We had 27.5 inches of rain in June, compared with an average for June of 22.3 inches. Above average, but not a record, although it came close to the 30 inches (adjusted downwards from our rain gauge reading of 43 inches) that we saw last year. See our review of 2010 weather for a discussion of that particular issue.
In late April we learned of a regional report that suggested that rainfall in Chiriqui would be in the “high range of normal” for May through July. We could say that the prediction held for June, as it did for May. The graph shows that for the 18 years that we have data, this June’s rain was above average, but it was much closer to average than it was to the maximum of 41 inches, which was recorded in 2003.
As you can also see from the above table and chart, we had more rain in June than we did in May, which is unusual. Average May rainfall is 23 inches; average June, 22 inches. Usually in June we have a “San Juan summer” of a few to several days with no rain, occurring at about the time of the Feast of St. John (June 24). This year we did have a lessening of rain a bit after that time, but it actually rained during 25 of June’s 30 days whereas it rained during only 20 of May’s 31 days.
The difference between our WeatherHawk rain gauge and our manual gauge was 10% for the month.
With increased rain and cloud cover, the average temperature dropped below 70 degrees, and solar input declined as did the wind velocity. Average wind direction was south-southeast, a tad more easterly than it had been for the previous two months.
So, what should we expect for July? July’s average rainfall is usually even lower than June’s due to another several-day dry period known locally as “Santiago summer.” It didn’t happen during last year’s La Niña – we actually had more rain in July than in June last year - but we can hope it returns this year.
