Predicting A White Winter

So this morning I had the first little taste of winter...a small (ok an extremely small) dusting of snow ok my car. But it did its magic and now I am extremely pumped for winter! Can't wait to get on my skis and stomp the pow. The question is will there be pow?
Last year we had a record year at Steamboat Springs (my local Ski Town USA). And wouldn't it be wonderful to have another record year back to back. So i wanna know if its possible to predict the weather for the winter and what those predictions are saying...

Of course there are the tried and true ways:
The farmer's almanac predicts a colder than average year, but made no mention of snow. It does have to be cold for it to snow and that will keep it on the ground
The National Weather Service, unfortunetaly, predicts a warmer than usual winter which will melt the snow but our records are based on total snowfall, not the base.

And then the more fun but crazy prediction ideas:

• Some say the bees will tell you. If there are a lot of bees around then it will be a harsh winter
• Another animal prediction is if you look at wooly booger caterpillars. If they have a thinner than normal orange stripe and their coats are thicker it will be a harsh winter.
• Yet another bug prediction is that if more than normal yellow jacket nests are in the ground the harsher the winter will be.
• And the craziest prediction I've heard...Looking at pig spleens. Paul Smokov, 84, of Steele, N.D, claims that by looking at pig spleens he can predict the winter. He says if the spleen is wide where it attaches to the pig's stomach and then narrows, it means winter weather will come early with a mild spring. A narrow-to-wider spleen usually means harsh weather in the winter.

All these ideas are a little too wierd for me and the Almanac and Weather Service are at odds so looks like I'm gonna have to wait and find out...