By Wendy Anders

Winds of up to 100 kph (over 60 mph) in Costa Rica’s northern region have forced the closure of two national parks today, Tuesday, Jan. 10 and tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 11, reported the country’s Teletica Channel 7 news station today.

The Santa Rosa National Park (Parque Nacional Santa Rosa) and Rincón de la Vieja National Park are the two parks being slammed by heavy winds that have park guards scrambling to clear fallen debris from trails, detailed Teletica.

Santa Rosa National Park, located in Costa Rica’s northwest corner on the Pacific coast in the province of Guanacaste, was the first national park established in Costa Rica, created in 1971.

It features endangered tropical dry forest and coastal ecosystems including savannas, deciduous forest, marshlands, and mangrove woodlands, according to Wikipedia.

Santa Rosa is also an important historic site, where the Battle of Santa Rosa of March 20, 1856 was fought by the Costa Rican army against U.S. filibuster William Walker. The battle lasted all of 14 minutes and Costa Rica’s militia ousted the invaders, said Wikipedia

The site was the location of two other battles by Costa Rican forces against invading forces from Nicaragua. In 1919, invaders attempted to overthrow the dictatorship of General Federico Tinoco Granados; and in 1955, intruders supporting a coup attempt against the government of José Figueres were also repelled here, according to Wikipedia.

The Rincon de la Vieja National Park is located inland also in the northwestern province of Guanacaste and features the the Rincón de la Vieja and Santa María volcanoes, as well as the dormant Cerro Von Seebach. The last eruption here was by Rincón de la Vieja in 1998. It is part of the Guanacaste Conservation Area World Heritage Site, said Wikipedia. The park has geysers, mudpots and volcanic vents and is also rich in wildlife.

Poás National Park about 30 minutes from the Juan Santamaría International Airport was closed Monday due to extreme cold, reported the national daily El Diario Extra.

The entire region and much of the U.S. is under the effects of a severe cold front that has had Central America experiencing high winds and unusually cold temperatures since Sunday. The effects from the cold front are expected to let up tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 11, said the Costa Rican National Meteorological Institute (INM).