How Accurate Has the Farmers’ Almanac Predicted Winter Weather?
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022
How effective has the secret formula been in predicting winter weather?
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Winter Weather Is Quickly Approaching
Each year at the end of August the Farmers’ Almanac comes out with its winter weather predictions and it typically garners media coverage. The almanac forecasts out 16 months for seven zones in the U.S. but should people pay any attention to it?
Plus, here are 15 things every homeowner should do before winter.
How the Farmers’ Almanac Predicts Weather
It’s methods of weather prediction remain a secret. The Farmers’ Almanac even gives a pseudonym for its official forecaster, Caleb Weatherbee. The pseudonym has been passed down to forecasters for years.
The Farmers’ Almanac has stated that its method is an exclusive mathematical and astronomical formula that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action of the moon, planetary position and other factors. The Farmers’ Almanac is the oldest source of consecutively published weather forecasts. Here’s how to winterize your home in a weekend.
Be sure to have these products on hand for winterizing your home.
How Accurate is the Farmers’ Almanac?
The Farmers’ Almanac claims that followers report around an 80 to 85 percent accuracy for its predictions. Not bad for the publication that started in 1818. The editors of the Farmers’ Almanac deny that they use any computer satellite tracking equipment, weather lore or groundhogs.
Scientific analyses of the Farmers’ Almanac have shown that its forecast has panned out at a rate closer to 50 percent accuracy. Plus, consider these 16 ways to warm up a cold room.
The Global Forecast System by the National Weather Service only forecast weather out 16 days and the European model only goes 10 days out. Both have an accuracy of about 60 percent and they don’t go farther out than that because predicting weather past that is nearly impossible to get right with an accuracy.
OpenSnow, a micro climate weather app, analyzed weather predictions the Farmers’ Almanac made back in 2014 and found it had no track record of accuracy.
Beyond replacing old windows and increasing insulation, here are 19 unexpected ways you can keep your house warm this winter.
