Halloween forecast: Snow, cold to blast Northeast; warmth in West
By ACCUWEATHER.COM
A shocking blast of cold air and the potential for snow will highlight the weather for millions in the Northeastern states this Halloween into the first weekend of November.
Meanwhile, another storm will hit the Northwest with drenching rain as generally dry weather prevails elsewhere on Halloween.
Winterlike Cold, Snow for the Northeast, Great Lakes
Parts of the Northeast and Midwest will experience four seasons of weather in about four days leading up to the Halloween weekend. Late-summerlike warmth will be followed by springlike showers and thunderstorms, then cool autumn air and finally wintry winds and even snow in some locations.
Snowflakes that appear around Detroit on Friday will be a sign of what lies ahead for parts of the Appalachians on Friday night and areas closer to the Atlantic coast beginning on Saturday.
A storm dropping in from the Great Lakes will strengthen upon nearing the coast and could take a left turn this weekend.
The track and strength of that storm will determine the extent of rain changing to snow along the I-95 corridor and whether or not a major snowfall occurs over parts of New England.
A weak storm tracking out to sea would leave northern New England with little or no snow accumulation.
Even with the weak storm and out to sea scenario, rain can become mixed with and even change to a period of wet snow before ending on Saturday in the swath from eastern Virginia and Delmarva Peninsula to New England. Much of the snow that falls would melt on roads in this swath, but slushy conditions could develop north and west of the coastal cities, especially in the higher elevations.
Parts of the central Appalachians will receive their first accumulating snow of the season, regardless of the storm's strength or track.
There have been other snow events around Halloween over the years, including the recent Halloween Nor'easter of 2011, which deposited a half a foot of snow or more from central Maryland to central Maine.
Kids and adults partaking in the Friday evening Masquerade will need to bundle up and should consider bringing along a light or reflective items to increase visibility for passing motorists. Rain showers will stretch from along part of the Interstate-95 corridor westward to Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York, as temperatures begin to tumble.
AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures will plunge into the 20s F around the Great Lakes and into the 30s around the Ohio Valley on Friday evening. RealFeel Temperatures will range from the 30s in the Appalachians to the middle 40s to low 50s along the East Coast and mid-Atlantic and the 30s over the interior Northeast during Friday evening. However, that is likely to be the warmest part of the weekend.
Gusty winds on the backside of the storm, snow or not, will send RealFeel Temperatures into the lower 20s in the lower Great Lakes and Appalachians and into the lower 30s along much of I-95 to Washington, D.C., to New York City and Boston Saturday into Sunday.
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Drier and Cooler for Much of the South
It will feel like Halloween on Friday in much of the South with the cooler air and a breeze erasing the record-challenging warmth from early this week.
Temperatures will fall to more seasonable levels over most of the South, while a few rain showers may impact trick-or-treaters over central and South Florida during the day.
Skies will clear during Friday night over the central and southern counties of the Florida Peninsula, including Miami, Tampa and Orlando. Spotty showers may linger over part of the southern Appalachians during Friday evening, associated with some of the Great Lakes moisture.
Dry Conditions to Prevail in the Plains, Southwest
Some of the best weather in the nation for trick-or-treating activities will stretch from the Plains and Texas to Southern California.
Temperatures will trend from slightly below average over the Plains to as much as 15 degrees above average over the Southwest.
Yet Another Storm for the Northwest
The train of storms from last week will continue in the Northwest through this week, including on Halloween.
Clouds and rain are in the offing from San Francisco and Sacramento, California, to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. Showers will push well inland during Friday evening to parts of northern Nevada and Idaho.
Similar to the Northeast, motorists should be extra careful Friday evening due to the low visibility and slick conditions caused by the rain since little ghosts and goblins will roam the neighborhoods.
Keep checking in at AccuWeather.com for updates on the Halloween forecast, especially for areas on the edge of accumulating snow in the Northeast.
This story was authored by AccuWeather.com Meteorologists Brett Rathbun and Alex Sosnowski.
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