News, Farmers' Almanac Predicts Plenty of Snow in East, Mild Winter in West. (tornado, warm)
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LEWISTON, Maine — Keep your boots, long johns and snow shovels handy this winter if you live in the East, the Farmers' Almanac's forecast suggests. Residents of the West, however, can look forward to a milder winter this time around.
"Mother Nature is going to be sort of two-faced," almanac editor Peter Geiger said.
The almanac's 2008 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, foresees plenty of snow across the Northeast, temperatures averaging as much as 3 degrees below normal along most of the Atlantic Coast, and four major frosts as far south as Florida. The Great Lakes region will also take a pounding.
The outlook is tamer for the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the desert Southwest and the Pacific Coast, but Geiger said snow in Colorado will be more than adequate for skiing.
Other predictions include a cool, wet spring in many places, active tornado and hurricane seasons and a warmer-than-normal summer in much of the country.
The forecasts are prepared two years in advance by the almanac's reclusive prognosticator, who goes by the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee and uses a secret formula based on sunspots, the position of the planets and the tidal action of the moon. Weatherbee has already completed his 2009 forecast, Geiger said.
FOXNews.com - Farmers' Almanac Predicts Plenty of Snow in East, Mild Winter in West - Science News | Current Articles (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294695,00.html - broken link)
I don't know the percentages. But, I do know that my grandmother said that farmers would not plant until they checked their almanac. And there are many old timers around here that still feel the same. The new books sell very well in my neck of the woods.
I remember reading that the Farmer's Almanac got it's popularity for predicting some very strange weather that was supposed to happen in a 24 hour period. It was something like rain and hail and snow. That particular day had been left blank and someone just randomly filled it in. WELL, supposedly all three of those things did happen that day.
Are you serious? Fox News has the Farmers' Almanac listed in its "Science News" section?
Is that where I can also find my horoscope and get a tarot card reading?
Bloomberg covered the story too, along with the Boston Globe and dozens of other news outlets. It actually gets press coverage every year. They get their predictions from an anonymous source that uses planetary alignment, tidal actions of the moon and sunspots. So it is somewhat scientific, and considering the research was highly scientific when it began in 1818 considering the tools they had, its simply a longheld tradition to continue using similar methods.
Bloomberg covered the story too, along with the Boston Globe and dozens of other news outlets.
Mainstream papers also publish Groundhog Day predictions and horoscopes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnbound2day
They get their predictions from an anonymous source that uses planetary alignment, tidal actions of the moon and sunspots. So it is somewhat scientific, and considering the research was highly scientific when it began in 1818 considering the tools they had, its simply a longheld tradition to continue using similar methods.
This is a legitimate point because the Farmers' Almanac has continued to update their methods to include more sophisticated forecasting models as times have changed. The problem with relying on scientific or any other long-term forecast models is that they're generally not very accurate. A typical long-range weather forecast is usually about 10% more reliable than flipping a coin to make your decisions. Which is better than 50-50, so I reckon that's worth something in the terribly unpredictable world of long-term weather forecasting and farming.
TOFA were dead wrong last winter here so I'm sure they'll be wrong again for my region at least.
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