Forecasters say winter will start cold, disagree on end of heating season

摘要

Weather forecasters are divided over whether the winter of 2008-2009 will be one of the coldest in years or a split heating season that starts cold and finishes warm.rnAccuWeather long-range forecaster Joe Bastardi is calling for one of the coldest winters in several years across much of the gas-consuming eastern US.rn"It may be a shock to some when compared with the above-average temperatures of last year in the East," Bastardi said. "It will put some brrrrrr in the saddle of folks who have not had to deal with such things for a while."rnBastardi said he thinks the overall colder and snowier winter will get off to a chilly start in December, with what he believes will be the roughest winter month for much of the nation, and finish with another cold spell in late January and February.