By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

A system that brought snow, sleet and freezing temperatures will haunt the area until Thursday evening, but Halloween weekend looks ‘”boo-tiful,” a forecaster said.

Roger Martin, with the National Weather Service in Wichita, said snowpack and cold air in the northern plains helped drop temperatures in central Kansas for an early taste of winter in October.

“It’s anomalous in some offices around the area to be issuing winter weather advisories this early,” he said. “It’s not normal even for us.”

Winter systems this time of year usually bring cold, dry air or moisture with warmer temperatures, but this storm brought both, Martin said.

One to three inches of precipitation fell by 3 p.m. Monday as overnight lows plunged into the 20s. Lighter precipitation dusted the county Tuesday as highs stayed below freezing.

“As a whole, it was a little more snow than ice, which is probably good for the leaves on the trees,” said Martin of this week’s wintry mix.

Today’s highs will nudge into the 40s, but temperatures will plunge into the 30s tonight with one to three inches of rainfall expected.

“We’ll have a real, cold, raw, rainy Wednesday night,” he said.

The wet weather will begin to taper off Thursday morning as warmer air pushes in from the west.

By Friday, temperatures in the 50s are predicted with highs near 60 on Saturday and overnight lows in the 40s both evenings.

Skies will be clear enough for trick-or-treaters to view a rare Halloween blue moon. It will be the last time a second full moon will rise in a month until Aug. 30, 2023.

Precipitation will help mitigate a dry fall, and the snow and ice will be gone by Halloween, Martin said.

“I think we can pretty safely think the day will be good,” he said. “The system that brought freezing rain ended up being a really strong system. When that moves out a lot of dry air comes in behind it. That should help.”