Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts ‘bone-chilling,’ snowy winter

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

The editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac Janice Stillman said that during the upcoming winter, half of the U.S. will feel like winter “never really arrives,” while the other will “deal with bone-chilling cold and loads of snow.”

The almanac’s prediction puts Ohio solidly in the middle of the latter category.

According to a release, while most of the Western parts of the country were predicted to see a “mild, wet” winter, the almanac is predicting a large band encompassing much of the Midwest and the East Coast will have a winter it describes as “Shivery & Snowy.”

The prediction includes potentially record-breaking cold and above-average snowfalls.

Unusual cold for the 2022-2023 winter will also include parts of the Deep South and Texas.

“This winter will be filled (with) plenty of shaking, shivering, and shoveling,” Farmers’ Almanac said.

The publication expects people in the Great Lakes areas, Northeast and North Central states will experience a winter that might send them into “hibernation.” Specifically, Almanac staff believes some Midwest states will experience “extremely cold temperatures” — potentially as cold as minus-40 degrees — in mid-January.

But the Midwest isn’t the only region that should be prepared to bundle up.

Many Eastern states will have unreasonably cold and snowy weather, the publication predicts. The Pacific Northwest is expected to see normal precipitation, but the Southwest region may see a drier-than-normal winter.

The Almanac says it has been using the same weather-predicting formula — “based on math” — for over 200 years. Readers say it is accurate about 85% of the time, according to the publication.

The National Weather Service believes much of the Midwestern region has “equal chances” of having below-normal or above-normal winter temperatures and precipitation.

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