Thanks for the comment Troy. You're right about the PDO being a factor that influences (but does not very strongly dominate) ENSO. And yes, we now have a strongly positive PDO, and this means the tropical Pacific SST is tending to be on the warm side despite the emergence of below average SST right along the equator in the eastern part of the basin. The positive PDO may well hinder the development and peak strength of any cool episode we have in 2016-17. About the chicken and egg problem regarding ENSO and the PDO, it is an unsolved scientific question. Some scientists believe the PDO is just a cumulative reflection of recent ENSO behavior (more than just from the last 1 or 2 years) while others think the PDO can also do its own thing and is driven by factors other than ENSO, such as dynamics in the North Pacific. The idea of ratios of El Nino to La Nina during each of the phases of PDO is interesting. I've never done it, but suspect other may have tinkered with that sort of thing. A big problem in doing it is that there are only 3 or 4 PDO phases in recent history, and also not so many ENSO events in each PDO phase. This leads to a sample size problem, which would imply a large uncertainty in any results. But it would still be fun to do, and might be suggestive.