bluewave

Looks like this week will feature some of our coolest temperatures until next fall before our next rebound warmer.

Perhaps if the RONI is in better alignment with the ONI next winter than 2023-2024 there will be a stronger Aleutian Low and trough in the SE and MA. But I am really not sure about that yet since even 2015-2016 had weaker troughing compared to 1997-1998. Could also be a function of the warm pool in the North Pacific expanding outside the traditional -PDO and +PDO bounds with the record 2nd EOF. 2023-2024 Nino ridge to north in super mode like 1997-1998 but the Aleutian Low and SE and MA trough showing a Niña-like influence with big RONI and ONI spread. 2015-2016 Aleutian Low well developed but the SE and MA trough in the East very weak. Perhaps reflecting the record WPAC warm pool leading to the Niña-like record MJO 5. 1997-1998 last traditional looking super El Niño both to the north and south across North America with strong ridge and trough development. 1877-1878 super El Niño more traditional like 1997-1998.

Back in 2023-2024 there was a pretty big spread between ONI and RONI. The ONI peaked at +2.1 C and the RONI at +1.5 C .Yet the 500 mb pattern across the Northern Tier and Canada was similar to 1997-1998 with the CONUS setting the warmest winter on record. Perhaps the weaker RONI was related to the lack of a robust Nino trough across Mid-Atlantic and Southeast and weaker Aleutian Low. Plus we got a big global temperature super El Niño baseline jump even higher than 1997-1998 and 2015-2016. Also note the global temperatures hardly fell in 2025.

Gorgeous cherry blossoms around NYC.

The April update is stronger than its forecast at the same time in 2023. My guess this is due to the initialization of the OHC and near to record current WWB. So it will be interesting to see if we continue these WWBs into the summer. Since we are still in the spring forecast barrier period. In any event, this would be a very significant development for the planet to have 2 events of +2.0 ONI or greater only 3 years apart. So the El Nino progress will have potentially much wider ramifications than just what happens next winter.

I would say that the cold this winter in parts of North America was uneventful compared to what we used to get in the past. Sure some localized areas did see intervals of record cold. But the areas of record warmth overpowered the colder ones so North America still finished with a significantly warmer winter than the old days at +1.522 C during DJF 2025-2026. This winter was the 5th warmest on record for North America.The record highs were of a greater ranking and number than the areas of record cold. The last colder winter for North America occurred back in 1994. This is why numerous cold and snow records set that winter still stand to this day. The warmest winter on record was 2023-2024 with 2024-2025 experiencing the 2nd warmest winter. So our warmest winters are becoming warmer with a shrinking winter cold pool. Each jump in global temperatures like we saw in 2015-2016 and 2023-2024 raises the bar for record warmth even higher. This is why the warming acceleration over the last decade is so significant. https://climatereanalyzer.org/research_tools/monthly_tseries/

Even though we are averaging out on the warmer side, this is still a very active backdoor pattern for this time of year. Big spread on the highs between NJ and the CT Shoreline. Looks like this back and forth with the warmer days being more impressive than the cooler days will continue. Data for NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP, NJ Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending. 2026-03-08 73 24.7 2026-03-09 73 24.5 2026-03-10 82 33.2 2026-03-11 82 32.9 2026-03-12 64 14.6 2026-03-13 45 -4.7 2026-03-14 53 3.0 2026-03-15 46 -4.4 2026-03-16 67 16.3 2026-03-17 47 -4.0 2026-03-18 37 -14.3 2026-03-19 44 -7.7 2026-03-20 66 14.0 2026-03-21 60 7.6 2026-03-22 64 11.3 2026-03-23 52 -1.1 2026-03-24 50 -3.5 2026-03-25 55 1.2 2026-03-26 77 22.8 2026-03-27 65 10.4 2026-03-28 45 -10.0 2026-03-29 58 2.6 2026-03-30 73 17.2 2026-03-31 82 25.8 2026-04-01 81 24.4 2026-04-02 54 -3.0 2026-04-03 67 9.6 Data for IGOR I SIKORSKY MEMORIAL AIRPORT, CT Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending. 2026-03-08 57 12.0 2026-03-09 64 18.7 2026-03-10 59 13.5 2026-03-11 58 12.2 2026-03-12 55 8.9 2026-03-13 40 -6.3 2026-03-14 49 2.4 2026-03-15 39 -7.9 2026-03-16 56 8.8 2026-03-17 55 7.5 2026-03-18 35 -12.8 2026-03-19 38 -10.1 2026-03-20 50 1.6 2026-03-21 54 5.3 2026-03-22 48 -1.0 2026-03-23 49 -0.4 2026-03-24 46 -3.7 2026-03-25 47 -3.1 2026-03-26 64 13.6 2026-03-27 57 6.2 2026-03-28 44 -7.1 2026-03-29 49 -2.5 2026-03-30 65 13.1 2026-03-31 72 19.8 2026-04-01 70 17.4 2026-04-02 49 -4.0 2026-04-03 55 1.6

