I don't mean to be negative about everything, honestly. There are things that genuinely make me happy but I don't think that being in a massive crowd when the city is experiencing record-setting low-temperatures is one of the things I genuinely enjoy. :)
The parade starts at 9am and i was there at about 930, which was a great time to arrive according to a friend and he was right because there was almost no one on the train at all. Apparently, those people started arriving there a something crazy like 6am to get a good position to view the balloons. I accepted my fate and took photos from way back, which is why none of these photos are actually my own - I did, however only post pics of things I actually saw.
So it was cold enough to see your breath, I didn't check the actual temperature because it didn't really matter. I already had decided I was going to go regardless. The crowds on the side of the road were 20 rows deep and the closest I got to the street was half a block. I wasn't going to try to fight the crowd to get to the front of that.
As it turns out, a friend of a friend lives right on the street the parade takes place on (pic above taken by them) and I could have just hung out at their apartment for the whole thing. I was delighted to find out this information after standing outside for hours and only giving up after i could no longer feel my hands and toes anymore.
All in all, i would say that you are much better off watching this event on TV unless you like being stuck in massive crowds over something the TV cameras get much better positions on anyway.
This is probably not very surprising to anyone.