LEWISTON — There would be nothing like a little pelting rain to make Peter Geiger happy.

A driving snow. A wind that lashes at hats and foam fingers alike.

Sunday is the big day for the Super Bowl and the Farmers’ Almanac.

Back in August when the 2014 edition of the nearly 200-year-old almanac rolled out, it included this forecast for the Northeast this weekend: “Intense storm, heavy rain, snow, strong winds. This could seriously impact Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2.”

“Seriously impact” because for the first time the big game is being played outdoors in New Jersey, where winter happens.

The messy prospect scored the almanac mentions in The New York Times, CBS Sports, USA Today and a Washington Post blog, which wasn’t very kind. Geiger, the almanac’s editor, may want to skip that one.

He’s done interviews with ESPN, Fox News and, maybe a little oddly, Men’s Health, which wrote about the forecast and included healthy tips like the best days to quit smoking according to the almanac.

“There’s not many other things that people focus on like the Super Bowl,” Geiger said this week. “It’s been an interesting six months.”

The almanac’s forecasts are done two years in advance by a secret formula that includes tides, sunspots and planetary alignment.

Geiger said it’s been right about other foul Super Bowl weather: in 2000, when the game was in Atlanta and in 2011 when it was played in Cowboys Stadium. Both cities were pelted with snow or ice in the days before the big game.

“We did call for icy conditions for those two occasions,” Geiger said. “It made it more difficult to get to the stadium.”

For this year’s game day, the Weather Channel is calling for a light wind, low chance of drizzle and temperatures in the upper 30s or low 40s come game time.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast maps show New Jersey bone dry with 0.01 to 0.25 inches of precipitation for most of New England on Sunday — so no intense storm, heavy rain or snow over MetLife Stadium.

There’s no changing course now, Geiger said. What’s printed is printed. He was feeling good about the almanac’s overall call for this winter: a bitter cold one.

“If I had my druthers, we’d have a storm,” Geiger said. “If it doesn’t happen, it was a miss for the day. We’re 197 years of doing this stuff; we’ll continue to do it. It’d be nice to say we were completely right.”

Not to let the Super Bowl overshadow another big weather event, but Sunday is also Groundhog Day. Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? With all those cameras around, there’s no telling, says the Farmers’ Almanac. But it says there is still a good six weeks-plus of winter left.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link