NASA scientists say a La Nina is unlikely in 2016-2017. After a warm El Nino last winter forecasts show the central Pacific will not get cold enough to switch to a La Nina this year. The forecast is based on NASA satellite data combined with measurements of winds, temperatures, and more. That's nine terabytes of data running on supercomputers for 18 hours at a stretch to produce a forecast for the next 9 months. "We are consistently predicting a neutral state no La Nina nor El Nino this year," said Steven Pawson, NASA scientist.