San Jose, Costa Rica is Immune to Hurricanes
By Eric Robinson
In light of the constant bombardment each year by hurricanes in and around the Caribbean basin, and the Gulf of Mexico, Costa Rica’s lush Central Valley seems like a great place to be, and is slowly becoming a destination of choice for both tourists and investors.
Around the equator, the prevailing winds are from the east. Most travel across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa and are forced northward by the presence of Central American Isthmus nearly always before reaching Costa Rica. Northeast Nicaragua, the Yucatan and western Cuba stick out like sore thumbs, catching more than their share.
Though both coasts of Costa Rica receive some rain during the traditional hurricane season, they seldom make a direct hit. In the rare event that the eye of a rogue hurricane reaches the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, it would have to then climb a mile over the towering mountains to reach San Jose hiding in the bottom of the Central Valley a kilometer above sea level. Several hurricanes form annually over the Pacific Ocean west of Costa Rica, but continue westward out into the Pacific, causing little damage. Though rules are made to be broken, up here in San Jose, we can relax year-round, fairly confident that the worst we will get from a hurricane is a few days of drizzle. But then it’s already the rainy season during hurricane season, so who cares?
By Eric Robinson, B.E.S.