I'm sorry, but the disclaimers don't totally fly. Bill Patzert of JPL pretty much described this as a can't-miss El Nino. Do I have to round up his quotes to prove it? This was as recent as about a month ago. I notice that he has been conspicously missing from JPL's latest pronouncements. Also, why wasn't the tendency for a blocking high taken into account when all of the pronouncements about a "record El Nino" were being issued last fall? The climate scientists are acting as though they've been totally blind-sided by the blocking high. Really? If they can't predict the blocking high and its impact, then I'd suggest that the science of El Nino is still far too flimsy to be issuing any forecasts. Maybe in another decade, but not now. I'm with Dr. Teel: we're in very serious trouble. Disaster lurks. People worry about the "Big One" on the southern section of the San Andreas Fault, but it looks like the drought is going to get us first.