ATLANTIC SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL VARIABILITY IN GHANA

Monthly rainfall between 1926 and 1985 from 17 synoptic stations in Gh ana were averaged over four major zones of the country. Anomalies from the rainfall series were correlated with sea surface temperature (SST ) anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean. Significant positive correlations w ere observed between rainfall and SST for the period July to September in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. Correlations of rainfall with SST s in closest proximity to the country are between 0.62 and 0.75 in mag nitude and are significant at the 1% level. Significant lag correlatio ns between the SSTs in May to July and rainfall in July to September w ere also observed, offering the possibility of forecasting rainfalls. Ghana is just south of the Sahel but the sign of the Ghana rainfall-SS T relationship is opposite to that of the Sahel seasonal (July-Septemb er) rainfall-SST relationship.