Almanac Warns Of 'Numbing Cold' Winter And Snow Ahead For Midwest
By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2016 9:00PM
The “Return of the Ice Cold Winter” is upon us after the autumn, at least according to the Farmers Almanac. Famed for its annual long-term forecasts—not to mention generally terminal levels of folksiness—the Almanac predicts that “exceptionally cold conditions” will hit many parts of the country, including here in the Midwest.
“February is the month to really be ready for cold conditions,” said Editor Peter Geiger, Philom. Any snowfall would be white and would fall from a blue-tinted sky, he added. No, he in fact said, “according to our long-range outlook, many places will see downright frigid temperatures this month, some as low as 40 degrees below zero!” The outlook for the Midwest calls for "Numbing Cold and Snowy."
The Almanac’s predictive formula is a self-described “closely guarded secret.” Charles Mott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service-Chicago, told Chicagoist that while the NWS is often aware of the Farmers’ Almanac predictions, they do not incorporate their forecasts into their own.
So what does the NWS say?
For the time being there’s no reason to suspect particularly frigid temps this winter, but we could very well see higher-than-average precipitation. According to the service’s most recent seasonal outlook maps, the timeframe between November and April shows an equal chance of temperatures falling above or below average. As for precipitation there’s again an equal chance of falling in line with averages from November through December; but the back leg of winter is much higher: there’s a roughly 40 percent chance that precipitation levels will be above average levels January through April.
And as NBC points out, if the rumored La Niña comes to pass, that could indeed lead to heavier snowfall.
It's never too early to start thinking about those dibs markers, eh?
Courtesy Farmers' Almanac