Unlike those picture
puzzles where you are asked to find subtle differences between images, a look
at the NASA sea surface height anomaly images for the past three weak La Niñas
(1995, 2000, 2011) plus this year (2016), leaves little doubt that what's going
on in the eastern Pacific is not subtle at all. The most striking
difference is the anomalous warm water from the equator north to about 25
degrees north. This area warmed in conjunction with last year's very strong El
Niño and may have contributed to the atypical winter along the west Coast of
North America (see "Differences Between
2015-16 El Niño and Previous Strong and Very Strong Events").