Why This Coming Winter Could Be Iowa’s Coldest in Years

It's summer in Iowa so you know what that means... time to talk about winter! Hey, in fairness, with back-to-school specials and pumpkin spice-flavored foods and drinks popping up earlier and earlier, it's only fair.

After what was a very mild, warmer winter in 2023-'24, you may be wondering if Mother Nature will do a 180 this year and pop us with more snow, cold, and general mayhem during the winter months. Well, there is a good chance she will, according to one popular source.

Winter Is Coming

As always, we tend to be cautious when it comes to talking about the winter months. But when it comes to one source, they're always thinking a season or two ahead.

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The Old Farmer’s Almanac is preparing their 2024-'25 winter predictions and, since they just have to be chatty, we already have a sneak peak at what they'll say.

The popular source for weather predictions calls for a possible La Niña winter. Long summary short, that equals colder than El Niño, which was responsible for our warmer winter this past go around.

In addition to a possible La Niña, the prediction sneak peek goes on to say,

...We’re anticipating a warm Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and a cool Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Code for, colder? They go on to say,

We’re also watching equatorial stratospheric winds known as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. Combinations of these factors can also cause the polar vortex to drop added flashes of cold into North America.

If nothing else, tucked into the science (perhaps) mambo jumbo, mention of a polar vortex which is code for DANG it's gonna be cold!

We'll keep you posted when the full prediction is out. In the meantime, make sure you have coats, gloves, and a decently warm garage for your vehicle. Sounds like you'll need it!

When the season does arrive, here are some cool cabins in Iowa you can check out!