Аннотация:The structure of the winter 500hPa geopotential height variability over the Northern Hemisphere extratropical zone is studied based on observations and simulations in CMIP5 experiments. We consider the shares of variability explained by the EOFs, spatial features of the patterns for the first three EOF (1-3), and the principal components of the PC (1-3) during the period of global temperature growth in 1977-1999. It is shown that the models are weak enough to reproduce the spatial and temporal features of the observed atmospheric circulation variability over the Northern Hemisphere extratropical zone. The main differences are due to the fact that the centers of actions associated with the structure of the AO/NAO modes are only partially reproduced, and the PNA structure is not reproduced.