Analysis of TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry data for the Red Sea shows a large seasonal sea level signal in agreement with the few available coastal sea level stations. The results are compared with the predictions from a simple model that balances the sea surface elevation against the wind stress. The winter sea level field in the central and northern Red Sea is shown to be a response to the convergent wind pattern associated with the Indian Monsoon, consisting of NNW winds in the northern Red Sea and SSE winds in the south. There is a very good agreement between the model and observations, indicating that the basic mechanism responsible for the variability of the sea surface height inside the Red Sea on seasonal time scales is the wind pattern. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union