Aggregating DJF 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 when the nuances of each year have been very different, particular, & a step by step evolution from each previous year, is kind of disingenuous.
In any case, 17-18 was generally cold in DJF with specific areas of warmth still present in areas like the Southwest US.
Another nuance is that contrary to El Cid's assertion, in 17-18, the highest latitude land areas in the Arctic *were* much warmer than in 16-17 (and vs. normal), and this was accompanied by consistent severe cold in Hudson Bay, much of Canada, and large parts of Asia (you can see that cold is now extending in both directions across the Atlantic due to the NATL cool pool + Greenland vortex while the Arctic PV was breaking off into both NW Siberia and Hudson Bay).
We are going to see this trend continue into 2018-2019. While parts of the Arctic are going into the freezer both literally and relatively vs. normal this year (Canada, bit of Siberia, Kamchatka, Mongolia, Himalayas), parts are now scorching well beyond any previous record. The Chukchi, Bering, Laptev, and Barentz actually ALL share this feature re: warmth, with records continuously set all over the place.
The FRAM export the past several days has resulted in a major Greenland Sea ice discrepancy with most recent years, with 2018 now being in the lead. The way this occurred seemed to be unprecedented. We have lost a huge chunk of volume through both the CAA & Greenland Sea, but the question is, what happens next? How much is quickly melted by the Gulf Stream's northernmost tendrils (probably a lot)? And does any actually make it past the southern tip of Greenland?
If the last 12 months are any indicator, the Baffin / Labrador front is going to be extremely impressive this winter, and the Hudson refreeze should be mostly complete by 11/15. The cold in Baffin and Labrador is already very impressive vs. normal and ice formation is racing down from the MYI on Nares (with FYI also now forming on shorelines).
Will the Bering Strait freeze at all this year? We are two months and one week from solar minimum and the entire area is blazingly hot. Worse than 2016 or 2017. Evidently the bottom water has now given out as well. With the amount of Pacific water that has intruded into Chukchi and the western Beaufort, those spots will be harder-pressed to freeze vs. last winter as well.
I think one of the major implications of the situation in Bering is what is happening in HB / Baffin / Labrador. The shift since 2012 is remarkable and worsening. And if Wrangel Island is basking in occasional 50s into January and February, evidently cold becomes severely and significantly displaced to its SE into the US and Canada.
How much of the deficit of Bering / Chukchi will Okhotsk, Baffin, and Labrador make up in 2018-19? I don't think it will be enough to offset a record high minimum (combined with Laptev / everything else high latitude except Beaufort & CAA), but I think we will be surprised by how far the front advances this year, especially off the East Coast of Canada. With this fall's anomalies presenting as they have, I would not be shocked to see record #s blown away for Labrador Sea, and maybe even the Greenland Sea if it advances far enough. With so much heat in the Bering (and at depth), I think we could see a similar situation in the Sea of Japan as well.