July 8, 2023

No.171

June 2023
(Back Issues Here)

We had 20.75 inches of rain at the Palmira Arriba Station in June of 2023. It rained on 20 of the 30 days of the month. 

Rainfall for June 2023
Area	Contributors	June 2023	Total 2023
El Salto Arriba	Beth Corwin	25.51	41.64
Alto Quiel	Robert Wareham	N/A	N/A
El Santuario	Robert Boyd	16.54	40.35
Palo Alto	Rodrigo Marciacq	15.80	N/A
Los Cabazon	Don Hughes	20.06	39.66
Jaramillo Arriba	Steve Sarner	23.55	49.07
Jaramillo Arriba	Mark Heyer	22.5	N/A
Palmira Abajo	Dave Nichols	N/A	N/A
Jaramillo Abajo	Don Berkowitz	23.94	N/A
Jaramillo Abajo	John McGann	21.77	46.72
Palo Alto	Nancy Pettersen	15.83	48.75
Palo Alto	Rodrigo Marciacq	15.80	N/A
Valle Escondido	Gisela Remsen	20.12	31.97
Brisas  Boquetenas	Austin Perry	N/A	N/A
Brisas  Boquetenas	Dennis Decorte	N/A	N/A
Brisas Boquetenas	Richard Sturz	25.95	67.40
El Encanto (Volcancito)	Brian Baldwin	22.08	36.85
Cerro Verde (Volcancito)	Charlotte Lintz	20.01	32.33
Santa Lucia	Paula Litt	19.43	34.66
Caldera	Chris McCall	21.25	52.01
Lucero	Mike Joy	27.11	72.15
Boquete Country Club	Paul Arrandale	26.43	50.09
Palmira Abajo	Andrea Boraine	31.50	61.60
Palmira Arriba	Lloyd Cripe	20.75	38.29
El Banco (Portrerillos)	Laura Daniels	?	?
N/A = Not Available

Throughout the District of Boquete the rain for June 2023 varied between a high of 31.50 inches to a low of 15.80 inches.  Check the table above to see which areas had the most and the least.

Digging back into the past data from the Palmira Arriba Station, the average rainfall for the month of June observed over 17 years of data collection is 17.76 inches with a standard deviation of 7.91inches. During that span of time there has never been a month of June without some rain. The range has been between 7.69 to 33.64 inches. This month was a bit over average but less than a stardard deviation.  I would say it was an avergae June month for rain.

Palmira Arriba Station June Rainfall over 17 Years

Take a look at this table to compare the amount of rain per month over the course of 17 years at the Palmira Arriba Station.  You can check each month for yourself and see how the current month's data compares to other years. You can also look at the tables in the Climate Section to see what rains we had in various months over the course of the last 16 years as well as other weather variables.  

The average monthly temperature was 71.39 degrees Fahrenheit with a maximum of 85.8 degrees and a minimum of 61.7 degrees. 

The latest ENSO Cycle Report is saying that "El Niño conditions are observed. Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are above average across the eastcentral and eastern Pacific Ocean. The tropical Pacific atmospheric anomalies are consistent with weak El Niño conditions. El Niño conditions are expected to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2023-24."

Checkout what the NASA Earth Observatory says about the return of El Niño conditions at this link.

Here is a link to a source for a better understanding of El Niño.  If you need some help with this, give this a read and you will learn a lot about this important weather phenomenon. It has more effect upon the Northern Latitudes than it has upon us. From this article it appears that the effects on our area will be "warm and dry." 

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) (select South America from the Region menu) is predicting that Panama will have a 40% probability of below normal precipitation during the months of July-August-September of 2023 (Yellow).

ETESA's hydrology and meteorology section is predicting that Chiriqui will continue to have basically normal levels of precipitation in June, but there will be some variability in Panama with somewhat lower levels overall expected. You can read their report and check out the details in the "documents" section at this link.

We were gone during most of the month of June visiting the Pacific Northwest (mainly Seattle area).  So we missed the rainy days of June. We were fortunate to have good weather up north.

As I finish writing this report, the morning is sunny with clouds now forming at noon with rain expected this afternoon. We will no doubt have some rain today. This is the rainy season.

July is when we experience the "Little Summer of Saint John" or in Spanish the "Veranillo de San Juan".  This is essentially a few days of less rain in the middle to the late part of the month. 

In mid to late June or into July, there is often a variation of our wind direction and intensity falling between calm and windy. We often have a span of drier weather for a few days.  This is known in Spanish as the "Veranito of Veranillo de San Juan" (the little summer of San Juan).  You may be familiar with the term "Indian Summer" in the northern latitudes, is a span of warm dry weather in the late fall.  Although on different dates, The Veranito de San Juan is a bit like an Indian Summer in the northern latitudes.

Don't be fooled though...Keep those umbrellas handy.

 

Lloyd Cripe

lcripe@boqueteweather.com