Climate

Panama [1] lies between 7 and 10 degrees north of the equator. The climate is mainly tropical, and days and nights are almost equally long throughout the year. Sunrise and sunset vary by only about half an hour during the year: The sun rises approximately 6–6:30 a.m. and sets approximately 6–6:30 p.m.

Temperatures in Panama are fairly constant year-round. In the lowlands, these range from about 32°C (90°F) in the day down to 21°C (70°F) in the evening. It never gets cold in the lowlands, and dry-season breezes are very pleasant there in the evenings. It gets considerably cooler in the highlands. At the top of Volcán Barú [2] temperatures can dip below freezing. Humidity tends to be quite high year-round, but especially so in the rainy season, when it approaches 100 percent.

Most of Panama has two seasons, the rainy and the dry. The dry season, also known as summer (verano), lasts from about mid-December to mid-April. Rain stops completely in many parts then, especially on the Pacific side. Flowering trees burst into bloom around the country at the start of this season. Toward the end, vegetation turns brown or dies, and smoke from slash-and-burn agriculture and the burning of sugarcane fields can make the skies hazy.

The rainy season, also known as winter (invierno), generally lasts from about mid-April to mid-December. The rains tend to be heaviest and longest at the end of the season, as though the heavens were wringing out every last drop of moisture. October, November, and the beginning of December are especially heavy. Thunderstorms are a near daily occurrence during the rainy season.

Some parts of Panama, including Bocas del Toro [3] and the western highlands [4], have micro-climates that differ from this general dry season/rainy season pattern.

Yearly rainfall averages around three meters. It’s far wetter on the Caribbean side than the Pacific side. The rains in most parts of Panama tend to come in powerful bursts in the afternoon or early evening. Mornings are usually dry on the Pacific side.

Dirt roads and trails can become impassable in the interior during the rainy season, and paved roads and bridges are often washed out by mudslides and rising rivers. Flooding is a serious problem in parts of the interior, such as Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí.

The rain never stops completely along the Caribbean coast, in the western highlands [4], and on the islands of Bocas del Toro [3]. Rainfall patterns in Bocas are quite different from other parts of Panama. It has no true dry season, but generally little rain falls September–October and February–March.

Panama [1] is south of the hurricane zone, so it’s spared those terrible storms.