Tricks and Treats: A look back at Halloween weather
By Mark Shafer
Director of Climate Information
The Oklahoma Climatological Survey
10/23/2006

On most fall days, you never know what weather to expect. Typical of late fall,
temperatures may be in the 80s one day and in the 50s the next. Halloween is no
exception. Looking back at the last 50 years or so, Oklahoma's Halloweens have seen
their share of heat and cold, wet and dry.

Overall, only about one out of five years has recorded significant precipitation during
Halloween. Years with precipitation range from only 6% of the years out in the
Panhandle to just over a quarter of years in the east. The wettest year at many places
across the state was 1998, although Durant, which holds the state record for the wettest
Halloween with 5.35 inches, set its record in 1974.

Typical temperatures for October 31 are the upper-60s to low-70s for daytime highs and
mid- to upper-40s for nighttime lows. The warmest Halloween temperature on record
was 90 degrees, set at Durant and Ardmore in 1934. Most places in Oklahoma, however,
set their records in 1950, when upper 80s were commonplace across the state. The coolest
temperature on record for Halloween is 15 degrees, set at Goodwell in 1991 and at Clinton
and Ponca City in 1993. Teens were common across the state in 1993, which set the mark
as the coldest Halloween at many locations statewide. Young trick-or-treaters need
jackets about half of the time across most of the state, but those in the northwestern parts
could use a jacket almost every year.

There even has been a bit of snow during some Halloweens. The heaviest snowfall was in
1991, when Woodward recorded two inches and Goodwell reported 0.4 inch. A trace of
snow was reported during other years at Enid, Clinton, Oklahoma City, and Ponca City.

Notes on Table:

• Data are displayed below for selected cities across Oklahoma.


• Goodwell data are used instead of Guymon data because of insufficient climate
  records for Guymon.


• 'Significant rainfall' is defined as one-tenth of an inch or more.


• 'Jacket weather' is defined as the percentage of days with a minimum temperature of
  45 degrees or less (i.e., likely to be in the 50s to near 60 in the evening).