It’s cool, cloudy, and very still here this morning in western Panama. Otto is moving WNW at 5 MPH and after reaching hurricane strength yesterday, is now back to a tropical storm (which is really only a difference of a few MPH in wind strength).

You can see that there is now more distance between the storm and Panama though of course we are still affected. Rain is predicted off and on today though with the storm now farther west, I think Costa Rica is where the main soaking is going to be. It looks like the storm will hit just over the border in Nicaragua. I think that is an area with more nature preserves and less people, and I really hope the storm weakens as it goes west towards the populated areas on the west side. But, if it must pass across I suppose this is about as good a path as we could hope for.

La Prensa continues to report on the storm. The main headline says there are 10 people missing, and most of them were out on boats. There are a number of articles on storm damage in various locations around the country.

Of course people have been discussing the storm on blogs and social media, and some interesting links have been shared. Here is an article in English with photos. This is a very cool site that shows you the winds and where it is raining.  Yep, it looks like Costa Rica is getting good and wet, and it’s coming down hard just east of us as well.

We are still at risk for heavy rains, but it won’t be much longer until the storm is too far away and our normal weather will return. Meanwhile it is really quiet in the neighborhood. I don’t hear the usual activity of people coming and going, but I do hear the children because the schools remain closed. I’ll post another update tomorrow but after that, the main news will be how it went for our neighbors in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

And, here comes the rain again. Hasta mañana….