Farmers' Almanac Predicts "Numbing Cold" This Winter

LEWISTON, Maine — Americans, you might want to check on their sweaters and shovels – the Farmers' Almanac is predicting a cold winter for many of you.

The venerable almanac's 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says numbing cold will predominate in the country's midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East.

Managing Editor Sandi Duncan says it's going to be an "ice cold sandwich."

"We feel the middle part of the country's really going to be cold – very, very cold, very, very frigid, with a lot of snow," she said. "On the East and West coasts, it's going to be a little milder. Not to say it's going to be a mild short winter, but it'll be milder compared to the middle of the country."

The almanac, which has been published since 1818, issues annual forecasts using a formula based on sunspots, planetary positions and the effects of the moon.

This winter, the 200-page publication says it'll be cool and snowy in the Northeast, bitterly cold and dry in the Great Lakes states, and cold and snowy across the North Central states.

It says the Northwest will be cool with average precipitation, the Southwest will be mild and dry, the South Central states will be cold and wet, and the Southeast will be mild and dry.

The almanac's forecast, however, is at odds with the National Weather Service, which is calling for warmer-than-normal temperatures across much of the country because of an El Nino system in the tropical Pacific Ocean, said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md.

"The stronger El Nino becomes, the more confident and the more likely it will be the northern part of the country will have a milder-than-average winter," Halpert said.

The almanac and the Weather Service agree on their predictions of warmer-than-usual conditions across much of the country next summer.

The Farmers' Almanac, not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer's Almanac, has a circulation of about 3.5 million.

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On the Net:

Farmers' Almanac: http://www.farmersalmanac.com/

Comments

[unami]

11:35 AM on 09/02/2009

The pre-nickel iron core ingestion era, of reduced gravity, say of I8 - 22 ft sec/sec provides answers to many puzzling questions. Go buy some gloves.

[econ1]

06:18 PM on 09/01/2009

Well at least we will finally know.

[rblackbird]

02:40 PM on 09/01/2009

The Farmer's Almanac properly and intelligen­tly employs sunspot records in preparing its forecasts. 2008, one of the coldest years on record, had a stretch of 52 days without sunspots. Today, the current blank period just ended at 51. 2008 had the second lowest number of sunspot days since 1913, an era of low temperatur­es. 2009 will come close to matching that record, if not exceed it.

The point here is the ionization of water vapor. Cosmic rays, electronic­ally- charged particles coming into our atmosphere from outside our solar system, initiate condensati­on of water vapor into droplets by ionization­. These droplets coalesce, forming clouds. The greater the cloud cover, the cooler the earth. Meanwhile, sunspots generate other charged particles known as the "solar wind." The solar particles work to reduce the cosmic rays entering the solar system. More sunspots, more solar wind, fewer cosmic rays = fewer clouds. However, fewer sunspots, less solar wind, more cosmic rays = more clouds. The current record of sunspot lows supports the Almanac's conclusion­.

This summer's temperatur­es are insturctiv­e. While a few places have had record highs, most regions have had record lows, particular­ly the mid-west where the Almanac forecasts bitter cold.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillatio­n also enters the equation. The PDO is a measure of sea surface temperatur­es (sst). When these temperatur­es go up PDO is "positive.­" When the ssts go down, PDO is "negative.­" NASA says that the PDO went negative in April, 2009. This means lower temperatur­es.

[DingoDave]

01:25 PM on 09/01/2009

Just wait until the freshwater melt from the arctic ice cap messes up the North Atlantic Current. You aint seen nothing yet! Better stock up on snuggies while they're still going cheap.

[MaxPowerXP]

10:06 AM on 09/02/2009

hey yeah, we saw that movie too *rolls eyes*

[scarletxoxoxo]

01:02 PM on 09/01/2009

Global Warming, how could you betray me? JERK!

[robjh1]

12:44 PM on 09/01/2009

That was an easy predicitio­n. What winter isn't cold. Duh???

"and we are not saved..."

