Weather: dreary with smoke

Dreary?

The weather websites are coming up with some interesting tags these days. Sunny, cloudy, rain, snow: I'm sure they get tired of those. I was on a Honduras website and noticed a weather widget predicting "smoke".

We do have a smoky season in Honduras. It usually only lasts about a week. I still haven't figured it out and never remember year to year exactly when it was. It's widely believed to be at the time when the sugar cane farmers burn their fields. The clouds of smoke go up and usually hang over Honduras for a week or more. But the sugar cane folks always deny that they are at fault, so who knows? All I know is that it is real and it's uncomfortable, especially causing problems for those with respiratory issues.

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5.5 Earthquake in Honduras

5.5 Honduras earthquake, 1:14 pm, April 10, 2013
Image courtesy USGS

Oooooh! We just felt an earthquake in La Ceiba. It lasted several seconds and based on my memory of 2009 when we had so many, I'd guess that it was at least a 5.5. The stuff on top of my desk was rattling like crazy. At first I just sat there experiencing it, but when it didn't pass after a few seconds, I decided it was time to get out of the house. I saw Arexy paused like a statute on the terraza steps. Before I could get outside, it stopped.

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I wrote that and then I had to go chat with everyone around me. El Jefe was driving on the highway and did not feel it. Our Honduras Living group was getting messages from expats in La Ceiba, San Pedro, Roatán, Tegucigalpa, La Lima (Cortés), Danlí (El Paraíso) who all felt it. Two people who were in Trujillo and the island of Guanaja did not feel it.

Not to brag – well, maybe a little! – I guesstimated 5.5 right after it happened. The USGS is now showing it as a 5.5 on the Richter scale. I tracked all of those 2009 earthquakes and since I blogged about most of them, I guess my memory is working pretty well. I had never experienced an earthquake before moving to Honduras and they made a big impression on me, especially the 7.3 quake that had us running through the dark to get out of the house.

The USGS earthquake website gives the epicenter as 5 km. (3 miles) south of San Juan Pueblo and about 36 km (22 miles) southeast of Tela, Honduras. San Juan Pueblo is roughly halfway on the highway between La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula. We were checking the television, but not much was known at the time about damages. I just checked again, and Canal 3 is saying that there are no reports of damage so far. I guess Honduras was lucky again. We'll no doubt get more details on the 5pm news.

La Prensa is reporting that Tela lost power and telecommunications but that there was no damage reported.  Jocon, Yoro y Olanchito reported fissures in some buildings and homes. La Prensa also gives a whole page of earthquake safety tips.

The following map indicates the "Did you feel it?" reports received by the USGS. I always encourage people to report what they felt. You can do that with the DYFI online form. I think it helps the USGS refine their data.

The blue bubbles represent reports of feeling the quake.
Courtesy USGS Earthquake website
Click to enlarge

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Question: Are there any earthquake experts out there who can explain why the depth is almost always given as 10 km? Just curious.

2012 La Ceiba, Honduras rainfall statistics

La Gringa's tropical-sized rain gauge
La Ceiba, Honduras

I haven't mentioned my rainfall statistics in a long time. I check my rain gauge every single day and have done this for 4-plus years! I keep a daily spreadsheet and update my La Ceiba rainfall tables on the Blogicito every now and then. Can you tell I was a former auditor? I like to keep track of those numbers.

I don't have one of those fancy electronic weather stations. I just do it with my tropical-size 24-inch (610 mm.) rain gauge and a ruler marked to the 16th of an inch. So don't expect that it will be accurate to a millimeter, but I think it is good enough for gardening or tourist purposes. I try to be accurate. If it is between marks, I estimate a 32nd of an inch. ;-)

Here is the 2012 update:

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2011 Rainfall in La Ceiba, Honduras

My tropical-sized 24-inch rain gauge

In the past, I lamented that there was no official rain measurements for La Ceiba so I was determined to do my own unofficial measurements for my own information. Being a former CPA (For the crazies out there: note that is C-P-A, Certified Public Account, not C-I-A), I like numbers, facts, and statistics. Saying, "Man, we had a ton of rain yesterday!" just doesn't do it for me. It took me a while to get a tropical sized rain gauge — I had to have my own made. Prior to that, I made an effort but between the small gauges overflowing during the day and dogs knocking over or eating the plastic gauges, it was hopeless. Now I have the dog-proof 24" rain gauge shown above.

