| February 03, 2020 | No.130 |
January 2020
(Back Issues Here)
We had 3.18 inches of rain at the Palmira Station in January 2020. While this is not a lot of rain, it is more than we have ever measured here since 2007. The reports from around the District of Boquete for January range from a high of 11.43 inches in Palo Alto to a low of 2.54 in Valle Escondido. The highest I had ever measured at the Palmira Station previously was 2.09 inches in January of 2017. Normally, for us, January is windy with some mist (bajareque) and rainbows, but very little rain. Most of the rain came toward the end of the month. Some of our coffee plants are starting to blossom which is early. Usually the coffee blooms in April with our first significant rains of the rainy season. This probably means that our first picking of the coffee cherries will be earlier this year. More blooming will occur with the rains in April.
Rainfall for
January 2020 |
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Area |
Contributors |
January 2020 |
Total 2020 |
El Santuario |
Terry Zach |
n/a | n/a |
Jaramillo Arriba |
Steve Sarner |
4.45 | 4.45 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Don Berkowitz |
6.68 | 6.68 |
Jaramillo Abajo |
Bobi McGann |
6.29 | 6.29 |
| Palo Alto | Nancy Pettersen | 11.43 | 11.43 |
El Salto Arriba |
Rodrigo Marciacq |
3.65 | 3.65 |
| Valle Escondido | Doug Remsen | 2.54 | 2.54 |
Brisas Boquetenas |
Austin Perry |
5.80 | 5.80 |
| Brisas Boquetenas | Richard Sturtz | 5.79 | 5.79 |
Los Molinos |
Sela Burkholder |
5.94 | 5.79 |
| Los Molinos | Fred Donelson | 5.36 | 5.36 |
Santa Lucia |
Paula Litt |
2.83 | 2.83 |
Lucero (Cielo Paraiso) |
Michael Mullin |
9.4 | 9.4 |
Cerro Verde |
Charlotte Lintz |
3.28 | 3.28 |
Boquete Country Club |
Paul Arrandale |
4.88 | 4.88 |
Palmira Abajo |
Betty Gray |
4.85 | 4.85 |
Palmira Arriba |
Lloyd Cripe |
3.18 | 3.18 |
n/a = not currently available but will be posted when available |
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You can check out the data for yourself 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 January over the course of 14 years.
The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "ENSO-neutral conditions are present. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are near-to-above average across the Pacific Ocean. The tropical atmospheric circulation is generally consistent with ENSO-neutral. ENSO-neutral is favored through Northern Hemisphere spring 2020 (~60% chance), continuing through summer 2020 (~50% 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 February-March-April 2020 issued January 2020. Note the predictions of below normal precipitation for parts of Panama (yellow).
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ETESA's, hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that Chiriqui will have mixed levels of precipitation (low,normal,high) in February of 2020. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.
Usually February is a low rain month during the dry season. I am expecting the same this month. This is a good month to go to the top of Volcan Baru. Better chance of seeing the great view and the oceans.
Enjoy the sun and wind. Store the umbrellas securely.
Lloyd Cripe