Source: The Weather Channel; Table: Matt Stiles, CNN.
The recently conducted Iowa Republican political caucuses prove that weather has no respect for politics. More than 100,000 Iowans braved record cold temperatures and snow to vote in the first in the nation caucuses to select the Republican nominee for President.
Iowa has held its caucuses every four years since 1976, in January of February, but they’ve never been held on a day this cold before, reported CNN.
“Iowans woke up on Monday [January 15] to temperatures in the minus 10s with wind chills as low as minus 40,” wrote CNN. “With wind chills this extreme, frostbite is possible on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
“Monday’s caucuses were the coldest ever with high temperatures below zero across much of the state and widespread wind chills in the minus 30s,” continued CNN. “The high temperature on Monday in Des Moines was 15 degrees colder than the previous coldest caucus day on January 19, 2004.”
As the map provided by CNN showed (see below) Iowa was not alone in experiencing extremely cold, commonly record setting for the date, temperatures, but it was the only state hold vote that would help determine candidates for the Presidential race, that day.
As CNN noted, extremely cold temperatures were not the only weather hazard, caucus attendees braved that day to cast their votes for the Republican nominee.
“Caucus-goers also dealt with slick roads from leftover snow from the weekend blizzard,” reported CNN. “Back-to-back storms brought nearly 2 feet of snow to Des Moines from Monday to Friday last week, the second-snowiest five-day stretch on record for the city.”