I don't have one of those fancy electronic weather stations, but, hey, it's better than nothing, right? So continuing La Gringa's official unofficial rain statistics for La Ceiba, here you go:

Monthly Rainfall La Ceiba, Honduras Inches

Month	2012	2011	2010	2009	Average
Jan	0.00	25.75	30.56	20.13	25.48
Feb	0.00	8.88	16.63	9.13	11.54
March	0.00	2.62	20.88	4.38	9.29
April	0.00	0.00	4.38	7.25	3.88
May	0.00	0.69	3.75	4.06	2.83
June	0.00	6.12	6.88	2.75	5.25
July	0.00	9.12	12.13	8.00	9.75
Aug	0.00	7.38	8.75	14.25	10.13
Sept	0.00	9.75	19.0	4.13	10.96
Oct	0.00	21.81	12.63	16.50	16.98
Nov	0.00	17.00	17.63	25.00	19.88
Dec	0.00	16.13	13.31	12.19	13.87
Totals	000.00	125.25	166.50	127.75	139.83

For those who think in centimeters instead of inches, check out the centimeter chart on my Rainfall page.

The most unusual La Ceiba, Honduras, rainfall activity in 2011 was a severe drought in the spring time. Our rainy season is roughly September through March and May is usually the month with the least rainfall, but in 2011, we had not a drop of rain for a 48 day period from March 19 through May 5. We had a few sprinkles in May but no real tropical rain until June 6 when we received a much appreciated (by the thirsty tropical plants) 1.5 inches.

The days with the largest amount of rain were January 15 with 9.5 inches, January 22 and 28 with 3.5 inches each, February 11 with 5.5 inches, September 10, 3 inches, October 7, 3.75 inches, December 9, 5.25 inches, and December 10, 3.25 inches. The largest rainfall day is much reduced from the past in which I recorded 16 inches in December 2008.

The number of rain days per month were: January 12 days, February 7 days, March 4 days, April 0, May 4 days, June 7 days, July 22 days, August 11 days, September 13 days, October 18 days, November 18 days, and December 21 days, for a total of 137 days. Many of these days, however, were just a light afternoon sprinkle that dried up in 10 minutes.

This part of Honduras totally missed the severe tropical storms and hurricanes this year and we had no lengthy periods of heavy rain days. I think we only had one or two days of mopping up rainwater from leaky windows this year. What a treat!

Weather in general

I have a little weather widget in the sidebar which gives the current La Ceiba temperature and "real feel" (in the far right column, about 6 clicks down). You can also click the links in the widget to get the Accuweather forecast.

My monthly rainfall tables (in inches and centimeters) can be found on this page. I keep a daily chart but usually only update this page at the end of the month.

How is the weather in La Ceiba? gives an overview of the weather in this part of the country and links to a good overview of Honduras weather — which despite what many websites imply, is not the same all over the country. "When is the rainy season?" cannot be answered without first asking "What part of the country?". Here is an overview from Countries of the World:

Although all of Honduras lies within the tropics, the climatic types of each of the three physiographic regions differ. The Caribbean lowlands have a tropical wet climate with consistently high temperatures and humidity, and rainfall fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The Pacific lowlands have a tropical wet and dry climate with high temperatures but a distinct dry season from November through April. The interior highlands also have a distinct dry season, but, as is characteristic of a tropical highland climate, temperatures in this region decrease as elevation increases.

And to skim through everything I've written on weather (and earthquakes), check out the 'weather' topic.

Rainfall July YTD 2011

Mountains behind the pineapple fields

I updated my rainfall table for July if anyone is interested. We've been getting rain almost everyday, but mostly very light. It usually rains between about 4-6pm for a few minutes, hardly enough to register in the rain gauge. Often by the time I go around shutting windows on the east side of the house — the direction the rain almost always comes from — it has already stopped.

