Climatology
This page presents Panama's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Panama has a hot and humid, tropical climate, with a long rainy season from May to January and a short dry season from January to May. The rainy season is between May and December and brings an estimated 250-700 millimeters (mm) of rainfall across the country. Average annual temperature for the country is 27°C and average total rainfall is 1900 mm annually. However, these vary by region and altitude. Maximum mean temperatures across the country oscillate between 31.1°C and 34.5°C. Minimum temperature ranges from 20.1°C and 22.4°C. Occasional severe storms and forest fires in the Darien Gap are common. Climate variability in Panama is driven mainly by the El Niño Southern Oscillation, tropical cyclones, and sea surface temperatures.
- Temperatures in Panama have increased 1°C - 3°C, on average, since the 1970s.
- The amount of accumulated rainfall has increased by 10% since the 1970s. This increase reflects the substantial increase in the number of extreme rain events.