Farmer's Almanac predicts cold winter in Northeast

Authors claim 80 percent accuracy rate

The 225th edition of the Farmer's Almanac has hit the press--and as usual, it's generating big headlines with weather forecasts for the next 12 months.

The Almanac's editors claim an 80 percent accuracy rate (though they missed this past winter's El Nino), using a secret formula that combines modern meteroology with such old-fashioned techniques as sunspot observations.

This year, according to a synopsis on the Hollywood Life website, the Almanac predicts:

  • The Northeast will be colder than normal in winter and cooler than normal next summer.
  • The South should have a mild winter, with less humidity and rain in the spring than the region saw this year.
  • The Midwest, at least from Minneapolis east, will get lots of snow, then a warm spring with lots of precipitation.
  • The West Coast will have a normal winter, and a rainy summer--which, if true, will be great news in drought-striken California.