Farmers' Almanac not shutting down

We interrupt coverage of Friday's potential winter storm system with some really important news.

The editor of the Farmers' Almanac said Wednesday morning that the annual publication, which is 196 years old, will continue to be printed.

That was in some doubt after an announcement earlier this week that the manufacturing facilities at the almanac's headquarters in Lewiston, Maine, will be shutting down. That closure will eliminate about 75 jobs.

Peter Geiger, the Farmers' Almanac editor, says the issues that have been printed at the Maine plant since 1955 had been used for promotional purposes. Geiger, the parent company of the Farmers' Almanac, produced a variety of promotional materials at the plant, Peter Geiger said.

But the Farmers' Almanac that you see on shelves in grocery stores, magazine racks and book stores was printed at another plant, in Wisconsin.

The Farmers' Almanac remains interesting reading. It is loaded with facts -- some obscure, some of real-life value.  It also contains a number of other articles, but its noteworthy appeal is meteorology.

The almanac, of course, contains weather forecasts that are produced far in advance -- more than a year in advance, for some months. The authors say their predictions are based on a number of scientific principles, and considering the inconsistencies of computer models used by the National Weather Service and other meteorologists, it's sometimes tough to criticize the Farmers' Almanac methods.

Geiger says the almanac is "much more than just a physical product. It's a way of life, a belief that you can live life more simply, naturally, and in harmony with the world around you."

By the way, the almanac's forecast for the next few days in Charlotte is "mild with showers."  Oh, well ... you can't get them all right.