Well the summer is ending here in Panama and we had our first  rains this week as the  Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) starts it’s march northward.  While the mountains have been alive with flowering bushes and trees of all colors and shapes, our pastures are  dry and brown.  Rain will quickly change the landscape.

This is the time of year where I actually enjoy seeing the rain, as it brings on the lush greening of our mountains and rain forests and the waterfalls multiply every day.  You can smell the grasses, shrubs and vegetable fields growing and all the birds come alive knowing that the cycle of life is renewing itself again.  This includes a male songbird calling for a mate starting at 5 AM outside our bedroom window.

Photo courtesy of Boquete Outdoor Adventures

Life here in Boquete is truly wonderful and after hosting 5 people from Texas last week, I have again had the privilege of seeing why I came here through other people’s eyes.  The first night for dinner at The Rock and Jazz night they came in late, tired and hungry but were so glad to finally get to Boquete after hearing the many good things about our village.  The second day they oriented themselves to the community at the Tuesday Morning Market we hold each week, where they mingled with hundreds of expats and shopped for fresh organic veggies, arts and crafts.  The rest of the week was spent looking at properties, being entertained in homes of new friends, diners in the many different restaurants and a meeting with an attorney that I arranged to go through the Q&A’s of how to get a visa, how to buy property and how to move money here.  My attorney has handled numerous Self Directed IRA investments and is well versed in how to do that as well.  The last days were spent looking around in Boca Chica on the coast and a boat trip to the Islands,  I had hoped that they would see the reason that brought me to Chiriqui both for the mountains and the sea as they enjoyed boating,  snorkeling and just chilling on the beach.  I think that it worked and I hope to see a few new neighbors soon here in Boquete.

We have some wonderful places to visit while you are here to look around. There are also a lot of good people to meet to get a firsthand honest opinion of what to expect and what not to expect.  There are also some good properties to see that are quickly becoming harder to find as this season has brought us a lot of serious buyers.   Not just those looking for second homes, but those who have clearly had enough with dealing with life back home in the US and Europe and are looking for greener pastures and an easier way of life and living.

I hope that I can show you “Why Panama” and “Why Chiriqui”, so please allow me the privilege of seeing through your eyes, the reason again and again of why I chose this path and live here in Boquete.

For those of you weather buffs and those of you who are always asking me about the weather, follow it on Lyod Cripe’s Boquete Weather blog.  Here is his March weather notice and contact information.

March 2012

I posted the March weather data for the Palmira Weather Station today. We had 2.6 inches of rain recorded for the month of March here at the Palmira Station. Terry Zach in El Santuario reports 10.15 inches of rain. Steve Sarner in Jaramillo Arriba reports 4.33 inches. Sela Burkholder in Jaramillo Abajo reports 2.58 inches. Craig Bennett in Los Naranjos reports 5.79 inches. Here is the list from least to most rainfall ifor the month of February 2012:

The NE Trade winds continued to blow throughout March. Many were asking if the winds would ever go away. For a while, I thought they wouldn’t but the last week of March they started to subside. We also started to see more clouds and moisture building up in the air. Some thunderstorm activity started building up in the afternoons in the David area. As I am writing this update, we started to get some rain here in Palmira this afternoon. The station at 3:00PM is reading a total of 1.22 inches of rain. It is much welcomed. The plants should begin to smile and the birds have been singing.

A look at the current Infrared Satellite image clearly shows a build-up of moisture over our area:

The Unifed Surface Analysis Chart shows the ITCZ (candy cane graphic line) spaning both sides of our region. The month of April is usually a gradual transition into the rainy season which is daily becoming more evident. We will be into the rainy season in full force in the month of May. This means a lot less wind but a lot more moisture.

The ENSO is still in a La Niña condition but is weakening and it is expected to be in a neutral condition by the end of April 2012. Here is the link to the latest La Niña report.

For information from the National Weather Service JetStream – Online School for Weather regarding the Weather Impacts of ENSO visit their web page.

If interested, you can monitor the status of La Niña and get weekly updates at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center at this link.

The IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) is not reporting any unusual probabilities of precipitation for our region for April through May.

As the rain starts to come, the bird activity increases. It is time to nest and feed those new chicks with the rich supply of insects that develop with the rain. We are hearing and seeing a lot more birds on our farm. A Mountain Elaenia built a nest near our house that we are watching. Here is a link to a few photos of her nest building and first egg. All kinds of things happen in the rain forests with the beginning of the rainy season.

Time to bring out those umbrellas and check them out. If it is in bad repair, the cheapskates can patch them with duct tape or cover them with a big garbage bag to get by. I personally recommend a trip to PriceSmart to get a big new one!

Lloyd Cripe

lcripe@boqueteweather.com