THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!

30 Aug 09 - Weather expert Ken Ring, a long-term forecaster with unorthodox methods but a surprisingly accurate track record, has predicted a wet and cooler summer next year, followed by a winter that lasts a month longer than this year, with record-breaking cold snaps during March and April - the coldest on record in half a century.

Christchurch can expect its heaviest snowfall since 1945, Wellington will face gale force winds, and thousands of shorn sheep in the Hawke's Bay and Manawatu may die from the cold.

Ring's methods of using the moon and tides to forecast well beyond the timelines of MetService or NIWA have raised eyebrows in the scientific community for years, but the Kiwi weather watcher has been largely on the mark in New Zealand and overseas.

In 2008, he predicted the Shotover River in Queenstown would freeze over in July and that we would experience colder than average winter months - both predictions rang true.

Even the Irish are applauding him for accurately predicting the country's mini-heatwave in June and the wettest July on record, completely contradicting the UK Met Office which said it would be a "barbecue summer".

"Based on feedback I'd say my predictions are about 85 per cent accurate, and that's feedback from my peers - farmers, fishermen and trampers - people that know the outdoors and how these cycles work."

Though skeptical of Ring’s theories, Weather Watch analyst Phil Duncan admits there is a science behind Ring's methods, and agrees that summer could be cooler than average.

"We're seeing the makings of an El Nino on the way, which is not confirmed yet, and it could mean Auckland could be cooler and places like Waikato and Wellington will have stronger westerlies," he said.

See entire article by Rebecca Lewis
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10593960
Thanks to Richard Prosser in New Zealand for this link