Ok, you caught me. The weather has been non-stop wet with inches and inches of rain the past several weeks and there just isn’t much out there to talk about in regards to exciting weather. However, with Election Day tomorrow, I started thinking about all the newspapers and celebrities out there that have thought somehow up to this point their opinions and/or endorsements will persuade the undecided voter, which it sometimes has. But have any of you taken the time to consider what Mother Nature thinks?
Of course, this is no way a “Forecasting Kitsap” blog endorsement, or the views of the Kitsap Sun in general, but I decided to conduct a fun little experiment (as futile as it is…) which will give us an awfully rough estimate of who our president will be on January 20th. 😉 Little did you know weather plays favorites!
Take a look at these weather observations on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. clear back when President Truman took office. Notice a trend?
Obama (D)- Sunny/cold
Bush, G.W. (R)- Rain/mild
Clinton (D)- Clear/cool
Bush, H.W. (R)- Cloudy/mild
Reagan (R)- Rain/mild
Carter (D)- Sunny/cold
Ford (R)- Cloudy/mild
Nixon (R)- Cloudy/mild
Johnson (D)- Rainy/cool
Kennedy (D)- Snow/cold
Eisenhower (R)- Cloudy/mild
Truman (D)- Snow/cold
Since Truman, Democratic presidents have largely had cold and/or snowy inaugurations while Republican president’s have had rainy, cloudy, and/or mild inaugurations. Latest long range projections have been consistent in predicting a colder than normal latter half of the winter season on the east coast, which would certainly impact Inauguration Day.
Hmmm…considering no Republican has had a snowy Inauguration Day since at least Truman, does that mean Mother Nature is endorsing President Barack Obama? Perhaps, unless Mitt Romney is the one who comes in and breaks a pretty consistent trend 😉 Of course, this is all fun and games, but interesting nonetheless!
As for our Election Day weather? If you guessed “rainy”, you would be correct, although it will be slightly milder than normal. Highs will be in the mid to upper 50s.
Some colder, showery weather systems will impact the area through the week into next weekend, and high temperatures will fall into the mid and upper 40s. The good news is the mountains should be getting more snow here in the next few days!
The long range continues to look cold and wet through Thanksgiving. Too bad I haven’t found any correlations between cold and wet Northwest Thanksgiving’s and U.S. President’s! But I suppose even if I did, the election would still be a toss up because it’s always cold and wet around here during the holidays 😉
Have a great day everyone,
Matthew Leach
Forecasting Kitsap
Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: forecastingkitsap@live.com
