Very often our summers are brutal here in New Jersey.  We can get weeks or sometimes even months of high temperatures near or above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit.  Couple that with relative humidities that never go below ninety percent and that sickly yellow ozone pollution that goes along with such weather here and you've got the recipe for misery.
    This summer has been very different.  I can only recall one small heat wave in the beginning of the season.  Other that that it's been very cool, mild, and pleasant.  Highs in the low to mid eighties and lows down to the mid fifties have been the rule. I can't recall such a mild summer here ever.
    What does all of this mean?  Good question.  One thing I look for is plants being out of sync.  Like the wild or Choke Cherries.  Usually they're just starting to become ripe now.  This year they've come and gone already.  To me this  indicates some sort of weather anomaly like Hurricane Sandy.  I'd say there's a strong chance, even though it's been a very quiet season so far, that we get our butts kicked again here this Fall.  Beyond that it's just so hard to tell.  Does anyone have a long range weather prediction for the Autumn and Winter?

Rat man the weather here is whack as well, plants and trees are stressed and out of sync, i am betting that you will have an early, record breaking, brutal and long winter. Sorry.
Good time for a holiday!

Weather is a bitch these days! Cold rainy summers and warm winters. When there is sun there is a hell lot of wind!

I also think that those in the snow zones of europe and north america. will see some very unusal weather, mabye snow tornadoes or static storms or that creeping ice that was reported a few years ago.
But power cuts, burst pipes coupled with food increases is bad enough.
How was your local crop growing season?

Rat man, look to sott.net.com if you want some answers.

It's a very large site, covering all kinds of subjects,they seem to be uncannily accurate at predicting weather events as well as other things. must be their source material.
Sometimes it is uncomfortable to read,sometimes scary.
I encourage you to read on.

     The wild Chicken Grapes have just ripened.  I tried some this morning.  Usually they're in big bunches and the grapes are about the size of peas.  Each grape has a relatively big seed inside that makes up about half of the grape.  This is really weird.  The bunches are tiny compared to a normal year.  They're maybe 1/12 their normal size.  The grapes are about 2/3 as big as normal and the seeds are tiny and not developed well at all.  The seeds are maybe 1/5 their normal size and soft instead of hard. Very strange stuff.

jABAMES, I reckon that your heavy winter jacket is going to get a work out this up coming winter, it looks like you guys are going to have a very hard winter, possibly dry but cold