A woolly bear in the driveway. So early in the year. What does it mean?

From Dr. Jeff Masters' Wunder Blog, "According to legend, the severity of the upcoming winter can be judged by examining the pattern of brown and black stripes on woolly bear caterpillars--the larvae of Isabella tiger moths. If the brown stripe between the two black stripes is thick, the winter will be a mild one. A narrow brown stripe means a long, cold winter."

Dr. Jeff Masters continues, "The Hagerstown, Maryland Town and Country Almanack has been publishing weather forecasts and weather lore for 209 years. The Almanack sponsors an annual woolly bear caterpillar event, where local school children in Hagerstown collect woolly bears. A panel of judges examines the collected specimens and issues a woolly bear forecast for the upcoming winter. The Hagerstown critters have had mixed success the past three years with their forecasts--they've been correct about half the time. This is only slightly worse than the official NOAA long range forecasts."

So, here's the deal, neighbors and friends, (Nick and Joey), let's gather our own woolly bears and see what we can predict about our upcoming winter. Being as scientific as possible, of course. :)