Reprinted From: The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2022
By Micaela Bahn Published: Aug 9, 2022
Even when the days grow shorter, there are a plethora of winter activities to keep you occupied during the chilly months. Ree Drummond, for one, will probably stay busy cooking up warm winter dinners and swinging an ax into her frozen cattle pond.
While Ree was “all about sledding, snowball fights, and snow days,” as a little girl, things changed a bit when she actually had to deal with the repercussions of snow. “Seeing what it takes to trudge through snow and ice to feed animals has been enough to turn me off of frigid weather forever,” she admits. Amen to that!
Well, it’s looking like half of us should join Ree and dust off our shovels this year. The Old Farmer’s Almanac released its winter weather predictions for 2022-2023, and it’s going to be a cold, wet, and weird season of weather.
Since 1792, the publication has released its extended weather forecast to help readers prepare for the winter ahead. Today, their predictions are measured against 30-year weather norms for each region and are traditionally 80% accurate.
So, what’s that mean for this year? “One half of the U.S. will be dealing with bone-chilling cold and loads of snow, while the other half may feel like winter never really arrives,” reports Janice Stillman, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
In other words? This winter is going to be “snow joke.”
An unusually shivery, stormy season is on schedule for half the nation. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that South East and South Central states will have cold, slushy winters. Residents in states like Montana, Minnesota, Illinois, and the Dakotas will want to hibernate while experiencing extremely frigid weather that could dip down to 40-below zero. The Northeast will also experience a particularly cold, snowy winter while the West and South West might not even notice that winter has arrived! “Depending on where you live, this will be the best of winters or memorable for all the wrong reasons,” says Janice.
P.S. Oklahomans and Texans will want to break out their parkas come January—it’s predicted to be the stormiest month with heavy snow during the first week of 2023!
The 2022/2023 Edition of the Almanac is available on August 17 nationwide.