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This study quantifies the influence of rainfall on surface evaporation in the Sahel. A numerical model of the surface is used to extend the observations taken during the HAPEX-Sahel project, and is forced by 2 years of rain-gauge data. The model is applied to the Southern Super Site (SSS), which covers an area of less than 100 km(2). The effects of rainfall variability (spatial and temporal) on soil moisture, vegetation growth and evaporation are explored. Contrasting rainfall conditions between the two years produce observed differences in the timing of the seasonal growth cycle. This correlates well with modelled root-zone moisture deficits, and exerts a modest influence on transpiration rates. The evolution of surface evaporation is dominated, however, by the bare soil contribution in the day or two after a storm. This component also exerts a strong influence on the spatial variability of fluxes across the SSS, particularly when rain falls only in part of the area. In these cases, differences in evaporation between recently wetted and dry areas can reach 3.5 mm day(-1). Observations indicate that during a period of persistent rainfall gradients across the SSS, the lower atmosphere maintained a ’memory’ of past rainfall patterns through humidity contrasts. These were the result of gradients in surface soil moisture, and therefore evaporation. The model results therefore support the possibility of a positive surface feedback mechanism affecting rainfall patterns in the region. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.