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Rainy season delayed until June


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Rainy season delayed until June (from Newsroom Panama)

Posted on March 29, 2016 in Panama

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PANAMA can expect the first rains of 2016  in May with some sporadic downpours greening some of the parched land, but the rainy season proper will  not arrive until June.

The report from  the Climatology Department  of the  the Electric Transmission Company, S.A. (Etesa).

Climatology director , Pilar Lopez said that despite the  first downpours, of La Niña  and the official  rainy season  will not be officially declared until some time in June.

Meanwhile  because of the effects of El Niño, about 300,000 gallons of potable water are distributed daily by tankers  in 40 communities, facing a severe crisis in the province of Los Santos.

In addition, the National Civil  Protection System (Sinaproc) has 51 storage tanks in the various sectors facing drought problems.

Residents of Guarareíto and La Limona require the construction of underground wells  after months without water.

Benedict De Frias Mitre, a resident of the area, said the Guararé river, where they once went to fetch water, has  dried and they now receive water from tankers one day a week and  schools are without water.

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I cannot speak for other regions of Panama, but my interest in climate and weather makes me an avid observer of local conditions. 

There have been thunderstorms close by recently, but no rain up here in Volcancito yet.  I drove through a downpour in Dolega Monday afternoon on the way back from David, and there was water running in the streets in the town, but not north or south of the town itself. 

From my house over the past couple of weeks, I've seen more "convection" (the tight, rapidly rising dense cottony clouds that form thunderstorms) to the south, and over the southern flanks of Volcan Baru.  These dynamics are what should eventually intensify and become the source of our rainy season here in the Boquete area.  The Bajareque wind and mist have certainly tapered off, and I'm not seeing the ragged look of the higher clouds being "blown-back" southward over Volcan Baru or the Jaramillo mountains.  So it looks like a slow transition to the rainy season may be beginning here. 

Climate-wise, the 2016 El Nino event is rapidly weakening, and we are in the midst of a transition to a likely moderate La Nina developing over the summer and early fall.  Following the last strong El-Nino in 1997-1998,  Hurricane Mitch formed off the coast of Panama.  By the time Mitch dissipated, nearly 20,000 people were dead, including three in Panama.  There is a possibility of an active Caribbean hurricane season again this year, but Panama is south of the hurricane belt, and only a very large storm like Mitch would affect Panama - and even then only with heavy rain - but not wind and storm surge.  Considering the damage around Boquete from the 2008 floods (pics at Lloyd Cripe's BoqueteWeather.com website), we should be aware of the possibilities next fall.

From Wikipedia: 

Quote

Mitch formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, 1998, and after drifting through extremely favorable conditions, it rapidly strengthened to peak at Category 5 status, the highest possible rating on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. After drifting southwestward and weakening, the hurricane hit Honduras as a minimal hurricane. It drifted through Central America, reformed in the Bay of Campeche, and ultimately struck Florida as a strong tropical storm.

Due to its slow motion from October 29 to November 3, Hurricane Mitch dropped historic amounts of rainfall in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, with unofficial reports of up to 75 inches (1,900 mm). Deaths due to catastrophic flooding made it the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history; nearly 11,000 people were killed with over 11,000 left missing by the end of 1998. Additionally, roughly 2.7 million were left homeless as a result of the hurricane. The flooding caused extreme damage, estimated at over $6 billion (1998 USD).

   

Edited by David van Harn
grammar& spelling
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Hi People.

 

Well.  It is being known that the El NIno is affecting greatly the climate and weather in Panama.   But also, I will criticize Panamanians and panamanian govenrments even that some people at BN says that I dont accept criticism, the problem here has been bad people practices and also a real govenrment plan to address the weather problem that is affecting one of our most precious resource: Water.  

The Azuero peninzula, where my mother's family is, its people have had for decades bad agricultural practices that has converted the region in an almost treeless part of the country.   The deforestation has been so great that the river are dissapearing, the levels of the groundwater are beyond 150 feet, the amount of rains have decreased in the region over the years and the land is becoming dry and dusty.  

I have been talking with other colleagues in PC that we should insist to the authorities that they have to take the bull by the horns and start doing something because this situation is affecting the whole country and also the source of our income as a country: the Panama Canal.  

Looks like the dry season will be larger in the Azuero peninzula and the situation there is very critic.  People is asking for lluvias.  

 

I would like to share a video of a song by Ruben Blades.  It is called "lluvia de tu cielo".  It is an old song from 1977 but it is so actual regarding severe drought and lack of rain.  It is in spanish..... but try to get the meaning.  It is a song in salsa called: LAMENTO.   It will be something like American BLUES.

 

 

 

 

   

 

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