On its Web site, the Farmers’ Almanac keeps a running tally of when its predictions have turned into realities:

• In 1954, the Almanac predicted Hurricane Carol, which battered the New England coast, caused 80 mph winds to buffet Central Maine, flattened cornfields in Livermore and left six counties in Maine disaster areas.

• The Almanac foresaw Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and was close (enough) in predicting the landfalls of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2006.

• In 1995, the Almanac nailed a surprise January heat wave – christened “Juneuary” – in the Northeast.

• But most often, when the Almanac has been right, it’s been right about winter.

As it was last year, when the Almanac’s predictions of heavy snowfall were dead-on. (More so than the National Weather Service.) This has been a regular trend: When the white stuff is on its way, the Almanac sees it coming.

It does again this year – apocalyptically.

“This [winter] is going to be catastrophic for millions of people,” says normally upbeat Almanac editor Peter Geiger, after unveiling the latest edition of the Almanac, which predicts a cold front nipping at noses (and wallets) across the country. As Geiger has put it, “Numb’s the word.”

Professional meteorologists are quieting the Almanac’s predictions (also a regular trend) by declaring, as loudly as possible, that just because some book from Maine makes a weather forecast doesn’t mean it is correct.

For this year, the National Weather Service is countering the Almanac with projections of warmer-than-average temperatures across the country.

Admittedly, given the complex scientific observation that goes into modern meteorology, considering the arcane forecasting methods of the Almanac (acorns, sunspots, tides, planets, fog) as equally reliable is probably a stretch.

But there’s a reason the Almanac has been relied upon for almost two centuries – it’s often right, and people have come to depend on its predictions for planning the most important events of their lives, such as wedding days.

And we’ve seen enough blown forecasts from professional prognosticators to realize predicting the weather is a dicey enough proposition even a week in advance.

The Almanac is trusted to be right. Those who consult its wisdom are hoping its forecast is bulletproof.

Yet this winter promises to be tougher than most. With heating costs at the moon, a long, frigid winter is the worst possible scenario for cold-weather states such as Maine. A warmer-than-average winter would be quite preferable.

In a normal year, we would have no trouble trusting the Almanac.

But for this winter, please forgive us for hoping – for once – that the Almanac is dead wrong.