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 2026-27 winter season, and the Farmers' Almanac recently released their forecast.
It's titled "Snow Sleet, & Surprises" 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 map below...
Image: Farmers' Almanac
Pay close attention to the colored zones along with the wording for each one. Now, inspect the Farmers' Almanac forecast for the 2025-2026 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 "Very Cold, Snowy" conditions, and this year the outlook is "Cold, Snowy Periods" for our area.
Image: 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: Farmers' Almanac
Image: Farmers' Almanac
They all use the exact same shading!Â
If 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 "Very Cold, Snowy" they predicted for us.
First, let's check the "Very Cold" part of that prediction:Â
- Average December temperature(highs & lows): 39.6°
- Actual December temperature:39.0°
- Average January temperature(highs & lows): 35.7°
- Actual January temperature:30.6°
- Average February temperature(highs & lows): 39.5°
- Actual February temperature: 39.4°   Â
Hmm...okay. January was certainly below average, so "very cold" held up there, but the other two months of winter were right around normal. Well, let's check precipitation from last Winter and we can see if that backs up their "snowy" part of their forecast...whatever "snowy" is equal to..?
- Average December Precipitation: 4.13" (2.2" snow)
- Actual December Precipitation: 2.29" (10.6" snow)
- Average January Precipitation: 3.39" (4.5" snow)
- Actual January Precipitation: 1.81" (6.6" snow)
- Average February Precipitation: 3.41" (4.1" snow)
- Actual February Precipitation: 1.11" (1.1" snow)
Last winter we had a decently snowy December where Louisville got 10.6" of snow for the month. That month was really above average. In February, the month was below normal for snow, and in January, 4.3" of the 6.6" in the month fell on one day. However, for the entire winter, we did end up around 5" above average for snow so the Farmers' Almanac actually did pretty well there.Â
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!
