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Arctic Halloween Weather: Snow in Midwest, Record Lows for Eastern U.S.

An arctic blast swept into the eastern U.S. Friday, bringing a deep chill to Halloween festivities from the Midwest to the East Coast.
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An arctic blast is giving millions of people a real reason to shiver on Halloween.

Trick-or-treaters from the Midwest to the Mississippi Valley to the East Coast faced a deep chill Friday, and strong, freezing winds took hold across the Great Lakes region. Parts of northern Michigan and Wisconsin saw 8 inches of snowfall, according to Weather.com, while other areas through the Ohio Valley and Appalachians got flurries and wet snow.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport had canceled more than 700 incoming and outgoing flights by Friday night because of heavy winds, rain and snow, according to FlightAware.com.

The southern Appalachians are also expected to get up to 8 inches of snow by Saturday morning, and Maine could see up to 6 inches, according to Weather.com. Temperatures would likely fall 10 to 15 degrees below average over the weekend from the Great Lakes all the way south to the Central Gulf Coast, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

“It’s certainly unusual,” Weather Channel lead meteorologist Michael Palmer said. “It’s early for snow in many areas, and the temperatures are definitely lower than we would expect.” In the Midwest, winds gusting to 50 mph and snow showers are expected around a stormy Lake Michigan. Parts of at least a dozen Midwest states were under freeze warnings by the NWS on Friday night.

Freezing temperatures could occur as far south as northern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia Saturday morning and central Mississippi, northern Georgia and western parts of the Carolinas Sunday morning, Weather.com said. Record lows are expected Sunday morning in Florida, including the Miami area.

The system is expected to move eastward over the weekend, bringing some rain to New York City and New England.

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— Alastair Jamieson