Super Tuesday voters will have to contend with severe weather

On the eve of the Super Tuesday primary elections, most of the participating states are preparing for severe weather, heavy rains and flooding.

Posted 10:57 a.m. Mar 2, 2020 — Updated 10:57 a.m. Mar 2, 2020

Allison Chinchar

, CNN

CNN — On the eve of the Super Tuesday primary elections, most of the participating states are preparing for severe weather, heavy rains and flooding.

There are 14 states holding primaries on Tuesday: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Severe weather threats are stretching across many of those states, with rain exceeding 6 inches in some spots, said CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

The best bet for voters heading to the polls in states with a severe threat would be to go in the morning, when the severe potential is at its lowest for the day.

More than 20 million people in southern states -- that include Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi -- may experience some strong to severe storms, primarily threatening damaging winds and hail.

The heaviest rain will extend from Dallas to Atlanta. Rain will be more isolated across the Northeast, but for areas of Vermont and Maine, that rain will be mixed with snow at times.

Threat of flooding

The other concern for southeastern states is the threat of flooding. Many states in that region, including Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina, already have a saturated ground thanks to an abundance of rainfall the first two months of the year.

Several locations across these states have picked up more than a foot of rain above normal for this time of year. So even 1 to 2 inches of rain from this next system could trigger flash flooding in these areas.

In 2008, Super Tuesday was stormy in the Southeast. There were more than 500 official storm reports from 15 states, with 131 of those being tornado reports. Some polling locations in Tennessee and Arkansas were forced to close after several destructive tornadoes touched down.

Thankfully, that level of severe weather is not forecast this year, but it only takes one powerful storm to impact voter turnout.

Multiple bands of rain and storms will continue in the Gulf Coast and the Southeast through Thursday, with up to 4 inches in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

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