Rain Map of Costa Rica
If you ask almost any taxi driver in San Jose about the Caribbean Coast, the first thing they will respond is this: Oh – don’t go there – it rains all the time!
Now ask anyone who has lived in the Southern Caribbean for a while and they will proudly tell you that this is simply not true. In fact it is Sunny most of the time. Here is why:
Until recently, national weather forecasts for the Caribbean included the ENTIRE province as one weather phenomenon – or one station. That station was based near northern Limon – where it DOES rain quite a bit. in fact it is one of the rainiest regions of the country. It would be sunny with blue skies in the Southern Caribbean and folks from the San Jose would look at the forecast and conclude that it is pouring here. It took years of soliciting and convincing, but we finally got a weather station in the Southern Caribbean and today the forecasts are much more accurate. If one observes the current forecasts, you will note that there is a Northern Caribbean and a Southern Caribbean – with good reason.
We recently came across more convincing proof! Our friends at www.crmap.com have provided us permission to repost this map of the accumulated rainfall per year every throughout Costa Rica. The colors and shades speak for themselves! The Southern Caribbean gets the LEAST rainfall in the country – similar to most of Guanacaste.
OK, so now you ask….but why does it stay so green and exuberantly lush? Why are our forests true “rain forest” quality? The answer is simple: the relatively less rainfall we get is also EVENLY spread throughout the year. While we get less extreme conditions, less dry spells and less monsoon periods, we do get a relatively consistent downpour every few days – or almost every night for an hour or two – in an ideal world. Sure we get some storms or tropical systems that can dump continuous rain for a few days, but these rare exceptions. The Osa peninsula has some of the greatest rainforests, and they get PLENTY of rain – but they also endure weeks and sometimes months of dryness. Because our rain is more spread out throughout the year, it is just enough to keep our great forests looking lush all year – with a quality that resembles other areas with much greater amounts of annual rainfall.
To get a more precise understanding of when and how much it rains, we recommend you visit www.crmap.com and play with the interactive map…it is pretty cool.
A good mix of some rain and lots of sunshine is the right mix for perfect Caribbean weather!
