This winter is gonna be nippy, according to the venerable Farmers' Almanac.

After one of the warmest winters on record, this coming winter will be much colder than normal from coast to coast, the almanac predicts.

"Shivery is not dead!" declared editor Peter Geiger as the latest edition of the 190-year-old publication hits the newsstands.

The almanac, which claims its forecasts are accurate 80 percent to 85 percent of the time, correctly predicted a "polar coaster" of dramatic swings for last winter, Geiger said. For example, New York City collected 40 inches of snow even though it was one of the warmest winters in the city's history.

This year, predicts the almanac's reclusive forecaster, Caleb Weatherbee, it will be frigid from the Gulf Coast all the way up the East Coast.

But it'll be especially nippy on the northern Plains -- up to 20 degrees below seasonal norms in much of Montana, the Dakotas and part of Wyoming, he writes.

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WHAT IT IS

The Farmers' Almanac, not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer's Almanac, claims a circulation of 4 million. Most copies are sold to banks, insurance companies, oil dealers and other businesses that give them away as promotions. Retail versions are sold around the United States and Canada.

It remains much the same as when it was introduced in 1818, although its focus has shifted from farms and livestock to lawns, gardens and pets.

This year's retail edition is the biggest ever, at 208 pages. It includes traditional charts on astronomy, average frost dates, and planting and gardening calendars. It also has the usual down-home features and cornball humor.

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