Wild Winter?

By Sophie Currie

Sentry Staff Reporter

Everyone grab some snow boots, a shovels and get ready for the winter to come. Rumor has spread that Northern Virginia is looking at record breaking snowfall this year. Some rumors go as far as to say that there will be more snow days than last year. But are these rumors just that? Simply rumors? Or will the polar vortex make a reappearance?

On August 25, the 2015 Farmers’ Almanac was released. This edition predicted that the region is looking at temperatures that are below the norm. It goes further to say that the eastern coast should be expecting a snowy winter. Ultimately, this edition of the Farmers’ Almanac calls for an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes, also known as El Nino. El Nino is traditionally known to occur at the end of December. This means we are looking at late December and early January being the coldest and snowiest times.

These rumors of snow have all the students excited for the possible cancellations of school. Overall, most students see this as a good thing, but there can be some negatives with this prospect.

“I’m very excited for the possible snow days,” said senior Kimberly Estoque, “but I’m also not looking forward to all the make up work.”

Despite all these predictions, there is still room for doubt. Many scientists have looked into this year’s weather forecast predictions, and some have serious doubts. While early on some signs may have pointed to a particularly cold season to come, temperatures have not yet dropped to the place where they were predicted to be.  The likelihood for El Nino has decreased steadily to the point where, now some scientists are claiming to see no signs of these particular weather patterns. Still others claim that there is a large chance that we will see another crazy winter.

Last winter, the Farmers’ Almanac was successful in predicting crazy snowfall. This year there are many opinions clashing with each other as to whether or not its predictions will ring true again. However, the closer to winter we get, the more accurate the predictions will be. For now, it looks as if we will have to sit tight and see if the Almanac pulls through with its forecast. Only time will tell if the region will be snowless or if it will enter the vortex once again.

 

Featured Image by Alex Brandolino/SENTRY

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