REGION — It was a black-and-white world on Monday, January 4 after four to five inches of fluffy snow fell on the area overnight. This snowfall followed a light ice storm that coated trees and branches early Saturday morning.

The 2021 Farmer’s Almanac predicted a light winter for most of us here in the United States, with warmer-than-normal temperatures in the forecast for a large part of the country. Uncommonly chilly temperatures will be limited mostly to the Western states and Northeastern New England. Specifically, winter will be colder than normal in Maine and Eastern Hawaii; the Intermountain, Desert Southwest and Pacific Southwest regions; and above normal elsewhere.

On the precipitation side of things, the almanac said to expect “wet” to be a wintertime constant, with rain or average to below-average snowfall to be the standard throughout most of the country. So far, the prediction seems right on.

For more about winter predictions and the nature of folk expressions, turn to Jonathan Charles Fox’s column “Red sky at night” on page 16.