Abstract After leaving the U.S. East Coast, the northward flowing Gulf Stream (GS) becomes a zonal jet and carries along its frontal characteristics of strong flow and sea surface temperature gradients into the North Atlantic at midlatitudes. The separation location where it leaves the coast is also an anchor point for the wintertime synoptic storm track across North America to continue to develop and head across the ocean. We examine the meridional variability of the separated GS path on interannual to decadal time scales as an agent for similar changes in the storm track and blocking variability at midtroposphere from 1979 to 2012. We find that periods of northerly (southerly) GS path are associated with increased (suppressed) excursions of the synoptic storm track to the northeast over the Labrador Sea and reduced (enhanced) Greenland blocking. In both instances, GS shifts lead those in the midtroposphere by a few months. , Plain Language Summary Using data from a 34‐year period (1979–2012 inclusive), we have examined the relationship between wintertime atmospheric blocking events near Greenland and changes in the synoptic atmospheric storm track with interannual changes in the latitude of the Gulf Stream (GS) in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Results indicate that ocean changes in GS path precede those in the middle of the overlying atmosphere by 1–3 months, with opposite affects upon blocking and storm track. We take this as an indication that GS path shifts can significantly influence climate change in the wintertime atmosphere regionally, especially over the Labrador Sea and Greenland. , Key Points Interannual changes in the zonal mean latitude of the separated Gulf Stream can be detected and related to changes in overlying atmosphere Northerly GS paths are associated with enhanced storm tracks over Labrador Sea and Greenland, with more zonal storm tracks with southerly GS Greenland blocking center expands with a southerly GS path and is reduced with a northerly GS path