The annular modes characterize the variability of the extratropical circulation. We show that they are extremely consistent across all reanalyses during the satellite era (1979 onward). Consequently, uncertainty in the annual cycle of variability of the tropospheric jet streams and their coupling with the stratospheric polar vortices is dominated by sampling uncertainty. Pre-satellite reanalysis of the Northern Hemisphere appears to be of high quality and can help reduce this uncertainty.