| December 5, 2014 | No. 74 |
October and November 2014
I didn't get a report out at the end of October as we were on a 40+ day birding tour in South Africa. We had limited internet service and too busy looking at birds and mammals to focus on Boquete weather data.
Here are the totals for October and November 2014 along with the totals for the entire year in the District of Boquete. You can see from the chart that the rainfall in October was high and it has dropped significantly in November. Here at the Palmira Station we had 25.4 inches in October and 3.6 in November. Los Molinos gets the prize for the highest rainfall in November with 13.86 inches.
Rainfall for October-November & Year 2014 |
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Area |
Contributors |
October |
November |
Year |
El Santuario |
Terry Zach |
18.75 |
5.85 |
79.88 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Sela Burkholder |
35.13 |
7.02 |
131.23 |
Jaramillo Arriba |
Steve Sarner |
32.66 |
9.97 |
128.80 |
Los Molinos |
Fred Donelson |
29.67 |
13.86 |
228.45* |
Los Naranjos |
Craig Bennett |
16.58 |
3.84 |
70.57 |
Volcancito Arriba |
Pat & Susan Farrell |
15.38 |
2.2 |
n/a |
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) |
Michael Mullin |
35.17 |
8.6 |
155.81 |
Palmira Arriba |
Lloyd Cripe |
25.4 |
3.6 |
88.81 |
n/a = not currently available; *=estimated due to equipment problems |
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You can take a look at the data for the Palmira Station since 2007 and you will clearly see that the total so far for the year at the end of November is lower than normal. November is usually a transition month into the dry season, but significantly lower this year. The winds from the northeast have picked up and we are clearly moving into the dry season. It will be interesting at the end of December to see what the annual totals are. Right now it looks as if we will finish the year with less rain than in previous years.
Check out the latest ENSO Cycle Report to see that neutral conditions continue with the chances of El Niño at 58% during during the Northern Hemisphere winter and lasting into the spring of 2015.
The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society (select South America from the Region menu) is reporting dryer conditions for our area for December-January and February 2015. Note there is a 40+% probability prediction of lower precipitation for parts of Central America and norther South America (yellow areas).
We saw a lot of interesting birds and mammals on our South Africa adventure. It was exciting to see in the wild many of the beasts that we have known about during our lives. It was a tiring but rewarding journey. We didn't miss the October rains while we were gone. We generally had good weather in South Africa. Good to go but also good to be back home in Paradise. The absence made us realize what a beautiful place we have here and appreciate all the beautiful birds that we have here in the New World.
The winds have picked in Paradise as they normally do during the dry season. Fortunately you probably won't need the umbrellas as much in the next months. Put them in safe keeping and if you do have to open them, open them downwind and try to not turn them wrong side out!
Lloyd Cripe