Do you think it will be a bad winter or...

Yep I am with other Washingtonians. Bitter cold. I think we are going to be having one or 2 of those Columbus day storms types. I wonder if we will have th narrows bridge close down this year due to iceciles again. First time ever was '96(?) people were without power for a couple of weeks. Funny how many people couldn't survive and went to stay with friends. WE managed wtihout heat and little propane(enough for camp stove).
Did anyone else around here notcie all the trees falling last winter? With the very dry summer I bet it will be worse this winter.

A cold fall is not a sign of a bad winter. The worst winter we've had in recent years was 77 -78
It was very summer like until after Christmas.

One thing you can be certain of is it will be colder in the winter than in the summer.
That is a good thing.
No mosquitoes.

My squirrels are building nests out on the forks of branches not up close to the trunk , a sure sign it will be a mild winter!

I'm thinking it's gonna be boogery cold too (north of Coeur d'Alene).

Day before yesterday, it was 6 on the deck at 7:00 AM. Then 12 the day after that. Seems like it's lightened up a bit but it's still pretty darn cold. Snow and freezing rain tonight and who knows what for the next week!

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My husband is managing a big construction project in Sandpoint for his company. The contractor subscribes to some weather forecasting service and they are predicting a warmer and wetter winter than usual. I don't know if that means snowy or rainy. I sure could live without the below zero temps this year.

My guess is that it won't be really cold here this winter. I use my horses to predict the winter coldness. They don't have a thick coat of hair, like they did some winters in Indiana.

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Terri

And here we had almost no winter to speak of, but the pecan trees were loaded. This year there are so few, I'm leaving them for the squirrels!
Meg

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Our persimmons were abundant this year, started dropping earlier than usual and the trees are still loaded. The persimmon seeds predict lots of snow.

Tons of acorns, but smaller than normal. Also dropped earlier than usual, and the squirrels have been storing up for over a month already.

Horse is furry. He's dressed for winter, so I believe it will be a cold one.

Yep, I think this winter in NC Arkansas will be cold and snowy.

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Hmm..my horses dressed for winter even in the Arizona desert.

I don't think it's supposed to be such a cold winter; I've heard according to weather service it might be early (which it is) and a bit wetter. Fine with me. Personally, I'd appreciate a rip-snorter. No moisture to speak of the last 3 years, too many weird bugs about that are new to the area, ponds and wells running low to dry.

Winter came a little late this year up here but now it's in full swing and it's about 10F degrees colder than normal. BRRRRRR. So not ready for winter!

I gotta say here it's gonna be wetter (due to El nineo sp?). But the weather guy is saying it's going to be "normal" for cold. But we haven't had that in almost 10 years.

So from what I've seen we in the northeast should get ready for some Noreasters. I Can't wait.

Then we get to have snow parties.

Not knowing for certain, I hesitate to say. But back when I had black walnut trees, they would produce a large harvest one year and the next year would be lean.

The one dad shot looked more like beef. Chunks of white fat!

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There's a really good way to tell what sort of winter it's going to be, and it seems to be quite accurate. I learned this from my grandparents many years ago. Take a persimmon seed at split it open; there will be one of three signs in the persimmon seed depending upon the location you're in in the U.S. I'm in the foothills of NC. OK, here are the three signs: a spoon, fork, or knife. The spoon represents lots of harsh cold and boocoos of snow, the knife tells that it's going to be cold with lots of ice, and thirdly the fork stands for a warm winter.

I've split SEVERAL persimmon seeds this winter, and they all have a spoon in them, so watch out North Carolinians, we're probably in for lots of snow.

The Old farmers Almanac predicted a lot of snow (4 snow storms) for Missouri. The first snows were predicted for this week, but I see where it will be 74 one day this week (it bursted my bubble)...BRING ON THE SNOW!!!!

Lisa,

You are off the grid using solar energy arn't you? Surprised you are even using heat tape for your plumbing. I have similar winter plumbing challenges, but never considered the use of heat tape due to the amount energy they suck, not to mention winter is when your solar power generation is the lowest. How did you manage to fit heat tape into your energy budget?