In spite of the start of fall season, the climatic conditions in March remained practically unaltered from the previous month. In Southeast and West-Central regions high temperatures and rain showers continued. However, the northern parts of Amazonas, Roraima, Amapá and the northwestern parts of Mato Grosso registered less than normal rainfall.

There was moderate increase in the Sea Surface Temperature near the west coast of South America in the Niño 1+2 regions. There were still some remnants of the warm phase of ENSO.

As a consequence of the reduction of precipitation in the northern sector of the Amazon region there was a huge concentration of hot spots related to forest and bush fires, Roraima registered 80% of a total of 3098 spots. This number exceeded the number of spots in March 2002 by 85%. In the last week of the month there were signs of reduction in the number of hot spots.

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