After a hot spring and scorching summer, higher-than-normal temperatures are expected to continue this winter. In fact, U.S. weather experts are predicting a warm winter that will make 2012 the warmest on record since tracking began 118 years ago.

The first nine months of this year were the warmest on record for the contiguous United States, and the summer was the third-hottest overall.

Here on the East Coast, it’s a bit more difficult for forecasters to pin down what the winter of 2013 will bring—our chances are about equal to be colder, normal, or warmer this winter. Interestingly, the Farmer’s Almanac predicts a colder-then-normal winter from Maine to Georgia. Will the Almanac be right? We’ll know in just a few months. Stay tuned.