I always think that it is perfect timing for the tourists: Beautiful sunny days and then a little rain around the time they are going back to their hotels to get ready to go out for dinner.

Does blood thin?

Guess which side of the bed is mine?

The other day I posted on Facebook that I was freezing in La Ceiba. That prompted some comments of "Impossible!" and comparison to -2°C (28°F) Canadian weather (which always makes me feel so guilty).

Of course I was exaggerating. It never freezes in La Ceiba or gets anywhere near close to it. Lower 60's °F (16°C) is the coldest that I've experienced and even that is rare. So how could I be "freezing"?

It's not just in my mind, I swear it's not! My feet and hands and nose are cold to the touch. Even El Jefe who scoffs at my laments of being cold has to admit that I am cold when I put my icy hands on his neck. It's not just in my mind, really it's not! My chihuahuas agree. They will curl up in adjoining balls and their ears will be cold to the touch.

The first year that we were in Honduras, I used to laugh at the so-called 'cold fronts'. I told El Jefe that they should be called 'frentes tibias' (tepid fronts) not 'frentes frios' (cold fronts). I can remember wearing shorts or at most a light cotton jacket while I would see others wearing ski jackets, knit caps, and gloves. "These people don't know what cold is!" I thought.

I never even unpacked my box of warm clothes the first couple of years. Now it seems that they are getting more and more use every year. I remember hearing some advice to new immigrants from a long time expatriate. After their first rainy season, the newbies mentioned that they were sending all their warm clothes home because they didn't need them. Long-timer Lori suggested that they hang on to them because "It will get colder". It's not that the weather actually will get colder, it's just that they will feel that it does ... eventually.

So, what's the deal? Does your blood really thin in a warm climate? Anybody else get cold hands or a cold nose when the temperature is 70°F (21°C)?

Ten inches of rain in La Ceiba, Honduras

House sitting on a hole in the ground after the rains
Photos: La Prensa, Honduras

This is a followup on my Friday weather article. Here in our neighborhood just outside of La Ceiba, we had 10 inches of rain on Friday! The rain fell strongly from about 2 p.m. until about 5 p.m., then diminished somewhat but didn't completely stop until about 1 a.m. El Jefe went to town in the early evening and it had stopped there, at least temporarily. It's amazing how the weather varies just a few miles away.

Saturday and today, it has been cloudy with some light sprinkles. The weather forecast includes only scattered showers for the next seven days, so hopefully the worst is over, at least until the next tropical storm comes along.

The local news on Friday night showed terrible flooding in some areas of La Ceiba. We saw men walking down a street with water up to their waists. The reporters showed the inside of one house which had water up to the sofa cushions. What a disaster! The antiquated storm drain system in downtown La Ceiba has been basically non-functional for decades and no one does anything about it. People throw their trash all over the streets and the drains clog up with plastic bags and bottles, seemingly unknowing or uncaring about the problems this causes for others.

Another problem is that the municipality allows building anywhere in any manner and there are no controls to prevent one property owner from 'raising' their lot several feet above the adjoining lots which of course causes the neighboring lots to flood with the run off — sometimes which is even purposely drained into the neighboring lots! There also doesn't seem to be any controls to prevent clearing the higher properties of all vegetation even when it is obvious that when the rain comes, the hill will slide down on top the houses below. It's every man for himself here.

A La Prensa article states that about 150 people in 18 colonias were affected. This photo shows a man shoveling mud out of his house in Las Canelas. The neighbors say they have complained to the authorities about the danger more than once but nothing was done. Now, whether they built their houses before or after the hill became a danger, I do not know.

The article also quotes the rainfall as having been 100 millimeters (approximately 4 inches). I have no idea where this nice round figure comes from since the airport weather station doesn't track rain and there are no recorded personal weather stations. I sincerely doubt that there was that much of a difference in the amount of rain in town and here at my house. Maybe it was just a wild guess.

