Rain and Storms to Crash Halloween Across More Than 20 States

Rain and Storms to Crash Halloween Across More Than 20 States

Over 20 states in the wet zone

Halloween night could be a soggy one for millions of trick-or-treaters. Fox Weather reports that more than 20 states have rain in their forecasts around the holiday, with wet weather stretching across the South, the Midwest and the West. As weather.com puts it, plenty of parents shepherding kids around the neighborhood on Saturday will need to factor umbrellas and rain gear into the costume plan.

A slow storm sliding in from the west

The culprit is a slow-moving storm system currently stretching from the Pacific coast to the Rockies, set to drift eastward as wind patterns shift. According to AccuWeather, cited by The Independent, flooding rain and thunderstorms could greet candy hunters across the South and Midwest from Thursday through Saturday, with families in Texas urged to watch the forecast closely, especially if traveling.

Twelve-state core, from Denver to Dallas

The heaviest disruption concentrates along a corridor from the interior Southwest into the south-central United States. AccuWeather's Halloween outlook, carried by Yahoo, names twelve states facing rain and thunderstorms from Friday into Saturday: Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, western Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Evening events in cities such as Denver, Dallas and Kansas City could take a direct hit, depending on how fast the system advances, with rain possibly reaching as far west as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Cold and snowy edge in the Southwest and Rockies

Parts of the Southwest and central Rockies will run cooler than average, with mountain snow in the mix. "Showers could dampen plans from Phoenix and Albuquerque through El Paso and Austin, and the Pacific Northwest," AccuWeather's Anna Azallion told USA Today. Snow could fall in the higher elevations of Colorado, with Denver sitting right on the edge. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Pugh told USA Today that California, eastern Oklahoma and Texas, and the middle to lower Mississippi Valley all face a wet Halloween.

A tropical wild card near South Texas

One more variable is being watched: a possible tropical system crossing northern Mexico toward the western Gulf around October 29 and 30. Good Housekeeping, citing AccuWeather, reports it could feed heavy rain into southern Texas, including areas near Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. Forecasters caution that the exact timing and track of the moisture can still shift before the weekend.

Dry East, and a long-awaited rain in Memphis

Much of the eastern third of the country should stay dry under high pressure, with seasonably mild to cool temperatures and light winds, though showers and above-normal tides could linger across southeastern Florida, including Miami. In Memphis, Tennessee, Action News 5 reports periods of rain rolling through the Mid-South this Halloween weekend, the city's first measurable rainfall since October 2, with showers arriving Saturday afternoon toward sunset and the bulk falling overnight.