(CBS DETROIT) – What’s scarier than things that come across at night on Halloween? Rain, snow and cold temperatures during trick-or-treating. We’ve had scary weather for Halloween in the past, but will we get to trick or treat this year?
Halloween is steeped in hundreds of years of tradition, but trick-or-treating in the US, as we know it today, began in the 1930s. Looking at recorded weather data can give us an idea of ​​what to expect for Halloween this year and in the future.
For the past 150 years, Halloween in Metro Detroit has generally been quite mild. Fifty-three Halloween days have had temperatures in the 50s, while 45 Halloween days have had temperatures in the 60s. We reached 35 times in the 1940s alone. Fortunately, we’ve only had six Halloween parties in the 30s with high temperatures, while 11 Halloween parties have been warm with temperatures in the 70s.
Our hottest Halloween was in 1933, with a high of 79 degrees. The coldest was in 1917, with a maximum temperature of only 34 degrees.
In recent years we have seen our wettest Halloween on record, which occurred in 2013, with just over an inch and a half of precipitation. Our snowiest Halloween was last year, with two-tenths of an inch reported.
We’ve only had nine Halloweens with a trace or more of snow. There were more Halloween celebrations with rain instead of snow, with a total of 83 Halloween events recording some precipitation and 67 dry Halloween events with no rain or snow.
It’s just a few days before Halloween will treat us to mild temperatures, so we can leave our winter coats at home this year. However, a terrible trick of rainy conditions could dampen our evening fun if the cold front doesn’t push through quickly enough during the day. This means we may need to add an umbrella to our costumes.
Karen Carter
