It was significantly colder. Stronger high up north, I'll take it!

Just took a look at the CFS. Tremendous potential there.

Here's the entire CFS run, wow.... starts much earlier than I reasonably expect it to, which makes me question the whole run, but nonetheless it's great to be seeing some good runs. Maybe it'll be right! Surface temp anomalies from Day 12 through Feb 1st:

I’m not getting excited until the ensemble mean gets cold.

The teleconnection forecasts are slightly better at the end of the 12z EPS than they were on the 0z. The big three all go solidly minus the second half of the month. This looks promising.