Frymire: Pre-Christmas snow to be followed by bitter cold in January

IRVINGTON, Ky., – If last year’s mild winter left you longing for cold and snow, you’ll love the coming few months, that is if prognosticator Dick Frymire is correct with his forecast. 

The self-described “doctor of barnyard science” has issued his latest winter outlook, which shows a chance for a white Christmas as well as a January cold snap that will make last year’s mild winter just a pleasant memory. 

Frymire has issued winter forecasts for decades and reportedly uses past records to make his weather guesses. His famed Japanese maple tree, from which he based much of his annual outlooks, died a couple of years back but News photos from when it was alive show thermometers around and even inside the tree. 

Frymire, whose forecasts have always been “give or take a couple of days,” predicts today’s light frost will be followed by a killing frost Oct. 16. The first flurries will fly Nov. 6. 

The area will see 1-inch snowfalls Nov. 25 and again Nov. 30. Another inch of snow is predicted Dec. 23, giving the area a chance of a white Christmas. January will usher in bitter cold, with the mercury dipping to minus 12 twice. A 6-inch storm is expected Jan. 15. No heavy snows are predicted in February or March with the last flurries flying April 2.