Winter '09 / '10 - National Wx Circus

"Northeast: Equal chances for above-, near-, or below-normal temperatures and precipitation. Winter weather in this region is often driven not by El Niño but by weather patterns over the northern Atlantic Ocean and Arctic, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. These patterns are often more short-term, and are generally predictable only a week or so in advance."

Despite NOAA/s caveat about the North Atlantic Oscillation with its implicit association with the Arctic Oscillation...the 'cooler' temperature outlook along the SE coast is predicated upon the Northern Annular Modes being negative...otherwise the temperature fields would look like this.

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