At Bring Me The News, the day The Old Farmer's Almanac winter forecast drops is like Christmas in August, because even though there's next-to-no science or meteorology behind the forecast, people are obsessed with finding out what the publication believes will happen in Minnesota. 

Well, Christmas is here, as The Old Farmer's Almanac has released its winter forecast:

Old Farmer's Almanac

How does that compare to the winter forecast released by the Farmers' Almanac? 

Farmers' Almanac

The big difference for Minnesota between the Farmers' and Old Farmer's is that the former plasters all of Minnesota with snow, while the latter has a dry slice sweeping through a significant chunk of the state. 

Here's more from The Old Farmer's Almanac: 

"It will be colder than normal across much of the country between the East Coast and Rockies. Precipitation will be above normal from Maine to southeastern Virginia, in Florida, from the lower Great Lakes into Missouri, and from western Minnesota to the northern Rockies, southward into the southern Rockies, and westward into the California coast and near or below normal elsewhere."

The Old Farmer's Almanac breaks its forecast into 18 regions, with almost all of Minnesota, with the exception of a row or two of counties closest to the Iowa border, falling into the Upper Midwest region. The region also includes most of Wisconsin, the far eastern Dakotas and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

"Winter temperatures will be below normal, with the oldest periods in late November, early December, early and late January, and mid-February," the forecast for the Upper Midwest region reads. "Precipitation and snowfall will be below normal in the east and above normal in the west. The snowiest periods will be in late November, early and late December, and early and late March."

The Old Farmer's Almanac also gets extremely specific. Check this out for the Upper Midwest region: 

• Nov. 1-5: Rain to snow and cold
• Nov. 6-9: Sunny east, showers west; mild
• Nov. 10-14: Snow, cold
• Nov. 15-20: Very cold
• Nov. 21-27, Snow showers, cold
• Nov. 28-30: Snow, heavy east; very cold
• Dec. 1-4: Heavy snow east, flurries west; frigid

It also calls for "snow periods" and "very cold" weather Dec. 21-31, followed by a colder than normal January and February. 

There might be a snowstorm March 6-9 and then another spring storm March 25-27. 

The Farmers' Almanac doesn't get as specific, but it does warn that Minnesota and parts of the north-central U.S. "are forecast to experience extremely cold temperatures, (possibly 40° below zero!) especially during mid-January."

Meanwhile, the actual blend of models forecasting long-range weather shows literally the entire United States in expected warmer than normal temperatures December through February. 

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