Variability of convective rainfall in the austral summer season over central Madagascar is studied using an area-rainfall index, local radiosonde data, and gridded information on outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), sea-surface temperature, and tropospheric winds. The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone overlies the north-west coast, where summer rainfall averages 47 cm month - 1 . Regional teleconnection patterns identified by rainfall-OLR correlations are remakably similar to those for Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO)-OLR correlations, suggesting that up to one-third of the interannual convective variance can be explained by the phase of the QBO.