Rain season vs Sun season

[RAVNSTAR]

Panama is at the top of my lists to live in, however I understand the rainy season is more than half the year and I am looking for sunshine. Help me understand how much it rains.

[jramesch]

Hi RAVNSTAR

Hope you had a nice holiday season, I'm just back from annual leave and saw your post. Here's the important information you need to know.

Panama is extremely sunny and extremely rainy, with over 300 sunny mornings a year and high annual rainfall. Here's a breakdown:

Dry season: December to April in most parts of the country.

Rainy season:

First phase: May - June, most of the country gets afternoon showers (generally an hour or two).

July: Often there’s a “second summer” (three weeks or so with no rain). Otherwise generally same as above.

Heaviest rains and storms (no hurricanes): usually from August through November. Even during this heavy period we see the sun most mornings, it's very rare to get more than three days of rain.

Annual rainfall in Pacific regions: 35 to 70 inches a year.

*** Panama's mountain and Caribbean regions can get 100+ inches of rain per year.

Additional info: Average temp at sea level in Panama City: 88F daytime/78F nighttime. Pacific coast regions like Coronado can be a few degrees cooler. Boquete and other mountain towns are generally 10-15 degrees cooler and can drop to 60F at night. (Wherever you go, bring a light cardigan/jacket. Bus, boat, & plane rides in Panama are often extremely cold.)

Best,
IL Panama Editor Jess Ramesch

[MD1500]

Thanks for the on-the-ground input, Jess.

For others with the same question for locations around the world, I find that Wikipedia has great charts that show monthly temperature ranges, preciptiation amounts, sunlight hours, etc. Just go to their site and look for the climate section; somtimes it is under geography. Michael