Daniel Wolfram
The winter could be coming sooner rather than later.
The Farmers’ Almanac, an American periodical giving weather predictions, has released its long-range outlook for the coming winter.
Relying on a forecast that was formed in 1818 and tracks solar cycles and lunar movements, the Almanac expects severe weather across several regions in the US.
Let it snow
The states of Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire face the heaviest snow forecasts from the periodical, particularly in January and February.
Metropolitan cities like New York City and Boston will most likely avoid heavy snowfall and face rain or slush instead. There is a consensus among weather experts that it will be a wet winter on the East Coast.
It is not just the eastern states that will see lots of snow. Colorado and New Mexico are also predicted to experience massive snowfall.
Monster climate shift
Much of this volatile weather stems from the potentially historic El Niño that is currently ravaging the Pacific Ocean. The weather phenomenon has already caused droughts in India and Panama and flooding in Japan.
Climate experts also attribute the record humidity across the globe during the month of August to El Niño. It now seems that it will trigger a snowy winter in the US. However, predicting exact long-term impacts is not always an exact science.
Past El Niño events have triggered freezing winter spells, while other years brought unseasonably mild temperatures during the months from November to March.
