Chance is right...monthly anomaly "averages" can be misleading. All it takes is one timely storm to overcome a less than ideal average height pattern and, of course, untimely shortwaves can ruin a good one. The challenge is that upcoming patterns are unlikely to turn out the way we want, so comparing something that might happen to something that already did, will add even more overthinking. I can see why looking at the large scale features (MJO, NAO, etc.) and placing bets on that would be a better game to play than just hoping for a proposed H5 pattern to deliver (since that's still a moving target beyond 7-10 days).
I'm brainstorming...mostly just taking a break from doing my weekly status report lol.