Variable and Robust East Asian Monsoon Rainfall Response to El Nio over the Past 60 Years(1957–2016)

Severe flooding occurred in southern and northern China during the summer of 2016 when the 2015 super El Nio decayed to a normal condition. However, the mean precipitation during summer(June–July-August) 2016 does not show significant anomalies, suggesting that — over East Asia(EA) — seasonal mean anomalies have limited value in representing hydrological hazards. Scrutinizing season-evolving precipitation anomalies associated with 16 El Nio episodes during 1957–2016 reveals that, over EA, the spatiotemporal patterns among the four categories of El Nio events are quite variable, due to a large range of variability in the intensity and evolution of El Nio events and remarkable subseasonal migration of the rainfall anomalies. The only robust seasonal signal is the dry anomalies over central North China during the El Nio developing summer. Distinguishing strong and weak El Nio impacts is important. Only strong El Nio events can persistently enhance EA subtropical frontal precipitation from the peak season of El Nio to the ensuing summer, by stimulating intense interaction between the anomalous western Pacific anticyclone(WPAC) and underlying dipolar sea surface temperature anomalies in the Indo-Pacific warm pool, thereby maintaining the WPAC and leading to a prolonged El Nio impact on EA. A weak El Nio may also enhance the post-El Nio summer rainfall over EA, but through a different physical process: the WPAC re-emerges as a forced response to the rapid cooling in the eastern Pacific. The results suggest that the skillful prediction of rainfall over continental EA requires the accurate prediction of not only the strength and evolution of El Nio, but also the subseasonal migration of EA rainfall anomalies.     

Geographic Variation in Growing Season Rainfall during three Decades in Nigeria Using Principal Component and Cluster Analyses

Summary  Reports of changes in the seasonal and annual rainfall in Nigeria suggests that a more detailed analyses of the geographic extent of these changes and of their impact on agriculture could be of value. Variation in the growing season (April to September) rainfall from stations across Nigeria was analysed over the 30-yr period, 1960–90. Regression analyses were used to examine long-term trends. Principal component and cluster analyses were used to group stations with similar trends in standardised seasonal rainfall. Mean accumulated standardised seasonal rainfall were used to examine short- and medium-term trends for each of the groups identified. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) decreases in rainy season rainfall were found at 8 stations mostly in the Guinea and arid/semi-arid savannas of northern Nigeria, whereas no station showed significant increases. Examination of the monthly (April through September) rainfall showed that only three – Kano, Sokoto and Potiskum in the arid/semi-arid savanna – of the twenty-three stations used in the analysis had declining rainfall trends for each of the months April to September and subsequently declining seasonal rainfall trends. However, 12 to 15 stations had consistently declining rainfall trends in atleast some but not all the growing season months. However, a similar pattern was not the case in terms of increasing rainfall trends, where only one to three stations had consistently increasing rainfall trends in some but not all of the months from April to September. Stations that showed increasing rainfall trends were in the southern parts of Nigeria. Six groups with similar patterns in standardised seasonal rainfall were identified by Principal Component and Cluster analyses. For most of the groups, the period from 1967 to 1973 was that of consistently below average seasonal rainfall. However, the timing and extent of the decline varied with location. Common to stations in four of the six groups was a negative trend in seasonal rainfall for the period considered. The geographic variation in seasonal rainfall trends has tremendous agricultural significance since there are indications that the reliability of the season is decreasing from the humid forest zone with positive seasonal trends to the arid/semi-arid savanna with significant negative seasonal trends. Received June 24, 1998 Revised December 18, 1998     

我国干旱半干旱区降水的特征分析

利用聚类分析对全国160站1951～1992年的年降水标准化资料做分析，结果可划分为两大区——干旱半干旱区和非干旱区，在此基础上进行降水区划及降水分布型研究，得出我国干旱半干旱区大致分成9个小区以及它的3种年降水分布型式。     

