First Half Of Winter Expected To Be Stormy

Tuesday is the first day of fall, but much of the northwest is already thinking about winter. And according to the Old Farmers Almanac, this coming winter is expected to be similar to the winter of 1997-1998.

Carol Connare, Editor in Chief at the Old Farmers Almanac, said that comparison is focused on precipitation, temperatures and timing.

“People will remember if that was a year they were around and they were paying attention to the weather, it was very stormy," Connare said. "And again, that first half of the winter brought walloping storms if there was going to be of any size. And then we're also seeing that differential in elevation so that higher elevation areas are going to get solid precipitation, shall we say, versus wetter."

Connare noted they make these long-term predictions by looking at patterns over time as well as climatology.

“When we are living in this warming world, especially for growers, we've seen our hardiness zones tick up half or more," she said. "And so we have to factor that in. And then so we're really looking at all of those factors. And we're specifically like the sun cycles but looking at the teleconnections, which are really the El Nino, the warmth or the relative coolness of these aspects of the ocean.”

It’s also been confirmed that the warming in the Pacific has resulted in a Super El Nino. What will that mean this upcoming winter, and beyond? Find out by listening to our entire conversation with Connare: