Are we being affected by the awful storm that hit the east coast of the US? Or is it something else? I know we can get spill over of storms in the Gulf of Mexico above us, but there doesn’t seem to be anything going on there at the moment.
It’s January, dry season in Panama. My neighbors said they have never seen rain in January. But, it rained most of the day of New Years Eve, again on Tuesday and Wednesday, and more yesterday. Today it was cloudy and breezy, sprinkled a bit now and then between spots of sun, but this evening it’s actively raining.
I’m not complaining, not at all. This is extending our green/rainy season by almost a month. It’s pleasantly cool and there is no need to water the plants. I’m very thankful for the rain.
Thursday though, I don’t think it rained in David but we had a band gig in Boquete in the evening and we played on the outside terrace. It was cold!! It rained up there, and there was wind so the chilly misty stuff was blowing in. Any audience who stayed out with us was close because everything was wet back by the railings. Most of the people stayed inside to keep warm and dry.
it was a very fun night though. Quite a few other musicians came and some sat in on some songs. I love the camaraderie, friendship, and support in the music community, and there some really excellent musicians here!
Life is strangely wet for this time of year but it’s all good.
The Panama Adventure 
I don’t mean to worry you. But, it’s smart to know what’s going on elsewhere, if it affects you. And it does, in this case, so…
We were told for years and years that man made climate change was coming.
It’s here.
We are able to see what it means. More Cat 5 hurricanes. Storms where there never were storms. Long rainless periods where usually they expect seasonal rains. Coastal flooding is increasing.
The Jet Stream over North America has followed patterns for many years but those patterns have changed. The Arctic is warming. That has affected the Jet Stream.
Will this trend mean that Panama gets a hurricane next season? I don’t know, yet.
In my career, I worked with large scale computer simulations. Climate and weather simulations are among the largest and most difficult to work with. However, teams of scientists all over the world have worked independently on various models and their predictions are very similar. The Earth is warming. Ice is melting. Sea levels are rising. More thermal energy is available for huge storm systems. This is the way of the future. We can’t go back. If enough changes are made fast enough, we can slow down the trend. That’s what the Paris agreements are about.
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Oh yes, I know. I’ve seen info on the shrinking polar ice, changing weather patterns, and other changes. I’m also very concerned that none of this seems to worry the current administration. Even if this is natural cycles and nothing to do with us, it doesn’t hurt to take care of our earth. But, as I believe, it has a lot to do with us then we have a whole lot to lose by not working seriously on this issue.
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Hola Kris,
We finished winter early this year, temps in the teens (°F). New Year’s Day was the low point (probably saved some lives as folks stayed put to celebrate). After King’s Day, we have temps back into the 60’s, and brilliant sunshine. We can get frost as late as March but that is unusual. I can not say if weather patterns are man-made or not, above my pay grade. If man is responsible, I would hope that the Asian countries could be persuaded to change their habits. Their contribution is many times higher than Europe’s and North America’s yet they are not taking steps to curb their pollution. If the climate change is not man-made, then I guess we just whistle in the dark and hope for the best. Man vs Nature has always resulted in man losing.
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I thought I heard China is taking steps to clean up. I hope so. We all need to work on keeping our earth healthy.
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It is cold and rainy in Panama, Niagara Falls is Freezing and most of the U.S. has Snow, all because of Climate Warming!
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I saw pictures of Niagra Falls, really beautiful but lots of ice.
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