diff --git a/src/core_init_atmosphere/mpas_gsl_oro_data_sm_scale.F b/src/core_init_atmosphere/mpas_gsl_oro_data_sm_scale.F
index de5802ec9..19c938b36 100644
--- a/src/core_init_atmosphere/mpas_gsl_oro_data_sm_scale.F
+++ b/src/core_init_atmosphere/mpas_gsl_oro_data_sm_scale.F
@@ -711,16 +711,26 @@ function nearest_j_south(lat_in)
 integer :: j
 
 lat = lat_in
-if ( abs(lat_in).gt.p5*Pi ) then
+
+if (abs(lat_in).gt.p5*Pi) then
    nearest_j_south = -999
-elseif ( lat_in.le.lat1d_fine(1) ) then
+
+elseif (lat.le.lat1d_fine(1)) then
    nearest_j_south = 1
+
 else
    j = 2
-   do while ( (lat1d_fine(j).le.lat).and.(j.le.topo_y) )
+
+   do while (j.le.topo_y)
+      if (lat1d_fine(j).gt.lat) then
+         nearest_j_south = j - 1
+         return
+      end if
       j = j + 1
    end do
-   nearest_j_south = j - 1
+
+   ! Latitude ao norte do último ponto da grade fina
+   nearest_j_south = topo_y
 end if
 
 end function nearest_j_south