The new almanac predicts that Northern and Central California will have a mild and dry winter. Janice Stillman is editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac in Dublin, New Hampshire. 

"Yeah, the drought will persist…much below normal precip." 

That prediction is in line with the state Department of Water Resources’ forecast of below average rainfall. And that has some local water officials worried…like Lisa Amaral.

She’s the water conservation manager for the City of Roseville…which is already in a Stage One Drought Alert. They’re asking residents to voluntarily reduce water usage. 

"We hope that this won’t be the case but we might likely move into a Stage Two, which starts to become mandatory 20% reduction if we get further cutbacks from the Bureau of Reclamation." 

During normal years, Roseville gets 32,000 acre-feet of water from Folsom Lake. But earlier this year, the US Bureau of Reclamation told the city it’ll only get 24,000 because of two consecutive dry winters. 

If the predictions are right, next year will make it the third consecutive year. 

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says it comes up with its weather forecast from a secret formula influenced by sunspots.