January 12th 2024.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis braved the treacherous weather to make an appearance at the Northside Conservatives Club Meeting in Ankeny, Iowa. However, a powerful blizzard had other plans, disrupting not only DeSantis' campaign, but also the campaigns of his fellow candidates. The entire contiguous US was under extreme weather warnings, with blizzards hitting the upper Midwest and bringing heavy snowfall and 60-mile-per-hour winds, according to the National Weather Service.
As the first 2024 presidential contest in Iowa approached, temperatures were forecasted to plummet below zero degrees Fahrenheit, posing serious risks of frostbite and hypothermia. Zach Taylor, a meteorologist from the NWS's Weather Prediction Center, warned of the dangerously low temperatures and advised people to take precautions. In Des Moines, the state capital, the expected low was a bone-chilling minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Monday, the day of the caucuses, was predicted to be the coldest in the history of this crucial political event.
The extreme weather alerts covered all 48 states in the US, causing concern for the residents of Iowa who were preparing to vote. Despite the brutal conditions, DeSantis remained determined and made a brief visit to his campaign headquarters in Urbandale to meet with his volunteers. He reassured them that they could handle the snow, even though their campaign was based in Florida. They continued to knock on doors and hold events, undeterred by the harsh weather.
Meanwhile, 68-year-old Fred Shuster showed his dedication by braving the storm to attend DeSantis' campaign appearance in Ankeny. He expressed his concern about the weather and how it may impact the turnout for the caucuses. Even the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who had a one-on-one debate with DeSantis earlier in the week, had to cancel all three of her campaign events due to the weather. She held phone-in events instead, determined to share her vision for a strong and proud America.
Not even the former President Donald Trump, who is currently leading in the polls for the GOP nomination, could escape the wrath of the blizzard. He had to cancel his planned rally in Pella and instead, his campaign focused on the "10 for Trump" caucuses commitment, encouraging supporters to brave the cold and come out to vote.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls from January 5 to 11 showed Trump with 53% support, Haley with 17.8%, and DeSantis with 15.5%. As the snowstorm continued to rage on, all eyes were on Iowa to see how it would affect the turnout for the Republican Party's caucuses. And it wasn't just Iowa facing extreme weather – the west coast was also impacted, with 5.2 million people under blizzard alerts. In fact, all 48 states in the contiguous US were subject to some form of weather advisory, with a staggering 167 million people under high wind warnings.
This was the second winter weather system in just one week, and it was causing blizzard conditions across Iowa, adding even more challenges for voters preparing for the caucuses. The storm, which had originated in the Southern Plains, was now headed towards the Midwest and was expected to become a bomb cyclone. The effects were already being felt, with all flights grounded at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and over 5,000 flights canceled or delayed across the country.
Meteorologist Zach Taylor warned people to take this storm seriously, as it was undoubtedly dangerous. With the caucuses only days away, everyone was holding their breath to see how the weather would impact this crucial political event.
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