The 2020-21 La Niña event is over, but experts expect rain will continue. 

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has changed the El Niño Southern Oscillation outlook to inactive, but climatologist Naomi Benger says it does not mean all blue skies ahead. 

“What it really means is that La Niña is no longer dominating our climate but other localised drivers will become the primary influencers,” she said.

“In particular, we're expecting the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) to move through the Australian tropics, and that's going to increase cloudiness and rainfall over the next week or two for northern Australia.”

The MJO circles the equator, encouraging and discouraging tropical rainfall as it moves. 

In the Australian region it is linked to an increased risk of tropical low or tropical cyclone activity.

This atmospheric factor will be a likely driver in above-average rainfall and potential tropical activity in the first few weeks of April across far-northern Australia, even as early as the Easter long weekend.

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