The best Halloween costume this weekend might include a waterproof layer in much of the country.
There’s a chance for rain across parts of the West, Midwest and Southeast on Saturday; in some places, it could be heavy enough to turn a ghost into a plain wet sheet.
“It’s going to be showery and gloomy in several places across the country,” said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, an arm of the National Weather Service.
A large system coming off the Pacific Ocean was poised to spread across the Western United States over the weekend, bringing a good chance of rain to parts of the Pacific Northwest and most of California and the Southwest.
Southern California, southern Nevada and Arizona fall within an area likely to get the most significant rain in the West.
Exactly where the rain falls on Saturday remained uncertain on Friday. Trick-or-treaters from Los Angeles and San Diego to Las Vegas and Phoenix should toss an umbrella into their candy bags to be safe.
“People should prepare for a wet Halloween,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist at a Weather Service office near Los Angeles.“Thankfully not heavy rain, and there is some hope for some breaks in the rain, but it will be wet.”
In central and southern Arizona, over an inch of rain could fall in Phoenix on Saturday, though the afternoon and early evening hours could be mostly dry.
“We could see some rain coming in the later evening and that could affect anyone who stays out late,” said Alicia Ryan, a meteorologist with the Weather Service’s office in Tempe, Ariz.
Another storm is expected to push out of Texas and move east on Saturday, bringing a chance for rain to parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Lighter rain is possible across much of the greater Southeast and north into the Midwest.
In New Orleans, no stranger to spooky celebrations, scattered showers and warm temperatures are in the forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening.
Heavier rain is possible along the coast of Mississippi and into southwest Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The chance for some rain falling on Halloween night in places such as Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., is moderate to high.
While much of the country will be monitoring the forecast to find breaks in the rain on Saturday, there will be no need for that in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic.
“The weather looks good in the big cities, from D.C. and all the way up to Boston, with no issues whatsoever,” Mr. Oravec said.
The post Here’s Where Rain Could Dampen Your Spirits This Halloween appeared first on New York Times.
