Cold, Snowy Winter Coming To NYC: Old Farmer's Almanac

NEW YORK, NY — The Old Farmer’s Almanac says a “season of shivers” with brutally cold temperatures and lots of snow awaits much of the United States this winter. The new edition was released Aug. 31.

In New York City, winter is expected to be colder than usual for the 2021-22 winter, the Almanac said. The city, and the surrounding Northeastern coastal regions, can expect colder temperatures, but near to below normal snowfall.

On average, the city receives about 25 inches of snow each year, according to Ocean Weather Services. The snowiest periods are expected in mid to late December, early January, and early and mid-February.

The coldest temperatures will occur in early December, throughout January, and mid-February. New York has respective daily mean temperatures of 39, 34, and 40 degrees in December, January, and February, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This coming winter could well be one of the longest and coldest that we’ve seen in years,” Janice Stillman, editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, said in a news release.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac also predicts an “extreme wintry mix” for much of nearby New England.

Earlier this month, the Farmers’ Almanac (a separate and rival publication to the Old Farmer’s Almanac) released a forecast for the 2021-22 predicting a similarly cold winter. The Almanac predicted a stormy, snowy January in the Northeast. February will be calmer, but the Almanac predicts a “winter whopper” nor’easter will take place in March.

Last February, New York City was treated to its own “winter whopper” that dumped 16.3 inches of snow onto Central Park. The Bronx neighborhood of East Tremont reported 19 inches.

Is the rest of the country doomed to a similar “season of shivers?” Here’s what the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts around the United States:

• The Pacific Coast and parts of the Southwest will be spared the frigid cold, but also will remain relatively dry.

• Temperatures are expected to be near normal, but abundant snowfall and frequent storms are forecast from eastern Montana southward through the western halves of the Dakotas and northeastern Colorado.

• Cold, relatively dry weather is forecast for the Upper Midwest, except for an area around Lake Michigan that could see heavy snowfall.

• A combination of super-cold temperatures and heavy snowfall is expected in areas from New England to the Ohio Valley to northern portions of the Deep South and southeast New Mexico.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac is published by Yankee Publishing Inc., an employee-owned company based in Dublin, New Hampshire. The publication has been making weather forecasts for 230 years and claims an 80 percent accuracy rate.