The United States is in for a long and wet winter this year, the Farmers' Almanac predicts.
The longstanding publication said this upcoming winter season will be defined by “rapid-fire storms that will bring both rain and snow, with little downtime in between.”
Although the winter solstice falls on Dec. 21, the Farmer’s Almanac said the coldest week of the season will be the end of January into February — particularly in the Northern Plains.
Arctic air will bring a “sharp plunge” to temperatures nationwide during that time, it said. Specifically, the forecast predicts that a very active winter storm with copious amounts of snow and sleet will affect most of the eastern half of the country during the last week of January, and therefore the almanac has “red flagged” January 20, 2025 through January 27, 2025.
The Farmers' Almanac said Texas residents should be on the lookout during the start of February for a possible snowstorm that could bring up to six inches of precipitation.
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Throughout the season, the coldest temperatures will be found from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes region, but areas east of the Rockies into the Appalachians will also experience many periods of cold conditions, the Farmers' Almanac predicts.
The Northeast, including New England, is expected to see above-normal amounts of winter precipitation, in addition to the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Midwest. The Southwest, Southern Plains and South Central states will all see below-average precipitation, according to the forecast, while the Pacific Northwest will be wet and unseasonably chilly.
The Farmers' Almanac said it developed the forecast using its established formula while factoring in La Niña, which is the cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific that is expected to emerge sometime between September and November.
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The last winter season, 2023 into 2024, was the warmest winter on record in the U.S., according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And this summer has been a season of extremes, with July 21 becoming the hottest day ever measured on Earth.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac, another popular almanac publication, is expected to release its winter predictions in a couple of weeks.