Farmers' Almanac Winter Forecast: What's In Store For Connecticut

CONNECTICUT — Last year's winter in the Nutmeg State wasn't so bad — unless you owned a ski resort.

The Farmers’ Almanac has released its 2021-22 winter forecast, and it looks like Connecticut may get, not a White Christmas, but a miserable January and a nor’easter-challenged March.

Winter officially begins with the winter solstice on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and the long-range forecast suggests the spring equinox on March 20 could be more winter-like than spring-like.

In Connecticut, the Farmers' Almanac winter forecast calls for winter’s chill to start gradually. But overall, January will be stormy along the Atlantic Seaboard where an active storm track will lead to a stretch of precipitation in various forms: rain, snow, sleet, and ice.

In sharp contrast, February will average out to be a much quieter month in terms of storminess. The weather wizards calculate that on average there will be 57 percent fewer days of measurable precipitation compared to January, a significant drop-off. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that storminess will be completely absent. The Farmers' Almanac is forecasting a "winter whopper" for this area and parts of Ohio Valley toward the end of February.

March will be a microcosm of the entire winter. From start to finish, the month will be full of stretches of uneventful weather, but when it turns stormy, the precipitation will come in big doses. A late winter storm will blow in at mid-month followed by a nor’easter along the East Coast toward month's end, according to the Farmers' Almanac.

Across America, the Farmers’ Almanac is calling for near-normal amounts of snow, though perhaps not as much as people who spend the winter playing in the snow might prefer. Notably, the forecast calls for:

The Great Lakes and Northeast can expect potent winter storms — heavy snow, rain or a wintry mix of both — during the second week of January, the final week of February and the second week of March. The Northern Plains and Rockies may see a blizzard the third week of January.

The publication expects January to start out mild for most of the country, becoming colder toward the middle or latter part of the month. Overall, January will be stormy, especially along the Atlantic Seaboard, with bouts of rain, snow, sleet and ice.

The Farmers’ Almanac, established in 1818, publishes its annual extended winter forecast every August.