Farmer's Almanac forecasts a brutally cold winter for Toronto

Today in things you probably don't need to be told if you've lived in Toronto for any amount of time: Winter is going to suck.

The Farmer's Almanac, which has been using an ancient formula to forecast weather conditions as much as 16 months in advance with up to 85 per cent accuracy for more than 200 years, is calling for a long and volatile winter across Canada.

"Are you ready for another winter ride, full of chills and thrills?" reads the publication's 2019-2020 winter outlook, released this week.

"According to the 2020 Canadian Farmers’ Almanac, winter 2019-20 will be filled with so many ups and downs on the thermometer, we had no choice but to dub it the 'Polar Coaster' Winter!"

Cute. But not.

❄️☃️🎿BREAKING: We've released our extended forecast for WINTER 2019-20! See who's in for a wild ride on the #PolarCoaster!
👉 https://t.co/6IKGHYKgYI#WintersComing#FarmersAlmanac#Winter2020#winterwx#snowride pic.twitter.com/nt0cBdQBOH

— The Farmers' Almanac (@FarmersAlmanac) August 26, 2019

"Our long-range forecast is calling for yet another freezing, frigid, and frosty winter for two-thirds of the country," said the Almanac's editor, Peter Geiger in the outlook. "If you remember last winter's freezing temperatures, you’re going to want to be prepared."

We'll see "bitterly cold conditions" east of the Rockies to Quebec and the Maritimes for much of the season, with the coldest snap expected to come during the final week of January.

"During this time, the Arctic air could cause temperatures to drop as low as  -40°C over the Prairies," explains the forecast. "As the freezing air blows across the Great Lakes, intense bursts of heavy snow showers and squalls could, in extreme cases, deposit perhaps 70 cm in just a single day, especially in the snowbelt of Ontario.

Spring will be slow to start in Ontario as well, with winter lingering around longer than usual and "unseasonably chilly conditions" hanging on well into the first week of April.

That's only if the Farmer's Almanac is correct in its predictions for this winter, however. Let's all hope those predictions are wrong.