Panama News

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I received this question today via email from a reader: "Dear Mr Winner; You mentioned the rainy and dry seasons in Panama but never mentioned what months either season are. Now since I don't live there and have never visited should I assume that there about the same as Costa Rica? May - Nov = rainy in Panama?" That's about right. Of course there is no "official" start of the dry season and it literally depends on the weather, but usually the dry season is in pretty much full swing by 15 December, and the "summer" as the locals call it here lasts until about mid April. The wet season or "winter" runs from about 15 April to 15 December, with November traditionally being the wettest month. The ENSO events of El Niño and La Niña directly effect the weather in Panama, with El Niño causing a "wetter than normal" dry season, and La Niña causing a "dryer than normal" dry season. This year, for example, there was a La Niña ENSO condition in effect all the way until July, and Panama almost ran out of the capacity to generate electrical power from the hydroelectric dams due to a lower than normal amount of rainfall. In any case, thanks for asking, and I hope this helps.
Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

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