I don't think you are conceptualizing analogs correctly if you are waiting for one to "verify"....it's not about finding a replica season, it's about determining which analog seasons have value and what element of each analog season offers said value. I thought the 2013-2014 (favorable east Pacific with roughing over NE USA) analog held a great deal of value last season....as did the 1999-2000 (PNA interludes during cool ENSO and too little too late SSW) analog. 1972-1973 (Pacific cold phase competing with potent warm ENSO) was a very telling analog for the prior season. 2008-2009 was an exemplary ENSO analog that I incorporated to successfully diagnose the late-blooming nature of the modest cool ENSO episode, which ultimately transitioned from east-based into a Modoki during a cooler NE us winter.
The reason that last season was warmer than 2013-2014 is due to a combination of a vastly different West Pacific and background warming.
I thinking understanding how to use analogs is of increasingly of paramount importance amid a fairly rapidly changing climate. Its crucial when using analogs to understand that we are operating in a warmer base state, agreed.