A record setting year in this part of Costa Rica

[Jeff in St Pete]

A friend has been living in this area of Costa Rica for 35 years and has been keeping rainfall records the entire time. I talked to him today by phone and as usual the conversation led to weather.

He said that 2009 was the driest year in his 35 years of living here. During the entire year of 2009 we only received 179.5 inches (4,559.3 mm) of rain. Our normal average is 240 to 260 inches (6,096 mm to 6,604 mm) per year.

In addition, during the entire month of October (normally our wettest month), we only received 17.5 inches (444.5 mm) - We normally receive 40-45 inches (1,016 mm - 1,143 mm) in October.

He also mentioned that our record breaking wettest year was 1996 when we received 350 inches of rain (8.9 meters!).

Of course these are not official records. I've never seen official weather records here. Especially since rainfall varies so much from one area of the country to another. I'm just glad that I found someone to talk weather with. I find this kind of stuff fascinating.

It seems like the weather has been haywire all over the world lately. I'm just hoping that our dry season is not too severe this year. Lots of palms went into the ground about 6 months ago...

[amazondk]

Jeff,

Here are the numbers from Manuel Antonio. They are not as high as the guy mentioned to you. But, in other areas of the country they may be. You still get a lot of rain.

Climate Manuel Antonio

dk

[Jeff in St Pete]

Hi Don,

Those numbers do look correct for Manuel Antonio and Quepos which are right on the coast. We get less rain here on the beach. Go a couple miles inland closer to the coastal mountains and it's a whole different story. It rains much more there than anywhere else in this entire area. The foothills of those mountains get even more rain than my friend does who lives roughly 7 miles inland. I would guess that in some of those areas, 300 or more inches per year is average. That's where I want to move eventually.

[amazondk]

Jeff,

Don´t you think you might end up with webbed feet with that much water? I am quite content with what we have which is an average of 2500 mm per year.

dk

[Palm Guy]

Jeff, I wouldn't worry about any plants going dry with that type of rainfall. Yes the rainfall seems quite a bit off the average but still more than enough for a Cyrtostachys to live comfortably without extra care (envious)! I think the last few years weather worldwide has been affected by this whole el nino event. Lets hope next year is better!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Jeff,

Don´t you think you might end up with webbed feet with that much water? I am quite content with what we have which is an average of 2500 mm per year.

dk

Don, I'm hoping to find a place that gets at least 5,000 mm per year.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Jeff, I wouldn't worry about any plants going dry with that type of rainfall. Yes the rainfall seems quite a bit off the average but still more than enough for a Cyrtostachys to live comfortably without extra care (envious)! I think the last few years weather worldwide has been affected by this whole el nino event. Lets hope next year is better!

Hi Michael, the problem is that the vast majority of our rainfall falls between May and December. January through April can sometimes be extremely dry. I lost one small C. renda during last years dry season and I lost a couple of my Pigafettas too. We only have a small supply of irrigation water with hardly any pressure so the sprinklers need to be moved around alot - it's just not enough. Most palms are on their own through the dry season.

Let's hope this year is a better year for everyone!

[amazondk]

Jeff,

I have basically the same problem here. But, at least with a marked dry and wet season you have some variety during the year. I plan on getting the irrigation system going by next dry season. What was interesting to me was that those young plants I have in the secondary forest canopy at my place came through this years very dry dry season in flying colors.

dk

[Exotic Life]

Sounds tropical

[happ]

A friend has been living in this area of Costa Rica for 35 years and has been keeping rainfall records the entire time. I talked to him today by phone and as usual the conversation led to weather.

He said that 2009 was the driest year in his 35 years of living here. During the entire year of 2009 we only received 179.5 inches (4,559.3 mm) of rain. Our normal average is 240 to 260 inches (6,096 mm to 6,604 mm) per year.

In addition, during the entire month of October (normally our wettest month), we only received 17.5 inches (444.5 mm) - We normally receive 40-45 inches (1,016 mm - 1,143 mm) in October.

He also mentioned that our record breaking wettest year was 1996 when we received 350 inches of rain (8.9 meters!).

Of course these are not official records. I've never seen official weather records here. Especially since rainfall varies so much from one area of the country to another. I'm just glad that I found someone to talk weather with. I find this kind of stuff fascinating.

It seems like the weather has been haywire all over the world lately. I'm just hoping that our dry season is not too severe this year. Lots of palms went into the ground about 6 months ago...

Jeff, wonder if El Nino is responsible? NWS is predicting up to 20" of rainfall in SoCal next week [more than many areas receive in an entire year]. We'll take it! Hope you get in on some the Pacific moisture, too.

[ariscott]

El Nino & La Nina.. .doesn't make any difference to us... I think we are more influenced by the Indian Ocean here...

But that is a LOT of rain, Jeff!!! I think Tully has average of 4000mm and that is wet enough. We only get around 2000mm here, and I think I am happy with that. I would love to get dry season rain, but that is close to impossible here. Lucky, we have good bore, so we irrigate during the dry.

I always love the weather... and I keep an eye on what is happening in the wet season every day. As long as there is plenty of rain and no cyclone... I am happy.

Regards, Ari

[Jeff in St Pete]

Don, that's good to hear. I have a bunch of small palms that were planted under secondary forest canopy during this last rainy season. It's their first dry season in the ground and I hope they survive the next few months. I lost a small Socratea exorrhiza and a few other small palms during last years dry season. They were all planted in full sun. This year I wised up and planted most new small palms under canopy.

Robbin, yes it is tropical!

Happ, I've heard a few people say that El Niño has influenced our weather this year, but who knows? I hope you guys in Cali get some nice rainfall out of this system!

Ari, you're right, it is a LOT of rain. The nice thing about it is that the majority of it falls in the late afternoon or at night so it doesn't always seem like a lot of rain. Of course if you talk to me during a normal Sept/Oct, I might say something completely different I remember the first couple years I was here it seemed like it rained constantly during Sept/Oct. It only really bothers me if it rains all day and all night for a few days in a row. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often.