A ‘polar coaster’ will bring ‘frigid and snowy’ winter to Midwest, Farmers’ Almanac warns

It’s August, which means “winter” is still a dirty word for many of us. Parts of the country are still experiencing record-setting heat and strong storms that characterize this time of year.

But the Farmers’ Almanac is already looking ahead toward colder days —much colder days, according to its predictions.

The 2020 Farmers’ Almanac says the Midwestern states from Missouri to Colorado should expect “frigid and snowy” weather during what they’re calling a “polar coaster” of a winter, complete with above-average precipitation.

The northern plains and Great Lakes areas should expect the coldest temps, the winter’s most frigid temperatures arriving near the end of January and early February, according to the almanac.

First published in 1792, the Farmers’ Alamanac is an annual pamphlet of weather predictions, according to its website. It uses “a secret formula that was devised by the founder of this Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792. Thomas believed that weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots, which are magnetic storms on the surface of the Sun.”

But is it accurate? Many people are skeptical.

“They apparently don’t consider any of the advancements made in meteorology since 1792. That means that they don’t consider El Nino / La Nina, other important oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns, data from satellites, nor guidance from computer models,” meteorologist Paul Gross wrote for WDIV.

In a report by the Des-Moines Register, the Iowa newspaper compared its last five years of winter weather to the almanac’s predictions. The almanac predicted the winter of 2018-2019 to be “colder than normal... teeth-chattering cold,” but temps were less the five degrees below average.

The near-normal temperatures predicted for the winter of 2015-2016, were actually seven to eight degrees above normal, according to the newspaper.

But as for this year, only time will tell if the predictions come to pass.