Mark Anthony Meteorologist
Temperatures have been pleasant the past couple of days. I hope you have made the most of the above normal temperatures recently. Thankfully, it will remain quiet for Halloween for the trick-or-treaters this year. Most of us remember the Halloween Blizzard of 1991 where ice followed by snow and strong winds impacted the Upper Midwest. Officials say that at least 100,000 people lost power due to weight of the ice which brought down powerlines. The storm brought over $63 million in damages from fallen power lines. Some locations didn’t have their power restored for a week. Most of Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa were heavily impacted by the storm as $63+ million in damages were reported from fallen power lines, and $5 million in crop damages were reported in Iowa. Also, 11 counties in southern Minnesota were declared federal disaster areas.
Snow doesn’t look likely for Halloween this year, but we do have a couple of systems that could bring some rain and snow by Thursday night and again by late Friday into Saturday. The first system could bring some accumulation of snow by Thursday night into Friday. A secondary system will push out of the Rockies. It is hard to tell if this system will have more rain or snow associated with it, but at this stage it looks like it could have quite a bit of precipitation associated with that one.
A friendly reminder, we turn our clocks back this Sunday morning at 2 a.m., as Daylight Saving Time will come to an end. It will now get dark just after
5 p.m. Have a wonderful Halloween and rest of the week.
Weather history: On this in 1991, the “Great Halloween Blizzard” began. For the trick-or-treaters who ventured out, they dealt with snow and falling temperatures. The Twin Cities reported 8.2 inches of snow with more to come the following day.
Almanac:
Sunrise: 8:01 a.m.
Sunset: 6:08 p.m.
Normal High: 45
Normal Low: 29
MN at a glance:
Moorhead– Low 34 High 46
Duluth– Low 34 High 47
Central Minn.– Low 35 High 47
Twin Cities– Low 39 High 51
Rochester– Low 38 High 50
Marshall– Low 38 High 51
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High 47 Low 36 Wind: WNW 10-20 mph Prec. None
It will be near average for temperatures for Halloween for the trick-or-treaters this Wednesday. Temperatures will generally be in the low to mid 40s for the kids as they are out trick-or-treating. No rain or snow is anticipated for Wednesday. It will be a different story, however, for Thursday night. Some rain and snow will be possible along the way for Thursday night and then again towards the weekend.
Thursday: Increasing cloudiness, 20 percent chance of rain p.m. High 46 Low 31 Winds: SE 5-10 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Friday: Mostly cloudy, 20 percent chance of rain. High 39 Low 29 Wind: NE 10-15 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Saturday: Mostly cloudy to cloudy, 60 percent chance of rain/snow. High 39 Low 32 Wind: SE 10-15 mph Prec.10”-.30”
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, 30 percent chance of rain/snow early. High 38 Low 31 Wind: WSW 10-15 mph Prec. Trace-.20”