Here are last fall's Skiing Weatherman predictions for 2001-02. Below each regional prediction I have added a section labeled "ACTUAL" to compare the actual 2001-02 ski season to the prediction. <BR> <BR>Winter Weather Preview <BR> <BR>10/24/01 <BR> <BR> <BR>Here's how I break down the regions for this winter: <BR> <BR>New York, New England, and Quebec---fast start, above normal snowfall, especially in Catskills, Berkshires, and the cities in the Rte. 95 corridor. Colder than normal, especially in far northern areas. <BR>ACTUAL: much warmer than normal, particularly early. Overall below average in N. Vermont snowbelt, dismal everywhere else in Northeast. <BR> <BR>Mid Atlantic and Southeast---Looks like a banner year. Below normal cold to the north will suppress storm track to the south; great for these regions. Should get off the mark fast here, too. <BR>ACTUAL: much warmer than normal, particularly early. A poor season overall, as these regions are snowmaking/temperature dependent. <BR> <BR>Great Lakes---Water temps cooler than this time a year ago, so lake effect not likely to be as dramatic early on. Make no mistake, though, lakes will be productive through Christmas. Natural snow slightly above normal overall, with great snowmaking temps plentiful. <BR>ACTUAL: Warmer than normal, particularly early. Did produce some dramatic lake effect, like Buffalo at Christmas. <BR> <BR>Northern Rockies, Northwest---weak La Nina early on should help with early season snow;if El Nino comes on late, snows will shift to the south. Temps near normal. <BR>ACTUAL: A strong season. The early season was very good, but so was March. <BR> <BR>Central Rockies, central Sierras---looks like a relatively quiet winter, with normal snowfall and temps;pattern not real conducive to numerous big dumps. <BR>ACTUAL: Snowfall was heavily concentrated (both Sierra and Utah) in massive dumps during late November/December, and then again in March. January and February were unusually dry. <BR> <BR>Southern Rockies, southern Sierras---a little milder than normal early on, but look for snowfall to pick up dramatically after the first of the year, as weak El Nino takes shape. By end of season, look for above normal snowfall. <BR>ACTUAL: The early season could indeed be defined as a little milder than normal, but the second half of the season (February onwards) was a record drought. By May the Southwest was going up in flames, much like these predictions.