So last winter was like an entire effing YEAR long (or so it seemed). Now this.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-regi...ecast-20140806

"The polar vortex – that extremely cold air that swirls above the North Pole – may make a brief visit to the Northeast next month, AccuWeather.com reported Wednesday.“There could be a significant shot of chilly air that comes across the Great Lakes region and into the interior Northeast sometime in mid to late September,” said Paul Pastelok, the lead long-range forecaster for the State College, Pa.-based weather forecasting service.

The polar vortex, you may remember, led many local school districts to exceed their annual allotment of snow days last winter because temperatures and the wind chill were considered too dangerously cold for children to be outside. It also was blamed for copious amounts of lake-effect snow.

AccuWeather has even more bad news for fair weather fans: El Niño, the flow of unusually warm surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that changes rain and temperature patterns, will debut early this winter, fueling early snow across the Northeast.

“December could get kind of wild due to the very active southern jet stream that is going to provide the moisture for bigger snowstorms. The Northeast could have a couple of big storms in December and early January,” Pastelok said."

The one child whom I thought would never cave on moving somewhere else, last night while watching Portlandia says to me "I wouldn't mind moving there." So... I may have finally convinced the kids to leave this area for somewhere warmer. Music to my ears. Plans are to visit the NW next summer. If this winter is as bad as they're saying it's going to be, we're outta here. I can't take another winter like the last one.