June 3, 2023

No.170

May 2023
(Back Issues Here)

We had 9.66 inches of rain at the Palmira Arriba Station in May of 2023. Most of it coming in the last week.

Rainfall for May 2023
Area	Contributors	May 2023	Total 2023
El Salto Arriba	Beth Corwin	10.42	16.13
Alto Quiel	Robert Wareham	7.77	N/A
El Santuario	Robert Boyd	11.87	23.81
Palo Alto	Rodrigo Marciacq	12.69	N/A
Los Cabazon	Don Hughes	11.54	19.60
Jaramillo Arriba	Steve Sarner	14.48	25.52
Jaramillo Arriba	Mark Heyer	15.16	N/A
Jaramillo Central	Dave Nichols	N/A	N/A
Jaramillo Abajo	Don Berkowitz	13.92	N/A
Jaramillo Abajo	John McGann	16.55	24.95
Palo Alto	Nancy Pettersen	12.59	32.92
Palo Alto	Rodrigo Marciacq	12.69	N/A
Valle Escondido	Gisela Remsen	9.83	11.85
Brisas  Boquetenas	Austin Perry	N/A	N/A
Brisas  Boquetenas	Dennis Decorte	14.39	N/A
Brisas Boquetenas	Richard Sturz	19.36	41.45
El Encanto (Volcancito)	Brian Baldwin	9.76	14.77
Cerro Verde (Volcancito)	Charlotte Lintz	8.90	12.32
Santa Lucia	Paula Litt	7.22	15.23
Caldera	Chris McCall	12.11	30.76
Lucero	Mike Joy	22.36	45.04
Boquete Country Club	Paul Arrandale	12.19	25.56
Palmira Abajo	Andrea Boraine	14.6	27.20
Palmira Arriba	Lloyd Cripe	9.66	17.54
El Banco (Portrerillos)	Laura Daniels	?	?
N/A = Not Available

Throughout the District of Boquete the rain for May 2023 varied between a high of 22.36 inches to a low of 7.22 inches.  Mike Joy at Lucero reported the highest amount of rainfall with 22.26 inches. The lows were from Santa Lucia and Alto Quiel. Robert Wareham has joined the rain data contributors. Their place is in the Alto Quiel Plantation area. We look forward to getting his data and seeing the amount of rain in that area.   

Digging back into the past data from the Palmira Arriba Station, the average rainfall for the month of May observed over 17 years of data collection is 21.34 inches with a standard deviation of 10.66 inches. During that span of time there has never been a month of May without some rain. The range has been between 6.46 to 42.36 inches. This month was definitely a low amount compared to previous years. 9.66 is  -1.10 standard deviations below the mean. Until the last week of May, we had almost no rain and it looked as if we were going to have the driest May in our years of collecting data.

Palmira Arriba Station May Rainfall over 17 Years

Take a look at this table to compare the amount of rain per month over the course of 17 years at the Palmira Arriba Station.  You can check each month for yourself and see how the current month's data compares to other years. You can also look at the tables in the Climate Section to see what rains we had in various months over the course of the last 16 years as well as other weather variables.  

Also it seemed warmer to us than usual in May.  The data supports this.  Our monthly temperature averaged 71.86 degrees Fahrenheit with a maximum temperature of 86.0 degrees Fahrenheit.  Our low temperature for the month was 63.1 degrees Fahrenheit. If you look through the Boquete annual climate data tables you can see how the month of May compares with previous years.

This table graphs the maximum temperatures in May over 17 years.  Note that this last May set the record but in 2014 we had near the same maximum temperature.  Also notice the variability from year to year. Regardless, it seemed hotter to us!

The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "ENSO-neutral conditions are observed. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are near-to-above average across most of the Pacific Ocean. A transition from ENSO-neutral is expected in the next couple of months, with a greater than 90% chance of El Niño persisting into the Northern Hemisphere winter."

Here is a link to a source for a better understanding of El Niño.  If you need some help with this, give this a read and you will learn a lot about this important weather phenomenon. It has more effect upon the Northern Latitudes than it has upon us. From this article it appears that the effects on our area will be "warm and dry." 

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is predicting that Panama will have a 40% probability of below normal precipitation during the months of June-July-August of 2023 (Yellow).

ETESA's hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that Chiriqui will continue to have basically normal levels of precipitation in June, but there will be some variability in Panama with somewhat lower levels overall expected. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.

As we enter June, we are having days more like the rainy season.  It is usually clear and sunny in the early mornings but as the day wears on the clouds build and we get some rain.  Some days we get some storm clouds with lightning and thunder.In the past, May has often been the launching of the rainy season.  It was less so this last month, but we are now clearly moving into rainy days. 

The Atlantic hurricane season is here.  Fortunately we don't usually get hit straight on with hurricanes here in Panama but we often get the effects of lots of precipitation from the spiraling arms of the hurricanes as they pass by to our north.  Keep the umbrellas ready for a good workout. 

Lloyd Cripe

lcripe@boqueteweather.com