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The ensemble rainfall forecasts over the Sahel for July–September (JAS) from the NCEP Coupled Forecast System (CFS) were evaluated for the period 1981–2002. The comparison with the gauge-based precipitation analysis indicates that the predicted Sahel rainfall is light and exhibits little interannual variability. The rain belt is shifted about 4° southward. One major source of rainfall errors comes from the erroneous sea surface temperature (SST) forecasts. The systematic SST error pattern has positive errors in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic and negative errors in the tropical Pacific and the southern oceans. It resembles the decadal SST mode, which has a significant influence on rainfall over the Sahel. Because the systematic SST errors were not corrected during the forecasts, persistent errors serve as an additional forcing to the atmosphere. The second source of error is from the soil moisture feedback, which contributes to the southward shift of rainfall and dryness over West Africa. This was demonstrated by the comparison between simulations (SIMs) and the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) run. Both are forced with observed SSTs. The SIMs initialized at the end of June have realistic soil moisture and do not show the southward shift of rainfall. The AMIP, which predicts soil moisture, maintains the dryness through the summer over the Sahel. For AMIP, the decreased rainfall is contributed by the decreased evaporation (E) due to the dry soil and the shift of the large temperature gradients southward. In response, the African easterly jet (AEJ) shifts southward. Since this jet is the primary source of energy for the African waves and their associated mesoscale convective systems, these too shift southward. This negative feedback contributes to increased dryness over the Sahel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]