{"id":30296,"date":"2020-11-03T09:44:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T14:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=30296"},"modified":"2020-11-03T09:44:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T14:44:34","slug":"torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-30297\" src=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg 698w, https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun-300x184.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scientists are working to improve the forecasting of heavy rains in Panama following several events over the past decade that caused substantial flooding and damage.<\/p>\n<p>December 2010 was the wettest month on record in Panama. So much rain fell so quickly that flooding was widespread across the country. One storm on 7\u20138 December of that year affected water intake at the Chilibre water treatment plant, leaving Panama City\u2014the capital and largest city in the country\u2014without clean water for 50 days. It also caused the closing of the Panama Canal for just the third time in history. This event, locally called\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prensa.com\/impresa\/panorama\/Purisima-causo-deslizamientos-tierra_0_3269673196.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Pur\u00edsima<\/a>, produced more rainfall than any previously observed heavy-rain event in the Panama Canal Watershed [<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/joc.3694\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Murphy et al.<\/em><\/a>, 2014], costing upward of $150 million in damage.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pull-quote u-float-right\">In both extreme rainfall events, Panama\u2019s national weather forecast system failed to forecast the areas affected by, or the substantial impacts of, these meteorological phenomena.<\/aside>\n<p>In late November 2016, another heavy-rain event struck Panama, wreaking havoc. As\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/data\/tcr\/AL162016_Otto.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hurricane Otto<\/a>\u00a0crossed from the Caribbean to the Pacific, it dropped a month\u2019s worth of rain in a day on the country, causing nine deaths, destroying hundreds of homes, closing schools, and interrupting activities at Tocumen International Airport, the international airport of Panama City. To maintain canal operations and lower the water level, the Panama Canal Authority opened 13 of the 14 gates of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.geoscienceworld.org\/aeg\/eeg\/article-abstract\/24\/1\/1\/528209\/Gatun-Dam-megastructure-of-the-Panama-Canal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gat\u00fan Dam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In both extreme rainfall events, Panama\u2019s national weather forecast system failed to forecast the areas affected by, or the substantial impacts of, these meteorological phenomena.<\/p>\n<p>The public began clamoring for the development of a more accurate high-resolution precipitation forecast system for Panama. That was the main motivation for a research project proposed by the Centro del Agua del Tr\u00f3pico H\u00famedo para Am\u00e9rica Latina y el Caribe (CATHALAC) and the Instituto de Meteorolog\u00eda de Cuba (INSMET) to the Secretar\u00eda Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnolog\u00eda e Innovaci\u00f3n de Panam\u00e1 (SENACYT). In June 2018, the project, titled \u201cAn\u00e1lisis del Modelo Num\u00e9rico WRF-ARW para la predicci\u00f3n de lluvia a escala de cuencas en Panam\u00e1\u201d (\u201cAnalysis of the WRF-ARW numerical model for basin-scale rainfall prediction in Panama\u201d), was approved and funded by SENACYT. And in February 2020, many of the people working on this project met to share and highlight its outcomes and progress so far and to assess directions for continuing work, discussions we summarize here.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Weather Forecasting in Panama<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Despite its relatively small size, Panama, located at the eastern end of the Central America isthmus, plays crucial roles in regional and global economies. It hosts the Panama Canal, through which hundreds of millions of dollars\u2019 worth of cargo\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifc.org\/wps\/wcm\/connect\/news_ext_content\/ifc_external_corporate_site\/news+and+events\/news\/panama+canal+expansion+key+to+global+trade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pass each year<\/a>, and is the international flight hub of Copa Airlines, for example. Activities along the canal and at Tocumen International Airport, as well as those related to the lives of almost 3 million inhabitants in Panama City, have been seriously affected by rainfall events that were not well forecast.<\/p>\n<p>Two major circulation systems trigger convective activity near Panama: the Intertropical Convergence Zone and disturbances associated with it and cold fronts penetrating from northern higher latitudes. The isthmus\u2019 long, narrow shape, its complex orography, and its position between two large bodies of water\u2014the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean\u2014that both contribute large amounts of moisture to the atmosphere all contribute to unstable convective activity that leads to cloud formation and to the occurrence of strong rainfall. Because of the atmospheric instability in this region, however, rainfall amounts are very difficult to predict over short timescales.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pull-quote u-float-left\">Panama City is especially prone to damage from significant rainfall because its population growth has outpaced the growth of services infrastructure like stormwater disposal systems.<\/aside>\n<p>Panama City is especially prone to damage from significant rainfall because its population growth has outpaced the growth of services infrastructure like stormwater disposal systems. So when heavy rains hit, they can cause services to be paralyzed for long periods, bringing subsequent economic and social damage. Panama\u2019s problems with severe flooding thus arise from a combination of heavy rains, poor infrastructure, and the lack of quality forecasting.<\/p>\n<p>There are two main reasons why weather forecasts fail in Panama. First, Panama\u2019s operational forecasting system prior to the new project consisted of just two daily simulations with relatively coarse spatial resolutions. Second, and more important, was the lack of sensitivity studies used to determine the best physics and atmospheric dynamics parameters to describe the formation of storms over Panama.<\/p>\n<p>Empresa de Transmisi\u00f3n Electrica (ETESA), Panama\u2019s state electrical transmission company, oversees weather forecasts in the country through its meteorology and hydrology unit (HYDROMET). HYDROMET was supposed to rely on the next-generation\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmm.ucar.edu\/weather-research-and-forecasting-model\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Weather Research and Forecasting<\/a>\u00a0(WRF) model. When we started this project in 2018, though, HYDROMET\u2019s WRF model for Panama was inactive. HYDROMET also did not have a platform by which model outputs could be disseminated, so even if the WRF model had been active, the public had no way to get the information. The other group that used the WRF model for weather forecasting for Panama was CATHALAC.