| Abbreviation | Full Form Name |
| AGCM | atmospheric general circulation model |
| AM2.1 | Atmospheric Model 2.1 |
| AO | Arctic Oscillation |
| AR5 | Fifth Assessment Report |
| CAMS | Climate Anomaly Monitoring System |
| CMA | China Meteorological Administration |
| CTRL | control experiment |
| ENSO | El Niño-Southern Oscillation |
| EOF | empirical orthogonal function |
| GFDL | Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory |
| GHCN | Global Historical Climatology Network |
| HadISST | Hadley Centre's sea ice and sea surface temperature |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| NC | northern China |
| NCAR | National Center for Atmospheric Research |
| NCEP | National Centers for Environmental Prediction |
| NCL | NCAR Command Language |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| SAT | surface atmospheric temperature |
| SEN | sensitivity experiment |
| SH | Siberian high |
| SLP | sea level pressure |
| SST | sea surface temperature |
| WCRP | World Climate Research Programme |
| WECD | winter extreme cold day |