Historical Halloween Weather in the Twin Cities
Courtesy: MNDNR State Climatology Office
Halloween is typically a time of crunchy leaves on the ground, a bit of chill in the air, and lots of candy. High temperatures are typically in the 40s and 50s F, with a normal high of 43 F at International Falls, 45 F at Duluth, 48 F at St. Cloud, and 50 F at both Rochester and the Twin Cities, where it is more common for the daily high to be in the 60s F than in the 30s F. Normal low temperatures range from the mid-20s F to the low 30s F.
By far the state's warmest Halloween on record was 1950, when about two dozen stations recorded temperatures in the 80s, with 86 F at Worthington, and with a highs in the 70s F all the way up the Canadian border. The next year, 1951, was one of the coldest Halloweens on record, with lows either side of 0 F across central and northern Minnesota and in the 10s F in the south. A similar "Halloween chill" affected 1913, 1917, 1930, and 1996, with observers reporting widespread single-digit low temperatures. In general though, such cold conditions are uncommon, as are high temperatures of 70 F or higher.
Minnesota's wettest Halloween on record occurred in 1979, when the southern much of the state received 1-3 inches of rain, with totals exceeding three inches in the southwest, where Luverne recorded 4.12 inches. More recently, soaking rains and some wet snow during Halloween of 2024 produced over an inch of precipitation across many areas. Of course, Halloween of 1991 marked the beginning of a notorious winter storm, with 3-9 inches of snow covering pumpkins in central and eastern Minnesota; another 1-2 feet would fall in many areas through the next day!
In the Twin Cities, the warmest Halloween on record was 1950, with a high of 83 degrees and evening temperatures in the mid and upper 70s F. One year later the high was just 30 F. The lowest Halloween maximum temperature was a chilly 26 F degrees back in 1873, and the lowest minimum temperature was 15 F in 1878. Halloweens during the current millennium have included a mix of cool and balmy conditions, with the maximum daily high temperature of 71 F in 2000, and a minimum daily low temperature of 24 F in 2002.
The three Halloweens from 2023-2025 all had measurable precipitation in the Twin Cities, with 2024 winding up as the wettest on record, with 1.26 inches of precipitation. Measurable precipitation has occurred on Halloween only 27% of the time in the Twin Cities, or 42 out of 155 years. Heavy snow during Halloween of 1991 piled up to 8.2 inches at MSP, with over 20 additional inches yet to come! The second-highest Halloween accumulation occurred in 2023, when the airport measured 1.8 inches inches of snow. Measurable snow has been observed in the Twin Cities only eight times in 142 years, 1884-2025 (5.6 percent frequency), with two of those years occurring back-to-back, in 2023 and 2024.
Below is a summary of historical Halloween weather information for the Twin Cities, along with recent observer notes from Maplewood, MN.
Year by year climatology for Halloween for the Twin Cities 1872-2023 (with some trick or treat observations from Maplewood) Tr = trace Year Max Min Pre 1872 42 35 0 1873 26 17 0 1874 36 21 0 1875 34 24 0 1876 54 39 0.01 1877 46 31 0 1878 37 15 0 1879 35 17 0 1880 54 30 0 1881 62 37 0 1882 54 33 0 1883 42 32 0 1884 50 36 Tr 1885 40 31 0.02 1886 72 50 0 1887 67 30 0 1888 59 44 0 1889 44 36 0 1890 36 22 Tr 1891 57 32 0 1892 47 39 0.15 1893 68 44 0 1894 42 36 0.05 1895 40 26 0 1896 42 30 0.08 1897 49 40 0.01 1898 51 26 0 1899 56 36 0 1900 55 44 0.63 1901 54 41 Tr 1902 65 40 0.02 1903 56 39 0 1904 66 41 0 1905 36 23 0 1906 44 26 0 1907 53 45 0.19 1908 40 24 0 1909 53 41 0.10 1910 56 37 0 1911 38 23 Tr 1912 44 29 0 1913 39 22 0 1914 68 48 0 1915 61 48 0 1916 55 