You may be getting your tax refund a bit later this year because of the IRS’s attempts to fight identity theft. Last week, I told you about the growing problem of scammers who are stealing personal information and submitting fraudulent tax returns. Well, it looks like the IRS’s attempts to stop this may be, temporarily at least, impacting your wallet.

This morning I received an e-mail from local tax expert Paul Mancinone letting me know that tax refunds may be delayed a week this year because of new anti-fraud safeguards. Holding off on the refunds will give the IRS extra time to screen applications and make sure the returns submitted are legitimate.

Despite this delay, the IRS says that refunds will be received well within the timeframe indicated in the original IRS guidelines. You can click here to find out when you’ll be getting your cash.

Here are the IRS’ top tips that can help you outsmart an identity thief targeting your tax return.

1. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. The IRS does not send emails stating you are being electronically audited or that you are getting a refund. If you receive a scam email claiming to be from the IRS, forward it to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

2. Be aware that identity thieves access your personal information by:
-Stealing your wallet or purse
-Posing as someone who needs information about you through a phone call or email
-Looking through your trash for personal information
-Accessing information you provide to an unsecured Internet site.

3. If you discover a website that claims to be the IRS but does not begin with ‘www.irs.gov’, do not enter the site, and instead forward that link to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

4. If your SSN is stolen, another individual may use it to get a job. That person’s employer may report income earned by them to the IRS using your SSN, thus making it appear you did not report all of your income on your tax return. When this occurs, you should contact the IRS to show the income is not yours. After the IRS authenticates who you are, your tax record will be updated to reflect only your information. The IRS will use this information to minimize future occurrences.

5. Your identity may have been stolen if a letter from the IRS indicates more than one tax return was filed for you or the letter states you received wages from an employer you don’t know. If you receive such a letter from the IRS, leading you to believe your identity has been stolen, respond immediately to the name, address or phone number on the IRS notice. If you believe the notice is not from the IRS, contact the IRS to determine if the letter is a legitimate IRS notice.

If there’s anything you want the 22News I-Team to investigate, e-mail us at iteam@wwlp.com.

We keep telling you that eventually some consistent winter weather will arrive in western Massachusetts.  Today some evidence arrived to the contrary.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Service issued their latest 6-12 and 8-14 day outlooks. OUCH!  They look hot, very hot!   Basically the reports say that given some large scale patterns in the atmosphere, cold air is going to be tough to find over the next couple of weeks. This is not only true for New England, but for everywhere in the contiguous United States.  Crazy! 

While this doesn’t mean that we’ll be snow free in February, there are strong indications that our winter of warm air punctuated by very short cold spells isn’t going to reverse soon.

It isn’t just the Miami heat that is sizzling, so is the intensity of the GOP Presidential contest between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Florida. The race really heated up this week after Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina.

Before South Carolina, Romney according to polls had a comfortable lead in Florida. But with the Florida primary next week polls say Romney and Gingrich are neck-in-neck in the Sunshine State.

Many, just a few weeks ago thought Romney would win South Carolina, and ride that momentum into Florida. The thought was that if he clinched two back-to-back primaries, he would effectively have clinched the GOP nomination. But voters said, not so fast! After his win in South Carolina, Gingrich picked up steam in Florida.

We’re seeing some of the most intense moments of the primary process in the fight for Florida. Voters there will have their say on Tuesday, January 31st.

I’ve heard this gripe a time or two..

We certainly remember last January – back to back to back snowstorms leading to the snowiest January on record for western Massachusetts.  This January has been relatively quiet..

One of two things tends to happen in January:
1. Old Man Winter blasts parts of the country with monster snowstorms and frigid conditions.
2. Old Man Winter takes a quick siesta and severe weather takes over.

Here’s some of the crazy weather we’ve had in past Januarys:

1/5/1835 – A record cold morning in the Northeast!  The mercury bottomed out at -40 in the Berkshire Hills of Connecticut.  -23 was the low on the Yale campus in New Haven, CT.

1/6/1909 – The “Icebox of the Nation”, International Falls set a record low temperature of 55 degrees BELOW zero!!

1/10/1911 – In Rapid City, South Dakota, the fastest temperature drop on record: the mercury dropped 47 degrees within 15 mintues!!

1/22/1943 – In Spearfish, South Dakota, the fastest temperature rise on record: the mercury jumped 49 degrees in 2 minutes!!

