Waiting On The Farmers’ Almanac For Colorado’s Winter Forecast? We Need To Talk

Every July this happens.

Somebody forwards a screenshot, somebody else swears "the Farmers' Almanac says we're getting buried this winter," and before you know it, people are pricing snowblowers despite the Valley never getting any snow.

Except this year there's a pretty big problem with that plan.

The Farmers' Almanac Isn't Coming Back

Not delayed. Not getting a redesign. Gone.

After 208 years of predicting weather with a mix of astronomy, long-range patterns, and a recipe they guarded like grandma's green chile, the Farmers' Almanac called it quits. The Maine publication printed its final edition and quietly disappeared after shutting down its website last winter.

Its last forecast covered the winter of 2025 and 2026, calling for plenty of cold and snow across Colorado. That's old news now.

So if you've been waiting for this year's Farmers' Almanac winter prediction, you've been waiting on a publication that doesn't exist anymore.

Everybody Mixes Up The Two Almanacs

Here's where weather nerds become insufferable.

The Farmers' Almanac and the Old Farmer's Almanac have spent more than 200 years getting confused with each other.

Different publishers. Different histories. Different forecasting formulas. Same habit of making everyone think they're talking about the same book.

The older one is still very much alive.

And it already released its Fall 2026 outlook, which includes Colorado.

The Western Slope Lands Right In The Middle

Colorado never likes making forecasting easy.

The Old Farmer's Almanac paints the Eastern Plains as warmer than average with a fairly dry September and October.

On the Western Slope, things get murkier. The Intermountain region, which lumps us in with Utah and Wyoming, is expected to see slightly wetter-than-normal conditions. Northern portions trend cooler while southern areas lean warmer.

Which is about as Colorado as Colorado gets. Grand Junction ends up sitting in the middle of that tug-of-war.

The forecast also hints at above-normal rainfall across parts of the central and northern Rockies this fall. The Grand Mesa certainly wouldn't complain if a little of that sticks around before Powderhorn starts spinning lifts.

The 'Early Winter' Answer Is Going To Frustrate You

Here's the part that disappoints everyone.

There isn't a published long-range winter outlook yet.

The Old Farmer's Almanac's current forecast only runs through October. The full 2026 and 2027 winter outlook comes later, after forecasters get a better read on El Niño and the atmospheric patterns that actually matter once ski season rolls around.

So if someone claims the almanac already says exactly what January will look like in the Grand Valley, they're either looking at last year's edition or mixing up the two books.

Should You Even Trust Any Of This?

I still enjoy flipping through an almanac. A publication that's survived for centuries gets points for stubbornness alone, and there's something oddly comforting about a weather forecast that isn't attached to a phone notification.

But Colorado has always played by its own rules.

Read More: Don’t Waste Your Summer: Simple Ways to Do Colorado Right

Sometimes the Monument disappears behind snow while Fruita barely gets a dusting. Sometimes the Book Cliffs steal all the moisture before it ever reaches town. And sometimes the forecast gets humbled before the first storm even reaches Glenwood Canyon.

Maybe hold off on buying that oversized snowblower for now. We've still got a few weeks before winter starts showing its cards.