Stochastic models provide a zero-order theory of the decadal variations in North Pacific.
However, these mechanisms can be potentially predictable if the state of the ocean could be well enough observed. Atmospheric Teleconnections to the North Pacific Hypothesis states that effects external to the midlatitude North Pacific may also force part of its decadal variability of mid-latitude SSTs. For example, decadal oscillations in the tropical Pacific can telleconect to the midlatitudes. This mechanism does not involve any oceanic feedback, and can be viewed as a response to local surface forcing by the atmosphere. Decadal variation originating in other regions may also telleconect via the atmosphere to the North pacific.