As fall comes around with all of its leafy, pumpkin-spice glory, many wonder what the coming months hold in store. As much as we love the holiday season, the snow and ice that accompany it aren't as welcome. The Farmer's Almanac Forecast for this coming winter says that this winter will be a "season of shivers," so get ready to bundle up!
The Old Farmer's Almanac has been giving weather predictions for many years, with about an 80% accuracy rate. It makes its long-range forecasts using a combination of solar science, climatology and meteorology, comparing solar patterns and historical weather data with the current solar activity to best predict the future trends.
Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast
As for this upcoming winter, the almanac's editor, Janice Stillman, has said that it may be "one of the longest and coldest that we've seen in years." However, the weather patterns are also predicted to do lots of flip-flopping, so be prepared for changing conditions and winter temperatures. This map shows the overall winter prediction for each part of the country.
The winter forecast predicts above-average precipitation and below-average temps in New England, the Ohio Valley, northern areas of the Deep South, and in New Mexico. Looking at the country as a whole, there should be slightly below-normal temperatures in the eastern-third of the country, well-below normal in central states, and average temperatures in the west and Pacific Northwest.
The almanac's winter weather forecast shows that this cool weather will begin gradually. At the start of January, the temperature will be mild, but by mid to late-January, the cold will set in. This month will also be stormy, especially along the Atlantic, where a winter storm will cause precipitation in the form of sleet, rain, snow and ice in the Great Lakes and Northeast.
The Great Lakes, Midwest, and Ohio Valley will have a particularly cold and snowy January, with a potential blizzard in the Northern Plains and Rockies. Many Texans are wondering whether there'll be another storm like the one that hit in February last winter. The Almanac does predict cold and snowy conditions in Texas at the end of January, but they don't look as bad as last year.
Come February, Mother Nature's storms are predicted to quiet down for most of the month. However, at the end of the month the Farmer's Almanac predicts a big storm coming in from the Pacific in parts of the Northeast and Ohio Valley, with a wintry mix of strong wind, lots of snow, and heavy rain. Unfortunately, the snowstorms probably won't be enough to relieve the West from the drought conditions in that area of the country.
As for March, winter predictions show that the month will be full of calm weather, but when storms do hit, they'll have larger mounts of precipitation. There is a predicted winter storm blowing in in the middle of the month in the East and Midwest, along with with one on the East Coast at the end of March. Get ready to bundle up!
