Abstract This study analyzed the influence of strong and moderate El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on the seasonal and interannual variabilities of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Western Equatorial Atlantic (WEA) Ocean and how the precipitation over the state of Maranhão, in Brazil, responds to the zonal teleconnection. To evaluate the ENSO magnitude and phase in the four Niño regions (1+2, 3, 3.4, and 4), the SODA 3.3.1 oceanic reanalysis database for the period from 1980 to 2015 was used. Our results showed that the La Niña phase with moderate magnitude was the most predominant among the 70 events analyzed, with Niño 3.4 presenting the highest number (20) of ENSO events (both positive and negative phases). At lag = 0, we found that significant negative correlations prevailed between the WEA SST anomalies and ENSO index, with the region of Niño 3.4 showing the most significant correlations (r = −0.25). The whole events of El Niño and La Niña were, respectively, accompanied by a cooling and a heating of up to −0.6°C or +0.8°C in the WEA Ocean. The WEA SST anomalies during El Niño and La Niña events have, respectively, reduced and increased the precipitation in Maranhão around ± 100 mm in a quarter. Strong El Niño events influence a greater precipitation deficit in Maranhão than moderate El Niño events. Moderate La Niña events have more pronounced influence on the precipitation over Maranhão than strong La Niña events do, especially on the negative anomalies. Our results showed that the central, northern, and eastern tip sectors of the state are the most affected by this zonal teleconnection. We concluded that ENSO’s significant influences on the WEA SST seasonal variability, added to the performance of the Atlantic Meridional Mode (Soares, 2019), determine the quality of the rainy season (March–April–May) in the state of Maranhão.