东亚中纬度干旱/半干旱区降水年际变化及其可能成因

基于NOAA的全球陆地降水资料(PREC/L)1948～2003年56年的月平均降水资料、NCEP/NCAR月平均再分析资料以及英国气象局哈德莱中心的海温(Sea Surface Temperature,SST)资料,并根据多年降水平均图选定了东亚中纬度干旱/半干旱区,对该区域夏季(6～8月)降水进行了经验正交分解(Empirical Orthogonal Function,EOF)。EOF第一模态呈现出全区一致的变化类型,第二模态则呈现出以100°E为界东西相反的分布类型。通过分析干旱/半干旱区以及以100°E为界的东西两部分降水异常年的环流形势和海温并加以对比,结果表明:在环流场上,对应于东亚中纬度干旱/半干旱区降水偏多年,对流层中下层环流异常在中高纬度呈现为一个东西向波列,乌拉尔山东侧为正的高度异常,贝加尔湖附近乃至以东地区为低压槽所控制;不同的是,对应于100°E以西的干旱/半干旱区夏季降水偏多年,波列有所东移,并且西太平洋副热带高压有显著北抬;而对应于100°E以东干旱/半干旱区夏季降水偏多年,环流形势异常基本与整个干旱/半干旱区降水偏多年一致,只是在里海附近有一高度负异常。在200hPa纬向风场上可以看到,当西亚副热带急流偏南加强时,对应于100°E以西的干旱/半干旱区降水偏多;而当东亚、西亚风急流都有显著北抬且加强时,对应于100°E以东干旱/半干旱区的夏季降水偏多,这可能与急流所激发的次级环流有关。进一步对SST的分析表明,海温与100°E以东或以西干旱/半干旱区降水异常的关系也不一样。当前冬、前春赤道中东太平洋都有正的海温异常,而到夏季转换为负的海温异常,且南太平洋在前冬和前春呈现显著负海温异常时,整个干旱/半干旱区夏季降水偏多;当赤道中东太平洋海温在前冬、前春有正的海温异常并一直减弱,但能维持到夏季,并且北印度洋海温也存在类似的海温异常时,100°E以西的干旱/半干旱区夏季降水偏多;而当前冬中东太平洋海温较暖但其南部海域偏冷,到了前春这些异常维持,并发展到同期为大范围弱的异常冷海温时,有利于100°E以东的干旱/半干旱区夏季降水偏多。比较的结果还揭示出,对应于干旱/半干旱区以及100°E以东干旱/半干旱区的降水异常年,海温异常分布大致是一致的;而对应于100°E以西干旱/半干旱区的降水异常年,海温异常分布及时间演变则有较大差异。     

Daily rainfall trend in the Valencia Region of Spain

Summary ?We have analyzed daily rainfall trends throughout the second half of the 20^th century in the western Mediterranean basin (Valencia Region, E of Spain). The area is characterized by high torrentiality, and during the second half of the 20^th century some of the highest daily rainfall values in the Mediterranean basin have been recorded. In this area, mean annual rainfall varies between 500 and 300 mm and is overwhelmingly dependent on just a few days of rain. Daily maximum rainfall varies on average from 120 mm day⁻¹ to 50 mm day⁻¹, and represents a mean of 17% (coastland) to 9% (inland) of annual rainfall. The 10 days in each year with the heaviest rainfall (called “higher events”) provide over 50% of the annual rainfall and can reach more than 400 mm on average. We compared the annual rainfall trend and the trend of higher and minor events defined by percentiles, both in volume and variability. We, therefore, tested whether annual rainfall changes depend on the trend of the higher (rainfall) events. To overlap spatial distribution of trends (i.e.: positive, no significant and negative trends) we have used cross-tab analysis. The results confirm the hypothesis that annual rainfall changes depend on changes found in just a few rainy events. Furthermore, in spite of their negative trend, higher events have increased their contribution to annual rainfall. As a consequence, although torrential events may have diminished in magnitude, future scenarios seem to be controlled by a limited number of rainy events which will become more and more variable year on year. The high spatial density of data used in this work, (97 observatories per 24.000 km², overall mean 1 observatory per 200 km²), suggests to us that extreme caution should be applied when analyzing regional and sub-regional changes in rainfall using GCM output, especially in areas of high torrentiality. Received August 1, 2002; revised November 11, 2002; accepted December 1, 2002 Published online May 19, 2003     

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Rainfall over Northern Asia in the Last 100 Years and Their Possible Changes in the Future

