is El Nino Real?

Factual Questions
1

What are the facts on El Nino/La Nina? Just a bad weather scapegoat?

This story says there is no El Nino nor La Nina for boreal summer/fall 2013. Yet, rainfall for many areas in the US has been phenomenal this summer. Had this been winter, experts would blame El Nino for what would mostlikely be record snowfalls. So, is it a real thing? And, if so…is it to blame for extreme weather? And last, can the theory explain a rough winter somewhere, say the Northeast, while also justifying a mild winter somewhere else in the US?

2

Yes, yes, and yes.

3

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html

We are El Nino neutral. It is expected to be that way into 2014. The weird weather in the USA this year could be caused by a number of things: short-term, long-term, or even climate change.