In fact, the eastern half of the US should be prepared for potentially record-breaking cold. This frigid forecast extends to the deep south and Texas, which could see the mercury diving as many as 8 degrees Fahrenheit below normal. So, winter temperatures will be colder than normal across much of the country between the East Coast and the Rockies. Snowfall will be greater than normal from central New England through northern North Carolina, from the lower Great Lakes and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys into the southern plains, from the northern plains into eastern Washington, and across the higher terrain of the southern Rockies and California. Freezing temperatures will also bring above-average snow totals to most areas in the eastern US that typically experience snowfall.

On the other hand, winter temperatures will be milder than normal across eastern Maine, from the Rockies to the West Coast, and across Alaska and Hawaii. Precipitation will be above normal from Maine to southeastern Virginia, in Florida, and from the lower Great Lakes into Missouri.

The weather is being shaped by recent Solar Cycle 24, which had the lowest level of solar activity in more than 100 years. The earth is now in early Cycle 25, which is expected to peak around July 2025 and bring diminished activity, which historically has meant cooler temperatures on average across the planet.

Most of the US will be colder than normal this winter. In addition to a neutral to perhaps weak El Nino, weather influences will include a continued warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, a neutral to positive North Atlantic Oscillation, and negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Oscillations are linked ocean-atmosphere patterns that can have long-term effects on the weather.

“Depending on where you live, this will be the best of winters or memorable for all the wrong reasons,” says Janice Stillman, editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac. “One half of the country will deal with bone-chilling cold and loads of snow, while the other half may feel like winter never really arrives.”

The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been informing and helping readers to prepare for the season ahead with its 80 percent accurate weather forecasts for 231 years.