The Climate Prediction Center forecasts an active pattern in the northern Pacific Ocean. Some meteorologists feel there is a connection between weather conditions experienced in the Pacific with those experienced two to three weeks later in South Jersey.

Is there another Super Bowl winter storm in the works? Well, maybe.

An unusually quiet winter weather season is about to get crazy active for South Jersey residents. There is arctic air marching in for next week and a potential storm on the horizon, according to outlooks posted by the Climate Prediction Center. The thought of another Super Bowl storm should send chills up the spine of hardened South Jersey residents who endured a trio of snow storms in the first week of February 2011.

From Jan. 30- Feb. 10, 2011, residents in parts of Atlantic County received nearly 40 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service climate records.

Remember that?

But don’t rush out to your local hardware store for additional snow shovels, ice melt, gloves and other supplies just yet. We’ve got time to talk about before it gets here.

So let me explain.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center released an active forecast map for Friday, Jan. 19 for the western Pacific Ocean. One of the storms indicated has low pressure of 980 millibars. That usually results in a fairly decent storm with powerful winds.

Though it is still weeks away, it’s worth mentioning because its energy has climbed aboard the jet stream pipeline.

Weather observers have drawn a connection to storms in the Pacific and those in the Atlantic. When a strong storm forms in the Pacific it will usually correlate with a strong storm arriving in the eastern United States about two to three weeks later.

It circles just south of Alaska, heads south down the U.S. West Coast and travels east across the southwestern states. Once the energy reaches the Gulf of Mexico area, it turns north and rides up the Appalachian Mountains or along the East Coast.

So 18 days from now, there’s no doubt we’ll be huddled up with family and friends. The question is, will we be huddled up to watch the Super Bowl or huddled up to stay warm?

We’ll just have to wait and see.