The congress recently passed a new building code. I hope that this sort of thing will be addressed, but even if it is, there isn't much chance that it will be enforced. That's not negative, that's just the way things have always been here in Honduras. If you are buying property, you need to be aware of what can happen.

Heavy rains in La Ceiba

Photo, about 3:30 pm, September 30

The noise is deafening and really interfering with my Spanish comprehension of the Ecuador news. If you don't know about the Eucador news, I've posted a bunch of articles on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me!



Here is the same shot at 4:00 p.m., 30 minutes after the photo above. The creek is overflowing but it is much below the level of the few houses around here. It is probably more of a danger downstream.



Here is the view about 4:30 p.m. The rain has slowed but not stopped. The grading that they have done for this new road is completely washed away.



Luckily we discovered that our rain drain in front of the garage was stopped up before the garage was completely flooded. (Driveway is on the left of the grate; garage is on the right.) This excellently designed in-ground gutter about 8 inches deep connected to a 4 inch drainage tube has protected our garage from flooding for 8 years. We have to keep a screen over the end of the drainage gutter to keep the tube from clogging up with leaves, dirt, plastic, frogs, birds, and baby chicks. (Yes, I have pulled all of those things out of the gutter.) The water was only about an inch deep, but it had reached about two feet into the garage. If this had been at night and we hadn't noticed, I hate to think what would have happened.

I haven't gone out to check the rain gauge, but peering at it from the terraza, it appears that we have had more than 6 inches, possibly 7 inches, in the past 2-3 hours. There is no doubt that downtown La Ceiba is flooded as it only takes about 20 minutes of heavy rain to do that.

Most ironic of all, we have been ten days (10 DAYS!) without running water. While we have none inside the house, we have more than we need outside. Looking at the bright side, it only takes about 2 minutes to fill a 5-gallon bucket in the rain. That's good for two toilet flushes. ;-)


Update 4:50 p.m.: I spoke too soon. The rain has increased in force again.


Afterthought: Those photos are a perfect example of how the flooding and mudslides are NOT natural disasters, but man-made disasters. There is no flooding or mudslides in my yard or any place else I can see from the dryness of my house. Why? Because they haven't been cleared by man of all grass and trees and all the natural protection from flooding. The area in these photos had been cleared for a new road, but are a good example of what is seen in the mountains and elsewhere in Honduras.

Honduras is in a state of emergency

Rio Choluteca

Photo: La Prensa, Honduras

Honduras can't catch a break! We've gone directly from extreme drought conditions in the southern part of the country and water rationing in Tegucigalpa to full-fledged flooding from Tropical Storm Agatha. Mudslides are likely due to the extreme deforestation in many areas. Several rivers have overflowed their banks, including the Rio Choluteca, upon which at least one bridge has been lost. For a time today, all the airports were closed due to visibility problems.

Channel 10 has had weather/news coverage all afternoon and the videos show that conditions are pretty serious. Right now I'm watching a river bank cave in. Some rivers have reached the height of the bridges and this will only get worse as the mountains shed the excess water into the rivers.

Here in La Ceiba, things are not bad. We had an inch of rain two nights ago and another inch yesterday, but only some scattered sprinkles today. Generally, May is one of the driest months in La Ceiba.

Hurricane season doesn't officially start until June 1, but no one told Agatha. For more weather information from different parts of the country, please check out these bloggers:

La Gringa in San Pedro

Trish in Gracias, Lempira

Laurie in Tegucigalpa

For photos and news in Spanish, see the following:

La Prensa

La Tribuna

El Heraldo

Proceso Digital

Brrrr! It's cold everywhere

Photo caption: Cold wave freezes the US
(Headline: Panamá asks OAS to lift sanctions against Honduras
- but that is another topic)

Just so that we don't complain about the Honduran weather too much, La Prensa reminded us Friday that it could be worse − much, much worse. I love this photo shown on the front page (above) and there were other great ones inside. The school buses seem to have grown tusks of ice. On the Atlanta TV news, I saw cars skidding this way and that, and into each other, on the icy roads. I remember those days in Dallas.

