| September 6, 2013 | No. 64 |
August 2013
I posted the August 2013 weather data on September 1 for the Palmira Weather Station. At the Palmira Station we had a total of 18.29 inches of rain with 27 days of some rain and 4 days with no rain. Our average winds were 2.1 mph. The Average Temperature was 67.8 F with a Minimum of 58.5 and a Maximum Temperature of 80.6 degrees F. Our average humidity was 74.3 percent. We had a total of 48.43 inches of rain for the year at the end of August.
Here are the totals for August of 2013 as reported from different areas in the District of Boquete:
Rainfall for August 2013 |
||
Area |
Contributor |
Inches |
| El Santuario | Terry Zach | 9.10 |
| Los Naranjos | Craig Bennett | 8.07 |
| Jaramillo Abajo | Sela Burkholder | 19.57 |
| Jaramillo Arriba | Steve Sarner | 11.71 |
| Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) | Michael Mullin | 25.29 |
Los Molinos |
Fred Donelson |
25.79 |
| Palmira Arriba | Lloyd Cripe | 18.29 |
Note considerable variation in the reported areas. One interesting observation is that Jaramillo Arriba along with Los Naranjos and El Santuario had less rain than the other areas. Why? Los Molinos and Lucero reported the most. Why? A person from Los Molinos contacted me during the month and asked "Why do we get more thunder storms and rain before you get them?" Here is my theory:
When we are well into the rainy season, the ITCZ moves over our region so pressures are low. Moist air rises off the Pacific coast. SE winds start moving the moist air masses inland over the David area. The heat from the land and daytime causes the moisture to rise and evolve into cumulonimbus clouds. These are giant high cloud energy sources for thunderstorms. If the clouds are well developed and high enough when they are over David it rains heavy there along with lots of lightning and thunder. At times, the SE winds gradually push the cloud systems northward. As the clouds move over land moving northward heat (convection) raises the clouds higher aided by the geography of the land gradually increasing the elevation of the clouds. After rising to a certain point the cloud cools and water condenses resulting in rain fall. Since the route of the traveling clouds is northward over gradually elevated land, if the moisture is dense enough, the clouds may dump the moisture before getting to the upper part of Boquete. At certain times of the season, when moisture is higher, the clouds often drop heavy rains over the savanah areas before the highlands. At such times, Los Molinos, Lucero and Caldera get rain storms before the clouds get to upper Boquete. Because the cloud systems are moving from south to north, they often condense and pour out rain before they get to the northern parts of Boquete. The higher mountain areas may not get as much rain during these conditions. Also, moisture systems are not coming in over the mountains from the north from Caribbean. When systems do come from the Caribbean they drop moisture over the northern part of the District like El Santuario, Los Naranjos and Jaramillo Arriba. The north part of the District gets its turn of moisture during times when systems come out of the north. This is often during the dry season. Under these conditions, the Pacific lowlands are free of rain.
The month of August has been a more normal rainy season month. If we look back over the previous years recorded at the Palmira Station (2007 to present), the month of August has ranged from about 13 to 40 inches a month. Our 18.29 inches this August is a standard deviation within average (mean=24.61, standard deviation=9.85). While the total for the year is low, we are now experiencing significant rain. September and October are often very rainy months so the annual level may well increase to near normal. They are good months to vacation elsewhere. Yes, it pays to leave Paradise at times.
I assume that you know that you can check the monthly and annual rainfall since 2007 at the website in the Climate Section. All you have to do is go to the section and scroll down through the data in the yearly tables. I mention this again because some of the questions that come my way imply that many don't know this. The information is all there for the looking. You just have to look and pay attention to the detail. Yogi said, "You can observe a lot by just watching." My variation is, "You can see a lot by looking!"
Again, don't forget to report your earthquake experiences. This is useful to those researching earthquakes in our area. You can find the report form at this link or at the Earthquake Page on the website.
Check out the latest ENSO Cycle Report to see that we are still in a neutral condition and it is predicted that this will continue through the fall. You can get yourself educated as to what all of this means at this NOAA website. If you want to earn a graduate degree on the topic go here.
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society - select South America from the Region menu) is not reporting that our area will have typical climatological precipitation for the months of September 2013 through November of 2013. In other works, no unusual probabilities. Here is their current graphic.
Well, we did it. Knowing that August had more rain and that September along with October may be the rainiest months, we broke down and bought new umbrellas at PriceMart. They are the big golfing type sports umbrellas. We have used them and know we will use them a lot in the coming weeks. They are really nice, although when my wife uses one I only see an umbrella and 2 feet sticking out the bottom. The old ones were well worn but were getting rusty and hard to open from lack use in the early months of the rainy season. We probably splurged a bit but what the heck, you can't take your umbrellas with you when its all over...or can you?
Lloyd Cripe