Seasonal snowfall in New England has exhibited wide variations over the last few decades, the underlying causes of which have not been identified previously. In this paper, compositing and statistical analyses examine how interactions among the large‐scale atmospheric circulation, cyclonic activity and storm track preferences, and western Atlantic sea‐surface temperatures contribute to winter climate variability and exceptional winter snowfall totals in New England. High winter snowfall totals are associated with a meridional circulation regime, as indicated by a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and negative 700 hPa height anomalies over the eastern USA. Anomalously high surface pressure over northern Canada promotes advection of cold air into the region, and the preferred storm track is along or just to the south of the New England coast. Low winter snowfall totals are associated with no unique set of circumstances, but a positive NAO index and more zonal circulation is indicated, along with a weaker surface high over Canada, and a storm track over interior New England rather than along the coast. There is no direct association with the Pacific–North American index, although this may modulate the association with the NAO. In extreme southern New England, high (low) winter snowfall totals are associated with negative (positive) sea‐surface temperature anomalies along the Atlantic seaboard. © 1998 Royal Meteorological Society

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This paper identifies the associations that exist between the summer midtropospheric circulation and the hydrology of the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). The major objectives consist of the identification of spatial associations between midtropospheric height anomalies and UMRB precip-

This book is a collection of papers focusing on the analytical techniques and use of numerical models in paleoclimatic research. The purpose of this book is to review the biologic and geologic quantitative evidence of climate change, the data sources available, the interpretation of the data as a means of climatic reconstruction, and the use of numerical models as a means of investigating the causality of climate change. Ten chapters are presented, each dealing with a specific analytical technique and each written by a recognized leader in his or her research field. In chapter 1, Hecht provides an introduction to the volume and reviews the major advances in paleoclimatology during the past 20 years. Included is a discussion of the use of various isotopes as indicators of climate change and the utilization of transfer functions derived from the pollen, tree ring, and foraminifera records in the quantitative reconstruction of past climates. The results of the Climate: Long‐Range Investigation, Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP) glacial reconstruction are summarized, as are advances in the ice core record and the use of climate models to simulate conditions in the geologic past.