A historical wind stress data is obtained based on the 925hPa winds of NCEP reanalysis data and is compared to the FSU wind stress. A particular difference between the two wind stress data appears in the eastern Pacific. The prediction experiments with an intermediate ocean and statistical atmosphere model indicate that the prediction skill of the tropical Pacific SST with the NCEP wind stress data is better than that of FSU wind stress for the period of 1980--1999. In particular, the prediction skill is considerably improved for the recent years of 1992--1999, when the NCEP wind stress is used for the ocean initialization. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union