@GaWxLarry, it has that El Niño look because of the Pacific airmass....that is what I tried to capture in my January composite....pretty similar look with months like January 2006 and 2002 in there.
I would like to see phase 8...the MJO has still had an allergy to phase 8 over the course of the past couple of seasons, despite the cold, which is part of the reason why the haven't seen the snow.