Winter Expected to Arrive Early

"According to our time-tested formula, winter will begin early," explained Caleb Weatherbee, chief weather prognosticator. "We also expect another very active winter weather pattern, especially in the Northeast."

Extensive snowfall could begin as early as late November this year since there won't be any El Nino or La Nina to alter the traditional winter climate. In recent years, these weather phenomena, which include warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean, influence high-level prevailing winds and have delayed winter's arrival and minimized snowfall. That pattern changed last year, resulting in significant snowfalls through much of New England.

Peter Geiger, editor of the 185-year-old Farmer's Almanac, predicted the active winter will be followed by a wet summer of 2002 in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Southeast, while the Midwest will be drier than usual.

Publishers of the Farmer's Almanac rely on a secret formula involving sunspots, positions of the planets and tidal action to predict the weather, and they report that their forecasts are correct about 80 percent of the time.