We all get affected by El Nino and La Nina differently. For me, La Nina is actually a good thing. Our last El Nino winter, 2006-2007, was by far THE most miserable winter I have ever been through. It was incredibly mild, our highest snow total was about 4 inches, and just about every shot of snow we had turned into a bust. The next winter, 2007-2008, was one of the best I had had in years. And that was a La Nina winter. We got bombarded by storm after storm after storm. Numerous events, including our first white New Year's since the turn of the millennium. While the 69.5 inches of snow we ended up with that season is not the highest snow total we have ever seen here in Lansing, it was definitely a banner winter. The Grand Rapids area closed that winter with near 100 inch snow totals. The second I found out that this winter was going to be an El Nino winter (back in August), my mood started to fade, and the color drained right out of me. This winter has had several lates for me... namely our first snow guess not being until 12/3, and our first big snow being in the second week of February.
Point being, we all get affected differently.
