November 15, 2014
Weather forecasts for this coming winter call for below normal temperatures and near normal levels of snowfall.

In a recent interview on CTV’s Canada AM, Jack Burnett, editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac, said, “We’re looking at the T-Rex of winters. It’s going to be colder, it’s going to be snowier... it’s not pretty.”

According to the Almanac, central Canada, in particular, is expected to experience winter’s nasty bite. “From Calgary to Quebec, we’re going to be up to our neck,” Burnett said. One of the few exceptions will be southwestern Ontario, which will be cold, but with below-normal snowfall.

Burnett said forecasts show that while Toronto and the surrounding region will experience a deep-freeze, it’s going to be drier this winter, with “fluffier snow.”

A weak El Niño historically translates into a chillier climate throughout Ontario.

The Weather Network says El Niño is centred more across the central Pacific and can produce colder than normal winters across central and eastern Canada.

According to the 2015 edition of the Farmers’ Almanac, below-normal temperatures will arrive for about three-quarters of the country. The standard in weather forecasting states, “The coldest outbreak of the season will come during the final week of January into the beginning of February when frigid arctic air drops temperatures across the Prairies to perhaps 40 below zero. As the frigid air blows across the Great Lakes, snow showers and squalls will drop heavy amounts of snow to the lee of the Lakes for such localities as Houghton, Goderich, Owen Sound, and Sault Ste Marie.”