YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - Forecasters are having trouble achieving a consensus on a prediction for this winter's weather.

Dennis Todey, South Dakota's state climatologist, says no definite trends have emerged.

"With these storms we've had early in the season, we've had people wonder, you know, is this going to continue to be a stormy season," Todey said in an interview, adding that the signals on long-term prognostication are mixed.

Even the official outlook from the National Climate Center is playing it down the middle, he said. Long-range predictions aren't saying anything about winter precipitation, Todey said.

"We are seeing some indications that it could be a little bit stormier, but we don't feel comfortable yet in saying this is the way it's going to be."

Ocean patterns that normally provide clues are neutral right now, he said.

"We don't have an El Nino or a La Nina going on right now. When we don't have those, our range of possibilities becomes much wider for what will happen in the winter time," Todey said.