NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (Reuters) - CSCE coffee finished lower on Friday, as some recent longs liquidated speculative positions, traders said.

    "Traders did not want to be too long over the weekend with the chance of some rains next week, " said one broker.

    December arabica <KCZ0> closed 2.55 lower at 84.15 cents a lb, in the lower half of its 83.50-87.20 cents trading range.  March <KCH1> corrected 2.50 to 88.90 cents.  Back months weakened from 2.35 to 2.50 cent each.

    Floor brokers said the market traded quietly until the 85.50 level was broken on speculative sell stops.  After that break, prices stayed mostly in a narrow 84.00 to 84.50 range till the close.  Traders continued to focus on the weather forecasts for the coffee growing regions of Brazil.

    Weather Services Corp.  (WSC) sees mostly dry condition in the major growing areas of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais Monday-Thursday with temperature above to much above normal with highs in the middle 80s to middle 90s F (30-35C).

    "Chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms developing Friday and next weekend," WSC said.

    WSC added that it was too soon to say whether the shower activity will be significant since it is a long range forecast and highly subject to change.

    A coffee trader touring Cerrado and Sul de Minas, an area known for high-quality coffee, told Reuter, "Things look pretty bleak, the trees are very weak.  This out of season heat and low humidity is a risk to the flowering."

    "The outlook is a lot grayer now and the market is under priced," he concluded.

    In other news, the U.N. -linked Common Fund for Commodities said on Friday it had approved the part financing of a $8.53 million project to restore coffee plantations in Angola.

    U.S. certified coffee stocks continued their long climb.

    Stocks stood at 3,616,609 bags as of Oct. 19 from 3,,614,359 bags as of Oct. 18.  Bags pending grading was down to 25,750.

    Technicians lost some of their bullish enthusiasm with Friday's pullback.  They peg support in December arabica in the 82 to 81 cent area again.

    First resistance is seen at 87.25 to 88.70 followed by 91.00, according to analysts.

    Seasonal patterns support the bulls.  Gibbons Burke of Logical Information Machines said, "There is a definite positive bias after October 20."

    "The coffee market gains between 2.7 and 3.0 percent in the three weeks following October 20," he said citing a 36-year sample.

    Estimated volume reached 6,692 lots on Friday, against the previous 5,451 lots on Thursday.  Call option volume was steady with an estimated 2,343 lots while puts stood at just 805 lots.  Open interest declined 50 lots to 43,874 contracts.

    The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade.

((--Bruce Kamich, New York Commodity Desk, 212-859-1643, bruce.kamich@reuters.com))