Rain could soak your spooky plans. Here’s the Halloween weekend forecast
By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist
As ghosts and goblins prepare to hit the streets for Halloween, some might find the weekend and Monday forecast just as spooky.
While most of the country should be pretty fright-free, there will be some pockets of slightly scary skies.
Rain impacts the Gulf and Pacific Northwest
Saturday will be wet for portions of the Pacific Northwest and the Deep South.
Low clouds, rain, and even thunder will add to the ambiance of your Halloween party. The bulk of the rain will fall across most of Louisiana, Arkansas and portions of Mississippi and Tennessee.
The culprit is a not-so-scary cold front that will move across the South over the weekend. It shouldn’t bring severe storms, but pesky showers could linger and dampen any outdoor plans.
New Orleans, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Jackson, Mississippi, need to watch out for potential showers and an occasional thunderstorm on Saturday.
The Pacific Northwest will be another wet spot this weekend. Many in the region will consider the rain a treat after the record dry months of July, August and September.
Two systems will converge in the Pacific Northwest potentially bringing some good rainfall amounts, despite the fact that there is still a little uncertainty in the forecast.
“This could potentially be a wetter and breezier weather system for our area, but will continue to iron out the details in the next coming days,” the weather service in Seattle said.
Soaking rains continue Sunday for the Gulf Coast
By Sunday, most of the rain will have pushed out of the Pacific Northwest, giving the region a very short break from the rain, but the showers in the South will be on the move.
Rain will fall over much of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and portions of Arkansas and the Florida Panhandle.
The rain shouldn’t be severe but could be heavy at times.
“We are expecting chances of showers to increase during Sunday and remain over the area through Monday,” the weather service office in Knoxville said. “Not expecting heavy rain, but hopefully we will wring out maybe a half an inch for our very dry region.”
Halloween’s spooky weather spots
With the big trick-or-treat day on Monday, much of the country looks relatively quiet.
However, with that cold front continuing to traverse the country, the showers will be moving into parts of Appalachia, the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast for Halloween.
A soggy night could be in store for places like Washington, DC, New York City, Nashville and portions of the interior Northeast.
These will be widely scattered in nature, so very hit or miss.
“Much uncertainty remains on overall pattern evolution,” the weather service in Philadelphia said. “Ensembles (forecast models) suggest some above average temperatures are possible, though we look to remain unsettled with rain chances for the early part of the week.”
Rain will also continue for the Pacific Northwest and even the Northern Rockies.
Several places, including the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington and western Montana could see showers and gusty winds.
Hold on to your witch’s hat in this region on Halloween night.
“Guidance suggests sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph for these areas,” the weather service in Spokane said. “Winds of this magnitude occur several times per year and have the potential to produce minor tree damage.”
Halloween temperatures are a treat
Mother Nature is handing out treats as far as temperatures go for much of the country.
The Ohio Valley and Northeast will see temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s for Saturday, Sunday and Halloween.
The South will largely be in the upper 60s to low 70s through the weekend and Monday.
The Plains will see temperatures in the 60s through the weekend, then warming closer to 70 for Halloween.
Even the Northern Plains will be warmer than normal, with highs in the 60s through the weekend and Halloween.
The Southwest will stay in the upper 50s to low 60s through the weekend and Monday.
However, the Pacific Northwest will see below-normal temperatures for Halloween.
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CNN meteorologist Judson Jones contributed to this article
