Influences of strong and moderate ENSO events on the Maranhão precipitation from the western equatorial Atlantic SST anomalies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/Keywords:
El Niño, Interannual Variability, Zonal Teleconnection, Maranhão Climate, Precipitation VariabilityAbstract
This study analyzed the influence of strong and moderate El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on
the seasonal and interannual variabilities of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Western Equatorial
Atlantic (WEA) Ocean and how the precipitation over the state of Maranhão, in Brazil, responds to the zonal
teleconnection. To evaluate the ENSO magnitude and phase in the four Niño regions (1+2, 3, 3.4, and 4),
the SODA 3.3.1 oceanic reanalysis database for the period from 1980 to 2015 was used. Our results showed
that the La Niña phase with moderate magnitude was the most predominant among the 70 events analyzed,
with Niño 3.4 presenting the highest number (20) of ENSO events (both positive and negative phases).
At lag = 0, we found that significant negative correlations prevailed between the WEA SST anomalies and
ENSO index, with the region of Niño 3.4 showing the most significant correlations (r = −0.25). The whole events
of El Niño and La Niña were, respectively, accompanied by a cooling and a heating of up to −0.6°C or +0.8°C
in the WEA Ocean. The WEA SST anomalies during El Niño and La Niña events have, respectively, reduced
and increased the precipitation in Maranhão around ± 100 mm in a quarter. Strong El Niño events influence a
greater precipitation deficit in Maranhão than moderate El Niño events. Moderate La Niña events have more
pronounced influence on the precipitation over Maranhão than strong La Niña events do, especially on the
negative anomalies. Our results showed that the central, northern, and eastern tip sectors of the state are the
most affected by this zonal teleconnection. We concluded that ENSO’s significant influences on the WEA SST
seasonal variability, added to the performance of the Atlantic Meridional Mode (Soares 2019), determine the
quality of the rainy season (March–April–May) in the state of Maranhão
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