So in closing I have no confidence in this winter being worse. While anything is certainly possible I think people are just blowing wind out their respective butts....
El Nino has started and that means above average temperatures and dryer conditions. Infact I expect after this pattern change this weekend we should dry out compared to the rest of the year. Now does this mean we won't hit -20 no, we probably will, does this mean we won't get snow? Nope and average year El Nino still gives the Bismarck area 29 inches of snow. That could come as one big storm which we would all of course remember or 29 little snow showers or any combo.
Currently the Climate Prediction Center for NOAA is predicting above average temps and below average temps between now and next summer when la nina should start kicking up. However they their official winter forecast last year was the same. We also were suppose to be warmer than average this summer! Climate prediction is hard and will probably take a 50 more years before they get really accurate. that this winter will be like last. A normal winter compared to last year would seem like a drought. Last year was a rare event, and I doubt it will happen again for some time. However I would enjoy it if it did!