Hard winter for heating oil customers: forecasts

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. heating oil customers, already hit by high fuel costs, could face the loftiest fuel prices in the country this winter as below normal temperatures hit the Northeast, forecasters said on Tuesday.

“Bad news for those that are heating with fuel oil in the Northeast,” Dale Mohler, meteorologist at Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather, said in an interview. He said cool weather felt in on Tuesday in the Northeast, home to the biggest heating oil hub in the country, is a “warning sign of colder weather ahead.”
Low pressure in the north Atlantic could cause cold Canadian winds to sweep down to Northeastern states cooling the region by an average of 3.5 degrees (Fahrenheit) below normal for three months this winter, said Mohler. The lack of an El Nino weather pattern could also contribute to a colder than normal winter in the Northeast.

Several other forecasts called for slightly more moderate temperatures. Matt Rogers at Maryland-based EarthSat said Northeast temperatures this winter should only be about 1 to 2 degrees below normal this winter. He said overall U.S. heating needs should be 1 percent greater than normal, but should not approach the record winter of 2000.

Reuters