WeatherFanatics: Election Day Forecast: Rain May Factor Into Turnout in Central US

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Election Day Forecast: Rain May Factor Into Turnout in Central US

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

October 28,2014; 8:10PM,EDT

While rain could deter voter turnout on Election Day in part of the Central states and the Northwest, dry weather is in store in the East and the balance of the West.
Gubernatorial elections will be held on Nov. 4, 2014, in 36 states, along with elections for many other state and local government offices.

Unsettled Swath From Texas to Western New York

Rain is forecast to soak areas from Texas to the lower Great Lakes on Election Day.
Some of the rain can be heavy enough in this swath to cause travel delays and perhaps bring incidents of urban flooding, especially from portions of Texas to the middle part of the Mississippi Valley.
The rain could affect the major cities of Houston and Dallas to Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Little Rock, Arkansas and Buffalo, New York. Rain may be close to Chicago as well.
Along with the rain, locally strong thunderstorms are possible from Texas to Missouri.

Rainy Conditions for Parts of the Northwest

While a major storm is not in the offing for the Northwest, clouds and some rain and drizzle are forecast in the coastal areas from northern California to Washington state with spotty rainfall in eastern Washington to northern Idaho and northwestern Montana.
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Cities that can be affected by rainy weather in the Northwest include Portland, Oregon, and Seattle and Spokane, Washington.

Dry Weather in Much of East, Southwest

Aside from very spotty showers along the Atlantic coast of Florida, dry weather is in store along the East
Coast and in the Appalachians with at least partial sunshine on Election Day.
After a chilly start, temperatures will recover to near- or above-seasonable levels during the midday and afternoon hours from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.
However, there could be lingering sporadic power outages in the Northeast, depending on how much wind and snow a storm this weekend delivers.
Most locations from the Upper Midwest to Southern California can expect at least partial sunshine.
Dry and chilly conditions are in store for Chicago, Minneapolis and Omaha, Nebraska, with spotty flurries possible near the Canada border in Minnesota and North Dakota.
A dry, seasonable day is forecast for Denver and Salt Lake City. Warm weather is projected for Phoenix,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
Keep checking in at AccuWeather.com for updates on the Election Day forecast.

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