Halloween in Columbus has historically not been as volatile as some other holidays. If anything, a bit of rain and chilly temperatures are what ruin the festivities more often than not. This post examines Columbus’ Halloween climatology across several categories. Data comes from historic records and the Wilmington National Weather Service.

Here are the temperature extremes that have occurred.

Top 10 Coldest Highs
1. 1906: 38
2. 1993: 39
3. 1878, 1895: 40
4. 1913, 1923, 1954: 41
5. 1885, 1917, 2012: 42
6. 1890: 43
7. 1908, 1925, 1926, 2017: 44
8. 1898, 1905: 45
9. 1930, 1976: 46
10. 1879, 1931, 2002: 47

Top 10 Coldest Lows
1. 1887: 20
2. 1962, 1988: 25
3. 1923: 27
4. 1908, 1925: 28
5. 1885, 1893, 1913, 1917, 1953, 1975: 29
6. 1904, 1906: 30
7. 1878, 1938, 1954, 1968: 31
8. 1928, 1934, 1949, 1958, 1964, 1976, 1980, 2000: 32
9. 1879, 1926, 1930, 2017: 33
10.1890, 1936, 1951, 1966, 1969, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2010: 34

Top 10 Coldest Means
1. 1906, 1923: 34
2. 1913: 35
3. 1878, 1885, 1908, 1917, 1925, 1954: 36
4. 1887, 1962, 1993: 37
5. 1895: 38
6. 1890, 1926, 1976, 1988, 2017 39
7. 1879, 1930, 2012: 40
8. 2002: 41
9. 1893, 1894, 1898, 1905, 1975, 1996: 42
10. 1939, 1955, 2010: 43

Top 10 Warmest Highs
1. 1950: 83
2. 1974: 80
3. 1900: 79
4. 1927, 1933: 78
5. 1979, 2003: 75
6. 1882, 1901, 1982, 1999: 74
7. 1909, 1990: 73
8. 1888, 1935, 1944, 1987 72
9. 1915, 1971: 71
10. 1919: 70

Top 10 Warmest Lows
1. 1919: 61
2. 1882: 60
3. 2003: 59
4. 1927, 1929: 58
5. 1900, 1956, 2013: 57
6. 1921, 1941, 1982, 2018: 56
7. 1950: 55
8. 1959, 1979: 54
9. 1971: 53
10. 1881, 1891, 1933, 1946, 1974, 1991: 52

Top 10 Warmest Means
1. 1950: 69
2. 1900, 1927: 68
3. 1882, 2003: 67
4. 1919, 1974: 66
5. 1933, 1979, 1982: 65
6. 1901, 1929, 1956: 63
7. 1971, 2013: 62
8. 1890, 1999: 61
9. 1909, 1921, 1935, 1941, 1946, 1991, 2018: 60
10. 1984, 2001: 59

Halloween High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
Below 40: 2
40-49: 27
50-59: 35
60-69: 59
70-79: 18
80 and Above: 2

Halloween Low Temperature by Occurrence since 1878
Below 20: 0
20-29: 12
30-39: 54
40-49: 51
50-59: 24
60 and Above: 2

And the precipitation extremes.

Top 10 Wettest
1. 2019: 1.51″
2. 1932: 1.44″
3. 2009: 1.21″
4. 2013: 0.98″
5. 1941: 0.97″
6. 1919: 0.91″
7. 2018: 0.63″
8. 1942: 0.51″
9. 1960: 0.45″
10. 1905, 1973: 0.43″

Halloween Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 78
Trace: 11
0.01-0.24: 37
0.25-0.49: 9
0.50-0.99: 5
1.00 or More: 3

Snow has been very rare for Halloween, especially accumulating snow. 1993 saw the only time that an inch or more of snow fell.

Top 10 Snowiest
1. 1993: 1.0″
2. 1954: 0.2″
3. 1906, 1917, 1926, 1930, 2012, 2019: Trace