Old Farmer's Almanac unveils 2024-25 winter outlook for Minnesota

Mild and dry. That's the winter forecast for Minnesota from the Old Farmer's Almanac, which has spun a 180 from The Farmers' Almanac's prediction for a cold winter with average snowfall in Minnesota.

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Claiming to be "traditionally 80 percent–accurate" since it began issuing winter outlooks way back in 1792, the Old Farmer's Almanac is thinking the winter of 2024-25 in Minnesota will resemble last winter when only 29 inches of snow was recorded in Minneapolis, just over half the modern average.

The publication struck out with last year's winter outlook when it predicted "we'll see normal to colder-than-normal temperatures in areas that typically receive snow" while also forecasting above normal snowfall.

So what about this year? Let's get specific, starting with temperatures.

"It’s cold in the Upper Midwest, but winter 2024-2025 will NOT be as cold as usual," the almanac says. "The coldest shots will occur in early November, early and late January, late February, and early March."

What about snow?

"Precipitation and snowfall will be below average for the Upper Midwest, with the snowiest periods in late November, late December, mid- and late January, early February, and mid-March," it claims.

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If you want the truth, look no further than Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard's winter outlook that is based on the likelihood of a La Nina.

"If you were hoping for a repeat of last winter, you’re almost certainly out of luck. Even in our warming world, a winter like last year is still probably a once in a generation event," Sundgaard says. "It’s worth noting that the fact that our winters have warmed 4 degrees over the last 40 years has made that possible. A winter like the one we just had would have been nearly impossible to occur otherwise. If we continue on our warming trajectory it will become as more and more frequent event by the end of this century.

"The likelihood of La Niña shaping up by fall and winter means the odds are we’ll see at least a "normal" winter with slightly better odds of cooler than normal conditions. As mentioned early, the impact on snowfall is really hard to determine. I would plan on a pretty normal winter this year, but keep in mind normal now is warmer than 40 years ago, and even a winter that’s -1.6F cooler than average is still 2.4F above the averages of the 1970s."

By the way, the average winter snowfall total in the Twin Cities, based on averages from 1981 to 2010, is 54.4 inches. Maybe we'll get that far this winter....