The Farmers’ Almanac, dating back to 1818, is considered
one of the first promotional products – used by ag coops, farm bureaus, seed companies, equipment manufacturers, and others to promote their organizations.
In August 2013, the publication predicted a "bitterly cold” winter of 2014 and a messy "Storm Bowl” for the first outdoor Super Bowl in years. The Almanac was amazingly accurate, plus or minus 12 hours. Who else predicts with that accuracy that far in advance?
The Farmers’ Almanac prediction:
"On February 2, Super Bowl XLVIII will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey’s Meadowlands -- the very first time a Super Bowl will be played outdoors in a typically cold weather environment. We are forecasting stormy weather for this, the biggest of sporting venues. But even if we are off by a day or two with the timing of copious wind, rain, and snow, we wish to stress that this particular part of the winter season will be particularly volatile and especially turbulent.”
No one disputes how extremely cold it was in January 2014. At one point all 50 states, including Hawaii and Florida, experienced freezing temperatures and snow.
True the Super Bowl enjoyed 40 degree temperatures and wasn’t a sloppy, snowy mess when the game started at 6:30 p.m., but fast-forward 12 hours to 6:00 a.m. the next morning, and we were back to freezing temperatures and accumulation that topped 6 inches in much of the Northeast, in many cases by a lot.
Not bad for a prediction six months in advance, especially considering weather forecasters are only 50/50 a week in advance. As farmer’s go: you only need to be close in a game of horseshoes and the Farmers’ Almanac.
And, of course, it all comes from a promotional product. The Farmer’s Almanac has been produced since 1955 by Geiger Bros, the nation’s largest family owned and managed promotional products distributor.