Major Halloween weather events

The last part of October is certainly much different than the first 20 days of the month. A series of storms have brought rain showers to the lower elevations, with snow in the higher mountains. Despite the rainfall, our average October precipitation total will end up below the 2.85-inch normal. As of this writing late last week, this Halloween Monday looks like it could be wet and breezy for the trick-or-treaters.

The early part of November will also be unsettled across the Inland Northwest. Colder air from the north will continue to settle over the western U.S. Last week, low temperatures in the Rockies fell into the single digits. In addition to the cold air, there were also significant snowfalls in the mountains of the western U.S. For example, in West Yellowstone and Lone Mountain, Mont., over 2 feet of snow fell early last week. Parts of Utah also received over two feet of snow from that storm system.

Speaking of snow, there’s a chance that we could see some snow in the lower elevations of North Idaho later this week. The long-range computer models are also indicating a better chance of snow moving into the region by early next week, so you may want to consider putting on the snow tires.

The snowfall season across the Inland Northwest may be off to a good start thanks to the intensifying cooler La Nina sea-surface temperature pattern in the waters of the south-central Pacific Ocean. Many forecasters are saying that La Nina may start weakening early next year and become a “La Nada,” the in-between La Nina and warmer El Nino. If this turns out to be the case, Cliff and I believe that we should see more snow during the first half of the winter season than during the second half.

If the rain falls this evening, it was certainly be a disappointment for many trick-or-treaters. Based on records going back to 1895, moisture has fallen on Halloween a little over 40% of the time in the Coeur d’Alene region. The average temperatures on Halloween range from a high of 52 degrees and low of 34 degrees. The warmest Halloween in Coeur d’Alene occurred in 1938 with a pleasant 72 degrees. Three years earlier, in 1935, it was the coldest with a low of only 2 degrees. The wettest October 31 in recorded history occurred six years ago in 2016 as 1.20 inches of rain was measured. In terms of snowfall, Coeur d’Alene did receive 3 inches on Halloween in 1971.

There have been some notable weather events that have occurred near or on Halloween. According to the Weather Channel and WeatherForYou.com, in 1846, 87 pioneers were trapped by early and heavy snowfalls in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Known as the “Donner Pass Tragedy,” there were snow drifts up to 40 feet high and only 47 people survived.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had a very wet Halloween in 1965. On that date, nearly 14 inches of rain fell that resulted in a record-breaking October for precipitation as the city picked up over 42 inches of rain.

Oct. 29, 2022, marked the tenth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy that made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey that brought significant winds and flooding. Although the storm made landfall prior to Halloween, it continued to raise havoc through Oct. 31 as it had an impact on 24 states and southeastern Canada. Sandy was one of the costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. as the storm caused approximately $80 billion dollars in damage. There have been recent estimates that take that figure to well over $100 billion in the U.S. Storm surges left many parts of New York City underwater and literally shut down the city.

Another famous late October storm was the “Halloween Blizzard,” that dumped heavy amounts of snow and ice on the Upper Midwest in 1991. Over 2 feet of snow fell in northern Minnesota and many stations in Iowa reported up to 2 inches of ice on top of 8 to 15 inches of snow.

Amazingly, there was another major storm on that date called “The Perfect Storm,” or “The No-Name Storm.” The big system was a nor’easter that combined with Hurricane Grace. Waves were as high as 30 feet along parts of the U.S. East Coast. Damage from that storm was over $200 million with most of it occurring in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

This particular storm was featured in the 1997 book “The Perfect Storm” by Sebastian Junger. The story centered around the crew of the fishing boat Andrea Gail that was lost at sea during this event. In 2000, the theatrical movie “The Perfect Storm” was an adaptation of the book.

Lastly, another major Halloween snowstorm hit the Northeast in 2011 and dumped nearly two feet of snow across the region resulting in lost power to millions of residents. The storm was also known as “Snowtober,” and broke snowfall records that stood for over 100 years.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com.