| June 3, 2014 | No. 70 |
May 2014
Here are the totals for May 2014 along with the totals for the entire year in the District of Boquete. We had 10.20 inches at the Palmira Station. This is the least amount of rain for the month of May for the 8 years we have been collecting data. In general May had light rain until the last days of the month. Most notable from the chart below is the variance of rain throughout the district. Lucero reports 32.39 inches for the month while the areas of El Santuario and Los Naranjos had about 8 inches.
Rainfall for May & Year 2014 |
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Area |
Contributor |
May |
Year |
El Santuario |
Terry Zach |
7.60 |
12.33 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Sela Burkholder |
20.07 |
23.41 |
Jaramillo Arriba |
Steve Sarner |
12.20 |
20.26 |
Los Molinos |
Fred Donelson |
29.54 |
34.23* |
Los Naranjos |
Craig Bennett |
7.97 |
10.81 |
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) |
Michael Mullin |
32.39 |
38.38 |
Palmira Arriba |
Lloyd Cripe |
10.20 |
11.30 |
n/a = not currently available; *=estimated due to equipment problems |
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It is June 3 as I write this update and it seems that we are now clearly entering the rainy season. Rains are coming each afternoon with a lot of humidity in the air. Our grass is turning green again after being dry and dormant for several months. The trees are regaining their deep green.
Check out the latest ENSO Cycle Report to see that a neutral condition continues but the "chance of El Niño increases during the remainder of the year, exceeding 65% by summer."
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society (select South America from the Region menu) is reporting the following for June-July-August of 2014. Note there is a prediction of lower precipitation for Central America in general (yellow areas).
We had a nice surprise in May. There is a large volcanic boulder in our yard near the house with a Night Blooming Cereus Cactus (Hylocereus undatus) growing on it. The cactus was started from a single piece found on a rock in the bay waters of Boca Chica (about 12 inches long). It was placed on our rock about 6 years ago. The cactus always seems to bloom in May. The large creamy white blossoms open at night and greet us in the morning. They seem to magically appear over night. They quickly wither and only last one day. In previous years we had 8 to 12 blossoms. This year the plant threw 12 blossoms a day for several days. It seemed to be a special gift from the prolonged dry season. It was a spectacular sight. It made us smile every morning. What surprising beauty. You can take a peek here.
By the way, our umbrellas are limbered-up and back in service after a long rest. We are singing in the rain again.
Lloyd Cripe