Relationship between East African coastal rainfall and Indian Ocean SST

The east African coast experiences rainfall primarily during two seasons; the March-May "long" rains, and the October-November "short" rains. While the long rains are stronger in intensity, the short rains are more highly variable. The short rains strongly correlate with SST in the Indian Ocean during and three months preceding the rainy season for the years 1945-1976. However, during the period from 1977-1995 no strong correlations between SST and ON rainfall are observed. The relationship between these correlations and ENSO and their interdecadal variability are discussed.