Sea surface temperature related to rain in Ceará, north-eastern Brazil

RAINFALL in Ceará is correlated with sea surface temperature in the south Atlantic Ocean. Knowledge of sea surface temperature makes possible a useful rainfall forecast before the rainy season begins. The mechanism may be that sea temperature affects the height of the trade wind inversion, and thus the height of the moist layer. The data also suggest in association between below normal sea temperatures in the south Atlantic and the E1 Niño in the Pacific.