Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December 2019

During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 15 countries:

The total number of countries from which visits have been received increased to 129 in December, the most recent being Seychelles identified above.  Seychelles is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. The location of the visit from that country was Victoria (the capital city).

The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:

When you have lived in Costa Rica for as long as we have, you become acclimatized. Higher outdoor temperatures such as 85°F and above are not as uncomfortable as they felt "up north" where we once lived. Conversely, lower outdoor temperatures such as 60°F and below now feel outright cold in Costa Rica. Up north, such temperatures often felt mild and refreshing, particularly after a long winter.

One of the most miserable weather days that we encountered so far in Costa Rica was in early December. There was 24 hour cloud cover and drizzling rain all day. The high temperature was only 70°F (rare at our altitude). With some big differences, this was reminiscent of experiences with December weather in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada and the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. The differences were that it was happily a one off day. Up north, this kind of weather can prevail day after day ad nauseam in the winter. Also, the high temperatures up north in December can often be very near or below freezing.

With regard to rain, we have now clearly entered the throes of the dry season. There were only a few days in December with measurable rain. In the coming months, that few will likely become less or none at all. The following is a summary of the rainfall amounts in our area for the entire year 2019:

A treat at this time of year is to see the poro trees blooming with their bright orange flowers.