Thanks for writing. Keep in mind first that "godzilla" or not, El Niño and La Niña are not like a hurricane or major winter storm that will "hit" the West Coast. It's a disruption of the typical temperature and wind circulation across the tropical Pacific, and the side effects are felt "downstream" in the atmosphere. It's like a tree falling across a creek way upstream of where you live. The tree doesn't hit you, but the flow past your house may be stronger or weaker, depending on how the tree blocks the creek's usual course.

That said, based on everything I've learned by editing this blog in the past year, in the US, the impacts of El Niño and La Niña are felt most strongly in the winter, but again the influence is not like the arrival of a hurricane or any other individual weather event. Rather, the influence shows up on the seasonal average temperatures and precipitation.