The reliability of CRU05 rainfall dataset produced by Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia is examined against 22 station observations in the northern China. While this dataset has high spatial resolution and long temporal coverage, comparison with station data suggests that it only has higher quality in the last 70 years in the western China. When using this dataset to analyze rainfall variability over the northern China, significant oscillations with periods of 3, 10, and 30 yr are found, with interannual and interdecadal oscillations being the major characteristics of drought and flood events in the region in the last 100 years. Using EOF and REOF analysis, 10 divisions with coherent rainfall variations have been identified, including (i) central Asia and north of Xinjiang, (ii) North China and east of Northwest China,(iii) north and middle of Mongolia, (iv) Hexi Corridor and west of Mongolia, (v)east of the Heilong River,(vi) north of Da Hinggan Mountains, (vii) north of Central Asia, (viii) south of Xinjiang and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, (ix) south of Northeast China, and (x) north of Altay Mountains. Results suggest that the pronounced feature of drought in the arid and semi-arid areas of northern China is not isolated. Of course, it is consistent with rainfall variations in the arid areas of Mongolia and Central Asia. In addition,by analyzing prominent oscillations observed in the last several decades, the trends of rainfall variations over the region in the future 10-15 years are discussed.     

厄尔尼诺事件对中国夏季水汽输送和降水分布影响的新研究

基于1961-2016年中国地面台站降水观测资料和多种再分析资料,分析了东部型和中部型两类厄尔尼诺事件对中国夏季水汽输送和降水的不同影响。结果表明：（1）厄尔尼诺事件对中国夏季降水的影响在发生当年和次年有明显的不同,主要影响是在其发生的次年,中国大部分地区的夏季降水明显偏多。（2）东部型厄尔尼诺事件当年夏季,西北太平洋副热带高压（副高）偏东偏弱,水汽输送条件较弱,不利于中国大范围降水的发生;中部型事件当年夏季,低纬度印度洋和西太平洋蒸发异常偏强,来自阿拉伯海、孟加拉湾和西北太平洋向华南地区的水汽输送和净水汽收支增加,有利于华南地区降水的异常增多。（3）东部型厄尔尼诺事件次年夏季,副热带太平洋蒸发异常偏强,副高西伸,由于东亚-太平洋（EAP）遥相关型的建立,副高西侧的强西南气流将来自太平洋蒸发的大量水汽持续输送至中国中东部地区。此外,在东亚-太平洋遥相关型影响下中高纬度地区建立了亚洲双阻型环流,其间的低槽冷涡与上游阻高之间的强偏北气流有利于北冰洋的水汽持续输送到西北和华北北部地区,中国大部分地区净水汽收支均增加,中国北方和南方地区的降水均产生了明显的同步性增多响应,形成了南北两条异常雨带。中部型厄尔尼诺事件次年夏季,副高较常年偏西且偏北,来自太平洋蒸发的大量水汽输送到江淮地区,使其净水汽收支增加和降水偏多。因此,厄尔尼诺事件的发生不仅对长江流域和淮河流域等南方地区的降水有重要影响,对华北、东北和西北地区的降水异常也有相当的作用。     

Contrasting global teleconnection features of the eastern Pacific and central Pacific El Niño events

Being triggered by different physical processes, the eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) El Niño events have several different teleconnection features around the globe. Using the ERA-Interim re-analysis monthly data during the period 1980–2016, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections on the global scale and their statistical significance are investigated, with an emphasis on the contrasting features of the EP and CP El Niño events. With some exceptions, the EP El Niño and La Niña have generally similar teleconnection patterns with the reversed sign, while in some parts of the globe different and occasionally contrasting teleconnections of the EP and CP El Niño events are identified. Compared to the CP El Niño, more regions of the world are influenced by the statistically significant positive surface pressure anomalies during the EP El Niño, particularly over the Indian Ocean, tropical Atlantic and Northern Africa. It is found that the mid-tropospheric geopotential height anomalies across the globe are significantly different during the EP and CP El Niño events. Associated with different surface pressure and mid-tropospheric geopotential height anomalies, precipitation anomalies in many regions of the world are found different during the EP and CP El Niño events, particularly over the tropical Pacific, central to eastern equatorial Atlantic and the eastern Sahara. While central and eastern equatorial Atlantic experience statistically significant negative (positive) rainfall anomalies during the EP El Niño (La Niña), the CP El Niño does not have a strong influence on the amount of annual rainfall over the equatorial Atlantic. For the first time, statistically significant anomalously dry conditions are found over some parts of the Middle East and Southwest Asia during La Niña, and over the eastern Sahara during the EP El Niño.     

