Monthly mean precipitable water data obtained from passive microwave radiometry (SMMR) are correlated with NMC-blended sea surface temperature data. It is shown that the monthly mean water vapor content of the atmosphere above the oceans can generally be prescribed from the sea surface temperature with a standard deviation of O.36 g cm−2. The form of the relationship between precipitable water and sea surface temperature in the range Ts gt; 15°C also resembles that predicted from simple arguments based on the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. The annual cycle of the mass of SMMR water vapor integrated over the global oceans is shown to differ from analyses of fully global water vapor data in both phase and amplitude, and these difference paint to a significant influence of the continents on water vapor. Regional scale analyses of water vapor demonstrate that monthly averaged water vapor data, when contrasted with the bulk sea surface temperature relationship developed in this study, reflect variou... Abstract Monthly mean precipitable water data obtained from passive microwave radiometry (SMMR) are correlated with NMC-blended sea surface temperature data. It is shown that the monthly mean water vapor content of the atmosphere above the oceans can generally be prescribed from the sea surface temperature with a standard deviation of O.36 g cm−2. The form of the relationship between precipitable water and sea surface temperature in the range Ts gt; 15°C also resembles that predicted from simple arguments based on the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. The annual cycle of the mass of SMMR water vapor integrated over the global oceans is shown to differ from analyses of fully global water vapor data in both phase and amplitude, and these difference paint to a significant influence of the continents on water vapor. Regional scale analyses of water vapor demonstrate that monthly averaged water vapor data, when contrasted with the bulk sea surface temperature relationship developed in this study, reflect variou...