Hurrell investigated the relationship between variations in the NAO index and decadal trends in northern hemisphere (NH) precipitation and temperature, successfully demonstrating the existence of a climate dipole (Hurrell, 1995; Hurrell, 1996a; Hurrell, 1996b) . Coherent, large-scale changes in the NAO since 1981 were linked to recent dry conditions over western Greenland and the Mediterranean (southern Europe), and wetter and warmer than normal conditions in northern Europe and parts of Scandinavia, (Hurrell, 1995) . Using multi-variate linear regression to quantify the temperature variability associated with the NAO, Hurrell (1996a) showed that the NAO accounts for 31% of NH interannual variance. Moreover, the NAO accounts linearly for 0.15 degrees C of the 0.29 degrees C NH extra-tropical temperature increase for the period 1981-1994, with respect to the 1935-1994 mean (Hurrell, 1996b). Lamb and Peppler (1987) provided the first focused regional investigation by connecting decreased Moroccan rainfall to a positive state of the NAO, after receiving an invitation from the government of Morocco, then concerned over the severe and persistent drought of 1979-1984.