FOX 17 – Now that the weather is starting to feel a little more fall-like, some people (some) are wondering what the winter will be like.
And the Farmers’ Almanac has a new phrase to learn and love for the upcoming winter: The Polar Coaster.
The annual forecast says that this winter will be full of “ups and downs” and “the worst of the bitterly cold winter conditions will affect areas east of the Rockies all the way to the Appalachians.”
That means Michigan.
The coldest outbreak of the season is forecast for late January and early February. Which, coincidently was about the time the Polar Vortex got ramped up last winter. Heavy snowfall and ice storms are predicted for earlier in January.
The Farmers’ Almanac has been making weather predictions since 1818. The editors say that they don’t use satellite technology, weather lore or groundhogs in making their predictions, but use a “mathematical and astronomical” formula that measures things like sunspot activity, tides and planetary positioning.
For a more scientific look, the FOX 17 meteorologists look at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service. The three-month outlook, which would stretch to mid-November, calls for warmer than average temperatures and near average precipitation. Updates to that forecast come out periodically.
