Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December 2022 / Year End Review

During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 10 countries:

From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions (e.g. Puerto Rico).

During the year, visits were recorded from 44 identifiable countries and non-independent jurisdictions.

As of 2022 year end, the total number of visits to this blog approached 50,000 according to a widget called RevolverMaps. In the right hand sidebar of my current blog the number indicates 25000+ views. However, this number is for the period from Sep. 29, 2016 to date and does not include 24000 views during the period from Nov. 13, 2012 to Sep 29, 2016: see my blog post on Oct. 4, 2016. The following map projection indicates by red dots places from where visits have been received since Sep. 29, 2016:

The right hand sidebar also includes a widget indicating that the "TOTAL PAGEVIEWS" is approaching 250,000. This widget is independent of RevolverMaps and the page count is current from the inception of the blog to date.

Not unrelated to my blog, the YouTube video I posted on Aug. 7,  2017 with regard to landing at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) continues to attract interest. As indicated in the following chart**, the total number of views is over 9700 and the average is over 140 views per month:

Some of the views have undoubtedly been motivated by earlier blog posts which included a link to the video. I expect that many are from persons who have had their "Eyes on Costa Rica" but who were oblivious and remain oblivious to the existence of my blog.

** Note: While the horizontal x-axis distance between successive data points in the chart is uniform, the number of months between each pair of data points is in fact quite irregular. For example, the first data point after the landing date was recorded about 7 months after the landing date; the last data point (Dec. 31, 2022) was recorded about 1 month after the second last data point.

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

December 2022 was an extremely dry month. Unlike previous Decembers where we recorded at least some rain, nothing was recorded in December 2022. There were dribbles on a couple of days. But, our rain guage is a wireless system (Acurite Model 00899) with a remote collector and a digital display. If the rainfall on any given day fails to reach at least 0.01 in. (0.25 mm), then the record from Acurite for that day is "0.00".
 
That said, the following chart indicates the monthly pattern of rainfall in 2022 in the area where we now live ("San Roque de Grecia" as distinct from "San Roque" per se or any other "San Roque de ..." which you might find in Costa Rica). This pattern is compared to patterns in Hacienda El Paseo where we previously lived in 2020, 2021 and the early dry season part of 2022:

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 2022 / Covid-19 Update

I apologize for the lateness of this report but I have been involved with an art and music festival in Atenas during the last week. This ended yesterday so I am now back home and on our normal routine.

During November, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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The following is a summary of the weather during November and from April 11, 2022 to November 30, 2022 in the area where we live:

The coldest daytime high temperature, 68ºF (20ºC), occurred on two successive days with almost continuous drizzling rain. It was the second coldest daytime high that we have experienced during all our time in Costa Rica.

In contrast, there was a 5 day period during the month with moderately high temperatures, no rain and relatively low humidity - a sign of the upcoming “dry season” in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on November 6, 2022:

With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has risen by 0.01% in Canada but remains unchanged in Canada and the United States.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - October 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During October, visits to this blog were received from the following 17 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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

We were mildly sideswiped by hurricane Julia as it crossed Nicaragua late night on October 8 continuing well into the day on October 9. With a few short breaks, we had a steady and persistent drizzle of rain totalling about 2 3/4 inches (~ 70 mm). But, the winds were relatively light. Overall, the situation was not nearly as torrential as in some areas of Nicaragua. 

With the rain from Julia, there was also a lot of fog. The result was a record low daytime high temperature for us during all our time in Costa Rica - a mere 64ºF (17.8°C).

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on October 9, 2022:

With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has fallen by 0.04% in Costa Rica but has risen by 0.01% in Canada. As indicated, the United States remains unchanged.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

After a hiatus, Worldometer is again reporting U.S. population numbers, cases per million and deaths per million on the same web page as other Covid data. Thus, unlike the last while, it was not necessary to obtain population data from an unrelated Worldometer web page to determine cases per million and deaths per million for the U.S.

Click on images to enlarge.

Hearing Doctor Appointment

A couple of weeks ago we drove to Escazú for an appointment with my hearing doctor, Dr. Natalie Goldgewicht Davidovich. Because of Covid-19, we had not been able to see her for a couple of years. I suspected my hearing aids needed to be recalibrated due to further loss of hearing. Or, as Lance said to Dr. Davidovich at this appointment: “she can’t hear!”.

