Researchers have validated a new weather prediction model that uses autumn snowfall to predict winter cold in the United States and Europe. When snowfall is high in Siberia, the resultant cold air enhances atmospheric disturbances, which propagate into the upper level of the atmosphere, or stratosphere, warming the polar vortex. When the polar vortex warms, the jet stream is pushed south leading to colder winters across the eastern United states and Europe. Conversely, under these conditions the Arctic will have a warmer than average winter.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/
Maybe the reason there is a lot of snow, is because the jet stream is pushed south?
Half of the Arctic is warmer than normal, and half is colder than normal.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/ANIM/sfctmpmer_01a.fnl.30.gif
What’s normal?
Climatology considers normal as being represented by a 30 year period. Different reporting groups use different 30 year periods. Giss 1951 to 1980, UEA I think is 1961 to 1990 and the NOAA NCDC uses the latest 30 year period which would be 1971 to 2000 and that will change next year to 1981 to 2010. UAH uses the satellite record which is now 31 years and I am not sure about RSS.
NSIDC can only use the satellite period to make any claim about normal sea ice.
Of course I claim they are all using an obsolete method as the ocean cycles are much longer that 30 years.
There is a Florida State University snowcover anomaly chart that showed that Siberian snowcover this past autumn was near normal, sometimes below normal. Now this crackpot says it was above normal. Make up your mind!