“Ducks on Whidbey Island seemed to fly south early this year. There are more than the usual amount of berries on the local holly bushes. Stores are stocking up on gas-powered generators. The signs, if you believe such things, are pointing to a harsh winter on the island, with lots of cold weather and snow.The best sign, perhaps, is the number of memos the National Weather Service in Seattle has sent out to counties warning about the possibility of a blistery winter.T.J. Harmon, the deputy director of emergency services for Island County, said that the meteorologists who did their annual briefing on the winter forecast were unusually blunt this year.They basically said expect bad weather conditions, she said.Even the Farmers Almanac predicts a cold, wet winter for the Northwest. The prediction is based on a secret formula created by Almanac founder Robert B. Thomas from 1792, and enhanced by modern meteorological data.Yet scientifically, it’s still next to impossible to forecast that far into the future with any specifics. In fact, professional weather forecasters say this winter is especially hard to forecast. It’s neither an El Nino or a La Nina year, but what meteorologists call a neutral year. The surface temperature of the sea in the Pacific tropics will likely remain near average, which means the tropical weather should have little effect on the area.According to Brad Colman, a science officer at the National Weather Service in Seattle, there are equal chances that the temperature will be higher or lower than normal or the weather will be drier or wetter than normal.In other words, modern science has little power to predict what Mother Nature will do this winter.Over the last 10 years, neutral years have brought cold and severe winter weather to the area. The three neutral years in the 1990s brought the coldest winters and most severe weather. Anything could happen, said meteorologist Kirsten Willman with the National Weather Service.Luckily, Willman said Whidbey Island will remain in the so-called rain shadow no matter what kind of year it is. The island gets less rain than surrounding areas because winter’s prevailing southwesterlies have to travel up and over the Olympic Mountains to get to Whidbey.The clouds get wrung out at the high elevations, she said.On Whidbey Island, Harmon is cautioning people to be prepared for anything this winter. Power blackouts are a local winter ritual, for example, even in milder years.Emergency services is encouraging residents to get a NOAA weather radio for their homes. The battery-powered radios will beep anytime there is any kind of hazard or disaster in the area.For some people, the prediction of harsh winter weather may be profitable. Omer Lupien is selling a few cords of firewood just in time for winter. He says the prices for firewood are starting to go up. He’s heard as high as $300 for a cord of wood, which sold for around $150 last year. The supply, he says, just isn’t keeping up with demand.But not to worry, Lupien says. He has lived on Whidbey Island all of his life. He says people make predictions about the winter weather every year, but for the most part it always seems to be about average.It’s wet in the winter and not as wet in the summer, he said. “