Rainy season

As heavy rains continue to fall in Costa Rica, highway officials have ordered Route 32 to be closed as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The main highway through the Braulio Carrillo National Park and connecting San José with the Caribbean coast will remain closed for at least a day, officials said. Officials also are evaluating the possible closure of Route 27 to the central Pacific coast.

The mountainous Route 32 to the Caribbean coast reopened over the weekend to normal traffic following an unprecedented natural disaster involving at least 40 landslides that trapped thousands of motorists for eight hours last Thursday night and Friday morning. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured.

Officials from the Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) and the Paraíso Municipality on Wednesday agreed to the first steps in addressing ongoing water shortages that in recent months have extended to two additional Cartago cantons.

Officials of the National Emergency Commission (CNE) confirmed that a mudslide on Thursday night partially blocked the Sarapiqui River in north-central Costa Rica.

Every year from June through November, Costa Rica converts from a sunny tropical paradise to a grey and gloomy wetland, and though the 2014 rainy season has been uncharacteristically dry, this sunny weather is unlikely to last. But while much of the country may be slowly descending into a drizzly hellhole, there are still plenty of things to do in Costa Rica during the rainy season.

On Tuesday, representatives for four public agencies discussed actions they will take to deal with a severe drought in the northern and central Pacific regions of the country.

Although the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) confirmed a drop in rainfall levels for the current rainy season, the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) has ruled out power outages later this year.

Rainy season has gotten off to a drier-than-normal start. But that may change tomorrow as humidity levels increase Wednesday evening. The change likely will bring late afternoon heavy rains and thunderstorms, according to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN).

Farms and tourist areas near the country’s colonial capital, located 22 kilometers east of San José, have been hit hard by water scarcity, including diminished reserves that traditionally supply enough water for the entire province and more than half a million residents in eastern San José.

Costa Rica will experience the effects of an El Niño weather phenomenon beginning in July, which means less rainfall for most of the country, the National Meteorological Institute reported Wednesday.