Almanac Predicts Bitterly Cold Winter for Parts of U.S. :(

Almanac Predicts Bitterly Cold Winter for Parts of U.S.

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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/09/02/almanac.winter.predictions/index.html

Almanac predicts bitterly cold winter for parts of U.S.

•The Farmer's Almanac is out with its annual predictions for winter weather

•It says the Great Lakes region and Midwest should expect bitterly cold weather

•East, West Coasts should be more seasonable, but winter storms still likely

•Looking for relief in the spring? Too bad -- it's expected to be cool and rainy
updated 3:38 a.m. EDT, Wed September 2, 2009Next Article in U.S. »
By Shelby Lin Erdman and Andy Flick
CNN
(CNN) -- Get out the coats, boots, and shovels; people in some parts of the country are in for it this winter, according to the Farmer's Almanac.

Break out your winter gear -- the Farmers' Almanac is predicting a rough winter for large parts of the U.S.
The longtime periodical, published since 1818 and famous for its long-range weather predictions, is out with its annual winter forecast, which says Old Man Winter is really going to hammer folks in the Midwest and upper Great Lakes region with very cold and very snowy conditions.

The almanac puts it this way:

"A large area of numbingly cold temperatures will predominate from roughly east of the Continental Divide to west of the Appalachians. The coldest temperatures will be over the northern Great Lakes and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

"But acting almost like the bread of a sandwich, to this swath of unseasonable cold will be two regions with temperatures that will average closer to normal -- the West Coast and the East Coast."

But don't let your guard down if you live along the East or West coasts.

Farmer's Almanac managing editor Sandi Duncan says no one will be immune to the rough weather this winter.

"Even the areas that we say are going to be like the bread of the ice-cold sandwich are going to have bouts of stormy conditions. There's no way it's going to be that mild of a winter," she says.

Nasty weather is also in the forecast for late in the season as winter moves toward spring.

"We're actually predicting a possible blizzard in the northeast to the mid-Atlantic states sometime in February," Duncan says. "And it does look like the cool temperatures to the cold temperatures are going to hang on. And spring does look kind of rainy."

The Farmers' Almanac gets pretty specific about that late-season blizzard forecast.

According to Duncan, "February 12th-15th looks very stormy with blizzard conditions possible especially in New England but also going down to the mid-Atlantic coast."

The periodical says, "While three-quarters of the country is predicted to see near- or below-average precipitation this winter, that doesn't mean there won't be any winter storms! On the contrary, significant snowfalls are forecast for parts of every zone."
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OH GREAT some how I just knew that thank you Brenda keep an eye out for us I need to get my Farmers Almanac yet this year !!! ;0)
Gloria

I had a feeling that I should be extra careful preparing my flower beds for winter. My husband is a heating and air conditioning specialist so at least his job looks secure for another year. I have to look at the bright side.

My orioles left a couple weeks early this year. I think those cold nights told them to scadaddle off to warmer places. Hummer is still here but I'll be taking their feeders down soon.

Save your fallen leaves and blanket the things that might be tender. I'm covering all my roses but not till late in the fall. It worked well for me last winter.

I don't know how accurate the Farmer's Almanac is but with light frosts happening so early in the year I wouldn't be a bit surprised if their predictions don't come true.

At least we'll all be able to meet here and sip our coffee and dream of spring. :)

Brenda

Thanks Brenda...I thought i read on one of these threads that we were having an el nino and then we'd have a mild winter??? hmmmm...
Ughhh this hurts me to my bones already....and it was really crummy last winter too :(.....

Well I guess this is Michigan and anything goes!

cover up your precious new babies everyone!

Yes I recall the el nino winter prediction as well. Who knows who is right? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. :)

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPY

Well really the last two years have been very cold! And so much of the snow!! ;( Weel this is michigan. Guess you have to love all seasons right? Winter being the least favorite. If I didn't have to work it would be great. Ronna

Got down to 38 degrees here the last two nights in a row. Good thing I had repotted and brought in all my geraniums. We also started cleaning out the veggie garden and picked all the green tomatoes and the rest of the peppers, yellow squash, zuchinni and cucumbers. We'll finish up this week sometime.

I hope it dose not frost for a few weeks I just topped my tobacco plants and they need to grow some more so I'm told I'v never grown them before heck I dident even know they would grow in Michigan!!!!
Gloria

Gloria,

I put your zip code for Sanford, Michigan in at Accuweather and on October 3rd they predict the low to be 35. You should keep an eye on the forecast and try to harvest your tobacco plants or do something to protect them from a frost. Good luck with those plants.

New this year, anybody gonna try it?
http://www.liquidfence.com/FreezePruf.html

That is an interesting product. I haven't seen that on the market yet. I wonder if it's on the order of Wild Pruf? I used to use that before winter on some of my hydrangea branches to protect them in winter. I've used it on rose canes too.

As far as using it in the spring to get a jump start on the growing season I don't think I'd use it. For one thing, the soil has to be about 55-60 degrees or the plants won't grow so spraying them wouldn't do anything to make them grow IMHO. It might be nice to have on hand for emergency when those real late frosts happen like in the last week of May or first of June. :)

I would be interested in knowing if its different than Wilt-Pruf too.
After scaning the info briefly looks like it might be,
Thanks Dan!