'Shake, Shiver, and Shovel:' Farmers Almanac calls for a snowy and cold winter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's that time of year when the fine people at the Farmers Almanac drop their knowledge of many things, including what the coming winter is going to be like.
I got my hands on an advance copy this week and immediately reached out to the Farmer's Almanac's philomath (their forecaster).
Every year when we chat, Peter Geiger is quick to remind me the almanac is about more than just a forecast.
"The whole idea behind the almanac is about how to make your life easier," he explained.
You know, like saving money on your heating bill using bubble wrap. He says you can spray the glass with water, put the bubble wrap on it and it stays there for the winter - keeping the cold from coming through the glass.
There's also stocking up on perishables that go on sale.
"Whether it's eggs or butter or cheese and freeze it and it will stay that way for a long time," Geiger added.
Don't adjust your screen, you read that right, freeze eggs.
"You can't freeze an egg with a shell, so you got to break it, put it into a tin, then you freeze the ti, then you pop these things out, put them in a bag, and they will keep for up to a year," he continued.
That's just scratching the surface, but Geiger knows it's the forecast that gets the eyes of the curious...or those planning a wedding months away.
"I think we offer an insight into what the weather is going to be to satisfy their needs," Geiger said.
As for the coming winter, he said the mantra will be "shake, shiver, and shovel."
However, according to Geiger, a lot of that shoveling will not be in 2022, but be ready for January and the holidays.
"If I was a betting man," he said, "I'd say probably showers for Christmas."
Gieger leaves the immediate forecast to the experts of KDKA's First Alert Weather Team, but he does think it's going to be a fairly rugged winter.
He also said there's a big wind storm coming in October.
"October 8 to the 11th it should be one when the leaves really have tossed off the trees," he said.
Just a month later, he said we'll get a taste of flurries before clearing for Thanksgiving and December - saying that snow will turn to rain and snow turning to rain and back again.
Then in January...here it comes.
"We talked about six plus inches January 8 to the 11th. We talked about the 16th and the 19th another six-plus inches," Geiger warned. "We're saying below zero we're saying maybe 20 to minus 30 degrees. That kind of cold."
However, he said once Phil pops out of the stump on February 2nd, he should "probably call for an early spring, if he's smart."
Because once February 16 hits, the almanac says "All of a sudden, you got moderating temperatures and it's unseasonably warm."
February will see temperatures in the 50s and 60s and that early end of winter trolls right on into March, with only our usual March rain but with more moderate temperatures.
Lastly, snowfall as a whole will be average, but it will mostly come in January and Feburary.