Election Day Dawns Wet in Dallas–Fort Worth: Heavy Rain in the Feed, a High of 75, and a Dry Wednesday Waiting Behind It
The station's live feed codes Election Day itself as heavy rain — code 65, a 71 percent precipitation chance, 69.9 degrees in the small hours — which means the first voters in line at 7 a.m. will be standing in the weather this whole election has been pointing at.
Dallas–Fort Worth votes in the rain on Tuesday. The station's live weather feed, read in the early hours of Election Day, held the Metroplex at 69.9 degrees under weather code 65 — heavy rain — and codes the day itself the same way: heavy rain, a high of 75.4, a low of 57.2, and a 71 percent precipitation probability.
That is the firmest version of a forecast that swung all Monday: the feed coded Tuesday as heavy rain in the morning, softened it toward showers at midday, and has now settled back on heavy rain for the day itself. The severe side of the system did its work overnight — the storm line crossed the region Monday night under a Tornado Watch that covered the western fringe counties until 11 p.m. — and what remains for Election Day is rain: steady, soaking, and timed exactly across voting hours.
The practical consequences are the ones voters can plan around. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Dallas and Tarrant Counties both let a voter use any vote center in their county — on a wet day, the nearest center beats the customary one, and the midday lull between the morning and evening line peaks is the driest errand window most workdays allow, in the sense that it is the shortest line rather than the driest hour. Rain gear is not optional equipment for the 7 p.m. line; anyone in line by 7 votes, however wet the wait.
Behind Election Day, the week clears fast. Wednesday codes dry and overcast in the feed — code 3, a high of 72.1, a low of 52.2, and a zero percent precipitation chance — the count-and-certify weather. Thursday carries only a light-drizzle code (51) at a 3 percent chance under a high of 77.9, and Friday is dry at 70.7. The election's weather story, in other words, is one day long — but it is the day.
