Will Iowa Caucus weather = high turnout? 40s here by Thursday

37 degrees forecast high temp in Des Moines today

Dry statewide for Iowa Caucuses tonight

40s return to southern Minnesota by Thursday

2nd warmest last half of 2011 on record

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0 total model snowfall output for MSP Airport next 7 days

10.3" snowfall at MSP Airport season to date so far

22.1" average season snow to date

-11.8" season snowfall vs. average so far at MSP

Great caucus weather in Iowa:

It doesn't get any better than this for Iowa weather in January. Dry skies and mild temps for January should be a good gauge for interest in the Iowa Caucuses tonight.

Temps should make the 30s in most of Iowa today with a shot at 40 in western Iowa.

I would not want to be a pundit predicting the GOP nomination process this year. Look at the chart below from RCP. Talk about a study in chaos theory!

Warming trend begins:

You'll notice it feels a little better out there by this evening as temps climb through the upper 20s to near 30 in parts of Minnesota. Mild Pacific air will gush into the state again by Thursday.

Temps should crack 40 again Thursday. If all the snow is gone by Thursday afternoon, it would not surprise me to see temps near 45 in the metro and southern Minnesota Thursday afternoon.

The record high Thursday at MSP is 47 degrees.

Bye Bye Snow:

What little snow we have should be history by Thursday in southern Minnesota.

2011: 2nd warmest finish on record

2011 started cooler than average in Minnesota. The first 5 months all came in below average.

Then, somebody flipped a weather switch in the second half. The last 6 months of 2011 were the second warmest on record since 1873! Temperatures ran a full 4.8 degrees above average, just 0.5 degrees shy of the warmest second half of any year on record. Only 1931 back in the Dust Bowl days was warmer.

PH