April 3, 2026

No.204

March 2026
(Back Issues Here)

We had 1.32 inches of rain at the Palmira Arriba Station during the month of March 2026.

Rainfall for March 2026
Area	Contributors	March 2026	Total 2026
El Salto Arriba	Beth Corwin	0.86	1.13
Bajo Lino	Rodrigo Marciacq	n/a	n/a
Los Cabazos	Don Hughes	0.82	2.55
Jaramillo Arriba	Steve Sarner	n/a	n/a
Jaramillo Arriba	Mark Heyer	n/a	n/a
Jaramillo Alto	Steve White	1.34	n/a
Jaramillo Central	Colleen Anderson	0.72	n/a
Jaramillo Abajo	John McGann	1.49	4.81
Palo Alto	Nancy Pettersen	3.04	30.83
Valle Escondido	Gisela Remsen	0.85	1.67
Brisas  Boquetenas	Dennis Decorte	5.60	7.74
Brisas Boquetenas	Richard Sturz	6.72	10.14
Cerro Verde (Volcancito)	Charlotte Lintz	0.50	1.95
Caldera	Chris McCall	2.14	2.26
Lucero	Mike Joy	1.12	1.44
Palmira Abajo	Dave Nichols	2.65	4.91
Palmira Arriba	Lloyd Cripe	1.32	1.95
N/A = Not Available Red = Highest rainfalls Green = Lowest rainfall

Checking the past data from the Palmira Arriba Station over a span of 20 years, the average rainfall for the months of March is 1.87 inches. The range is a low of 0.00 inches to a high of 7.09 inches. This month's 1.32 inches at the Palmira Arriba Station is -0.27 standard deviations below the mean.  So it is less than a standard deviation below normal.  Given the small numbers, this is essentially within the average rain for the month of March. We continue to be in the Dry Season.  We had a low but statistically normal rainfall in the month of March. 

Palmira Arriba Station Average March Rainfalls over 20 Years

At the Palmira Arriba Station we had 7 days with measureable light precipitation and 24 days without any precipitation.  Our total rain for the year 2026 is now 1.95 inches.

The average winds in March 2026 at the Palmira Arriba station was 5.99 mph and generally from the NE.  Our maximum wind gust was 25.8 mph.  Average temperature was 69.4 degrees F.  The Highest temperature was 88.2 degrees F.  The lowest temperature was 59.5 degrees F.  You can check all the previous data for the months of March at this climate link. Some changes are gradually occurring. The wind speed was lower and temperatures a little higher in March than they were in February.

Note in the Rainfall Table the variations in March rainfall in different areas of the District of Boquete. The Southern parts of the District received more rainfall than the Central and Northern parts.  

The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "La Niña is present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are near-to-below-average in the east-central Pacific Ocean. Atmospheric anomalies over the tropical Pacific Ocean are consistent with La Niña. A transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral is expected in the next month, with ENSO-neutral favored through May-July 2026 (55% chance). In June-August 2026, El Niño is likely to emerge (62% chance) and persist through at least the end of 2026."

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is predicting a 40% probability of below normal precipitation in Panama during the months of April - May-June 2026 )Yellow areas).

IMHPA (Instituto de Meteorología e Hidrología de Panamá) documents section predicts that during March "...The following map shows the expected accumulated rainfall forecast for April 2026. The color scale represents the expected rainfall values ​​for the forecast period in units of millimeters (mm) or liters per square meter. It is expected that accumulated rainfall values, in most of the country, will be between normal and near normal, with a tendency for rainfall to decrease."  You can read their entire report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.

We are still in the Dry Season but we will gradually change during this month into more rain and the beginning of the Rainy Season. May is often a full initiation into it and can be one of our rainiest months.

Enjoy the dry weather as long as possible bu get your umbrellas ready.