A popular weather resource is predicting a cold and stormy winter for the United States.
The Farmers’ Almanac recently released its 2023-24 winter outlook with the tagline “The Brr is Back.”
For those keeping track, winter officially arrives on Dec. 21.
“After a weird and warm winter season last year, this winter should make cold weather fans rejoice – especially those in the Great Lakes, Midwest and northern New England areas,” Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmers’ Almanac, says on the publication’s website.
Farmers in states like Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa and Missouri can expect cold weather with average snowfall, the almanac says.
In 2022-23, Nebraska received 14.3 inches of snow, data shows, while Colorado averages almost 68 inches of snow per winter.
Farmers to the south of the Midwest, especially those in Texas, should be ready for unsteady weather.
“According to Farmers’ Almanac 2024, Texans should prepare for an unseasonably cold and stormy winter season ahead,” a seasonal summary says.
In addition, people along the I-95 corridor between Washington and Boston could have “lots of rain/sleet and snowstorms to contend with.”
Other highlights from the almanac for this winter include:
- Unseasonably cold temperatures coming into the southeast in mid-February,
- Lots of cold temperatures and storms for the south-central U.S. in the middle of January, and
- A possible late-season storm over New England during the third week of April.
As far as when winter will end, March won’t let it go that easily.
The month could “go out like a lion, with stormy conditions nationwide,” the almanac’s extended forecast says.
Some farmers use livestock to predict the kind of weather ahead.
In 2018, for example, an engineer with Environment and Climate Change Canada used a pig’s spleen to help identify if cold weather is in the forecast.
The spleen’s thickness and ridge of fat that runs down the center of the spleen can help with predictions.
A thickening of the spleen could indicate the pig ate more to prepare for colder temperatures.
Do you have any strategies to predict the weather? Let Farms.com know about it!
