Canie..interesting. Not sure I would have much confidence in the solar prediction this far out though. I seems plausible that enhanced solar activity could warm earth. The lack of sunspots during the Little Ice Age has been noted for a long time. I don't know if that link is still the preferred one. Also, someone muct have looked at the solar cycle the last century and compared it to global temperatures...also I don't know whether there is a relation. As for "the weather"; there are so many natural cycles and variability that it might be very hard to tell for one region what is related to what. One of the predictions of global warming is for more extreme weather...but another is enhanced warming of high latitudes...if high latitudes warm there is less of a temperature contrast across the mid latitude storm track to drive big winter storms. Speaking of variability...we have the Dec 1 midwest snowstorm (max snow near my town, we have Wednesday's blizzard in east Colorado and nearby states, and, because I am headed east for holidays, I just checked on the ski area that makes the most snow and is at relatively higher elevation in southern New York State, in the Catskills...Hunter Mountain...they are open, but only a few trails, and it is going to rain hard today and tomorrow, and the natural snow for the entire season there is 1 cm. I imagine all the areas to the south must be closed. I think I'll check a big area in the Poconos (NE PA). Big car Chris.