CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Just when you thought you had gotten over
last winter, be warned: The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts it will be
super cold with a slew of snow for much of the country, even in places
that don't usually see too much of it, like the Pacific Northwest.
If
you don't want to read about those four-letter words, there's plenty
more to peruse in the folksy, annual book of household tips, trends,
recipes and articles, such as animal jealousy, the history of shoes and
anticipation for the biggest Supermoon in decades in November 2016.
Otherwise,
look for above-normal snow and below-normal temperatures for much of
New England; icy conditions in parts of the South; and frigid weather in
the Midwest. The snowiest periods in the Pacific Northwest will be in
mid-December, early to mid-January and mid- to late February, the
almanac predicts.
"Just about everybody who
gets snow will have a White Christmas in one capacity or another,"
editor Janice Stillman said from Dublin, New Hampshire, where the
almanac is compiled. It's due out in the coming week.
The
almanac says there will be above normal-rainfall in the first half of
the winter in California, but then that will dry up and the drought is
expected to continue. "We don't expect a whole lot of relief," Stillman
said.
The weather predictions are based on a
secret formula that founder Robert B. Thomas designed using solar
cycles, climatology and meteorology. Forecasts emphasize how much
temperature and precipitation will deviate from 30-year averages
compiled by government agencies.
No one's
perfect, and some meteorologists generally pooh-pooh the Almanac's
forecasts as too unscientific to be worth much. The almanac, which
defends its accuracy for its predictions overall, says its greatest
errors were in underestimating how far above normal California
temperatures and Boston-area snowfall would be, although it did predict
both would be above normal.
The
record-breaking winter in Boston dumped more than 110 inches of snow on
the city. The almanac doesn't call for as much this year.
The
224-year-old almanac, believed to be the oldest continually published
periodical in North America, is 26 years older than its closest
competitor, "The Farmers' Almanac," published in Maine and due out later
in August.
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