North Pacific SST impacts
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That's a good question. On one hand, many studies have struggled to find robust impacts of extratropical sea surface temperature anomalies on midlatitude weather (unlike tropical sea surface temperature anomalies that directly impact atmospheric convection and midlatitude Rossby waves). On the other hand, there have been some indications that North Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies, especially in connection with the Kuroshio-Oyashio extension, could have some impact on our weather. For example, this recent study led by one of my postdocs suggests that a warm North Pacific like what we see now is associated with enhanced North Pacific atmospheric blocking, which impacts North American weather. So, I would say the jury is still out!