Taken by storm: A Tica hurries along the street near the San José Courthouse to avoid a drenching, a sign of the rainy season to come.

Ronald Reyes |Tico Times

Germán Viales grumbled something under his breath Tuesday afternoon as thunder warned him of the rain that would soon dampen his table of lottery tickets if he didn't move.

He picked up his portable table the from the cobblestone walkway outside the San José Courthouse and moved it under the cover of the cement awning outside the headquarters of the Judicial Investigation Police.

“Very bad, the winter,” Viales said of the approaching rainy season. “Very bad. There's no one to sell to. No one's out.”

Except a man selling umbrellas, the streets were soon clear of people, as most went inside or huddled under the awning.

After a year characterized by torrential storms and unusually heavy rainfall – in 2008, the country recorded more rain than it had in over six decades – the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) is predicting a relatively normal rainy season for the upcoming months.

But in Costa Rica, normal still means wet.

Over the past 12 years, according to the IMN Web site, San José has averaged 21 days of rain each month for the first three months of the season, which begins in May. The average rainfall in the Central Valley through that same period is close to 220 millimeters each month.

The rain tends to let up a little in July and August, ending with an intense finale in September and October, according to the IMN Web site.

While there have been isolated storms indicating the onset of the rainy season, which began in the Pacific South on March 20, the IMN released a press release Monday saying they expected it to have fully arrived in the Central Valley by next week.

And for vendors like 50-year-old Viales, the rainy season means more than just damp weather. Not only are they and their businesses pushed into odd corners, where traffic is minimal, but fewer people are on the streets – and when they are, they're usually in a hurry, Viales said.

Just as the streets clear of people, so do the rooms in many hotels. Tourism drops off, as the Pacific coast and Central Valley become inundated with rainfall. In 2007, the number of tourists during the rainy season was 15 percent lower than during the other six months of the year, according to the most recent numbers made available by the Costa Rican Tourism Board.

And Costa Rica is already facing slumping tourism due to the world's struggling economies.

The National Tourism Chamber released a study in late April, reporting that over two-thirds of tourism-related businesses and three-quarters of hotels reported business was down during the first three months of 2009, when compared with the same period in 2008.

However, neither the oncoming rains nor the slumping economy stopped Dan Vernon, 26, or Emily Bowden, 25, from visiting the country. The two from Manchester, England, are in the middle of a six-month trip from Mexcio to Brazil, and were actually pleased by the precipitation.

“It doesn't bother us at all,” Vernon said, as the two browsed over souvenirs in the line of shops set up near the National Museum. “We get a lot of rain at home and so this is our first time seeing proper rain in a couple weeks.”

Katia Campos, 29, sells wooden butterflies and decorative bowls at one of the shops by the museum. Like Viales, she tries to save up during the dry season when business is better and cut back on costs as the rainy season approaches.

But on top of the financial strains, which people learn to plan for, Campos said, it stops people from going out and enjoying themselves.

“It makes everything sad,” she said.