Soggy, dreary weather is expected to hit the central U.S.as voters head to the polls Tuesday, but experts said the impact on the electoral outcome is expected to be minimal.Still, weather could become a closely watched factor in a few tight races in Texas and the Midwest.
On Monday, a storm system is expected to move through the central U.S., with hurricane-strength winds, the risk of tornadoes, hail and heavy rainfall.“We’ve got some moisture that’s moving up into parts of Texas and Oklahoma and up into Kansas and Missouri, and with that moisture, we’re going to have a chance of storms,” said Evan Bentley, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
“We have plenty of energy available to support severe weather, including damaging winds and perhaps a few tornadoes.” Bentley said North Texas and Oklahoma could see straight-line winds in excess of 75 mph on Monday, raising some concern about power outages.“There’s always concern, when we have the potential for winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour, of having impacts on infrastructure, such as power lines,” Bentley said, though he added that this type of weather was not uncommon in the region.
Steve Kornacki breaks down final NBC News poll before midterm elections01:56The weather’s effect on voter turnout will be watched closely by campaigns seeking to draw as many supporters as possible to polling places.Kansas and Texas, which could both be affected by the storms Monday, have hotly contested Senate races.
The storm system will move east Tuesday, with heavy rainfall possible in Mississippi, Missouri and western Tennessee.On Election Day, “scattered flash floods are possible” in the lower Mississippi River valley and into areas such as Memphis, said Jennifer Tate, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Much of the rest of the central U.S.— from East Texas...