Quebec winter weather runs deep. Our skeletons have only just thawed from the last cold season, but already we're facing down another four months of finger-numbing temperatures, face-chafing wind and ass-breaking slippery sidewalks. According to predictions from the Old Farmer's Almanac, the first real evidence of winter will arrive in early November, though it won't be an immediate plunge into an icy hell.

The first mention of snowfall in the famous reference book's fall and winter forecasts for southern Quebec is between November 6 and 12, when, after a mild debut to the month, rain might finally begin to freeze.

The almanac suggests Quebecers are in for an annoyingly inconsistent November with fluctuating and, on average, above-normal temperatures. Periods of rain and snow are set to continue during a chillier spell from the 13th to the 19th.

Between the 20th and the 26th, almanac writers foresee a snowstorm followed by a period of mixed rain and snow showers before temperatures rise slightly.

They predict temps will finally drop by the end of November as Quebec enters a colder-than-average final month of the year. The December forecast will look familiar to Quebecers: snowstorms and a merciful period of milder temperatures and sunny skies before a holiday season that the almanac says will include "flurries."

The Old Farmer's Almanac doesn't make white Christmas predictions, but things don't look promising given the projected rain and mild temperatures in the preceding week.

The January forecast is perhaps most foreboding with projections of above-normal precipitation and below-normal temperatures.

We'll see if the predictions from the archaic publication actually manifest.