It’s Going To Be So Cold, It’s Scary Trick-Or-Treaters In For A Bone-Chilling Evening

It’s a sure bet there won’t be any trick-or-treaters dressed as surfers tonight.

A warm bunny suit would be more appropriate considering the weather.

Cold is the one-word forecast from the National Weather Service in Spokane. A low of 15 degrees is expected overnight, a bone-chilling 16 degrees below normal.

Meteorologist John Livingston said the army of kids and parents who brave the streets should dress for early evening temperatures in the upper-20s. No fog is expected.

To forecasters, this abrupt dip in the thermometer is no real surprise.

The weather typically turns cold toward the end of October. Last year, it snowed just before Halloween. In 1991, the temperature dropped to 10 degrees on Oct. 30, and killed part of the rose collection in Manito Park.

This cold snap is blamed on a high-pressure system along the Pacific Coast that is blocking milder air from moving onshore.

Livingston said this kind of weather pattern occurs more often during the middle of the winter than in mid-autumn.

The normal low for Oct. 31 is 31 degrees. The normal high is 47 degrees.

Spokane’s record low temperature for Nov. 1 is 8 degrees in 1935.

“We’ll be close to that,” Livingston said.

The daytime highs aren’t going to be all that toasty. The temperature will barely clear the freezing mark at 34 degrees on Wednesday. Thursday’s high should be a slightly warmer, forecasters said.

The cold snap is expected to ease by the weekend, Livingston said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo