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 examines the possibility of an association between winter (December-March) snowfall in New England and sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. Regional snowfall indices for southern and northern New England were obtained by rotated principal components analysis (PCA). Composite maps of winter Atlantic SSTAs and 700-mb geopotential height anomalies were generated for cases of above and below average winter snowfall totals for southern and northern New England, respectively. A monthly index of SSTAs around the coast of New England was obtained from rotated PCA of SSTAs in the western Atlantic Ocean and compared for high snow and low snow cases.In northern New England, no direct association between snowfall and SSTAs is indicated by either the composite maps or the monthly SSTA index -high or low snowfall totals can be attributed primarily to anomalies in the 700-mb circulation. In southern New England, high (low) snowfall totals are associated with negative (positive) SSTAs off the Atlantic coast, and these anomalies are often already evident in December, suggesting Atlantic sea surface temperatures may be of utility in long-range winter forecasts for coastal regions.