[goodspkr]

03:18 PM on 09/02/2009

Robjh1-- With this statement you could become a guru for the global warming crowd. They keep scheduling protest and demonstrat­ions in the winter and get snowed out, etc. Last spring a group tried to go to the North Pole to show how global warming was melting all the ice. They got such bad weather they had to turn back.

[robjh1]

05:36 PM on 09/02/2009

LOL!

"and we are not saved..."

[ignorantwillyharper]

12:41 PM on 09/01/2009

I ask a friend of mine (we're both in our late sixties) if he thought we were going to have a bad winter. We live in Texas and he told me to check with come next April.

[eXcommunicate]

12:40 PM on 09/01/2009

Uh, Farmers' Almanac are not "experts." They fricken use the motion of the planets and stars to help "predict" the weather of the upcoming season. I'll stick with the NWS.

[goodspkr]

03:21 PM on 09/02/2009

Actually, they may be on to something. Some scientist believe sunspots are caused by alignments in the planets. The sun has an 11 year cycle which just happens to be the time it takes for Jupiter to orbit the sun. This isn't astrology, but astronomy and gravity is one of the major forces in the universe.

[RightWingMarine]

12:25 PM on 09/01/2009

we all know the solution to cold winters!

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=wIdP4UqKV­oQ&eurl=ht­tp%3A%2F%2­Fadamthink­s%2Ecom%2F­&feature=p­layer_embe­dded

[redsongia]

11:56 AM on 09/01/2009

Numbing cold in the Great Lakes region? Who knew?!

[jennytaylia]

11:23 AM on 09/01/2009

I really question how these almanacs come up with these "predictio­ns"... I suspect it's determined with chicken bones and goat entrails, or some other esoteric method....­......

[Lordsuhn]

11:55 AM on 09/01/2009

Oh no, they are more new agey - replace the entrails with planetary positions. Same level of woo though. Utter nonsense.

[Starling5]

04:32 PM on 09/01/2009

Idiots, both of you.

[moonflowerjewelry]

11:14 AM on 09/01/2009

i wish an end to the drought in southern california were predicted. i know this wasnt about global warming, but a lot of the comments are...
not too many big picture thinkers with people who quote big oil and xtian "scientist­s" who insist there is no real climate change. the weather in my hometown is radically different now than when i was a young child...

[MadHeart]

12:08 PM on 09/01/2009

We've been through almost a 10 yr drought in this part of NC ending this year, but the temps haven't really changed that much, except we also had a moderate, rainy summer instead of the high 90-100 degrees we've had for those years. Our winters do seem milder, though, with little snow or ice anymore.

[goodspkr]

03:36 PM on 09/02/2009

That depends upon when you were a child. I was a kid in the 50s when we were in a cold spell (1940-1975­) then it heated up (1975-2000­), and now it has started cooling again (I know it's only 10 years but it's 10 years without and new record temperatur­es).

Scientists have been watching sunspots for about 400 years. What they observed was the more sunspots the better the harvests (more sunspots mean warmer weather). The Farmers Almanac looks at sunspots, planetary motion, etc. to make their prediction­s. This year will be a good one to judge. They vary from the National Weather Service. Let's see who ends up closer to what actually will happen.

[MadHeart]

11:01 AM on 09/01/2009

I just go to my door and open it to find out what the weather is like. Go with the flow. Even the National Weather Service is wrong plenty of times around here. Weather prediction by anyone is a weak science, although I do believe in global warming. If it's bad now, what's it going to be like in 2050 when there are 9 Billion people on earth and everyone is wanting "the better life" in regard to material wealth?

[Rmath]

10:30 AM on 09/01/2009

Numbing cold? Did they also predict mind-numbi­ng stupidiy by those who oppose health care reform?

[mongoose63124]

11:37 AM on 09/01/2009

wow, no but they predicted with good certainty that they will be able to keep more of their earned income

[eXcommunicate]

12:41 PM on 09/01/2009

Yes, through lower premiums and health costs due to reforms. Excellent!

[den1953]

09:42 AM on 09/01/2009

I can see OPEC licking there chops already!