Halloween in North Texas got cold enough to need propane firepit; TV to catch World Series
Taylor Middlebrook set up his concrete driveway in an Acton residential subdivision with a propane firepit — for the cold — and a 65-inch big screen television set — to watch his beloved Texas Rangers in game 4 of the World Series.
“We’re ready,” Middlebrook said as his son, 4-year-old Slade, fussed with a large bucket full of candy. “We have everything we need for Halloween and the game.”
A delightful bonus for Middlebrook was that his ballclub dispatched the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-7, to be within one victory of capturing its very first championship. Still, it was cold even before a glowing orange sun set over the pitched roofs of brick-sided homes in the Main Place neighborhood in Acton.
A National Weather Service freeze warning has been in effect since Monday for North Texas and parts of Central Texas. The alert was lifted late Tuesday morning. This was the first freeze of the season for many in the region.
And the chill in the air sure stuck around when it was time to go trick-or-treating.
“For those planning on being outdoors this evening with their children in tow, wind speeds will diminish rapidly to 5-10 mph. Temperatures between 45 to 50 degrees at sunset,” said NWS Senior Forecaster Marty Mayeaux.
But Mayeaux said rapid “radiational cooling,” which occurs at night when the Earth releases heat to space, will drop temperatures back to the 30s and lower 40s just after sunset. The sun will set at 6:39 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31.
So, bundle up boys and girls. It will be chilly out as you collect a Halloween harvest of sweets and frights tonight.
The freeze this year has come much earlier than normal.
WHEN IS AVERAGE FIRST FREEZE OF THE SEASON IN NORTH TEXAS?
On average, North Texas doesn’t see its first freeze of the season until Nov. 22 and last freeze of the season until March 12.
The NWS measures the freeze season by consecutive years, starting in the latter months of the year and going into the spring of next year. For example, whenever North Texas records its first freeze in the next couple months, it will be for the 2023-2024 season.
WHAT’S THE EARLIEST RECORDED FREEZE IN NORTH TEXAS?
Nearly 125 years ago, the earliest first freeze of the season ever recorded in North Texas by NWS was on Oct. 22, 1898. The mercury dropped to a brisk 31 degrees that Saturday morning.
At the time, William McKinley was serving as the 25th President of the United States. In sports, only the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, better known now simply the National League, was in existence and the American League wouldn’t form until 1901.
THE FIRST FREEZE IN DALLAS-FORT WORTH OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS
Over the last decade, November has been the sweet spot for the first freeze of the season in North Texas:
- 2022-2023: 30 degrees on Nov. 20
- 2021-2022: 32 degrees on Dec. 12
- 2020-2021: 32 degrees on Nov. 30
- 2019-2020: 30 degrees on Oct. 31
- 2018-2019: 32 degrees on Nov. 10
- 2017-2018: 32 degrees on Dec. 7
- 2016-2017: 28 degrees on Dec. 8
- 2015-2016: 30 degrees on Nov. 22
- 2014-2015: 31 degrees on Nov. 12
- 2013-2014: 29 degrees on Nov. 13
This story was originally published October 31, 2023 at 10:11 AM.