| September 08, 2018 | No.113 |
August 2018
(Back Issues Here)
August 2018 gave us 7.24 inches of rain at the Palmira Station. The reports from around the District of Boquete for August 2018 are in the following table:
Rainfall for August 2018 |
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Area |
Contributors |
August |
Total 2018 |
El Santuario |
Terry Zach |
7.67 |
58.79 |
Jaramillo Arriba |
Steve Sarner |
7.47 |
73.89 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Don Berkowitz |
8.60 |
n/a |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Bobi McGann |
8.44 |
74.50 |
El Salto Arriba |
Rodrigo Marciacq |
2.48 |
50.15 |
| Cerro Verde (Volcancito) | Charlotte Lintz | 4.46 | n/a |
Brisas Boquetenas |
Austin Perry |
11.80 |
n/a |
| Brisas Boquetenas | Richard Sturtz | n/a | n/a |
Los Molinos |
Sela Burkholder |
12.01 |
95.16 |
| Los Molinos | Fred Donelson | 10.47 | n/a |
Santa Lucia |
Paula Litt |
7.25 |
n/a |
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) |
Michael Mullin |
9.43 |
86.93 |
| Cerro Verde | Charlotte Lintz | 4.49 | n/a |
| Boquete Country Club | Paul Arrandale | 9.07 | n/a |
Palmira Abajo |
Betty Gray |
9.66 |
71.40 |
Palmira Arriba |
Lloyd Cripe |
7.24 |
68.74 |
n/a = not currently available but will be posted when available |
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Thanks again to all the volunteer rain fall data collectors. We really appreciate it and it is helping us to better understand micro rain climates in the Boquete District.
The monthly rainfall at our place seemed to be lower than normal. We didn't complain and frankly enjoyed the sun more often than normal. Now the data supports this observation. Comparing this month's rainfall to previous years (2007 thru 2018) August was a low rain volume month with only 7.24 inches recorded at the Palmira Station. The average rainfall for August over the years has been 19.26 inches. This month's rainfall of 7.24 inches is -1.08 Standard Deviations (11.16) below the mean. The range of rainfall in August over the years has been between 4.14 and 39.38 inches. You can look at the monthly details over the last 11 years at this link.
Note that the lowest rainfall for the month of August was in the El Salto area with Rodrigo recording 2.48 inches. He reports that this is very low and probably the lowest he has seen in many years of data collection.
The latest ENSO Cycle Report is now saying that "ENSO-neutral conditions are present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are near-to-above average across most of the Pacific Ocean. There is ~60% chance of El Niño in the Northern Hemisphere fall 2018 (September-November), increasing to ~70% during winter 2018-19."
If you want to learn more about El Niño, this is a link to a good web site to understand the phenomenon and its effects on our climate and weather.
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is reporting the following precipitation predictions for September-October-November of 2018. Note a 40 probability prediction of below normal precipitation for our area (yellow).
ETESA's, hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that most parts of Chiriqui will generally have between normal and below normal levels of precipitation for the month of September 2018. You can read their report and check out the details for September 2018 in the "documents" section at this link.
I am sure you felt some earthquakes this last month. They got our attention but we just rode the waves without incident.
September usually brings us more rain than we have in August and leads us into the rainiest month of the rainy season, October. It is already looking as if we will get more rain in September than we did in August but of course only time will tell. Regardless, we must go with the flow!
We are in the Pacific Northwest this month visting family, friends and doctors for our annual exams. We left our umbrellas and dog in Palmira thinking it might bring us good luck up here. So far, so good. We haven't had to use umbrellas in the Seattle area. Some light rain is predicted this week. May have to buy new ones.
Lloyd Cripe