The past week has been as cold as I ever remember in my 8 years in La Ceiba, too. I know that many of you are going to go "boooo" when I mention the temperature, but here goes: It has gotten as low as 62°F (17°C) during the day. Combined with humidity of about 96%, that gives a 'Real Feel' in the 50's F (14-18°C range).

Before you think that we are wimps, please remember that we don't have furnaces or insulation, and many of us have crappy windows that leak air and water. It isn't a whole lot warmer inside the house than it is outside.

But I'm not really complaining. Really, I'm not! It's kind of fun to have an unusual non-threatening weather event like this. I'm just glad that I hung onto two pairs of sweat pants and jackets.

There are a surprising number of ski jackets and knitted caps that come out in tropical La Ceiba in weather like this. Actually, they often come out in weather much less cold than this. I used to laugh about this, but the longer I'm here, the more I'm acclimated to the tropical weather. Maybe in a few more years, I'll get to that point, but for now, sweat pants, socks, and light jacket are all I need. In fact, we have a small box marked 'warm clothes' into which all of our 'winter' clothes fit and that is including El Jefe's down jacket. It's great weather for sleeping and a welcome relief from the sweltering heat that we generally have about 350 days per year.

The chihuahuas shiver like they are out in snow, so it's not just me. Even the chickens huddle to keep warm − though I read about chickens in the US living in 30°F barns (-1°C) just fine. I brought this hen (in the photo) inside on Friday because she was sitting on eggs and being rained on at the same time. That was just in time, because her chicks hatched on Saturday. For now they are living in a large laundry basket in the laundry room. In this photo, they are in their traveling laundry basket. I couldn't resist taking them to show my nieces and nephews.

We are going to have a record breaking rainfall this month in La Ceiba, Honduras, too. In the 14 months that I've been keeping the data, December 2008 was the highest with 26.375 inches (67 cm.). As of January 11, we have already had 25.375 inches (64.5 cm.) and it is raining today.

La Ceiba weather report, January 4

Fashion Gringa's footwear

Chilly, dark, wet, making bread and baked potato soup while wearing socks with my flip-flops.

We've already had 9.25 inches of rain this month (23.5 cm.).

2009 Rainfall Data, La Ceiba, Honduras

La Gringa's tropical-sized rain gauge

Long-time readers have read the saga of La Gringa's rain gauge. If not, you can read a summary of the two-year saga at La Gringa finally gets her rain gauge.

I lamented that there was no official rain measurements in La Ceiba so I was determined to do my own unofficial measurements. Being a former CPA (For the crazies out there: note that is C-P-A, Certified Public Account, not C-I-A), I like numbers, facts, and statistics. Saying, "Man, we had a ton of rain yesterday!" just doesn't do it for me.

I finally have a year of rain data to give you. For those who don't know what an inch is, or those who don't know what a centimeter is, I've given the data in both measurements.

2009 Monthly Rainfall
La Ceiba, Honduras

La Ceiba, Honduras

Month	Amount (in.)	Amount (cm.)
January	20.125	51.12
February	9.125	23.18
March	4.375	11.11
April	7.250	18.42
May	4.063	10.32
June	2.750	6.99
July	8.000	20.32
August	14.250	36.20
September	4.125	10.48
October	16.500	41.91
November	25.000	63.50
December	12.186	30.95
Annual total	127.750 in.	324.49 cm.

I actually began keeping the data in December 2008, which was the biggest month I've measured: 26.375 inches (67 cm.). The highest rainfall day that I've recorded so far was also in December 2008, with 16 whooping inches of rain (41 cm.) on December 10, 2008. The highest rainfall day in 2009 was October 19, with 10.75 inches (27 cm.), followed closely by November 27, with 9.25 inches (24 cm.).

The longest that we went without rain in La Ceiba was 29 days, from March 8 to April 7. We had another dry spell of 25 days from April 15 to May 9 and one of 23 days from May 21 to June 12. May is typically the driest month in La Ceiba. It is usually the only month that I have to water the lawn and even then it is often only once or twice.

