Farmers' Almanac: Get Ready for 'Teeth-Chattering' Winter

[left-of-center2012]

The Farmers' Almanac released its 2019 winter outlook this week, and it's a doozy: It predicts a "long, cold, and snow-filled winter," with the worst of the "teeth chattering" arriving in mid-February and higher than normal levels of snow in many areas.

That's in contrast to the Old Farmer's Almanac, which released its winter forecast last week ... and predicted a milder winter in most areas, with mostly warmer-than-normal temperatures and not as much snow (but more rain) than is typical.

The Old Farmer's Almanac is the one with the yellow cover that's been around since 1792; the Farmers' Almanac is only slightly less old, having been founded in 1818. It says in a press release that even though its forecast contrasts with "some stories floating around on the internet" about a mild winter, it stands by its "amazingly accurate" mathematical and astronomical formula, "which accurately predicted most of the winter storms last year."

But Boston.com references one meteorologist who compares the forecasts to "Miss Cleo's winter outlook," and the Washington Post says the forecasts are mostly good for "entertainment value."

https://tinyurl.com/ycwgrj4t

[Sherman A1]

1. Saw that on Facebook a day or so ago

I'm planning on having multiple indoor projects for cold and snowy days ahead and laying in a few extra provisions in the panty for the days I simply do not want to venture out.

[Fla Dem]

2. When I was a kid we used to get Yankee magazine. It came with a complimentary annual issue

of the Old Farmers Almanac. Sometimes it was spot on. But then, a broken clock is right twice a day. It was still a fun little book to read.

[CentralMass]

3. +1

[CrispyQ]

4. I read that they stopped putting a hole in the upper left hand corner

when they realized that people no longer hung it on a nail in the kitchen. I LOL'd when I read that, cuz a nail in the kitchen by the radio, is where my family kept it when I was a kid.

[Fla Dem]

5. Doesn't appear as if they stopped drilling that hole based on the pic I posted and this.....

Watch the video or read the transcript.

https://www.almanac.com/video/why-there-hole-old-farmers-almanac

When did the hole start?
Has it always been there?
And what do we do with the punched-out holes?
These are deep questions. Almanac editor Heidi Stonehill gives us the “hole” story:

Have you ever wondered what the hole drilled in the top left-hand corner of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is doing there?

It began in the late 1700s, when we made our earliest Almanacs. Readers discovered how useful the Almanac was in their daily lives and wanted it close at hand. So, it was a simple matter of taking a nail, punching a hole through the Almanac, tying a string around it, and then hanging it up in a handy spot, such as the barn or kitchen, or even the outhouse.

Then, about 100 years ago, after the technology became available, The Old Farmer’s Almanac had these holes put in commercially, to make it easier for our readers. So today, people still hang the Almanac up in their barn or kitchen, and even in their bathroom.

Then, after all the almanacs are printed, we’re left with nearly 400 million teeny tiny little pieces of paper, which are then recycled. (Although, they would make great confetti!)

So, the hole will allow you to put a string through the Almanac, and put it around your belt and take it to the garden; you can attach it to your backpack; or tie it around your telescope. In fact, you can take it just about anywhere!

Where is your favorite place to hang up the Almanac? Send us your comments; we’d love to hear from you.

[CrispyQ]

6. That's just how it looked in our kitchen!