Farmers’ Almanac predicts a brutal winter in Canada

As you may know, Canadian winters are cold. But some are colder than others. Well, the Farmers’ Almanac is here to tell you, this one is going to be a real doozy.

The 203rd annual edition of the book says this Canadian winter is going to be cold. Bitterly cold, in fact.

The almanac predicts that the Rockies, all the way to the Maritimes will experience intense cold conditions, with areas from the Prairies to the Great Lakes being the coldest.

“We expect yet another wild ride this winter,” said almanac editor Pete Geiger in a press release, “with extreme temperatures swings and some hefty snowfalls.”

As per usual, the coldest months will be January and February, with forecasts expected to once again drop to as low as -40 C.

It won’t be too cold to snow, though. The opposite, in fact.

The almanac suggests that the “Snowbelt” around the Great Lakes will once again be hit with tonnes of snow.

“The Maritimes will be wet and white and cold,” Geiger added.

Out West, though, the weather is expected to be milder than usual, with normal winter precipitation to be expected.

“The middle part of Canada is going to get whacked. January in particular, there’s a spell in there where there’s some storms that are maybe 60 centimetres,” Geiger said.

“It’s going to be a very cold winter with some interludes. There’s a lot of storms in there.”

The almanac also predicts that precipitation across Canada will be worse than normal.

“Polar coaster means there’s going to be some warm spells and some cold spells,” Geiger told CTV News.

“Particularly when you look in December, we use the word ‘winterlude,’ which means there’s already been some snow but now there’s going to be a break.”

Geiger also explains that a late spring is to be expected in 2020, just making things worse for those who will surely be waiting for sunny days.

“We’ll get well through April and it will still be winter-ish,” he said.

Geiger explained the history of the almanac to CTV, in which farmers would use mathematical formulas to predict the weather in the 1800s.

“Over the course of 203 years we’ve had only seven prognosticators,” Geiger said.

“Sunspot activity… the effect the moon has on the earth, all of that with the formula allows us to do it (forecast) two years in advance.

“Does it mean I’m going to be 100 percent accurate? No. But it does mean that I’m going to get the gist of what the winter is and if you get the almanac… you’re going to be able to see what storms are coming and when we call for it.”