Tanzanian rainfall responses to El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole events during 1951–2015

The relative impacts of Indian and Pacific Ocean processes on Tanzanian rainfall was evaluated using composite and correlation analyses. It was found that the seasonal responses of rainfall to positive Indian Ocean Dipole (pIOD) and El Niño events are substantial from September–October–November (SON) to December–January–February (DJF), whereas the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) exerts more control than El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in both seasons. The associated relationship with the sea surface temperature (SST) and large-scale atmospheric circulations revealed distinct features. For the pure pIOD years, there is above-normal rainfall over the entire country. A strong rainfall condition is evident over the Lake Victoria basin and coastal and northeastern highland parts of the country during SON, while areas of the central and southern highlands exhibit substantial rains during DJF. For the pure El-Niño events, Tanzania has suffered from insignificant, weak, and non-coherent rainfall conditions during SON. However, a contrasting insignificant rainfall signature is found between the northern and southern parts of the country during the subsequent DJF season. For the co-occurrence of pIOD and El Niño, significant, excessive rainfall conditions are restricted to over the northern coast and northeastern areas of the country during SON, consistent with the rainfall pattern for pIOD. A weak, positive rainfall condition is observed over the entire country in the following season of DJF. Generally, in terms of Tanzanian rainfall, the IOD/ENSO variability and the associated impacts can be explained by the anomalous SST and circulation anomalies.     

两类厄尔尼诺事件发展年秋季印度洋海温异常特征对比

基于1951—2010年逐月海气多要素观测资料,对比分析了两类厄尔尼诺事件发展年秋季印度洋的海温异常及大气响应特征,探讨了印度洋偶极子的发生与两类厄尔尼诺事件特征的可能联系。结果表明,两类厄尔尼诺事件的发展年均会出现印度洋偶极子,但出现的概率不同:大多数东部型厄尔尼诺事件都会伴有正位相印度洋偶极子发生;而仅一半的中部型厄尔尼诺事件期间会出现正位相印度洋偶极子的异常海温型,且强度较弱。从印度洋偶极子与两类厄尔尼诺事件的物理联系上看,东部型厄尔尼诺事件期间,印度洋偶极子的发生与其强度联系密切:印度洋偶极子发生在东部型厄尔尼诺事件较强期间,两者通过海洋大陆的异常强下沉运动及大范围负异常降水相联系;东部型厄尔尼诺事件偏弱时并无印度洋偶极子出现,海洋大陆异常下沉运动及负异常降水很弱。然而,中部型厄尔尼诺事件期间印度洋偶极子的发生与其强度并无显著的关系,而与太平洋高海温区的位置存在一定的可能联系:在有印度洋偶极子发生的中部型厄尔尼诺事件发展年秋季,热带太平洋异常高海温区的位置相对偏东,海洋大陆出现显著下沉运动和大范围负异常降水,热带东印度洋为大范围强异常东风控制;但无印度洋偶极子发生的中部型厄尔尼诺事件时,热带太平洋高海温区位置相对偏西,极弱的海洋大陆下沉支对热带印度洋异常海温作用非常有限。     

Long-term rainfall characteristics in the Mzingwane catchment of south-western Zimbabwe

Rainfall characteristics during the annual rainy season are explored for the Mzingwane catchment of south-western Zimbabwe, for both historic period (1886–1906) and more recent times (1950–2015), based on available daily and monthly precipitation series. Annual and seasonal rainfall trends are determined using the modified Mann-Kendall test, magnitude of trends test and Sen’s slope estimator. Rainfall variability is quantified using the coefficient of variation (CV), precipitation concentration index (PCI) and standard precipitation index (SPI). Results suggest that contemporary mean annual rainfall may not have changed from that measured during the historic period of 1886–1906. However, the number of rainy days (≥ 1 mm) has decreased by 34%, thus suggesting much more concentrated and increased rainfall intensity. A notable shift in both the onset and cessation dates of the rainy season is recorded, particularly during the twenty-first century, which has resulted in a significantly reduced (p < 0.05) length of the rainy season. The combination of a reduced number of rainy days (≥ 1 mm) and a shortened rainy season suggests that long intra-season dry spells have become more common through time and have considerable negative consequences for agriculture and wetland ecosystem in the region. In addition, high spatio-temporal rainfall variability and seasonal PCI values indicate strong seasonality in the rainy season. Based on the SPI results, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) strongly influences rainfall variability. The results further suggest high uncertainty in rain season characteristics, which requires effective planning for water needs.     

