[grania]

I have a question. Is Chicago in the same situation as Cleveland? It has been a warm October and November, so Lake Erie is no where near freezing. When the Great Lakes aren't frozen, any storm blowing across them pulls in massive amounts of moisture.

In that instance, a warm autumn can lead to a very snowy winter.

[randita]

Lake Erie is 50 deg. Doesn’t look out of the norm according to this website.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/laketemps/laketemps.php