Looming rainstorm scares community officials into moving trick-or-treat times
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 29, 2019 3:18 PM EDT
The warm side of a storm targeting the Heartland with snow around Halloween will unleash a swath of drenching rain and travel disruptions from the upper Gulf Coast to northern New England. And the looming wet weather has caused officials in communities surrounding several big cities from the mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley to reschedule Halloween trick-or-treating activities.
In Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia, officials have pushed back Halloween festivities until this weekend, according to The Associated Press. Several communities in the Pittsburgh area have also moved back trick-or-treating times to Friday or Saturday. And in the Philadelphia area, officials in some communities have either rescheduled trick-or-treating for Wednesday night or postponed the annual ritual until Friday evening.
The strengthening circulation from the storm will cause winds to increase over much of the eastern half of the nation and draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
This moisture helped to fuel locally heavy thunderstorms that erupted across eastern Louisiana and Mississippi that then spread into Alabama late Wednesday night.
A general swath of 1- to 3-inch-rainfall with pockets of 3-5 inches and an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches can occur from southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi to the northern parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine will follow.
The anticipated rainfall, when combined with recent storms, is likely to practically eliminate drought from the lower Mississippi Valley to northern New England.
However, since much of this rain will fall during a 6- to 12-hour period, there is also the likelihood of street flooding and the potential for small stream flooding. Where leaves have already fallen or will come down with the increasing winds from this storm, not only will street flooding be significant, but roads and sidewalks can be especially slick.
Kids heading out Thursday evening for the Halloween masquerade could be soaked to the bone from near the Alabama and Georgia border to eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, much of upstate New York and northern New England.
Thunder, lightning and high winds can accompany the heavy rain in some locations, which will add to the spooky setting and make for dangerous conditions.
An area of high pressure off the Atlantic coast will tend to suppress rain from the Florida Peninsula to New Jersey, southeastern New York state and southeastern New England during much of the day on Halloween.
It is possible that heavy rain that advances across the corridor from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City only lasts a few hours.
In these areas, the problematic downpours will be limited to the arrival of a cold front.
Depending on the forward speed of that front, it may not rain much at all in the swath from Atlanta to Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, until late Thursday afternoon or early Thursday evening. However during this time, as well as areas farther to the north, there is a risk of severe weather.
While a shower can occur during the day Thursday to Thursday evening from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, the burst of heavy rain and high winds may hold off until late Thursday night or early Friday morning, or well after trick-or-treat time. Most likely the weather in these areas into the evening hours will be balmy.
However, the Friday morning commute could be slow and saturated from New York City to Boston and Portland, Maine.
When the rain swings through it is likely to behave like a long-lasting squall line.
"This could end up being a widespread damaging wind and power-outage event with gusts in the neighborhood of 60 mph from Delaware to Maine spanning late Thursday night to Friday morning," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno.
Those with flights around the Great Lakes during Thursday and Thursday night and red-eye flights late Thursday night in the coastal Northeast may experience delays and/or cancellations, due not only to rain but also strong winds.
Delays and cancellations are likely on Friday morning in the Northeast from the ripple-effect of the recent rain and ongoing strong winds.
"While the core of the cold air in the wake of the storm will set up over the Central states, still the coldest air of the season so far is forecast to spill over the Appalachians and onto the Eastern Seaboard this weekend," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.
Freezes will be widespread over the Appalachians on west with the risk of frosts reaching close in to the mid-Atlantic and coastal New England major cities.
Sunday morning is forecast to be dry and crisp for the New York Marathon, but wind might be an issue for some runners.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Weather News
Looming rainstorm scares community officials into moving trick-or-treat times
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 29, 2019 3:18 PM EDT
The warm side of a storm targeting the Heartland with snow around Halloween will unleash a swath of drenching rain and travel disruptions from the upper Gulf Coast to northern New England. And the looming wet weather has caused officials in communities surrounding several big cities from the mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley to reschedule Halloween trick-or-treating activities.
In Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia, officials have pushed back Halloween festivities until this weekend, according to The Associated Press. Several communities in the Pittsburgh area have also moved back trick-or-treating times to Friday or Saturday. And in the Philadelphia area, officials in some communities have either rescheduled trick-or-treating for Wednesday night or postponed the annual ritual until Friday evening.
The strengthening circulation from the storm will cause winds to increase over much of the eastern half of the nation and draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
This moisture helped to fuel locally heavy thunderstorms that erupted across eastern Louisiana and Mississippi that then spread into Alabama late Wednesday night.
A general swath of 1- to 3-inch-rainfall with pockets of 3-5 inches and an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches can occur from southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi to the northern parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine will follow.
The anticipated rainfall, when combined with recent storms, is likely to practically eliminate drought from the lower Mississippi Valley to northern New England.
However, since much of this rain will fall during a 6- to 12-hour period, there is also the likelihood of street flooding and the potential for small stream flooding. Where leaves have already fallen or will come down with the increasing winds from this storm, not only will street flooding be significant, but roads and sidewalks can be especially slick.
Kids heading out Thursday evening for the Halloween masquerade could be soaked to the bone from near the Alabama and Georgia border to eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, much of upstate New York and northern New England.
Thunder, lightning and high winds can accompany the heavy rain in some locations, which will add to the spooky setting and make for dangerous conditions.
Related:
An area of high pressure off the Atlantic coast will tend to suppress rain from the Florida Peninsula to New Jersey, southeastern New York state and southeastern New England during much of the day on Halloween.
It is possible that heavy rain that advances across the corridor from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City only lasts a few hours.
In these areas, the problematic downpours will be limited to the arrival of a cold front.
Depending on the forward speed of that front, it may not rain much at all in the swath from Atlanta to Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, until late Thursday afternoon or early Thursday evening. However during this time, as well as areas farther to the north, there is a risk of severe weather.
While a shower can occur during the day Thursday to Thursday evening from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, the burst of heavy rain and high winds may hold off until late Thursday night or early Friday morning, or well after trick-or-treat time. Most likely the weather in these areas into the evening hours will be balmy.
However, the Friday morning commute could be slow and saturated from New York City to Boston and Portland, Maine.
When the rain swings through it is likely to behave like a long-lasting squall line.
"This could end up being a widespread damaging wind and power-outage event with gusts in the neighborhood of 60 mph from Delaware to Maine spanning late Thursday night to Friday morning," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno.
Those with flights around the Great Lakes during Thursday and Thursday night and red-eye flights late Thursday night in the coastal Northeast may experience delays and/or cancellations, due not only to rain but also strong winds.
Delays and cancellations are likely on Friday morning in the Northeast from the ripple-effect of the recent rain and ongoing strong winds.
"While the core of the cold air in the wake of the storm will set up over the Central states, still the coldest air of the season so far is forecast to spill over the Appalachians and onto the Eastern Seaboard this weekend," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.
Freezes will be widespread over the Appalachians on west with the risk of frosts reaching close in to the mid-Atlantic and coastal New England major cities.
Sunday morning is forecast to be dry and crisp for the New York Marathon, but wind might be an issue for some runners.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo