Phony report calls for 'record-breaking snowfall'
(PIX11) – A fake report is causing some confusion online by claiming winter will start this month and last through June of 2015.
It was posted on the satirical website Empire News, the same website that sparked a Betty White death rumor with an article joking about her dying her hair.
You may have seen some rumors swirling on Facebook, but let us reiterate: they are not true.
More than 400,000 people shared the "news" on Facebook, not realizing that it was a joke. In the article, one fake "doctor of meteorology" claimed that winter would start now, and last through June of next year. It also said that this year's extended winter would include twenty times the snow we had last year.
Meteorologist Rachel Frank reminds us that it's far too early for winter predictions ... and that we all got tricked by the 'big blue map.'
"We are not expecting this to be a record-shattering winter," Frank explained. "The Farmer's Almanac is forecasting a brutal winter, but that forecast is based on astronomical calculation that one person does ... so you have to take that with a grain of salt."
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