All these early 70°+ and 80°+ days makes the average days for this time of year feel much colder than they really are especially with onshore flow and clouds.

Probably due to the lower local resolution when trying to show regional snowfall. It would be nice if they were able to develop a map with local zooming capability. These types of maps are nice for broad overviews but not necessarily great locally.

The record WWBs got going back in January which is pretty early for an El Niño leading to speculation early on that this one has pretty good potential if follow up WWBs become established next few months to keep the ball rolling so to speak.

The other thing is that we are starting to see more of these record breaking 500mb ridges even when ENSO isn’t as overwhelming. This winter was one of the rare weak La Niña winters like 1995-1996 with 500mb ridges over the Bering Sea, Baja California, and Greenland. Notice how much more overpowering the 500mb ridges were this winter leading to the record warmth out West producing the 2nd warmest winter on record for the CONUS.

Once we get near or above +2.0° on ONI with near a 28.5C Nino 3.4 SST, a warmer winter pretty much becomes baked in since the early 1980s. Snowfall is highly dependent on whether we get decent blocking or not. 1982-1983 was one of the milder winters of that era but we had the great February 1983 snowstorm with the blocking. The 1997-1998 was one of the warmest 1990s winters and we couldn’t really get decently positioned blocking. So the snowfall was disappointing as the Nino ridge build into the Northeast. Fast forward to 2015-2016 and the record MJO 5 for such a strong El Niño produced the ridiculous +13.3 December which was warmer than most Novembers in the Northeast. But once we got into January and February we got the historic NYC snowstorm and a nice follow up event a few weeks later. Also the first below 0° reading in NYC on Valentine’s Day since 1994. The Nino ridge near the Great Lakes during 2023-2024 was so overpowering that it was one of the warmest and least snowy winters on record for many. The one bright spot in February was the narrow band in NJ with the record STJ streak but it was part of a one week pattern which quickly shifted.

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/arctic-winter-sea-ice-2026/#:~:text=End of dialog window.,Flight Center in Greenbelt%2C Maryland. For the second consecutive year, winter sea ice in the Arctic reached a level that matches the lowest peak observed since satellite monitoring began in 1979. On March 15, Arctic sea ice extent reached 5.52 million square miles (14.29 million square kilometers), very close to the 2025 peak of 5.53 million square miles (14.31 million square kilometers). Scientists with NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, note that the two years are statistically tied. Along with the overall extent, researchers are also observing changes in ice thickness. “Based on what we’re seeing with NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite, much of the ice in the Arctic is thinner this year, especially in the Barents Sea northeast of Greenland.,” said Nathan Kurtz, chief of the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The Sea of Okhotsk that borders northern Japan and Russia also had relatively low ice this year — a region that naturally experiences significant year-to-year variability.” Scientists with NASA and NSIDC found that this winter’s peak Arctic ice coverage continues the long-term trend observed over the past several decades. This year, peak ice cover was below the average levels between 1981 and 2010 by roughly half a million square miles (about 1.3 million square kilometers). Sea ice extent is defined as the total area of the ocean with at least 15% ice concentration. The area of the Arctic Ocean covered in ice expands in the cold of winter. Although much of the sea ice melts in warmer months, some ice remains throughout the year. Recently, less new ice has been forming. As a result, less multi-year ice has accumulated. “A low year or two don’t necessarily mean much by themselves,” said NSIDC ice scientist Walt Meier. But viewed within the long‑term downward trend since 1979, Meier added, they contribute to the overall picture of change in Arctic sea ice throughout the seasons.

The Summer of 2012 which followed was the 3rd warmest on record for the CONUS.