The ENSO (El Niño South Oscillation) events and the Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) effects on the rainfall in the semi-arid region of State of Paraíba, Brazil, were evaluated using the Wilcoxom-Mann-Whitney test, based on the rainfall data for the period 1970-2000, furnished by the LMRS-PB (Meteorological, Water Resources and Remote Sensing Laboratory of the State of Paraíba). The results show that a significant difference, at the level of 5% of probability, exists related to periods with and without influence of ENOS events and of Atlantic SST for the State of Paraíba. For the municipalities of Sousa (Alto Sertão region) and Sumé (Cariri Occidental region) this difference also was significant at 5%, however for the municipality of Picuí (Seridó/Curimataú region) it was significant at 10%. This fact evidences the direct influence of the ENOS events and of the Atlantic SST on the variability of the mean values of the rainfall rates in the evaluated municipalities.
El Niño; influence; temperature; Paraíba
