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So, I understand that during much of the year, Panama gets regular rain due to moist air being carried in by the trade winds from the Caribbean.

However, the country also has a "dry season" from roughly December to March, and I haven't been able to find information on why that happens, given that the trade winds are supposed to be blowing year-round. Is there some climatic process in the Caribbean that weakens them or directs them northwards during this time of the year?

EDIT: Ah, this must be related to the seasonal movement of the intertropical convergence zone, right? Is that that the trade wind effect is present year round, but just doesn't produce a lot of precipitation in Panama on its own, until the ITCZ adds majorly to it during the northern summer?

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    $\begingroup$ at that latitude it is similar to Sri Lankan weather. so in addition to ITCZ going into the southern hemisphere you also need to take into account SST of the ocean nearby whether they can supply moist laden winds consistently. $\endgroup$ – gansub Apr 17 at 9:17
  • $\begingroup$ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon, look under "Process" $\endgroup$ – Spencer Apr 17 at 14:28
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    $\begingroup$ Panama's air surface temperature on land stays about the same all year. So which monsoon processes would be affecting it seasonally then? $\endgroup$ – user26529 Apr 17 at 22:12
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    $\begingroup$ As for sea surface temperature, changes to that are exactly what's driving the movement of the ITCZ, right? $\endgroup$ – user26529 Apr 17 at 22:14
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, differential heating of the hemispheres, energy flux equator, ascending branches of the hadley cells, and other magic spells cross my mind :-) $\endgroup$ – user20217 Apr 17 at 22:28

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