1/10/1949 – Who says nothing happens (weather-wise) in southern California??  Snow was reported in San Diego for the first and only time!  Snow was also reported on some beaches in parts of Los Angeles.  Burbank recieved 4.7″ of snow that day..Laguna Beach and Long Beach both picked up an inch!

1/3/1961 – An icestorm, that lasted 3 days, covered northern Idaho in -wait for it – 8 INCHES of ice!!  That’s a U.S. record!!

1/30/1966 – Northern Mississippi and northern Alabama were buried in almost 6″ of snow.  The snowpack coupled with a bitterly cold airmass, set record lows in those states: -19 degrees in Corinth, MS..-27 in New Market, AL.

1/26/1967 – The “Chicago Blizzard of 1967″ would become the ‘worst blizzard in Chicago history’!  This storm pounded northern Illinois and northern Indiana, leaving the windy city buried under 23″ of snow!  By the way, 2 days prior, the high temperature was an unseasonable 65 degrees!!

1/10/1975 – The “Storm of the Century” hit Minnesota.  A severe blizzard dumped up to two feet of snow in the land of 10,000 lakes!  Strong winds drove wind chill readings to -80!!

1/9/1976 – Lake-effect snow squalls buried the town of Adams, New York under 68″ of snow!!

1/21/1985 – 3 days of snow squalls in Buffalo, New York finally came to an end!  These snow squalls produced 34″ of snow at the International Airport in Buffalo..47″ was reported in the suburbs!!  Also on this day, former President Reagan was sworn in for a second term on the coldest Inauguration Ceremony on record – wind chill readings were as frigid as 30 degrees below zero!!

1/15/1996 - A twister on the Oregon coast!  Early morning severe thunderstorms spawned a tornado in Lincoln City, OR.  Get this – a number of fish were found in a parking lot, implying they had been lifted up by the tornado and dropped!

1/6/1988 – Poor chickens.  As heavy snow fell across Arkansas, 16″ of snow piled up in Herber Springs killing 3.5 MILLION chickens!  Snow and ice claimed the lives of 1.75 MILLION chickens in north central Texas!

1/1/1999 – Nothing like ringing in the new year with a crippling snowstorm!  A major blizzard slammed portions of the Midwest January 1st-3rd.  22″ fell in Chicago!  The National Weather Serivce rated this storm as the ’2nd worst blizzard of the 20th century’..2nd to the “Chicago Blizzard of 1967″!

1/22/2005 – The “Blizzard of 2005″, blanketed southern New England with over a foot of snow!  Some places in the Bay State picked up over two feet!

1/7/2008 – It was an unusually warm day in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a high of 63 degrees.  (I was actually there for this one..)  During the afternoon, 2 tornadoes, an EF-3 and an EF-1, touched down in Kenosha county.  The same supercell thunderstorm produced another EF-3 tornado in northern Illinois.

1/20/2008 – My Miller Lite froze!!  (For those unaware, the Miller brewery is in Milwaukee, WI.)  The temperature at the start of NFC championship at Lambeau Field in Green Bay was -1 with a wind chill of 23 below!

1/29/2008 – A potent cold front caused a widespread ~50-degree temperature drop in southern Wisconsin.  (I was there for this one too..)  In the city of La Crosse, the temperature was 43 degrees at 2 AM, it dropped to -10 by midnight.

1/12/2011 – Won’t forget this one.  A monster snowstorm dumped 1-2 FEET of snow across western Massachusetts!  19″ fell in Chicopee, almost 40″ was reported in Savoy.  It became the snowiest January on record (in western Mass.) with a total of 40.5″.

1/21-25/2012 – Several days of severe weather across the deep south:
21st – 3 tornadoes confirmed in central Georgia.
22nd – 34 tornadoes were reported across Tenneesee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.  2 people were killed in 2 separate tornadoes in Alabama.
23rd – 4 tornado reports in central Alabama.
24th – 2 tornado reports in central Texas.
25th – 7 tornado reports across Texas and Louisiana.

