With the election just a little over a week away, its time to take a look at the long range weather forecast and see what nature has in store for us as the nation turns out to vote...
**Updated 4pm EST 10/28/08...almost all the changes are reductions in the precip forecast, looking good**
Conventional Wisdom indicates that the GOP gains a small maybe 1 or 2 point advantage when there is bad weather, with this in mind, lets take a look at the current forecasts for several of the key battleground states on Election Day.
A new study of voter behavior confirms something political operatives have long suspected: rain hurts Democrats and helps Republicans. The study found that 1 inch of rain reduces overall turnout by slightly less than 1 percent and cuts the Democratic vote by 2.5 percentage points
Here is an editorial on this from 2006
**Election Day Weather Forecast Summary**
All temps are daytime highs.
Colorado (Denver forecast)
Sunny 58f, 20% chance of rain (previously 63f, 10%)
Ohio (Cleveland forecast)
Cloudy 60f, 10% chance of rain (previously 57f, 20%)
Indiana (Indianapolis forecast)
Cloudy 66f, 10% chance of rain (previously 60f, light showers eve.)
Virgina (Richmond forecast)
Sunny 64f, 10% chance of rain (previously 62f, 20%)
Missouri (Saint Louis forecast)
Sunny 69f, 10% chance of rain (previously 62f, 20%)
Colorado (Denver forecast)
Sunny 58f, 20% chance of rain (previously 63f, 10%)
Nevada (Las Vegas forecast)
Sunny 75f, no rain (previously 78f, 0%)
New Mexico (Albuquerque forecast)
Sunny 63f, 10% chance of rain (previously 66f, 20%)
Montana (Billings forecast)
Partly cloudy 49f, 20% chance of rain (previously 55f, 10%)
North Dakota (Bismarck forecast)
Sunny 52f, 20% chance of rain (previously 55f, 20%)
Florida (Miami forecast)
80f, 30% showers (previously 81f, t-storms 60%)
North Carolina (Raleigh forecast)
Sunny 63f, 10% chance of rain (previously 63f, 20%)
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All in all, a pretty darn good forecast for election day, very little rain, temperatures quite comfortable. Absolutely no snow forecast in these battleground states. So far, nature is on our side :)