Haze pollution in early winter (December and January) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and in North China (NC) are both severe; however, their monthly variations are significantly different. In this study, the dominant large-scale atmospheric circulations and local meteorological conditions were investigated and compared over the YRD and NC in each month. Results showed that the YRD (NC) is dominated by the so-called Scandinavia (East Atlantic/West Russia) pattern in December, and these circulations weaken in January. The East Asian December and January monsoons over the YRD and NC have negative correlations with the number of haze days. The local descending motion facilitates less removal of haze pollution over the YRD, while the local ascending motion facilitates less removal of haze pollution over NC in January, despite a weaker relationship in December. Additionally, the monthly variations of atmospheric circulations showed that adverse meteorological conditions restrict the vertical (horizontal) dispersion of haze pollution in December (January) over the YRD, while the associated local weather conditions are similar in these two months over NC.