Halloween 2023 could be Richmond's coldest in decades
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
It's shaping up to be a terrifyingly chilly and likely wet Halloween in Richmond.
Driving the news: Tuesday's high temperature will struggle to reach 50° and the actual temp will drop into the 40-degree range for peak trick-or-treating (6pm-ish), NBC12 reports.
- 🙏 Yes, but: Richmond's morning rain should be a drizzle by evening, per NBC12.
Why it matters: Richmond is coming off nearly two weeks of picture-perfect, unseasonably warm weather — and our costume planning did not account for this kind of dramatic dip.
- Sunday's 86° tied for our warmest Oct. 29th on record, per the National Weather Service.
Zoom in: The dramatic change in temperature will likely make it feel even colder, Richmond-based meteorologist John Boyer tells Axios.
According to NWS data, Richmond is looking at its coldest Halloween evening in decades, Boyer says.
- The last time the Halloween high was this cool was in 1993, the year "Jurassic Park" was in theaters and Barney was the most popular Halloween costume — though 2002 (the year of Spiderman!) was close, with a high of 51°.
- Cooler highs in the 40s happened only three times in the last 125 years: 1906, 1917, and 1925, which was the coldest Halloween on record at 45°. (You can check out Halloween costumes from those eras here, but trigger warning, you may never sleep again.)
Flashback: Remember Halloween 2020, when we were all trying to figure out how to toss out candy through chutes and social distance while literally dressed like the SARS-CoV-2 virus?
- Today's high could be at least six degrees colder than that, Boyer tells Axios.
Worth noting: The average Oct. 31 temperature in Richmond is 66°.
- Richmond's warmest Halloween was in 1950 when the high hit 85°.
The bottom line: It's going to be cold tonight and trick-or-treaters will have to trek through wet leaves, but Halloween will go on.
- And at least we're not projectile-shooting candy at children anymore.