It's in the 231st edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac, which says it has an 80-percent accuracy rate with its weather forecasts.
“Depending on where you live, this will be the best of winters or memorable for all the wrong reasons,” said Janice Stillman, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. “One half of the country will deal with bone-chilling cold and loads of snow, while the other half may feel like winter never really arrives.”
Most of the Northeast will see a “cold, snowy” winter, according to the almanac's forecast graphic.
"The coldest periods will be in early and late January and late February," the Old Farmer's Almanac says. "Precipitation will be above normal. Snowfall will be below normal in the north and above normal in the south, with the snowiest periods in early to mid-December and the first half of January."
Areas in the country that will see milder conditions are mainly in the southwest and west, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
A separate, unaffiliated outlet, Farmers' Almanac, earlier released its outlook, calling for a harsh winter.
The Old Farmer's Almanac said it uses three scientific disciplines to make long-range predictions:
- Meteorology, the study of the atmosphere;
- Climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns.
- Solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity.
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