Old Farmer's Almanac: Warmer Winter Ahead

(CBS) – Should the Chicago area expect a warmer-than-usual winter season with less snow than it usually gets?

That's the prediction of the Old Farmer's Almanac, but don't get too excited, CBS 2 Meteorologist Ed Curran reports.

The latest, 2018 edition of the Almanac groups Chicago in the same region as Buffalo, N.Y. Chicago gets about 36 inches of snow, and Buffalo gets nearly 8 feet, so you have a good chance of getting something right.

This year, the venerable volume calls for the Lower Great Lakes Region to be warmer than usual and to see below-normal snowfall.

Last year, the almanac called for it to be a warmer winter, and they were right. But most meteorologists forecasted that trend in a La Nina winter.

The almanac called for it to be snowier than normal in 2017, but Chicago was a whopping 28 percent below normal. It was the sixth least-snowiest January in Chicago.

February saw no snow -- only the third time that's happened in Chicago on record.

They missed the biggest December snow in 11 years, and they missed a big snow on Dec. 10 and 11.

March 13th and 14th saw 8 inches of snow; the almanac predicted sunny and mild.

Winter trends can be predicted with some accuracy. To predict specific days, months ahead, is absurd.