What Will Winter Hold For Shreveport/Bossier?
Perhaps someone has told you the old adage, "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." And we've all heard the saying, "A friend in need is a friend indeed!" These and many more like them were coined by Benjamin Franklin in his Poor Richard's Almanack which was published continually from 1732 to 1758. The publication was prized for its clever wordplay, life hacks, puzzles, and weather forecasts.
The Old Farmer's Almanac traces its beginning back to 1792 and maintains the style of publishing for which Franklin's pamphlet was famous. Each edition even has ol' Ben's picture on the cover. To this day, people all over the country look to the Almanac to find out what the weather has in store for them in the coming year. The Almanac publishes long-range forecasts 18 months in advance and claims to have an 80% accuracy rating.
So what does it say about the weather in the Ark-La-Tex this winter? The Almanac predicts that the winter of 2017 will be rainier and slightly cooler than normal. We can look for our coldest temperatures in early to mid-December, at the first and middle parts of January, and in the early part of February.
BTW--The Almanac was dead-on with its forecast of a tropical storm threat in late August. It's also predicted the same threat for early September, and Hurricane Irma is barreling toward the U.S. as we speak. Let's just hope that Irma takes a hard right at Florida and misses America entirely.