The influence of stochasticism on Indian summer monsoon rainfall and its impact on prediction

Output from a multi-millennial control simulation of the CSIRO Mark 2 coupled model has been used to investigate quantitatively the relation between the Indian summer monsoon rain and El Nino/Southern Oscillation events. A moving window correlation between these two features revealed marked interannual and multi-decadal variability with the correlation coefficient varying between ?0.8 and +0.2. This suggests that current observations showing a decline in this correlation are due to natural climatic variability. A scatter diagram of the anomalies of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall and NINO 3.4 surface temperature showed that in almost 40 % of the cases ENSO events were associated with rainfall anomalies opposite to those implied by the climatological correlation coefficient. Case studies and composites of global distributions of surface temperature and rainfall anomalies for El Nino (or La Nina) events highlight the opposite rainfall anomalies over India that can result from very similar ENSO surface temperature anomalies. Composite differences are used to demonstrate the unique sensitivity of Indian summer monsoon rainfall anomalies to ENSO events. The problem of predicting such anomalies is discussed in relation to the fact that time series of the monsoon rainfall, both observed and simulated, consist of white noise. Based on the scatter diagram it is concluded that in about 60 % of the cases seasonal or annual prediction of monsoon rainfall based on individual ENSO events will result in the correct outcome. Unfortunately, there is no way, a priori, of determining for a given ENSO event whether the correct or a rogue prediction will result. Analysis of the present model’s results suggest that this is an almost world-wide problem for seasonal predictions of rainfall.     

Fluctuations of the relationship between ENSO and northeast Australian rainfall

It is well known that during an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm event, drought occurs in regions of northeastern (NE) Australia, leading to anomalously low annual rainfall. The present study explores fluctuations of this ENSO-rainfall relationship. It is found that the relationship tends to weaken when the linearly detrended global mean temperature is rising or particularly high, as in the period of 1931–45 period and since the late 1970s. Prior to a weakening, a correlation pattern of increased rainfall during El Niño events is seen first in northwestern Australia, then in eastern and southeastern Australia, and eventually in NE Australia. The 1931–45 period was particularly intriguing, when in terms of rainfall variability over NE Australia, the interannual ENSO-rainfall relationship went through a process of weakening, reversal, and rapid recovery. Features associated with the reversal are therefore examined and these features are: (1) the global background anomaly pattern (upon which internnal ENSO events operate) is ENSO-like; (2) ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in tropical Pacific are weaker compared with those averaged over all ENSO events, whereas SST anomalies in the mid- to-high latitude Pacific (which have opposing polarity to those in tropical Pacific) are larger; (3) there is strong coherence between ENSO and variability in northern mid- to high-latitudes; and (4) the relationship that an El Niño event contributes to a warming anomaly of global mean SST weakens. Possible interrelationship among these features are discussed.     

Contrasting Regional Responses of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall to Exhausted Spring and Concurrently Emerging Summer El Ni?o Events

The inverse relationship between the warm phase of the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation(ENSO) and the Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall(ISMR) is well established. Yet, some El Ni?o events that occur in the early months of the year(boreal spring) transform into a neutral phase before the start of summer, whereas others begin in the boreal summer and persist in a positive phase throughout the summer monsoon season. This study investigates the distinct influences of an exhausted spring El Ni?o(springtime)...     

