MILWAUKEE — If you live in southeast Wisconsin, you should be bracing for colder than normal temperatures and above-average snowfall this winter, says the Old Farmer's Almanac.
The Old Farmer's Almanac's extended winter forecast for 2022-23 states that the 'Lower Lakes' region will be "colder than normal, with the coldest temperatures in early December and late January to mid-February."
"Both precipitation and snowfall will be above normal. The snowiest periods will be in late November to early December and early to mid-January," according to the Almanac.
The 'Lower Lakes' region spans from Milwaukee and Chicago, up to Detroit and Cleveland and through Rochester and Buffalo to Syracuse. In Wisconsin, the region includes the southeast corner of the state, including Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Sheboygan, among other areas.
The editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac notes that depending on where you live, this winter could be one the most memorable winters ever - for the right or wrong reasons.
"One half of the country will deal with bone-chilling cold and loads of snow, while the other half may feel like winter never really arrives," said editor Janice Stillman.
The Old Farmer's Almanac points out that part of the reason this winter is shaping up to be a cold and snowy one for us is due to the recent Solar Cycle 24 having the lowest level of solar activity in more than 100 years. The cycle we are currently in, 25, is expected to peak in the summer of 2025 and will also bring "diminished activity." That historically means cooler temperatures across the world.
Important weather influences in the U.S. include a continued warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation or AMO; a neutral positive North Atlantic Oscillation or NAO; and a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation or PDO.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac is the country's oldest annual periodical. Editors describe it as a 'calendar of the heavens.'
