CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — We have officially made it to the end of October and that means it's the peak of spooky season with Halloween quickly approaching! In south Texas we typically start to see our first "real" cold fronts around October, but if you've been around for a while(or even since just last year) then you likely remember Halloween's where it felt more like Summer than the height of Fall.
Our official average temperatures for Halloween, based on climatological data gathered over the past 30 years, put us at 81° for daytime highs and 61° for morning lows. This really doesn't sound too bad; however, we have to remember this is an average over that period of time, and in reality, we have seen a large fluctuation in the temperatures we've seen to round out Halloween and the month of October in the Coastal Bend.
Looking at the past 10 years as a more recent record of events, you can also see a large difference in temperatures from year to year. Just in the past two years alone, we have seen 2023 come 44° and 60°, before last year was at 72° and 91°, warming up substantially in comparison from one year to the next. In terms of our rainiest Halloween on record, that would belong to Halloween 1981, where Corpus Christi picked up a hefty 4.88" on that day alone. The last 10 years have been on the drier end, with most Halloween's coming in dry or with trace amounts of rain. The main measurable amounts we've seen since 2015 have been 2015 itself picking up 0.10" and 2022 with 0.33" of rain falling over the area.
Luckily, this year's forecast looks good for trick-or-treating and any activities you might want to take part in out and about! We'll still be feeling the effects of Tuesday night's cold front into Friday, so temperatures should be in the mid-70s around the time you'll be out Friday night! Winds should also be calming down by then, around 5-15 mph, and also shifting to the southeast once again, but luckily, the humidity will still be fairly low overall for us! If you have plans that push into the weekend, keep in mind that Saturday looks to bring a little moisture back into the area, and we could see some isolated showers Saturday night. Either way there's still time for the forecast to change so I'm hoping for rain, but also for the rain to avoid any festivities!
Altogether, Halloween is a time of year in South Texas when we start to see rapid changes in the weather with low-pressure systems and cold fronts starting to work into the area. With this in mind and our proximity to the gulf it's easy to see why some years we still get that Summer-like heat in the 90s, where you're sweating no matter the costume choice, and other years like 2023, where we saw a good front work in and keep us in the 60s for the daytime high! This year with us in the 70s, I hope you're able to enjoy the more seasonable temperatures and have a great Halloween without fear of sweating...or freezing.