We found that, in 1984, there was a climate regime shift in April mean precipitation in Gwangju of Jeollanam-do province, Korea using a statistical change-point analysis. During the period of post-1984(1985-2013), the April mean precipitation in the years post-1984 showed a distinct decrease, compared to the pre-1984 period(1954-1984). This regime shift was also observed in China and Japan, excluding southern China. One of the major causes for the decreasing April mean precipitation during the recent three decades was the increased snow depth in the mid-latitude regions of continental East Asia. The increased snow depth resulted in strengthened cold and dry anticyclone anomaly over continental East Asia and a relatively weakened subtropical anticyclone anomaly over the western North Pacific. The anomalous synoptic conditious supported a continuation of the typical winter pressure pattern of ‘high-West and low-East’ over East Asia in April. The intensified northerly winds from this zonal pressure pattern anomaly played a significant role in restricting the northern movement of the subtropical anticyclone and there by preventing the inflow of warm and humid air into Korea.