As summer winds down, the prospect of winter looms on the horizon. After last year’s record-setting cold and snow, many places are still recovering from the weather. With the seasons changing, one source of weather information is saying Idaho could be in for another rough winter.
Last winter was a doozy in the Treasure Valley. It was the sixth coldest December on record and the eleventh coldest January. All told, nearly forty inches of snow fell from December through February.
With the winter not too far away, the Old Farmer’s Almanac is out with its forecast for the season. The famed collection of planting schedules, tide tables and anecdotes says winter in southern Idaho will be colder and snowier than average.
“As a kid growing up I’d look at it,” says meteorologist Dave Graenert. “You know, my parents would sometimes get it. Since then I haven’t looked at it much,” he says.
Graenert works for the National Weather Service in Boise. His take on what might happen this winter is fairly different from what the almanac says. His forecast calls for: “Above normal chances for warmer than normal temperatures and equal chances for precipitation. You know, I’d say near normal precipitation at this point and a better than average chance of warmer than normal temperatures."
While the almanac touts its prediction, Graenert says it’s difficult to forecast what the weather will be doing in several weeks, let alone several months.
“It’s hard,” he says. “It’s a definite challenge. I don’t think it’s an egg that’s been cracked yet.”
The only thing that can be said with certainty: winter is coming.
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