The 2026 Old Farmer's Almanac weather forecast calls for a mild, near-normal winter across much of the United States. The full forecast was released just before the print publication becomes available Tuesday, Sept. 1, and it points to wetter, drier and snowier pockets by region.
The Almanac says much of the West will be wetter than normal, along with parts of the South, Midwest and Florida. It also forecasts a drier winter for parts of the East, Plains and Southwest, while parts of the Northeast and Appalachians, parts of the West and Alaska are projected to be snowier than normal.
Don Day on timing
Don Day, a meteorologist at Wyoming's Cowboy State Daily newspaper, said earlier in August that he did not think people should be talking about a detailed winter forecast until mid to late September. “I don't know what voodoo magic they use to get their forecasts,” he said. “I don't think we should be talking about any detailed winter forecast till maybe mid to late September. Until then, it’s not helpful for anybody.”
That skepticism sits alongside the Almanac's own pitch. It says the forecast is built from a secret formula devised in 1792 by founder Robert B. Thomas, then updated with state-of-the-art technology and modern scientific calculations. The Almanac says it has an average accuracy of 80% on temperatures and precipitation.
Weather service outlook
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center's December 2026-February 2027 outlook also calls for above-normal to near-normal temperatures for much of the United States. It expects normal or below normal precipitation for much of the northern U.S., with above-average precipitation across much of the Southwest, Central, South, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The competing Farmers' Almanac also predicts a wetter winter for much of the United States, and it says El Niño could lead to wetter-than-normal conditions across much of the southern United States. The Old Farmer's Almanac adds that El Niño and other factors could cause the polar vortex to displace southward this winter, sending cold air from across Canada south into the U.S.
January and March storms
Last winter brought a polar vortex and a massive winter storm in January that battered more than 30 states and claimed more than 120 lives. The Carolinas saw blizzard conditions during that storm, and Florida got snow. A March megastorm then brought blizzard conditions to the Great Lakes, high winds and thunderstorms to the East and a heatwave to the West.
AccuWeather will not release its long-range winter forecast until October, leaving the Old Farmer's Almanac forecast and the weather service outlook as the main early guides for people trying to plan around the season. For readers in the regions named by the Almanac, the forecast points to a winter that is not uniform across the country, with snowier conditions concentrated in the Northeast, Appalachians, West and Alaska.
