The winter signals we use to look at the long term pattern shows signs of a return to winter as we round out 2012 and enter into January 2013. The colder it gets the better it gets for a few storms looking into the future.
The NAO helps with a blocking pattern to create storms and retain cold air near the East Coast. So how does these two signnals work to bring a winter wonderland to so many of us.
Ahhhh patience is a virtue isn't it and that's what we see here.
The PNA is just as important, if not more important, than the NAO and AO. If the PNA does not become positive, do not expect any cold weather, and vice-versa. The PNA has been negative during the entirety of this fall which explains the lack of long-lasting cold--or any cold at all for that matter--across the nation.
snowlover the PNA is a factor but not the only one looking ahead. It's just a matter of time when you add the arctic cold with an active jet. It's an old school way of looking at things.