By KATHY MELLOTT
MARTINSBURG — After watching the winds of recent weeks, charting moon changes and culling information from Baer’s Agricultural Almanac, George Acker recommends forgetting about the relatively nice weather of 2009 and bracing for an active 2010.
Acker, 87, of Martinsburg, Blair County, predicts the remainder of this winter will provide plenty of snow and freezing temperatures.
Early and late spring will bring a mix of sun and rain while rain and thunderstorms will dominate June, July and August.
The wettest month should be
September with October and November relatively normal, said the retired farmer. He has been charting the weather and making his predictions for more than three decades.
“I think it’s going to be a rough winter. I look for January and February to be plenty of snow,” he said.
“We’re going to see winters like we used to have in the early 1990s. We’re going into a cold cycle,” he said.
After the heavy snows comes thawing – and his prediction that while the spring rains should be about normal, late winter will bring plenty of flooding.
January could bring especially deep snows according to the moon changes.
Acker’s Baer’s Almanac, now in its 185th year of print, shows all moon changes, into new moon, first quarter and full moon, occurring during the morning hours this month, a key that there will be plenty of precipitation, he said. The moon is also lively in September, according to his predictions.
“September has five moon changes and it’s going to be a wet one. This might be a flood month,” he said.
While the moon plays a major role in his prognosticating, the winds cannot be ignored, Acker said.
A wind from the southwest will bring rain, sleet and icy highways while east winds bring deep snows.
As the year progresses, Acker is predicting a hurricane for the mid-Atlantic states in mid-June.
The potential for a second hurricane looms in mid-September, a month loaded with thunderstorm predictions.
George Acker’s 2010 weather predictions:
January
1-7 – Snow, unsettled, cold.
12-19 – Heavy rain and snow, cold, windy.
20-23 – Very cold, clear.
24-31 – Continued cold, rain turning to snow.
February
1-7 – Snow or rain.
8-11 – Heavy snow, turning colder.
12-15 – Heavy snow, up to a foot.
16-19 – Fair, sunny.
20-23 – Snow.
24-28 – Snow and rain.
March
1-3 – Wet, then clear and cold.
4-7 – Wet snow or rain.
8-11 – Fair.
12-15 – Showers.
16-19 – Fair and windy.
24-27 – Strong winds, thunder gusts.
28-31 – Fair, sunny.
April
1-7 – Warmer, showers and thunderstorms.
8-11 – Cloudy and light rain.
12-15 – Sunny, fair.
16-19 – Thunderstorms.
20-23 – Sunny.
24-27 – Rain, then fair.
28-31 – Windy, then showers.
May
1-3 – Thunderstorms, cool.
4-7 – Sunny, hot.
8-11 – Rain.
12-15 – Thunderstorms, clearing.
16-19 – Fair, sunny.
20-23 – Showers, then fair.
24-27 – Sunny then rain.
28-31 – Clear and sunny.
June
1-3 – Showers.
4-7 – Clear and pleasant.
8-11 – Thunderstorms.
12-15 – Showers.
16-19 – Severe thunderstorms, hurricane for mid-Atlantic region.
20-23 – Sunny.
24-27 – Thunderstorms then fair.
27-30 – Showers.
July
1-3 – Fair, hot.
4-7 – Showers, fog.
8-11 – Thunderstorms.
12-15 – Thunderstorms.
16-19 – Fair, hot.
20-23 – Severe thunderstorms.
24-27 – Clearing, sunshine.
28-31 – Hot, showers.
August
1-3 – Fair.
4-7 – Showers.
8-11 – Severe storms.
12-15 – Fair.
16-19 – Thunderstorms.
20-23 – Fair, sunny.
24-27 – Fair, hot.
28-31 – Thunderstorms.
September
1-3 – Thunderstorms.
4-7 – Thunderstorms, fair.
8-11 – Hurricane threat, then cooling.
12-15 – Thunderstorms.
16-19 – Sunny, fair.
20-23 – Tropical system, heavy rain.
24-27 – Heavy rain.
28-30 – Fair, cool, dry.
October
1-3 – Scattered showers.
4-7 – Sunny, fair.
8-11 – Heavy rains.
12-15 – Fair.
16-19 – Rain.
20-23 – Milder.
24-27 – Fair, cool.
28-31 – Showers.
November
1-7 – Rain, wet snow.
8-11 – Sunny, cool.
12-15 – Showers, fair.
16-19 – Snow or rain.
20-23 – Fair, cold.
24-27 – Rain, clearing.
28-30 – Fair, sunny.
December
1-3 – Rain, snow.
4-7 – Cold.
8-11 – Snow, cold.
12-15 – Sunny, fair.
16-19 – Heavy snow.
20-23 – Heavy rain, ice, snow.
24-27 – Fair, cold.
28-31 – Snow.
