Halloween looks warm, but wet

After more than a week of rain and snow, the sunshine across the Gogebic Range Monday and Tuesday was a welcome relief, although brief.

Although the thermometer dropped to 20 degrees overnight Monday, on Tuesday morning it turned sunny and the temperature had rebounded to 36 by noon.

By 11 a.m., it had already warmed up to 40 degrees at Saxon Harbor, where there was no wind and clear sailing, allowing a few boats to get out on Lake Superior.

Dark clouds had returned by Tuesday afternoon, however, and the snow that began falling around 1:30 p.m. was melting as it hit the ground

A Canadian high pressure system that settled in the Upper Peninsula caused the bitter cold weather early Tuesday. The 20-degree reading for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Tuesday in Ironwood did not break the record low mark of 9 set in 1980, however.

The season's snowfall of 5 inches in Ironwood is just a bit behind the long-term average mark for Oct. 29 of 5.8 inches, although other Gogebic Range communities have received more snow.

Precipitation for the month in Ironwood is far above average at 5.23 inches. The record for October is 7.39 inches set in 2007, according to statistics kept at the NWS office in Marquette.

Freezing rain or snow was possible throughout the western Upper Peninsula for this morning, with a high of 46 later in the day.

It will be mostly treat - rather than trick - for Thursday, on Halloween Day. A return to Indian summer, for at least a day, is forecast, with highs in the low 50s, but rain is likely to dampen the young goblins, with a 60 percent chance.

Saturday will bring a 50 percent chance of a return to snow, with a high of only 36 predicted, but Sunday through next Wednesday will see a warm-up into the mid-40s and no chance of precipitation.