
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 25, 1994                   TAG: 9412070025
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CLAUDINE WILLIAMS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THIS WINTER COULD BE AS TOUGH AS LAST

Most memories of last winter can be summed up in one word: ice. People still talk about slipping and sliding when they wanted to be walking and driving.

And the forecast for this winter is just as bad. According to the National Weather Service's 90-day forecast, temperatures will dip below the seasonal average of 40 degrees and there will be more snow than the usual 13 inches from November to January.

Pat Michaels, Virginia's state climatologist, rated the early-winter forecast as about 60 percent likely to be accurate. "It is a little better than flipping a coin," he said.

Western Virginians are seeking their own clues: They are consulting the Old Farmers Almanac and watching woolly worms. And many are not waiting for the first snow. After last year, they vowed to be prepared.

Even before all the autumn leaves had fallen this year, Roanoke-area stores were doing brisk business in winter essentials: ice scrapers and candles, gas logs and generators, snow tires and wool sweaters.

Some retailers expect at least a 50 percent sales increase from last winter.

by CNB