Farmer's Almanac Says Winter 2017 Will Be Extra Awful Because Life Can Be Cruel

countryliving.com ^ | Aug. 11, 2016 | DIANA BRUK

[PROCON]

We know, we know. It's August and it's hot and humid and it seems like it will never be cold again. But:

~SNIP~

And you better start preparing because according to the Long Range Weather Forecast released by The Old Farmer's Almanac, this one is going to be a real doozy.

Every region of the U.S. will be hit with a different type of terrible. The Northeast and Midwest can expect "colder than normal" temperatures and precipitation is supposed to be "above normal." If you're in the Pacific Northwest, you can expect a lot of rain and chilly weather. And in the Intermountain and Appalachian regions, where ski enthusiasts would actually like cold temperatures and lots of snow, it's set to largely be warmer and less snowy than usual. Great.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“A group of Indians came to their chief and asked “Will it be a bad winter?” The chief, who was young, had not paid attention to the elders and did not know the signs. He told them to go start cutting firewood and he would tell them when they returned. He then snuck off and consulted the National Weather Service. He asked them, “Will it be a bad winter?”

“Probably,” was the answer.

When the men returned the chief told them it would be a bad winter and to go cut more firewood. Just to be sure, the chief called the Weather Service again and asked, “Are you sure it’s going to be a bad winter?”

“It looks like it,” was the answer.

So when the woodcutters returned he again sent them out to cut more wood. Once more he called the Weather Service and asked, “Are you really sure it’s going to be a bad winter?”

“Yes. A very bad winter,” they said.

“How do you know?” asked the chief.

“Because the Indians are cutting wood like crazy!”

[lonevoice]

If you're in the Pacific Northwest, you can expect a lot of rain and chilly weather.

If that's the worst this winter has in store for us, it's sure not as bad as it could be. It would make for extremely icy roads, however. It's a very good time to be considering a good, wintertime AWD vehicle with traction control: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/09/survey-rates-suv-and-wagon-performance-in-snow/index.htm

[PROCON]

Here in Eastern Washington State we usually get plenty of snow and my AWD Ford Explorer handles perfectly in the mess.

[Organic Panic]

I thought we were never going to have another winter. We weren’t even suppose to be alive from all the super hurricanes that would wipe out the eastern half of the USA. And no arctic ice. And polar bears would eat all the penguins...

[lonevoice]

Thanks! As does my AWD MB with studded Gislaved snow tires. I live at the top of a very steep hill, and can usually get up it during icy or snowy conditions when many others can’t.

If I was in the market for an affordable winter vehicle with excellent reviews specific to wintertime driving conditions, I’d be looking at a Subaru Outback. In the Consumer Reports link on my previous post, Subaru took the top 3 spots out of the fifty-three AWD/4WD vehicles tested for winter driving conditions. If you put some snow tires on one of those, I think it would be very hard to beat.

[FreedomPoster]

#4

Though we don’t get much snow here in ATL, it’s good for rain and ice, too. And we tend to visit KY at Christmas, which does typically get snow.

[kagnew]

“Well I better start cutting down those trees for firewood.”

Something must be afoot....I’ve lived in south central Texas since February 1979 and this is the first time I can ever remember that we are going to be getting possibly 4 days of rain at this time in August. To my knowledge it hasn’t happened in the 37 and a half years I’ve lived here. Usually we are smoking hot for ALL OF AUGUST.

[lonevoice]

#4, the Audi Q5? That’s a nice car.

[SkyPilot]

The Northeast and Midwest can expect "colder than normal" temperatures and precipitation is supposed to be "above normal."

I have my partial solution in my garage:

[upchuck]

Vitamin D is cheap. Take a 5000iu pill a day. Does wonders at scaring away illness too.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Is it?

[daniel1212]

But given that it claims to have an 80 percent accuracy rate and that its predictions about last year's brutal winter were pretty much spot-on, we're not going to take our chances.

We can be assured that whatever the regional weather is, the "Experts" will attribute it to Man-Made Global WarmingTM

The Farmers' Almanac will only state publicly that their method is a "top secret mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action, planetary position and many other factors." The Almanac's forecaster is referred to by the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee.[1] According to the publishers, the true identity of the forecaster is kept secret to prevent him or her from being "badgered".[2] -

Publishers point to "many longtime Almanac followers claim that our forecasts are 80% to 85% accurate" on their website.[1] Professional meteorologists refute this pointing to historical results of below 50 percent accuracy rate. "The ability to predict events that far in advance is zero," according to Penn State meteorologist Paul Knight [3][4] Past American Meteorological Society president Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd has criticized the use of that space weather and sunspots as a weather forecasting tool noting this is "not common meteorological practice ."[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_Almanac#Weather_prediction

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the ping.