Trick or treaters around Boston are in for a spooky warm temperatures this Halloween.
“Into Halloween, it is very warm, and it is dry,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Loconto. “For Wednesday and Thursday this week, it probably will feel more like a late summer, early autumn kind of day than the late October, Halloween-typical temperatures.”
The holiday falls on one of the warmest days of the week, a brief break between the much chillier Monday and Tuesday and cold front moving in on Friday, according to the NWS forecasts. High fire risks are expected to continue for Boston and around the state, as dry, windy conditions persist throughout the week.
The Halloween high is estimated to be 78 degrees with mostly sunny skies, NWS details, just under the Boston record high for Oct. 31 of 81 degrees, set in 1946. Heading into the night, temperatures are expected to drop to a low of 61 degrees as a cold front begins to move in.
A light chance of rain picks up around 2 a.m. after Halloween, according to NWS forecasts, likely just missing most of the holiday celebrations.
Monday and Tuesday are expected to see highs in the 50s and lows near freezing before Boston area temperatures warm up Wednesday, forecasts show. Heading into the weekend, temperatures are expected to drop again with highs in the 50s and 60s.
The first chance of rain is forecasted to hit Tuesday night.
“It’s not a significant amount of rain,” Loconto said of Tuesday’s forecast. “And we really do need the rain because it’s been so dry, but we’ll take anything we can get.”
Much of Massachusetts including Boston has not seen significant rainfall in the last week and a half to two weeks, Loconto said, contributing to dangerous wildfire conditions.
NWS issued a Special Weather Statement on Sunday across southern New England, warning of elevated fire weather concerns. The advisory stated the “combination of recent dry weather and very dry ground will continue to make conditions favorable for wildfire development” Sunday.
“It doesn’t take much to cause wildfires to develop,” said Loconto. “It could be things like throwing cigarette butts out the window, and not properly disposing of those. That’s something that we’re keeping in the back of our mind here as we move through the week.”
Brush fires broke out in Salem, Millbury and Middleton over the weekend, among others in the last week. Loconto recommended residents be “very careful” with activities like burning leaves, barbequing, disposing of ignition sources, or the like.
“Fire weather will certainly be a concern here as we move through the week, until we can get some significant rainfall,” said Loconto.