Those are all good signs for winter if you like cold and snow independent of the El Nino. The EPO isn't as consistently negative as I would like but I wasn't expecting a repeat of the past 2 winters, just transitions between positive and negative is satisfactory as long as the other indexes work out. Maybe not as much severe arctic outbreaks but just cold enough for snow!

Global snow-cover is experiencing rapid growth which is also a good sign. Snow always grows rapidly in October but the rate it grows can tell you the state of the AO. -AO = further south snow advance quickly in the middle latitudes