I don't have any prior year statistics with which to compare this, but my sense is that we had less than the normal amount of rainfall in 2009. That would jive with the rest of country which has experienced a severe drought this year which is badly affecting food crops.

To read more about the drought, water rationing (in Tegucigalpa), and the food shortage, please see Democracy is Hollow without Food to Eat and Mobilizing to the Face of Hunger at HondurasWeekly.

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Best of the weather related articles in which you can hear me sound like Goldilocks (it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too wet, it's too dry!):

40 days and 40 nights (December 2008)
Still hot (September 2008)
How hot is it in La Ceiba? (September 2008)
Tropical rain in La Ceiba (includes video, October 2007)
Hurricanes are good for business (October 2007)
Cold front again, sorry (November 2006)

For a semi-serious discussion of the weather in La Ceiba:

How is the weather in La Ceiba?

And if you want to read all of the weather related (and earthquake) articles:

Weather

Earthquake October 22

We had another earthquake at 1:52 a.m. I'm going to guess that it was around a 4.0 magnitude, maybe a little higher depending upon how far away the epicenter was. I admit that I am a little rusty since it has been a few months since we had the string of earthquakes. The quake was strong enough to cause El Jefe to jump out of bed from a sound sleep.

No official reports on the magnitude as the Nicaraguan site apparently doesn't update at night and the USGS Earthquake site....well, you'll read about that in the next article.


Update:

Apparently it was a 4.6 magnitude located on the island of Roatán. Here is the Nicaraguan earthquake data:

Earthquake data - from Nicaragua

Here is the USGS earthquake nondata:

Earthquake data - from US government

Those are for the person who thinks that I'm delusional and that an earthquake can't be hidden. Hahaha. Anyone can visit those sites to see the original maps. Both sites are updated every 5 minutes. The US site includes one week of data. The Nicaraguan site includes 10 days. So, be my guest, and tell me who is hiding an earthquake?

I didn't want to believe it of my government either, but the facts are there in living color.


Related article about the US non-reporting of Honduran quakes:

4.5 earthquake north of Tela (August 8, 2009)
Honduran earthquake (October 19, 2009)

Honduran earthquake October 18, 2009

October 18, 2009 Earthquake

from the Nicaraguan Earthquake site

Did my international readers hear about the Honduran earthquake on Sunday morning? It was a 5.3 magnitude, nothing to sneeze at. It was offshore between Puerto Cortés and Omoa, but thankfully there was no real damage reported.

The USGS Earthquake site tracks all the earthquakes, all over the world. It's pretty impressive. The quakes show up within 2-5 minutes on the US site.

Uh, I should correct that. The USGS Earthquake sites track all of the earthquakes, all over the world EXCEPT Honduras. That's right. The US doesn't recognize Honduras and doesn't recognize Honduras earthquakes either! How completely asinine and petty is that?

From the USGS Earthquake site
showing a week's data

Update: Four days after this earthquake, after this article was posted, and after receiving several emails from my readers, the USGS updated their site to reflect this earthquake, which they showed to be in Guatemalan waters. The USGS site has not added the 4.6 earthquake of October 22 as of noon on October 25.


We had a long series of earthquakes in May and June, starting with a BIG 7.3 on May 27. Man, that was something! I was so stunned that at first I didn't know what was happening. After a few seconds − that seemed a lot longer − I remember thinking, "Oh, so this is what an earthquake feels like." All of them showed up on the USGS site within minutes.

When the first couple of quakes after June 28 didn't appear on the USGS Earthquake site, I thought it was a fluke. The Sunday quake was the fourth one that I'm aware of that they didn't report, so they are definitely purposely not recognizing Honduran earthquakes.

Again I say, how petty can the US government get?

Will the US Hurricane Center wipe any hurricanes off the international weather map once they are over Honduras territory?


