The weather forecast for Halloween will bring plenty of chills Thursday as cold temperatures will linger throughout the day and Halloween night courtesy of a cold front.
This Halloween will be one of the coldest the Rio Grande Valley has experienced in over 25 years. The last time temperatures were this cold during the holiday was back in 1993 when the highs reached 63 degrees, said Geoff Bogorad, a senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in Brownsville.
Temperatures this Halloween will be about 10 to 15 degrees colder.
A Canadian cold front moving in from the northern Rockies will push through the Rio Grande Valley and will drop the temperatures down to the 40s and 50s, Bogorad said. Prior to the cold front passing through the Valley the highs will be in the 80s.
“By midnight, one o’clock in the morning we will probably be well into the low to mid 50s. It looks like its going to be about a 20 to 25 drop within two to four hours behind the front,” Bogorad said.
The cold front will make its way through the upper to mid Valley around sunset tonight and will push through the rest of the Valley by 10 p.m. However, this could change by about three hours and the front could push through earlier in the afternoon and evening.
Winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour will occur with rain chances at about 70 percent expected overnight. The winds could be stronger if they are accompanied by rain or a thunderstorm. Rain amounts of about one-quarter to a half-inch could occur across the Valley.
The temperature on Thursday morning will be in the upper 40s and lower 50s and could reach possibly near 60 during the day, Bogorad said.
“ By trick-or-treating time we are looking for the rain to be out in the Gulf of Mexico, so it looks dry for the evening,” Bogorad said. However the winds will still be around. “It’s probably going to be about 45 to 50 degrees but it is going to feel like it’s in the 40s around Halloween trick-or-treating time.”
Parents planning to take the children out trick-or-treating on Thursday should try to take them out in the late afternoon or early evening hours. They should make sure their children are wearing layered clothing — underneath their costumes — because the winds will be blowing at around 10 to 15 mph making it feel much colder.
“Any type of long sleeve shirts or thermal underwear always helps,” he said. “It’s not going to be unbearable. it is just going to be chilly.”
Friday morning’s temperatures will be the coldest with the temperature at 44 degrees in Harlingen, 46 degrees in McAllen, and 47 degrees in Brownsville.
Friday’s highs will be around 60 degrees.
