Snow Ahead? Here's Farmers' Almanac's Winter Prediction For NC

NORTH CAROLINA — While much of the southeast is enduring a dry, hot summer this year, it won't be long before things will get chilly throughout the region, the Farmers' Almanac said in its recently released its long-range 2021-2022 winter forecast for North Carolina.

The Farmers' Almanac calls this year's forecast the "frosty flip-flop winter" that includes weather that's "a little too frosty for some and not enough flip-flop for others."

Here in North Carolina, we're likely in for a winter that is "quite chilly" with a "mixed bag of precipitation," according to the almanac.

The Old Farmer's Almanac forecast was originally based on a still-secret formula developed by founder Robert B. Thomas of Dublin, New Hampshire. Thomas believed magnetic solar storms influenced the Earth's weather. His notes remain locked away at the almanac's offices, but they provide the basis of a new forecast model informed by weather, solar and atmospheric science.

The secret formula used by the Farmers' Almanac is based on sunspot activity, tidal forces resulting from the moon's gravitational pull, planetary alignment and other factors. It's known only by the almanac's weather prognosticator, who goes by the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee.

Winter officially arrives in the United States on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, and according to Farmers' Almanac forecasters, will be filled with loads of changeable, possibly colder than normal weathr in our region.

Here's a snapshot of what the Farmers' Almanac says could be in store across America:

• This winter will have snow, with "near-normal amounts of the white stuff from coast to coast."
• A cold, stormy January is expected throughout much of the country, especially along the Atlantic Seaboard, which could see storms that bring rain, snow, sleet and ice.
• More "frigid and flaky" winter weather is expected this year in the Southern Great Plains, including Texas and Oklahoma.
• A quiet February is expected throughout the U.S., particularly in the eastern third, where the almanac predicts "on average there will be 57 percent fewer days of measurable precipitation compared to January."
• That said, a "winter whopper" could occur in late February in areas of the Northeast and Ohio Valley, as an "atmospheric hemorrhage" could dump strong winds and heavy snot and rains in the West.
• A late winter storm could occur in mid-March in the East and Midwest, leading to a nor'easter along the East Coast in late March.
• Winter temperatures in the eastern third of the U.S. are expected to range from near- to somewhat-below normal this winter.

Read more about the Farmers' Almanac for the 2021-2022 winter here.