PDO Index Began Dropping Sharply In July

There is some evidence that The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index, which tracks sea-surface temperature anomalies, began dropping sharply in July. It's the first real sign that the drought-ridden climate that's afflicted California since 2013 might begin to budge a bit. (Unfortunately, El Niño didn't do the trick last winter.)

This animated gif (via Australia's BOM) is focused on the equator, but one can see at the top of the map how the central Northern Pacific warmed abruptly in July, and how temperatures along the California coast began cooling.

I'd like to think that means rain.