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Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Members of the Mardi Gras dance group "The Sirens" perform during the Krewe of Orpheus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Wet streets, puddles and soggy ground greeted the faithful revelers who braved rainy forecasts threatening to wash out Mardi Gras, New Orleans' biggest free show.

Freddie Zeigler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Slidell, La., said there's an 80 per cent chance of rain Tuesday, with showers likely hitting in the pre-dawn hours along Louisiana's coast and moving into the metro area around sunrise. Still, lulls are predicted throughout the day.

"It's going to be dicey though for parades, but it all depends on how fast that warm front moves to the north," Zeigler said.

Fat Tuesday kicks off with the Zulu parade, which rolls at 8 a.m., followed by Rex two hours later.

Still, rain or shine, many revelers planned to hit the streets early Tuesday morning.

"We're going to get here extremely early," said Carly Gerhard, who drove with a friend from Philadelphia to New Orleans over the weekend, through storms that spawned tornadoes along the way, for her first Mardi Gras experience.

Gerhard said her most memorable experience so far has been the French Quarter.

"My favourite part was getting to Bourbon Street and seeing all the different people," she said. "The diversity is pretty cool. We're looking forward to the parades. We're looking forward to it all."

Frank Warford, of Riverdale, Ga., was holding an umbrella Monday as he walked Bourbon Street. He said he was ready to party through the rain.