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Good news for Aspen skiers in Farmer’s Almanac

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado
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ASPEN – That Premier Pass will be a good investment this winter, if you take heed of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The venerable publication’s forecast calls for a snowy, mild winter for the region that includes the Aspen area’s Elk Mountains. The publication’s forecast sounds like a repeat of last winter’s conditions, when it rarely quit snowing in December and into January.

“The snowiest periods will occur in early and mid-November, mid- and late December, and mid- and late January,” the almanac said for the intermountain region.



In general, December is supposed to be above average in temperature and precipitation in Colorado’s mountains; ditto for January; February will be below average for temps and snow; and March will be colder with average precipitation.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac is a delightful mish-mash of articles on topics such as astronomy, gardening and animal husbandry, plus oddball tidbits on a variety of topics. It derives its weather forecasts from a “secret formula that was devised by the founder of this Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792.” He believed the weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots.




So, just how accurate was the almanac’s forecast for Colorado’s mountains last winter? It was spotty. Overall, The Old Farmer’s Almanac forecasted a colder and drier winter, on average, for the intermountain region, with most the snow falling north of Colorado’s mountains. In reality, it was wet and cold in December and part of January, with warm temperatures and average precipitation for the balance of ski season.

The almanac botched the forecast for the last half of the winter, when it said cold temperatures would prevail in February and March.

Forgive those transgressions and hope that this ski season’s snowy and mild forecast is correct. The 2010 Old Farmer’s Almanac hits the stores Tuesday.

scondon@aspentimes.com