The article is about the North Atlantic Oscillation, which seems stalled because of a high pressure ridge over Greenland. The lack of sunspots certainly must have some effect on this, but I'm neither a meteorologist nor an astronomer, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Here are the lastest numbers from SpaceWeather.com:
Sunspot number: 15
Updated 06 Jan 2010
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 1 day
2010 total: 1 day (17%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 772 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
We have had negative NAO's during solar maximum and solar minimum. And we have had negative NAO without record cold. It is however interesting to note that 1963 record cold in Scotland occurred with a negative NAO that also occurred during a solar minimum. The record cold in the US during 1978 occurred with a negative NAO and a sunspot cycle that was just coming out of a minimum. So perhaps the combination of the two means cold (negative NAO while near a Solar Minimum).