-Meteorologist Ashley Baylor

I’m not a space weather expert.  We pretty much have our hands full with the weather in the troposphere!  BUT, big solar storms are sending energy to the earth, enough to bring Aurora Borealis (northern lights) to western Massachusetts tonight (Tuesday night).  I expect clouds to obscure our view most of the time, but there will be pockets of clearing where you may be able to see this fascinating phenomenon!  Here’s a great story from 22News Reporter Anaridis Rodriguez on the solar storms.  MSNBC also has some good information on the effects of the solar storm.   Keep your eyes to the sky, you may just see an aurora!

In case of inclement weather, including freezing rain, motorists are reminded that the posted speed limits are too fast. Safe speeds depend on weather conditions, and icy or slick roads require drivers to stay significantly below the posted limits as a safety precaution.

The Massachusetts State Police also urge motorists to leave extra space between themselves and the vehicles ahead of them. A rule of thumb is one car length for every 10 mph of speed, but that ratio should be further increased in times of inclement weather.

Additionally, State Police remind motorists to wear seatbelts at all times, avoid distractions while driving, and to leave extra time to get to their destinations. Drivers should also be aware that on some highways, water pools in the lefthand lane; on all highways, drivers should obey the law requiring them to keep to the right for sustained travel and use the left lane as it is intended–for safe, legal passing within speed limits.

Motorists should dial 911 on their cell phones for any roadside emergencies.

Rated R                                                                                                                                                 1 Hour 35 Minutes

Starring: Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor

Not since Uma Thruman in the “Kill Bill” movies has there been as lethal a lady as Gina Carano in “Haywire”. Seeing Carano clobber her macho competition is fun for awhile until you realize “Haywire’s” going nowhere. This sexy assassin is being secretly targeted by her most trusted superspies.

It’s surprising how many quality actors like Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender waste their time trying to bring down Carano and build up their own egos. She’s so adept at wiping the floor with every man who gets in her way. You can only imagine how uncomfortable she might be going out on a proper date.

It’s much easier for the writers to keep Carano running than to lay out a sensible storyline that’s less confusing to follow.

Bill Paxton’s hardly in the movie at all as her father, the only man in the world she’ll trust. As for all the other guys, beware, she’s on a rampage of revenge.

Unfortunately, “Haywire” doesn’t have much of a grip on the audience. Once Gina Carano gets finished breaking bones and bloodying noses.

There’s no other way to say it except “Haywire goes nowhere with 2 stars. As revenge thrillers go, “Haywire” is strictly second rate.

Rated R
1 hour 20 minutes

Starring: Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz

Have you noticed the way people are so afraid of being themselves, they try to fool everyone into thinking they’re so nice. The nasty black comedy “Carnage” is just the kind of slashing satire to unmask these phonies.

Two middle class couples come together to straighten out their troublesome children and end up irritating each other.

What a cast! Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly and Cristoph Waltz perform brilliantly under Roman Polanski’s devilishly clever Directing. Little by little they strip away their pretense as they get to know each other for what they really are.

John C. Reilly just may have stolen the picture with a classic harangue that could take the wind out of anyone’s sails. It’s such fun watching the social niceties deteriorate along with their façade. Would you welcome these people into your home? I should say not. Actually they’re no worse that most everyone who tries too hard to impress others.

“Carnage” certainly impressed me with its blistering humor. I couldn’t face myself If I didn’t schmooze “Carnage” with 3 stars. “Carnage” isn’t for everyone, just those of us who believe we’re being honest with ourselves.

With this winter’s weather starting to look and feel more like winter, don’t forget to stay in touch with us!  Your reports of snowfall, road conditons, and any storm related damage or events are very useful to us.  The easiest way to reach us is through email. Our email address is reportit@wwlp.com .  You can also send us pictures and video of weather at that address.  We love to hear from you!!!

Speaking of snowfall reports; here’s the correct way to measure snow!

Lots of developments in the GOP presidential contest.

Rick Perry is out, He’s suspended his campaign, as the field of Republicans continues to dwindle,

And Rick Santorum may have actually won the Iowa caucuses not Mitt Romney. New certified results from Iowa show Santorum beat Romney by 34 votes. Romney originally beat Santorum by 8 votes.

But Iowa Republicans aren’t declaring an official winner at this point, because results from 8 of the state’s nearly 1,800 precincts are missing.

The win in Iowa earlier this month, started Romney’s momentum as the front runner, a victory that was quickly followed up by another one a week later in New Hampshire. Even with those two victories, or maybe just one under his belt, he’s facing a strong challenge from Newt Gingrich on Saturday in the South Carolina’s primary.