Related articles:

Earthquakes
Honduran earthquake (October 22, 2009)

North coast Honduras flooding

The video above includes some of the noon Channel 10 news of the flooding in Honduras. Hardest hit were the departamentos (states) of Atlántida, Cortés y Yoro. The state of Colón also experienced some flooding. Flooding was most pronounced in the Rios Ulúa, Chamelecón and worst of all the Leán.

Here in La Ceiba (Atlántida), we had over 24 hours of rain, much of it very heavy, resulting in a total of 11 inches (28 cm.). Transit between Tela and La Ceiba was halted for a few hours yesterday because of flooded roads. Ten families were evacuated in La Ceiba.

There has been a lot of crop damage. Landslides and fallen trees were also a problem. A tree of about 40 feet (12 m.) fell behind our property.

See some of the local news articles for more details:

El Heraldo: Rain affects Yoro, Atlántida y Cortés - [Google translation]

La Tribuna: Storms leave houses flooded in the northern zone - [Google translation]

La Prensa: Leán River wipes out crops in Atlántida - [Google translation]

It's back! Rainy season

Now, that is rain!

Rainy season has started a little early in La Ceiba, Honduras. Yesterday we had about 2 inches of rain (5 cm.) and at halfway through the month, we've already had almost 8 inches (20.3 cm.). It actually rained three separate times yesterday which is unusual for this time of year in La Ceiba. Generally, it only rains after 4 p.m. for some reason that I don't understand but like very much. I know this because of August construction and painting projects.

This late afternoon timing makes it nice for tourists who can do all the outdoor activities unhampered during the day and sit under a champa (palm frond roof) at a restaurant in the evening. Actually, when it does rain this time of year, it is usually only for maybe an hour. Nice, huh?

I love rainy season as everything turns bright green and looks so fresh and clean. Plants and trees seem to grow 12 inches (.3 m.) a week − a slight exaggeration, but not too much (except for my mangosteen tree).

Another reason to love rainy season is that the temperature cools down somewhat. It has almost been chilly at night, but keep in mind that my blood has thinned in the tropical heat so that over 85° F (29° C) feels hot and anything below 80° F (27° C) feels cool or even cold to me. Quite a change from Texas where the temperature might vary by 40 degrees in a day. ;-)

Since there doesn't seem to be any official recording of rainfall in Honduras, I've been keeping track of the rain with my handy dandy tropical size (24" - .61 m.) rain gauge.

You can follow the count under "La Ceiba Rainfall" in the sidebar. I usually only update this page at the end of the month.

4.5 Earthquake north of Tela

We had a 4.5 offshore earthquake at 5:33 a.m. this morning. I can only give you that exact data because of the Sismos en Nicaragua website.

We've actually had at least four or five earthquakes in the past 5 weeks that were big enough to be recorded but the USGS Earthquake site doesn't recognize our country or our earthquakes anymore. They only show one − way out in the ocean − for the past 30 days.

This earthquake was kind of a double rumble but not as strong as the last one I wrote about. It sounds a little like thunder but coming from the ground. Sometimes I hear it before I feel it. Quakes always seem to roll by under the house, but then, after a split second, this one did it again. It gave us a pretty good shake here in La Ceiba and rattled the windows like crazy. The quake was strong enough to wake up El Jefe who jumped out of bed. (heheheh) Not a fun way to wake up! We are pretty well used to these small ones by now but I always hold my breath wondering if it will be another big one like the 7.3 that hit Honduras in May.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, coups d'etats. Ho hum. Nothing scares me anymore.

EARTHQUAKE!!

EARTHQUAKE! Will my newfound expertise in earthquakes, I'm going to guess at least a 5.5.... either that or the epicenter was in my neighborhood. -- still shaking even though the house isn't

Ho-hum, another earthquake near La Ceiba, Honduras

Image: USGS Earthquake Center
Click for a larger view

Honduras' 6th earthquake (magnitude 5.0) during the past 6 days occurred at 12:46 a.m. on June 2, 2009, 30 miles (48 km.) southeast of La Ceiba, Atlántida.

