CHICAGO — Heading to the polls? Don't forget your umbrella.
Chicago woke up to a rainy Election Day, and those scattered showers are predicted throughout Tuesday with a slight chance of thunderstorms as well, said Jamie Enderlen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"It's going to be a pretty rainy afternoon," Enderlen said.
There's a roughly 30 percent chance that rain will continue until polls close at 7 p.m., and a 70 percent chance of rain into the evening hours, Enderlen said.
The city could see between .5 and .75 inches of rainfall Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
"At 1 p.m., we'll hit our temperature high of 49 degrees, but the wind from the lake will make it feel much colder," Enderlen said. "It's not going to be a very warm day and showers will be interspersed throughout."
The rainy weather may put a damper on Election Day voter turnout.
UIC Political Science Professor Dick Simpson predicts early vote totals will push final voting numbers past the 33 percent turnout during the primaries, but said Tuesday's rain could steer people away from the voting booth and keep turnout down.
"Rain tends to keep voters away, especially voters who are less certain of how they want to vote," Simpson said. "Rain [and weather like it] tends to favor the incumbent then the challenger."
But Simpson noted: "Regardless of the weather, regular machine voters will still come out, which is an advantage for [Mayor] Rahm Emanuel."
According to an unofficial count by the Cook County Board of Election Commissioners, more than 142,300 early votes for Tuesday's election had been cast, compared with 89,800 early voters ahead of the February election.
Will the rainy weather keep you home today?
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
