DES MOINES, Iowa — There are only a few days left until two of the biggest nights of the year: Beggars' Night and Halloween.
Spooky season in central Iowa has a reputation of bringing damp, 'bone-chilling' weather, but the forecast for trick-or-treating in 2021 may not be quite so scary.
During the day on Saturday, abundant sunshine is expected with near or slightly above-average afternoon temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s.
With a clear sky overhead, temperatures will drop rapidly into the upper 40s and low 50s for Beggars' Night trick-or-treaters. The wind, however, will be relatively light.
For comparison, evening temperatures on Beggars' Night in 2020 held steady in the upper 30s to low 40s.
In 2019, trick-or-treaters endured temperatures near freezing with nearly an inch of snow on the ground: a frightening sight even for the scariest of ghosts, ghouls and goblins.
While Saturday will be rather pleasant for late October, a drier cold front will bring cooler temperatures for Halloween itself.
Sunday's high temperatures will only climb to the upper 40s and low 50s as some clouds develop overhead, preventing sunshine from warming the atmosphere any further.
Breezy winds will also kick in on Sunday, so feels-like temperatures will likely hover in the 40s for the majority of the day.
By nightfall, trick-or-treaters will deal with mostly 40s and a brisk breeze.
This is quite a bit different from Halloween 2020, when a warmer air mass moved over Iowa and allowed temperatures to reach the mid and upper 60s.
In 2019, though, Halloween featured spine-tingling temperatures with even more minor snow accumulation.
It is worth noting: no measurable precipitation (rain nor snow) is in the forecast for Hallo-weekend 2021, so grab a jacket and enjoy: if you dare.
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