Overnight shower a few nights ago – kind of hard to see on this cell phone picture
The climate here in Nicaragua is not like the climate in most of the US. In the US, although we have rainier and drier seasons, no one would be surprised if it rained on any given day of the year. Here there is a rainy season (“winter”) and a dry season (“summer”) and there is no transition. During the summer it does not rain. Not one drop. And during the winter it storms, sometimes every day.
The summer in Nicaragua, which runs from January through April, is hot. Extremely hot. 100 everyday hot. Because of this the first rain of the winter, when the skies finally open up, are highly anticipated. They are a semi-spiritual moment. This year the wait has been even tenser because we are in a three year drought, made worse by El Niño.
The first rains came yesterday. The two prior nights there had been some showers, but nothing substantial. However, yesterday afternoon some thunder clouds rolled through in the afternoon, and it rained off and on all night long. The temperature cooled way off, and everyone seemed very happy with the state of things.
For my Spanish readers, People even wax poetic about the rain on Facebook
The rain is certainly needed this year because of the drought, but it doesn’t come without its own set of problems. First on the list, flooding:
That intersection seems to flood even with a drizzle. I personally get annoyed at the rain because it makes it a lot more difficult to dry my clothes. Luckily, this year I will only be in Nicaragua for a few weeks of the rainy season before I am in the United States where dryers are abundant.
My house courtyard during the rain (picture taken in 2014)