Thought last winter in Idaho was rough? The Old Farmer’s Almanac has bad news for you

Winter was not kind to Boise in 2016-17. And, according to the 2018 edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we might be in for another harsh winter season in 2017-18.

Last winter, we had the sixth-coldest December recorded and the 11th-ranked January. Boise saw a total of 38.8 inches of snow in December, January and February — the 10th snowiest winter since record collecting began in the late 1800s.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says that the Intermountain region of the United States, “will be colder than normal, especially in the south” and that there will be “above average snowfall.” December is predicted to average 28 degrees, down 5 from the normal temperature for the month. January and February are predicted to be warmer than average at 31 and 35 degrees, respectively.

The book’s online predictive map says Idaho will be “cold (and) snowy.”

Last year, the almanac predicted “above-normal temperatures in the Intermountain region.”

The book does not approximate Boise specifically and it instead specifies regionally and gives general outlooks for states. In 2016-17, the book forecast the northern half of Idaho would be “mild (and) snowy” and that the southern half would be “mild (and) dry.”

The Old Farmer’s Almanac was established in 1792 and makes its weather predictions based on “a secret formula.” It claims to predict weather with nearly 80 percent accuracy in most cases.

Data from the National Weather Service Boise tells a slightly different story, however, when dealing with Boise specifically. The winter months (December, January and February) are predicted to have “near-normal precipitation” and “above normal temperatures” compared to data collected from 1980-2010.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t have very cool temperatures,” NWS meteorologist Elizabeth Padian said. “It just means on average, for those three months, that’s what they’re predicting.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Thought last winter in Idaho was rough? The Old Farmer’s Almanac has bad news for you."