This winter threatens to be “bitterly cold,” with below-average temperatures in two-thirds of the country. That’s if you believe the folksy — but often, they claim, accurate — Farmers’ Almanac.
The almost 200-year-old almanac again comes out Monday, and the AP reports it’s predicting a harsh winter, one that could even bring a blizzard to the first outdoor Superbowl in years.
“We’re using a very strong four-letter word to describe this winter, which is C-O-L-D. It’s going to be very cold,” managing editor Sandi Duncan said.
The Almanac is also describing the coming winter as “piercing cold” and “biting cold.”
I wonder, is "piercing" cold one step worse than "bitterly" cold, or one step better?
I usally don't pay attention to long-range forecasts; anything that looks out more than a few days is mostly fiction. Weather is such a complex system that any of a thousand tiny variables can create wildly different results. But the almanac does have that "folksy but accurate" reputation built up over nearly 200 years.
I certainly hope they're wrong. Whenever it gets hot enough for me to bitch about the weather (like, you know, right now), I have to stop and remind myself how much more I hate winter. "Bitterly" or "piercing" either one, I do hate that cold.
