Yea, the intensity and persistence of WWB needed to get a super event make it just about impossible to confine the warmth to the central Pacific.....on one end of the spectrum, 2009-2010 was about as strong of a n el nino event that you can get, while relegating the warmth to the central Pacific....on the other hand, 2015-2016 was about as evenly distributed and least confined to the east as you can get for a truly high end event. This is why the former produced a generational winter in the mid atl, and the latter a generational winter storm.
Two unique warm ENSO events in their own right.