When most people think of ideal conditions for trick-or-treating, they imagine a cool, dry night with a full moon. This year, high winds, rain showers, and a very unique type of full moon are in the forecast.
For starters, the full moon isn’t just any full moon, but a blue one. Not because of the color, but rather when you have two full moons in the same month, the second one is called a “blue moon.” Blue moons only happen every two to three years, which is where the phrase “once in a blue moon” comes from.
Even more unusual is having a full moon on Halloween. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, this only happens about every 19 years — meaning the next full moon to take place on Halloween will not occur until 2039.
Of course, not everybody is trick-or-treating this Halloween. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is discouraging door-to-door activities, costume masks and Halloween parties because of the coronavirus.
But if you are going the traditional route, here’s what the forecast looks like:
Much of Massachusetts will wake up to snow Halloween morning, but with high temperatures in the low to mid 40s and full sunshine, some of that snow will melt before trick-or-treating begins.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be warm. In fact, 43°F is the average low temperature for Boston this time of year, yet that will likely be the high temperature on Saturday. New York, Hartford, Providence, and even Portland, Maine, will all see high temperatures around 10-15 degrees below normal Saturday.
The good news is that no new rain or snow will be falling during trick-or-treat hours — though it will be a close one since Sunday will bring another round of rain-snow to most of the Northeast
One thing to consider for parts of the Southeast is the recovery from damaging storms a few days ago. States from Louisiana through the Carolinas are still dealing with thousands of power outages thanks to Hurricane Zeta. Texas and Oklahoma are still dealing with power outages from the crippling ice storm that moved through earlier this week.
There will probably be tree branches and other debris still on roadways and sidewalks throughout these same states.
That’s not to say trick-or-treating is impossible. It just may have to be done differently than in years past.
The good news? The weather will be dry for most of those states impacted by Zeta and the ice storm.
One exception to that nice forecast will be Florida. There will still be a few lingering rain chances for South Florida including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and even Key West on Halloween night.
In some areas of the Midwest you may need to hold on extra tight to those candy bags. High winds are expected for parts of the upper Midwest with sustained winds of 30-40 mph and gusts up around 50-60 mph.
The forecast for Minneapolis on Halloween is for a chance of sprinkles, a high temperature right around 50 degrees and wind gusts up to 30 mph. By early evening, when trick-or-treaters would begin to head out, those temperatures drop back into mid-40s with wind chills in the low 30s.
Other Midwestern locations such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois will also see breezy conditions with wind gusts around 30-40 mph early Saturday evening.
If you live in the Upper Midwest including northern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Minnesota, you may need to keep an eye on that radar for your evening candy gathering.
There is a small chance of rain in the forecast for places like Duluth, Minnesota; Marquette, Michigan; and Rhinelander, Wisconsin, though there will be an even higher chance of rain later in the evening.
This is the region where you will find the most widespread dry locations. From Seattle all the way down to San Diego, it will be dry all day Saturday and continue through the peak trick-or-treating hours.
It will be milder than usual for a lot of locations as well, including Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Temperatures there will be about 10 degrees warmer than normal, but not necessarily hot.
Even cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas which are notoriously hot places will have high temperatures at 82°F and 89°F respectively on Saturday. Both will cool down into the 70s for trick-or-treating hours.
The good news is, no matter how crazy or spooky Halloween night gets, most people will have the opportunity to sleep an extra hour Sunday morning thanks to the end of Daylight Saving’s Time (although if you have young children or pets, who don’t understand this concept, this may not apply to you).
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