Spatial and temporal variations in the snow covered sea ice over the marine cryosphere provide a mechanism to alter the climate from local to global scales. Snow geophysical properties, such as albedo and thermal conductivity, govern energy fluxes across the ocean-sea ice-atmosphere interface, which in turn influences the growth and ablation rates of the underlying sea ice. Melting of the snow provides an influx of freshwater into the polar oceans and also acts as a heat sink, suppressing temperature increases. The conditions of the snow cover is linked to overlying atmospheric conditions, although the physical linkages between snow melt and atmospheric conditions over the marine cryosphere are not well defined. It is believed, increases in sensible heat flux are considered important factors in melt onset. This paper will outline the seasonal and interannual variability in 500 mb heights to illustrate the sensible heat fluxes over the marine cryosphere and associated snow melt onset dates. Reinitialization fields of the NMC computer forecast models obtained from the NMC in Boulder, CO, USA, are examined from 1982 to 1996. Snow melt onset dates are derived from SSM/I data. Results indicate high interannual variability in both snow melt onset dates and 500 mb height anomalies. Negative height anomalies are associated with early snow melt dates, while positive height anomalies are linked to later than normal snow melt dates