Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño
Stored-up heat fueled start to 2015‒2016 extreme weather patterns

HOT WATER Warm water left over in the equatorial Pacific Ocean from a failed 2014 El Niño helped push the current El Niño to extremes, new research suggests. Warm surface waters in the eastern Pacific, shown here in March 2016, can cause global weather disruptions.
NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab