LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Way back in the month of August the Farmer’s Almanac released its prediction for the upcoming winter season. Their forecast states that below-average temperatures and quote “many snowstorms, sleet, ice and rain” are to be expected for much of the Great Lakes and Mid-West areas – particularly in January and February.
It even goes as far as predicting that the second week of January will be stormy, snowy and wet for both the Pacific and East Coast. Along with a potential blizzard for the first week of March in the North Central States. Overall, according to the almanac – it looks like no matter where you are in the country you can expect cold wintry temperatures and stormy conditions.
But can you actually rely on and trust these forecasts?
Well, if you want to bet on their forecasts, that’s entirely up to you. But before you do so – I would like to point out a few things.
First – we don’t actually know who or exactly how the farmer’s almanac makes its predictions. According to their website, the name of the weather forecaster is kept a secret, and that person processes an *exclusive secret* mathematical and astronomical formula that was created back in 1818. The only thing that we do know about that formula is that it incorporates various elements like quote – sunspot activity, the position of the planets, tidal activity and *more* – at least according to their website.
The other thing to note is that even though the almanac claims their forecasts are 80 to 85% accurate, research shows that only about half the forecasts ever produced by the Farmer’s Almanac were correct. So no more often than not – the forecasts are not accurate.
But the almanac does use some very general terms in their predictions. So, I will point out that yes… at one point in this upcoming winter season the almanac is likely to be right… because let’s face it… we live in Michigan. So, we are bound to see cold and stormy conditions at some point.
But no matter how this winter plays out, be sure to stay tuned for your local forecast from the *meteorologists* you actually know on your StormTracker 6 Weather Team.
