Do the undead sweat? If so, this year's Halloween could be a trying time for them in parts of the Northeast and Great Lakes region of the US, where temperatures will rise above 27°C (80°F) in some areas.

On Thursday, CNN reported that nearly 50 daily high temperature records could fall, with temperatures rising more than 20°F above normal.

For some, Halloween this year will feel more like it falls in late summer than late October.

In Boston, temperatures could reach 30 degrees Celsius, the network said, potentially making it the second hottest Halloween ever in the city. The previous record was set in 1946 at 81F (27C). It is noteworthy that the average temperature for this time of year is around 14°C. In Philadelphia, temperatures will reach 81F.

New York City is also expected to potentially break records and reach 80F. Typically, the average temperature in New York during this period is around 15°C. Washington DC could reach 30°C, making it the third hottest Halloween.

Elsewhere in the country, conditions for trick-or-treating vary.

Strong to severe thunderstorms, including damaging winds, are possible late Thursday from Indianapolis south to Shreveport, Louisiana. In Duluth, Minnesota, and in the higher elevations of the Cascades and Rockies, you may need snowshoes.

The unusual heat in the Northeast comes as the climate crisis is no longer an issue in the presidential campaign after it briefly came to the surface after two fast-developing hurricanes, Milton and Helene, devastated parts of the Southeast in September and October.

Parts of the U.S., including New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, Philadelphia and Dallas, saw no measurable rain throughout October. Drought concerns are high in the Great Plains and Midwest.

According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, 66% of the Midwest is experiencing at least moderate drought (D1). In the plains, 72% of the region suffers from drought. Overall, almost half of the country is suffering from some form of drought. In states like Texas, Oklahoma and the greater South, drought could worsen as the winter progresses, forecasters say.

If no rain falls in Philadelphia in the next 48 hours, it would be the first time since records began in 1871 that the city would record no rain in a calendar month.

Drought conditions may not necessarily improve as La Niña is expected to develop in the Pacific – a condition that typically brings cooler, wetter weather in the Pacific Northwest, the upper Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains, and drier, milder conditions in the southern US states and often California and wet, snowy winters to New York and New England.

But the developing La Niña is developing weakly, wiping out the forecasts. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects La Niña to occur sometime before the end of November and other weather patterns, including the North Atlantic Oscillation, to remain dominant.

Or La Niña may not arrive, creating difficulties in forecasting energy demand and affecting farmers' forecasts of crop yields based on rainfall and snowfall.