Gov. Beverly Perdue has lifted the state of emergency.

Spokewoman Chrissy Pearson said that the Emergency Operations Center has also been deactivated.

Perdue had declared the emergency Tuesday after winter weather left a half-foot of snow aross the state, shutting schools and slowing traffic.

Two capital reporters say the snow has been good for the governor.

In his "This Old State" blog, Charlotte Observer editor Jack Betts writes that Gov. Beverly Perdue's unannounced visit with N.C. Department of Transportation workers helped strengthen her message that she'll be more hand's on than former Gov. Mike Easley.

It seems as though we've seen more of the governor in the 10 days she's been in office that we saw of her predecessor over the last year, though that's surely not the case. Still, the new governor seems to relish public appearances in a way that Mike Easley never did.

Meantime, WUNC's Laura Leslie writes on Hunter's Tavern that Perdue is also doing well at not being seen — in particular, skipping the presidential inaugural events in Washington.

"I think it was a savvy call," she writes. "Even if she'd paid for the trip out of her own pocket, the resulting photos of her at balls and parties would’ve been hard to swallow for state employees and other NC workers facing the very real possibility of losing their jobs."

Meteorology and political science have a lot in common.

Both deal with forecasts that often turn out to be wrong. Both involve figuring out how larger systems will affect local conditions. And both are as much an art as a science.

And both might have something to say about today.

As rain falls in the Triangle, Greenville and Charlotte this morning, some have wondered whether that might affect the state's races. In fact, three political scientists studied the old saw and found that there was a relationship between bad weather and poor turnout:

We find that, when compared to normal conditions, rain significantly reduces voter participation by a rate of just less than 1% per inch, while an inch of snowfall decreases turnout by almost .5%. Poor weather is also shown to benefit the Republican party's vote share.

The authors say bad weather may have affected the 1960 and 2000 presidential elections. 

There are some countervailing forces. More than 40 percent of the state's registered voters have already cast their ballots, reducing the expected long lines and banking some votes. 

Also, it's not really raining that bad, although with such tight races every factor is worth considering. 

It's raining in Raleigh.

A storm front moved into the Triangle in the early morning. Though rain had tapered off somewhat by the time polls opened a few minutes ago, it's still enough to drench someone waiting in a line to vote.

Normally, this would cause concern among some Democrats, as political scientists believe bad weather depresses turnout especially among Democratic voters. But the combination of high interest and a massive early voting effort would probably mitigate that effect.

Also, it's raining in Greenville, home to a fair number of Republicans.

At least Mother Nature is bipartisan.