Rob Ford's approval rating is soaring high in the wake of the Toronto ice storm, at least if you trust the polling methods of Forum Research. According to the firm and the Toronto Sun, the Mayor's approval rating is up to 47 per cent from 42 per cent back on December 9th. Perhaps even more telling of the positive response to his handling (but was it really him?) of the ice storm is that 41 per cent of respondents indicated they'd vote for Ford in the 2014 municipal election, up 8 per cent from the same December poll.

It's obviously way too early for any of these numbers to have lasting significance, but they do paint a picture of a mayor whose popularity is on the rise. In the more hypothetical sphere, should a Toronto election with five of the most talked about candidates go down today, Forum projects the results as follows: Ford takes 35 per cent of the vote, Olivia Chow would comes in at 30 per cent, John Tory pulls 22 percent, while TTC chair Karen Stintz and David Soknacki would get 12 and 8 per cent respectively.

Despite all this seemingly good news for Ford, it's worth noting that 54 per cent of people interview for this poll said that would not vote for the incumbent. So while it's possible Ford might make some inroads with voters fed up of his scandalous ways, the jury is still out on whether he has a chance at reelection.

Photo by HiMY SYeD in the blogTO Flickr pool.