(Bloomberg) -- The El Nino that disrupted weather worldwide lastyear has peaked. Now forecasters are predicting what may be nextfor the world’s climate.

A number of El Nino-Southern Oscillation indicators suggest thatthe 2015-16 El Nino has peaked and weather models predict it willdecline in coming months, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said onits website on Tuesday. Conditions will return to neutral duringthe second quarter with a chance of La Nina in the second half of2016, it said.

La Nina is a cooling in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, sometimesthought of as El Nino’s opposite. The two are extreme phases of anaturally occurring cycle, according to the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. Based on the 26 El Nino events since1900, about 50% have been followed by a neutral year with 40% by LaNina, according to Australia’s weather bureau.

Related: Strong El Nino in equatorial Pacific may bereaching peak

“Neutral and La Nina are equally likely for the second half,”the bureau said. A repeat of El Nino is the least likely outcome,it said.

The current El Nino is rated as one of the three strongest since1950. The warming of the equatorial Pacific changes weatherworldwide, bringing drought to parts of Asia while the southernU.S. can get more rain. Its effects helped palm oil cap its bestyear since 2010, while sugar posted its first annual gain in fiveyears.

Roiling markets

La Nina can also roil agricultural markets as it changesweather. A large part of the agricultural U.S. tends to dry outduring La Nina events, while parts of Australia and Indonesia canbe wetter than normal. Citigroup Inc. has said that a transition toa strong La Nina may present significant upside potential forgrains price volatility.

The previous La Nina began in 2010 and endured into 2012.Conditions typically last between 9 months and 12 months, whilesome episodes may persist for as long as two years, according toNOAA. Both La Nina and El Nino tend to peak during the NorthernHemisphere winter.

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