36 0 1917 32 21 Tr 1918 38 28 Tr 1919 42 23 0 1920 40 34 0.15 1921 60 40 0 1922 55 49 0.52 1923 44 24 0 1924 62 44 0.10 1925 46 27 0 1926 38 29 0.05 1927 56 39 0 1928 41 35 0 1929 60 39 0.58 1930 34 22 0 1931 45 39 0.01 1932 33 29 0.06 1933 78 57 0 1934 38 28 Tr 1935 43 21 0.73 1936 64 36 0 1937 57 41 Tr 1938 70 46 0 1939 49 31 0 1940 52 42 0.09 1941 41 34 0 1942 49 34 0 1943 44 32 0.28 1944 74 48 0 1945 40 24 0.02 1946 58 38 0 1947 54 48 0 1948 68 45 0 1949 42 20 0 1950 83 51 0 1951 30 18 0 1952 66 38 0 1953 47 35 0 1954 38 21 0.04 1955 44 30 Tr 1956 50 43 Tr 1957 60 39 0 1958 66 37 0 1959 43 33 0.01 1960 45 39 Tr 1961 59 36 0 1962 45 24 0 1963 51 36 Tr 1964 66 49 0 1965 56 33 0 1966 50 31 Tr 1967 54 24 0 1968 63 40 0 1969 43 40 0.37 1970 40 38 0.01 1971 42 29 0 1972 41 38 0.05 1973 53 39 Tr 1974 64 56 0.48 1975 70 49 0 1976 55 25 0 1977 61 44 0.72 1978 56 31 0 1979 61 43 0.78 1980 55 34 0 1981 63 36 0 1982 51 34 0.19 1983 52 41 Tr 1984 44 24 0.18 1985 51 35 Tr 1986 55 33 0.30 1987 56 37 0 1988 56 32 Tr 1989 46 31 0 1990 70 38 0 1991 32 28 0.85 8.2 inches of snow by Midnight. 1992 44 38 0.03 1993 38 26 0 1994 54 29 0 1995 40 33 0.11 There was .5 (one half) an inch of snow. This was the last time there was measurable snow on Halloween until 2023. 1996 32 16 Tr 1997 61 32 0.35 Cold rain in evening. 1998 47 44 0 1999 68 41 0 Very warm and sunny with little wind. 2000 71 46 0 Mild and pleasant evening. 2001 61 49 0 Cloudy am, then very mild and breezy with 50s and a full moon. 2002 34 24 0 Cold clear and breezy evening with upper 20s. 2003 40 32 0 Cloudy and cool evening. 2004 44 40 Tr Cloudy with drizzle am, low 40s in evening could see moon through clouds at 9pm. 2005 50 38 Tr Cloudy day, few peeks of sun at sunset. Evening clearing and calm with temps in the 40s. No moon, brilliant Mars east. 2006 36 24 0 Dry and cold with a stiff NW wind during the day. Mostly clear sunset with 1/2 moon visible. 2007 62 39 Tr Evening clear and in the 40s, chilly NW wind. 1st Halloween with new daylight savings time rule. 2008 62 41 0 Sunny skies. pleasant and a bit breezy during the day, 2009 44 35 0.01 Flurries am (none at airport), mostly cloudy and cool evening. Moon shining through clouds. 2010 49 30 0 Frosty start, sunny day and perfectly calm. Cool evening. 2011 50 33 0 Sunny afternoon, clear and pleasant Halloween evening, little wind. 2012 52 25 0 Seasonable Halloween with mid-upper 40s in the evening with calm wind and a full moon. 2013 50 40 Tr Cool and pleasant day turned damp as light rain and drizzle moved in late evening. 2014 40 26 0 Coldest Halloween since 2006, quite dark despite 1/2 moon. 2015 51 44 0.33 Rain in the morning, upper 40s in evening, at 8pm a few thunderstorms developed to the east with flashes of lighting. 2016 58 42 Tr Cloudy and gloomy, but mild. Moderate drizzle from 4-9pm, not enough to deter trick-or-treaters. 2017 35 27 0 Cloudy day and cold, with some sun in the late pm, clear night and cold, but calm winds. Lots of kids, but over by 8pm. 2018 54 37 0 Clear start, sunny seasonable weather. 2019 36 26 0 Clear, cool, and calm Halloween. 2020 55 33 T A Blustery day with strong NW winds beginning in late afternoon, filtered sun. The trace of snow did not deter trick-or-treaters. 2021 49 36 0 Sunny and a windy start, then winds dying down and seasonable evening. 2022 65 38 0 All in all a fairly pleasant Halloween Evening, many trick-or-treaters. 2023 37 26 0.09 Snow event that ended AM resulted in 2 inches on the ground. Evening cold with winds light NW. Trick-or-Treaters down ~40%. 2024 47 33 1.26 Moderate and heavy rain in the morning with slushy snow. Cold, damp, and clammy evening. 2025 43 38 0.15 Slice of sunshine in the morning, then gloomy and cloudy with drizzle and light rain through the evening, especially south metro.