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Sweater weather is on its way, and that's just the start for what The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts for this winter.
Dating back to 1792, the Almanac has helped folks prepare for winter’s worst with its 80 percent–accurate weather forecasts. That's a 230 year track record of predicting blizzards, mild winters and more weather to help farmers and civilians prepare for what to eat, how to resource and more. The publication uses three scientific disciplines to make long-range predictions: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns; and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. Predictions are made by comparing trends and events to historical patterns and conditions with current solar activity.
And those predictions look bleak for those who hate the cold weather. The Old Farmer's Almanac is dubbing this upcoming winter, the "Season of Shivers," and unfortunately that chill doesn't spare New York City. While upstate New York is predicted to have a cold and dry season, New York City is expected to reap the benefits of a "cold and snowy" winter.
“This coming winter could well be one of the longest and coldest that we’ve seen in years,” says Janice Stillman, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
This year's weather predictions are impacted by the early stages of Solar Cycle 25, which is expected to bring very low solar activity and is historically associated with cooler temperatures, on average, across the planet. Other important weather-shaping factors include a weak La Niña (that is, the periodic event which cools ocean temperatures), a continued warm phase in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), a neutral to positive phase in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the early stages of its warm cycle.
Climate change is here, we're experiencing it and New Yorkers are going to need to layer up this winter.