In a forecast with significant implications for the energy industry, the Farmers’ Almanac said it expects a “super-cold” winter for the eastern United States this year. Modern meteorology and a host of decidedly rural indicators – heavy fogs in August, an abundance of acorns, spiders spinning larger-than-normal webs – have Farmers’ Almanac Editor Peter Geiger anticipating a cold and snowy winter for the eastern two-thirds of the nation. The West will average warmer than normal, according to the forecast. In a long-range forecast issued last month, Weather Services International (WSI) Chief Meteorologist Todd Crawford said initial analysis suggested that “another cold winter may be favored this year, although there are still many other drivers of the winter pattern that will reveal themselves in the coming months” (see Daily GPI, July 21). Confidence in such an early winter forecast was “very low,” Crawford said. AccuWeather.com has said it expects a preview of winter to hit the Northeast in September in the form of yet another polar vortex (see Daily GPI, Aug. 6).