It is widely recognized that rainfall over the Yangtze River valley (YRV) strengthens considerably during the decaying summer of El Niño, as demonstrated by the catastrophic flooding suffered in the summer of 1998. Nevertheless, the rainfall over the YRV in the summer of 2016 was much weaker than in 1998, despite the equivalent intensity of the 2016 El Niño. A group of scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has now revealed the remarkable role played by the mid-latitude circulation in this surprising feature.