A major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) in January 2009 was the strongest and most prolonged on record. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations are used to provide an overview of dynamics and transport during the 2009 SSW, and to compare with the intense, long‐lasting SSW in January 2006. The Arctic polar vortex split during the 2009 SSW, whereas the 2006 SSW was a vortex displacement event. Winds reversed to easterly more rapidly and reverted to westerly more slowly in 2009 than in 2006. More mixing of trace gases out of the vortex during the decay of the vortex fragments, and less before the fulfillment of major SSW criteria, was seen in 2009 than in 2006; persistent well‐defined fragments of vortex and anticyclone air were more prevalent in 2009. The 2009 SSW had a more profound impact on the lower stratosphere than any previously observed SSW, with no significant recovery of the vortex in that region. The stratopause breakdown and subsequent reformation at very high altitude, accompanied by enhanced descent into a rapidly strengthening upper stratospheric vortex, were similar in 2009 and 2006. Many differences between 2006 and 2009 appear to be related to the different character of the SSWs in the two years.

[1] The vertical structure and evolution of the wintertime annular modes are studied using 6 years of geopotential height, carbon monoxide (CO), and water vapor (H 2 O) data from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder. The Northern Hemisphere annular mode (NAM) and the Southern Hemisphere annular mode (SAM) reveal a strong coupling of the dynamics in the stratosphere and mesosphere between 316 hPa (∼9 km) and 0.002 hPa (∼90 km). CO is a good tracer throughout the middle atmosphere, while variable vertical gradients of H 2 O limit the regions where it is useful as a dynamical tracer. The maximum of the CO NAM and SAM (CNAM and CSAM) indices is used to monitor and characterize the evolution of wintertime polar dynamics as a function of time and height. The CNAM analysis reveals reformation of a stronger mesospheric polar vortex after significant stratospheric sudden warmings in 2006, 2009, and 2010. There is a significant anticorrelation between the mesospheric and stratospheric CNAM indices during 2005-2010 winters, supporting the hypothesis of mesosphere-stratosphere coupling through planetary-gravity wave interactions.

December through February 2015–2016 defines the warmest winter season over the Arctic in the observational record. Positive 2 m temperature anomalies were focused over regions of reduced sea ice cover in the Kara and Barents Seas and southwestern Alaska. A third region is found over the ice‐covered central Arctic Ocean. The period is marked by a strong synoptic pattern which produced melting temperatures in close proximity to the North Pole in late December and anomalous high pressure near the Taymyr Peninsula. Atmospheric teleconnections from the Atlantic contributed to warming over Eurasian high‐latitude land surfaces, and El Niño‐related teleconnections explain warming over southwestern Alaska and British Columbia, while warm anomalies over the central Arctic are associated with physical processes including the presence of enhanced atmospheric water vapor and an increased downwelling longwave radiative flux. Preconditioning of sea ice conditions by warm temperatures affected the ensuing spring extent.