Halloween Heat Wave?: Near Record Highs Expected For Trick-Or-Treaters Across MA

MASSACHUSETTS — It looks like things will be heating up again across Massachusetts just in time for Halloween trick-or-treating.

Children who go on the annual candy campaign across the neighborhood on the holiday will be able to ditch the jackets and show off their costumes this year with the long-range forecast calling for much of southern New England to challenge record-high temperatures.

The warm weather should hold through the early evening hours when most trick-or-treating is done.

The record high temperature for Boston on Oct. 31 is 81 degrees with forecast highs on Thursday in the upper 70s — with 80 or higher a possibility.

It will be much more seasonable over the next few days with clouds turning to sunshine on Saturday and a high of 65 degrees before a cold snap settles in for the start of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

Sunday will feature a high temperature of 55 degrees with a brisk northwest wind averaging 9 to 11 mph. Monday will be another chilly one with a high of 53 before the warmup begins on Tuesday.

Tuesday is forecast to have a high back to normal about 60 degrees with Wednesday's highs soaring into the 70s.

The exceptional stretch of weather and increasing winds — next week's near-record highs will bring southwest winds of 20 mph or higher — has triggered the NWS to issue an Elevated Fire Risk for most of Massachusetts.

"The combination of recent dry weather, very dry fuels and relative humidity between 30 and 45 percent makes conditions favorable for wildfire spread today," the NWS said on Friday. "Use caution when handling and disposing of ignition sources."

There are also growing drought concerns with only a handful of rainy days in the past two months.

Most of Massachusetts is now considered in "Moderate" drought stage.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)