The response of the sea level in the Mediterranean to local meteorological forcing for time scales larger than the seasonal is examined. Multiple regression has indicated that the average sea level response to local air pressure is —0.8 cm/mb (15% of variability), and decreases toward the Eastern Mediterranean with no significant frequency dependence. The response to local wind stress is responsible for no more than 2% of the sea level variance and for most stations maximum response is in a cross shore direction. The annual cycle has amplitude ~5 cm (25% of variance) and peaks in October. According to these findings, almost 60% of variance cannot be explained by local meteorology.