Meridional wind oscillations of 3--6 day period are common in the equatorial lower stratosphere. Upper air data obtained from 32 equatorial stations, 1973--87, show that 70 mb wave intensity over the Maritime continent varied annually with largest amplitude in NH late winter and spring, but the seasonal cycle of intensity was not uniform in the tropics. Time series of meridional velocity and its spatial coherence suggest that 70 mb wave packets were local in longitude and episodic in time. ¿American Geophysical Union 1991