Posted at 8:43 AM on November 1, 2010
by Paul Huttner
(3 Comments)
Filed under: Climate, Fall
It's hard to believe we woke up to November this morning.
A nearly perfect Halloween made for great trick for treating this year. Our high Sunday was 49, and light winds with temps in the 40s made for ideal Halloween night weather. Oh how I remember those parka-clad Halloween nights of the frigid 1970s. If this is climate change in Minnesota, at least Halloween weather seems to be improving for the little ghouls and goblins.
An October to remember:
October was another remarkable and record setting month in Minnesota's "anything goes" weather year of 2010. "Expect the unexpected" somebody once said, and 2010 is all that for Minnesota. Here are some of the highlights for October 2010:
-Minnesota all time record low barometric pressure record. October 26th (28.21") at Big Fork.

"Octobomb" winds up over Minnesota last Tuesday.
-Warmest October in 47 years! (since1963)
-Temps +5.3°F (Monthly average 54.0°F for metro)
-Longest dry spell in 30 years ended October 23rd
-10th latest frost on record (October 28th)
-Growing season 2010 was 171 days... a full 10 days longer than average. (May 9th-October 27th
-Warm October makes 7 of the past 8 months above average in Minnesota.
Election Day weather good:
Election Day weather looks good in Minnesota. A cold front will cut into northwest Minnesota late Tuesday bringing a few showers, but most of Minnesota will enjoy dry mild weather Tuesday. The front will slide south brining a chance of showers overnight for southern Minnesota.
Roller coaster temps:
Expect roller coaster temps this week. Tuesday may be as close as we come to Indian Summer this year. Highs may approach 60°F ahead of a cool front sagging south on Wednesday. The bottom of the coaster will feature a bracing wind chill on Thursday, before things warm up again by next weekend. Saturday may feature milder breezes with temps in the 50s to near 60 again.
The computers are hinting at the possibility of much colder weather next week.
Enjoy the quiet and relatively mild start to November.
PH
Posted at 5:34 PM on November 1, 2010
by Paul Huttner
There's an old adage that republicans should pray for rain on Election Day. A 2007 Journal of Politics study may provide some scientific support to that notion.
The study examines the effect of weather on voter turnout in 14 U.S. presidential elections. The conclusions are documentable and remarkable. Rain and snow on Election Day have a measureable effect on turnout.
According to the study; for every inch of rain that falls above the Election Day average, voter participation falls by nearly 1 percent...and Republican candidates receive an extra 2.5% of the vote.
From the study:
More precisely, for every one-inch increase in rain above its election day normal, the
Republican presidential candidate received approximately an extra 2.5% of the vote. For every one-inch increase in snow above normal, the Republican candidate's vote share increases by approximately .6%.
The study also claims that rainy weather in Florida may have cost Al Gore the presidential election in 2000.
Could democrats benefit from good weather in close races in 2010?
There seems to be consensus among political pundits that republicans have the political wind at their backs on Election Day 2010.
Tuesday's forecast looks mostly dry, relatively mild and storm free around the nation.
It will be interesting to see if the good weather boosts turnout in some of the closer races Tuesday.
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A dry forecast for much of the nation on Election Day 2010.
PH
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