Say it ain't so!

It boasts an 80 per cent accuracy rate with its overall weather predictions so it’s probably a safe bet that we’re going to have cold and snow this winter.

Where the bad news really begins, according to the newly updated version of the annual Old Farmer’s Almanac, is in November. The book says that Alberta is in for low temperatures, between 2C and 8.5C below normal, all the way to May.

After that, however, our province will be hotter than average but with normal amounts of precipitation. That’s good news, especially for people who still remember our endless rains just a few months ago.

The book goes to such lengths as saying that the week of April 13 to 20 will have heavy rain and snow, including snow showers, before it turns sunny but still cool. Mark your calendars now.

Whether or not the weather is right, the book is always 100 per cent informative on a wide array of subjects about life on this planet. There will be not one, not two, but three eclipses that will be visible in North America, although we miss out on the total eclipse of the sun next November.

But Chicken Little is already chirping up with warnings of how the sky is falling. Not really, but that’s how the book describes the rare transit of Venus across the sun in June. It’s visible without a telescope but you’ll still want to wear eye protection.

Other useful tidbits of trivia from the volume include home remedies, tips on animal husbandry, how and when to plant your gardens, and phenological fishing. What? You’ve never heard of it? It’s only supposed to be a great way to predict where the fish will bite. It can’t hurt to try, especially if you keep coming home empty-handed.

The book (with its trademark hole punch in the corner so you can loop a string through it and hang it anywhere) is also great as a bathroom reader, a coffee table book or a doctor’s office time-passer. Is saliva the elixir of life? How to make the best macaroni and cheese from scratch? Is Canadian hockey legend Howie Morenz the greatest athlete of all time?

Read all about it. These questions and more are all in the book for your casual or serious consideration.