Rain Fails to Dampen Spirits at 137th Rose Parade in Pasadena
As a steady rain pounded the famed Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena early Thursday, Michael Brooks manned a clutch of lawn chairs and hunched beneath a daisy-printed umbrella as he guarded his family’s front-row seats for the 137th Rose Parade.
The 41-year-old Monterey Park resident clutched a cup of hot chocolate. Despite the deluge, he smiled. It was his first time attending the Rose Parade in person, he said. Why wouldn’t he be happy? “I was not going to miss this opportunity,” Brooks said. “I had to be right here, front row, for my mother-in-law, for my wife, for my kids,” Brooks said.
A Rare Rainy Rose Parade
This year’s Rose Parade, which kicked off at 8 a.m. Thursday, is the first in 20 years to take place in the rain. It is just the 11th rainy Rose Parade since the event — meant to showcase Southern California’s mild winters — began in 1890. As of 4 a.m. Thursday, the storm system had already dumped 1.12 inches of rain on eastern Pasadena over the last two days, according to the National Weather Service. Downtown Los Angeles had received 0.94 inches. Rain with a chance of thunderstorms will continue throughout the morning, forecasters said.
Karla Alarcon and Ariel Santa Maria, both 19, members of the Mexico Delfines band wait in the rain at the start of the parade.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Preparations and Precautions
Still, some hard-core parade fans camped overnight along the route, huddling beneath building awnings and raincoats as they rang in the new year. Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the City of Pasadena, said parade organizers had prepared responses to different weather scenarios and would have a meteorologist present during the parade. “Throughout the year, we train on worst-case scenarios and always hope for the best,” Derderian told The Times.
Volunteers
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