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Panama Precipitation Prediction Project<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The goal of our project is to create an effective forecasting system for Panama using Advanced Research WRF (ARW) models that can identify with sufficient lead time the occurrence of extreme precipitation events, particularly over Panama City. The project, which involves researchers from the Center for Atmospheric Physics at the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba, CATHALAC, ETESA, and the Autoridad del Canal de Panama, comprises three stages.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage involved studying how various dynamic factors directly influence the form (i.e., from what type of cloud it falls) and amount of precipitation over Panama using computational experiments and relying on data from many weather stations, as well as weather radar and upper air sounding instrumentation. Such dynamic factors include cloud microphysics (i.e., the necessary conditions for the formation of drops of precipitation), cumulus parameterization (the way the numerical models simulate clouds and their interactions with the environment), and the limit layer parameterizations (the way the atmospheric layer closest to Earth\u2019s surface interacts with the layer where the clouds form).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pull-quote u-float-right\">We looked at how to implement an efficient and robust forecasting system with available technological and human resources.<\/aside>\n<p>We examined the combination of cumulus and microphysics parameterization schemes that best reproduce rainfall events in Panama and which model spatial scales yielded good representations of such events. Then we looked at how to implement an efficient and robust forecasting system with available technological and human resources and how to build the key institutional arrangements, research activities, and capacity-building processes to ensure further development of the implemented system.<\/p>\n<p>The second stage of the project has focused on determining which of the parameterization schemes studied in stage 1 has the greatest potential to be implemented [<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4236\/acs.2020.103016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Sierra-Lorenzo et al.<\/em><\/a>, 2020] and to provide accurate forecasts in enough time to alert users to the presence of severe weather in the study area, given current computational capacity. We have also been creating a system that gives users the ability to access the output data from these precipitation forecasts in real time. For this step, the project working group decided to use an immediate forecast system tool called Sistema de Pronostico Inmediato, or simply SisPi, which was developed in Cuba and has been used successfully in other Caribbean regions. SisPi allows for the visualization of numerical weather model outputs, providing a series of additional products with which forecasters can quickly assess a specific meteorological situation.<\/p>\n<p>The third and final stage involves determining the necessary requirements for the forecasting system to be used at maximum capacity and figuring out what technological challenges must be overcome to achieve the best forecast in the fastest possible time.<\/p>\n<p>After 18 months of research, including analyzing 150 case studies representing different seasons and 10 synoptic conditions over Central America, we found that no individual model configuration was able to accurately predict all intense rain events with acceptable skill. So we selected the three most skillful WRF-ARW model configurations and incorporated them within the weather forecast system under development. We also decided to build a Panama-specific version of SisPi (SisPi-Panama) within CATHALAC\u2019s facilities and to run it automatically four times a day. This system will be the first in Central America that is based on a robust sensitivity assessment of its configuration, and it will be implemented to share different meteorological products widely through the SisPi-Panama web platform.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Where We Go from Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>During the first 18 months of this project, we fulfilled the first two objectives originally proposed. But to improve upon the work so far and meet the third objective, we submitted a second project proposal to SENACYT. The proposal included an idea from the workshop earlier this year to create an application for cell phones that would show the results of weather forecasts in real time and allow feedback from app users. This feedback should enable us to evaluate the skill of our system objectively and, when the feedback sample size becomes large enough, to evaluate statistics that may offer us the chance to perform bias correction in the models.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pull-quote u-float-left\">Recommendations for ways to continue improving forecasts include using emerging methods like machine learning and neural networks and conducting additional experiments in sensitivity studies.<\/aside>\n<p>At the workshop, participants discussed new ideas for meeting the third project objective that should be taken into account in future efforts. Recommendations for ways to continue to improve forecasts included using emerging methods like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/opinions\/weathering-environmental-change-through-advances-in-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">machine learning<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/opinions\/artificial-intelligence-may-be-key-to-better-weather-forecasts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">neural networks<\/a>\u00a0and conducting additional experiments in sensitivity studies. Participants were also keen on the possibilities of developing and producing real-time forecasts specific for solar and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/science-updates\/monitoring-wind-in-portugals-mountains-down-to-microscales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wind energy potential<\/a>. We are also looking to partner with a United Nations agency like the World Meteorological Organization or the International Renewable Energy Agency to improve our computing capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Next steps for the project involve our partner institutions simulating combinations of multiple ARW model ensembles to test which combination most robustly forecasts heavy-rain events in Panama and to improve the SisPi-Panama web tool so that the information is available to all users. These steps will account for the recommendations that came out of the workshop, including developing a cell phone app. Further efforts will be needed to implement a system to assimilate existing high-quality data from satellite images, radar, upper air sounding measurements of atmospheric variables, and weather station data to improve the nowcasting scheme.<\/p>\n<p>With what has been achieved in this project already, Panama is now equipped with a more robust forecasting system to predict severe rainfall events. This system will favor the country\u2019s economy and safeguard human lives.