October has arrived in Maine, dragging in its midst a chilly wind and the shushing of shivering tree branches covered in sunset-colored leaves. Fall is indeed upon us, yet the promise of winter is especially foreboding this year, as the Farmer’s Almanac has predicated a harsh winter to come—perhaps even more brutal than last year’s.

It is seemingly unanimous that last year’s winter was a hard one; snow piled to records heights in some places, and didn’t melt for an absurd amount of time in others. The winter was so cold and brutal that it became known around the nation, and soon Ebay was filled with the opportunity for southerners to buy Boston snow, a product that surprisingly did not go unclaimed. Suddenly, the harsh winter New England experienced became a trial of the ages, making snow a profitable commodity and also an intense pain to shovel.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac website, “New Englanders will once again experience a very frigid (shivery) winter.” In a map on the site, New England is plastered with the words “snowy & bitter cold,” which may seem welcoming to those adventurous skiers and snowboarders, but to the most of us appears as a daunting claim to make. This prediction also means more snow, as the Almanac states there is an impending “active storm track,” proposing to shower New England with plenty of precipitation.

Some sections of the United States, however, are predicted to have a much better winter than last year, respectively. Within the regions in and around California, the weather is predicted to be milder, with periods of dry weather in southern parts and greater precipitation in norther parts. In the Midwest, there is anticipated a “typical winter cold,” while the southern states are just labeled as “chilly.” It is clear that according to the Almanac, the only region that even slightly contends with New England for the worst-winter-weather award would be the “eastern portion of the Great Lakes,” as the weather there is said to be “frigid” and “unseasonably cold.” However, no section of the United States seems to be as isolated as New England in its forth-coming predicted winter.

Of course, a prediction is always just a prediction. However, the site still advises New Englander’s to “stock up on sweaters, long johns, and plenty of firewood,” possible stated as a friendly reminder of our heritage as New Englander’s, as people with plenty of hot cider and the impressive ability to shovel mounds of snow in order to open our front doors. Perhaps this winter will again be a profitable one—all we can hope is that our southern friends don’t forget their desire to compensate us for our willingness to share in our snowy winter wonderland.