outdoors

photo by Maralily

A waterspout over Panama Bay

So are you new to Panama, or thinking about becoming new to Panama, and were you told by some rah-rah real estate promoter that we never get any serious storms here?

Well, relatively speaking, we don't. We're outside of the Hurricane Belt, and, although we do get a few bit rainstorms per year that cause some flooding problems here or there and especially on the Atlantic side an occasional destructive windstorm, we're not in Tornado Alley either.

So what was this on Christmas Day? It was a waterspout, a small cyclonic windstorm that started out over land in Panama City, then quickly moved out to sea, where it sucked up water and provided an impressive show for people in upscale Paitilla and some other neighborhoods along Panama Bay. No injuries or property losses were reported. Waterspouts rarely cause damage, but you really don't want to sail your boat under one.

Just the same, if this picture doesn't match the descriptions of Panama you get from someone who's urging you that now's the time to buy, you really do need to diversify your sources of information about this country.