Before you know it, people will be running around frantically looking for bread and milk. We all want to know what to expect for the 2023-24 Winter season and the Farmers' Almanac recently put out their forecast. It's titled "the BRRR is Back!" which has me shaking my head and rolling my eyes already. I know a lot of people are big fans of their product, but I want to bring something to your attention. Take a look at the the map below...

Image credit: Farmers' Almanac

Pay close attention to the colored zones along with wording for each one. Now inspect the Farmers' Almanac forecast for the 2022-23 Winter season. Do you notice any glaring similarities? The map is exactly the same aside from slight changes in the wording! Last year they called for "unreasonably cold & snow" conditions and this year the outlook is "Cold, stormy" for our area. 

Image Credit: Farmers' Almanac

To make it even worse, it's not just the last 2 years in a row now that they have literally just changed the text on the exact same shading for every area in the country, but it goes back further than that!! Look at these next two maps from 2 & 3 years ago...

Image Credit: Farmers' Almanac

Image Credit: Farmers' Almanac

If the only changing the text on top of the same shading year in and year out isn't enough for you, then let's look back at last year's Winter and see if it would stand up to the "unreasonably cold & snowy" they predicted for us.

• Average Snowfall For Louisville: 13.3" 
  • 2022-23 Winter Snow Totals: 5.9"

Hmm...okay well let's check temperatures from last Winter, surely that'll be "unreasonably cold" like they said, right?

• Average November Temperature (highs & lows): 48.5°
  • Actual November Temperature: 49.2°

• Average December Temperature (highs & lows): 39.6°
  • Actual December Temperature: 39.4°

• Average January Temperature (highs & lows): 35.7°
  • Actual January Temperature: 43.3°

• Average February Temperature (highs & lows): 39.5°
  • Actual February Temperature: 47.4°

Well... that's not exactly "unreasonably cold" is it? While it is all in good fun, it is interesting to look back at previous Famers' Almanac "Outlooks" to see how they've stood up. We usually issue our WDRB Winter Outlook sometime in November. Be on the lookout!