PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s that time of the year again: The 230th edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is out and you can dive into all that it offers.

Right off the bat, we have a color scheme that indicates that it will be a cold winter. Digest the graphic below, and then check out what the almanac says about the upcoming winter.

It does look like The Old Farmer’s Almanac is forecasting a cold winter for the majority of the United States, save for large areas of the West Coast and parts of Arizona and New Mexico, which may end up mild and dry.

In addition to the Old Farmer’s Almanac projections, there’s also the outlook from the Farmers’ Almanac — a separate publication with its own annual forecasts.

Let’s take a look at what the Farmers’ Almanac is going with for the upcoming winter outlook:

I wouldn’t say they are that far off from each other. Here are a few highlights of the almanac projections:

• The Central United States stretching from Canada to Texas could see well below normal temperatures for much of winter, with normal or slightly below normal projected along the East Coast. The Almanac does not predict a full repeat of the frigid chill that hit Texas and surrounding states early this year.
• The West and Pacific Northwest will likely see a typical winter weather pattern, including some big storms, but it won’t be enough to turn around the drought plaguing those states.
• The Almanac predicts many states will be hit with heavy precipitation in mid-January before milder conditions take over in February. March is expected to mirror the rest of the season, with periods of calm broken up by heavy storms.

Usually, at this time, I would take a look at the Climate Prediction Center’s three-month outlook, which is usually a long-range forecast for the months of winter. However, it is not out at this time. They have the three-month outlook displayed for the fall, which may bring more rain to drought-plagued areas, including the Pacific Northwest.

A reminder that the autumnal equinox doesn’t arrive until Wednesday, Sept. 22. We have some time to enjoy what is left of summer and fall before we get to winter.

No matter where you look for your long-range outlook, it’s important to stay flexible and monitor the local forecast for the days ahead. Pinning down specific weather patterns can be very tricky when looking weeks and months into the future.