🇵🇦Panama

Panama spans 7°–10°N as a Central American isthmus nation (approximately 75,417 km²) connecting North and South America, bordered by Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east, with the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic) to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

The narrow S-shaped land bridge — just 50–180 km wide — features the Continental Divide running east–west through mountainous terrain including the Cordillera de Talamanca (Volcán Barú at 3,475 m, the highest peak), the Serranía de Tabasará, and lowland tropical rainforests covering 40% of the country.

This unique geography creates a dramatic Atlantic-Pacific rainfall divide and intense tropical maritime climate — humid tropical (Af / Am) across most regions with year-round warmth and heavy precipitation, slightly drier tropical savanna (Aw) on the Pacific Azuero Peninsula, and cooler highland subtropical (Cfb) above 1,000 m in Chiriquí highlands.

Panama City averages 26°C in January and 28°C in July with 1,900 mm rainfall concentrated May–November (wet season), while the dry season (December–April) brings trade winds and minimal rain. Colón (Caribbean side) registers 26°C year-round with 3,200 mm — dramatically wetter than the Pacific slope due to Caribbean trade winds. David (Pacific lowlands) averages 27°C in January and 28°C in July with 2,600 mm.

Boquete (Chiriquí highlands at 1,200 m) stays cooler at 18°C year-round with persistent mist and 3,000 mm. The isthmus sits in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) pathway — severe events include the severe 2023–24 El Niño drought (worst on record, collapsing Gatun Lake to historic lows, slashing Panama Canal ship transits by 36% from 38 to 24 daily vessels, costing billions in lost revenue and global supply chain chaos), the severe 2015–16 El Niño drought (forced draft restrictions, reduced Canal capacity 20%), the severe November 2022 floods (300+ mm in 48 hours, 8 deaths, thousands displaced in Panama City and Colón province), Hurricane Otto (November 2016, Category 2, grazing Panama's Caribbean coast with 175 km/h winds and flooding), accelerating sea-level rise threatening the low-lying Guna Yala (San Blas) archipelago (365 islands, 49 inhabited, predicted 0.5–1 m rise by 2100), and the historic 2024 relocation of Carti Sugdupu island community to mainland (1,200 Guna people, first official climate refugee resettlement in Panama).

Our archive covers 3 Panamanian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Juan Díaz, around 29°C, while San Miguelito records the coldest January nights near 23.9°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1°C.