Freebies at In-N-Out? Rare rainy day forecast could bring them

Something rare is headed to Fresno: A chance to get something free because it's raining.

In-N-Out Burger restaurants are giving away free cups of hot cocoa to kids on rainy days. While that's a fine offer for many of the company's 328 restaurants, it's not one Fresnans can take advantage very often, especially this year.

As of Wednesday, Fresno has received 1.49 inches of rain since Jan. 1. , a little more than a third of normal. (We'll leave it up to the experts to determine whether we're in another drought or not.)

But something unusual is happening. The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of rain in Fresno three days in a row -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Your best bet for free cocoa appears to be Thursday night and Friday during the day, when a 90 percent chance of rain is forecast.

In-N-Out introduced the free cocoa deal earlier this year, shortly after announcing that hot chocolate was the first new menu item in more than a decade. The current president brought it back, noting that her grandparents had it on the menu in the 1950s. The Ghirardelli hot chocolate with a pack of mini marshmallows normally sells for $1.60 for an eight-ounce cup or $2.45 for a 16-ounce cup.

In-N-Out didn't share any details about how rainy it has to be to get a free cup of cocoa, so your best bet is probably to just show up with the kids and let their little faces work their magic.

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Freebies at In-N-Out? Rare rainy day forecast could bring them."