I remember my grandmother and grandfather on my mother’s side both wore old fashioned hearing aids … the battery pack was the size the size of a deck of cards that they wore in a pocket on their clothes. So I suppose this is where I inherited the hearing loss from because it doesn’t relate to anything else in my life. Hearing aids today are totally different, very sophisticated.

The drive there was uneventful until we reached the Centro Commercial mall on Avenida Escazú. We mistakenly drove down into a dark, private underground parking lot and eventually reached a gate which wouldn’t open without a pass card. I think that was my fault …. I said “oh yeah, turn left here”. Lance had to back up in the dark along the curved and upwardly sloped driveway. It was tricky and he did a good job. We then drove into the public lot and went to my appointment.

Sure enough, the audiogram showed further loss. The hearing aids I have are Signia Pure Charge&Go. They were not inexpensive but well worth it. I have an app on my iPad and my phone that lets me control the sound levels and I can choose where sounds are coming from. For instance, in a noisy environment such as a restaurant I can adjust them so I can better hear the person sitting in front of me and not all the other diners. And mine are also hooked up to Bluetooth so I can listen to videos on my iPad or movies on our TV directly into my ears.

So that was done for another year and we headed for Auto Mercado in Santa Ana for some high end grocery shopping. 

Driving home, we saw a downed power pole on Hwy. 1 at the turnoff to Grecia. The turnoff itself was blocked by another downed pole so we had to detour back to Hwy. 1 north and get to our house via Sarchi.

We made a dashcam movie of the drive, except for the portion of driving from Sarchi to our house, because we previously did that and you can see in on my YouTube channel.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - September 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During September, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries, 1 unidentified European country and, for the second time in the last two months, 1 totally unidentified country (Europe, Asia or otherwise):

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc. The latest country is Guyana located in South America. The visit came from Georgetown, Guyana's capital city.

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

Temperatures during September were moderate and relatively unremarkable. The real story was rainfall. Except for a single day, there was at least some rain every day - ranging from 0.01 inches (25 mm) to over 5 inches. The total rainfall for the month was the most we have ever encountered during any single month since our arrival in Costa Rica in 2011 and, with 3 months to go, the total rainfall this year to the end of September has now exceeded that during the full 12 months of any previous year. 

Despite the amount of rain, most days in September were marked by several hours in the mornings by broken clouds and no rain.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on September 5, 2022:

With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has risen by 0.01% in Canada, but has fallen by 0.01% in Costa Rica and the United States.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - August 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During August, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries, Hong Kong and 1 unknown country:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

Purely speculative, but perhaps the unknown country was somebody on an aircraft using a satellite connection with the internet.

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

The hottest temperature during the month was on August 1 (87°F / 30.6°C) and this was higher than any day in July. However, it was not uncomfortable. The humidity was only 36%. This is unlike the Pacific and Caribbean coasts where temperatures can be much the same as the interior of Costa Rica but with uncomfortably high humidities. At our elevation in the interior we have found absolutely no need for indoor heating or air conditioning.

With regard to rainfall, there were a number of days where we got deluges. But they were usually short lived and normally in the afternoon. Where we live, a typical "green season" day begins with broken clouds lasting till about noon. With or without rain, the sky becomes overcast in the afternoon. Mornings are the best time to get shopping or other things done.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on August 8, 2022:

With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has fallen by 0.02% in Costa Rica and the United States but, as indicated, remains unchanged in Canada.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations**, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

** On its Covid web page, Worldometer continues not to provide numbers for the U.S. population, cases per million, or deaths per million. However it does report total cases and total deaths. As well, on a web page unrelated to Covid, it reports on the U.S. population. In the above table, the U.S. cases per million and deaths per million were calculated from the total cases and total deaths as reported on its Covid web page and the U.S. population as reported on its unrelated web page.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - July 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During July, visits to this blog were received from the following 10 countries and Hong Kong:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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

At the beginning of July, tropical storm warnings from the Caribbean had been issued for much of Costa Rica. However, while it ended up tracking across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua to the Pacific, the only effect on us was a dreary 24 hours or so of drizzling rain with minimal winds.

