Dr. Cohen:
" One area to note on the North Atlantic side is in the Barents-Kara Seas, where negative sea ice anomalies have been growing. Recent research has shown that regional anomalies are important and the sea ice region most highly correlated with the winter AO is the Barents-Kara seas region where low Arctic sea ice favors a negative winter AO. Given that sea ice is running well below normal, this currently favors more extensive Eurasian snow cover in the coming weeks, followed by a strengthened Siberian high and a weakened polar vortex/negative AO this upcoming winter. "