Ready for lift off! Millions line the streets of New York for annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Taking off: Workers prepare the giant Snoopy balloon before the 87th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in New York

Millions of people braved a frigid, windy day and lined the streets of Manhattan to witness the 87th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

But the parade almost didn't happen due to bad weather in the New York area caused by the remnants of Winter Storm Boreas.

Weather.com meteorologist Alan Raymond predicted sustained winds between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts of up to 35 mph today.

According to city rules, the giant balloons can't fly if sustained winds exceed 23 mph, or gusts exceed 34 mph.

Bundle up: Spectators cover up in layers and clutch warm drinks to keep toasty on the sidelines

  

Viewers: About 3.5million spectators are expected to turn out along the parade route in New York City with about 50million people watching at home

Debut: The Toothless Dragon balloon from How to Train Your Dragon is one of the new additions to this year's parade

Those rules were put in place after an incident in 1997 when 43 mph winds caused the Cat in the Hat balloon to hit a lamppost, which caused a piece of metal to hit a woman's head nearly killing her. The parade has only been cancelled once in its 87-year history, due to bad weather in 1971.

But the parade announced around 3am Thanksgiving morning that the balloons would indeed fly. According to the parade's executive producer, Amy Kule, about 3.5million spectators are expected to turn out along the parade route in New York with another 50million watching at home.

There will be numerous floats in the parade, 900 clowns and 40 smaller balloons. According to CBS, the crowd at 76th street was five people deep.

Getting ready to start: Balloon handlers wait before the 87th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

  

The route: The parade will start at West 77th street near the Museum of Natural History before working its way down sixth avenue and ending at Herald Square (route on right)

On the ground: NBC weatherman Al Roker catches up with the handlers of the Diary of a Wimpy kid balloon

Hosts: Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer host the awards along the route with a prime seat to all of the parade's performances. Lauer sports a trimmed beard for men's health awareness

All 16 of the balloons in the parade were inflated last night on W 77th Street near the Museum of Natural History.

'I think it's really cool how big they are,' Carson Kelley, a young tourist, told CBS New York. 'They're like, as big as my house.'

Some of the balloons are probably much bigger than Carson's house - as tall as five stories.

The parade will start there today, heading south before turning turning left and continuing down Sixth Avenue past Rockefeller Center before ending outside the Macy's store on 34th Street in Herald Square.

This will be the second year that the parade has taken this route. Normally, viewers at home are used to seeing the balloons make their way through Times Square, but that changed last year.