Old Farmer's Almanac forecasts bouts of 'extra-deep cold' in Canada this winter

Get ready for some extremely cold days this winter, according to the 2023 Canadian edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

“Frosty, frigid, freezing . . . however you say ‘cold,’ that’s what’s in store for most Canadians this winter,” the editor of the Canadian edition, Janice Stillman, said in a statement.

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“As an added ‘bonus,’ we also expect a number of unusual mini-deep-freezes throughout many parts of the country, which will sneak up and surprise with their intensity.”

The periodical also predicts that the cold weather will come early, with “icebox conditions” arriving sometime in the second half of November.

Already, wintry weather struck in Northern Canada this month, when parts of Nunavut experienced temperatures that fell into the low single digits last week.

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Southern Quebec and Atlantic Canada could see their first snowstorm as early as November, the Almanac forecasts, with several additional major snowstorms to follow later in the season. In the Prairies, the Almanac is expecting temperatures to be 7C degrees colder than average by January.

Ontario, which had to dig out of a record-breaking snowstorm this past January, could see a snowier winter, while warmer parts of central Canada and much of B.C. could see more sleet and freezing rain.

Founded in 1792,and the oldest continuously published periodical in North America, The Old Farmer’s Almanac claims to have an overall accuracy rate of 80 per cent – a figure meteorologists and weather experts have questioned over the years. Last year, the Almanac was highly accurate in predicting precipitation trends, but was only about 50 per cent accurate in forecasting the direction of temperature, according to the periodical’s own analysis of its forecast.

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This year’s predictions for colder temperatures and heavier snowfall generally fall in line with the long-range weather predictions made by its similarly named competitor, The Farmer’s Almanac, though the slightly newer annual publication – founded in 1818 – is expecting decent skiing conditions in B.C. and a mix of snow, sleet, ice, and rain in the Maritimes. 

Both almanacs use similar considerations to make their long-term forecasts, including solar science or sunspots and weather patterns. Both publications also use additional proprietary meteorological formulas. The Old Farmer’s Almanac says it continuously updates its technology and methods and uses the latest satellite data, technology and equipment to make its long-range projections.

The almanacs are not the only ones making long-term weather predictions either. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday La Nina conditions, which involve a large-scale cooling of ocean surface temperatures, are expected to last until the end of the year. La Nina is a natural and cyclical cooling of parts of the equatorial Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide, but its continued strong presence is abnormal. Even so, it gives meteorologists more confidence with their forecasts, Brett Anderson, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather told CTVNews.ca last week.

Before winter hits, La Nina conditions have weather experts like Anderson predicting a stormy and wet fall in B.C., with a higher risk of floods and mudslides. The Prairies are expected to see milder-than-normal, dry temperatures, particularly in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Eastern Canada could also see warmer and drier weather, which could push the peak of fall colours back by a week.

With files from CTVNews.ca writer Melissa Lopez-Martinez and The Associated Press