You've seen the headlines. The Northeast was hit by a Nor'easter snowstorm that affected 60 million people. Over three million were left without power and the outages may last for days. New York City received its earliest inch of snow since the Civil War. Pennsylvania, Washington DC and the entire Northeast were buried in as much as two feet of snow and then hit by freezing weather.

The Northeast is not the only cold area. Even Texas, drought-stricken Texas, had snow this month in Amarillo. The Rocky Mountains, including my home 300 miles from the Mexican border, has been buried in white stuff two times in October. Sunny California started the month with heavy rain in the Fresno valley (hammering the drying raisin crop) and snow for the ski resorts in the Sierra Nevadas. And it is all due to hot water and cold, cold air.

We are being hit by a La Niña and a "wild card". Welcome to the early beginning of the winter of 2011/2012.

David Fuller's view This beautifully illustrated publication discusses the global weather outlook and implications for some important crops. I commend it to you.