Hoping Floats Won't Have To

Since then, planners have been rewarded -- some say divinely -- with only nine rainy parades -- the last one in 1955. But Paul Holman isn't taking any chances -- especially as the National Weather Service on Wednesday increased the odds of rain on Monday's parade from 50% to 80% or 90%.

The tournament's executive vice president doubles as the parade's weatherman and is charged with holding back the rain by all means necessary.

So Holman, a 64-year-old retired mortgage broker, has visited dozens of churches in Pasadena trying to secure God's good graces and asking, "Please bless us with a window of sunshine."

Friends have e-mailed him reminders to say his prayers and given him books about the weather. He's even considered burning incense or doing an anti-rain dance.

"It hasn't rained in 50 years and only nine times in 116 years so I would say there's a fair amount of pressure," Holman said Wednesday. "It's totally irrational. But when you have so many people talking to you about the weather, you have to look like you're doing something, which is also irrational."

As the tournament's second-in-command, Holman must continue a tradition that is a bit newer than the "never on Sunday" rule.

The custom dictates that he carry a special Tournament of Roses-sanctioned umbrella in gift wrapping (a red rose pattern topped with a red bow). The hope is that the package never has to be opened. He must also carry a gift-wrapped weather radio that has been handed down for decades.

"They don't want to have to unwrap those things," said William B. Flinn, the tournament's chief operating officer and a 25-year veteran of the organization. "They just want to pass it on to the next person."

And that's what Holman is determined to do on Jan. 19, at a special organizational dinner in which he will present his successor with the umbrella and radio while he ascends to the post of president.

While Holman's outlook remains sunny, other forecasters -- the professionals -- are becoming increasingly pessimistic.

The latest forecast "is very bad news for the Rose Parade because the [radar] shows the strongest part of the storm arriving in the L.A. area" about 4 a.m. -- just before the parade begins, a National Weather Service advisory announced Wednesday afternoon.