The Iowa caucuses are on Monday — here's what you need to know

• The Iowa caucuses are a unique kind of voting event that will kick off the 2024 presidential primaries on Jan. 15.
• Subzero wind chills and a blizzard are forecast for Monday, exacerbating the logistical difficulties for voters who want to publicly support their candidates.
• Donald Trump has so far maintained the lead in Iowa, though a combination of factors could help candidates like Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy or Nikki Haley secure an upset come Monday night.

Iowa voters will bear subzero wind chills on Jan. 15 to sit in school gyms, churches and community centers and discuss who they want to be the next U.S. president.

The Iowa caucuses are the first voting events in the Republican presidential primary. They tend to provide an initial signal of which direction a presidential election is headed.

For GOP candidates who have been campaigning for months to unseat incumbent President Joe Biden, Iowa is a tipping point. It could provide candidates the momentum they need to close the polling gap with Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump. Or it could further confirm Trump's stranglehold on the Republican base and widen his path to the nomination.

What is a caucus?

A caucus is an in-person meeting where individuals convene to coordinate on a particular issue.

In the case of a presidential election, a caucus is where voters give and listen to speeches about candidates and then cast their votes. It is different from the now more common presidential primary structure, where voters go to polling places throughout Election Day and cast secret votes or mail those votes in remotely.

For the Republican caucus, there is no remote option. Voters must show up in person at their designated local precincts at a preset