It seems that a high temperature anomaly in the North Pacific centered west of Oregon, nicknamed "the blob" by scientists, might be what's behind the unusual weather this last winter, particularly California's drought and the unusually cold and snowy weather in the East.
http://www.voicechronicle.com/201504-str...und-the-us
http://www.voicechronicle.com/201504-str...und-the-us