Q COSTA RICA – It may sound strange to hear of frost in Costa Rica, but it is a fact, the low temperatures last week (and altitude) resulted in the landscape atop the Irazu volcano to be covered in frost (Escarcha in Spanish).
This is not the first time (nor the last).
María Lourdes Gómez, a worker ar the Irazú Volcano National Park, which spreads across 2,300 hectares (5,705 acres), said on entering the park last Tuesday morning, she found the vegetation covered in frost. She didn’t hesitate to take pictures and upload to the social media.
The park worker explained, arriving at the park around 7:30am, “the ground was white, covered by frost because I suppose of the temperature drop,” explained Gomez.
The Central Valley was hit bit a cold spell and strong winds for most of the week. Eladio Solano, of the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – the national weather service – said that days ago temperatures of around 2 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit) were reported.
In January the weather service also reported frost in some high altitude areas.
The elevation of the Irazu volcano is 3,432 metres (11,260 feet) above sea level. The active volcano is situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago, east of San Jose.
How high is the Irazu volcano? High enough that from the top it is possible to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a clear day. However, such clear days are rare, and the volcano’s summit is usually cloud-covered.
The Irazu volcano last erupted in 1994, is located within a stone throw (in volcanic terms) from the Turrialba volcano that has been for the last couple of years spewing ash and gas and in the last weeks ‘Juvenile rocks’ and other material.
The current weather
Although in the last several days the cold front left, the Central Valley on Saturday afternoon was hit by heavy rain; on Sunday afternoon many areas reported a light drizzle to rainy conditions.
The IMN is forecasting cooler temperatures (not as cold as last week) with a 90% chance of rain and possible thunderstorms for today (Monday), that could continue with a 40% chance over the coming days.
You have to wonder, has the rainy season already started?
