Mother Nature Pulls a Halloween Trick as Accumulating Snow Possible on Halloween

(KNSI) — On Thursday, instead of Happy Halloween, it may look more like Merry Halloween as the area could see its first accumulating snowfall since March.

The National Weather Service says the region will see widespread rain tonight before it transitions to a rain/snow mix overnight and then turns to all snow Thursday morning. The greatest chance for snow accumulation is for counties along and north of Interstate 94 from about western Stearns County through the far north reaches of the Twin Cities and the I-35 corridor from Chisago County and north past Duluth. Duluth and surrounding areas are under a winter storm watch for up to six inches of snow.

All of this has a degree of uncertainty as we’ll see varied surface temperatures. A shift of a few degrees will mean the difference between rain, slush and snow. The area could have melting at ground level and differing snowfall rates. Some narrow bands of heavier snow may be embedded in this system, and those areas could see travel impacted with rates as fast as an inch an hour.

Just for fun, northeast winds will come in behind the system and then shift to the northwest early Thursday morning with gusts of 25 to 30 miles an hour at times. That will usher in cold air and lead to the transition from rain to snow.

The hardiest trick-or-treaters will likely land the loot, as windchills will be in the low 30s on Thursday afternoon and evening.

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