Pittsburgh 2024-25 Winter Weather: What Farmers' Almanac Forecasts

PITTSBURGH, PA — Autumn doesn't even officially begin for another month, but winter will be here before you know it - and it could be a rough one for Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, according to the Farmers' Almanac.

In fact, the 208th edition of the Farmers' Almanac is predicting a "Wet Winter Whirlwind" for the 2024-2025 winter season. Its forecast calls for rapid-fire storms that will bring both rain and snow, with little downtime in between.

The annual periodical's 2025 edition, out now, predicts that the Great Lakes will have some of the nation's coldest temperatures this winter. The region will not be spared from a sharp plunge in temperatures during the last week of January and the beginning of February that will put nearly the entire nation into a deep freeze.

The Farmers' Almanac says it is "red flagging" the final full week of January over most of the nation's eastern half. Expect a very active storm track with frequent bouts of heavy precipitation along with strong gusty winds.

Why will it be such a cold and wet winter in most areas? The Farmers' Almanac says to blame La Niña, the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. La Nina is expected to develop and hang on through the season.

The Farmers Almanac claims an annual forecasting accuracy percentage of between 80 percent and 85 percent. Its prediction methods, developed by the periodical's founding editor more than 200 years ago, involves correlations between celestial events and various meteorological conditions; fluctuations in the planet's environment; sunspots; the motion of the moon and other proprietary factors.