"Mike Halpert, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, says there are equal possibilities for rain and snowfall being below, near or above normal. That was the center’s prediction last year as well." *sigh*
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Wish I could be paid as much as him to be WRONG (or as VAGUE!!)...considering I am to expect a 30% increase this winter via Alliant Energy!! (BTW..THANKS Alliant! lol! :)
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I'd put my bet on the Farmers' Almanac, DEFINATELY, before a meteorologists'
(sp. sorry!)!! I am wondering though WHAT almanac the Gazette is refering to (or are they just going by what the A.P. says..if so, check location! :) because I agree w/ fiveonearth.
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Never heard of the wooly caterpillar, but I have noticed the bee activity lately is INTERESTING.... :)

The woolly caterpillars (the black and orange ones) are nearly bald this fall, so we're going to have a light winter. Has anyone else heard about this weather prediction method from their grandpas?

Folklore says winter weather will be bad if: the woolly caterpillar's black bands are wider than the orange bands, the woolly caterpillars have heavy coats, lots of them are seen crawling around before the first frost, and they move unusually slow.

Here's a couple more old-time winter weather predictors:

If bears and horses get thick coats early, then expect a severe winter.
Squirrels are busier gathering nuts before a bad winter.
If wasps build their nests high, a severe winter is on its way.

I hate my snowblower and it hates me. Works fine when hubby uses it, plugs up constantly when I use it. It came down to a fist fight last year and the snowblower won! LOL I find it faster and easier on my blood pressure to just get the shovel and get to work because I will get finished faster, the snowblower will not get kicked and I remain calmer. Except when the plow finally comes down the street and plows back in the end of the alley that I just spent an hour clearing... :)

Let winter come i have a big ass snowblower .

Here is a little bit of advice to the global warming worriers. Earth, has, does and WILL take care of herself. History has proven that. She will prevail, it is all of us humans that took advantage of her and took her for granted that will have the problems. So, as good as the intentions are to make you think all this GO GREEN is for the earth, it really is for the selfishness of the human race. All good things must come to and end....

And Global Warming is taking place on 7 other planets and one dwarf planet (that is really a planet). When the media report that 2/3 of the scientific community believe that we are responsible for the current global warming trends they fail to report that the percentage of NASA scientist that take that same position is far different. That is because NASA scientist realize that it is a solar system warm up. Earth has been through global warming cyles before and their have even been times in Earth's history where the poles have melted. Taking into account that these events happened pre-industrial age, our contributions today are likely very small. That being said, reducing our carbon footprint is still extremely important to cleaning our air and reducing severe ozone days. I agree with Al Gore types about reducing emissions but for very different valid scientific reasons.

Rusty....you got me!!! ;o)

Actually only a certain portion of the Artic ice is melting, and scientific thought is that it is very possible there is an underwater volcano, or some other phenomena causing this melting, because the temperatures are not that above normal to cause that much warming, but the ocean temperatures are.

Approx 3% of carbon Dioxide can be attributed to man made sources. The ocean and decaying plant life makes up the majority, so stop composting you are killing the environment! carbon dioxide trails the actual increase in temperatures because as the ocean warms it releases massive amounts of it. Solar flares are the most logical and scientifically and factually reasoning for any change in temperature on earth.

Back to the Article though, yeah they don't really have any clue on this winter, and if they can't predict out a few months how can they predict global climate change

janesvillian, "Every time it starts to get colder the peanut gallery comes out and makes global warming jokes, but every year the arctic ice shrinks."

And along with the shrinking arctic ice, the Antarctic ice expands, and the sea level doesn't change; you forgot to mention that. We hardly have to go back 55 million years (a date I don't believe anyway) to show that global temperatures used to be higher; we only have to go back to the midival times before the "little ice age" began, which by the way started ending about 300 years ago due to increased solar output which is why we had some slight global warming (i.e., not caused by man).

partly sunny means more clouds then clear sky, so not as much sunshine, partly cloudy is more clear sky and less clouding, so more sunshine...

My favorite is, what is the difference between Partly Sunny & Partly Cloudy?

"equal possibilities for rain and snowfall being below, near or above normal"
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WOW!
Now thats going out on a limb!
I AGREE with that prediction!

"As a scientist in this field, you realize that there is just absolutely no science involved behind what they're doing," Martin said.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/17433477...
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I love the way that there are always two lines of refutation -- one that there will really be an ice age, and the other that we should just get tropical outfits because it's inevitable. It's most enjoyable when they both appear in the same discussion. It is kind of funny, but it's just more sad evidence of the state of science education in the United States these days.

Winter sucks!

It may get all the way down into the 50s at night where I'm at. Burrrrrrrrrr!

Global warming???? Everyone google "sunspot activity" and read the articles about the lack thereof. Lots of leading scientists reversed their forcast of global warming and now say were headed for another ice age. I believe it is just the natural cycle of our little, irrelavent planet!

Screw global warming. It is the cycle of the Earth. True enough, our lifestyles today do not help the situation, but it is "Mother Nature" doing her job. Doesn't anyone remember science class when we learned about the natural cycle of the Earth? Oh yeah, I am sorry, I went to a small school with a graduation night class of 108 people. Yes, 108 people in the graduating senior class! Small town, yes, but real life, OF COURSE we learned about real life... the Earth and atmosphere warm and cool naturally over millions of years! Yes, I have many meteorology classes under my belt through college, but that does not make me a liar. Instead of calling meteorologists (those are the people that make an educated estimate on Mother Nature's cycles of life) liars, try reverting that to the fools that run politics!

optimism: "I predict Christmas will come in the winter this year"
I'll go one better, I predict Christmas will come on December 25th!

isnt barrett jackson the QB for the vikings?!

wonder what a 55 million year old hemi cuda would go for in mint condition at a barrett jackson auction.

The Acex research team drilled frozen sedimentary cores from the ocean floor, which can be dated to 55 million years ago, a period known as the palaeocene-eocene thermal maximum (PETM). Surface temperatures in some parts of the world were then 8C (15F) higher than now.

that is a quote from an article written by steve connor in "the independent". i didnt realize that cars were causing global warming as far back as 55 million years ago. that is truly amazing. whod of thunk cavemen actually had escalades and other gas guzzling vehicles. WOW!

Every time it starts to get colder the peanut gallery comes out and makes global warming jokes, but every year the arctic ice shrinks. It's really sad that the political opposition to doing anything about global warming involves making people distrust science to the point where they believe people are "paid to lie". That's a real tragedy for our society.

What Day Is that???

I predict Christmas will come in the winter this year.... :o)

Thats why we have all come to love Wisconsin, right?

- It's no longer global warming curlysue, the academic name is now "climate change".

-Wouldn't you like a job where you get paid to lie? . . . . . .

You cannot predict the weather. If they say it will be 70 and sun plan on 50 and rain. Its mother nature. You CANNOT predict it. You can make assumputions but I wouldn't bet on anything.

What happened to the global warming everyone's talkin about? LOL LOL

I have been right every year so far....I predict snow when we least want it, cold temps...high fuel prices and poor snow plowing in Janesville.

Ahahah Well put nowwhat. Got my laugh in for the day.

In other words they don't have a clue.

You mean winter comes every year?