72nd annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade canceled due to inclement weather

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Well, the parade was indeed rained upon.

The 72nd Annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade was canceled Thursday morning due to inclement weather, the City of Houston announced.

The parade was canceled shortly before it kicked off, with remarks from Mayor Sylvester Turner and Dr. Peter Hotez, the grand marshal of the parade, in downtown Houston.

Despite the announcement of the cancelation, Turner still stood before the crowd and declared Nov. 25, 2021 Dr. Peter Hotez day in the City of Houston, thanking him for his hard work in informing the public throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Turner also declared today H-E-B day.

THANKSGIVING FORECAST: Here's our latest rain timeline for Thanksgiving Day

By the time the parade was canceled just before 9 a.m., hundreds of Houstonians had already gathered for the holiday festivities.

"While we are disappointed that we are unable to commence with the H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade, we will always err on the side of caution in order to ensure that our parade participants and patrons are safe," said Susan Christian, Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events and parade producer in a statement. "The Mayor's Office of Special Events will refund the face value of purchased tickets through Etix."

ABC13 meteorologists expect the heaviest rain to fall during the first half of the day.

The cold front is projected to reach Houston by noon, and once it pushes through, it will push out the heavy rain.

Anywhere from 1-3" of rain can be expected with the front due to near-record high levels of moisture for late November. Minor street flooding will be possible in isolated spots, and it could rain for a solid four to eight hours in some southeast Texas neighborhoods.