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The National Weather Service is forecasting a potentially very strong El Niño Effect for the upcoming Winter and early Spring: "All models surveyed predict El Niño to continue into the Northern Hemisphere spring 2016, and all multi-model averages predict a peak in late fall/early winter."

East Asia and Southern California may experience especially significant effects.  Typhoon Etau's mid-September hit on Japan is seen by many forecasters as a precursor of the potential for extreme outcomes.

A White Paper by one supply chain software firm notes, "The recent flooding from Severe Tropical Storm Etau in Japan is the first significant manifestation of El Niño. It may serve as a wakeup call for CPOs and organizations complacent about the potential El Niño threat to supply chain operations. It is also illustrative of the types of El Niño impacts that organizations can expect and the opportunities for proactive threat mitigation actions moving forward."

Roughly sixty percent of US imports arrive at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.