QCOSTARICA – Have an umbrella ready because the “aguaceros” (downpours) of the rainy season (or “green season”) are just around the corner.
On Tuesday, the national weather service, the Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), announced the rainy season will arrive a week early this year.
According to forecasts, the rainy season start between March 27 and 31 in the South Pacific; between April 26 and 30 in the Central Pacific; between May 6 and 10 in the Central Valley and the north; between May 11 and 15 in the Nicoya Peninsula and between May 16 and 20 in the North Pacific.
Although it is expected to rain a lot this 2021 season, there is a more hopeful outlook than in 2020.
The IMN says first rains will bring more water for the Pacific areas, the Central Valley, and less for the Caribbean. The influence of the La Niña phenomenon is losing intensity but could appear in the second part of the year.
“We must remember that our rainy season is characterized by heavy downpours, which are usually accompanied by lightning strikes and, on some occasions, even by hail and whirlwinds. So the population is called upon to be attentive to weather conditions, particularly in those places that are repeatedly flooded,” said the director of the IMN, Werner Stolz.
For 2021 the cyclone season is expected to be less intense than last year, between 15 and 20 named cyclones compared to 30 last year. For 2021 expected are between 7 to 10 hurricanes
“Efforts have been linked with the support of different first response institutions, in order to mitigate the impact that events (hurricanes and cyclones) may generate and provide an effective response to people and communities that may be affected by the rains,” said the president of the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE), Alexander Solís.
The rainy season in Costa Rica is characterized by heavy downpours, described as “aguaceros” and “baldazos” (bucketloads) in Spanish, lightning, the occasional presence of hail, as well as whirlwinds.
During the rainy season, even brown and barren Guanacaste province becomes lush and green.
For those who have never experienced the rainy season in Costa Rica, it doesn’t rain all day, the rain is often limited to a few hours each afternoon (although it can occasionally rain an entire day or a few days at a time).
