Stormy weather on tap for Halloween trick-or-treating

Few municipalities are altering their community Halloween plans despite a worsening weather forecast for Thursday evening.

Several boroughs and townships have trick-or-treating scheduled for Halloween with no adjustments in place for thunder and lightning.

“If it rains, it rains,” said Barb Jones, office clerk for Brackenridge.

Jones said police and fire department officials will monitor the streets as a public safety measure, as they do every year.

There is a 90% chance of rain during the day Thursday, with wind gusts reaching 30 mph. The rain is expected to continue into the evening, with temperatures reaching 62 degrees by 7 p.m. and continuing to fall.

“It’s going to be a very blustery evening for trick-or-treaters,” said Lee Hendricks, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. “If anybody is even using an umbrella, that’s going to be a challenge.”

In Harrison, which has trick-or-treating scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m., community members are still stocking up on candy in hopes the weather will hold out.

“We are really hoping that even though it’s going to rain, it’s not going to be thundering, lightning, pouring,” said Tricia Ritchie, president of The Building Block of Natrona, a nonprofit that provides community services such as food, health and hygeine products.

The Building Block of Natrona will be decorating and passing out candy at Natrona Community Park during the township’s designated trick-or-treat time. The organization is preparing to receive between 200 and 300 children. Ritchie said she’s willing to stand under a pavilion in the rain — but if thunder and lightning starts, the group will have to pack up for safety reasons.

This is the first year The Building Block of Natrona will hold a Halloween event, and it’s disappointing it may be foiled by inclement weather, Ritchie said. Just this past summer, the organization’s snack program was sabotaged by storms — there were three days in a row when volunteers couldn’t provide snacks to community children.

“We just have to roll with what we’re handed, and we’re really hoping that the worst part of the storm holds off until after the event, so we can give everyone a memorable Halloween and everyone has a good time,” Ritchie said.

Even without a thunderstorm forecast, Halloween is often a safety concern in communities. In 2018, there were 37 crashes in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties on Oct. 31, according to PennDOT data. Hendricks said that while it shouldn’t rain so hard as to affect visibility and safety, trick-or-treaters can expect to be cold, wet and uncomfortable.

“Just, honestly, misery,” he said.