The Farmers' Almanac has released its 2026-2027 winter outlook, and it points to a season of sharp contrasts across the country. Prepared by Caleb Weatherbee, the forecast calls for wetter-than-normal conditions across much of the southern United States and a more complicated mix of rain, sleet and heavy, wet snow in the Northeast.
That is why the Farmers' Almanac 2026 Weather Predictions are drawing attention now: they sketch a winter that could reshape travel, farming and daily routines before the season even begins. The outlook covers a broad swath of the United States, with El Niño expected to remain an important influence through the heart of the season and to help tilt the pattern toward repeated storms in some regions.
Weatherbee said the outlook was built with the same core formula the Farmers' Almanac says it has relied on since 1818, the system first developed by founding editor David Young. The publication says that formula weighs recurring natural cycles, solar activity, lunar influences and historical weather patterns, then is checked against satellite observations, computer modeling, current meteorological data, historical analogs and larger ocean and atmospheric patterns.
The southern United States is the clearest focus of the forecast. An active storm track may stretch from Southern California and the Desert Southwest through Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, bringing frequent storm systems, muddy fields and occasional surges of cold air. Some of those storms could flip between sleet, freezing rain and heavy, wet snow when colder air collides with abundant moisture, while the southern Rockies may see especially strong mountain snowfall.
Farther north, the picture is less about one sustained cold pattern than about swings. Across much of the West, northern Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, temperatures should average near normal overall, yet fast-moving clippers, sudden cold snaps and brief snowy periods are still expected. Milder breaks may interrupt the cold, but they do not remove the threat of snow squalls, blustery winds and bursts of bitter cold in the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes.
That contrast is what makes the forecast harder to pin down in real time. The same outlook that calls for near-normal temperatures in much of the West and interior northern states also warns of quickly changing road and field conditions as the middle of the country swings between thawing and freezing. A season that averages out close to normal can still deliver enough short-lived extremes to disrupt plans.
The Northeast may face the most complicated setup of all. Coastal communities could see more rain or mixed precipitation, while inland areas may get several rounds of heavy, wet snow, particularly during January and February. Small shifts in storm tracks and temperatures could decide whether a given system falls as rain, sleet, freezing rain or accumulating snow.
Elsewhere, the Pacific Northwest may see a more changeable and less dependable snow season, and the northern Plains and Upper Midwest could turn drier at times when the southern storm track becomes dominant. Even then, brief but intense periods of cold, wind and snow remain possible. The forecast is a long-range bet, not a finished result, and its real test will come only when the 2026-2027 winter unfolds and nature has the final word.
