Abstract
The 1997–1999 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) period was very powerful, but also well observed. Multiple satellite rainfall estimates combined with gauge observations allow for a quantitative analysis of precipitation anomalies in the tropics and elsewhere accompanying the 1997–1999 ENSO cycle. An examination of the evolution of the El Niño and accompanying precipitation anomalies revealed that a dry Maritime Continent (MC) preceded the formation of positive sea‐surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Thirty‐ to sixty‐day oscillations in the winter of 1996–1997 may have contributed to this lag relationship. Furthermore, westerly wind burst events may have maintained the drought over the MC. The warming of the equatorial Pacific was then followed by an increase in convection. A rapid transition from El Niño to La Niña occurred in May 1998, but as early as October–November 1997, precipitation indices captured substantial changes in Pacific rainfall anomalies. The global precipitation patterns for this event were in good agreement with the strong consistent ENSO‐related precipitation signals identified in earlier studies. Differences included a shift in precipitation anomalies over Africa during the 1997–1998 El Niño and unusually wet conditions over northeast Australia during the later stages of the El Niño. Also, the typically wet region in the north tropical Pacific was mostly dry during the 1998–1999 La Niña. Reanalysis precipitation was compared with observations during this time period and substantial differences were noted. In particular, the model had a bias towards positive precipitation anomalies and the magnitudes of the anomalies in the equatorial Pacific were small compared with the observations. Also, the evolution of the precipitation field, including the drying of the MC and eastward progression of rainfall in the equatorial Pacific, was less pronounced for the model compared with the observations. Copyright © 2001 Royal Meteorological Society