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Acknowledgments<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This research was funded through project 2018-4-IOMA17-011, \u201cAn\u00e1lisis del Modelo Num\u00e9rico WRF-ARW para la predicci\u00f3n de lluvia a escala de cuencas en Panam\u00e1,\u201d which was financed by SENACYT and coordinated by CATHALAC.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Eos.org<\/p>\n<p>Stay Safe!!<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f16536-o1\" lang=\"\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"16536\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296#wpcf7-f16536-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"16536\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.6\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f16536-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_posted_data_hash\" value=\"\" \/>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p><B><I>Sign Up for our Newsletter:<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>Your Name (required)\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-name\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"your-name\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>Your Email (required)\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-email\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"your-email\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Send\" \/>\n<\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists are working to improve the forecasting of heavy rains in Panama following several events over the past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[242,12,241,39,248,34,33,62,280,42,219,11,249,243,7,246,244,281],"class_list":["post-30296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-articles-panama-perpsective","tag-boca-chica-real-estate","tag-boquete","tag-boquete-real-estate","tag-buenaventura","tag-casco","tag-casco-antiguo","tag-casco-viejo","tag-coffee-in-panama","tag-disinfetion-services-safety-in-panama-panama-real-estate-bocas-del-toro","tag-estate-homes-in-panama","tag-move-to-panama","tag-offshore-real-estate","tag-panama-offshore-real-estate","tag-panama-papers","tag-panama-real-estate","tag-relocate-to-panama","tag-rum-in-panama","tag-travel-to-panama-rent-in-boquete-expat-tourism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure - Blog and Newsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scientists are working to improve the forecasting of heavy rains in Panama following several events over the past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog and Newsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088396493750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrian Prozzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrian Prozzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adrian Prozzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c118309f214f7da81db90c9905c5e69\"},\"headline\":\"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1824,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Boca Chica Real Estate\",\"Boquete\",\"Boquete Real Estate\",\"buenaventura\",\"casco\",\"casco antiguo\",\"casco viejo\",\"coffee in panama\",\"Disinfetion Services safety in panama Panama Real Estate Bocas del Toro\",\"estate homes in Panama\",\"move to panama\",\"offshore real estate\",\"Panama Offshore real estate\",\"Panama Papers\",\"Panama Real Estate\",\"relocate to panama\",\"Rum in Panama\",\"travel to panama Rent in Boquete Expat Tourism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News from Panama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure - Blog and Newsletter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/rain-on-gatun.jpg\",\"width\":698,\"height\":429},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE\",\"description\":\"Welcome and enjoy!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Panama-Perspetive-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Panama-Perspetive-Logo.png\",\"width\":199,\"height\":168,\"caption\":\"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/profile.php?id=100088396493750\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c118309f214f7da81db90c9905c5e69\",\"name\":\"Adrian Prozzo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Adrian Prozzo\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/adrian\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure - Blog and Newsletter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure","og_description":"Scientists are working to improve the forecasting of heavy rains in Panama following several events over the past","og_url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/","og_site_name":"Blog and Newsletter","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088396493750","article_published_time":"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Adrian Prozzo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adrian Prozzo","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/"},"author":{"name":"Adrian Prozzo","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c118309f214f7da81db90c9905c5e69"},"headline":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure","datePublished":"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/"},"wordCount":1824,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg","keywords":["Boca Chica Real Estate","Boquete","Boquete Real Estate","buenaventura","casco","casco antiguo","casco viejo","coffee in panama","Disinfetion Services safety in panama Panama Real Estate Bocas del Toro","estate homes in Panama","move to panama","offshore real estate","Panama Offshore real estate","Panama Papers","Panama Real Estate","relocate to panama","Rum in Panama","travel to panama Rent in Boquete Expat Tourism"],"articleSection":["News from Panama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/","url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/","name":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure - Blog and Newsletter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-03T14:44:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/rain-on-gatun.jpg","width":698,"height":429},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/torrential-rains-poor-forecasts-sink-panamas-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Torrential Rains and Poor Forecasts Sink Panama\u2019s Infrastructure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/","name":"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE","description":"Welcome and enjoy!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE","url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Panama-Perspetive-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Panama-Perspetive-Logo.png","width":199,"height":168,"caption":"THE PANAMA PERSPECTIVE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088396493750"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c118309f214f7da81db90c9905c5e69","name":"Adrian Prozzo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad1feae25ee47fd05cad15b4eecb3f298066f00b30501ec8ab74742778287eba?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Adrian Prozzo"},"url":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/author\/adrian\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30298,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296\/revisions\/30298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}