The Santa Rosa Storm occurs in the Southern Hemisphere up to fifteen days earlier than or fifteen days later than the festival of Santa Rosa of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, celebrated on August 30 each year. Legend has it that Isabel Flores de Oliva, also known as Rose of Lima (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: Rosa de Lima), caused a mighty storm which prevented

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pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s from attacking the city of Lima in 1615. However,

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

s attribute the storm to the clash of the first warm winds, which are a product of the arrival of

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

with

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

s. The legend is very popular in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, especially around the

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area (including

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and

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) and the Argentinian province of

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and the Cuyo region, west of Buenos Aires.

Myth and reality

Climate data show that the storm is one of the first to form at the end of Southern winter, some 10 days before August 20 and September 20. In popular belief, the Santa Rosa storm is one of the most violent of the year. However, reality is different. For the City of

(according to the Villa Ortúzar SMN Observatory), the storm has only appeared five days before or after the 30 August on sixteen occasions since 1861. However, showers are frequent in this period, which helps keep the myth alive. Out of the sixteen storms, seven have occurred since 1992, probably owing to global warming.

References

Tormenta de Santa Rosa
Storms Weather events in South America Uruguayan folklore Argentine folklore Peruvian folklore {{folklore-stub