In dead of summer, Farmers’ Almanac says to get ready for a ‘brisk’ winter, Washington

Shaun Goodwin
·2 min read
1

Is mid-August too soon to think about snow, hot cocoa and fuzzy socks? Perhaps. But it’s not too early for Farmers’ Almanac, which recently published its long-range forecast for winter 2022/23.

Farmers’ Almanac publishes its winter outlook every year with fairly uncanny accuracy, using a secret formula known only by a single person under the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee. The longtime weather forecasting website and publication claims that 80%-85% of its forecasts are accurate.

Farmers’ Almanac’s 2021/22 winter weather forecast had a 94.4% accuracy rate for whether a region would get more or less precipitation, but only a 50% accuracy rate on the average temperature.

For the 2022/23 winter outlook, Washington is grouped in the Pacific Northwest region with Idaho and Oregon. It’s looking like a fairly average, if not slightly colder than normal, winter for the Evergreen State.

Regarding rain and snow, the forecast states that “the Far West and the Pacific Northwest will see about-normal winter precipitation.”

Temperature-wise, the Farmers’ Almanac says that “the Pacific Northwest will see brisk/cool conditions, and the Southwest will be the mild area of the country, with near-normal winter temperatures.”

Farmers’ Almanac 2022-23 winter weather forecast is showing a fairly average winter for the Pacific Northwest, but “glacial” and “snow-filled” for the Great Plains and upper Midwest.
Farmers’ Almanac 2022-23 winter weather forecast is showing a fairly average winter for the Pacific Northwest, but “glacial” and “snow-filled” for the Great Plains and upper Midwest.

Nationwide outlook

One of the more significant winter storms of the season is expected in the first week of January across the Rockies and Great Plains, with snow reaching as far south as Oklahoma and Texas, according to the almanac.

Shortly after, from Jan. 16 to Jan. 23, the Farmers’ Almanac predicts heavy rain and snow across the eastern two-thirds of the United States and an outbreak of arctic air that could drop temperatures as low as 40 below zero.

It finally will warm up near the end of March with gusty winds, thunderstorms and the last few snowstorms of the season sweeping across the nation, the publication says.