Cloudy but Dry Rose Parade Predicted as Storm Dodges L.A.
A California tradition--a Rose Parade without rain--is expected to hold through another new year as Southern California appears to have dodged a rainy fusillade from the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.
The weather along the parade route was somewhat damp Tuesday night, but forecasters predicted that the drizzle would stop by early this morning, with only a 20% chance of light showers throughout the day.
Meteorologist Jon Erdman of WeatherData Inc. said today would be cloudy with some light morning fog. Temperatures, he said, were expected to be in the upper 50s in the morning, rising to the mid-60s by the time the Rose Bowl game begins.
“I wouldn’t expect sun,†Erdman said. “But it’s good as far as precipitation goes. We don’t expect a washout at the Rose Bowl. It will just be kind of cloudy.â€
Erdman said the greatest likelihood of showers in the Southland today will be in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Maybe it was luck, or the kindness of Mother Nature. Or perhaps it was an emergency ordinance passed by the Pasadena City Council specifically banning rain on the venerable parade this New Year’s Day, but it looked as though Pasadena would be spared.
Fans of the parade, the Arizona State University Sun Devils and the Ohio State Buckeyes spent Tuesday afternoon and evening getting ready for the New Year’s Day festivities. And despite the optimistic forecast, most of them were equipped for bad weather.
Families huddled together in the misting sprinkles, packed in encampments with their plastic tarpaulins, umbrellas and blankets on both sides of Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards, near the beginning of the parade route. Many hovered over warming barbecues full of hamburgers and hot dogs.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I was little,†15-year-old Ben Carpenter of La Canada Flintridge said as he surveyed the parade route with his girlfriend. “A little rain isn’t going to stop us. We’re die-hards.â€
Some came prepared to the hilt, including Bob and Linda Taylor of Palm Springs. As they prepared their sleeping quarters on Orange Grove under a blue tarp, Linda Taylor’s mother, Ruth McIntyre, snuggled beneath a wool blanket.
“I’m a great football fan,†McIntyre, 71, said from within her thick down parka. If it gets cold, she added, “I’m going to wrap up in a lot of blankets.â€
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