Brace yourself: the Old Farmerâs Almanac has revealed its predictions for Canadaâs upcoming winter season, and itâs not great news.
After last winterâs seemingly never-ending wickedly cold weather, residents in much of the country can expect more of the same in the coming months.
âWeâre looking at the T-Rex of winters,â Jack Burnett, editor of the Old Farmerâs Almanac, said on CTVâs Canada AM on Thursday.
âItâs going to be colder, itâs going to be snowier ⌠itâs not pretty.â
According to the almanac, central Canada, in particular, is expected to experience winterâs nasty bite.
âFrom Calgary to Quebec, weâre going to be up to our neck,â Burnett said.
One of the few exceptions will be southwestern Ontario, which will be cold, but with below-normal snowfall.
Burnett said forecasts show that while Toronto and the surrounding region will experience a deep-freeze, itâs going to be drier this winter, with âfluffier snow.â
Atlantic Canada, meanwhile, is set for a milder, but wet winter season, according to the almanac.
âBaby lambâ of summers next year
It may seem far in the future, but warmer temperatures will return â eventually.
Summer in Canada is expected to be milder and wet, with hotter and drier temperatures concentrated in Western Canada.
âNothing really spectacular in the summer,â Burnett said.
2015 predictions for Canada
Spring:
- Near or slightly below normal temperatures across Canada
- Precipitation below normal in Quebec, above normal in Ontario, near normal elsewhere
Summer:
- Above-normal temperatures, everywhere except Vancouver Island
- Above-normal rainfall in Maritimes westward through Prairies
- Below normal in British Columbia
Fall:
- Above-normal temperatures from the Maritimes westward through Ontario
- Below-normal from Manitoba to the Pacific Ocean
- Precipitation slightly above normal in Prairies, at or below elsewhere
Long history of forecasts
The Almanac has been foretelling weather forecasts for 223 years, and claim their predictions have an average accuracy rating of approximately 80 per cent. The predictions are derived from a secret formula devised in 1792 by the almanacâs founder, Robert B. Thomas.
âWe do have the physical formula, but itâs long since been put into computer algorithms,â Burnett said.
The almanac employs meteorology, climatology, solar patterns, and historical weather conditions to make its predictions.
Dave Phillips of Environment Canada doesnât quite buy the almanacâs prediction, though.
âWe like to think ours are a little bit more scientifically based on ocean temperatures and sea and ice conditions,â Phillips said. âOur models are clearly not showing the doom and gloom that the Farmersâ Almanac is saying.â
Phillips said Environment Canadaâs forecasts arenât always right, but that their predictions are more realistic than the almanac.
âI donât know where theyâre coming from. Theyâre calling it almost the âwinter from hellâ and even forecasting âfluffier snowâ â I mean, get with it. How can you possibly know the snow is going to be fluffier?â
Global temperatures rise
Canada may be set for a drop in the mercury, but average global temperatures spiked during the summer months. U.S. meteorologists said Thursday that May, June and August all set global records this year. The average worldwide temperature was more than 16 C in August, which broke a record set in 1998.
August was particularly hot in the Pacific and Indian oceans, and in Africa.
Phillips said the warm ocean temperatures generally mean a milder winter, and he thinks that will especially be the case in Western Canada this year. Though he said conditions become more difficult to predict as winter wears on, Phillips had no doubt about one thing.
âThis winter is not going to be as long and cold as last year,â he said. âEven if itâs a normal winter, it will feel like a tropical heat wave compared to what we had to endure as Canadians last year.â
With files from The Associated Press