According to AccuWeather.com's Chief Meteorologist and Expert Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi, the East Coast from Maryland to the Carolinas will take the brunt of Winter's wrath this upcoming season, with cold temperatures and above normal snowfall.

The South will also experience Winter's wrath with several snow and or ice storm threats from Texas east across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and into the Carolinas.

Bastardi expects the ongoing El Niño to fade over the winter, leading to a stormier and colder winter in the southern and eastern United States. 

The storm track that could develop will take storms into Southern California, then across the South and up the Eastern Seaboard.

This track will lead to the normal amount of nor'easters from Cape Hatteras to New Jersey.

This type of storm track will differ from that of the past two years, when storms tended to take a track farther west from Texas into the Great Lakes, which led to unseasonably mild weather across the East Coast cities and the South.

Areas from Washington D.C. to Charlotte could end up with above-normal snowfall after very little snowfall over the past 2 winters.

The Interstate 20 corridor from Dallas to Atlanta will likely experience several ice and snow storm threats, given the storm track and proximity to cold air.

On the other hand, the Midwest and central Plains could get a break this winter, with places such as Chicago, Omaha, Minneapolis and Kansas City experiencing below-normal snowfall and could even average a bit warmer than past winters .

A warm and a somewhat dry weather pattern is expected from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Plains.

The typical series of winter storms that hit Seattle and Portland may not occur this winter, which would lead to below-normal precipitation.

Accuweather Winter 2009-2010 Outlook Summary:

• The areas that will be hit hardest this winter by cold, snowy weather will be from southern New England through the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, including the Carolinas.
• The Interstate 20 corridor from Dallas to Atlanta could experience several ice and snow threats, given the storm track and proximity to cold air.
• The Midwest and central Plains may have below-normal snowfall and could even average a bit warmer than past winters.
• A warm and somewhat dry weather pattern is expected from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Plains, with the core of the wet weather south of San Francisco into southern California and the Southwest.