February 3, 2025

No.190

January 2025
(Back Issues Here)

We had 0.55 inches of rain at the Palmira Arriba Station during the month of January 2025.

Rainfall for January 2025
Area	Contributors	January 2025	Total 2025
El Salto Arriba	Beth Corwin	1.10	1.10
Bajo Lino	Rodrigo Marciacq	2.92	2.92
Los Cabazos	Don Hughes	2.77	2.77
Jaramillo Arriba	Steve Sarner	3.37	3.37
Jaramillo Arriba	Mark Heyer	0.41	0.41
Jaramillo Central	Colleen Anderson	1.85	1.85
Jaramillo Abajo	John McGann	0.87	0.87
Palo Alto	Nancy Pettersen	10.59	10.59
Valle Escondido	Gisela Remsen	0.67	0.67
Brisas  Boquetenas	Dennis Decorte	n/a	n/a
Brisas Boquetenas	Richard Sturz	0.47	0.47
El Encanto (Volcancito)	Brian Baldwin	1.21	1.21
Cerro Verde (Volcancito)	Charlotte Lintz	1.50	1.50
Santa Lucia	Paula Litt	0.95	0.95
Caldera	Chris McCall	0.56	0.56
Lucero	Mike Joy	0.67	0.67
Palmira Abajo	Andrea Boraine	n/a	n/a
Palmira Abajo	Dave Nichols	0.49	0.49
Palmira Arriba	Lloyd Cripe	0.55	0.55
El Banco (Potrerillos Arriba)	Laura Daniels	n/a	n/a
N/A = Not Available Red = Highest rainfalls Green = Lowest rainfall

Generally we had lower rainfall this month as we have moved fully into the Dry Season. The highest reported rainfall was in the Palo Alto area where Nancy Peterson reported 10.59 inches. Several persons reported less than half an inch of rain for the month. The lowest reported rainfall was by Mark Heyer in Jaramillo Arriba with 0.41 inches. Many reported about a half inch.  Most of the moisture came from Bajareque (mist) blowing over the mountain range from the Caribbean and mainly affecting the northern part of the District of Boquete.

Checking the past data from the Palmira Arriba Station over a span of 18 years, the average rainfall for the months of January is 0.76 inches.  The range is 2.49 inches with a low of 0.00 to a high of 2.49 inches. This month's 0.55 inches is well within normal range for the month of January.

At the Palmira Arriba Station we had 6 days with some measureable precipitation (often a very light mist - Bajareque). 

The winds have increased over the month and mainly came from the NE. In January the average winds at the Palmira Station were 6.25 mph with maximum winds of 25.6 mph. You can check out all of our (Palmira Station) previous monthly data for the month of January at this link.

If you live in the northern part of the District you will probably experience greater amounts of Bajareque (mist).  The Peterson's who live in the Palo Alto area held the precipitation record for this month of January with the exceptional 10.59 inches of moisture. This along with hard work creates their beautiful plush flower garden. We didn't experience very much mist here in Palmira, but as we looked north, we often see beautiful rainbow displays through the falling mist. 

The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "La Niña conditions are present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are below average in the central and east-central Pacific Ocean. La Niña conditions are expected to persist through February-April 2025 (59% chance), with a transition to ENSO-neutral likely during March-May 2025 (60% chance)."

El Pais recently published an article on the effects of La Niña in Latin America that you may find of interest.

Here is a link to a source to better understand El Niño in case you need some help interpreting what this all means. Give this a read and you will learn a lot about this important weather phenomenon that affects global weather. It has more effect upon the Northern Latitudes than it has upon us here in the tropics.   

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is predicting some probability (45% to 50%) of above normal rainfall for most of Panama during the months of February - March - April of 2025 (light green to green).

IMHPA (Instituto de Meteorología e Hidrología de Panamá) documents section predicts that February is expected to have normal levels of precipitation with an upward trend in the western area of ​​the country, and the rest of the country will have a normal levels of precipitation typical of the month. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.  

 

We are now experiencing the fully fledged Dry Season. Very little rain and lots of wind!  You can safely store your umbrellas in a dry place, but keep them handy just in case. Hang on to your hats!

Lloyd Cripe

lcripe@boqueteweather.com