No trick! Halloween temperatures soar above normal in Northeast

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Trick-or-treaters in the Northeast who in past years would bundle up under their Bluey or Beetlejuice costumes comfortably roamed neighborhoods in unseasonably mild temperatures Thursday.

New York City hit 81 degrees (27.2 Celsius) on Halloween, with Boston topping out at 78 degrees (25.5 C). Caribou, Maine, hit a high of 75 degrees (23.8 C), well above the Halloween average of 47 degrees (8 C).

Buffalo, New York, saw a record-breaking 78 degrees — a year after light snow fell on Halloween.

In Schenectady, parents walked kids dressed as ninjas, superheroes and princesses down residential streets before the sun went down. The temperature was in the 70s, and people were loving it.

“It’s not a typical Halloween by any means,” Tom Kaczmarek said as he accompanied his 4-year-old daughter, who was dressed as a ghost. “But it’s nice not to have to cover our daughter in a coat, so she can wear her costume fully and proudly.”

Twelve-year-old Emma Abraham said she was a little hot in her Joker costume, but she was going to pull through.

“These temperatures are running on average about 20 degrees warmer than normal,” said Samantha Borisoff, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. She noted that weather can vary widely in October, a transitional month between seasons.

“So every Halloween can be very different,” she said.

This year was a far cry from 2011, when an early Nor’easter just before Halloween dumped heavy, wet snow around New York's Hudson Valley region. In 2012, the New York City area was reeling on Halloween after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the northeastern coastline Oct. 29, causing about $65 billion in damage.

As night fell Thursday, it was warm and dry for the costumed performers and throngs of onlookers who packed the streets of New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood for the 51st annual Village Halloween Parade. Cat costumes ranging from cute to creepy dominated in keeping with this year's theme of “meow.”

Elsewhere, parts of eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin were getting their first snow of the season Thursday. The National Weather Service said there was high uncertainty about accumulations because the ground is still warm. Snow melted when it hit the pavement in downtown Minneapolis.

But revelers in the Northeast were enjoying the treat while it lasted. Temperatures were expected to return to normal ranges starting Friday.

Nelson Rose wore a bewigged scary clown mask in the late-day Schenectady sun, but he said he was comfortable as he rolled a double stroller for his grandchildren.

“The end of October and we’re still getting this 70-degree weather,” he said. “I’m not complaining at all.”