News

It’s hurricane season for resort destinations around North America. Cabo San Lucas and Florida are among the locations that have been pounded, leaving tourists stranded and millions in property damage.

But hurricanes are not a problem in Panama. The big storms swing past Panama, rarely doing anything more than dumping some rains on us.

This is no small matter to real estate investors. Hurricanes are a very real threat in the Caribbean and Mexico. One storm can cost a homeowner thousands of dollars and ruin any yield calculations. Add in the cost of insurance and the loss of income during storm seasons and hurricanes can destroy any chance for an investment’s profitability.

In Panama, it is simply not an issue—and that is not tourist hype. Panama is in a sweet spot that manages to avoid the tracks of both Atlantic and Pacific storms. We are too far east for the Atlantic storms and too far south for the Pacific storms, which tend to swirl toward the coast of Mexico.

Here is a diagram that illustrates the track of hurricanes in the Atlantic from 1851 to 2012.

And here is a diagram tracking Pacific storms from 1980 to 2005.

There are really only two weather patterns in Panama. The “dry” season runs from December through March, and the “green” season from April to December. We can get torrential rains during the green season, but the storms tend to move through the air quickly and the rains serve to rejuvenate the landscape, helping make Panama a lush paradise—without the destructive impact of the hurricanes.