November 4, 2019

No.127

October 2019
(Back Issues Here)

October 2019 brought some rain to the Palmira Arriba Station but it wasn't a heavy rain month for October as usually expected. The reports from around the District of Boquete for October as usual vary but indicate significant rain this month.

Rainfall for October 2019
Area	Contributors	October	Total 2019
El Santuario	Terry Zach	8.05	61.68
Jaramillo Arriba	Steve Sarner	28.11	105.83
Jaramillo Abajo	Don Berkowitz	31.58	132.03
Jaramillo Abajo	Bobi McGann	28.78	116.96
Palo Alto	Nancy Pettersen	20.84	n/a
El Salto Arriba	Rodrigo Marciacq	17.01	76.06
Valle Escondido	Doug Remsen	18.33	n/a
Brisas  Boquetenas	Austin Perry	31.50	133.95
Brisas Boquetenas	Richard Sturtz	n/a	n/a
Los Molinos	Sela Burkholder	31.19	138.04
Los Molinos	Fred Donelson	24.79	120.12
Santa Lucia	Paula Litt	20.19	95.31
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso)	Michael Mullin	30.72	143.54
Cerro Verde	Charlotte Lintz	15.72	71.12
Boquete Country Club	Paul Arrandale	23.87	113.27
Palmira Abajo	Betty Gray	24.83	94.66
Palmira Arriba	Lloyd Cripe	21.48	94.04
n/a = not currently available but will be posted when available

Thanks again to all the volunteer rainfall data collectors.  We appreciate your help to better understand micro rain climates in the Boquete District.  Welcome to Nancy Pettersen in Palto Alto who is joining our rainfall data collectors.

The monthly rainfall at the Palmira Arriba station was 21.48 inches.  We had rain 28 out of 31 days but the amount was somewhat low.  Compared to the data for 13 previous years at our station, this month's rainfall is below average.  The mean/average for October is 27.21 inches with a standard deviation of 8.81 inches.  The range is 15.27 to 45.92 inches. Check out the data over the past years.  You can also look at the tables in the Climate Section to see what rains we have had in the month of October over the years. The current total for the year by the end of October was 94.04 inches. Whether or not we will break 100 inches before the end of the year is yet to be seen. Usually the rainy season dissipates during November and December.  

Good News:  The temperature sensor on the Palmira Arriba WeatherHawk was repaired on October 8, 2019 and is now working properly.  You can again trust the Temperature reading on the Quick Weather Page.

The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "ENSO-neutral conditions are present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are above average across the western and central Pacific Ocean and are below average in the eastern Pacific. The pattern of anomalous convection and winds are generally consistent with ENSO-neutral. ENSO-neutral is favored during the Northern Hemisphere fall 2019 (~85% chance), continuing through spring 2020 (55-60% chance)." Here is a link to an excellent source for understanding El Niño.  Give it a read and you will learn a lot about this important weather phenomenon.

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is reporting the following precipitation predictions for the months of November-December-January 2020 issued October 2019. Note the predictions of generally above normal precipitation for most of Panama (green).

ETESA's, hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that Chiriqui will generally have normal levels of precipitation in November of 2019. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link. 

We often leave the area during October to avoid the gray skies and heavy rain.  This year we headed to Egypt and Southern Spain 2+ weeks.  It was a special adventure seeing many parts of Ancient Egypt and we had no rain!

Notice the umbrellas are folded down in October at Giza!  Also notice that there is very little beautiful green like we have here in the highlands of Boquete.

Until next month, hope for more rain and greater use of your umbrellas.

Lloyd Cripe

lcripe@boqueteweather.com