After last winter's record-breaking snowfall, who would predict anything even close to a repeat performance in the winter of 2010-11? Not AccuWeather.com's Joe Bastardi.

In his first forecast for the coming winter season, the forecast company's long-range meteorologist is calling for "a more traditional winter" this time. Baltimore and other East Coast cities that were hammered by three blizzards last winter should see something close to average accumulations in the winter season to come.

"Average" snow for a winter season in Baltimore is about 18 inches. Last winter we recorded 77 inches, and the last snow piles didn't vanish until the first week in May.

This winter, Bastardi predicts, we should prepare for "greater than normal swings between winter's coldest and warmest days." He says November and December could get winter off to a fast start, with a warming period in January. Average temperatures for the winter would be slightly above the long-term norms, if he proves accurate.

Last fall, Bastardi predicted a memorable, snowy winter for our region, with something like 25 inches of snow. He was right about the "memorable" part. But he undershot the snow totals by two-thirds.

This time, Bastardi predicts, it will be the Northwest, the Northern Plains and the western Great Lakes that see the worst of winter weather. "The rapid cooling of the globe with the La Nina will produce severe cold for Alaska and northwest Canada, and in fact the Canadian winter will be as harsh as last year's was gentle," he said.

The big snows will fall on Chicago, Omaha, Detroit, Minneapolis and Cleveland, if he's right. Seattle will have a rough go, too.

The Southern Plains, meanwhile, would have an easier winter, as would the southern tier of states. Florida would see warmer-than-normal temperatures all winter long. Southern California and the Southwest face severe drought, and "water rationing could occur throughout the Southwest," he said.

There it is. Stick it on your fridge and check back in March to see how he did.

(PHOTOS: Top: SUN PHOTO of December 2009 Baltimore blizzard, Karl Merton Ferron/ Bottom: AP Photo, Florida in July, Michael Spooneybarger)