Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong so far. We had a massive +EPO flip, zero Atlantic blocking, very cold and stable PV in the Arctic, essentially a -PDO/PNA.
That's why the entire country + Europe is well above normal and Alaska's cold finally. It's very reminiscent of 11/12 & 01/02 though with the Nino influence & split flow pattern it'll be more active.
Time will time if anything will truly change soon.