from the equator and between 77 to 83 degrees west longitude placing it solidly in the tropics. Panama is very small in comparison to the large land masses of continental North America and Europe. Its weather is more affected by the large water masses around it rather than by large land masses. In short, Panama is a little piece of land with highly varying terrain bathing in a large tub of water and basking in a whole lot of sun!

Boquete is not just a city although the town of Bajo Boquete is often called "Boquete." It is a District with 6 Subdistricts (Corregimientos) located in Chiriqui, the western most State (Province) of Panama bordering Costa Rica (See Figure 3). It covers an area of 189 square miles (484 square kilometers) and has a lot of topographical variation in terrain and elevation. The altitudes range from 1200 feet in the lowland areas to 11400 feet (Volcan Baru the

 For example, in the northern winter months, the tilt causes the suns rays to hit the earth less directly and at more of an angle resulting in less heating of the earth and cooler overall temperatures. In the northern summer, the sun casts its light more directly in the north and makes for warmer temperatures.

In relationship to the earth, the path of the suns most direct radiation varies from about 23 degrees north (Tropic of Cancer) to about 23 degrees south (Tropic of Capricorn). If you live at latitudes greater than 23 degrees north or 23 degrees south, the sun is never as directly over your head. Yes, even in Florida or California, the sun is never directly overhead! However, if you live between 23 degrees north or south latitudes, the sun will be more directly over your head once or twice a year on the same dates depending on your latitude.

Due to the tilt of the earth, the ITCZ is not static but migrates north and south over the course of the year. During the months of January and February, the ITCZ is in a southern most position while during the months of July and August, it is in a northernmost position (See Figure 10). In Panama, the ITCZ moves south of us from December to April and moves upon us from May to November. As it leaves and moves more south of us, we have little or no rain – the Dry Season. When it moves more northerly and is closer to us or over us, we have rain, usually in the form of thunderstorms – the Wet Season. The months of April and November

"Going north in the direction of the Chriqui Peak, one is soon struck by the peculiar range of low hills running, as it seems between the plains and the mountains and parallel to the sea-coast. The road winds between these and , mostly following the Dolega River, ascends gradually toward El Boquete. The general incline is so insensible that one travels nearly 25 miles before reaching the foot of the volcano, at an altitude of about 3000 feet. The ride is mainly across savannas or through what ecologists call a parklike landscape.

During the dry season the long stretches, bare of arboreous vegetation, are constantly swept by the north trade wind, which attains its major intensity between 9 o'clock a. m. and 3 o'clock p. m., and is often of such violence that even the horses find it difficult to stand and to proceed on their way. Every detail of the surrounding landscape bears the impress of the wind. In the most exposed places the surface of the soil is submitted to an active aerial erosion, the minute particles of the ground being whisked away the moment they become loose." page 631

At times there are breezes from the south, but they are typically milder than the northern trade winds. The southern breezes are related to sea breezes as well as southeast trade winds. Sea breezes are the result of the land heating more rapidly than the ocean. During the day, this causes the cooler air off the water to blow inland. This tends to push clouds inland that have formed over the water and the shoreline. Southeastern winds and sea breezes off the Pacific Ocean often move the towering cumulonimbus clouds from the coast and lowlands northward. Which of course, delivers the thunderstorms in the afternoons.

Thunderstorms are the main vehicle delivering the rains to the Boquete District. As the earth is heated during the day, air over heated water gathers large amounts of moisture. As the air rises, clouds form and often evolve into the towering giant clouds called cumulonimbus. These clouds develop rapidly and complete their 3 phase cycle within several hours or less (See Figure 11 below) Note that these clouds often reach to heights of over 40,000 feet. Lightning and thunder are the awesome associates of these storms and harbingers of quick heavy rains. Typically areas of the world that are closest to the ITCZ have lots of thunderstorms and lightning strikes.

According to Lutgens and Tarbuck (2007) over 2000 thunderstorms are in process at any given moment They go on to say: "...As we would expect, the greatest proportion occurs in the tropics, where warmth, plentiful moisture, and instability are always present. About 45,000 thunderstorms take place each day, and more than 16 million occur annually around the world. The lightning from these storms strikes Earth 100 times each second." Panama is an area of the world that has numerous annual thunderstorms and lightning strikes. These are awesome forces of nature to be understood and respected. Living in Boquete, it is worthwhile to become educated about thunderstorms and be aware of lightning safety. Develop a healthy respect for thunderstorms.

Because the U.S. is particularly vulnerable to the devastating effect of natures biggest and most powerful storms, hurricanes, especially in the North Atlantic-Caribbean area and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, a very elaborate technical system is in place to monitor and forecast tropical storms. If this were not the case, we would have very little weather information available to us in Panama to monitor the weather. You will quickly note that most of the links to weather information for this web site link to U.S. weather resources especially those related to remote satellite imaging and sensing.

The first step in forecasting weather requires the collection of accurate data with good weather stations. Without good sensors and reliable data, it is not possible to develop forecasting models. In other words, no good data -- no good forecasting! Consequently, it is currently very difficult to accurately forecast weather here in Panama. There are too few and inadequate stations sensing data to develop reliable forecasts. Another challenge is that tropical forecasting is inherently difficult. Added to this is the fact that thunderstorms are rapidly developing and moving focal systems that can only be studied and tracked with doppler radar sites. In addition to several quality weather stations, 1 or 2 doppler radar sites are needed in Chiriqui to monitor and forecast the weather associated with the many thunderstorms. In the guide section of this web site, I discuss how I monitor and forecast the weather using the weather products that are available locally and in the U.S. via the internet. I am gradually learning more about the daily ebb and flow of weather here and how to forecast the happenings. I will post climate data as it accrues.

There you have it. The cat is out of the bag! The major factors causing the weather and climate of the District of Boquete are the location of Panama in the Tropics, a small package of land surrounded by a lot of water, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, thunderstorms and the lifting of air over terrain (orographic lifting). The dry and wet seasons are a direct result of the shifting of the ITCZ north and south over the course of the year.