We had 20 days of rain this past April, receiving 21.1 inches with a daily maximum of 3.8 inches.
This felt like a lot of rain, especially after the very dry first three months of the year. However, the record for April, set in La Niña year 2010, is 28.2 inches, so although we’re above average, we’re also well below the record, thank goodness.
The rest of the data are shown in our Summary Table. Temperatures rose a little this month, and wind dropped significantly, as it always does in April.
Now that life has settled down somewhat, I’ll resume posting notes in the blog from time to time. The first issue to resolve is that of the malfunctioning temperature probe.
Temperature Probe Update
You may recall that we had problems with our temperature probe starting last year – first with the probe itself and then with delivery of the replacement probe.
From early October 2011 through January 30, 2012, inaccurate temperature readings lead to inaccurate relative humidity readings. Also, for some reason, solar information was lost during that time.* Wind speed readings for November and December were null.
Rain and wind direction data seemed to be okay, so we have a summary table in data archive section to compare with our other summary tables. We had a total of 204 inches of rain in 2011, about 12 inches higher than average for our area.
*Update, 7 May 2012. The solar information is fine. I found an error in my Excel formula. The summary tables are all corrected now and up to date.
Summaries in Place
All data summary tables, including for 2012, are up to date. The numbers support our impression that the first three months of 2012 were drier than usual. The grass turned crisp and in places the soil cracked, looking like a dried-up lake bed.
A chart comparing 2012 rainfall with the 19-year monthly average and the 19-year monthly maximum clearly shows this “drought.”
19-year average and maximum rainfall for Potrerillos, compared with 2012
The weather station is now connected to my partner’s computer. The web site will continue to run, but don’t expect updates overnight. Once a month I will update the summary table and the rain days for the month information but will not be writing up any analyses.
The most recent summary table is in place on the Data Tables page and shows a 2-inch over average rainfall for the month of July. Likewise, the Rain Days page is up to date.
It’s been fun working on the site, but life is just too full now to continue. I hope you will continue to find the web site itself of some use.
Ciao, Mary
The monsoon trough is merging with the ITCZ in the Pacific this morning.
This morning while checking the rain gauge (no rain yesterday), I saw a fog bank down in the lowlands.
Hidromet predicts aguacerros across the country this afternoon. It looks like we’re moving out of whatever Santiago Summer we might have had.
The monsoon trough is now in the Pacific.
Whether coincidence or not, we had another sunrise shower this morning. Tapering off as I write.
The forecast from Hidromet is for a typical rainy season day – cloudy in the morning, showers in the afternoon and evening.
That monsoon trough low has moved away.
And the Pacific is pretty clear in our area right now.
But do please note those tropical waves in the Caribbean Synoptic Chart moving in our direction. Plus that rather ominous note at the upper right. Hmm.
The low pressure system associated with the monsoon trough has been hanging around for a few days.
It was cloudy all day on the 14th, with rain starting at about 2 PM and then continuing steadily through the night and through all day yesterday, finally tapering off in the wee hours this morning. Here’s yesterday’s graph from the WeatherHawk.
Not a heavy rain, but persistent.
At 15.5 inches so far for the month, we’re on our way to a higher than average rainfall for July. Our 18-year average is 18 inches for July.
The June Report is up. The XXXIII Climate Forum for Central America made, in April, a remarkably accurate prediction for rainfall in Chiriqui during the months of May through July. As you’ll see in the report, both May and June records showed exactly what they thought will happen. If they’re right for July as well, their batting average will be 100%.
Meantime, we’re moving into the daily patterns we expect during the rainy season. Although rain usually slacks off in July, when it does arrive, it moves up from the south (from the Pacific). We sometimes hear it marching up the mountain. Yesterday we saw this:
The typical rainy season shelf of clouds hanging out over the mountain. Although it’s not clear in this photo, we were able to see the Chiriqui lowlands, including Mesa Chercha, in the white area below the rain cloud.
About 20 minutes after this photo was taken, it started raining at our place. We had 0.6 inches of rain from that episode.
Summer solstice is today. The day is the longest in the year for us in Panama, as it is elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, but we are close enough to the equator that the difference in daylength is not huge. Six months from now our days will be about an hour shorter than today, whereas in, say, Washington, D.C., that day six months from now will be about 5 and a half hours shorter than today.
This information comes from a site called Gaisma.com, and here’s the chart for David, Panama.
An article in the Washington Post today explains the sun’s path and why we have a solstice and a blog post at accuweather explains why we have seasons and it gives us this additional neat piece of information: solstice is Latin for “the sun stands still.”
Hidromet predicts rain for us this afternoon.
We did have rain yesterday, as predicted. Just over an inch. The satellite image looks less ferocious than it did yesterday.
And Hidromet is predicting a cloudy, not rainy, day for us in Chiriqui.
The monsoon trof is mostly in the Caribbean. Note the ITCZ is labeled as being in the Atlantic, off South America.
Note also, the Tropical Wave line passing through the Caribbean. Here’s what Hidromet has to say about that [lightly edited translation]:
The passage of tropical waves over the Caribbean Sea, is a decisive factor for the generation of light to moderate rainfall intensities over the country, these will depend on the strengthening of systems to the south of the Basin, the first tropical waves usually moving quickly, and slowing deeper into the region. They can cause significant amounts of rain in the mountains.
