Sort of related, but years ago (like pre 2010) I was talking to one of our long range guys and he said something to me that always resonated. We were going into La Nina at the time. The so called "numbers" weren't reflecting Nina, but he said we are already in it. I sort of looked at him and said what do you mean? So then he showed me...."look at the ridging near the SE...look where the tropical forcing has been....look at the easterly anomalies taking shape over the tropical Pacific." He replied, "the atmosphere is trying to tell you something." That always stuck with me. It's true. You'll see the global patterns shuffle around before any designation from the CPC.