Spatiotemporal variability in annual and seasonal rainfall totals wereassessed at 37 locations of the Nile Basin in Africa using quantileperturbation method (QPM). To get insight into the spatial difference inrainfall statistics, the stations were grouped based on the pattern of thelong-term mean (LTM) of monthly rainfall and that of temporal variability. Tofind the origin of the driving forces for the temporal variability inrainfall, correlation analyses were carried out using global monthly sealevel pressure (SLP) and sea surface temperature (SST). Furtherinvestigations to support the obtained correlations were made using a totalof 10 climate indices. It was possible to obtain three groups of stations;those within the equatorial region (A), Sudan and Ethiopia (B), andEgypt (C). For group A, annual rainfall was found to be below (above) thereference during the late 1940s to 1950s (1960s to mid-1980s). Conversely forgroups B and C, the period from 1930s to late 1950s (1960s to 1980s) wascharacterized by anomalies being above (below) the reference. For group A,significant linkages were found to Ni?o 3, Ni?o 3.4, and the NorthAtlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean drivers. Correlations of annual rainfall ofgroup A with Pacific Ocean-related climate indices were inconclusive. Withrespect to the main wet seasons, the June–September rainfall of group B hasstrong connection to the influence from the Indian Ocean. For the March–May(October–February) rainfall of group A (C), possible links to the Atlanticand Indian oceans were found.
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