FARGO — In late August, people start wondering what kind of winter awaits us. They listen to anything and anyone who claims to have the answer. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is a much-debated topic. “It’s amazing how often they’re right,” they say. But when you compare their predictions to what happens each year, you find that the almanac isn’t all that good.
Woolly bears, muskrats, pig spleens, and onion slices are other examples of winter predictions from folklore, and many people swear that these are “pretty good” when in fact they aren’t good at all. How on earth could an onion slice predict the weather months in advance? Many people seem to like to believe in things that seem impossible without actually checking them carefully or considering what the cause and effect relationship might be. To be fair, weather science isn’t that good at making long-term predictions either, but that’s no reason to turn to magic instead.
John Wheeler is chief meteorologist at WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South in Louisiana and Alabama and says his family’s move to the Midwest was important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.
