Ask any local TV weather forecaster, they hate it when anyone brings up the Old Farmer's Almanac annual long range forecast. But who cares, let's talk winter.

The Old Farmer's Almanac says that their weather predictions have been traditionally 80% accurate, even though they are made 18 months in advance.

Get your shovels and snow moving equipment, ready because you may need them more than last winter, which turned out to be relatively mild and mostly snow free winter here in the Stateline.

The Nov 2016 - Oct 2017 forecast has just been issued and here's what we can expect.

Your Christmas and New Year's travel could be tricky, but things get better in mid February.

Winter will be warmer than normal, with above-normal precipitation. The coldest periods will be in late December and early to mid-January and from mid-January into early February. Snowfall will be above normal in Illinois and below normal elsewhere, with the snowiest periods in mid-November, late December, early and late January, mid-February, and early March.

All hope for those who hate snow is not lost, you might recall last year, the Old Farmer's Almanac predicted a snowy and frigid winter for the Stateline and let's just say, they were quite wrong.

 

 

 

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