Colder winter for US East, South 

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A weakening El Nino weather pattern will lead to the stormiest and coldest US winter in recent years, especially in parts of the giant Northeast heating oil market, according to AccuWeather.com.

"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," AccuWeather's Chief Meteorologist and Expert Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi said in a report.

Bastardi expects the current El Nino will fade over the winter, which will drive down temperatures and increase storm activity in parts of the United States.

New York, Boston and Philadelphia could get up to 75% of their total snowfall in two or three big storms, according to Bastardi's forecast.

Areas from Washington DC to Charlotte - which have had little snowfall the past two winters - could receive above-normal levels this season, Bastardi said.

El Nino, or "Christ child" in Spanish due to the phenomenon being noticed around Christmas off the coast of South America, is an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can wreak havoc on weather patterns.

AccuWeather.com's call for a weakening El Nino came after Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said earlier on Wednesday that central and eastern Pacific Ocean temperatures are exceeding El Nino levels. The report said the temperatures will remain at levels typical of an El Nino weather event until early 2010.

In addition to colder weather along the northern eastern seaboard, AccuWeather forecast cold weather for major cities in the South, including Atlanta and Charlotte.

The Interstate 20 corridor from Dallas to Atlanta will be a strike zone for ice and snow, given the storm track and proximity to cold air, Bastardi's forecast said.

The Midwest and central plains could get below-normal snowfall.

The AccuWeather.com forecast said a warm and somewhat dry weather pattern was expected from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Plains.

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

The Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, from Feb 12 to 28 could face a lack of snow and cold weather this winter, according to Bastardi, with a possibility that a dry and mild pattern will develop very near to or during the time of the Olympics.