In December heavy rainfall episodes caused huge damages to several cities in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The frontal zones that affected Brazil in the second half of the month contributed to the formation of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) with rainfalls exceeding the climatological normal by 200 mm in southern Minas Gerais state. The temperatures remained above normal during the month in almost all parts of Brazil.

The sea surface temperatures (SST) showed positive deviations from the normal in a narrow equatorial region extending from the dateline to the coast of South America, characterizing the continuation of active El Niño situation during the month.

The total number of bush and forest fire spots during the month was higher than the same month of the previous year. The highest concentration of the hot spots was observed in northern Pará state and in the northern regions of the Northeast Brazil.

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