Panama Climate
Top 5 Cities: Panama City, San Miguelito, Tocumen, La Chorrera, and Colón
This month in numbers
Panama experienced an average temperature of 25.58°C in April 2026, marking an anomaly of +0.6°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline. This ranked as the 19th warmest April in 86 years of records. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperatures, with an anomaly of +1.1°C, just shy of the all-time record set in April 2025.
What changed
The three-month period from February to April 2026 saw an average temperature of 25.32°C, also +0.6°C above the baseline, ranking as the 20th warmest such period on record. Panama's annual average temperature for 2025 was 25.67°C, making it the 2nd warmest year in 85 years of data, continuing a long-term warming trend of +0.95°C since the 1961–1990 baseline. Panama ranked 207th out of 234 regions for its one-month temperature anomaly and 225th for its three-month anomaly, indicating that while the country is experiencing warmer conditions, many other regions globally are warming at a significantly faster rate.
What’s driving change?
The current climate is influenced by ENSO-neutral conditions, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C as of late April 2026. However, there is a strong forecast for El Niño to emerge, with a 61% probability for May-July 2026, increasing to 87% by July-September 2026 [/climate/enso]. El Niño typically brings warmer and drier conditions to Mexico and Central America, increasing drought risk during the rainy season. This could exacerbate water stress, particularly for the Panama Canal, which experienced severe drought conditions during the 2023-2024 El Niño, leading to transit restrictions.
Panama experienced significant extreme weather events in April. Heavy rainfall around April 14th caused rivers to overflow in the Ngäbe-Buglé region and the provinces of Bocas del Toro and northern Veraguas, affecting approximately 15,000 people and resulting in one fatality. Additionally, a fire warning was issued until April 23rd due to an increase in hotspots across several provinces, indicating a heightened risk of vegetation fires. A notable event in 2025, highlighted by recent research, was the unprecedented failure of the seasonal upwelling in the Gulf of Panama, a process vital for marine life and coastal cooling, attributed to unusually weak winds.
Looking ahead
Seasonal outlooks suggest that the developing El Niño phase could lead to increased heat stress and more frequent dry spells in the coming months.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Panama
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Panama changing?
Panama is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Panama come from?
Climate data for Panama comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Panama climate data cover?
The Panama climate profile covers Panama City, San Miguelito, Tocumen, La Chorrera and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Panama
How often is the Panama climate update refreshed?
The Panama climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.