Hi Cori,
In Boquete and indeed in any mountain town in Panama it pays to study the microclimates over an extended stay. Talk to immediate neighbors for the latest intel. In the greater Boquete district some areas may be windier or rainier while others may get lighter showers. The area known as Volcancito, for example, is notoriously windy. Ask neighbors to share experiences not just from this year or last but, if possible, over a five-year period. Panama is always affected by the El Niño and La Niña weather patterns; the former brings us drier weather (or droughts in parts of the country) and can last a year or more while La Niña ushers in a year or more of wetter weather (or flooding in parts of the country, including mountain regions).
No matter where you live in Boquete, though, it's very lush with frequent misty rain referred to as bajareque which means humidity is always high. Homes tend to be built with this in mind. E.g. slatted closet and cabinet doors can help keep clothing and shoes from getting musty or moldy, and some homes have air conditioning units even though the springlike temperatures mean you don't really need a/c (or heating). Running the a/c regularly can help you keep your home dry.
In a typical year in Boquete (no El Niño/La Niña) you'll have scattered showers and bajareque throughout the year with Jan-March being fairly dry and the heaviest downpours falling from August through November. Regardless of time of year, Boquete tends to be very sunny (and yes, that constant mingling sun and rain means lots of rainbows).
For more info you may want to check out https://www.boqueteweather.com/stations.htm, a truly wonderful resource that allows you to see recorded temps etc at the local weather station (it was amazing for this region to get this) and which cites among many other useful observations:
"A more typical day during the wet season in the Boquete District is to wake up to generally clear skies and sunshine. As the day progresses, you see cumulous clouds developing in the south and then growing into towering cumulonimbus systems. By mid afternoon, the cloud systems move into the area and rain falls. The thunderstorm rains last for varying amounts of time, but usually not more than a couple of hours. Slow steady stratus cloud rains from the Caribbean are unusual but occasionally occur during the wet season.
"Because the Boquete District is a large area with a lot of variation in elevation and terrain, there seem to be many microclimates. While this makes sense and there is a lot of folklore discussion about these microclimates, there is not a lot of available data from which to draw solid conclusions. "
Best,
IL Panama Editor Jess Ramesch