Well, I've been trying to move on to other topics, but 'them earthquakes, they just keep a coming! '

Click for a larger view of the map

Comparing the USGS map with a more detailed map, it appears to have been between Olanchito, Yoro, (about 11 miles or 18 km. west of the epicenter) and Saba, Colon, (about 13 miles or 21 km. east of the epicenter). For those familiar with the smaller towns, the epicenter appears to have been very close to Jalisco and El Juncal.

Tremors were felt as far away as Roatán, Tegucigalpa, El Progreso, San Pedro Sula, and Puerto Cortés. Since the epicenter is in a more rural area with fewer people with access to internet, there is only one first-hand "Did you feel it?" report so far from Olanchito.

I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Last night I succumbed and went to bed early, only to be awakened by El Jefe saying, "It's another earthquake." He was pretty sure that this one wasn't an aftershock and he was right. We are all becoming earthquake experts here. ;-)

Though La Prensa has not reported quakes #2 through #5, they quickly updated their internet site for an article about #6. Unfortunately, as of this moment, they have no information about any damages in the epicenter area and in fact, didn't even mention the names of the nearby towns. It's always surprising to me that they don't immediately send a reporter out to report first-hand on these natural disasters, but they don't. I often feel that outside of the big cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, the rest of us are stepchildren.

Let me assure everyone that this quake was very mild in La Ceiba. There probably has been more damage in the Olanchito, Yoro, area but there just isn't any information available yet. The fire department is doing a detailed inspection of buildings in La Ceiba after the 7.3 earthquake on May 28, and so far have only encountered minimal damages such as cracks in walls.

COPECO (Honduras' national emergency agency) reports that we have had 300 aftershocks in the past 5 days in Honduras.

I hope Hilary Clinton doesn't mind some rocking and rolling at the big OAS (Organization of American States) meeting. If she thought that last night was an earthquake, she should have been here for the 7.3!



Related earthquake articles:

Then there were five (Honduran earthquakes)
Make that four Honduran earthquakes
Not one Honduran quake, but three!
Earthquake - The first time the earth moved for me, then again and again and again
Terremoto! 7.1 Earthquake in Honduras

Sorry if that seems excessive. If you or your loved ones were here, you might not think so!

Then there were five (Honduran earthquakes)

#5, a 4.5 offshore earthquake on May 30, 2009
Map: USGS Earthquake Center

Friday night a brief, but noticeable tremor came through about 8:29 p.m. Then at 12:34 a.m., a bigger one came rolling through our house. Not a bad one. I would estimate only about 3 seconds, just long enough to rumble a little and rattle the windows. Even the dogs are starting to get used to it. Most of the aftershocks where just a little shake that seemed to come out of nowhere. The later one I could feel it coming from one side of the house and pass through to the other.

A little later I checked the USGS Earthquake site and sure enough! Honduras had another 4.5 offshore quake at 12:33 a.m. Interestingly, each of these earthquakes, no matter where they were, took one minute to get to our house in La Ceiba, Honduras. Only the first one hung around long enough to really scare us.

The epicenter of this one was 75 miles NW of La Ceiba and 80 miles NNE of San Pedro. It looks like this one was about equal distance to the island of Utila and the cities of Tela, and Puerto Cortes on the mainland. Only 13 people have filled out the Did you feel it? questionnaire so far, compared to almost 1,100 who responded to the 7.3 earthquake, so I think it was a non-event.

I asked our Honduras Living group if anyone else felt it, but I guess most had gone to bed or were tired of talking about earthquakes, because only one person responded from La Lima. I hope I'm not sitting on a fault line all by myself. ;-/

The Honduran death toll is now at seven. I don't believe that these aftershocks have done any significant additional damage in Honduras. The newspapers have not even mentioned the additional four earthquakes. Things are very much back to normal for the vast majority of the country. For updates on the casualties and damages, check La Prensa. I've read all the newspapers and La Prensa seem to have the most earthquake coverage.


Related earthquake articles:

Make that four Honduran earthquakes
Not one Honduran quake, but three!
Earthquake - The first time the earth moved for me, then again and again and again
Terremoto! 7.1 Earthquake in Honduras