| May 02, 2020 | No.133 |
April 2020
(Back Issues Here)
We had 5.92 inches of rain at the Palmira Station in April 2020. The reports from around the District of Boquete for April all indicate more rain than last month and that we are gradually transitioning into the rainy season. The rain forest is starting to smile again.
Rainfall for
April 2020 |
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Area |
Contributors |
April 2020 |
Total 2020 |
El Santuario |
Terry Zach |
2.86 | 6.77 |
Jaramillo Arriba |
Steve Sarner |
6.14 | 11.51 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Don Berkowitz |
7.58 | 14.91 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Bobi McGann |
8.25 | 15.54 |
| Palo Alto | Nancy Pettersen | 5.04 | 22.21 |
El Salto Arriba |
Rodrigo Marciacq |
4.83 | 9.18 |
| Valle Escondido | Doug Remsen | 4.96 | 9.51 |
Brisas Boquetenas |
Austin Perry |
7.20 | 15.70 |
| Brisas Boquetenas | Richard Sturtz | 7.99 | 16.41 |
Los Molinos |
Sela Burkholder |
9.34 | 16.50 |
| Los Molinos | Fred Donelson | 8.08 | 14.65 |
Santa Lucia |
Paula Litt |
6.73 | 10.15 |
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) |
Michael Mullin |
6.72 | 17.26 |
Cerro Verde |
Charlotte Lintz |
2.83 | 9.49 |
Boquete Country Club |
Paul Arrandale |
5.80 | 12.46 |
Palmira Abajo |
Betty Gray |
4.60 | 10.98 |
Palmira Arriba |
Lloyd Cripe |
5.92 | 9.45 |
n/a = not currently available but will be posted when available |
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You can check out the data over the past years for yourself. You can also look at the tables in the Climate Section to see what rains we have had in the month of April over the course of 14 years.
The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "ENSO-neutral conditions are present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are above average across most of the Pacific Ocean. The tropical atmospheric circulation is consistent with ENSO-neutral. ENSO-neutral is favored for the Northern Hemisphere summer 2020 (~60% chance), remaining the most likely outcome through autumn."
Here is a link to an excellent source for understanding El Niño. If you need some help with this, give this a read and you will learn a lot about this important weather phenomenon.
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is predicting that parts of Panama will probably have above normal levels of precipitation for the months of May-June-July 2020 (light green areas).
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ETESA's, hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that Chiriqui will have generally above normal to above normal levels of precipitation in May of 2020. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.
May will probably bring a lot more rain. Some years it is one of the rainiest months of the year. Check it out in our Climate Section. Scroll down through the months and see what rain we have previously had in the month of May.
I continue to watch the virus numbers probably more than I am watching the weather numbers. Below is a link to a list of web pages where you can monitor the status of the virus cases not only here in Panama but throughout the world.
MONITORING CORONAVIRUS STATUS LINKS
We have been locked down for several weeks. Fortunately, we have adequate food, books to read, music to listen to, movies to stream, internet to browse and adequate financial resources to "weather" all of this. We are the lucky ones. Others are suffering from sickness, no work, no pay, little food and fewer coping resources. I think that we should be aware of this and do whatever we can to help.
Continue to play by the rules, avoid exposure to others, avoid exposing others, and make good use of your spare time. Try to do some good for others. Keep a positive attitude. Keep your fingers crossed that all the dedicated scientists and clinicians working on this can find causes, treatments and vaccines. Remember, nothing lasts forever and through cooperation most of us can safely survive all of this.
You will need your umbrellas. It can keep the rain off and in a pinch, you can bring it down in front of your face and use if like a big protective mask!
Lloyd Cripe