The Old Farmer’s Almanac released its 2022-23 forecast on Aug. 30, predicting “significant shivers” ahead for upstate New Yorkers. The most repeated words in the almanac are “heavy rain” and “snow,” making January seem like the worst-looking winter month of all. The Almanac forecast Jan. 16 through 23 will come with one of the coldest arctic air outbreaks in years hitting 40 degrees below zero.
“A cold December and a very cold January might make readers in the northeast shake and shiver,” the Farmers’ Almanac predicts. The outlook calls for an increase in temperatures in February that should bring milder weather.
Sandi Duncan, the publication’s managing editor, said the northeast will see a lot of snow that will accompany the freezing temperatures.
“We’re saying you’re going to shake, shiver, and shovel! And shake might mean you wanna shake your head when you find out what we’re predicting,” Duncan said. “We are saying it’s going to be very cold. The outlook is calling for some unseasonably cold conditions and a lot of snow.”
The latter has worried Isaac Chong, a SUNY Oswego student majoring in business management and psychology. Chong feels like SUNY Oswego has not prepared the new students for the cold temperatures that we will experience this year and that the university should give students material support to overcome the frigid temperatures.
“I feel like SUNY Oswego should give students information and advice in advance,” Chong said. “It would be great if university gave us things to make the cold more easy going like free Starbucks coffee, hot beverages or whatever.”
Chong is not alone. Some students feel like the university has not prepared them for the cold weather but they already know how to deal with it. This is the case of Catherine Wang, another SUNY Oswego student majoring in criminal justice.
“I hate cold weather and it’s gonna be boring but you know it is what it is,” Wang said. “I’m gonna get stuck in my dorm during snowstorms watching series and films. I’m sure that SUNY Oswego will work on us and we’ll have a social life but if not it’s okay we’ll just isolate ourselves.”
The Old Farmers’ Almanac has provided an outspread weather forecast each year since 1818. Predictions are calculated two years in advance, using a formula developed by astronomer and math-savvy journalist David Young, the Almanac’s first editor. The publication denies using satellite tracking equipment or lore, claiming its forecasts are 80 to 85% accurate.
Photo via Oswegonian File Photo
