At the time of this writing, mornings in my part of Kansas bring with them a cool, crisp autumn air that most days necessitates a light jacket for a.m. chores, and by the time I get to the office, the temperature is somewhere around 60 degrees. It changes slightly day by day, much more noticeable week to week, and the days no doubt are getting shorter. Won’t be long now until our pellet stove is cranked, heating our main floor and living area and providing a comfortable flickering glow as we sit nearby and admire. With the arrival of the 2014 Old Farmer’s Almanac in the mail the other day, I had to take a closer look at the weather forecast ahead and what their 2014 weather predictions indicate.
Generally speaking, the folks at The Old Farmer’s Almanac are calling for the 2013-2014 winter – November 2013 through March 2014 – to bring with it below average temperatures and above average snowfall. Three exceptions and areas where they’re calling for mild temperatures with above average snowfall are northern New England; northern Minnesota and Wisconsin down through central Indiana (mild and dry in parts of Indiana and Illinois); and northern California and southern Oregon east through most of Utah and west-central Colorado. Central Colorado down through parts of Texas are also predicted to see mild, dry conditions.
Winter conditions in 2013-2014 for the southern part of the heartland are expected to be snowy, and above average precipitation is expected from Boston down to Atlanta and in the southern part of Florida.
Come summer 2014, Florida may need all the precipitation it can get, though, because dryer than average spring conditions across much of the nation could result in drought conditions for southern Florida; New England through the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest region; Texas west into the Desert Southwest; and the northern part of the North Pacific. Most other regions should expect near average precipitation, and spring and summer across the nation will bring above average temperatures nearly everywhere.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac is also predicting an active hurricane season, with a major hurricane hitting the central Gulf Coast in July – here’s hoping that prediction doesn’t come to fruition.
Looking at the summer 2014 weather prediction map, hot and wet conditions are expected for much of the country, from eastern Montana and western Dakotas on down through Kansas and east to the Carolinas and much of the east coast.
In light of the drought conditions a couple years back that put rural Americans in much of the country in a serious bind – though summer 2013 was much better to us than 2012 – I’d welcome “hot and wet” in the Heartland and in my part of Kansas, no problem.
For a month-by-month, region-specific forecast, pick up your copy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2014 edition and enjoy not only 2014 weather predictions, but also lots of good gardening advice; fishing tips for seven species of fish; tasty food recipes; and the usual month-by-month breakdown of when to plant, harvest, fish, cut firewood, wean animals and children, and so much more.
And if the accuracy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2013 weather predictions were any indication, it’d likely be wise to take the 2014 weather forecasts seriously, in most cases.
Order your copy at www.Almanac.com.
Caleb Reganand his wife, Gwen, live in rural Douglas County, Kansas, where they enjoy hunting, fishing, and raising and growing as much of their own food as they can. Caleb can’t imagine a better scenario than getting to work on a rural lifestyle magazine as a profession, and then living that same lifestyle right in the heartland of America. Connect with him on Google+.
