Based on the observational data in the period 1961-2008 from China weather stations and the 1°×1 ° global sea surface temperature (SST) data, the spatial and temporal characteristics of winter snowfall in Northeast China and the correlation with global SST are explored by using principal component analysis, wavelet analysis and correlation analysis. The study found that: the high frequency oscillation periods (2-3 a and 7-8 a) and a quasidecadal scale (16 a) of the lowfrequency oscillation were always existing during the past 48 years. Winter snowfall revealed an increasing trend in the past 48 years as a whole in Northeast region. However, the winter snowfall in the area north of 45°N increased significantly, while it did not change significantly in the area south of 45°N. Analysis has shown that a significantly positive correlation exists between SST in the North Atlantic 30°-50°N, 10°-40°W and the 1st/2nd time coefficient, and also between the winter snowfall in the northern part of the study area and SST, but the correlation between winter snowfall in the south region and the global SST is not obvious. The warming of SST may lead to a significant increase in snowfall in the northern part of the study area.