Watch out for wild weather in 2008, Old Farmer’s Almanac suggests

Seven is considered lucky; 13 a jinx; and eight conjures up images of Carl Yastrzemski, Yogi Berra and Cal Ripkin.

And according to the latest edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac, the number 8 could portend turbulent weather for New England in the year ahead.

The Great Blizzard of 1888 killed more than 400 people from Maryland to Maine, and dropped 50 inches of snow on parts of Connecticut. Another blizzard in 1978 dumped more than two feet of snow and prompted the governor to close the state for three days. In between was the Hurricane of 1938 that killed nearly 700 in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts.

"Here we're always looking at weather," Old Farmer's Almanac editor Janice Stillman said. "Part of that technique is looking at cycles. In every issue we include a weather feature story.