Is The Forecast For Winter Out Yet?

An abnormally short and frigid winter ahead? A winter full of extremes, with dramatic differences in highs and lows, or a mild but long winter? According to Weather Channel, Michigan will be abnormally cold this winter. A cold front origninating from Russia, as well as a front originating in Mongolia/China will likely merge and move across Alaska, eventually invading more southern parts of North America. It's speculated that the Earth's energy balance (or at least regional energy balance) is out of balance. Well, here's official news from Weather Channel: https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2017-11-29-december-temperature-outlook-the-weather-company-ibm-business It's been a LONG time since I've seen specific types of clouds over my area. For probably well over 50% of the time, over the past few months, the only cloud types that I have seen are either Stratus, Cumulus, or Cirrus. Why? For about what seems or feels like years, I haven't seen a single CB cloud which were a common occurrence before. It makes me feel as though it's generally getting colder and colder, not just where I live. The weather is stagnating.