Forecasting is an inexact science to say the least, but local meteorologists in the employ of the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies have stuck out their collective neck. The first half of the rainy season was marked by precipitation that was sporadic and in lesser quantities than the norm, supposedly because of the El Niño phenomenon. Never fear, his sister La Niña is due to appear. Its cooling effect on the Pacific’s waters would create conditions for increased rainfall from August to late October. Together with an expected intense round of tropical storms and hurricanes from the Atlantic it is shaping up to be a particularly wet end of the rainy season. That’s good news for the water table and people who draw their water from hand-dug wells, but it may result in flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas.