•The dynamical rule proposed by Mo and Kalnay (1991) to determine the forcing direction in locally coupled anomalies gives results consistent with previous studies and with the lag-correlation between 850mb RV and SST. Statistics of the annual number of locally coupled anomalies indicate that “ocean-driven” anomalies prevail in the tropics, while “atmosphere-driven” anomalies prevail in the extratropics. Similar distribution of the forcing direction is obtained with five-day average data from ERA14 and with monthly data. It remains to be shown how the distribution of ocean-driven anomalies depend on the season and with the ENSO phases.
	•It remains to be shown how the distribution of ocean-driven anomalies depend on the season and with the ENSO phases.