| August 2, 2011 | No. 43 |
July Cool Air
I posted the July 2011 weather data for the Palmira Weather Station. We had a total of 22.96 inches of rain in July at the Palmira Station. July 2 was the heaviest rain day with about 4 inches. Terry Zach in El Santuario reports 19.35 inches of rain with July 30 delivering 2.4 inches. Sela Burkholder in Jaramillo Abajo reports 28.15 inches for the month of July with 4.25 inches on July 2. Craig Bennett reports 17.38 inches in Los Naranjos for the month. Here is the list from most to least:
Rainfall for July 2011 |
||
Area |
Reporter |
Inches |
| Jaramillo Abajo | Sela Burkholder | 28.15 |
| Palmira Arriba | Lloyd Cripe | 22.96 |
| El Santuario | Terry Zach | 19.35 |
| Los Naranjos | Craig Bennett | 17.38 |
At the Palmira Station we now have a total of 80.55 inches of rain for this year 2011. If you check the Annual Climate Data tables at the website, you can see that the total amount of rain for July varies from year to year. This year it is on the high end but not the highest we have recorded which was July 2008 with over 31 inches. Last year, which was a very wet year overall, July had only 17 inches of rain.
For the gloomy diehard pessimists among us, you should take note that we had 7 days in July 2011 with no rain whatsoever. My impression was that July was overall a good month with a lot of mornings of clear sunny skies. It doesn't "always" rain here during the rainy season.
I want to say thanks to Craig, Sela and Terry for daily collecting and measuring the rain in their areas. It isn't difficult but requires consistency and diligence to to this. If others want to join this effort to know more about rain and the microclimates of Boquete let me know. I will point you in the right directions for getting and installing a professional rain gauge. It doesn't cost much in money or time and contributes significantly.
The ENSO is now in a neutral condition. They are predicting neutral conditions into early 2012. Here is the link to the latest La Niña report. If interested, you can monitor this and get weekly updates at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center at this link.
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) is reporting generally normal precipitation for the Panama area for August through October of 2011. Here is the graphic that they issued in July 2011 (Note the Gray Box in our area which predicts normal precipitation):
They have been suffering from a lot of heat up north. Some of it has been due to weather but most has been due to political hot air! Here we are aware of some of the political convection but can easily ignore it. It helps to be linguistically handicapped (limited Spanish skills) avoiding local newscasts and political rhetoric. You know, the way children and ostriches are!
We have been enjoying cool weather some sunny skies and beautiful rain forest green. Our average temperature for July was 62.8 In the evening we often turn on the gas fireplace which takes the chill off the room while we read or watch a movie. It also helps keep the mold off the Kindle. If we get real bored, we just sit and watch the mold grow. This also helps to dry out the umbrellas!
Lloyd Cripe