2014-2015 Fall and Winter Outlook: Prepare for a Teeth-Chattering “Refriger-Nation”?

It’s hard to believe, but the first day of fall is only a month away. It’s during this time that most of us in the North Texas region start taking a look at the longer-range forecasts to prepare for the cold air, and set aside a little extra in our budgets for those monthly heating bills during the winter.

So let’s cut to the chase: are we looking at a brutally cold winter in our neck of the woods? As always, it depends on who you ask.

AccuWeather.com’s forecasters predict near-normal temperatures for our part of Texas from September to November. However, they say the warm waters of the El Nino weather phenomenon in the central and eastern Pacific will steer a good amount of rain toward the U.S. Southwest, and that welcome moisture will eventually work its way to the Granbury area.

Another weather resource we can’t ignore is The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the 223-year old reference book which reportedly has about an 80 percent accuracy rate for it long-term forecasts.

The almanac’s outlook is pretty grim: it’s predicting a “super-cold” winter for most of the nation. Almanac editor Janice Stillman describes the upcoming cold spell in the U.S. as a “refriger-nation.” Stillman’s publication also has made its call on Summer 2015, predicting an extremely hot and dry season.

“Winter will bring a frosty bite and next summer will be its mirror opposite, so get ready for a one-two punch,” Stillman said.

That icy chill is expected to grip the Texas-Oklahoma region, with coldest temperatures rolling in from mid December to early January. Like AccuWeather, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has forecasted this winter’s precipitation: they say look for some very snowy weather over that same December to January period.