and fireworks along the Mississippi River.

The Associated Press