There was at least some rain almost every day in July. However, on many of these days the amount was rather trivial. Most days were marked by sunny or partly sunny mornings - then some rain - then lingering cloud. On 6 days there were downpours contributing to over 60% of the total rainfall for the month.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on July 6, 2022:

The column headed "Death Rate Trend" is new. For each country, it will indicate whether the Covid situation appears to be improving (death rate "Falling"), getting worse (death rate "Rising") or is unchanged ("No Change") since the last time a report was made on this blog. Thankfully, the death rate has fallen in all three countries since my last post on the topic. More specifically, it fell by 0.08% in Costa Rica, 0.01% in Canada, and 0.02% in the United States. So, survivability is improving.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

**This time around, the foregoing is not completely accurate for the United States. At least between August 1 and August 8 Worldometer was inexplicably not reporting on its Covid web page the numbers for U.S. population, cases per million, or deaths per million. But it did report total cases (93,910,150) and total deaths (1,058,738). Also, on a web page unrelated to Covid, it reported the U.S. population as of August 8 (335,122,642). With these numbers in hand, it was trivial to calculate cases per million and deaths per million for purposes of the above table.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - June 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During June, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc. Seven countries are less than average.

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

The green season continues. June was the second month in a row where we received at least some rain on 28 days of the month. However, most days began with relatively sunny mornings and did not become overcast until late morning or early afternoon.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on June 9, 2022:

Since my last post, the death rate in the United States is down 0.03%. That in Canada and Costa Rica remains unchanged.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - May 2022 / Covid-19 Update

 During May, visits to this blog were received from the following 7 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc. Seven countries are less than average.

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May is the first full month that we were settled in San Roque de Grecia. Here is a summary of the weather for the month and a summary from the day we arrived until month end:

Compared to May 2021 when we lived in Hacienda El Paseo (a short distance southwest of Grecia), the average overnight low temperature in San Roque was about 1.5°F (0.83°C) lower. Somewhat surprisingly and despite being at a significantly higher altitude the average daytime high in San Roque was virtually the same as last year in Hacienda El Paseo.

Rainfall comparisons are a different matter. For us, 25.51 inches (648 mm) in a single month is a record for any month of any year in any place where we have lived and kept records in Costa Rica (firstly Vista Atenas; secondly Hacienda El Paseo; and now San Roque). Also, we have never before encountered 28 days of rain in a single month.

The nice thing about the rain is that on any given day it is often preceded by mornings with light or broken clouds and usually does not begin until early afternoon. Often, it only lasts for 2 or 3 hours or less. This serves to keep everything green and fresh. Thus, we have the so-called green season in Costa Rica.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on May 6, 2022:

Overall, the death rate in Costa Rica is down 0.05% since my last post. That in the United States is down 0.03% and that in Canada is up 0.01%

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

If you want more up to date information and statistics on the situation in Costa Rica, including various locales in Costa Rica, then the web site of the Costa Rican Ministry of Health ("Ministerio de Salud") is a good source. If you do not understand Spanish, then you should enable translation features on your web browser if they are available.

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - April 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During April, visits to this blog were received from the following 11 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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Our move in April from Hacienda El Paseo to San Roque de Grecia (see my blog post on April 23, 2022) has led to two weather summaries for the month:

Hacienda El Paseo is a community in Costa Rica in the canton of Puente de Piedra ("Stone Bridge"), a short distance generally southwest of the city of Grecia. San Roque de Grecia is a short distance generally northeast of Grecia. As the crow flies, the particular location where we now live is about 4.6 miles (7.5 km) from where we lived in Hacienda El Paseo. Our elevation is about 913 feet (278 meters) higher than in Hacienda El Paseo. So, on average we can expect lower temperatures but not temperatures which require indoor heating.

Rainfall comparisons are a bit more problematic. The first three months of 2022 were squarely within the so-called "dry season" in Costa Rica. There were only 3 or 4 days with small amounts of measurable rainfall at Hacienda El Paseo. The same is likely true for San Roque de Grecia. But, all bets are off when it comes to the so-called "green season". 

This year, the rain gods flipped a switch to the green season on April 1. There was measurable rainfall at Hacienda El Paseo every day from April 1 to April 10. On April 11 we moved - so we have no more information from Hacienda El Paseo. But, from San Roque de Grecia, we recorded measurable rainfall on April 15 and on every day from April 21 to April 30. During the remainder of the 2022 green season, it is entirely possible that the recorded rainfall from our location in San Roque de Grecia will be quite different from that which might have been recorded in Hacienda El Paseo. We will never know for sure. But, at the end of this year, we will be able to make comparisons with previous years at Hacienda El Paseo.

As has been indicated in previous posts, Costa Rica is a country of microclimates. Temperatures, temperature averages and rainfall can vary significantly over short distances depending on elevation and geographic location.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on April 11, 2022:

Overall, the death rate in Canada is down 0.02% since my last post. That in Costa Rica and the United States is unchanged.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

Click on images to enlarge.