Winter In PA Will Be ‘Shivery And Snowy’: Old Farmer’s Almanac

PENNSYLVANIA — Winter will be “wet and mild” in the western U.S. and “shivery and snowy” elsewhere, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2022-23 winter forecast released Thursday. The publication called its forecast “a tale of two winters.”

“Depending on where you live, this will be the best of winters or memorable for all the wrong reasons,” Janice Stillman, the publication’s editor, said in a news release. “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.”

Along the Atlantic Corridor, including the extreme southeast corner of Pennsylvania, winter temperatures will be below normal, while precipitation and snowfall will be above normal. The coldest periods will be in early December, early and late January, and most of February. The snowiest periods will be in early to mid-January, late January, and in late February.

In the rest of Pennsylvania, winter also will be colder than normal, with near-normal precipitation and above-normal snowfall. The coldest periods will be early December, late January, and mid- to late February. The snowiest periods will be in early and late January and in February in the south.

So what’s shaping the weather?

According to the almanac, recent Solar Cycle 24 had the lowest level of solar activity in more than 100 years. “We are now early in Cycle 25, which is expected to peak around July 2025 and also bring diminished activity, which historically has meant cooler temperatures, on average, across
Earth.

“We believe that most of the U.S. will be colder than normal this winter, although summer will be mostly warmer than usual,” says the almanac. “In addition to a neutral to perhaps weak El Niño,
important weather influences will include a continued warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), a neutral to positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Oscillations are linked ocean–atmosphere patterns that can have
long-term effects on the weather.”

The forecast comes on the heels of the competing Farmers’ Almanac winter forecast, as well as AccuWeather’s autumn forecast, which calls for summer-like temperatures in many parts of the country.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac calls for some drought relief in the western half of the country, with lots of rain and temperatures several degrees above normal.

• Related: Autumn Is Coming; What Will The Weather Be Like Where You Live?

But farther east, get out the parkas and prepare for potentially record-breaking cold temperatures that will extend to the Deep South and Texas, where temperatures could be as much as 8 degrees Fahrenheit below normal.

The forecast also calls for above-average snow totals in areas that typically get snow.

• Related: What Does The Competing Farmer’s Almanac Say About Winter?

The Old Farmer’s Almanac claims 80 percent accuracy for its winter forecasts, which the publication has been making for 231 years.

The 2023 edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac went on sale Aug. 30.