Trick or treaters and their parents knew for quite a while that Halloween wasn’t on a school night this year. Record swarms of sweet-toothed celebrants were expected to take advantage of Saturday night spookfesting.
For days, however, they’ve also known that fearsome forecasters were calling for rain on the scariest night of the year.
On Saturday, Oct,. 31, Los Angeles County, it was actually still a mystery if candy seekers would get soaked that evening.
“Saturday will remain overcast across the region, though uncertainty remains regarding the onset of widespread precipitation,” according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters said showers could begin to develop Saturday afternoon, with more widespread rainfall possible across the coastal basin by Halloween evening. Rain is expected to become light and steady Saturday night, with embedded pockets of moderate to locally heavy rain possible early Sunday, the NWS said.
The rain was expected to taper to scattered showers Sunday morning, then become increasingly isolated Sunday afternoon. Most precipitation is expected to end by Sunday night, with mostly sunny skies returning Monday.
Forecasters expect 0.25 to 1 inch of rain in most areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties, with up to 2 inches possible on favored mountain slopes. The storm’s effects will also be felt at the coast, where lingering high tides and elevated surf remain a concern.
“While high tides will continue to wane into the weekend, tides will remain just above 6 feet which could still lead to minor tidal overflow during high tides if breaking waves approach 5-6 feet,” the weather service said.
High tides flooded parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties this week, sending seawater into streets, homes and businesses from Malibu and Redondo Beach to Long Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
In Sunset Beach, water covered about half of Pacific Coast Highway between Warner Avenue and Anderson Street Wednesday, reaching shin- or knee-deep levels in some spots. Crews closed the road and pumped water from the area. Newport Beach’s Balboa area also saw widespread flooding, while water repeatedly breached the seawall at Redondo Beach’s International Boardwalk and entered bars and restaurants.
Following those storms Long Beach saw record high tide levels this week. Though waters rose and some streets and neighborhoods filled with seawater, no additional buildings have been tagged during high tides this week, city officials said.
On Tuesday, the city saw a high tide of 8.22 feet, surpassing the record of 8.02 feet on Monday. Tuesday’s tide broke the previous record of 7.93 feet set in January 2005, officials said. Moderate localized flooding was seen throughout the week along the Peninsula, Naples Island, Alamitos Bay, Belmont Shore and areas surrounding the Marine Stadium and Colorado Lagoon.
Dry and warmer weather is expected Monday and Tuesday, with a chance of showers returning Wednesday.
Amid the threat of rain, Halloween and Día de los Muertos events were planned nonetheless across Los Angeles County on Saturday, from family activities in Santa Monica and Griffith Park to costume parties and horror screenings in Hollywood.
At L.A.’s Convention Center, more than 1,200 exhibitors, vendors, and artists — as well as throngs of costumed cosplayers — packed L.A. Comic Con 2026. The event continues Sunday.
On the coast, hundreds of people made their way to the Sunnyside and Municipal Cemetery in Long Beach for the Historical Society of Long Beach’s annual Cemetery Tour. The sky was gloomy as people made their way around the event.
Long Beach native Maggie Rogers and her daughter, 9-year-old Maddy, spent the morning at the Cemetery Tour.
“Today is wonderful,” Rogers said. “To be able to walk around and learn all the history. It’s amazing.”
The mother-daughter duo were also planning to trick-or-treat in the evening. Maddy said she will be dressed up as a cowgirl because she loves Dolly Parton.
Rogers said she was not worried about it raining in Long Beach on Halloween.
“The weather is perfect,” Rogers said on Saturday morning. “It’s nice and cool.”
“It’s supposed to rain,” Rogers added, “but for us Long Beach natives, we like all the different weather.”
In the Bixby Knolls neighborhood, local resident Tyra Smith was dressed up in her Halloween costume with her young daughter, Aria, in a stroller wearing bunny ears. They were making their way to a friend’s house for Halloween plans.
“I didn’t like the heat in the past months but now this weather, it’s a little abnormal,” Smith said Saturday afternoon.
Even though rain was expected later in the evening, Smith said it wouldn’t hinder Halloween plans with her toddler.
“We’re still going to do our trick-or-treating,” she said.
In Downtown L.A., Gloria Molina Grand Park was turned into a “sacred civic sanctuary” for the Downtown Día de los Muertos. The event, which runs through Monday, November encourages residents “to honor departed loved ones and celebrate living community connections,” according to organizers.
For families in the 3200 block of Purdue Avenue in Mar Vista, rain won’t stop their unique communal celebration. For 11 years free event “The Boo on Purdue” has attracted thousands of visitors on Halloween night with festive fanfare that include popcorn and cotton candy machine, and even a live Halloween singing group called the Scarolers.
“In 2018 we started closing the street,” explained Matt Liston, who founded the event as a way to celebrate the holiday an old-fashioned small town feel in the center of Los Angeles.
Simultaneously, both his daughter and other children on the block have experienced medical challenges that brought them to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the past. Consequently, the put out donation QR codes throughout the neighborhood and last year raised $11,000 for the hospital.
“I think what it does is it makes the parents feel so grateful,” resident Heather Butterfield explained, for it’s a reminder of the gift that they’re able to celebrate Halloween with healthy children on this night. “It’s kind of amazing because so many families on this street participate.”
Concerned about the rain, Liston and his neighbors planned ahead and secured a bevy of pop-up tents which they spent Halloween morning setting up.
“We’ve never had rain, so the neighbors are planning accordingly,” Liston said. “It’s a little problematic but we’re definitely getting prepared. Normally we start the whole event at 6 p.m., but we moved it up to 5, with the singers coming on at 6.”
Just north of the Mar Vista Recreation Center, he said they expect to draw around 2,000 trick-or-treaters each year, but will have to wait and see if the rain thwarts attendance.
Still, Liston said, they’ll have the Slushee machine going, the popcorn popping and the Scarolers singing a selection of Halloween-themed spooky songs on a stage he has constructed outside his house.
Liston’s son, Jack, 11, told him that the rain was a far bigger deal for the adults than it was for the kids. “As long as they’re candy, kids don’t mind,” Jack said. “We would take the boat to go trick or treating.”
The next time Halloween will be on a Saturday, by the way, will be 2037.
Reporters Jarret Liotta and Christina Merino, as well as City News Service, contributed to this report.