It’s why it’s called The Great White North..And according to the latest winter forecast from the Farmer’s Almanac, Canucks in all corners of the country can expect to see a good old fashioned winter like they grew up hearing their grandparents gripe about..Depending on which way acorns fall from the tree — or how high the squirrels stash them — that means deep, blowing snow in all parts of the country. Except in Newfoundland and BC, where it’s just going to be cold and wet..“From the Atlantic seaboard to Arctic shores to the Pacific Coast — in almost every nook and cranny that typically sees snow — Canadians should expect oodles of fluffy white throughout the season,” it said..On the prairies, expect a colder-than-normal winter following a warmer and wetter September and October. Precipitation will be below normal in the east and above normal in the west, which it says will be good for skiers. .In a case of comeuppance, winter in southern British Columbia will be remembered for bouts of bone-chilling cold with near or above normal amounts of snow and rain. “Keep the fireplace going and hot cocoa at the ready!” it warns. .Labrador and the very eastern tip of Newfoundland will be the outliers this winter, the Almanac says, with average or slightly above-normal temperatures and below-normal snowfall. The season is still expected to be very wet, however, with periods of snow and lots of rain..The original Farmers Almanac is North America’s oldest weather prognosticator — and one of its oldest publications — dating back to 1792. It says it uses a “secret formula” to predict the weather using a combination of what it says is ‘scientific’ observation, folklore and anecdotal trends to arrive at its calculations. .Indeed, its founder Robert B. Thomas, was a pioneer of sorts who believed that sunspots — first discovered in 1610 — influenced meteorological patterns on Earth. .As it turned out, he was correct, even though it was pure superstition at the time. Sunspots weren’t confirmed to be magnetic storms until 1908..It shows how much scientists know about weather and climate all these years later; even with satellites it’s still impossible to accurately predict weather much longer than a week ahead..Which is to say, it can’t be disproved. The technique has allegedly been modified using secret computer algorithms and the publication claims to be about 80% accurate..A University of Illinois study found it was right about 52% of the time, however, which is essentially random chance..According to a Popular Mechanics analysis, that all depends on confirmation bias..“It will inevitably be sometimes right,” it said in a 2015 critique. “People will remember the prediction this winter and recall how the Almanac got it right. They’ll just never think about the times it was wrong.“
