Unseasonably Warm Halloween Weather Sweeps Midwest and Northeastern Regions

For trick-or-treaters in many parts of the country, that familiar chill may not be in the air this Halloween.

More than 30 cities in the Northeast, including Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., could experience record high temperatures on Thursday. Many cities in the Midwest are also expected to see temperatures 10 to 30 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year.

High temperatures in Boston are expected to reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the warmest Halloweens in 80 years, said National Weather Service forecaster Caitlin Mensch. The city’s current high temperature of 81 degrees was set on October 31, 1946.

“We’re well above normal for this time of year,” Mensch said.

Given the unseasonably warm weather, she encouraged trick-or-treaters to stay hydrated and apply sunscreen if it’s still light.

The high temperature in New York City on Thursday is expected to be 78 degrees and in Washington, D.C., a high of 81 degrees.

Temperatures in the Midwest will be similarly mild in late October. Cleveland’s high temperature could reach 78 degrees, and St. Louis’ expected high of 68 degrees could make this year among the 30 hottest Halloweens in the region in the last 100 years, the National Weather Service says. said Jared Maples, a meteorologist with the St. Louis bureau. Louis.

Temperatures could reach up to 68 degrees in Chicago. If that happens, this year’s Halloween will be one of the 10 warmest days ever recorded, said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago office. The normal weather for Halloween in the area is 56 degrees.

“We’ve had a pretty warm pattern over the last few weeks across the Great Lakes and much of the Midwest,” Yack said. “We’re tracking this high-pressure system, and high-pressure systems tend to have clearer skies and warmer temperatures most of the time.”

Forecasters expect temperatures to drop by the end of the week.

Autumn is generally warmer than usual in some parts of the country. In early October, much of the western United States was hit by an unusual heatwave, with temperatures soaring into triple digits in cities such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Napa, and San Jose, California. Dozens of new daily heat records were set across California, Arizona, and Nevada.

Last year was the hottest on record on Earth, and scientists say global temperature records are on track to be broken again in 2024.