it may seem strange but big snow cover on the other side of the world, specifically uraskia is correlated with snowier and colder winters around here and this october was just about the snowiest yet, an important factor. >> ice melt in the arctic is a factor i've been talking about for years, an increasing number of scientists connect the massive ice melt with warmer weather in the arctic. it may not be a coincidence that our past eight years have featured our two snowiest winters and two of the three biggest snowstorms ever recorded here. the urasian snow combined with the increased arctic ice melt over recent years is increase the amount of a certain weather pattern called the arctic oscillation, the negative arctic oscillation. what you get is high pressure, warmer weather up over the poles forces the arctic air south. that gives us the colder and snowier pattern. here is how it all added up. first highlights. overall colder and snowier than last winter. no monster snowstorms of more than 15 inches. a sharp change from a warm november to a cold december. january, the snowiest month. an