Twin Cities forecast to get 2 to 4 inches of Halloween snow, but will it stick?

Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.

Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.

“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.

The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.

It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.

“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.

“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.

The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.

The cold and wet weather comes just days after Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recorded a record-high temperature of 79 degrees on Tuesday, topping the previous high of 78 set in 1922.

And, of course, any whiff of snow on Halloween will remind longtime Minnesotans of the 1991 Halloween blizzard, when 21 inches of snow fell over 24 hours in the Twin Cities.