Are you a fan of winter? Your answer will determine how you feel about a new forecaster's outlook for next season which he says will put Illinois on 'blast'. Direct Weather on YouTube seems to be one of the more respected channels and has nearly a quarter million subscribers so this isn't just a guy in his basement making weather guesses. He just issued his updated winter forecast for late 2024/early 2025 and his view of the upcoming winter is encouraging in some ways. Emphasis on "some".