ENSO事件对川西高原区的气候影响

根据1951-2010年川西高原区7个气象站降水资料和气温资料以及60 a间发生的厄尔尼诺(El Ni?o)/拉尼娜(La Ni?a)事件,分析降水量、气温与El Ni?o /La Ni?a事件之间的关系,研究El Ni?o/La Ni?a事件对川西高原区气候的影响。结果表明：1951年以来川西高原区年降水量变化不大,呈现微弱的增加趋势,El Ni?o/La Ni?a 事件的发生对川西高原区年平均降水量有影响,El Ni?o事件影响下的年平均降水量减少,La Ni?a事件影响下的年平均降水量增加;El Ni?o年降水量低于正常年降水量39.14 mm,拉尼娜年降水量高于正常年降水量22.56 mm。1951年以来川西高原区年平均气温呈现微弱的波动上升趋势,川西高原区年平均气温与ENSO事件等级之间的相关性不显著。     

Rainfall characterisation by application of standardised precipitation index (SPI) in Peninsular Malaysia

The interpretations of trend behaviour for dry and wet events are analysed in order to verify the dryness and wetness episodes. The fitting distribution of rainfall is computed to classify the dry and wet events by applying the standardised precipitation index (SPI). The rainfall amount for each station is categorised into seven categories, namely extremely wet, severely wet, moderately wet, near normal, moderately dry, severely dry and extremely dry. The computation of the SPI is based on the monsoon periods, which include the northeast monsoon, southwest monsoon and inter-monsoon. The trends of the dry and wet periods were then detected using the Mann–Kendall trend test and the results indicate that the major parts of Peninsular Malaysia are characterised by increasing droughts rather than wet events. The annual trends of drought and wet events of the randomly selected stations from each region also yield similar results. Hence, the northwest and southwest regions are predicted to have a higher probability of drought occurrence during a dry event and not much rain during the wet event. The east and west regions, on the other hand, are going through a significant upward trend that implies lower rainfall during the drought episodes and heavy rainfall during the wet events.     

Simulated Relationship between Wintertime ENSO and East Asian Summer Rainfall: From CMIP3 to CMIP6

El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)events have a strong influence on East Asian summer rainfall(EASR).This paper investigates the simulated ENSO-EASR relationship in CMIP6 models and compares the results with those in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models.In general,the CMIP6 models show almost no appreciable progress in representing the ENSO-EASR relationship compared with the CMIP5 models.The correlation coefficients in the CMIP6 models are relatively smaller and exhibit a slightly greater intermodel diversity than those in the CMIP5 models.Three physical processes related to the delayed effect of ENSO on EASR are further analyzed.Results show that,firstly,the relationships between ENSO and the tropical Indian Ocean(TIO)sea surface temperature(SST)in the CMIP6 models are more realistic,stronger,and have less intermodel diversity than those in the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models.Secondly,the teleconnections between the TIO SST and Philippine Sea convection(PSC)in the CMIP6 models are almost the same as those in the CMIP5 models,and stronger than those in the CMIP3 models.Finally,the CMIP3,CMIP5,and CMIP6 models exhibit essentially identical capabilities in representing the PSC-EASR relationship.Almost all the three generations of models underestimate the ENSO-EASR,TIO SST-PSC,and PSC-EASR relationships.Moreover,almost all the CMIP6 models that successfully capture the significant TIO SST-PSC relationship realistically simulate the ENSO-EASR relationship and vice versa,which is,however,not the case in the CMIP5 models.     

中亚和中国西北干旱气候变化特征及其对产业结构的影响

利用近百年年降水量资料，分析了亚洲大陆干旱、半干旱地带的主体部分，即中亚和中国西北地区的年降水量变化特征和产业结构。分析结果表明，中亚和中国西北地区年降水量在空间分布和时间演变上，既表现出某些相似性，又呈现出独特性。并且根据降水特征分析，提出了半干旱地区产业结构调整的成功事例。     

Climatology and trend analysis of extreme precipitation in subregions of Northeast Brazil

The present paper aims of computing climatology and trend analysis of occurrence and intensity of extreme events of precipitation in subregions of Northeast Brazil (NEB). We used daily rainfall data of 148 rain gauges collected from the hydrometeorological network managed by the National Water Agency during 1972 to 2002 and used quantiles technique in order to select rainfall events. Defining heavy rainfall events as those when at least one rain gauge recorded rainfall above the 95th percentile, normal rainfall was between the 45th and 55th percentiles, and weak rainfall events were under the 5th percentile. The Mann-Kendall nonparametric test was used to calculate the linear trend of the quantity and intensity of rainfall events. The NEB was divided in five subregions using the cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance and Ward’s method: Northern coast, Northern semiarid, Northwest, Southern semiarid, and Southern coast. The results suggest that the subregions are less influenced by El Niño and La Niña, and dry areas have higher variability, with the greatest number of intense events.